【Hu Liupi Meat Grinder】
During the Zhu Wen period, Zhu Zhen was good at killing Li Tangbin; during the Zhu Youzhen period, He Gui was good at killing Xie Yanzhang.
When Zhu Zhen killed Li Tangbin, Bianzhou's power was in a booming stage of expansion. Although its high-spirited momentum suffered a heavy blow, it did not damage its vitality; He Gui's unauthorized killing occurred at a time when Bianzhou's power was shrinking. In the recession stage, this time the blow is even heavier.
When Li Cunxu heard the news that He Gui had killed Xie Yanzhang, he was so excited that he almost awarded Comrade He Gui the "Hedong People's Hero" medal. Li Cunxu said to the generals: "The generals are not in harmony with each other, and they are killing each other. We are going to attack Bianzhou now. They will not stand still and will send out rescuers. In this way, we can fight them in a big battle." It’s a decisive battle.”
Zhou Dewei objected, saying that although Xie Yanzhang died, the army's structure had not been broken and no substantial losses had been suffered. Moreover, He Gui was still there. If we underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly, we might be arrogant and defeated!
When a young ruler takes over the throne, it is most taboo for the elders of the previous dynasty to point fingers. As mentioned earlier, Li Cunxu has always had a grudge against the veterans represented by Zhou Dewei and has great distrust. Especially when there are disagreements, it can easily become a political issue. It is no longer about who is right or wrong. The category that goes to the right is a challenge to the majesty and prestige of the young master.
Zhou Dewei: "Young people should not be too arrogant."
Li Cunxu: "Why don't you call me young when you are angry?"
Li Cunxu ordered all the old, weak, sick and disabled to return to their hometown in Taiyuan. All the remaining elites, follow me!
After sending away the old, weak, sick and disabled with low combat effectiveness, and recruiting 30,000 peasants in Weibo to serve as coolies, Li Cunxu destroyed the camp, burned all the boats, and set off towards Bianzhou.
"Hou Liang, I'll fight you!"
Just as Li Cunxu imagined, when He Gui learned that the Hedong Army was advancing westward, he also abandoned the camp and followed. However, Li Cunxu ignored one point: it was Xie Yanzhang who supported Guancheng and He Gui was originally the main combatant. Li Cunxu's strategy of "encircling the point to mobilize reinforcements" was not superior in skill, but more like a tacit understanding with He Gui. Strictly speaking, Li Cunxu was still slightly inferior.
Li Cunxu asked 30,000 civilians to serve as coolies and be responsible for building camps. Once the army stopped, military fortifications would be built on the spot to prepare for rear Liang raids.
On the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the Hedong Army was stationed in Huliupi. In the middle of the night, I got a report from the scout: Houliang Hegui was about to arrive.
Zhou Dewei made suggestions, saying that we had established a strong camp and the soldiers had received sufficient rest, while He Gui had come from afar, hungry and exhausted. Please allow me to lead a small group of cavalry in guerrilla harassment, so that they cannot rest. After daybreak, we will launch a large army to attack, and we can annihilate them all in one fell swoop while waiting for work.
Li Cunxu was furious and said that we only wished we could not fight with him before, but today the enemy appeared in front of us. If we don't attack immediately, what are we waiting for?
Zhou Dewei persuaded patiently, but Li Cunxu became furious, pointed at Zhou Dewei's nose and cursed: "Why are you becoming more useless as you get older? What are you afraid of? Look at how cowardly you are!" Then he turned back to Li Cunxun. Issue an order: one word - fuck me!
The generals took the order, ordered their troops and horses, and prepared for attack.
Zhou Dewei was forced to accept the order, looked up to the sky and sighed, saying to his son: "The coach is so rash, I really don't know where I will die."
He Gui's army had several battalions and assembled into a tight battle sequence; the Hedong Army sent its elite troops, Yinqiang Xiaojiedu, to take the lead in attacking the rear Liang army formation. After several rounds of charging down, the rear Liang formation was scattered. "Wang Tie Wang Yanzhang was unable to resist the gun and could only run away first.
As luck would have it, Wang Yanzhang's defeated army accidentally collided with the Hedong grain transport team while fleeing.
The Hedong grain transport team saw Hou Liang's troops running towards them desperately, but they didn't know that they were the defeated troops rushing to escape. They mistakenly thought that they were ambushed by Hou Liang and were horrified, so they dispersed in a hurry. Abandoning food, grass and baggage, they also rushed to escape.
The Hedong grain transportation team panicked and rushed into Zhou Dewei's position, causing Zhou Dewei's position to be in chaos. He Gui seized this opportunity and stormed Zhou Dewei's Youzhou Lulong Army position.
Lu Longjun's rout could not be stopped, and Zhou Dewei and his son died in the chaos.
If the earthen pot is not broken far from the well mouth, the general will inevitably die in battle. Zhou Dewei's death is a pity, even very cowardly. Whether it is official history, unofficial history, or folk literature and art works, they all have very positive comments on Zhou Dewei.
In Luo Guanzhong's "History of the Fragmented Tang Dynasty and Five Dynasties", Zhou Dewei is known as the "Red Robed General" and the "Magic Military Advisor". He is both civil and military, and he is simply a combination of Zhao Yun and Zhuge Liang.
In traditional Peking Opera, "Zhulian Village", "Flying Tiger Mountain" and "Luochao Mountain" all tell the story of Zhou Dewei's great achievements.
In the Zhuang Zong Dynasty, he was given as a posthumous gift to the Grand Master; in the Ming Zong Dynasty, he served in the Zhuang Zong Temple together with Li Sizhao and Li Cunshen; in the later Jin Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu was posthumously granted the title of King of Yan.
People are not saints. There are also negative records of Zhou Dewei in historical records. It is probably said that he discriminated against and exploited the soldiers and civilians of Youzhou, which made the border guards feel grievances, leading to serious loopholes in the border defense force, and ultimately induced the Khitan to invade Youzhou southward.
In fact, the discrimination and exploitation of Youzhou came from the top of the Hedong Group, and Zhou Dewei only played a conductive role at best; as for inducing the Khitans to go south, Zhou Dewei did not need to take the blame.
What disrupted the position of Zhou Dewei's Lulong Army was the grain transport team of the friendly Wei Bo Army. The person responsible for escorting this batch of grain and grass baggage was Wei Bo's deputy envoy Wang Yan, who also died in the chaos.
He Gui, the blind cat, picked up a dead mouse and inexplicably defeated the Hedong Army, killing Zhou Dewei, the "Hedong God of War".
Seeing signs of defeat across the board, Li Cunxu discovered a hill in the swamp that had been occupied by He Gui. Li Cunxu said: "If we can capture that commanding height, we can turn defeat into victory!" Then he personally led the cavalry to attack from behind.
Li Siyuan's adopted son Li Congke and Yinqiang Xiaodu general Li Jianji led the infantry to follow up and finally captured the commanding heights. The Hedong Army had a chance to breathe.
At this time, it was getting late, and He Gui was in formation on the mountain. There were many people and the troops were in order, and the troops were powerful. The officers and soldiers east of Hedong were greatly frightened. The generals advocated waiting for the defeated soldiers from all walks of life to gather together and wait until daybreak before fighting again.
Yan Bao, the surrendered general of the Later Liang Dynasty, advocated fighting, saying that Wang Yanzhang's cavalry had fled, and He Gui at the foot of the mountain only had infantry. We were condescending, and it was appropriate to charge with cavalry; and the king was deep into the enemy's hinterland, and if he retreated, he would inevitably suffer a counterattack. The soldiers who had been scattered earlier heard that After saying that, we will not come back to join together. There is no need to fight, we will disintegrate on our own!
Li Sizhao and Li Jianji also agreed very much.
Li Cunxu was very happy, "Young people should behave like young people. Do it for me!"
Li Sizhao and Li Jianji led the cavalry down the hillside to attack He Gui's infantry regiment; the 10,000 civilians accompanying the Hedong Army were running down the mountain pulling tree branches, with dust flying and war drums thundering, acting as suspects behind the mountain. count.
Hou Liang's army was indeed defeated, discarding their helmets and armor, and killed more than 30,000 people.
This is the famous "Battle of Huliupi" in history. According to records, the battle loss ratio of both warring parties on that day was an astonishing two-thirds! Both armies lost the ability to fight again (that day, both armies lost two-thirds of their soldiers each, and neither could be revived).
Today, this battle should be called "Hu Liupi Meat Grinder."
