Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 387: Seizing the Pass

The war in Sichuan had just ended when the war in Nanyang broke out again.

After Wu Sangui occupied Xiangyang Prefecture and Nanyang Prefecture, in order to expand his army, he recruited all the blacksmiths under his rule to make military equipment for him, so that the common people from all over the country could not find a blacksmith.

By the time Zhao Yongping launched the Northern Expedition, Wu Sangui already had more than 50,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry.

The place where Wu Sangui occupied was located in the Nanyang Basin, which was surrounded by the Qinling Mountains, Funiu Mountains, and Tongbai Mountains from west to east. There was also the Baihe River flowing from north to south in the middle. The entire Nanyang Basin could be described as a place surrounded by mountains and rushing rivers.

Being surrounded by mountains means that the Nanyang Basin is an independent territory. In times of chaos, once a force enters the Nanyang Basin, it is an excellent place to establish its own regime or to use it as a strategic fulcrum for conquering the east and the west. The only flaw is that Wu Sangui is now surrounded by enemies, but it is both a flaw and an opportunity. As long as the time is right, he can attack from all sides.

Wu Sangui was no fool. He knew that if he did not advance, he would fail in his fight for the world. If he waited until the world situation became clear, then no matter how good Nanyang's geographical location was, he would be trapped and die sooner or later.

Therefore, he set his sights on the west. In Wu Sangui's view, Zhou's army was now powerful and should not be easily provoked. Jiang Xiang's rebellion made Wu Sangui realize that an opportunity was about to come.

It was not until Zhou's army launched a northern expedition and Zhao Yongping captured Xuzhou that Wu Sangui felt the time was ripe.

There is Jiang Xiang in Shanxi, and Dorgon will not focus on Wu Sangui before he eliminates Jiang Xiang. What is more important is that Zhou Jun's Northern Expedition is the main concern of the Qing court.

Wu Sangui, who occupied Nanyang and Xiangyang, had two routes to choose from at this time. One was to advance westward from Xiangyang, seize Xunyang Prefecture and Xing'an Prefecture, and enter Hanzhong. He could take Hanzhong first and either spy on central Sichuan or go north to Shaanxi.

The second route is to send troops from Nanyang, pass through Xichuan, seize Shangluo, attack Xi'an, and thus seize Shaanxi.

In fact, there is another way, that is to go north from Nanyang to Baofeng, Ruzhou, and finally attack Luoyang, but this way was opposed by Fang Guangchen, who said: "Henan is a place that cannot be easily entered unless you are strong!"

No matter which path he chose, the targets he would attack were all areas under the rule of the Qing Dynasty. Although Wu Sangui felt that this was a good opportunity, he was still hesitant when it came to making the decision.

Fang Guangchen advised earnestly: "Your Highness has occupied Xiangyang and Nanyang and disobeyed Dorgon's orders. The Qing court must be deeply disgusted. Now Dorgon is busy with his own affairs. It is time for Your Highness to build his career. By then, whether you can capture Hanzhong and Shaanxi or not, you can build hegemony if you win. If you lose, you can return to the Ming Dynasty or Zhou Dynasty. Sending troops will bring you hundreds of benefits without any harm. If you don't send troops, there will be hundreds of harm without any benefit!"

Wu Sangui was enlightened when he heard this. He immediately held Fang Guangchen's hand and said excitedly: "Tingxian is really my Zifang!"

Afterwards, Wu Sangui carefully asked Fang Guangchen about the pros and cons of the two routes. However, Fang Guangchen bluntly suggested that he should attack Shaanxi, but go through Xunyang and take Hanzhong.

Fang Guangchen explained, "Your Majesty, if you take Hanzhong first, there are Li Guohan, Wang Zuntan and other generals in northern Sichuan, and Meng Qiaofang, the governor of the three borders in Shaanxi, so we will be attacked from both sides. But it will be different if you take Xi'an first. Once you take Xi'an, Hanzhong and even northern Sichuan will be completely isolated from you. By then, if you send an envoy, maybe you can take Hanzhong without any soldiers!"

Wu Sangui felt that this made sense, but then he became worried: "If we attack Shaanxi from Nanyang, the Wuguan Pass is a strong city and it may be difficult to cross."

Fang Guangchen also found the situation a bit tricky. Seeing this, Wu Sangui summoned his generals He Jinzhong, Sun Wenhuan, and Wei Zhiping to conspire to capture Wuguan.

The five people discussed for a long time and proposed many plans, but they were all rejected due to their shortcomings. In the end, Sun Wenhuan's method seemed to be more feasible.

Sun Wenhuan suggested that the main army should not attack Shangnan, but instead send a team of light cavalry to bypass Wuguan, disguise themselves as merchants, and then enter the city. Once inside, they would take the opportunity to seize the city.

After capturing Wuguan, we will gather the army and attack Shangnan.

Afterwards, Wu Sangui immediately sent Sun Wenhuan to select 500 elite cavalrymen from among the elite cavalrymen, bypass Shangnan, and wait for an opportunity to attack Wuguan. As for the garrisons in other places, Wu Sangui did not issue any transfer orders, and their behavior was no different from usual.

Meng Qiaofang had already become wary of Wu Sangui after he established control of Nanyang. Not only did he greatly strengthen the garrison in the Shangluo area, he also secretly sent spies to Nanyang and other places to keep an eye on Wu Sangui's every move.

Until the Jiang Xiang Rebellion, Wang Yongqiang, the lieutenant general of Yan'an in Shaanxi, and Milayin, the deputy general of Ganzhou, competed to start rebellions, so that the war spread to Yan'an Prefecture and the Five Guards of Ganzhou.

In order to wipe out Wang Yongqiang, Milayin and others, Meng Qiaofang inevitably drew some troops to defend against Wu Sangui. In Wuguan City, there were one thousand Green Camp soldiers drawn from Ningxia Wei and three hundred local troops stationed. In Shangnan on the front line, Meng Qiaofang also stationed one thousand soldiers. Once Wu Sangui made any unusual movements, Shang County in the rear and even the prefectural city of Xi'an could send troops to support Wuguan.

…………

Sun Wenhuan, a general under Wu Sangui, bypassed Shangnan and rushed towards Wugu Pass. Along the way, he met more than a hundred merchants and several messengers. In order to keep the secret, Sun Wenhuan killed them all. When approaching Wugu Pass, Sun Wenhuan selected thirty of the most valiant men and exchanged their clothes and goods for the clothes he had seized from the merchants along the way.

The rest of the cavalry put reins on their horses to prevent them from neighing.

At this time, Huang Zongde, the commander of Wuguan, was lying on the wall of the pass, basking in the sun, bored. There was no military report from Shangnan, and no secret report from various places in Nanyang. According to the report the day before, the garrisons in various places in Nanyang had not been transferred, and the army had not been mobilized. Everything was the same as usual. After a long time, Huang Zongde inevitably became a little slack.

At this time, a group of peddlers slowly walked in outside the gate. They were pulling a donkey cart covered with cloth. Judging from the ruts, the cargo should be heavy.

The guards at the gate were either squatting or standing, but when they saw someone coming, they stood up immediately. At this time, the caravan was getting closer, and two soldiers guarding the gate walked up and shouted to the caravan: "What's the cargo on the car? The leader is ready to pay the tax!"

The leader showed a forced smile on his face, walked over and said to the soldier: "Sir, the goods on my cart are all cheap goods, some coarse cloth and some small bamboo items."

After he finished speaking, he waved his hand to signal the caravan to continue moving forward. The soldier didn't care and just shouted to the person at the gate, "See if it's made of coarse cloth or bamboo."

Then the soldier made a rough estimate and said, "Six carts, each cart is taxed ten taels of silver, a total of sixty taels, plus five taels of tea and water fee."

The leader of the caravan smiled and said, "Okay, I have my money on the donkey cart, how about you come with me?"

"also"

When they arrived at the gate, the first two cars had been inspected and nothing unusual was found. It was not until the third car that the soldier who was inspecting opened the lid and saw a row of neatly laid out long swords.

Just as the Green Camp soldiers were horrified, thirty soldiers who were attacking the gate immediately drew out their swords and slashed at the defenders at the gate. The leader blew a shrill whistle loudly to send a message to Sun Wenhuan in the rear.

The whistle didn't stop, and the sound of rapid horse hooves began to be heard...