What Huang Mingliao expected was true. There were indeed new roads in the Qinling Mountains between Ziwu Road and Lanwu Road, and there were not one, but three.

From the very beginning, Li Yuan never changed his goal, which was to go south to Bashu.

But Li Yuan also knew very well that when he went south, Huang Mingliao also went south. He took the small road, while Huang Mingliao took the main road. Even if they were on the short road, the other party might arrive first.

Even if both sides arrive at the same time, he has no time to retreat, so Huang Mingliao must be delayed.

So Li Yuan made preparations, divided his troops into three groups, and mobilized the tiger to leave the mountain.

Li Yuan first selected more than two hundred mountain soldiers in the army who were good at running and sent them to Lantian Camp to deliver the message.

Li Chen was obedient. After receiving Li Yuan's order, he immediately abandoned the camp and led his army southward to Kugukou (the valley where the Kuyu River originates from today's Shaanxi Province, about 60 miles away from Chang'an City).

After these soldiers delivered the letter, they deliberately created traces on the Lanwu Road that Li Yuan's troops had gone south.

This was a trick to make people suspicious, and it was deliberately visible to others, hoping that Huang Mingliao would believe that they were really going to Chang'an City.

The remaining army was divided into one thousand and handed over to Chai Shao, who was ordered to leave Xinfeng Pass in the north and march toward Chang'an with great fanfare to attract the attention of the Sui army.

The remaining main force of the Tang army was led by Li Yuan and continued to advance south.

Tens of thousands of horses and horses were walking in the high mountains, but the army was not moving very fast. Moreover, the three armies were exhausted and lacked food. The Tang army was not a force that could break its legs like the Sui army, so the Tang army stopped and walked, stopped and walked, until

Huang Mingliao arrived at the Lantian camp, stayed there for half a day, and then wanted to withdraw. The Tang army was still more than ten miles away from Lanwu Avenue.

However, it's enough.

As Li Yuan expected, Huang Mingliao fell into the trap, and the entire army withdrew from Lan Wudao and headed towards Chang'an.

At this point, the road from Li Yuan's location to the south is smooth.

At a distance of forty miles, Li Yuan's troops walked very quickly. Everyone knew that this was the only chance to escape. If they walked too slowly, they would only be killed by the Sui army. Therefore, regardless of exhaustion, the wind was blowing on the soles of their feet.

The blue sky and dangerous mountains separate the middle and southeast of the pass, and the mountains near Lantian make it really difficult for ordinary people to find the way.

However, Li Yuan seemed to be well prepared, taking his time and moving forward steadily. After all, Li Yuan had ruled Guanzhong for almost a year, and the situation along the way was basically under the control of the Tang army. So from Lantian Camp

To the entrance of Kugu, a distance of forty miles, the three armies arrived with precise orientation.

The crowd marched all the way to Kugukou, where Li Chen was leading his men to wait for Li Yuan.

The mouth of Kugu is also named Bitter Valley, which is why the water quality is very astringent.

The remnants of Li Yuan's army were also exhausted.

The whole army did not have much rest for four days and three nights, and they did not even have much food. They could only live hungry and well-fed. After two days of this, everyone became savages.

At this time, when they arrived at Kugukou, the three armies could not help but rejoice in the fact that they had survived. Even Li Yuan's eyes were red and his hands could not stop trembling.

It's really not easy to escape all the way here.

Everyone received food aid from Li Chen's tribe, had a good meal, and then slept at the entrance of Kugukou.

The three armies slept for a long time, snoring like thunder until they stopped.

The three armies are so exhausted that if the Sui army really catches up, the outcome is uncertain.

Early the next morning, seeing that the Sui army had not yet come after him, Li Yuan decided to wait for the Sui army here for another day. At this time, after he and Li Chen met, they had more than 16,000 troops and enough troops. They had fought many battles before.

Defeated and his morale plummeted, he hoped that the Sui army would pursue them and let him sit back and wait.

Unfortunately, after waiting for a day, the Tang army still did not come.

Li Yuan knew that Huang Mingliao would not be fooled, so he ordered to continue south along Kugu Road.

Kugu Road is a new road going south from Guanzhong.

Originally, the route from Chang'an to Xicheng County was blocked by the Qinling Mountains and there was no short post road connecting it. Even though many plank roads were built in the north and south of the Qinling Mountains since the Qin and Han Dynasties, no one built this south-north road.

There were originally two main roads from Chang'an to Xicheng County. One of them went through Lanwu Road to Shangluo, then passed through Shangluo and Shangjin County (now Shangjin Town, Yunxi County, Hubei Province). It turned southwest from Shangjin.

You can reach Jinzhou by following the waterway of the Han River or the land route on the north side of the Han River via Xunyang (now Xunyang County, Shaanxi Province). The route is curved and the journey is long and circuitous.

The other is to enter Hanzhong via Ziwu Road, and then go east along the northern channel of the Han River from Shiquan County to Xicheng County. When Ziwu Road is abandoned, it is even more necessary to bypass Baoxie Road, Chencang Road, Baocheng Road and other places.

The journey is further.

Therefore, a long time ago, there were business travelers walking through several small roads in the Qinling Mountains.

These three roads are Xigu (now Xiaoyu Valley, Shaanxi Province) Road, Yigu (now Dayi Valley, Shaanxi Province) Road and Kugu Road. They are all named after the starting points and are several small mountain passes at the southern foot of the Guanzhong Plain.

And the end point is Xicheng County.

Among them, the Kugu Road is the easternmost one, running directly from the high mountains to Zhen'an County in later generations. The Xigu Road and the Yigu Road follow Ergu respectively after crossing the Qinling Mountains, and then merge into one road, going south along the Qianyou River to Anye County (today's Zha, Shaanxi Province).

Shui County), from Anye County, go south along the Ganyou Valley Road, pass through the present-day Zhen'an County, merge with the Kugu Road, reach Liangheguan in Xunyang County, and then follow the Xun Valley Road to Xunyang County.

It starts from Xunyang and reaches Xicheng County along the north bank channel of the Han River or the Han River Waterway.

These three roads, the earliest Yigu Road, appeared during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou Dynasty.

Originally, except for merchants and travelers, the government did not pay much attention to these three roads. They even did not register them because they were difficult to travel. This is also the reason why the Sui army did not know about these roads from beginning to end.

After Li Yuan occupied Guanzhong, he saw that the Sui army occupied Hanzhong and the roads to the south were blocked. He also learned about these three roads through the Guanlong family, so he ordered people to repair the roads and build plank roads as a way to go south, catching Hanchuan County by surprise.

However, although there are roads, the third road is obviously not a good road, otherwise it would not have been hidden for so long.

Going inwards from Kugu, there is Kugu Pass.

Of course, there is no such thing as a pass, and there is no army or city.

The Tang army entered the valley and began a difficult journey.

From the dome of the mountain, there is a path of sheep's intestines, which is folded between the jungle and overhanging rocks. If you are not careful, the men and horses will fall into the deep stream. After passing the Qinling Mountains, the terrain is slightly flat.

Along the way, many Tang troops fell into cliffs.

What a pity for these people. Starting from Tongzhou, they had a narrow escape, fought for a long time, and fought hard to reach the Qinling Mountains. Seeing Bashu right in front of them, they did not die on the battlefield, but ended up falling to death, which is also a sigh.

From Kugu to Xicheng County, the seat of Jinzhou (today's Ankang City, Shaanxi Province), a distance of more than 300 miles, Li Yuan and his party walked for more than ten days.

When the three armies arrived in Xunyang, Li Yuanji and Xiahou Duan, who were responsible for conquering the counties in Shannan, received the news early and came to greet Li Yuan in person.
Chapter completed!