Li Wen's heart ached.
Every night, when he rested, he would see the rising number of non-battle casualties, the injured soldiers, cows, and horses, as well as the damaged carriages and supplies.
If this continued, by the time they reached Hanzhong, how many soldiers would he have left? How much food would he have left to eat? How much strength would his soldiers have left to fight?
He was already in such a state. What about the other two troops?
Li Ruzhang didn't need to be mentioned. Whether they wanted to hurry or dawdle, the road was not easy to travel.
But to be honest, Du Tong's road was better than his. From Tianshui to the south, there were relatively flat river valleys that could be used. It was relatively easy for the troops to advance. When they encountered places with abundant water, they could also arrange for ships to transport food and supplies, saving manpower.
So although the road was longer, it was easier to travel and the losses were not great.
But their marching speed was still slow, and the distance they advanced each day was not much.
Looking at the constantly consuming food and water, looking at the constantly decreasing reserves, and calculating how long the food in his hands could last, Li Wen was really worried. But he also knew that he had to fight, or else he would just be sitting and waiting for death.
How could he give in to these rebels?
Whether it was as an important official like the governor-general of the three borders or as a scholar, even though he had many doubts about the abdication of Emperor Wanli and the ascension of Emperor Taichang, things had already come to this point. With the imperial edict in hand, he had no time to ask too many questions. He only knew that he had to do his own thing.
The rebels had rebelled and cut off the supply routes. He would not sit and wait for death. Whether it was for the court, for himself, or for his position, he would not turn back.
Even if he only had the strength to fight once, this battle had to be fought.
Compared to the slow progress of Li Wen's three armies, Ma Wei and the other two had it much easier.
Deng Zilong led 30,000 soldiers north along the river valley to arrange a defensive line. Jitou Pass sent people to repair, arrange cannons and ambushes, and then arrange various defensive tools and obstacles.
It was the same at Hutou Pass. All sorts of repairs and enhancements were made. It was the same at Liuba. 5,000 soldiers were stationed at Liuba for defense.
To the west of Liu Dam, there was a mountain pass called Firewood Pass. The patrol station of Liu Dam was located at Firewood Pass. Deng Zilong sent his troops to attack Firewood Pass, but he discovered that Firewood Pass was deserted. There was not a single person in the city, but there were still some things that could be used.
Deng Zilong thought for a while and sent people to take away everything that could be used in the Firewood Pass. He set up many traps in the Firewood Pass, intending to make Li Wen have a taste of being frightened by the mere twang of a bow.
After that, Deng Zilong inspected the road from Chaiguan to Liuba. Considering the road conditions of those roads he had found before, he realized how difficult it was to transport grains from Baoji to Liuba. It was not hard to imagine how fragile the grain road was.
Under such circumstances, if they continued to lengthen the supply line, their food supply line would collapse in less than a month.
He couldn't take a little blow.
Although he only had 40,000 soldiers in his hands, in this mountainous region, there was no way for 10,000 soldiers to line up and charge as a whole. A thousand people against a thousand people was more or less enough. Otherwise, they would not be able to fight at all. If they wanted to fight, they could only fight in groups. There was no advantage in numbers at all.
On the contrary, he had a bigger advantage.
He was old, and he didn't know how much longer he could hold on. Perhaps this would be his last battle. If he couldn't seize this opportunity to push his status forward, then his children would have a hard time after his death.
This battle was not only for his great cause and for himself, but also for his descendants to have a good starting point.
Therefore, Deng Zilong confidently prepared for the coming battle.
On the other side, Liu Gu had also made some arrangements in Lueyang. However, Liu Gu obviously didn't intend to make too many arrangements in Lueyang. Instead, he set up the main defense in Yangping Pass. It was really unwise for him to make arrangements in Lueyang, a place with a lot of water, instead of a natural stronghold like Yangping Pass.
Lueyang was just a bait to lure the enemy deep in, while Yangping Pass was the enemy's burial ground. If Du Tong really met him on the battlefield, he was sure that the corpses of Du Tong's subordinates would be strewn all over the field.
With such a long supply line and such a difficult road to travel, Cao Wei couldn't even hold on for three months with the financial resources of half a country. If it were Li Wen, who was short of food, it would be difficult for an army of 100,000 to hold on for more than a month.
He was confident that he could win this battle and take the important credit. Then, he would be on an equal footing with Xiao Ruxun's main force!
Liu Gu knew that he might not be the strongest in terms of ability, and he was not as close as those generals who had followed Xiao Ruxun for seven or eight years. Therefore, he wanted to use his credit to talk and communicate with those trusted subordinates. He wanted to stand with them and share the power after Fengtian succeeded in suppressing the rebels.
He was very clear that after Xiao Ruxun's northern expedition was a success, she would definitely not continue with the current system. She would definitely undergo a great reform to reclaim the power and dignity of martial artists. At that time, whoever was at the forefront would be able to obtain the best, earth-shattering benefits.
Therefore, how could he not fight this battle well?
It was the same for Ma Wei.
He was not a member of Xiao Ruxun's Yuan Cong's faction. He did not follow Xiao Ruxun to Ningxia and Korea. Instead, he had followed Xiao Ruxun since the Battle of Dongwu. After a few years, he had a position and military achievements. However, in terms of closeness, he was definitely not as close as the three generals and some of the less accomplished lieutenants of Yuan Cong's faction.
The four battalions of the infantry and the two battalions of the cavalry of the Zhennan Army were full of fierce generals. In terms of military achievements, no one was inferior to the other. In Myanmar, there were not many opportunities for them to display their skills. Now, it was time to determine the real winner.
If they stopped at Sichuan, then they would be stupid. After entering Hanzhong, there would be more opportunities to fight. Ma Wei even wondered if Xiao Ruxun had purposely given him a chance to let him, the leader of the Ma Family's generals, stand out. It would be worthy of Ma Gui's trust.
After Xiao Ruxun's northern expedition succeeded, the generals of Vermillion Bird Camp that he led would definitely get a share of the spoils. However, the generals of the four major infantry battalions and the two major cavalry battalions would receive better rewards if they could lead the generals in their own battalions to obtain more military achievements.
At that time, when they had military power and status, it would not be a problem to bestow their wives and children. That was the biggest reason for them to fight to the death.
So, the fight to the death right now was for that coveted reward!
After seven days of stopping and walking, Li Wen finally brought his main force to Feng County to rest and reorganize. In Feng County, Li Wen learned that the strategic location of Liuba had been occupied by the rebel army, and the inspection office of Liuba had lost Chai Guan. The reason was that they gave up on escaping.
After that, Li Wen found the main officials that had abandoned the Firewood Pass and escaped.
Without a second word, they were killed as a sacrifice.
"If anyone else retreats without fighting, they will be the same!"
The military was solemn and swept away the negative effects of fatigue and fatigue.
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