Chapter 1439: Attacking Liu Xiu and Zhu Yuanzhang
Liu Xiu thought that the preparations before the war were sufficient, but he did not expect that it would trigger such a large chain reaction, directly attracting the three princes Qin Hao, Sun Jian, and Huang Zu to jointly invade. How afraid should these three princes be of him?
Although Liu Xiu left 100,000 defenders in Jingnan, the total strength of the three invading coalition forces was as high as 160,000. Moreover, the attitude of the Qin, Sun, and Huang families was very firm, and they would rather send troops directly than occupy Jiaozhou.
Therefore, if Liu Xiu continues to attack Jiaozhou, there is no guarantee that the three families will not continue to increase their troops. By then, Jingnan may have been lost before Jiaozhou is captured.
As for Jiaozhou, Hong Xiuquan had more troops than Liu Xiu, and there were also two generals, Yang Xiuqing and Shi Dakai. Even if Shixie contained some of the Taiping Army's energy, Liu Xiu would not be able to occupy Jiaozhou in a short time.
But if they stop and return to Jingnan, not only will all the previous preparations be in vain, but Hong Xiuquan will also be alerted, and it will not be easy to enter Jiaozhou in the future.
The three families of Qin, Sun and Huang jointly sent troops to Jingnan, which put Liu Xiu in a difficult situation. However, after weighing the pros and cons, he chose to continue the campaign in Jiaozhou.
In a time of great strife, those who follow will perish, and those who go against will gain strength!
Liu Xiu's goal is not to settle down in a corner, just to be a local bully. What he wants is to dominate the world.
Now that only three princes have invaded, if he retreats, how can he talk about competing with Qin Hao for hegemony, and how can he talk about unifying the world?
The three princes jointly invaded. Although this situation was difficult for Liu Xiu, it could not be more difficult than when he led an army of 10,000 south to conquer Jingnan.
With Shixie internally assisting him, now is the best time for Liu Xiu to take over Jiaozhou. If he retreats just because of the pressure from the princes, he will never be able to occupy Jiaozhou again in the future, let alone annex Jiangdong and unify Jiangnan.
Jingnan has a hundred thousand defenders and is on the defensive. Even if the three families jointly invade, there will be no trouble in the short term.
Therefore, Liu Xiu was prepared to go all out and let Jingnan's 100,000 troops block the three-way coalition of princes, while he himself led an army of 50,000 to continue fighting.
Faced with the attack of the three princes, Liu Xiu not only did not retreat, but chose to bear it and started a war with the four princes at the same time. This move shocked the world.
Many people couldn't help but lament Liu Xiu's boldness, and at the same time felt pity for Liu Xiu. After all, the three princes who united this time were not small princes. Among them was not only Qin Hao, the overlord of the princes, but also Sun Jian from Jiangdong. Jingnan is inferior, and Hong Xiuquan has occupied Jiaozhou for many years and has a profound foundation.
Liu Xiu had not unified Jingnan for long, but he dared to start a war with these three princes at the same time. This was obviously extremely unwise, so most people in the world did not think highly of Liu Xiu.
Sun Jian's 60,000 troops attacked Lujiang, and Cen Peng led 40,000 troops to defend;
Huang Xie's 30,000 troops attacked Changsha, and Feng Yi led two troops to defend;
Yue Fei's 70,000 troops attacked Nanjun, and Deng Yu led 40,000 troops to defend it.
Liu Xiu's 50,000-strong army attacked and fought, while Yang Xiuqing led 60,000 troops to defend;
Shi Da led an army of 30,000 to attack Jiaozhi, and Shi Xie led an army of 20,000 to defend;
In this way, Liu Xiu's invasion of Jiaozhou completely lit the fuse, and all the southern princes were plunged into a melee. This battle also made all princes in the world look at him with suspicion.
At the same time, Zhu Yuanzhang of Xuzhou finally expelled Liu Bei and completely unified Xuzhou.
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang had defeated Liu Bei a year ago.
Even with the help of Zhuge Liang, the 20,000 temporarily formed Qin army, and Jiang Song and Yuwen Chengdu, Liu Bei still failed to defend Xuzhou under Zhu Yuanzhang.
Although Zhuge Liang's arrival made up for Liu Bei's deficiencies in strategy, military strength, and generals, compared with Zhu Yuanzhang, Liu Bei's background was still too shallow.
The decisive battle in Xiapi was extremely miserable, and even the Battle of the God of War lasted more than one, but in the end Xiapi City was defeated by Zhu Yuanzhang.
After the city was broken, the Xuzhou family was slaughtered by Zhu Yuanzhang, while Liu Bei led the remaining troops to escape into the mountains bordering Xu Yan.
Liu Bei had already lost Xuzhou, and Zhuge Liang naturally had no reason to stay. However, Liu Bei was unwilling to fail and still wanted to recapture Xuzhou, and begged Zhuge Liang to help him.
Although Zhuge Liang knew that it was impossible for Liu Bei to recapture Xuzhou, he considered that Liu Bei could be used to slow down Zhu Yuanzhang's development speed, so he persuaded Liu Bei and Zhu Yuanzhang to fight guerrilla warfare, and left Jiang Song and Yuwen in Chengdu to continue to advise Liu Bei.
After Zhu Yuanzhang unified Xuzhou, he wanted to recuperate, but Liu Bei's remnants harassed and hindered his development, so he could only cultivate while sending troops to encircle Liu Bei. But with Zhuge Liang's assistance and Qin Hao's support, Liu Bei could not be wiped out so easily. ?
Although the scale of the Xuzhou Encirclement and Suppression War was not large, it lasted for a full year, seriously delaying Zhu Yuanzhang's development.
In the end, Liu Bei lost everything. All the troops in his hand were lost in the battle, and even his wives and concubines were lost. The whereabouts of his two sworn brothers Guan and Zhang were also unknown. Forced by desperation, Liu Bei could only lead nearly a hundred people and followed Zhuge Liang to join Qin Hao. .
It was a long time after the incident that Liu Bei learned that Guan Yu had no choice but to surrender to Zhu Yuanzhang in order to save his wives and concubines, while Zhang Fei's whereabouts had been unknown.
Zhuge Liang led 20,000 slaves to reorganize the army into Xuzhou. When he came back, only more than 2,000 people were left, but he also overfulfilled the tasks assigned by Qin Hao.
Although Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang caused a lot of trouble to Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Yuanzhang never regarded Liu Bei as an opponent. In his opinion, Liu Bei was just a minor trouble, so while he was encircling and suppressing Liu Bei, he was also planning to attack Yuan Shu. The land of Jianghuai.
Xuzhou's geographical location is rather awkward. Its terrain is flat and there is almost no danger to defend except for the city. It is not suitable as a place to start fighting for hegemony. However, if you get Qingzhou or Jianghuai, you can advance to fight for hegemony and retreat to separate yourself.
As for the Qi State in the south of Qingzhou, King Zhu Tianpeng of Qi was Zhu Yuanzhang's subordinate, so the south of Qingzhou was actually considered to be under Zhu Yuanzhang's command.
However, if you want to merge Qi State under Zhu Yuanzhang's command, it will take time and cannot be accomplished overnight.
Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang was not in a hurry for Qingzhou, but instead focused on Jianghuai and Yanzhou.
There is Li Zicheng here in Yanzhou. Li Zicheng is an important minister of the Ming Dynasty. Since he is eyeing Yanzhou, Zhu Yuanzhang cannot go past him to attack Yanzhou. He can only support him to go against Cao Cao, while he himself is secretly planning Yuan Shu's Jianghuai.
Zhu Yuanzhang was not the only one who was eyeing Jianghuai. Sun Jian from Jiangdong and Zhao Kuangyin from Yuzhou both coveted Jianghuai, a place that was soon to be blessed.
