Nanming Engineer

Chapter 226 The Sword Gate Is A Nail

On the afternoon of April 28th, the first year of Longwu in the Ming Dynasty, Jiange, an important checkpoint on the Jinniu Road in Baoning Prefecture, was closed, and a group of Daxi Army officers and soldiers ushered in. The general who led the team was Ma Yuanli, the governor of Baoning Prefecture.

The general guarding the pass is in a panic. He has already heard about the defeat of the Western Army in Hanzhong. Emperor Zhang Xianzhong is stationing troops in Guangyuan, preparing to fight the Tartars to the death. , Restored some of the strength before the Battle of Hanzhong.

However, anyone with a discerning eye can see that in the Battle of Hanzhong, the soldiers of the Great West were defeated in the first battle, and even the two princes were killed on the spot. As an elite imperial battalion, there is not much left. Can the battalion be turned around when the battalion comes here?
Jiange Shouguan Township has secretly sent people to arrange his wives in Chengdu to tidy up his wives and send them to the territory of the Kuizhou Army in the east of Sichuan. I have already entrusted someone to buy a house and land in Fengjie, so I can live in the past.

And the town general himself quietly prepared the linen shoes worn by the people, preparing for the slightest mistake in the situation, and he could get away and slip away immediately. After all, he followed Zhang Xianzhong's rebellion to make a living, and now his job is about to be smashed. It's not worth it if you take your life in.

Ma Yuanli's sudden arrival made the town general very helpless, which meant that he could not escape and had to accompany the governor to guard the gate.

What followed Ma Yuanli was an army that was different from the ordinary Daxi army. Everyone wore white robes and held long spears with horizontal hooks. The elite imperial battalion is probably nothing more than that. Since when did Ma Yuanli have such an elite army?

There are 1000 soldiers guarding the pass under the command of the town general. When Ma Yuanli came, he patrolled the pass city, and whispered to a young officer who followed him every step of the way, as if his face was paralyzed and expressionless. He directly ordered the town general to lead a team out of the pass to Guangyuan to support the emperor. This Jiange pass city was handed over to Ma Yuanli.

The town general is confused, this is not in line with the procedure, I am the governor of the Fifth Army of the Great West, and I have a duty to guard here. Although Ma Yuanli is the chief officer of Baoning Mansion, I have to obey him, but this The right to deploy troops cannot be settled by a word from him.

The town general felt that something was wrong, depending on the order of the imperial court, the situation became awkward, and Ma Yuanli could not come up with anything to match, at this moment, the three thousand white-robed soldiers who followed Ma Yuanli into the Guancheng , took action directly.

The young general with facial paralysis put the long knife around his waist on the town general's neck at the slightest disagreement, tied him into a rice dumpling and threw him in the corner. Disarmed, stripped naked, leaving only close-fitting clothes, and drove out of Guancheng.

"Well, Master Ma, look, what else can I do?" Ma Yuanli asked Ma Xintian, rubbing his hands in embarrassment.

The matter went awry. The original plan was that Ma Yuanli would take advantage of his status as the governor to transfer the group of guards away, but he didn't expect the white-robed soldiers to take the effort, which made Ma Yuanli a little panicked.

"It's useless for you to stay here." Ma Xintian didn't give face at all, and said calmly: "Please return to Chengdu, the governor. When Wang Zongbing enters Chengdu, you can persuade the generals in the city who are familiar with you to surrender. If you can gain something, It’s also a great achievement.”

Ma Yuanli was slightly ashamed, but also a little happy. After all, he could stay away from the battlefield. It would be great not to fight with the Tartars, so he left with a smile, accompanied by a small group of white-robed soldiers.

After dismissing irrelevant burdens, Ma Xintian immediately took Liu Li and Ma Zuoheng to carefully survey the terrain and prepare for the upcoming battle.

Jiange, with Jianmen Pass in it, Xiongguan Mandao, the only pass on the land of China that has not been breached from the front, not one of them.

The pass is located in the north of Chengdu and south of Guangyuan. The ancients said that "Jiange is towering and Cui Wei, one man guards the pass, and ten thousand husbands cannot open it." It is true.The site of Guancheng is located at the interruption of the dangerous Dajian Mountain. The original continuous mountain here suddenly breaks as if being split by a sharp axe, forming a deep and steep canyon with cliffs on both sides. The canyon is sandwiched by large rocks, turning the deep canyon into a narrow mountain passage, the ancient Jinniu Road, which passes through the valley.

The valley runs north-south, the south is high and the north is low. Foreign enemies coming from the north must attack upwards. However, the slope of the valley road is extremely steep, about [-] degrees. A winding stone staircase extends from the foot of the mountain to the north for nearly ten miles before you can go up. Go to Guancheng.The left side of the canyon is higher, and the right side is lower. On weekdays, mountains and rivers flow from the low-lying places on the right.Only the higher place on the left can pass people and horses. The Jinniu Ancient Road stretches from that curved stone staircase to the distant direction of Shaanxi.

The stone road is only one foot wide, and the narrow part can only accommodate a wheelbarrow. There are rocks and cliffs on both sides. There is no way to go. No matter how many people come, you can only follow one road. It is very similar to the one road in Huashan. , but the difference is that you don’t have to go up Mount Huashan. If you want to enter Sichuan, you must pass here.

The stone-built Guancheng stands on the top of the ancient road slope at the bottom of the canyon. Looking up from the low place in the north, one feels a feeling of being locked in the clouds and flying when attacked. On this terrain, unless there is A tank that can climb slopes, otherwise it is extremely difficult to attack.

Historically, the regimes that ruled the middle of Shu all regarded Jianmen Pass as a barrier, guarded by powerful generals, and foreign enemies were not allowed to enter. Therefore, no matter what the chaos in the Central Plains was like, the Kingdom of Abundance was often peaceful and peaceful, as if isolated from the world. Jiange It is indispensable.

The three of them were patrolling the plank road, and they couldn't help admiring and marveling that there is such a strange and dangerous place in the world. Liu Li is from Datong, so he has never seen such a geographically constructed fortress; Ma Zuoheng is a native of Shizhu and has never been here. Passing through this area of ​​Chengdu is also amazing.

Only Ma Xintian, the battalion officer who was so calm as ordinary people, slipped around inside and outside the pass city, and asked a few old guards who hadn't left, frowned deeply.

"Jianmen Pass is such a majestic pass. It has been a barrier in Shu since ancient times. No one can break it. Why did the Shu Han of the Three Kingdoms, the former Shu of Wang Jian in the late Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties, and the later Shu of Meng Zhixiang, all be overthrown by foreign enemies? What is the reason?" Ma Xintian Station On the plank road four or five miles away from Guancheng, the mountains here gradually opened up, and the field of vision could be seen far away. The mountains in the distance were undulating, and the scenery of northern Sichuan was unobstructed. He looked at the plank road hidden among the shadows of the mountains and trees, and squinted. He asked in a low voice with his eyes closed.

Liu Li and Ma Zuoheng were at a loss for words, and looked at each other blankly. Neither of them had ever read a book. They were literate in the Kuizhou Army, but they could only recognize more than 100 characters. They hadn't heard any of these historical stories. I have heard it, how can I answer it.

So the two said: "The end will not be known."

Ma Xintian shook his head, and said as he asked himself, "If there is no one else, let's make a detour."

"Detour?" Liu Li and Ma Zuoheng said in unison.

"There is more than one way to enter Sichuan, and this Jinniu Road is just one of them." Ma Xintian nodded and said, "Because the road was developed very early and the road is relatively easy, it is the first choice for entering Sichuan. There are also Micang Road and Lizhi Road. You can enter both Yinping Trail and Yinping Trail.”

Liu Li was surprised and blurted out: "There are still so many roads, so what if we stay here and the Tatars take a detour?"

Ma Xintian said: "My lord Wang often taught me that we must be thorough in our consideration of things, and do all the calculations without any omissions. Only then can we win every battle. I take it as my creed and always keep it in my heart. So even though we are guarding the Jiange, we must bear in mind that our mission , The purpose is to keep the Tatars out of the country before the adults arrive, and we must keep in mind all the roads that can lead to Sichuan."

"But Mr. Ying, we only have 3000 people, how can we endure so many places?" Ma Zuoheng asked eagerly.

Ma Xintian squatted down, asked Liu Li and Ma Zuoheng to squat over, picked up a stone on the ground, and drew it on the flagstone floor. He drew three white lines and used a circle to represent Chengdu. The starting points of the three lines are all in the circle Then, on the three lines, the words Jinniu Road, Micang Road and Yinping Trail were written, and a little to the south, another line was drawn, pointing to: "It doesn't matter, Lizhi Road is not here, but They crossed Wanyuan from Chongqing to Shaanxi, where the distance is far away, the roads are mostly barren, and it is extremely difficult to pass. If there is any trouble, it is completely in time to send troops there, and the Chongqing government is guarded by Master Meng Zhiyu, which is even more secure, so the litchi It’s nothing to worry about.”

He moved his finger up and moved to the Micang Road: "The Micang Road, passing through Bazhong and passing through northern Sichuan to Ankang, Shaanxi, is also a long way, and must pass through the place where the Di Yi live in the northern Sichuan. The Tartars are still barbaric, and if they want to conquer their territory, they will have to fight Di Yi first. Therefore, it is unlikely that Micang Road will come over to the Tartars."

The two were stunned when they heard the words, they patted their foreheads and said: "In this way, there are only Jinniu Dao and Yinping Dao left."

"That's right, the Yinping trail was discovered when Zhong Hui and Deng Ai avoided the Jiange guarded by Jiang Wei. It has become the first choice for foreign enemies to enter Sichuan and bypass the Jiange." Ma Xintian nodded and said: "But this road is extremely difficult to walk, and there are many cliffs. Almost all of them are trails walked by woodcutters and hunters. If you want to go there, you have to pack lightly, and it is impossible to pass heavy objects such as guns."

Having said that, Ma Xintian looked at Ma Zuoheng with a solemn expression, and said in a solemn voice, "You are a veteran of Shizhubai, and you are the best at walking in the mountains, so I want you to choose a thousand Shizhu native soldiers with hooks, sickles and long spears. Let’s set off and set up our defenses at Motianling on Yinping Road, in case the Tartars will bypass us from there and catch him by surprise.”

"However, Mr. Battalion Commander, what if the Tartars don't come? Haven't I wasted my troops for nothing?" Ma Zuoheng pondered, "We only have 3000 people in the Huozi Battalion, and I will take away a thousand. It’s not as good as if I bring 500 people.”

"Okay, as you said, take 500 people." Ma Xintian looked at him firmly, and said each word: "But you have to keep in mind that if the Tartars come from Yinping Road, unless you die, otherwise Can't let anyone go there!"

Ma Zuoheng clenched his fists, slammed the white line on the slab hard, and roared in a low voice, "President Ying, don't worry, as long as I'm still alive, the Tartars won't be able to pass!"

(End of this chapter)