Yanyun Erzhu and Xuzhou Shipu had a common enemy - Zhu Wen of Bianzhou, so they formed a military alliance long ago for self-protection, and the three towns happened to be at odds with each other.
At the critical moment in Xuzhou, Zhu Jin of Yanzhou sent troops to help and personally led 10,000 troops into the battle.
Zhu Jin's strategy was to "encircle Wei and save Zhao" and save the country in a roundabout way. These ten thousand people did not go to Xuzhou, and of course they did not dare to go to Bianzhou. Zhu Jin took them to Shanfu County (today's Shanxian County, Shandong Province) to attack Zhu Wen. Mother's ancestral grave.
As expected of being members of the same military alliance, Yanyun Erzhu and Xuzhou Shipu's beliefs are highly consistent. They believe in Feng Shui and want to destroy the enemy's Feng Shui by digging ancestral graves to achieve the purpose of saving themselves.
Wearing the same pants, farting the same way.
Zhu Wen sent Ding Hui and Zhang Guiba to Shan's father to rescue him. Ding Hui and Zhang Guiba lived up to their expectations and wiped out almost all the more than 10,000 tomb robbers. Zhu Jin escaped in embarrassment alone.
Zhu Wen's attitude towards Yanyun Erzhu and Xuzhou Shipu was: Please don't get me wrong, I am not targeting anyone, I mean that everyone here is rubbish.
Next, Zhu Wen sent his eldest son Zhu Youyu as the vanguard to launch an attack on Puzhou, and he led the main force to support later. Launching a retaliatory military operation against Yan Yun Erzhu's grave-digging behavior also took this opportunity to extend the strategic depth of northern Xuzhou and form a more solid strategic encirclement of Xuzhou.
Zhu Xuan of Yunzhou rushed to help Puzhou overnight. Zhu Youyu did not expect that Zhu Xuan would move so quickly. He was caught off guard and had to abandon the camp and escape with the remaining troops.
Zhu Wen, who was in the rear, knew nothing about the changes on the front line. According to the previous plan, he rushed to join forces early the next morning. As a result, Zhu Xuan fought a beautiful ambush.
Zhu Wen was in danger of being surrounded and annihilated. General Zhang Guihou led his cavalry into the enemy formation bravely, charging left and right. Zhang Guihou entered and exited more than 20 times, far exceeding Zhao Yun's "seven in and seven out". He was unstoppable and forced the Yanyun coalition forces to retreat. Just when Zhu Wen was about to get out of trouble, the Yanyun coalition forces fighting at home received a large number of reinforcements.
At the critical moment, Zhang Guihou shouted "Let the leader go first" and asked dozens of cavalry to escort Zhu Wen and use the gap just opened to escape. He personally judged the situation.
At that time, Zhang Guihou's horse was hit by an arrow and died. Zhang Guihou fought on foot with a spear to buy time for Zhu Wen.
Zhu Wen withdrew to the rear and immediately sent elite soldiers and brave generals to support him. When the support from the Bian Army arrived, all they could see were the overwhelming Yanyun Allied Forces. The Bian army shook their heads and lamented. The friendly forces that had been cut off from the rear had long been swallowed up by the tide of enemy troops. General Zhang Guihou must have been glorious...
With the belief of snatching Zhang Guihou's body, the Bian army pounced on the Yanyun coalition forces. After getting deep into the enemy's position, the generals were surprised to find that Zhang Guihou was still fighting despite being surrounded by more than 20 arrows stuck in his body!
He is still alive!
The generals rescued him to the rear. Zhu Wen couldn't help but stroke his back and cried bitterly, saying: "I would rather lose a thousand troops than lose me, General Zhang!"
Zhang Guihou was from the Huangchao Cao Army, but he was not directly related to Zhu Wen. The two had no intersection in the Cao Army. After the "Battle of Wangmandu", he and his brothers Zhang Guiba, Zhang Guibian, Ge Congzhou, Huo Cun and others surrendered to Zhu Wen.
When Cai thief Qin Zongquan devoted all his strength to attack Bianzhou, Zhang Guihou challenged Cai thief general Zhang Hao in a one-on-one battle and won a great victory. In fact, in real ancient battlefields, it is rare for the two armies to duel in front of each other. It basically only exists in novels. Zhang Guihou is one of the few duels recorded in official history.
When he followed Zhu Zhen in his first crusade against Xuzhou Pu, Zhang Guihou rushed into the Xuzhou camp like a tiger among wolves, charging left and right, unstoppable. Later, at the foot of Jiuli Mountain, the Xu and Bian armies encountered each other, and Zhang Guihou With a quick glance, he discovered the traitor general Chen Fan among the Xuzhou army, so he cursed with anger and stepped forward on a single horse, hoping to take the enemy general's head out of a million soldiers. Unexpectedly, the Xuzhou soldiers fired a hidden arrow and hit him in the left eye. Gui Hou was shot out of one eye and was alone in front of the battle, but no one from Xuzhou soldiers dared to step forward to capture him (Xu Rong was so numerous that no one dared to pursue him).
Zhang Guihou is brave and invincible, and his brother Zhang Guiba is even more unworthy. Also in the battle against Zhang Hao, the leader of the Cai thieves, Zhang Guiba was wounded by a hidden arrow. He immediately pulled out the arrow and shot the thieves. The thieves were shot through the throat immediately and fell off their horses to death. Zhang Guiba captured him. The war horse returns.
Zhang Guihou sacrificed his life to save Zhu Wen, but the Bian army suffered heavy losses.
Xuzhou Shipu saw hope and hurriedly mobilized troops to attack Suzhou. Suzhou defender Guo Yan resisted tenaciously and was unfortunately killed in battle.
Guo Yan, who was born in the Cao Army, belongs to Zhu Wen's "half-way lineage", because Guo Yan was taken into the Cao Army when Huang Chao invaded Chang'an, and was later placed under Zhu Wen's tent, and then surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with Zhu Wen's rebellion, so if In terms of rough qualifications, he is also Zhu Wen's direct descendant (subordinate of the original grass army), older than Ge Congzhou, Huo Cun and others, but in detail, he is later than Zhu Zhen, Pang Shigu and others. We Let's jokingly call it "half-way direct lineage".
In terms of strength, Guo Yan is not inferior to the generals. He is "upright in nature, powerful in strategy, and diligent in military affairs." He is both civil and military and has a bold personality. He often uses his own money to help the poor soldiers under his command, so he is very popular among soldiers. In the hearts of soldiers, everyone is willing to die for him as a good leader or officer, so the combat effectiveness of Guo Yan's troops is very impressive.
In the confrontation with Cai's thief Qin Zongquan, Guo Yan's troops were able to defeat more with less every time, and never lost. Zhu Wen also compared him to Xu Chu, a fierce general of the Three Kingdoms (Yan Nai is my tiger lord).
As the saying goes, if an earthen pot is not broken near the mouth of a well, a general will inevitably die in battle.
When Xuzhou Shipu came with his army, Guo Yan once again used a small number to fight against a large number. "He is brave enough to fight in the field and is happy to meet a powerful enemy." However, this time it became his last battle.
During the battle, he took the lead and caused heavy casualties to Xu Zu. He defeated many with less, forcing Shi Pu to lead his army to retreat. During this period, Guo Yan was injured by a stray arrow. Looking at Xu Zu's back in the distance and the setting sun falling on the western slope, Guo Yan closed his eyes with relief.
The best fate for a soldier is to be hit by the last bullet in the last battle. Guo Yan did it.
In just a few days, Zhu Wen suffered heavy losses one after another, losing meritorious veterans such as Li Fan and Guo Yan. After learning from the experience, Zhu Wen believed that he should concentrate his efforts on getting rid of Xuzhou Shipu first.
So, with the fury of revenge, Zhu Wen mobilized tens of thousands of troops and attacked Xuzhou, implementing the inhumane "Three Lights" policy along the way.
A flood made Xuzhou Shipu worse, and the people in the territory were miserable.
From the third year of Guangqi (887), when Shi Pu intercepted Li Fan and Guo Yan who were sent to Huainan in Sizhou, to the first year of Jingfu (892), the melee between Zhu Wen and Shi Pu had lasted for five years. Zhu Wen was always in a dominant position and completely dominated Shi Pu. The mortality rate of the people under the jurisdiction of the Probationary Army was as high as 60% to 70%.
Of course, this astonishingly high mortality rate is not due to direct deaths on the battlefield. In addition to direct damage on the battlefield, there are more indirect war losses. For example, the war has caused farmers to be unable to farm, and some are natural disasters. In short, they are all inseparable from this war (people in Xu, Si, and Hao prefectures were not allowed to farm...there were floods again, and as many as sixty-seven people died).
Such a high death rate was unbearable for any ruler. Shi Pu seemed to be at the end of his rope and was forced to apply for peace to Zhu Wen.
Zhu Wen issued a ceasefire condition: Get out!
Shi Pu must leave Xuzhou unconditionally and give up the probation army. The alliance under the city has no room for maneuver. Shi Pu could only agree.
Therefore, Zhu Wen reported to the court and requested that Shi Pu be transferred out of Xuzhou and another senior official be appointed to take over the Xuzhou Probationary Army.
The imperial court approved the report and issued an edict that when Pu was crown prince and grand master, he was transferred back to the central government; Prime Minister Liu Chongwang was ordered to serve as the governor of the reform army.
When the edict was delivered, Shi Pu temporarily regretted it and refused to leave the city. The reason was that he was worried that Zhu Wen would intercept and kill him on the way, so he refused to obey the edict. As soon as Liu Chongwang left Chang'an, he returned by the original route.
Shi Pu then reported to the court again, saying that the officers and soldiers of the probation army and the people loved me very much and would not let me go. The kindness was so great that I couldn't get away. I hope your majesty would comply with public opinion.
Since the people support it so much, then... Pu will remain in the Xuzhou Probation Army when the imperial court renews the imperial edict.
