The mountain is strong and the three auxiliaries, the door is closed and Kyushu, the river goes from the Shaanxi Road, and the river flows around Huayin.

It is for Tongguan.

Tongguan city north by the Yellow River natural danger, the southeast of the city is surrounded by high mountains on three sides, so that the enemy army can not form a siege on it, in the city, the living facilities should be complete, the Tong River that passes through the city provides sufficient water for Tongguan, there are enough fields to grow crops, even if the city is besieged, it is difficult to let it run out of ammunition and food.

Tongguan shoulders two capitals, one side is Luoyang, one side is Chang'an, it can be said that it is overwhelming, once lost, Chang'an will inevitably not be protected. It is also known as the first level in the world.

Now, the Liang army, led by Cao Xuan, is making the last resistance to the Tang army at Tongguan.

It can be said that once Tongguan is defeated again, the fall of the beam will be a foregone conclusion.

It has been nearly a month since the Tang army was in Tongguan, and in the past month, You Yong was cautious and did not attack with all his strength and at any cost, which was of course because Tongguan was dangerous and difficult to capture, but also because the Tang army had always paid great attention to reducing the casualties of the soldiers, and rarely used the lives of soldiers to gather victory until the last resort.

Rao is like this, and Cao Xuan has already felt great pressure.

The main thing is low morale.

The defeat of Changyuan, the defeat of Tiger Prison, and the loss of most of the elite of the Liang army have made the morale of the Liang army extremely low.

With the Zhenzhou Incident, the establishment of the Guangzhou Imperial Court, the war of words in Wuyi and Guangzhou and the de facto military confrontation formed, Li Zefu Emperor Tai's coffin came south, and Cao Xuan's pressure suddenly increased several times. You Yong no longer had pity for the lives of the soldiers, but launched a frantic attack on Tongguan.

Even in the bad weather of rain and snow, the Tang army never gave up the attack.

Even in the dark of night, the trebuchets of the Tang army did not stop bombarding.

This made the Liang soldiers guarding the pass extremely tired.

Because the Liang army had completely lost the courage to fight with the Tang army, they were trapped in the pass, so they could only passively wait for the Tang army's attack. And the Tang army attacked at no time. Often when it seems impossible for you, you suddenly launch a swift attack, and if you are not careful, you will fall into a situation from which you will never recover.

The psychological and physical double pressure made the Liang army in Tongguan on the verge of collapse.

"Marshal, today the Tang Army launched another onslaught on Jinqiao Pass." The general Cong Xin walked to Cao Xuan's side, and the other party was standing at the head of the city at this time, looking at the road into Tongguan.

Five miles away is where Cong Xin said that the Jin Steep Pass is located.

Jin Steep Pass is not in Tongguan City, but three miles outside Tongguan City, is a tall and lonely castle, the north is the surging Yellow River, the south is the towering Niutou Plateau, the road into Tongguan, just pass through here, the real Tongguan portal. The main road in and out of Tongguan is squeezed in the middle by the surging Yellow River and the high plateau here, the terrain is extremely dangerous, the road is narrow, and only a single carriage can barely pass.

And the reason why it was built like this is naturally for the needs of the military. And from here to the east gate of Tongguan, it is as long as five miles, and it is called "five miles of secret door". The real husband is the key, and the ten thousand people can't open it.

If the Tang army wants to defeat Tongguan, it must first take Jinqiao Pass.

And if the Liang army loses the Jinshu Pass, it will also be equivalent to losing the Tong Pass.

"What about the casualties over there?" Cao Xuan asked in a deep voice.

"Today's battle, hundreds of casualties!" Cong Xin said: "Marshal, we must add a group of people to go in, and at the same time withdraw the wounded soldiers, where are the wounded soldiers, it hurts morale too much." ”

Cao Xuan nodded: "Add another five hundred soldiers to go in." The necessary supplies were brought in after dark. Tell Cao Zhen that the safety of Tongguan and the gains and losses of Chang'an are all tied to him. ”

Cao Zhen is Cao Xuan's eldest son and the general who guards the Jinshu Pass.

"The young marshal is brave and wise, and he will not lose the golden steep pass!" Cong Xindao.

Cao Xuan was speechless, when it came to bravery, how many people in the Liang army could surpass Xu Chao, the son of Xu Fu? In the battle of Changyuan, Xu Chao died on the spot.

It's a pity that now, what else can you do except fight to the death?

"Dashuai, a messenger from Chang'an is coming!" An officer trotted up the city wall and said to Cao Xuan.

Cao Xuan nodded, and said to Cong Xin: "You continue to inspect the defense of the wall, and at the same time, you must also check the military camps, warehouses and other places one by one, especially pay attention to the soldiers' food, etc., at this time, the slightest spark may cause a major event." ”

"Don't worry, at this time, everyone knows the seriousness of the matter, and there will be no problems in this." Cong Xindao.

"Be careful. The Tang army was full of tricks, and the old story of General Xu being forced to fight and being annihilated by the Tang army in the first battle in the Tiger Prison Pass must not be staged again in Tongguan. Cao Xuan sighed.

Cong Xin nodded again and again.

In the battle of the Tiger Prison, the Tang army used the strategy of attacking the heart, so that the elite of the Liang army in the Tiger Prison Pass completely lost the will to fight, forcing Xu Fu to lead the army to attack, and finally fell into the trap of the Tang army, and tens of thousands of troops were destroyed in one day.

When he returned to the Guannei and saw Sun Tonglin, Cao Xuan was taken aback. And after hearing Sun Tonglin's matter about Sheng Zhonghuai, Cao Xuan fell into a long silence.

Sun Tonglin did not rush, but quietly waited for Cao Xuan to make a decision.

"So, Your Majesty already has a plan?" I don't know how long it took for Cao Xuan to speak, and his voice was extremely low.

"Yes." Sun Tonglin nodded: "Today's plan is almost at the end of the road, this is the last bit of life, and it must be firmly grasped." ”

"At this time, the army enters the Qinling Mountains, how many people can go out?" Cao Xuan clenched his fists and roared in a low voice.

"Your Majesty has only taken the most elite 50,000 men with him. Divided into five roads, taking the five roads of the Qinling Mountains, Cao Bin has already set off to prepare. Sun Tonglin said: "The rest of the people can only give up." ”

"Fifty thousand?" Cao Xuan lamented: "Is Tongguan going to give up completely?" ”

"Your Majesty needs time, and you need Tongguan to resist until the last moment, so as to buy enough time for the great retreat of Chang'an." Sun Tonglin said: "At present, only a handful of people know about this matter. Even the troops who had already set off only thought that they were going out of the city and preparing to reinforce the front line to resist Tu Lichun and Wang Sili's army. It was only at the last moment that the generals received the order to divert into the Qinling Mountains. ”

Cao Xuan lowered his head and said after a while: "How long will it take?" ”

"The longer, the better. The longer the time, the more supplies can be operated in Chang'an, and the more effectively it can support the soldiers out of the Qinling Mountains. Of course, His Majesty said that when it is absolutely necessary, please be sure to get out of danger and rush to join him. It doesn't matter if the military horses are lost, as long as they get out of the Qinling Mountains, everything can start all over again. ”

Cao Xuan smiled miserably: "Where can I start all over again?" What is lost, I am afraid that it will never come back. ”

"Dashuai!" Sun Tonglin said: "Yizhou is dangerous, the country of abundance, there is no chance to revive the majesty. ”

Cao Xuan nodded, intellectually speaking, Zhu Youzhen was not wrong in making this decision. The path planned by Sheng Zhonghuai for him dares to be the best way out today. But emotionally, he was really hard to accept.

"I know, go back and tell Your Majesty, Cao Xuan will definitely fight to the last moment." He was a little lonely.

Sun Tonglin nodded: "The handsome family, Your Majesty will take care of it personally, along the way, there will be no mistakes, please rest assured." I don't know what else the marshal needs Sun to tell His Majesty? ”

"No more!" Cao Xuan shook his head, "It's up to people to make things happen, it's up to heaven to make things happen, I hope this time we can smoothly withdraw from Qinling and start over in Yizhou!" ”

Sun Tonglin didn't stay long, and quickly left.

Cao Xuan sat in the room and didn't get up for a long time.

He in Tongguan, as well as his army, were abandoned.

They must be the last line of defense for Zhu Youzhen's evacuation from Chang'an. Although Zhu Youzhen only led the most elite army of 50,000 to go, it was difficult to enter the Qinling Mountains in such weather, which can be imagined.

"Old Zhu, that's all I can do for your old Zhu family, it seems that soon, I will be able to reunite with you." Cao Xuan sighed: "But you were slaughtered by your son, and I don't know if you have face when you see me." It's a good situation, at least half of it is ruined in your own hands, you can't control your stuff in your life, and in the end, it's also ruined in your stuff! ”

Speaking of this, Cao Xuan was furious. If it weren't for Zhu Wen occupying his daughter-in-law, if it wasn't for Zhu Youyu killing his own son, even if there was still a fight between the brothers, as long as Zhu Wen was alive, everything could still be controlled.

"Bastard!" He stood up, picked up the knife and walked out, and he didn't know who he was scolding.

The Tang army camp, after the fierce attacks again and again were defeated, You Yong looked at the towering Jin Steep Pass with the first pass in the world opposite, and his face was also full of sadness.

At this damn juncture, you can only deploy so many men and horses at a time, and even heavy trebuchets and other weapons can only be placed two at a time, and the most taboo refueling tactics in war have become the only choice here.

"Shi Zhuang, tell me, what else can be done?" You Yong turned his head to look at the first fierce general of the Tang Dynasty.

"There's no way, I can only fill it with human lives!" Shi Zhuang spread his hands.

"King Qin has already arrived in Luoyang, and it will take half a month at most to reach us, if we haven't taken Tongguan by then, it will be a shame."

"I'll try it again in the afternoon!" Shi Zhuang said: "The first level in the world is not so easy to fight, now Liang Jun is in a hurry, and the rabbit is in a hurry and bites, let alone people?" ”

The two glanced at each other, and both shook their heads helplessly.

"The two generals, Zhu Yizhu is in charge, please return to the camp immediately."

"Who?" You Yong asked.

"Zhu Yi, Zhu Duguan!" Come humanely.

You Yong was a little unfamiliar with this person, but Shi Zhuang raised his eyebrows when he heard it, Zhu Yi was specifically responsible for the research and development and production of some extremely secret weapons within Datang, and when he arrived, could it be that something new came out?

"Let's go back and see what's in store?" Shi Zhuang suddenly gained momentum.