In the first month of the tenth year of Xiantong (869), just after the Spring Festival, the bandit army that invaded Haizhou (today's Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province) was ambushed. The officers and soldiers tampered with the bridge they had to pass, and waited for the bandit army to cross the bridge. The bridge collapsed and the rebel army was completely wiped out; the rebel army that invaded Shouzhou was also defeated by Huainan and other armies, and thousands of them were captured and killed.
At the same time, Kang Chengxun led the army to attack Liuzi Village and camped for thirty miles; Cao Xiang replaced Wang Yanquan as the commander of the North Road and stationed troops in Teng County and Peixian County; Hebei Fanzhen stationed troops in Feng County and Xiao County.
Xuzhou formed a semi-surrounded situation from north to west. The war entered the stage of strategic counter-offensive.
The battle line almost starts from the sea in the east, goes west along the borders of Shandong and Jiangsu, turns to Henan, and detours to Anhui... Pang Xun was unable to judge the main direction of the army's attack, so he could only deploy defenses everywhere, which made his troops stretched thin. As a result, the rear area was empty, and only a few thousand people were left in Xuzhou City.
Only then did Pang Xun realize that the situation was not good, so he captured young men in the territory and forced them to join the army. The people of Xuzhou engaged in "tunnel warfare" and hid in caves. Pang Xun could only catch twenty or thirty people every day.
The Hebei task force launched the attack first, targeting Feng County. Pang Xunga sent three thousand soldiers and horses to support.
Meng Jingwen, the rebel guard in Feng County, was cunning and ferocious, and had a large number of troops. At this time, he had already developed his own ambitions and made so-called prophecies (such as "Great Chu will rise, King Chen Sheng") and various auspicious signs to break away from Pang Xun and others. Support the troops and create public opinion independently.
After Pang Xun sent away three thousand reinforcements, he learned about Meng Jingwen's evil intentions. It was too late to make amends.
Three thousand reinforcements arrived in Feng County. Meng Jingwen warmly welcomed them, praised their bravery and invincibility, and made an appointment with them to defeat the Hebei feudal army. The specific operation was as follows: three thousand reinforcements acted as the vanguard, faked defeat and returned, and Meng Jingwen launched another attack. Elite soldiers ambush.
The actual operation is this: 3,000 reinforcements act as the vanguard, fake defeat and return. Meng Jingwen stands still, sits on the mountain and watches tigers fight, borrows swords to kill people, and enjoys the results. In the end, all three thousand reinforcements were wiped out.
Pang Xun sent an envoy to deceive Meng Jingwen, saying that Wang Hongli had conquered Huainan, and I, Pang Xun, planned to go to Huainan to guard it in person, so I wanted to invite all the veterans to hold a meeting and recommend someone to take charge of my hometown in Xuzhou.
Meng Jingwen has a fascinating confidence in himself and believes that I am the "Lord of Xuzhou". So he happily went to Xuzhou to attend the meeting.
A few miles outside Xuzhou City, an ambush suddenly appeared on the roadside. Meng Jingwen was captured alive, brought back to Xuzhou, and beheaded in public display.
After eradicating internal unrest, Pang Xun will then concentrate on dealing with external threats.
Kang Chengxun sent Shatuo leader Zhu Xie Chixin to lead 3,000 Shatuo cavalry as the vanguard. They won repeated battles and defeated the bandit army steadily.
The Shatuo cavalry were extremely fierce and were the most elite cavalry in the late Tang Dynasty. Especially Zhu Xie's troops made all the other ten-town divisions led by Kang Chengxun praise them and put them to shame.
The morale of the thieves was greatly reduced.
Today, within Xu Thief, Wang Hongli is definitely the number one Internet celebrity, and Xu Thief’s first brother. Relying on the victory at Huaikou, Kang Chengxun was not taken seriously at all.
Wang Hongli took the initiative to ask for military service, willing to lead his 30,000 troops to defeat Kang Chengxun's 70,000 rabble. After receiving Pang Xun's approval, Wang Hong, eager to make another extraordinary feat, immediately crossed the Suishui River without stopping, arrived at the front line, and launched a night attack impatiently.
Fighting from late at night to dawn, Wang Hongli surrounded the officers and soldiers of Lutang Village.
Wang Hongli led his generals to the high hill, pointed out the country, inspired writing, and watched Kang Chengxun being made into dumplings. This will become another source of bragging for him in the future.
When the great achievement was about to be completed, a group of Shatuo cavalry suddenly appeared. Shatuo's cavalry rushed left and right, as if they were in an uninhabited land, flying back and forth among the bandits' array, and the battle situation immediately turned around. The bandit army was defeated.
Countless rebels were forced into the Suishui River and drowned. Their dead bodies stretched for more than fifty miles, and more than 20,000 people were beheaded. All their weapons and equipment were seized by the officers and soldiers. All the surviving rebels hid in the valley, discarding their helmets and armor. , no longer report back to the rebel camp. Wang Hongli fled the battlefield alone.
These rebels were basically peasants who had been coerced, so Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty issued an edict that all captured rebel soldiers in future battles would be released without charge, and their past experiences would not be held accountable.
The farmers who have been living in the lies of Pang Xun Group finally heard of the mighty emperor’s grace. Word of mouth spread, and the imperial court's tolerant policy spread widely in the bandit areas. From then on, whenever the two armies encountered each other, the farmers who were driven away and threatened took the initiative to escape and no longer worked for the Pang Xun gang. The combat effectiveness of the bandit army plummeted.
Wang Hongli fled back to Xuzhou, and Pang Xun was furious. "Do you still have the nerve to come back? Someone, pull me out——"
The dog-headed military advisor hurriedly begged Pang Xun, saying that Wang Hongli had made great contributions to conquering Haozhou and conquering Huaikou. If you did not reward him (verbal praise does not count), he would lose the battle once, and you would kill him. You have merit. If you are not rewarded or severely punished, who will be willing to work for you in the future? Now is the time to employ people, so it is better to let him perform meritorious service and see the consequences.
So Wang Hongli quickly expressed his willingness to go to Sizhou and capture Sizhou to make up for his past mistakes.
Wang Hongli arrived in Sizhou, which he had been unable to conquer for a long time. He was eager to wash away the shame of defeat, but he had no troops in his hands. In the battle of Lutangzhai, 30,000 of his men were wiped out, and Xuzhou only allocated him a few hundred men. Use these hundreds of people to capture Sizhou?
Wu Jiong said "haha".
On the Sizhou front line, Wu Jiong was the commander-in-chief, and Wang Hongli was just a defeated general who came to make up for his mistakes. Wu Jiong was jealous of Wang Hongli's military exploits, and couldn't bear to see him succeed as a villain, "You are here too? Ha, God opened his eyes!".
Wu Jong put on bureaucratic airs and used the system to suppress Wang Hongli reasonably and legally. Wang Hongli deeply felt that a fallen phoenix was not as good as a chicken.
Wang Hongli could only find another way. Since he couldn't attack by force, he had to use his wits. It is proposed to defeat Sizhou without any bloodshed. He sent Li Yuan, the former commander-in-chief of Sizhou, who had been dismissed, into Sizhou to explain his interests to Du Xin, and persuaded him to surrender in Kaicheng.
Wang Hongli and Li Yuan are both fallen people from the end of the world.
Li Yuan entered the city, met with Du Xun, and said that we, Pang Pang, knew that you were from a prominent family, so we did not dare to offend the sergeants. As long as you open the city gate, we promise not to harm the people and deceive you into being a puppy.
Du Xun didn't even bother to pay attention to him. He pursed his lips backwards, stepped out of the line with his knife and axe, and pulled it out with a "click".
Outside Sizhou City, Wu Jiong and Wang Hongli looked at each other with tearful eyes, heartbroken people facing heartbroken people.
After Kang Chengxun defeated Wang Hongli in Lutang Village, he took advantage of the victory to advance into Liuzi Village and fought dozens of battles with the bandit general Yao Zhou within a month. Yao Zhou was gradually dying, and when a strong wind blew up, the officers and soldiers took the opportunity to set fire to Liuzi Village.
Yao Zhou was forced to retreat back, and was caught up by Shatuo cavalry, who intercepted and killed him. In the end, Yao Zhou fled to Suzhou in embarrassment with only dozens of followers.
Suzhou guard Liang Pi saw Yao Zhou fleeing for his life from a distance on the top of the city.
"Brother Liang Xian, for the sake of Pang Xun, please give me a hand!"
Liang Pi quickly opened the city gate, "Come in quickly, come in quickly!"
Yao Zhou stumbled, fled into the city gate, rolled his saddle and fell off his horse. He was too tired.
Liang Pi hurriedly took a step forward, "No need to do this big salute, get up quickly. Come here, come here, pull him out and chop him down."
