[Dragon and Tiger Fight in Shanxi and Bian]
In the Central Plains region, there are two major military and political groups, one is Zhu Wen of Bianzhou and the other is Li Keyong of Hedong. The two camps also had a deep hatred due to the "Shangyuanyi Incident". It is well known that the two camps are at odds with each other.
As a result, a situation similar to the confrontation between the two camps after World War II was formed. In order to protect themselves, the surrounding vassal towns had to "choose sides", either joining the Bianzhou forces or joining the Hedong forces.
Whenever there is a geopolitical conflict, the two parties will attach themselves to Shanxi and Biannan in a tacit understanding. For example, during the Heyang Rebellion, Li Hanzhi defected to Hedong Li Keyong, so Zhang Quanyi had to defect to Zhu Wen of Bianzhou and had no other choice.
Therefore, for a long time, behind the melee in the Central Plains vassal towns was more or less mixed with the competition between Shanxi and Bian forces. It is either a secret political game or a frontal military conflict.
From the destruction of Huangchao to the establishment of Houliang, warlords in the feudal towns continued to fight, which at first glance seemed like a mess with no clue. Here, this book offers a shortcut: take the Shanxi-Biannan competition as the main line and examine every historical event from the perspective of the Shanxi-Bianan game. This is their internal logic and the golden key to unlocking the chaos. .
Previously, both sides were relatively weak, especially Zhu Wen, who had only a few hundred people when he went to town. So they are unable to be the big brother who takes the lead. Moreover, the jurisdictions of the two sides are not adjacent, and there will be no direct conflict. Li Keyong also often used "going south to kill pigs" as a bargaining chip in political negotiations to blackmail the court.
Things are finally different now.
Zhu Wen, who expanded northward, first annexed the Yicheng Army in Huazhou, and then newly conquered the Weibo Army in Hebei;
Li Keyong continued to expand his territory eastward, first dividing the Zhaoyi Army into two and occupying the Western Zhaoyi Army, and then continued across the Taihang Mountains to launch a annexation war against the Eastern Zhaoyi Army.
As a result, Jin-Bian's sphere of influence finally bordered along the Zhaoyi Army border.
Strictly speaking, it is just a "border" on the administrative map, superficial.
The north-south border between the two sides is naturally blocked by the Taihang Mountains and the Yellow River; the Dong Zhaoyi Army has not yet been annexed by Li Keyong, and the Wei Bo Army to the east is only verbally loyal to Zhu Wen, and is also not actually controlled by Zhu Wen, so the east-west border line No real contact yet.
But things are different now. The Heyang area as a buffer zone was split. Li Keyong and Zhu Wen intervened at the same time, and the Shanxi-Bian forces came into direct contact for the first time.
The "Battle for Heyang" naturally became the first shot in Shanxi-Bian's struggle for hegemony.
【Battle for Heyang】
It can be seen from the personnel dispatch that both Li Keyong and Zhu Wen attach great importance to this competition. The so-called heroes have the same vision, and they deploy all their elite soldiers and brave generals.
As for Li Keyong, Kang Junli, the "first righteous hero", was in command, Li Cunxiao, the "first fierce general of the Five Dynasties", was in the vanguard, An Jinjun, An Xiuxiu and other generals led 7,000 cavalry and 20,000 infantry, as well as Lu Bu-like figure Li Hanzhi. Be the party that leads the way.
Zhu Wen sent generals such as Ding Hui, Zhang Cunjing, Niu Cunjie, and Ge Congzhou to lead tens of thousands of people to aid Zhang Quanyi.
We take the Heyang battlefield as the center and look around:
To the southeast and east are Zhu Wen's base camp, Bianzhou Xuanwu Army, and Huazhou Yicheng Army.
To the south is Xuzhou's Zhongwu Army, which is fighting with Cai's thieves. This area was liberated from Cai thieves last year by the "Three Zhu Alliance" led by Zhu Wen. Strictly speaking, the attitude here should be neutral in favor of Zhu Wen.
In addition to Zhu and Wen's direct lineage, the above forces are the "pro-Zhu faction" forces.
To the west and southwest are Wang Chongying of the National Guard Army (formerly Hezhong) and Wang Gong (the second son of Wang Chongying) of the Baoyi Army. They can be regarded as "pro-Hedong" forces.
The Xizhao Yijun directly north of Heyang is Li Keyong's territory, while the Dongzhao Yijun to the northeast of Heyang and directly east of the Xizhao Yijun is fighting with Li Keyong in a fierce battle.
Needless to say, further east is Wei Boluo Hongxin, Zhu Wen's newly recruited younger brother, who can be regarded as the strategic depth of the eastern battlefield.
Let’s look at the local public opinion in Heyang. Zhang Quanyi is well-known as the official of the people and the great master of Qingtian; Li Hanzhi is angry with both men and gods, throwing weights into the tea pot, and being a bastard who sinks to the bottom and smashes the pot. Ordinary people also tended to side with Zhang Quanyi and Zhu Wen.
At the same time, Zhang Quanyi closed the city and stood firm, waiting for work at ease, so that he could cooperate with the Bian army inside and outside. The Hedong army outside the city came from afar and was attacked from both sides.
The right time, right location, right people... all the advantages were taken by Zhu Wen, and it was hard to win even if he thought about it.
The Hedong Army was most proud of its unstoppable cavalry. Under the leadership of Li Hanzhi, they came aggressively to stop the Bian Army.
The generals of the Bian Army showed no fear. They were all brave and took the lead. They faced each other head-on and faced off head-on.
Li Hanzhi was a true hooligan and a fake righteous man. When he saw that the situation was not good, he turned his horse and fled. Hedong general An Xiuxiu fled to Caizhou because he was afraid of being punished for defeating the army.
The Bian Army was very smart and did not fight with the Hedong Army. Instead, it sent a group of troops to strangle Zhixing and Taihangxing in the "Taihang Eighths", cutting off the Hedong Army's advance and retreat.
If you unfold the map, you will find that the Taihang Mountains run from north to south and turn right to the west when approaching the Yellow River, like a "丿". The Taihang Mountains running from north to south separated the East and West Zhaoyi Army, and the Taihang Mountains running from east to west separated the West Zhaoyi Army and Heyang.
The "Taihang Eight Gates" are the eight most famous gaps in the Taihang Mountains, which can be used by troops to travel.
After the Bian Army cut off Zhixing and Taihangxing, the Hedong Army had to take a long detour if it wanted to continue supporting Heyang or retreat from Heyang to the Xizhao Rebel Army.
There are two detour routes to choose from: one is to go east, along the Yellow River, passing through the Bianzhou Xuanwu Army and the Huazhou Yicheng Army. After passing the Taihang Mountains, turn north and then cross the entire Dongzhao Yi Army. Return to Taiyuan. Obviously, this is a death route.
The other one goes west along the Yellow River, crossing Heyang, brushing against the Baoyi Army and the National Protector Army, detouring back to the Xizhao Yi Army, and throwing itself into the arms of the Hedong Army.
The Bian Army and Zhang Quanyi were originally fighting at home. After winning the first battle, they became close to fighting dogs. Kang Junli, the commander-in-chief of the Jin army, hurriedly ordered the withdrawal of troops, and hurriedly withdrew from the battlefield before the Bian army completed the strategic encirclement, and fled back to Taiyuan in embarrassment.
The first frontal military conflict between Shanxi and Bian ended with the victory of the Bian army.
Li Ke used the table to report that Li Hanzhi was the governor of Zezhou and the military governor of Heyang. This "Heyang Jiedu Envoy" is just an empty title that deceives oneself and others, while Zezhou is the bridgehead for the Jin army to move south, and Huaizhou separates the north and south of the Taihang Mountains.
To put it harshly, Li Keyong appointed Li Hanzhi as a watchdog.
After Zhu Wen played "Conglong Yuanxun" Ding Hui stayed in Heyang, Zhang Quanyi remained in Henan Yin.
Zhang Quanyi was filled with gratitude for Zhu Wen's timely rescue. Just like Chenzhou Zhao Ji, he attached himself to Zhu Wen wholeheartedly from then on and became one of Zhu Wen's most loyal servants. According to historical records, every time Zhu Wen left the army after that, Zhang Quanyi would always take the initiative to provide a large amount of food, grass and baggage and help him with all his money.
Li Hanzhi left his son in Taiyuan to serve Li Keyong, effectively serving as a hostage, while he returned to Zezhou to do what he was best at - being a robber.
Li Hanzhi did not understand production, let alone disdain production. He had been engaged in robbery for thirty years. With Zezhou as the center and radiating outward for more than a hundred miles, the fields were barren and there were few people.
The people fled to a mountain peak in the west. This mountain towered into the clouds, so it was named "Moyun Mountain". The people built fortifications on the mountains in order to protect themselves. Because the terrain was difficult and difficult to defend, ordinary bandits and bandits could not do anything to them. And this Li Hanzhi, with only about a hundred people, stormed the mountain stronghold, and earned a nickname: Li Moyun. From then on, he became a powerful bandit and a powerful bandit.
After gaining the support of Wei Bo and Heyang, Zhu Wen no longer had to worry about going to the west and could continue to plan his grand chess game.
