After receiving the imperial edict issued by Cao Cao forcing the young emperor, Zhang Lu of Hanzhong also summoned his civil and military officials to the official residence for a meeting and study as soon as possible. Zhang Lu received information from Lu Ning sent Xu Huang to lead the army to attack Hanzhong as early as last winter, and had already made various preparations to face the challenge.

Zhang Lu's chief adviser Yan Pu said: "Lord, our army was originally ready to fight Xu Huang's invasion. If the emperor's order is in place, it will be changed to the right name."

Yan Pu is quite capable. In terms of strategy, Yan Pu is a second-rate strategist in the Three Kingdoms period. Although he is not as good as those first-class strategists and top-class strategists, he is not a fuel-efficient lamp. His ability cannot be ignored. Yan Pu also has a very strong position in Zhang Lu's heart. Over the years, he has made many military achievements in Zhang Lu's attack against Yizhou.

Zhang Lu said: "Lu Ning's army is powerful. Tell me how to deal with the invasion of Xu Huang's army."

Yang Song, another strategist of Zhang Lu, said: "Lord, the Lu Ning army is indeed very strong, but the Lu Ning army is mainly good at fighting on the grassland, and its iron cavalry is extremely powerful. However, it is not easy for Xu Huang to attack our Hanzhong; our Hanzhong is in a dangerous terrain, which is not conducive to cavalry combat. The cavalry does not have much to play here. As long as we guard several levels, no matter how many soldiers Xu Huang comes, it is impossible to capture it."

Yang Song said this. From Chang'an to Hanzhong, the road was tortuous and narrow, especially the Xigu battle road was dangerous and could only pass by individual soldiers. As long as there was a blockage, it was basically impossible to pass, let alone war horses. If you follow the Chencang battle road, although the road was a little better, there were several passes that were easy to defend and difficult to attack, which were very difficult to attack.

Yan Pu said: "Lord, it's good to keep the barriers tightly, but we can't just defend the dead. We should still ambush Xu Huang's army halfway. This can consume the troops of Xu Huang's army, increase our morale, and better rank the speed of Xu Huang's army's advance."

Yang Ang said: "Lord, I agree with the military advisor's suggestion that Xu Huang's army should be given some color, which is very necessary."

Zhang Wei said: "Brother, we only have about 100,000 troops on our hands. Just guard the level. There is no need to run far to ambush it. Maybe it will cause losses to lose troops."

Hanzhong has often clashed with Yizhou for so many years, and both sides have been injured and have not taken advantage of it. It is basically a draw, but the troops have been consumed a little more.

Zhang Lu thought for a while and said, "Then let General Yang Ang bring 5,000 troops to the Xigu battle road to set up an ambush! The rest of the troops will focus on guarding the barriers."

Indeed, Xu Huang led Gao Lan, Guo Huai and other generals to lead a 30,000 army to attack Hanzhong. This is mainly to consider the defense issues of Yongzhou. If you only take Hanzhong, the entire Yongzhou will only face the threat from the west. Besides, it is also time to take Hanzhong, and the next step is Yizhou. As long as Yizhou is taken, the world will be decided.

According to the General Staff Department, Xu Huang set up and attacked the route, and asked Guo Huai to 10,000 soldiers of the Brutal Bear Army, 5,000 of whom were mercenaries, who walked on the Xigu Zhanzhan, then passed Ziwu Road, and went straight to the eastern part of Hanzhong; while Xu Huang and Gao Lan led 20,000 troops, 10,000 of which were Feixiong Iron Cavalry, who walked on the Chencang Road to kill Hanzhong.

Among the violent bear army that Xu Huang brought this time, 10,000 were mercenaries. These mercenaries with colorful skin and hair were more suitable for fighting against Hanzhong. After all, Hanzhong is the world of Zhang Lu, and most people believe in the Tao of Heaven. When they encounter colorful employment, they will think it is a ghost or god.

The 20,000 riots under Xu Huang's army were all trained by Lu Ning for many years. The training places were arranged in the Taihang Mountains, which was also considered to the need to send troops to Hanzhong and Yizhou. After all, it was not easy to send troops to these places. The mountains were high and steep, and they were basically fighting in high mountains. If they had not been trained in high mountains, the soldiers would not be able to bear it in wartime.

Xu Huang led the army to march for half a month and finally arrived at Sanguan. Although the army had war horses to travel with, the road was difficult to walk, which made the soldiers and soldiers feel very exhausted. Xu Huang asked the army to camp and rest ten miles ahead of Lisanguan.

Xu Huang took Gao Lan and dozens of guards to the front of Sanguan to inspect the terrain, which was very important for the general who was commanding the battle. Although Xu Huang also had a detailed topographic map in his hand, he could not be careless, and he felt more at ease after inspecting it himself.

Xu Huang looked at the steep Sanguan in front of him and smiled bitterly: "There is no way to go, there is only one way to attack. Now the defensive soldiers at Sanguan have increased from 5,000 to 10,000. This is also the arrangement made by Zhang Lu when he learned that Xu Huang led his troops to attack Hanzhong.

After Xu Huang inspected Sanguan, he took out the topographic map on his body and compared it. Seeing that there was not much difference, he then took his men back to the camp.

Xu Huang glanced at the officers of the generals and the school in the big tent and said, "How to clear the Sanguan, what do you guys think?"

The generals and schools expressed their opinions one after another, and they all felt that in the face of such a solid stronghold, there was no way to take advantage of it, and only a strong attack was feasible.

Gao Lan said: "General Xu, it is certain that the attack is strong, but whether we can attack at night. If we succeed, we can win the San Pass in one fell swoop. If it doesn't work, we will withdraw and reorganize the attack."

Xu Huang said: "Sneaking attacks are a good idea, but now Cao Cao asked the emperor to issue a pseudo-authorized edict to various places, and Zhang Lu must have received it. Besides, Zhang Lu had known that we were going to attack Hanzhong, and the number of soldiers stationed in Sanguan increased to 10,000, which shows the problem. Then the defense of Sanguan will definitely not be relaxed, and maybe it will be more stringent at night! If the sneak attack is not successful, then our losses will be great. Our soldiers have been trained for many years and are specifically used to attack Hanzhong and Yizhou. Once the soldiers suffer too much losses, we will not have such excellent mountain combat soldiers."

Gao Lan said: "What should I do?"

Xu Huang smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that we have to use the secret weapon and explosives. Originally, it was said that we could hide it for a while before using it. It seems that we can't do it if we don't."

Gao Lan said: "Is that secret weapon useful? I just heard about it during a meeting, but I have never seen the specific power!"

Xu Huang laughed and said, "Don't worry! This was made by the lord, Ma Jun, General Manager Guo and others for a long time. This secret weapon has passed the actual combat test and its power is much stronger than a few years ago. You don't have to worry about this, I have the honor to have seen it with my own eyes."

Lu Ning was eager to get out black explosives. In ancient times, the levels were too difficult to attack cities. If there were no weapons like explosives, the soldiers under his command would suffer heavy losses; and Lu Ning did not want his soldiers to suffer excessive casualties, so he personally participated in the research of the bomb. This was actually not very difficult for a time traveler. After all, there were probably some problems with the raw materials of explosives, and people in the future knew that it was just a matter of proportion.

Gao Lan said: "That's good."

Xu Huang said: "Stay for two days and attack on the third night."

The generals said in the square: "Yes!"
Chapter completed!