The withdrawal of the king of Luoyang from the alliance surprised both the Qi army and the Shu army. Although the king of Luoyang said that in the alliance, all rights will be based on the king of Hanzhong, and this matter is dominated by the king of Hanzhong. However, they were still a little surprised. After all, there is no involvement, and the meaning is too far behind.

However, since they don't want to, they have nothing to say. As for the previous rumors, it also ended with the withdrawal of the Luo army from the Jingnan garrison. If it weren't for the pressure of Zhao in the north, I was afraid that the king of Luoyang would even withdraw to the central region of Jingzhou. For the people of the Shu army, now they have no excuse to trouble the king of Luoyang again.

The foreign affairs had been decided, and in addition to the strong leadership of Situ Fei, the king of Hanzhong, and the threat of the defense of Xiyongzhou and Jingbei, the princes officially began to discuss the matter of the alliance. Among them, the obligations of all parties to the alliance, the number of troops to be sent, and the support of grain, grass and materials must form certain standards. In the expectation of the king of Hanzhong, the princes of the four sides will form an alliance army, attack and defend the alliance, and they will not fight each other, and they will be united with the outside world. As the Shu army that did not directly face the Zhao State, it also had to provide food and grass materials for other princes when they faced the attack of the Zhao army.

In the sixth year of Changping, that is, in late March of the first year of the Great Zhao, Situ Fei, the king of Hanzhong, finally made the alliance begin to formalize, theoretically speaking, from now on, the southern princes are a whole, and they no longer need to worry about attacking each other, but begin to pour their main energy to the north. Of course, this is not to say that the princes of the four sides will no longer worry about each other, but in the absence of a significant advantage, they will not easily attack each other.

The general goal has been determined, and for Situ Fei, the next step is to negotiate some details, the number of troops to be sent, the number of supplies of grain and grass materials, and a series of detailed amounts related to each prince.

At this time, the Zhao army stationed in Xiyongzhou dispatched nearly 30,000 troops to launch a fierce attack on Hangu Pass. Almost when the princes' alliance had just decided on the general policy, on the front line of Hangu Pass, the Zhao army and the Han army began a battle of life and death.

Hangu Seki! Hangu Kansai is based on the plateau, and the east is bordered by a stream. It is connected to the Qinling Mountains in the south and the river in the north, which can be described as a majestic pass in the world. There is quite a husband and a husband, and ten thousand people are not open! The famous Chang'an Ancient Road passes through the valley, where the Qin army defeated the Kwantung coalition several times, ambushing millions of soldiers and bleeding.

Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the ages, began his journey from Hangu Pass. In the end, it swept through the six countries and unified the country, opening up the imperial era that lasted for 2,000 years!

However, today, Hanguguan has risen again and is once again in the midst of a big war.

Outside Hangu Pass, above the originally quiet plains, it has now been covered by the military camp. The fiery red flag fluttered in the wind in the early morning. And these Zhao army camps appeared outside the city wall in the night before. Last night, the Zhao army prepared to raid the wall, but was unsuccessful by the defenders on the Hangu Pass. And Zhao Xiong, the commander of the Zhao army, did not deliberately continue to attack, but let the army that came overnight repair on the spot. Because the defenders in the pass were far less than their own troops, the Zhao army was not afraid of the night raids of the defenders in the city.

Of course, Zhao Xiong is also prepared accordingly. If the defenders of Guannai raided, they would definitely be left behind by the Zhao army, which would be conducive to the Zhao army's siege of the city. However, the night was calm, and the Han army guarding the pass may have been frightened by the appearance of the Zhao army, and did not choose to raid at night.

In the early morning, as soon as the morning dawns, the horns and drums inside and outside the city will sound in unison. Outside the city, a group of soldiers of Zhao wearing red tasseled helmets slowly drove out of the barracks. Entering the desolate open space in front of the pass, under the dark and gloomy sky, the majestic wind blows, the flags flutter, the swords, guns and halberds stand solemnly like a forest, and the huge figures of the well array and trebuchet seem to describe the ancient giants of the hideous land, standing coldly in the rear of the Zhao army.

In the main formation of the Chinese army, Zhao Xiong stood solemnly in the wind under the protection of his own soldiers, looking at his own army in the wilderness as vast as the sea, and he couldn't help but be enthusiastic and full of pride. Looking at the panicked Han soldiers on the city wall, Zhao Xiong rode his horse and raised his whip, pointed to the majestic outline of Hangu Pass, and said loudly: "What about Hangu Pass?" No matter how dangerous it is, it is difficult to stop the pace of our Da Zhao soldiers. Today, General Ben will drink with all of you! ”

There were originally more than 20,000 Han troops in Hangu Pass, half of which were in Hangu Pass, and half of them were in the large camp between Hangu Pass and Tongguan. However, at this moment, this is already an empty camp. This large battalion of Han troops was also attracted by the Zhao raids on the border between Liangzhou and Bingzhou and Xiyongzhou.

…………

On the Hangu Pass, Zhang Ling, the chief general of the Han army, had a solemn face and stood against the wall. At this moment, there are only 8,000 soldiers under his command, but the Zhao army that has become has 30,000 soldiers, 10,000 heavy soldiers and 10,000 people. But they didn't know that among the 30,000 soldiers, almost half of them were surrendered by the Luo army of the former Eastern Yongzhou, and the attack on Hangu Pass was also to conduct final training for these surrendered troops and integrate them into their command.

In every major battle of the Zhao army, some wounded soldiers will be arranged to retire from the army, and stay in the local government and county to serve as core soldiers and officers of the government and county soldiers, and at the same time, the recruit battalion will supplement the trained soldiers, and then go through the war to integrate to form a new Zhao army as a whole.

"Damn! Didn't you say that the Zhao army wouldn't attack here? Doesn't it mean that Zhao Guo is now busy rectifying internal affairs and will not cause a big war at this moment? Are those spies idiots? Su Zilin, the deputy general not far from Zhangling, scolded angrily.

"Well, it's useless to scold now! By the way, General Ben asked you to send someone to report to the Tongguan garrison and the Chang'an garrison Lin Shuchenglin, have you arranged it? Zhang Ling was also full of resentment, although the spy reported that Zhao Jun was rectifying internal affairs, but it was his own king who said that Zhao would not attack at this moment. It was also because of this that most of the defenders of Hangu Pass were transferred to the northwest. Although he was dissatisfied, he also knew that this was not the time to complain.

Su Zilin said in a sullen voice: "In the direction of the general, the last general has already arranged for the manpower to return in the early morning." Alas, I just don't know if Lord Lin can send reinforcements in time. ”

Su Zilin's worries, Zhang Ling understands. The Han army in the entire land of Xiyongzhou was only more than 50,000, less than 60,000. At this moment, there are still places to the north and northwest of Xiyongzhou. In contrast, Hangu Pass is the easiest place to hold. After all, it is not to say that Hangu Pass is a natural danger. Therefore, Xiyongzhou's troops were mostly concentrated in the west, northwest and north.

And because of the attack of the Zhao army in Liangzhou in the west and Bingzhou in the north, the king of Hanzhong also transferred the army of Hanguguan to the west. After all, Hangu Pass is dangerously guarded, while the west and north are not. But now, I'm afraid that Chang'an will not have any troops to be deployed, and the rest can only be organized to be young and strong. And to wait until the reinforcements arrive, it will also take a certain amount of time for Hangu Pass to hold on.

But Zhang Ling also knew that there were not too many supplies in reserve on Hangu Pass, and it was difficult for 8,000 soldiers to resist the attack of Zhao's army. In addition, since the time when the Zhao State captured Dongyongzhou, after the 20,000 soldiers of the Hangu Pass defenders went out to rescue but the whole army was destroyed, the army on the eastern front of Xiyongzhou was also replenished with many new soldiers. Therefore, without reinforcements, it is difficult for Zhang Ling to believe that he can hold this place.

"Boom, boom, boom......" There was a rumbling sound outside the city, which was the footsteps of the Zhao army's soldiers advancing.

Is it finally about to start? How long can this Hangu Pass last? Looking at the soldiers with panicked faces, a faint sadness flashed in Zhang Ling's eyes.

"Order, let the soldiers get ready for battle!"

Accompanied by the sound of Zhang Ling's military order, the endless impact of gold and iron suddenly sounded, and the soldiers of the Seven and Eight Han Army were neatly draped and set up a formation along the wall of Hangu Pass. Although the strength of the army is far inferior to that of the other party, with the natural danger of Hangu Pass, Zhang Ling also wants to understand the strength of the Zhao army based on this.

"Archer...... Array! ”

"Pikemen...... Concentrate! ”

"Fire oil, bring the oil up......"

"The rolling logs are placed here, and they are stacked neatly......"

On the Hangu Pass, the mournful trumpet of the Han army colonel resounded one after another, resounding through the mountains, and the soldiers under their respective commands quickly began to assemble and array, and then a team began to move according to the military order, and the corresponding formation was set up along the inner side of the female wall, and the suffocating aura of slaughter was endlessly diffused in the heavens and the earth, and many recruits who had never been on the battlefield had already turned pale and could not even speak. Only those veterans who have been through a hundred battles have a cold expression and a calm demeanor, and these veterans who have come over in the sea of swords and fires have a rock-like firm will, even if the sky falls, they can't let them have the slightest change of color.

Outside Hangu Pass, Zhao Xiong said lightly: "Looking at the situation of the Han army on the city wall, the plan of the governor has been successful, and not only are there not many Han troops on the pass, but many of them are new pawns. Come to think of it, the last time they went out to raid us, we wiped out more than 20,000 people, and it was also a lot of trauma for them. ”

Deputy General Zhang Yin said: "Even so, if you attack hard, I'm afraid you will have to pay a lot of casualties." ”

Zhao Xiong said with a smile: "There are not many troops in Xiyongzhou that can be flexibly mobilized, and the reinforcements that want to come to them will not arrive immediately." Even if there is, it is still young and strong. What we need now is to train our non-commissioned soldiers, and train all the recruits and those who have been demoted in the team into veterans, so that they can adapt to the combat habits of our Zhao army. The second is to take advantage of the situation to consume the garrison materials of the enemy army. When they run out of supplies, or if they are exhausted, give them the final blow with a new type of Heaven-Shaking Thunder. ”

"Pass the order, the first and second will start attacking!"

"The general has an order, and the first and second will start to attack......"

The trumpet swayed, and immediately a herald rushed to the front, passing Zhao Xiong's military order, and suddenly, the low horn suddenly became fierce. The continuous drumming was even more high-pitched and densely raindropped. Knocking on the hearts of the besieging soldiers, the hot blood suddenly began to boil.

After the first and second lieutenants in front received the order, they threw the spear in their hand into the sky, let out a long roar, and then gave a deep order. The herald beside him raised a pennant in his hand and waved it vigorously, and the middle-level officers below almost howled in unison: "The commander has an order, the hoplites are in front, and the sword and shield soldiers and archers are close behind...... Sortie! ”

"Boom...... Cha...... Boom ......"

More than 1,500 hoplites from each of the two capitals began to advance towards the city wall, and the heavy footsteps converged into a suffocating sound, and in this rhythmic and murderous footsteps, the two huge infantry phalanxes began to move slowly forward. As he moved, he began to change the formation, gradually changing from the initial offensive and defensive local formation to a purely defensive inverted goose formation.

On the Hangu Pass, a cold color flashed in the eyes of Zhang Ling, the commander of the Han army. It is worthy of the sergeant of Zhao, this infantry is neatly lined up and the armor is tight. The changing formation is also fast and orderly, and it can be called an elite army! However, he also saw from the soldiers of Zhao that some of the soldiers of Zhao were also on the march, and they were a little flustered. He understands that these are the new pawns in the Zhao army.

In fact, he didn't know that these were the soldiers of the Luo army in the former Dongyongzhou, but they were not suitable for the current siege method of the Zhao army. Directly attacking the city, they will face a fierce attack from the enemy forces on the gate. And the Zhao army's military regulations, without a military order, they can't retreat, but these soldiers have already experienced the severity of the Zhao army's military regulations in the Zhao army's new barracks.

Zhao Xiong of the Chinese army ordered lightly: "Let the catapults in the rear assist in the battle, and smash me on the city wall!" General Ben wants to see if the defenders of Hangu Pass are not afraid at all. ”

"Boom ......"

The 10,000-strong army came to a stop two hundred paces before the pass, and the heavy infantry in front of them slammed the large shield in their hands to the ground, and a loud sound like a landslide suddenly broke out between the heavens and the earth, and the sword and shield soldiers in the rear were on both sides of the archers and stopped and lined up with the archers. Almost as soon as the two phalanx soldiers lined up in formation, a huge catapult was already following.

"Catapult, attack!"

"Put! Put! Put ~~"

Dozens of small colonels standing beside the catapult gave a cold order, and thousands of baggage soldiers struggled to pull the cable in their hands at the same time, and the near end of the catapult fell fiercely. Suddenly, nearly a hundred boulders the size of a millstone were thrown high, screaming violently, tumbling towards the majestic city wall of Hangu Pass.

"Boom Boom~~"

Boulder Hammer City. The huge crashing sound sounded endlessly in an instant, and the entire majestic wall began to groan and tremble, and many Han soldiers on the city wall suddenly panicked. Of course, there are also soldiers who were directly hit by stones, broken bones and tendons, and died tragically, and there were stones that crashed into the burning oil pot with a bang. The pot was broken and the oil was splashed, and the flames were churning, and more than a dozen Han soldiers guarding the oil pot could not avoid it, and they were engulfed by the raging fire in an instant.

The castle tower was suddenly in disarray, but it soon stabilized under the officer's order and began to dodge.

"The ladders and siege towers of the Zhao army have not been dispatched, they are not attacking the city, they are attacking the morale and training of our soldiers! If this continues, Hangu Pass will be in danger! ”

"Archer, shoot!" Outside the city wall, the thousands of archers of the Zhao army were already ready while the catapult was mighty, and at this moment, under the order of the officer, ten thousand arrows flew together, straight to the city wall!

…………

Chang'an, the former capital of Dayan, may not be as good as Luoyang compared to prosperity, but the size of Chang'an and the completeness of the city are no less than Luoyang. Since then, after Emperor Yan moved the capital, it has no longer been prosperous, coupled with the rebellion of the original Liangzhou Mansion, which also made the land of Chang'an Sanfu suffer from the scourge of war, so it is far less than Luoyang. Of course, it is not as good as Luoyang, which is now occupied by Zhao Jun.

In charge of the affairs of Chang'an and the entire Dongyongzhou is Lin Shucheng, who is left behind in Chang'an and is responsible for the military and political affairs of Chang'an's three auxiliary places. At this moment, Lin Shucheng's face was full of bitterness. Zhao Guo moved, and the Zhao army would make a big move, even if it was also surprised. In his opinion, the Zhao army's actions were certain, but the main purpose was to destroy the alliance of the princes. But now, Zhao Guo really made a big move, and the target of the attack turned out to be Hangu Pass, which he thought was unlikely.

In contrast, the north and northwest of Xiyongzhou are more likely to be attacked. The Zhao army in Liangzhou and Bingzhou was not much less than that stationed in Dongyongzhou. The most important thing is that the Zhao army in Dongyongzhou also has to guard against the Jingzhou army in Jingbei in the south. In addition, Hangu Pass has natural dangers to defend, so the possibility of Hangu Pass being attacked on the front line is still low.

It is also because of this that when the king of Hanzhong returned to the land of Chang'an, he shifted the center of gravity of the army to the west and north, and he had no reason to oppose it. Now, the military report and the letter asking for help from the general of Hangu Pass are already in his hands.

"How could the Zhao army attack in full force at this time? Doesn't it mean that its internal rectification is being carried out because of official problems, and Zhao Xun is confident that he can fight and win a big battle with the princes in the face of internal instability? ”

"Unstable? Zhao Jun's foundation is stronger than you want! Even if they are unstable, they can draw hundreds of thousands of troops to fight us. ”

There was a sound of the staff in the house arguing in his ears, which made Lin Shucheng even more irritable. He found that after sitting in Chang'an, after being busy with internal affairs for a long time, he actually neglected to investigate the intelligence of Zhao State.

"Don't argue, now, the official arranges, you do it. If anyone has a better opinion or other opinions, feel free to ask. Now the situation is very dangerous, and this is not the time for you to argue about the intelligence of Zhao Guo. At present, it is mainly based on Hanya Pass being attacked and supporting Hanya Pass. Lin Shucheng said in a deep voice.

Stopping the staff's argument, Lin Shucheng rubbed his eyebrows and immediately made arrangements. On the one hand, he sent someone to report the information here to the king of Hanzhong in Jingnan, so that the king of Hanzhong could bring in the princes to assist. On the other hand, the king of Hanzhong also ordered the army of Jingbei to take certain actions against the Zhao army in Dongyongzhou, forcing the Zhao army not to advance westward easily.

In addition, Lin Shucheng also asked people to immediately organize young people to go to Hangu Pass to support. In order to prevent the Zhao army from attacking the west, it did not allow the troops facing the Zhao army on the northern and northwest fronts to withdraw. After all, Hangu Pass is in danger, and in any case, it can hold out for a while. If the Zhao army is allowed to attack from the north and northwest, it will be difficult for Xiyongzhou to hold on.

At the same time, Lin Shucheng also sent orders to the northern and western parts of Xiyongzhou, telling them to be prepared in case of a surprise attack by the Zhao army.