Volume 5: Overlord of the Sea Chapter 573 Yangping Pass
Zhang Ning agreed to work in the Chu Palace. As long as she was there, the Chu Palace would become a forbidden place...
At the same time, the sudden "disappearance" of Zhang Qiying's maid did not cause any waves.
After all, Zhang Ning usually used "eye-catching tricks" to give people psychological hints, which made people subconsciously ignore her. Now that she has accomplished her mission, no one noticed.
Zhang Qiying did not specifically mention it to Zhang Lu. After all, she felt that if her father knew that the Huang Tianji she had been looking for was actually right beside her, but he had failed the test, he would probably not feel relieved.
At this time in Hanzhong, after Sun Ce and Zhao Yun joined forces, the battle of Hanzhong with Ma Chao also reached its final stage!
After arriving to provide assistance, Zhao Yun quickly used Nanzheng as his base and approached Yangping Pass. Although he did not break through the pass, he prevented the subsequent reinforcements of the Western Liang Army from pouring into Hanzhong from here.
Yangping Pass was originally located in a valley. Even if the key was not in his hands, Zhao Yun could still block the enemy by setting up camp on the ground and putting up barbed wire.
Sun Ce was concentrating on heading east, all the way to Hanzhong to wipe out the impact of the influx of the Qiang cavalry from Xiliang...
Now that Ma Chao's main force has been forced back to Yangping Pass, there are only a few scattered Qiang cavalry in the counties within the Hanzhong Basin...
At this time, Sun Ce also turned his troops westward, preparing to join hands with Zhao Yun to capture Yangping and completely retake the western gate of Hanzhong!
Ma Chao and Pang De were also defending the pass at this time. After all, they were only Qiang cavalry before, so the more damage they suffered, the greater the damage would be. There were more main forces of the Xiliang Army behind them.
As long as Yangping Pass is still there, reinforcements can continue to come from Chencang Road. Although the plank road is a bit difficult, it is far from being a defeat.
What makes Ma Chao uncomfortable now is that once the main force of the Western Liang Army arrives, not only the Ma family will be there, but that bastard Han Sui will also want to get a piece of the pie!
Originally, Ma Chao wanted to take the lead and brought a large number of Qiang cavalry who surrendered to him, in order to gain more benefits for the Ma family in Hanzhong.
As a result, he lost a lot of Qiang cavalry who were loyal to him, and was finally driven back to Yangping Pass...
When Han Sui saw him, he "comforted" Ma Chao in front of Ma Teng, saying: "My dear nephew is really brave! Hanzhong is surrounded by dangers on all sides, but my dear nephew was able to lead the vanguard army to capture Yangping, which really saved many casualties for the Xiliang army. This battle should be the first merit!"
It sounded like a nice thing to say, but Ma Chao felt very awkward. He snorted coldly and left, returning to Yangping Pass. Only his father Ma Teng was left, and he and Han Sui were awkwardly continuing to act in love in the military camp behind Yangping Pass.
Ma Chao was called the vanguard, but because he mobilized a large number of Qiang cavalry, the effort he put in was not the work of a vanguard. This time he was supposed to be heading for the entire Hanzhong, but who knew that the State of Chu would suddenly interfere!
And now the Chu State has deployed its troops at Yangping Pass, intending to retake the western gate of Hanzhong in one fell swoop.
It is not easy to come to Hanzhong from Jingzhou, but unlike other places, Hanzhong's treasury is already full. Although a lot of it was looted and burned by the Qiang people before, it still ensures that Zhao Yun and Sun Ce's armies have sufficient supplies.
In comparison, the cost for the Western Liang Army to continuously provide support and transport supplies through Chencang Road was actually much higher.
That is to say, they still have Yangping Pass in their hands, which gives the Xiliang army a chance to catch their breath and a place to store food. Otherwise, if the Xiliang people need to attack the city at Yangping Pass again and are harassed by the Chu army from time to time, they will probably be unable to hold on and withdraw .
It's like you live in a house on more than 20 floors, and robbers come outside and have already occupied the door. The family members are guarding the entrance, and both sides attack each other with water guns - the family members just need to go to the kitchen to get water, while the robbers have to carry water !
It was just because the door was under the control of the robbers, so they could open and close it as they pleased, and they could also store some water in the corridor.
If the house is taken back at this time, the robbers will basically have no choice but to retreat.
At this time, Zhao Yun and Sun Ce were trying to regain their "home"...
"Bold Chu general! The imperial court ordered our Xiliang army to fight against the rice bandits and recover the birthplace of the Han Dynasty. You mobilized without an imperial decree and even attacked the heavenly soldiers. Aren't you afraid of being cursed by the world?" Pang De shouted at Sun Ce and Zhao Yun below him at the pass.
As for Ma Chao... he has always been reluctant to waste words. When he knows that the other party will neither retreat nor surrender, he prefers to fight directly.
Pang De originally wanted to play a role in undermining the morale of the enemy army, however... the de-Sinicization of the Chu State has been going on for a long time. Even among the people of Chu, the Han Dynasty has no influence anymore and often plays the role of a clown in dramas. The Chu army has long cut off all ties with the Han Dynasty!
Pound's call had no effect.
Instead, Sun Ce said, "Listen, my boy from Xiliang! Zhang Lu, the Marquis of Hanning, has surrendered to the Chu State and has been granted the title of Marquis of Chuyuhan. Hanzhong will also be part of the Chu State from now on. If you retreat now and wait for my king's decision, I may give you a lighter punishment. If you remain stubborn and refuse to change your ways, the Chu State will march into Longyou, capture you, and interrogate you all!"
Pang De and Ma Chao were also very angry...
In fact, they had already known the news of Zhang Lu's surrender to Chu two days ago. After all, Bai Tu specially organized a ceremony to inform all the envoys in Chu, including Hanzhong.
This would completely calm the people of Hanzhong and give the State of Chu more room to appease them.
However, the Xiliang army will obviously not be threatened by this, and they will have to fight a battle after all...
Yangping Pass is now connected to Longyou, and Guanai Chengji is now also connected to Liangzhou. The added support from the people on the pass wall also follows that of Xiliang!
Although Sun Ce and Zhao Yun had a lot of artillery, and even large-caliber mortars with armor-piercing shells that were specifically designed to break through walls, they were still of little use against the defense of the pass...
In the upper and lower shooting, even if the Qi Bullet Crossbow can exert a suppressive force when it is facing from below, the defenders are protected by the battlements and it is difficult to cause too much damage.
If you want to seize the pass, you will have to use ladders and other weapons to attack...
However, the Chu army was obviously unwilling to adopt such tactics, and only fought back and forth for a few days, with limited casualties on both sides.
Zhao Yun, Sun Ce, Fa Zheng and others made up their minds at this time - if it really didn't work, they would completely destroy Yangping Pass!
With today's weapons and equipment, the Chu army is no longer willing to fight the enemy like a bloody grinder...
After three days of preparation, when attacking the city again, Zhao Yun and Sun Ce directly entered the state of divine power and forced their way onto the city wall!
At the same time, there was no ladder support. The Chu army had more than a dozen iron carts pushed by manpower, slowly advancing towards the pass...
The iron cart was pushed from the inside and was wrapped with thick iron sheets on the outside. The defenders on the city obviously couldn't do anything to it with just bows and arrows. Even because of the ventilation and insulation with wooden boards, it would not have much effect even if oil was poured on it and burned.
Although Ma Chao didn't know what the Chu army wanted to do, after all, the iron carts below didn't look like they could climb the wall, but when he saw Zhao Yun and Sun Ce entering the state of divine power at the same time, he knew that today's attack should be very important for the Chu State!
Ma Chao also entered a state of divine power and went straight to Zhao Yun, who he had never fought before. Sun Ce then released the twenty-eight heroes to mow the grass on the city wall with him...
