The Three Kingdoms: I asked you to save Guan Yu, not to destroy Sun Quan.

Chapter 782 Three-way Simultaneous Action

Guan Xing, along with Zhang Yi and Liu Laosan, quickly arrived at Shen Yi's tent. Upon entering, they discovered that besides Shen Yi, there was another person inside: Sha Moke, the barbarian king of the Five Streams.

Although Shamoke was a barbarian king, he had been with Guan Ping in Longxi for more than a year and had long since evolved into a qualified cavalry commander. Therefore, he was transferred to Shen Yi's command by Zhuge Liang this time.

Upon seeing Guan Xing enter, everyone immediately stood up and bowed. Guan Xing waved his hand and said with a smile, "There's no need for pleasantries between us. Let's get straight to the point. Shen Yi, you will chair the rest of the meeting."

Shen Yi knew Guan Xing's personality and didn't beat around the bush, but went straight to the point: "Gentlemen, although our goal is the four southern passes of Luoyang, namely Huanyuan Pass, Yique Pass, Dagu Pass, and Guangcheng Pass, Dagu Pass and Guangcheng Pass are on the same line. Dagu Pass is north of Guangcheng Pass. If Cao Pi wants to take this route back to Luoyang, he has to pass Guangcheng Pass first and then Dagu Pass before he can enter the Luoyang Basin."

"What does this mean? It means that we only need to capture one of the two passes, Dagu Pass and Guangcheng Pass. Compared to Guangcheng Pass, I prefer Dagu Pass. So our actual targets for this battle are Yique Pass, Dagu Pass, and Huanyuan Pass. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" Zhang Yi echoed, then asked, "How many troops are stationed at the three passes? What is the state of the city's defenses? Is there any possibility of a successful surprise attack?"

Shen Yi had been in Jiangxia for a long time and had close ties with the special forces team that had infiltrated Cao Wei, so he naturally knew more about the situation there than Zhang Yi. Upon hearing this, he smiled and said, "It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that it's practically a formality."

Although the eight passes of Luoyang were built by Emperor Ling to defend against the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Hangu Pass, Xiaopingjin Pass, Mengjin Pass, and Xuanmen Pass to the north already existed; Emperor Ling merely sent people to reinforce them. Compared to the four northern passes, the four southern passes were built by Emperor Ling, and more importantly, they were never used after their completion.

"Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion, whether it was Dong Zhuo or the allied forces of the warlords who entered Luoyang, they basically all fought their way in through Hulao Pass and the four northern passes. Have you ever seen anyone pass through the four southern passes?"

"When Cao Cao and Yuan Shao were locked in a standoff, they were mainly fighting over the four northern passes. The four southern passes had never experienced the ravages of war. After Cao Cao unified the Central Plains, no one dared to even think about attacking the four southern passes. Under such circumstances, how strong could the defenses of the four southern passes be?"

Passes are used to defend against enemy troops. When there are enemy troops, the role of passes will be greatly reduced, and their importance will naturally decrease as well.

Take Hulao Pass for example. Back then, Dong Zhuo and the allied forces of the warlords fought fiercely in front of the pass. Later, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao also fought for Hulao Pass. After Cao Cao unified the Central Plains, Hulao Pass changed from the front line to the inland area, and its importance was naturally not as great as before.

If Hulao Pass was like this, then the four southern passes were even worse. You have to understand that Cao Cao was an offensive player who always took the initiative to attack others. When had he ever been driven to the gates of Luoyang?

Although Guan Yu was a powerful figure in China during the Battle of Xiangfan, he couldn't even break out of the Nanyang Basin, let alone the four southern passes of Luoyang.

Although these four passes were strategic points guarding Luoyang, they were actually Cao Wei's rear base. Who would put all their elite troops in the rear during a war?

Zhang Yi bowed and said, "This subordinate understands, but even if we occupy the four southern passes and march to the walls of Luoyang, I'm afraid we might not be able to capture the city. If the Wei army at the front and the Luoyang garrison attack us from both sides, won't we have to retreat?"

Shen Yi hadn't figured out how to explain, so he turned to look at Guan Xing. Guan Xing stood up and said, "I'll answer this question. Admittedly, there might be a chance of winning a surprise attack on the four southern passes, but it's basically impossible to attack Luoyang with this number of troops. Even if we manage to take it, we'll most likely be driven out quickly. From this point of view, our battle is somewhat pointless."

"But we can't just look at this from a military perspective; we also have to look at the political perspective. From a political perspective, Luoyang is the former capital of the Han Dynasty and the current capital of Cao Wei. What does it mean if the Han army reaches the walls of Luoyang? It means that the Han army is about to recover the former capital. What will the three dukes and nine ministers in Luoyang think at that time? What will the gentry in Hebei and the people of the world think?"

"If we manage to breach Luoyang again, even if we are driven out after only half an hour, it will still create the fact that Cao Wei's capital has fallen, causing an even greater sensation than the Grand General's awe-inspiring reputation throughout China. Do you understand?"

Zhang Yi bowed and said, "This subordinate understands."

Guan Xing stepped back, and Shen Yi continued, "In order to catch them off guard, our army can only choose to launch a surprise attack this time. However, a surprise attack only has one chance to succeed. We have to attack three passes at the same time, which will inevitably cause a lot of impact. The biggest impact is that if one pass is attacked, the remaining passes will be on high alert, which will increase the difficulty of our surprise attack. Therefore, if we want to launch a successful surprise attack, the attacks on the three passes must be carried out collectively at the same time."

"But if we want to launch a surprise attack on the three passes, we have to take three routes. The distances of the three routes are different, the probability of encountering Wei troops on the way is different, and the time to reach the designated location is also different. So we can only follow the last team to arrive. I calculated that it will take at least fifteen days from the time we arrive at the designated location to the time we can make all the necessary preparations. If we leave one day for the remaining time, let's say sixteen days, which is the third day of the twelfth lunar month. The three armies will launch a simultaneous attack on the target passes at the hour of Yin (3-5 AM) on the third day of the twelfth lunar month, and strive to achieve a one-hit victory."

"Zhang Yi, I'm transferring Youchi to you. The two of you will join forces and enter Xiong'er Mountain to attack Yique Pass. After you take it, you'll garrison the area. Any questions?"

Zhang Yi said with a serious expression, "No problem."

Shen Yi said, "Then let's go back and prepare. We'll set off first thing tomorrow morning."

After the discussion, we began to take action.

At daybreak, Zhang Yi led three thousand barbarian soldiers from Youchi, carrying half a month's worth of rations, into the Qinling Mountains once again.

Shen Yi then led Zong Yu and Sha Moke with three thousand cavalrymen back to Jiangxia.

All the other troops were in Jiangxia, but these three thousand cavalrymen needed to be transported there quietly.

Because they had warhorses, traveling by boat would have made them too conspicuous, so Shen Yi could only travel by land at night and hide during the day. Along the way, he actively communicated with Zong Yu and Sha Moke to quickly get to know each other.

Seven days later, he returned safely to Jiangxia, and then rushed to Suixian to see Zhang Fei.

Upon learning of the mission's objective, Zhang Fei not only transferred the Wudang Flying Army to him but also assigned him a thousand cavalrymen.

Shen Yi assembled his army and rushed to the northern part of Tongbai Mountain to meet up with Li Kuan, who was stationed in the mountains. Shen Yi then set up his command post in the mountains and ordered Jiang Wei and Zhang Bao to each lead three thousand elite troops to secretly advance to Dagu Pass and Huanyuan Pass to prepare for a surprise attack.

at the same time……

Zhang Yi led Youchi into the Qinling Mountains and successfully joined up with his three thousand Wudang Flying Army soldiers. Then he led six thousand troops to the designated location.

One of the difficulties of their journey was crossing the Wuguan Pass, which was like a river blocking the way for the army; they had to cross it silently.

Fortunately, they were only sneaking through Wuguan Road and not attacking Wuguan. Zhang Yi chose a safe location and it took him a whole night to cross.

After passing Wuguan Pass, the remaining roads were difficult, but there would be no encounters with Wei troops, so the journey was relatively smooth.

Zhang Yi led his army cautiously forward, and finally crossed Xiong'er Mountain on the first day of the twelfth lunar month, arriving near Yique Pass.

After finding a place to camp, Zhang Yi immediately followed Shen Yi's instructions and carved several special marks on a nearby tree. He then waited patiently at the end of the marks until noon the next day. The two young men finally arrived at the end of the marks, carefully observed their surroundings, and shouted: "The Tongguan Road is a natural barrier between mountains and rivers. Looking west to the capital, I hesitate."

Zhang Yi, who was secretly observing the two from the tree through the leaves, immediately replied, "We should press on with our remaining strength and not seek fame like Xiang Yu."

As he responded, he jumped down from the tree and looked at the two men, saying, "I am Zhang Yi. Were you sent by General Shen Yi?"