Huang Chao suffered heavy losses in Xiangyang. Although his remaining health was not sustained, he also lost Jiangling, Tanzhou and other strongholds. The plan of the Northern Expedition failed and he was forced to move eastward and return to the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions.
Cao Jun circled around in the magic of love in South China, and ran into Gao Pian's arms again.
Gao Pian, who was promoted to commander-in-chief of bandit suppression, sent his confidant Zhang Lin to launch sharp attacks one after another against the Grass Army.
Zhang Lin crossed the river and went south to intercept the Cao army. The leader of the Cao army, Wang Chongba, surrendered;
Taking advantage of the victory, Huang Chao was defeated again and retreated to Raozhou (now Boyang County, Jiangxi Province). Chang Hong, the leader of the Cao Army, led tens of thousands of his troops to surrender in an organized manner;
Zhang Lin continued to attack Raozhou, but Huang Chao was defeated again and withdrew from Raozhou...
Good news spread frequently, civil and military officials came to the court to congratulate them, and there was joy and peace inside and outside the court.
"I have Gao Pian, so I can sit back and relax!"
"It all depends on the power of the Emperor!"
Huang Chao retreated to Xinzhou (today's Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province). A plague broke out in the army, and many sergeants died of illness.
And that Zhang Lin was Huang Chao's enemy in his previous life, his rival in this life, and his debtor for three lifetimes. Zhang Lin ordered an urgent attack on Xinzhou to completely wipe out the Cao army.
Huang Chao was desperate and climbed up the city to look at the sky, "Zhang Lin, brother, don't you understand the principle of the rabbit dying and the dog cooking? Song Wei understands, Liu Jurong understands, doesn't Gao Pian understand?"
Huang Chao offered a large amount of gold to bribe Zhang Lin, "Brother, stop fighting. I'm convinced. It's just a trivial matter. By the way, please send a message to Gao Dashuai. I plan to surrender. Please give me a kind word in court." A few words, maybe we can be officials in the same court in the future and have the same friendship."
Zhang Lin accepted the gold and reported Huang Chao's begging for surrender to Gao Pian.
After reading the letter, Gao Pian looked up to the sky and laughed, "Just what I wanted!"
A staff member nearby hurriedly advised: "Commander, be careful of another false surrender!"
This aide was none other than Huang Chao's fellow villager, best friend, and best friend, Bi Shiduo, who had turned traitor to the seller. Bi Shiduo knew Huang Chao very well, "You are the most untrustworthy!"
Gao Pian glanced sideways at Bi Shiduo and smiled coldly, "Do you think I'm so stupid? Huang Chao conquered the city and invaded most of the country. How could he be satisfied with just one Jiedushi? Even a third-grade court official couldn't fill his stomach. If you feed him, can you feed his many followers? Isn’t the separation of King Huang of Qizhou City a lesson from the past?"
Everyone was puzzled. Since they knew that he might not be sincere, why did he stop fighting?
"Adhere to the plan." Gao Pian leaned back strategically, admiring everyone's admiring eyes, and then explained his little abacus.
Gao Pian wanted to take this opportunity to deceive Huang Chao, capture him alive, and quell the chaos without any bloodshed. He wanted to follow the example of "Dengzhou asking for surrender" to deceive and kill Shang Junchang.
Therefore, Gao Pian replied to Huang Chao, saying that as long as he sincerely surrendered, he would be willing to obtain a commission for him as a military governor.
At that time, Zhaoyi Army, Guanyin Army, Yiwu Army and other war zones had already responded to Gao Pian's previous transfer order and sent task forces to assemble in Huainan. Gao Pian was greedy for merit and was afraid that others would take away his credit or that the "Dengzhou surrender" case would be staged again, so he urgently went to the imperial court and said that the Cao army was about to be wiped out by him and did not need the help of other regiments. He asked them to immediately Return to the original garrison area.
The court believed in Gao Pian's ability and readily approved his request. The task force groups in each theater turned back, walked in unison, and headed home.
Huang Chao has learned from past experiences and lessons, fully understands the importance of military strength and speed, and worships the creed that "soldiers are deceitful". After showing weakness in Shinshu, he actively deployed and set up numerous ambushes. They also dispatched countless detectives to investigate the movements of the officers and soldiers.
Tan Ma brought reliable information: all theater task force groups had crossed the Huaihe River and headed north to return.
Huang Chao was overjoyed and immediately wrote a letter and sent it to Gao Pian. The letter was full of sarcasm and demanded a decisive battle with him.
Gao Pian became angry and ordered Zhang Lin to attack Xinzhou urgently.
This time, Huang Chao was waiting for work, while Zhang Lin went deep into the army alone. The division and troops were exhausted and had reached the end of their strength.
The ending can be imagined. Zhang Lin was defeated and killed.
The Cao army gained momentum and took advantage of the victory to advance and captured Muzhou (today's Jiande City, Zhejiang Province) and Wuzhou (today's Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province). After that, they continued non-stop and captured Xuanzhou (now Xuancheng City, Anhui Province, the capital of Xuanshe Road at that time).
The next month, the Cao army crossed the Yangtze River and headed north, besieging Tianchang (now Tianchang City, Anhui Province) and Liuhe (now Liuhe County, Jiangsu Province). The bandit force was huge.
Bi Shiduo once again advised Gao Pian, saying that the safety of the empire depends entirely on the commander-in-chief. Now that Commander Cao is marching north, it feels like he is entering uninhabited territory. As the commander-in-chief of the bandit suppression, if you don't take action, I'm afraid no one will be able to check and balance. I suggest that you guard the dangerous terrain and then send troops to attack head-on. You will definitely win. If the Cao Cao army is allowed to cross Changhuaiguan (today's Bengbu City, Anhui Province), it will definitely become a major disaster in the Central Plains!
Gao Pian frowned and said nothing for a long time.
He had just dismissed various task force groups, and his strength had dropped sharply. The enemy was outnumbered; his favorite general Zhang Lin was killed again, and the morale of the army was low... Huang Chao was like an invincible little strongman again, with incredible health recovery and battery life, and now he was gaining momentum. ,Why……
Having few troops and losing generals are all excuses. To this day, the saying that "I was afraid of Zhang Lin because I loved him and died in battle" is still widespread. This is inaccurate and illogical.
It's just that Gao Pian already had other ideas at that time.
Gao Pian decided to stand still, and the Shangshu court became anxious: "More than 600,000 Cao Cao troops are stationed in Tianchang, which is less than fifty miles away from Yangzhou City where I am!"
The generals couldn't understand why the commander wanted to boost other people's ambitions, destroy his own prestige, and bluff on behalf of Huang Chao?
Song Wei understands, Liu Jurong understands.
What do you know? Raise the bandits to respect themselves.
Gao Pian used the Cao army as a bargaining chip to blackmail the court and reward officials and soldiers. At the same time, it covered up the shame of Shinshu's defeat.
Apart from me, Gao Pian, who else in the court can lead the troops to defeat the thieves? I, Gao Pian, am your only life-saving straw. You see, the grass-roots army is already unstoppable. They are nimble and provide money, food and military power.
First create panic inside and outside the court, and then use the panic to maximize your own interests. This is just Gao Pian's elementary conspiracy.
As he wished, an urgent memorial blew up the court, and the civil and military forces of the court fell into unprecedented panic.
Tang Xizong was frightened and panicked at first, and the first thing he thought of was to quarrel with Gao Pian. Emperor Xizong issued an edict blaming Gao Pian for not repatriating the special corps from each war zone, causing the Cao army to take advantage of the opportunity and cross the Yangtze River north.
Gao Pian Shu retorted, saying that although I proposed the dismissal, it was Your Majesty who made the final decision, and you should bear the main responsibility.
The king is not a king, and the minister is not a minister.
Gao Pian also made it clear: Of course I can try my best to protect my side of the land, but I am afraid that the Cao army will bypass my defense area, cross the Huaihe River north, and come directly to you. Your Majesty, you'd better give an urgent order to all war zones and let them help. You defend yourself well. As for me, I am paralyzed. I have enough defense but not enough offense, so be it.
Emperor Xizong understood that Gao Pian was not trying to shirk responsibility, but wanted to separate himself and rule the roost.
So the emperor ordered that all war zones south of the Yellow River should send troops to Anshui, and Taining Jiedushi Qi Kerang was stationed in Ruzhou to resist the Cao army's northward march.
