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Qishan Fort is located in the middle section of Qishan East Road. It is called the fort. It is actually a wall-shaped camp built on a slightly high and dangerous hill. During the first northern expedition of the Han army, it was once a defense point for Cao's army.

Although camping on the hills is advantageous, the disadvantages are obvious. The most important part is the water source. Qishan Fort chose to be on a hill with water source. The camp was built according to the mountain and stretched for several miles. Two thousand Cao troops stationed at Gaozhai, blocking the official road to the north.

Although the Han army can go north from the West Road of Qishan, such an army exists in the Qishan area, which will easily cut off the Han army's food route and seriously threaten the Han army's northern expedition. Pulling off the Qishan Fort will become an inevitable choice for the Han army.

After taking Licheng, Huang Zhong's army rested for several days and continued to go north. Although Huang Zhong's vanguard army had 10,000 people, only 5,000 troops were actually invested in the battle, with a small number of people. On the one hand, the Cao army was at a loss and did not know whether the Han army was formally expeditioned the Northern Expedition or a small-scale harassment.

On the other hand, it is also to reduce the food consumption of the Han army itself. Before the Han army's food transportation and supply channels were fully established, a medium-sized army heading north was undoubtedly the best choice.

In the morning, five thousand troops marched rapidly between the mountains and ridges, with flags waving, dust flying, neatly looking, and the soldiers were full of morale. They had passed the basin and entered the central area of ​​the Qishan Mountains, less than twenty miles away from the Qishan Fort.

Huang Zhong was on the war horse and looked at the surrounding terrain. The area was wide and the forest was sparse, and the possibility of Cao's army ambush was not high, but Huang Zhong did not dare to take it lightly and kept sending scouts to the front to check the situation.

At this time, a scout came on a horse and reported: "Report to General, the mountains ahead have become narrower, the mountains are high and dense, and it is very easy to ambush."

Huang Zhong nodded and immediately ordered: "Tell me my order to change the marching formation, five people in a row, slow down the marching speed."

Five people in a row meant that the team was shortened. Shortening the marching team that was about ten miles long into several miles was conducive to concentrating troops and responding to enemy ambush and sneak attacks. Generally, only experienced generals would make such arrangements.

Since the Liu Biao era, Huang Zhong fought south and north for the expansion of Jingzhou. He has been fighting for more than 20 years and has rich experience. He knows what marching strategies to adopt under the circumstances. The terrain was wide before and it was not easy to be ambushed, so he ordered the army to march quickly, but once the terrain became narrower, he immediately became careful and ordered the army to slow down the marching speed. This is called proper rush.

At this time, Deputy General Wu Ban rode forward and said, "Old General, Qishan Fort is fifteen miles ahead. The camp at the foot of the mountain fort is easily attacked by the enemy. It is better to stay in the camp five miles away. Beizhi knows that there is an open land there, and a small river flows through it, which is very suitable for camping. Beizhi recommends camping there."

Wu Ban was Wu Yi's younger brother. He was brave and good at fighting. Like his brother, he was also quite strategic. He was deeply appreciated by Liu Jing and was named Vice Captain. He was very familiar with Qishan Road. This time Huang Zhong went north, and Liu Jing specially arranged him as Huang Zhong's deputy general.

In addition to Wu Ban, the generals who followed Huang Zhong's northern expedition this time were Lei Tong, Feng Xi, Ling Bao, Zhou Xin and others. They were responsible for guarding Licheng and building cities in Fengyun Valley, etc., and the generals who marched into Qishan Fort were only Wu Ban and Lei Tong. Of course, the military advisor Pang Tong also followed the army north.

Huang Zhong thought about it and Wu Ban’s suggestion made sense, so he nodded and said, “Since that’s the case, you can lead a thousand people to camp first, be careful of safety.”

"Abide by the orders of low duties"

Wu Ban led a thousand people to escort the mules and horses in the consignment tent, speeding up the marching, and running north first.

At this time, Huang Zhong slowed down his horse, waited for Pang Tong to come forward and walked with him. "The military advisor was quite silent today. Are you still unhappy about yesterday's incident?" Huang Zhong asked with a smile.

Yesterday, Pang Tong offered a plan to Huang Zhong, who could station at the foot of Qishan Fortress, relax military discipline and lead Cao's army to rob the camp at night, but was denied by Huang Zhong, which made Pang Tong feel a little unhappy. The key is that Huang Zhong basically did not listen to his suggestions during this northern expedition, which really made Pang Tong feel dissatisfied. Therefore, from yesterday to the present, he has not spoken a word and no longer made any suggestions.

At this time, Huang Zhong came to greet him, and Pang Tong said coldly: "The general is extremely talented and invincible. What else can I say? Shut up, don't the general feel that his ears are quiet?"

Huang Zhong heard the emotions in Pang Tong's tone, and said nothing more. He smiled and urged the horse to go forward to the team. He said to Pang Tong from afar: "Come on, come and go past the valley ahead and stay in the camp."

Pang Tong looked at Huang Zhong walking away, his teeth slowly clenched. If he really kept silent to the end, he would be unwilling to accept it. After all, this Northern Expedition was also his chance, so why did he give up.

But Pang Tong really couldn't understand Huang Zhong's ideas and it was difficult to work with him. In contrast, Zhao Yun respected him a lot, but Pang Tong had to admit that Huang Zhong's rich experience can sometimes make up for the shortcomings of strategy.

"Gather" Pang Tong urged the war horse and chased after him helplessly

The Han army set up a camp in an open area beside the riverside. It was only four or five miles away from Qishan Fort. You can clearly see the Cao army camp on the mountain ridge in the distance. Even if the Cao army rushed down from the mountain to attack the Han army camp, it would take some time, which was enough for the Han army to organize defenses. The camping site was very satisfying to Huang Zhong.

Pang Tong entered his tent, and a Shu Zuo was sorting out the books for him in the tent. Pang Tong waved his hand impatiently, "You retreat first, I will sort it out myself."

Shu Zuo retreated with a bow. Pang Tong sat down and opened a blank scroll. He picked up a pen and wanted to write a letter to Liu Jing to express his dissatisfaction with Huang Zhong, but he hesitated for a long time and could not write. He remembered the contempt he suffered in Liu Bei's military camp. A long time ago, he was outspoken and offended many of Liu Bei's confidants, such as Jian Yong and Sun Qian's party. If he wrote this letter, he would inevitably offend Huang Zhong again and repeat the same mistake.

Pang Tong sighed softly, and he seemed a little narrow-minded in doing so. He put down his pen again and pondered silently. At this time, a Huang Zhong's personal soldier quickly walked to the tent and bowed and said, "Report to the military advisor, the veteran general asks the military advisor to discuss matters."

Pang Tong was slightly stunned. Did Huang Zhong change his temperament again and remember that he should respect himself?

He nodded, "Tell the old general, I'll come soon."

Although Pang Tong wanted to be angry, he also understood in his heart that if he was angry, he would not be able to explain to the governor of the state. In the future, he would be unable to stand up. Well, let's go and listen to what Huang Zhong wants to discuss with him.

Pang Tong sorted out his clothes, walked out of the tent, and quickly walked towards the tent of the Central Army.

In the central army's tent, Huang Zhong was interrogating two Cao army scouts. These two Cao army detectives captured by the patrol. For Huang Zhong, these two tents came very timely. At this time, Pang Tong walked into the tent and he already knew that he had captured Cao army detectives.

"The old general should be interrogated separately. Maybe they were spies sent by Cao Jun to send fake news on purpose." Pang Tong reminded after entering the account.

Huang Zhong nodded, "The military advisor said yes"

He immediately asked the deputy general Wu Ban to take one of them to another account for interrogation. He personally interrogated the other person. Pang Tong sat down aside and listened quietly to Huang Zhong's interrogation.

"Report to the general, there are two thousand people in total, and the main general is Jiao Huang. I don't know how many military rations there are, but it should be sufficient."

"Where is the military ration and materials stored in the military camp?" Huang Zhong asked again.

"It turned out to be in the southeast corner, but in the past two days, we moved to the middle of the camp and specially built a siege to surround the camp. It was very vigilant and covered more than ten acres of land."

"How can the morale of the army know about the fall of Licheng?"

"Reporting to the general, morale is good, and no one knows about the fall of Licheng. General Jiao always said that the Han army would not go north within one or two years, so the brothers were very calm."

At this time, Pang Tong asked, "How do you solve the water source?"

"There are several days of mountain springs on the mountain. We led the mountain spring to Daying and buried several large jars on the ground to store water. The water source is very sufficient."

Huang Zhong asked more than a dozen questions and learned in detail about the situation in Qishan Fort. Then he ordered people to let Cao's army take him down. At this time, the Wu Ban also ended the interrogation. The two sides checked the confessions and were basically the same.

Huang Zhong slowly said to everyone: "Since Cao's army chose to camp in Qishan Fort, they must have their considerations. This is the only way to go north from Qishan East Road to Xicheng. The mountains are high and dangerous, and it is located in a dangerous place. It is probably unrealistic for us to go up the mountain to attack. It takes at least 20,000 people to take down the enemy camp, and it also costs a huge price. The order of the provincial governor is very clear. Except for Xicheng, the other passes do not allow us to pay a heavy price, so I don't consider a strong attack. Let's brainstorm to see if there is a better way."

As soon as Huang Zhong finished speaking, Lei Tong suggested on the side: "Can the Eagle Strike Army go into the dark and burn his damn?"

"Impossible"

Wu Ban shook his head and said, "They have learned the lessons from Licheng, and they have specially moved the warehouse to the middle of the camp. This shows that the other party has strict precautions and the fire meter will definitely not work. Let's see how the water meter starts from the water source."

Huang Zhong pondered for a moment, then turned around and asked Pang Tong, "Just just now, the military advisor specifically asked about the water source, did he have such considerations."

Pang Tong smiled bitterly and said, "Because Cao's army is stationed on the top of the mountain, the stream must be led up from the hillside, and it is feasible to cut off their water source. However, the detective also said that several large jars were buried on the mountain to store water. Moreover, the forests in this area are particularly lush and the air is humid. It can be seen that the precipitation is very large. Even if their water source is cut off, they can still collect and store rainwater. Moreover, Cao Ren is a famous general from the north. Considering that there will never be any problems with the water source when garrisoning, I think it is inappropriate to cut off the water source."

Pang Tong's analysis was reasonable and well-founded, and everyone felt that the water source was not properly cut off, so everyone was silent for a moment. For a moment, Pang Tong said again: "If you want to conquer Qishan Fort, the only way is to lead Cao's army down the mountain. There is no other way."

Huang Zhong sighed slightly, "Yesterday, the military advisor also proposed to lure Cao's army to rob the camp. The reason why I disagree is because Cao's army has few troops and is obviously mainly defense. They will never take the risk of going down the mountain to rob the camp. Even if we set up an empty camp, they will not go down the mountain easily, so I think the military advisor's plan is inappropriate."
Chapter completed!