【Jiahe Confrontation】
The governor of Chanzhou at that time was "Wang Tiejian" Wang Yanzhang. He was leading troops outside and followed the coach Liu Wei. And Chanzhou is in the south of Weizhou, in the Houliang-controlled area, and was caught off guard by Hedong. Wang Yanzhang's wife, children, and children who were left in the city were all captured by Hedong.
Li Cunxu heard about Wang Yanzhang's name, so he sent an envoy to use his family as a bargaining chip to recruit and surrender. Wang Yanzhang killed the envoy without saying a word, expressing his position with practical actions. Li Cunxu was furious and immediately killed all Wang Yanzhang's family members. As a result, Wang Yanzhang's fighting will became more tenacious, and the hatred of the country and his family made Wang Yanzhang repeatedly become a vanguard against the Jin in subsequent battles.
The victory of the two sneak attacks made Li Cunxu feel arrogant. On this day, the vigorous Li Cunxu suddenly became high-spirited and took more than a hundred cavalry with him to personally investigate Liu Wei's military camp.
Liu Wei prepared an ambush of five thousand troops for him, hiding in the reeds at the bend of the river.
That day, the weather was gloomy. Li Cunxu took the risk lightly and plunged into Liu Wei's ambush. Following an order, five thousand ambush soldiers came out with a roar, surrounded Li Cunxu, and fought for the big fish.
Li Cunxu galloped his horse and led his cavalry to break through the encirclement desperately. The fierce battle lasted from noon to evening, and finally persisted until Li Cunshen's reinforcements arrived.
The combat effectiveness of the Hedong Army was unbelievable. More than a hundred people were surrounded by 5,000 people. After fighting for an afternoon, they only lost 7 cavalry. The casualties of the Hou Liang Army were unknown. Among them, Li Cunxu's deputy general Xia Luqi alone killed more than a hundred people (Lu Qi killed more than a hundred people with his own hands and wounded all the barbarians). Xia Luqi served in the escort and was given the name "Li Shaoqi" by Li Cunxu. Xia Luqi is used in this book.
After breaking out of the siege, Li Cunxu gave a bitter smile and said to them: "I was almost captured by the enemy and became the laughing stock of the world." Xia Ruqi and others said in unison: "Just let the thieves see your bravery and martial arts!"
Liu Wei believed that all the main forces in Hedong were in Heshuo, so his hometown of Taiyuan would be empty. You raided my virtue and Chan, and I stole your hometown. So he secretly crossed the Taihang Mountains and headed for Taiyuan.
The Hedong Army did not see the Hou Liang soldiers going out to collect firewood, and did not hear any movement from the Hou Liang side. They became suspicious and sent people to investigate. The result of the investigation was that there was no smoke in the city, and only flags were seen walking back and forth on the city wall.
Li Cunxu said: I heard that Liu Wei has the reputation of "one step, one hundred plans". We must not take it lightly, there must be something fishy in it! So smart and capable scouts were sent for further investigation.
Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the flags moving back and forth on the city wall were tied to a scarecrow riding a donkey, walking around on the city wall. But only the old, weak, sick and disabled were left in the city. After grabbing a few tongues and asking questions, they found out that Liu Wei had led his army and left for two days!
Liu Wei went to attack Taiyuan!
The Hedong general was shocked, but Li Cunxu smiled scornfully and said that although Liu Wei was good at trivial skills, he was just a sneaky little clever guy. The real decisive battle was his shortcoming. Based on the distance, he should have just reached the foot of the mountain at this time.
After stabilizing the morale of the army, Li Cunxu sent cavalry to attack day and night to race against Liu Wei.
Li Si'en traveled day and night, arrived in Taiyuan first, and informed the defenders of the urgent military situation. The Taiyuan defenders mobilized urgently and made defense preparations.
It has been raining continuously for more than ten days in the Taihang Mountains. The roads are muddy and the mud is more than a foot deep. Liu Wei's soldiers can only move forward bit by bit by pulling on vines and trees.
The rainy weather not only severely delayed Liu Wei's advance, but also caused serious non-combat attrition to his soldiers. Many people suffered from diseases as a result, and the mortality rate was as high as 30% (all had abdominal diseases, swollen feet, and 20 to 30 people died)!
Soldiers are valuable and quick. The bad weather at the foot of the Taihang Mountains caused Liu Wei to lose valuable mobility.
Liu Wei's situation is not optimistic. Taiyuan in front is ready for battle, and Hedong is chasing troops behind him. The non-combat reduction is close to 30%, and the army rations are basically exhausted... The morale of the army is unstable, and the soldiers may mutiny and flee at any time. Danger.
Liu Wei said to everyone earnestly: "We are more than a thousand miles away from home, deep into the enemy's hinterland, with enemy troops in front and behind us, and here are high mountains and deep valleys. We are like falling into a well. What should we do? The only option is to risk our lives. Only by fighting hard can we find a way out, otherwise, we can only repay the king and our hometown elders with death!" The soldiers stopped crying in fear, and with Liu Wei's encouragement, they regarded death as home and retreated in an orderly manner.
After Hedong general Zhou Dewei heard the news of Liu Wei's attack, he also led a thousand cavalry to block the attack. When he arrived, Liu Wei had already led his troops to withdraw.
This shows how wise Liu Wei was to evacuate in time after the sneak attack was hopeless. Although the expected goal was not achieved, victory or defeat is a common occurrence for military strategists, and a perfect retreat can be regarded as a victory. In this unsuccessful sneak attack, Liu Wei lost half of his horses.
After the defeat, Liu Wei did not give up, but continued to look for a breakthrough. He discovered that the Hedong Army on the front line was short of food and grass, and the food, grass and baggage were all concentrated in Linqing, so he once again took risks and went deep into the hinterland under Hedong's control, planning to launch a surprise attack on Linqing.
Zhou Dewei, who followed, hurriedly pursued, approached the Houliang army the next day, and captured dozens of Houliang sentries. Zhou Dewei cut off their wrists, then let them go back, asking them to bring a message to Liu Wei: "Zhou Dewei is already waiting for you in Linqing."
The troops of Houliang were horrified and did not dare to advance rashly.
Taking advantage of this gap, Zhou Dewei continued his rapid march, and the next day he overtook Liu Wei's troops and entered Linqing. Liu Wei lost another opportunity for a sneak attack.
Later, Zhou Dewei attacked Beizhou but failed; he also attacked Shen County, but Liu Wei tried his best to defend it. From Shen County to the Yellow River, the front line between the Liang and Jin armies stretched for dozens of miles. The military camps were adjacent to each other, and they heard each other's voices. Many conflicts, large and small, broke out every day.
Hou Liang planned to use the river as a base to open a second battlefield to the west of the Taihang Mountains. The attacks on Xizhou and Cizhou under Hedong failed, so Wang Tan and He Gui were sent to attack Chanzhou and recover Chanzhou.
Subsequently, Hou Liang appointed Yang Yanzhi, Yang Shihou's old subordinate, as the governor of Chanzhou, led 10,000 troops to support Liu Wei, and used his old prestige in the Weibo area to recruit Weibo soldiers and civilians to surrender.
At the same time, Li Cunshen led five thousand troops to besiege Beizhou to pull out this thorn in his flesh. Zhang Yuande only had three thousand soldiers in the city, and he would send troops out to harass every day. Li Cunshen mobilized civilians to act as coolies and dug trenches in Beizhou City, completely isolating Beizhou City.
Liu Wei in Shen County was also besieged by the Hedong army, and serious problems occurred in logistics supplies. Hedong soldiers picked out enemies and scolded them outside the city every day, but Liu Wei just couldn't hold on. Relying on their numerical advantage, the Hedong Army cut off the supply lines in the city and sent more than a thousand strong men with giant axes to slash at the Houliang barracks. The soldiers of Houliang fled in fear. Anyone who escaped from the camp was captured by the Hedong soldiers.
Since then, the two armies have been in a stalemate along the Yellow River. During this period, Liu Wei even thought of bribed Li Cunxu's chef and poisoned the food. As a result, the matter was exposed and the assassination attempt failed.
The Liang-Jin River confrontation lasted for more than ten years. The two sides repeatedly competed for important ferries along the Yellow River. They were inseparable and each faced internal worries. If it weren't for the bravery and fearlessness of "Wang Tiejian" Wang Yanzhang and the far-reaching wisdom of "One step at a time" Liu Wei, I am afraid that the back beam would not have lasted for so long.
