【Curve to save the country】
Regarding Liu Rengong's Northern Expedition, Zhu Wen made full arrangements and careful plans, instead of trying to gain mulberry trees in the east and pick up weak persimmons to vent the anger of the defeated army.
First of all, turn against the guest and lead the snake out of its hole.
Although Zhu Wen already has the strength to confront Li Keyong head-on, pushing northward from Xizhaoyi is obviously not the best choice. The Zhaoyi battlefield was Li Keyong's home field. The Zhu-Wen front was long and had to overcome two major natural dangers, the Yellow River and the Taihang Mountains. Army mobilization and logistical supplies would cost more.
And if Zhu Wen chooses the Northern Expedition to Liu Rengong, Li Keyong may travel across mountains and rivers to rescue Youzhou, because once Youzhou is annexed by Zhu Wen, the entire Heshuo area will be directly or indirectly owned by Zhu Wen, which is better than losing it. Xi Zhaoyi is even more dangerous.
Zhu Wen's logic for attacking Youzhou was to attack the enemy and rescue the enemy, gather reinforcements, and turn the away game into the home game, forcing Li Keyong to move the Zhaoyi battlefield to Hebei. Even if it could not be moved to Hebei, it could still be moved to Dong Zhaoyi. In short, leaving Xizhaoyi's Hedong home court, the team will focus on the visitors.
Secondly, create a huge political bargaining chip out of nothing.
Because once Youzhou faces a threat, not only Li Keyong will be restless, but Wang Rong of the Chengde Army in Zhenzhou, an important town in Heshuo that adheres to the regional balance of power, will also be unable to stay away. Wang Rong did not want to see Youzhou annexed by Zhu Wen, so he would definitely mediate, thereby asking for Zhu Wen and owing Zhu Wen a big favor.
What made Zhenzhou Wang Rong even more troublesome was Li Keyong's request to "borrow the road". If Li Keyong wants to reach the Hebei battlefield, he must go around the northernmost part of the Taihang Mountains, and then use Dao Chengde to go south, because Dong Zhaoyi is currently controlled by Zhu Wen, and Wei Bo will not open the border to him. Li Dao Chengde is Li Keyong's choice. Ke Yong is the only way to reach the Hebei battlefield.
If Wang Rong refuses, then Zhu Wen may annex Youzhou, which Wang Rong does not want to see, and it will also offend Li Keyong. With the left and right sides out of control and no human beings inside or outside, Wang Rong would not refuse Li Keyong's request for a passage.
Once Cheng Dejun provides transit services to Li Keyong, he will of course offend Zhu Wen and become another favor that Wang Rong owes Zhu Wen. This allowed Zhu Wen to occupy an absolutely dominant position in future Heshuo affairs, especially against Zhenzhou Wang Rong. He had both the political bargaining chip to negotiate terms and sufficient reasons for military strikes.
Third, there are sufficient and legitimate reasons for the Northern Expedition to Youzhou, and the troops are well-known.
Liu Rengong of Youzhou did not follow the imperial edict, raised troops without authorization, invaded Weibo, and caused the "Beizhou Massacre". This was the reason. As a friendly neighbor of Wei Bo, Zhu Wen, who has always been peace-loving, has the obligation to uphold justice, act as a regional policeman, and maintain regional stability.
What's more, Liu Shouwen, Liu Rengong's son, privately occupied the Yichang Army in Cangzhou without official authorization from the court, and his rule over Cangzhou was illegal. As a loyal minister of the Tang Dynasty, Zhu Wen also had the obligation to eradicate the traitors and restore the country and the country.
Fourth, after Liu Rengong suffered a disastrous defeat at Wei Bo, his vitality was severely damaged, his strength was sharply reduced, his health was left, and his skills were all cooled down. How long would it take if he didn't last a last resort?
Zhu Wen is a master of strategy, has a sense of the overall situation, and will make full use of geopolitics to create something out of nothing and turn losses into profits, instead of blindly believing in violence. When it is weak, it will join forces vertically and horizontally to leverage its strengths to develop and grow; when it is strong, it will provoke external wars and make its opponents exhausted.
A single move can affect the whole body, which is not only a warning, but also a revelation. Zhu Wen was very good at playing this game.
When everyone's attention focused on the West Zhaoyi area, Zhu Wen suddenly waved his flag, and the soldiers of the four towns (Yanzhou Taining, Yunzhou Tianping, Huazhou Xuanyi, and Weizhou Weibo) totaling more than 100,000 people came to the scene. Under the leadership of Ge Congzhou, he launched an attack on Liu Rengong of Youzhou.
Ge Congzhou's momentum was overwhelming. He first captured Dezhou, which was under the jurisdiction of the Yichang Army, and then surrounded Cangzhou, the headquarters of the Yichang Army.
As Zhu Wen expected, Liu Rengong shamelessly apologized to Li Keyong and prayed for rescue. Li Keyong also sent Zhou Dewei and 5,000 cavalry to assist and attack Xingzhou and Mingzhou in the east of Taihang Mountain to contain Zhu Wen's troops.
Liu Rengong assembled an army of 50,000 troops and marched south from Youzhou to reinforce Cangzhou.
After receiving the news of reinforcements from Youzhou, the siege troops in Cangzhou launched a heated discussion. Jiang Xuanhui, director of the Political Department and general political commissar of the Northern Expeditionary Army (Capital Superintendent), advocated conservatism and letting the enemy go, and put Liu Rengong into the city, and then besieged him together. If food and grass are cut off, they can be wiped out by our army.
Jiang Xuanhui is also a confidant who has won Zhu Wen's trust. His butt determines his head. As the general political commissar, Jiang Xuanhui's creed is not to seek merit, but to seek no faults. So be cautious and don't dare to take risks.
Ge Congzhou confronted him tit for tat and said: "The purpose of marching and fighting is to capture the fighter planes, and the capture of the fighter planes depends on the general, that is, me. The battlefield situation is changing rapidly, how can we follow the rules? You don't understand."
Subsequently, Ge Congzhou ordered Zhang Cunjing and Shi Shucong to lead the main forces to stay behind, while he personally led a partial division north to attack Liu Rengong.
The two sides encountered each other at Laoyadi, northwest of Cangzhou. Liu Rengong never expected that he would be blocked, so he could only respond hastily.
Ge Congzhou attacked with a sneak attack and won a complete victory. He killed more than 30,000 enemy troops, captured more than 100 enemy generals, and captured 3,000 war horses.
Liu Rengong retreated in embarrassment and retreated to Waqiao. Liu Rengong, still in shock, continued to send urgent letters to Li Keyong, "Cangzhou is in danger! Youzhou is in danger! Hebei is in danger!"
Li Keyong sent a second echelon of offensive force to the east Zhaoyi battlefield, this time 50,000 people led by Li Sizhao;
Wang Rong of Zhenzhou sent an envoy to mediate the conflict between Zhu Wen and Liu Rengong;
By chance, heavy rain fell continuously on the Cangzhou battlefield, which was not conducive to the advance.
Although Li Keyong did not use Daochengde to help Youzhou, but chose to encircle Wei to rescue Zhao and storm Dongzhaoyi, Zhenzhou Wang Rong's mediator had already appeared, and Zhu Wen basically achieved the strategic goal of the Northern Expedition, and God was not against his will. In this case, then we should withdraw our troops, sell a favor to Zhenzhou Wang Rong, and accept this political bargaining chip.
Zhu Wen can figure things out, but Li Keyong is no exception. The strategic minds of the two are indistinguishable. Zhu Wen wanted to lure Li Keyong to Hebei, while Li Keyong wanted to drag Zhu Wen back to the Taihang Mountains. I expected you, Zhu Wen, to surround Wei and rescue Zhao, but I chose to surround Wei and rescue Zhao.
Although Zhu Wen had the initiative, looking at it from another angle, the Northern Expedition to Youzhou can also be seen as Zhu Wen being restrained by Hebei affairs. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Li Keyong not only did not withdraw his troops from the Zhaoyi battlefield, but instead increased his troop investment.
When Li Keyong helped Liu Rengong, Liu Rengong was objectively helping Li Keyong.
Li Sizhao advanced with great success, defeated Dong Zhaoyi's Bian army one after another, and surrounded Mingzhou.
Zhu Wen personally led the main force to aid Mingzhou, but before he arrived, he received news that Mingzhou had been lost. Zhu Wen ordered Ge to detour from Zhou to the north of Mingzhou, while he led the main force to push forward in the south.
Li Sizhao was shocked when he heard the news. In order to avoid being surrounded, he actually abandoned the city and fled.
Ge Congzhou knew that Li Sizhao would cross the Taihang Mountains from Qingshan Pass and escape to the west, so he rushed to Qingshan Pass in advance to set up an ambush.
Due to the existence of the natural barrier of the Taihang Mountains, Li Sizhao had only two retreat routes, one was Qingshan Pass; the other was to continue north and use Dao Chengde to circle back to Hedong from the northernmost end of the Taihang Mountains. Otherwise, he could only forcefully cross the territory of the Bian Army. Obviously, Qingshan Pass is the fastest and safest route.
The safest, but also the most dangerous.
As soon as Li Sizhao retreated to Qingshan Pass, he was ambushed by Ge Congzhou. He suffered heavy losses and fled back to Hedong in embarrassment.
Zhu Wen preserved the Dong Zhaoyi area. Preservation is not Zhu Wen’s purpose.
After driving the Hedong soldiers back to the west of Taihang Mountain, Zhu Wen ordered Ge Congzhou to take advantage of the victory and continue northward, with the goal of Zhenzhou becoming a German army!
