In ancient times, the section from Xiaoshan Mountain to Tongguan, which was located in the middle of the old road from Luoyang to Xi'an, was mostly in the valley. It was as deep and dangerous as a box, and was called Han Valley in ancient times. During the Warring States Period, Duke Xiao of Qin seized the land of Xiaohan from the State of Wei and set up Hangu Pass here.
This pass is 7.5 kilometers long from east to west. The valley road can only accommodate one car. The west of the pass is occupied by the plateau, the east is close to the stream, the south is connected to the Qinling Mountains, and the north is blocked by the Yellow River. Because the pass is in the valley, as deep and dangerous as a box, it is called Hangu Pass. There was a saying that one man could hold the pass and ten thousand men could not open it.
After marching day and night, the 100,000 Qin soldiers had already arrived at Hangu Pass. This was the first time Zhao Mu had seen Hangu Pass. It was still the original Hangu Pass of the ancient times. It looked majestic and magnificent.
Zhao Mu somewhat understood why King Zhuang Xiang and the ministers did not care too much about the invasion of the allied forces. The only difference was whether they should defend and counterattack or take the initiative to attack.
It was too difficult to conquer such an impregnable pass with just manpower.
The best way to crack this was to have someone offer the city to the people inside the pass. However, with the shrewdness of the Qin country, it was obvious that they would not let this happen.
Zhao Mu collected his thoughts and said to Wang Jian,""General Wang, I'll leave the main battlefield to you. General Meng and I will rest for fifteen minutes before setting off. Duke Wen of Zhou has already met up with General Xiang Yan of Chu.”
Wang Jian nodded and said," Great General, don't worry. Wang Jian will definitely make the vassals believe that the army is with me and create an opportunity for Great General and General Meng.”
"Take care."
"Take care."
After bidding farewell to Wang Jian, Zhao Mu and Meng Ao led the 3,000 cavalry named Dragon Tiger Cavalry to rest for 15 minutes. Then, they left without stopping and rushed towards the route of Duke Wen of Zhou and the Chu army that they had obtained from the spy.
After Zhao Mu and Meng Ao left, Wang Jian immediately ordered his men to seal Hangu Pass and hand it over to his trusted general to guard it. Among the dukes, spies came and went. Although it was impossible for Hangu Pass to be offered up, no one in the Qin country could guarantee that there were no spies from the dukes at Hangu Pass.
The Dragon-Tiger Cavalry had already appeared before their eyes. Even if they did not know the true function of the Dragon-Tiger Cavalry, as long as the spy spread the news, the surprise attack of Zhao Mu and Meng Ao's cavalry would be useless.
They traveled in the morning and slept at night. They even sacrificed more than ten warhorses that died in battle. After five days, Zhao Mu and Meng Ao finally arrived at Zhou Wengong's camp.
This time, Duke Wen of Zhou had sent out five thousand troops and a hundred chariots. This was practically the Zhou Dynasty's last military force.
Beside the camp of the Zhou army was a large flag with the word Xiang. Xiang Yan was the general sent by the Chu army this time. He led 30,000 Chu troops and 200 chariots. This kind of strength was not small.
The other dukes were about the same size as the Chu army. There were about 200,000 of them and over 1,000 chariots.
Thus, the allied forces of the vassals were quite powerful this time. This was also why Yang Duan He, Duke Pang, and the others planned to defend Hangu Pass and wait for the vassals to turn against them before counterattacking.
Meng Ao carefully observed the camp of Duke Wen of Zhou and the Chu army and suddenly laughed.
Zhao Mu looked at him. Meng Ao explained,"Great General, please take a look. The Chu camp and the Zhou camp are separated by a hundred feet, and there are soldiers patrolling. Clearly, Duke Wen of Zhou is not at ease with the Chu army. Otherwise, they would at least camp together and take care of each other.
Now, the Chu army and the Zhou army were 100 feet apart. Both sides did not trust each other. Once the Zhou army was attacked, the Chu army would definitely not be able to react in time. It could be said that the heavens were helping them.”
Zhao Mu nodded his head. In terms of these ancient military strategies, he was indeed less experienced than Meng Ao, Wang Jian, and the others. However, this was alright. He would leave the professional matters to the professionals.
He only needed to collect the credits.
The two of them confirmed that there was only one group of Chu army beside the Zhou army and could not help but heave a sigh of relief. They had finally made it in time. If there was another group of soldiers, they would have to retreat. After all, the difference in strength would be too great.
Zhao Mu and Meng Ao told the hidden soldiers to rest and wait for dawn before launching a surprise attack.
The Chu army and Duke Wen of Zhou did not expect the Qin army to arrive so quickly. They had never experienced such a lightning-fast attack before, so the scouts were not placed far away and only wandered around the camp.
According to tradition, they would only send out scouts when they were thirty miles away from Hangu Pass. This also created a huge loophole.
The night gradually invaded the entire sky. The scattered torches flickered around the camp. The patrolling soldiers yawned listlessly, and the soldiers in charge of guarding the camp also looked exhausted.
In the huge camp, none of the tens of thousands of people realized that killing intent was gathering in the night.
Their past war mentality had completely limited their actions. Even General Xiang Yan was a little too relaxed.
When the people were at their most exhausted, Zhao Mu and Meng Ao led the energetic 3,000 Dragon Tiger Cavalry and prepared to charge into the camp of the Zhou army. Zhao Mu turned around and looked at the three thousand cavalrymen. He shouted in a low voice,"Everyone, this battle will bring glory to us, and Great Qin will definitely win!”
"Great Qin will definitely win!" The three thousand people shouted in unison, and the sound of hooves rang out like thunder!
It stomped on the ground!
The camp started to shake, and the soldiers in charge of guarding the camp woke up. However, it was already too late. The cavalry charged forward in the blink of an eye. The crossbow bolts pierced through the air, and the entire camp was covered in black clouds.
Zhao Mu had fewer people, so he chose to kill the Zhou army first before attacking the Chu army.
Firstly, the Zhou army did not have many people, and the soldiers were not elite. One charge would be enough to deal with them. Secondly, the fleeing Zhou soldiers would subconsciously run towards the Chu army camp, bringing chaos to the Chu army.
In the army, things like mutiny and defeat were actually started by a small group of people. Then, for some reason, everyone began to be defeated and retreated along with the crowd.
Puff!
The arrow pierced through the chest of the vigilant soldier and nailed him to the gatepost of the camp.
Countless soldiers were killed while they were still sleeping.
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