Chapter 205 Ambush in the Valley There were many small paths in Jingxing. Although Zang Ba cleared and blocked most of them, he still left some paths that would not be used by the enemy and concealed them. Qian Zhao's scouts could use these small paths to get the message back faster. When Qian Zhao received the news from the scout, he immediately took out the map and calculated based on the enemy's speed that it would take about six days for the enemy to reach Tumen Pass. According to the scouts, the vanguard troops they discovered consisted of no more than a few thousand people, and they were traveling light and slowly at night, mostly to secret places. If their secret sentries had not been alert and in front, it would have been difficult to detect. The enemy wanted to launch a sneak attack on Tumen Pass! Qian Zhao immediately understood the intention of this army. Qian Zhao had just served under Huangfu Song. Huangfu Song had always been a man who "kept himself clean". Although he secretly approved of his disciples' participation in the struggles among the princes, he did not support it openly. Therefore, Qian Zhao was not well-known. What's more, Qian Zhao was the newly appointed commander of Tumen Pass, dressed like a scholar and quite young. Yuan Shao's army naturally would not take him seriously as they didn't know where this person came from.
How could they have thought that Xu Huang had fallen into their trap and only realized it now? A small Tumen Pass guard could actually see through it so quickly. Now Qian Zhao faces a choice. To attack by surprise, or not to attack by surprise? As a rookie, he is more inclined to stick to the old ways. After all, his troops were insufficient, and he occupied the strategic location of Tumen Pass, so the safest thing to do was to hold on. If the sneak attack failed and they were ambushed instead, Zhao Kuo would probably be regarded as a "paper talker". His death was a small matter, but the impact on occupation and damage to the reputation of his mentor was a big matter. But this opportunity is really great! However, with a vanguard force of several thousand people marching at night and passing through a secret place, it would be unfair not to set up an ambush. It's done! After carefully considering the entire battle situation, Qian Zhao gritted his teeth and made up his mind. He didn't believe that the other side's intelligence work was so powerful that they could predict in advance that he would deploy secret sentries at such a long distance, and that he would be well prepared. If we can win this battle, it will certainly greatly boost our own morale and dampen the enemy's fighting spirit. Two thousand newly formed soldiers were left behind to guard the city, and a secret code was agreed upon. Qian Zhao led three thousand elite troops and began to prepare an ambush sixty miles before the checkpoint. In Jingxing, Han Meng led 5,000 elite soldiers from Danyang and marched silently. The importance of this surprise attack on Tumen Pass is unquestionable. Han Meng, as Yuan Shao's most powerful general after Gao Lan and Yan Liang and Wen Chou, took on this task without hesitation. Although Yan Liang and Wen Chou were strong, they were good at cavalry, not siege. Han Meng was different, he was best at strong attacks and fighting tough battles, and attacking checkpoints was no problem for him. However, Han Meng also has his own flaws. Although his talent "Accumulating Strength" can greatly enhance the combat effectiveness of soldiers, it takes a long time to activate. His weakness is that he is not good at responding to battles hastily and has poor adaptability to emergencies. However, Han Meng himself was a sharp-minded person who underestimated the enemy. Therefore, although he was quite famous in Yuan Shao's army, he seldom served as the main attacker. He usually served as the central army in large-scale battles.
However, this time the situation was different. Yuan Shao was sure that Tumen Pass was unaware of their evacuation from Huguan, and that the attack on the area around Jingxing was also a surprise attack. Yan Liang and Wen Chou led the cavalry and rode non-stop to block the entrance of Jingxing Pass, and did not allow Tian Ze's spies to go to Tumen Pass to report the news. According to common sense, Tumen Pass should not have received the news and was not prepared. Even if it was prepared, with only about 3,000 soldiers at Tumen Pass, what else could it do except defend itself? Therefore, Yuan Shao confidently sent Han Meng, who had the strongest frontal attack capability, to lead the elite Danyang troops who were good at mountain warfare to prepare for a surprise attack on Tumen Pass. That night, under the sparse moonlight, Han Meng's army marched in a long snake formation through the valley. Although the night combat capabilities of these Danyang soldiers were average, fortunately they were agile and could walk on such mountain roads as if they were walking on flat ground, so their marching speed was relatively not very slow. The ambush site chosen by Qian Zhao was a valley entrance with a bend, only four or five steps wide. There were too many such valley entrances in Jingxing, so he was not worried that Han Meng would be too cautious. Although the terrain was dangerous, he was still a little unsure. As he was leading an army for the first time, he did not expect a big victory, but was more concerned about how to retain as many troops as possible in case the enemy set an ambush to defend the rear. Therefore, when Han Meng's army had less than a thousand soldiers passing by, he launched a sneak attack. In this way, even if the opponent had a backup plan, he could ensure that the valley entrance was blocked in time and turn around to eliminate the thousands of enemies. As a result, things went much more smoothly than he had imagined. These elite Danyang soldiers who broke into the valley had no idea that they would be ambushed and immediately fell into panic. Their vision at night was already very poor, and in panic they felt that there were enemies everywhere, they didn't know how many there were, and they instinctively wanted to gather together and defend themselves. However, Qian Zhao did not give them a chance. A large number of archers who had been lying in ambush on the cliffs on both sides instantly concentrated their fire on these people, threw countless boulders down, and then launched a surprise attack. On the other side, outside the valley entrance, Qian Zhao had placed a lot of hay on the ground on both sides of the road in advance, and even poured a little wine on it to ensure that the smell was not too strong. Along with the ambush inside the valley entrance, thousands of soldiers outside the valley entrance also quickly shot out flaming arrows. This special fire arrow is one of the latest weapons developed and improved by the Mohists. The improved special arrowhead is tied with a small burning bag and connected to the fuse. The special structure and carefully selected materials not only solve the problems of preventing the flame from being extinguished and resisting the influence of wind, but also amplify the burning effect. After hitting the target, it can burn a small piece at a time. In an instant, the originally narrow valley was filled with fire spots. Han Meng's army was suddenly shocked and fled instinctively. Qian Zhao, standing above the valley, had been carefully observing Han Mengjun's reaction. Through various details, he did not find any signs that the other party was deliberately exposing his flaws. Moreover, the scouts who went to the enemy's rear to investigate the situation did not report any problems, and the ambush in the valley went very smoothly. Only at this moment did Qian Zhao confirm that he had successfully set up the ambush. Without hesitation, he ordered the last thousand soldiers on both sides who had been ready to go to start the pursuit. The soldiers under Tian Ze's command have all received special training in night combat and are very familiar with the roads in the valley. Therefore, the pursuit went extremely smoothly, and Han Meng had to fight for his life in the end, escaping with only a few hundred soldiers. Among the remaining soldiers, besides those who were slaughtered by Qian Zhao or died in fratricide, more than a thousand soldiers became Qian Zhao's prisoners. Originally, Qian Zhao was still hesitating about how to deal with these soldiers, but when he learned that these captives were elite soldiers from Danyang, Qian Zhao's eyes lit up instantly. (End of this chapter)