Chapter 27: Guan Er Ye's Three Passes

  But that night, Ji Yi led 10,000 soldiers and 5,000 infantrymen to split up and head north. Guan Er Ye ordered the three armies to have a full meal of war rations in the commander's tent! Then he called over his generals and told them each to lead 1,000 soldiers in batches to set out at night, disguising themselves as horse merchants to infiltrate Zhangjiaping, Gaohanzizhen, Tiexuanguan, and Hujia Ba. After Guan Er Ye entered the city, they would seize the city gate! After all, Guan Er Ye also knew that cavalry was least good at attacking cities!

  Several commanders took their orders and left, each preparing to set out overnight!

  General Guan ordered the orderly to pass on the order, instructing the three armies to set out at dawn the next day. He also instructed the cooking squad to prepare an early breakfast and two large meat-filled buns for each soldier as dry rations. Furthermore, he ordered the soldiers to go to bed by candlelight today. The three armies dared not disobey the general's order! As the saying goes, a soldier's duty is to obey orders, and the military discipline of the Yizhou soldiers was very strict, so they all went to sleep early after dinner! Except for those on sentry duty!

  The next day at dawn, Guan Yu was already fully dressed and ready. He wore a golden armor under his green military uniform, with a golden helmet on his head. He sat on his horse, holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade in hand, standing in front of the camp gate.

  At this time, the soldiers of the three armies are full of spirit and their formation is neat!

  Today, the cooking class has finished early and General Guan Yu's generals have already had their breakfast. The three armies' soldiers also got up very early, and by now they have all finished their breakfast and are ready to depart, waiting only for General Guan Yu's order!

  At this time, General Guan Yu turned his horse around and shouted to the soldiers: "Now our army is attacking the land of Hanzhong, it is indeed for the country and the people! Today I let the cooking class distribute two meat buns to each of you after you finish eating, because today the general decided not to enter Hujiaba and rest the horse! Today will be a hard day for the three armies! Are you afraid that Yang Ren's 100,000 troops are blocking the road ahead?

  The officers and soldiers of the three armies shouted in unison: "Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid! Don't be afraid! .........."

  Guan Yu saw the morale of the soldiers so high, he swung his big knife, and the three armies immediately stopped their shouts!

  "Today you will follow me, Guan Yunchang, to capture the four passes. Are you afraid?"

  "We are not afraid! We are not afraid! We are not afraid! We are not afraid! We are not afraid! .........."

  Guan Yu swung his Green Dragon Crescent Blade and shouted, "Who dares to be the master of the three armies?"

  "Today, the enemy is not just five times our number," Guan Yu continued. "Counting the garrison troops in various places, they are more than five times our number, but to me, they are nothing but chickens and dogs! Now you follow me to kill these chickens and dogs! Once we enter Hujiabao, I will reward the three armies! As the commander-in-chief, I will take the lead myself! If you retreat now, you are not worthy of being a true man from Yizhou with iron blood! Follow me to kill! We won't stop our horses or rest until we reach Hujiabao and drink wine and eat meat!"

  Guan Er Ye let out a loud roar and turned his horse around, charging off without looking back!

  The three armies shouted in unison: "Don't enter Hujiabao, absolutely don't rest the horses! Go to Hujiabao to drink and eat meat! Don't enter Hujiabao, absolutely don't rest the horses! Go to Hujiabao to drink and eat meat! Don't enter Hujiabao, absolutely don't rest the horses! Go to Hujiabao to drink and eat meat! .............." While shouting Guan Yu's words, they closely followed behind Guan Yu! Guan Yu was indeed preparing for a rainy day! He feared that forcing the city would make the soldiers innocent sacrifices, adding unnecessary losses! So he sent out these officers last night, disguised as horse handlers, to seize the city gate at the right moment!

  At this time, after passing a multiple of hours, they arrived at Zhangjiaping. Guan Yu raised his hand, and the 16,000 cavalrymen behind him immediately stopped in their tracks. Guan Yu looked around with his tiger eyes, examining the terrain and making an accurate judgment. He smiled lightly, showing his disdain for Zhang Lu. It turned out that Zhangjiaping was a strategic location, but there were only less than 1,000 soldiers guarding it. The city walls of Zhangjiaping were short and not well-maintained. Guan Yu looked at the situation and sent someone to seize the gate, but this didn't require any effort, just a simple ride over would suffice! Guan Yu estimated that the area of Zhangjiaping was approximately 3-4 square kilometers, with dense farmland on both sides. He judged that there were several thousand mu of good land here, and wondered how much grain it could produce in a year. Looking at the residents' houses, which were densely packed but short and dilapidated, Guan Yu roughly estimated that Zhangjiaping had a population of around 30-40,000 people.

  "Remember, this battle must be swift and decisive! There are less than a thousand defenders in Zhangjiaping, spare those who surrender, but show no mercy to those who dare resist the heavenly army! However, do not disturb the civilians! I know your military law, but you may not know mine! Military law is ruthless, anyone who disobeys my orders will also be killed without pardon! Do you understand?"

  The three armies passed on General Guan's order one by one. Finally, the three armies nodded and said in a low voice: "Yes, sir!"

  When Guan Yu saw this, he danced with his Green Dragon Crescent Blade in hand, and 17,000 soldiers immediately dispersed and rushed to Zhangjiaping! Each of them formed a group of ten people, and then charged in units! Under Li Yu's reform, the Yizhou army was divided into groups of ten, rows of one hundred, companies of one thousand, regiments of ten thousand, and divisions of one hundred thousand. At present, there are three and a half division-level units in Yizhou! In its heyday, there were four division-level units, seven regiments, five companies! However, after many years of fighting against Dong Zhuo, it was inevitable that some soldiers would die in battle! Liu Bei and Li Yu discussed the matter of troops several times. If they recruited too many soldiers, the fields would be deserted and no one would farm! Therefore, Liu Bei and Li Yu decided that Yizhou should have a maximum of five divisions. If they took Hanzhong, there could only be two divisions in Hanzhong! Two continents with 700,000 soldiers were enough! Any more would be a burden on the country. Because it was a chaotic era, the age for joining the army was set at fifteen to thirty years old, and the service period was ten years! After retiring, soldiers had to register and count their names in various cities and counties, forming a reserve force. Then, every month, they would gather together for five days. Only after five years could they exit the reserve force and become ordinary civilians!

  The battle began with a silent strike! The soldiers led by Guan Yu were all well-trained and seasoned veterans, all of whom were survivors of countless battles! So they had rich experience, but it was impossible to silently annihilate an army of over 1,000 people. When more than 100 people were eliminated, Zhang Lu's Hanzhong army began to realize what was happening, and various places started to resist. As a result, the civilians in Zhangjiaping began to be disturbed, after all, in troubled times, everyone is in danger. Guan Yu saw this and rode into battle! With his Green Dragon Crescent Blade, he killed four or five enemy officers in a row, shouting: "Civilians, do not be frightened, I am Guan Yu, the General of the Han Dynasty who is conquering the West! You civilians just need to stay at home and you will be safe. Do not go out, lest you be mistakenly injured or killed by our army!" After Guan Yu finished shouting, his soldiers also started killing the enemy while shouting slogans. The civilians heard the policies of Liu Bei's army in Yizhou and felt slightly relieved. Because the policy of Liu Bei's army was to serve the people of the world, with the goal of relieving the suffering of the masses! This is a well-known fact, this is the effect of Li Yu stealing our party's guidelines and policies! So Liu Bei's army had a good reputation outside, and Yizhou was even more crowded with people! The chaos subsided quickly!

  Guan Er Ye saw that the battle was over in less than half a time, and our army had zero casualties! This is a complete victory!

  Guan Yu was overjoyed in his heart, finally able to achieve such a feat, and the reason for obtaining such a result was that Zhang Lu didn't take this matter seriously, so the military strength was insufficient! Liu Bei's military advantage of sixteen to one was unexpected, and it was said that Zhang Lu's Hanzhong army had been accumulating fatigue for many years with little training, and many soldiers fled in all directions without even resisting.

  Guan Er Ye did not dispatch troops to take over, firstly because Zhangjiaping had become his own rear base, and secondly because after all the soldiers were insufficient, they still had to engage in a decisive battle with Yang Ren's 100,000-strong army! Immediately issue an order for the soldiers to continue marching out to war!

  In less than a moment, they arrived at Gaozhai Village. Guan Er Ye was shocked and took a deep breath. He saw that the Ma Mian Mountain stretched across the Yudai River, with an imposing momentum and steep cliffs. The western end of the mountain had an eagle-mouthed rock that stood tall like a proud eagle, overlooking the entire town's landscape. In the middle section, there was the Bao Ta Temple, where many mysterious caves and strange rocks were found on the mountain. Inside the caves was the military base of Tian Jiucheng's uprising. The eastern end had a peculiar peak standing upright, with the Linglong Ancient Temple - Jiu Tai Guan at its summit, famous for its strangeness, danger, and beauty.

  There are three thousand defenders in this place! Guan Er Ye understood that it was impossible to have no casualties like last time. The person in charge of this place is Yang Ren's cousin, Yang Tian. After seeing him, Guan Er Ye felt at ease and knew that Yang Tian was an incompetent person. Why would such a strategic location only need two thousand soldiers on both sides? It would be difficult for Guan Er Ye and his soldiers to pass through!

  Guan Yu first sent scouts to explore the terrain, finding no danger. With a wave of his hand holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, the soldiers understood and immediately covered the horse's hooves with their feet before mounting up! Guan Yu waved his hand holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade and led the way on horseback, the three armies' generals and soldiers understanding the signal and closely following behind.

  In less than a short while, Guan Er Ye saw the gate of Gao Zhai Zi town. Because Guan Er Ye ordered to wrap the war horses' hooves with cloth, the dust was very small, and the sound of the war horses' hooves was much smaller. The soldiers guarding the gate did not notice it, and by the time they noticed it, it was too late! Yang Tian was drinking wine and watching the scenery on Gao Zhai Zi Pass at this time, and he also saw it! He immediately ordered to close the gate! But it was already too late! The 4,000 soldiers sent out by Guan Er Ye, disguised as horse merchants, had already forced open the city gate. At this time, anyone else would have escaped, but Yang Tian was very brave and actually ordered his men to prepare their horses and knives to meet Guan Er Ye! He was seeking death!

  Guan Er Ye was galloping his horse wildly, and at this time he was only 20-30 meters away from the city gate. That warhorse was incredibly powerful! Moreover, Guan Er Ye's mount was a descendant of the precious steed, the汗血宝马 (Sweat Blood Horse). At this moment, Yang Tian also came galloping on his horse, originally intending to cut down several soldiers rushing for the city gate. However, seeing that Guan Er Ye was already so close, he instead charged towards him, shouting loudly and fiercely, which was quite intimidating!

  Guan Yu heard Yang Tian's voice and thought he was a powerful general! When the two horses were only one horse head away from himself, Guan Yu took the initiative to strike out with his arms, swinging the Green Dragon Crescent Blade horizontally towards Yang Tian. This move is called "Horizontal Sweep of a Thousand Armies". At this time, Yang Tian also wanted to raise his knife to block, but Guan Yu's speed was too fast! Guan Yu was the ancestor of the famous Spring and Autumn Knife Method in later generations! Lu Bu could barely withstand four knives from one horse. How could this unknown soldier resist? In fact, even if Guan Yu had used all his strength for just one knife, it would have been a great honor to Yang Tian, who was called by that name. The Green Dragon Crescent Blade broke through the air and attacked! Yang Tian tried to dodge but couldn't avoid it, and with a "pu" sound, his body splattered blood three feet away. At this time, Yang Tian's head on his neck was still shouting out loud, flying and rolling away! Guan Yu rushed out very far before his body fell off the horse!

  At this time, the enemy general saw that his main general had died and the city gate was occupied! Again, Guan Er Ye was so mighty and shocking to heaven and earth! There were even many people kneeling on the ground and worshiping Guan Er Ye! But there were also some who resisted, and Guan Er Ye personally led the charge to quickly eliminate them! After this battle ended, Guan Er Ye counted his troops and found that not a single person had died in battle, but dozens were lightly injured, yet they did not lose their fighting strength. They captured over 1,000 surrendered soldiers, killed 500-600 enemy soldiers and the enemy general Yang Tian, while the rest fled in all directions! Guan Er Ye ordered the surrendered soldiers to continue guarding Gao Zhai Zi Pass, leaving behind a general as the main general of the pass, then he himself led his army to continue charging forward towards Tie Suo Pass!

  Iron Lock Pass is a pass set up by the military to control the traffic on the river and guard against the danger of Kui Gate. The remaining iron pillars are located at the entrance of Caotang River in the north bank of Kui Gate, where there were seven iron chains across the river with a total length of over 920 meters. Iron Lock Pass is located on the north bank of Qutang Gorge opposite to Mengliang Staircase. There is a small tributary - Caotang River. At its confluence with the Yangtze River, there is a stone disk with two iron pillars standing upright, about 2-3 meters high, and a stone hole on the south bank. On the stone disk at the confluence of Caotang River and Yangtze River, two rusty iron pillars stand upright, about 6.4 feet high, which is the famous relic of "Iron Lock Pass".

  With such danger ahead, can Guan Yu jump over the heavenly chasm?