Taiyuan County is several basins. In fact, its surrounding counties, including Hedong County, Shangdang County in the south, Dai County and Yanmen County in the north, each county is one or several mountain basins. Each basin is connected by narrow channels, and each channel is connected to the throat that blocks the inlet and out. Yangqu is located on the throat path in the north of Taiyuan County.

Because Taiyuan Prefect Du Guangguo and Taiyuan Chief Zhang Shu went out of Jingxing for a trip, their defense against Yangqu was a little relaxed. Geng Yan, who had been competing with Yanmen Pass in Dai County, suddenly turned around and took Yangqu. At this moment, the Taiyuan Portal opened wide and the situation was immediately in a critical moment.

Du Guangguo returned to Jinyang, and Zhang Shu led his army to Lang Meng, who was close to Yangqu. The two of them formed a line of defense, standing by waiting for assistance. As for counterattack and regaining Yangqu, Du Guangguo never thought about it. Zhang Shu thought about it, but he dared not, because he had suffered a loss under Geng Yan's hands and knew that it was a fierce man.

Fortunately, although Du Guangguo did not dare to go out to cause trouble in recent years, he had been saving grain to build the city and preparing for war. In Yangqu, Lang Meng and Jinyang had accumulated a lot of food. Now Yangqu’s grain is just for Geng Yan, but Lang Meng and Jinyang have soldiers and grain, and the city is strong, so there is no need to panic.

As soon as Yang Qu was lost, Du Guangguo immediately asked for help from General Tian Kuang, the Great Conqueror of the Northern Expedition, and asked for reinforcements. Zhang Shu immediately asked for help from his father-in-law, Bingzhou Governor Bao Yong, in the north.

Tian Kuang was in full swing with the enemy in Hanoi. After hearing the urgent report, he yelled to the side and said, "Wang Meng is dangerous, Jinyang is strong, and it is enough to resist the enemy!" He ordered Du Guangguo to stick to it. At the same time, in order to calm his heart, he ordered General Wang Shuo, the Hedong general, to lead 10,000 troops to advance north to Jiexiu. But the order given to him was: You must defend Jiexiu. As for whether to save Jinyang, it depends on the situation.

Tian Kuang knew clearly that Bingzhou Governor Bao Yong would not sit idly by. Because Bao Yong still had a great family power in Taiyuan, and Taiyuan Duwei Zhang Shu was originally his son-in-law. Bao Yong had the Bingzhou cavalry of several counties and had the motivation and strength to save Taiyuan.

Bao Yong once captured Dai County, but was strongly attacked by Geng Yan and retreated back to Yanmen County.

The reason why Liu Xiu ordered Geng Yan to have heavy troops in Dai County was actually because of terrain considerations. Dai County was the only county west of the Taihang Mountains in Jianhan. If Dai County fell into Jianshihan's hands, Jianshihan's terrain in Bingzhou would be very complete. Liu Xiu didn't even think about Bingzhou.

Dai County is adjacent to Yanmen in the west and Taiyuan in the south. Dai County is stationed in Dai County, and can go south at any time to separate the two counties so that Bingzhou cannot be united.

This is to inject a wedge into Bingzhou, making Jianshihan uncomfortable. It is a bridgehead. If you maintain this bridgehead, you can maintain a threat to Bingzhou.

Now under Geng Yan's strong attack, Liu Xiu's Taihang strategy has finally shown his power. Taiyuan County is under Geng Yan's military attack. If Taiyuan is lost, Shangdang will not be able to protect Hedong in the south.

Liu Xiu received the battle report ahead with joy and sorrow. What he was happy was that at his most difficult moment, there was finally a victory to boost confidence and morale. What he was worried about was that although there were Youzhou thunder cavalry under Geng Yan's tent, these thunder cavalry were not equipped with stirrups and had a generation gap with the enemy cavalry. If the two armies met, Geng Yan would probably suffer a great loss like him in Luoyang.

Liu Xiu ordered the urgent creation of stirrups, and did not study how perfect it was. Just use it as long as it could be used. To build a group of priority equipment for Geng Yan's troops, we must ensure that he will continue to expand the results. The blacksmith furnace in Handan began to work day and night, but Liu Xiu was still very anxious because it had to be transported there after the construction was completed, and I don't know when the equipment would be in place.

Luoyang's Jianshi Emperor Liu Yu received the battle report and was not panicked. Although the Taiyuan Portal was lost, Lang Meng and Jinyang could not easily be captured.

Langmeng City has a narrow stream on the left and right side, and a large valley on the south side, commonly known as Langma Ridge. It is a dangerous place, easy to defend but difficult to attack. As long as there is a man and horse nailed there, it is difficult to attack forcefully.

In the south of Lang Meng is the capital of Taiyuan County, Jinyang, which is even more famous for its strong city.

Jinyang City was built by Zhao Yang, the great minister of Jin State in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Dong An, the Zhao family’s retainer, selected a site on the north bank of the Jin River at the northern end of the Taiyuan Basin, and built Jinyang City on the east side of Xuanwen Mountain. Zhao Jianzi’s purpose of building Jinyang was to use it as his own nest, where he could attack and retreat or defend, and was the last fortress of Zhao’s family.

Jinyang City was besieged twice during the reign of Zhao Jianzi and Zhao Xiangzi, and the city was survived by its strong city defense. The second siege was the most dangerous. Zhi family, Han family, and Wei family attacked Zhao family and besieged Jinyang for more than a year. Zhi family also drew water to flood the city, but the city walls could not be destroyed. This shows how strong the city defense of Jinyang was.

Liu Yu is very confident that Taiyuan will defend Jinyang and Lang Meng, as long as he is not fooled by Geng Yan.

Geng Yan is Liu Xiu's Han Xin, and his level of fighting is extremely high. In Liu Yu's opinion, Geng Yan, Feng Yi and Cen Peng are the three with the highest tactical skills of the twenty-eight generals. Of course, Kou Xun is also very powerful, but his ability to govern the county is too strong, making the military talent appear less prominent.

Geng Yan is best at surrounding points and attacking aid. Of course, he will also attack the east and west, take news for vacation, and engage in psychological warfare. His tactical level is indeed at the level of the God of War.

Liu Yu was worried that Du Guangguo and Zhang Shu would be punished for losing the city, so he attacked rashly and hit Geng Yan's trick. Therefore, he immediately asked someone to go quickly to pass the imperial edict, ordering the entire county of Taiyuan to strengthen the walls and clear the fields, and ordering Du Guangguo to guard Lang Meng and Jinyang, and to resolutely not leave the city before the reinforcements arrived.

Liu Yu ordered the two of them: "When the army is strong, don't fight with him, don't be greedy for merit. As long as Lang Meng and Jinyang are not lost, the two nobles will have achievements and no mistakes. If Lang Meng is lost, he will have nothing to do. If he loses Lang Meng and guards Jinyang alone, the two nobles will have nothing to do. If he loses Jinyang, you two come to see him!"

Jinyang was in the northern part of Taiyuan County. As long as Jinyang was not lost, Geng Yan did not dare to lead the army south, because Jinyang could send troops to cut off his food route at any time.

Liu Yu ordered Bao Yong to attack Dai County, try to cut off Geng Yan's retreat, and lock him up alone in the Taiyuan Basin. He also ordered Liu Biao, the general who was preparing to come to Luoyang, to change his route and lead his cavalry to support Taiyuan. He asked Liu Biao's cavalry to go to Geng Yan's Youzhou cavalry to face the front of Geng Yan's Youzhou cavalry!

Liu Yu instructed Liu Biao: "You are proud of your courage and often lead the elite cavalry and lead the soldiers. It is best to be able to kill them in front of the battle."

It can be said that Geng Yan's flaw is a weakness of his own. After all, he is still a brave and fierce young man. Even though he is very tactical and strategy, he still can't help but want to end up on his own and do it with his own hands.

Another weakness of Geng Yan is that he is easy to act voluntarily and is not political. He followed Liu Xiu with all his passion, and then he asked Geng to increase his investment again and again. If he followed him, it would be better to bet all over and make a move!

If Geng Kuang hadn't stopped him, Geng's family would have been defeated.

He took the initiative to ask to go to Pingyuyang, but was scolded by Geng Kuang. It was not because of the problem of being peaceful, but because the relationship between Shanggu and Yuyang was too deep. He wanted to lead a large army to Yuyang. What exactly did he want to do? What would Liu Xiu think?

Geng Yan was scolded by his father and asked not to go. Liu Xiu refused. You go if you say you want to go, and you don’t go if you don’t want to go. Are you the final decision or the emperor has the final decision?

It was Geng Kuang who came forward to solve the problem and sent Geng Guo to Handan as a hostage before he could feel at ease to let Geng Yan go to Dingyuyang.
Chapter completed!