[Li Siyuan's "rebellion"]
After closing the army, Li Cunxu received the bad news that Zhou Dewei and his son were killed in battle. He was filled with regret and grief. He couldn't help crying loudly, "It is my crime to lose my good general!"
Later, Lu Zhi also reported back to the camp. Lu Zhi was the "founding hero" who supported Li Cunxu together with Zhang Chengye. One of the characteristics of this person was that he loved to drink, and he loved to be drunk, and he was "alien". His story will unfold slowly later on.
Li Cunxu asked him where Wang Mian was, and Lu Zhi replied, "I'm so drunk that I don't know." Then, the bad news came that Wang Yan was killed in battle.
When I talked about Han Yanhui's departure for Khitan in the previous article, I mentioned that although Wang Yan was deeply loved by Li Cunxu, he was petty, narrow-minded, and had a bad reputation. This time, his death should have been mysterious. He may not have died at the hands of Hou Liang. It was most likely that he was murdered by his own people in the rebel army. Even though Lu Zhi was very drunk, he came back safely. Why couldn't Wang Mian, who was sober, come back?
"I don't know when I'm drunk." What exactly is it that he doesn't know? Is it because there is almost three hundred taels of silver here?
Wang Yan's death has become one of the mysteries of the ages. His life can finally be concluded with a poem:
Afraid of the evil power, he bowed his head and threw himself east of the river;
Throw a stone into the well and expose the cloth to humiliate the old master;
Jealous of talents and talents, he slandered Han Yanhui;
The sky has eyes, and the willows belong to themselves.
During the Battle of Huliupi, what shocked and angered Li Cunxu the most was Li Siyuan's actions.
During the melee, Li Siyuan and his adopted son Li Congke were separated and lost contact with the main force. Then they received a shocking news from the deserters: "Li Cunxu is dead!" So he led his troops to cross the river on the ice and go to Xiangzhou.
A few days later, Li Cunxu led his army to continue attacking westward and occupied Puyang. After Li Siyuan got the news, he immediately led his troops to report.
Li Cunxu was very dissatisfied and asked him: "Do you think I am dead? Why are you rushing to cross the river? What do you want to do back to Taiyuan?"
Obviously, Li Cunxu was very suspicious of Li Siyuan's motives.
Li Siyuan hurriedly kowtowed and apologized, saying that he was dispersed by the rebel army and could not find an organization. He also heard that the king had crossed the Yellow River north to return to Taiyuan, so he led his army to pursue him.
What about the liar?
Li Cunxu really wanted to kill this godbrother with ulterior motives on charges of treason. However, Li Siyuan's adopted son Li Congke had just made great achievements, and Li Cunxu had previously poached Li Siyuan (Yuan Xingqin), and Yuan Xingqin had saved Li Cunxu from danger many times. Li Cunxu wanted to continue to poach Gao Xingzhou secretly. , was politely declined by Gao Xingzhou.
Yuan Xingqin, Gao Xingzhou and others were originally Liu Rengong's generals in Youzhou. They surrendered when Li Cunxu annexed Youzhou and were first placed under Li Siyuan's account. Li Cunxu cherished his talents, so he fought openly and secretly.
Taking all factors into consideration, Li Cunxu finally tolerated the situation and did not kill Li Siyuan. Instead, he only punished him by giving him a glass of wine, and said that he would not let the past go. However, Li Cunxu never truly let go from then on. He began to distrust Li Siyuan, and was always on guard, ostracizing and suppressing him.
It was precisely because of Li Cunxu's suspicion and exclusion that Li Siyuan finally sat on the throne of emperor. This is a story later.
After the Hedong Army captured Puyang, they pushed the front to Deshengdu in the north of Puyang, which was the ancient Yellow River ferry and was located on the north bank of the Yellow River. After controlling Deshengdu, the Hedong Army no longer had to detour to Yangliucheng or Majiadu in the east, shortening the front line and supply line, and the threat to the rear beam suddenly increased.
At this time, the soldiers of the Later Liang Dynasty who had retreated from Hu Liupi were frightened and fled to Bianzhou in panic. They described the horror of the battle to the people in the capital in great horror. They also said that the Hedong Army had won the battle and would soon attack Bianzhou!
At this time, some of the soldiers from Hedong who had lost contact lost their way and came to the vicinity of Bianzhou by mistake. They even asked the local people for directions, "Excuse me, how to get to the Hedong military camp?"
The people of Bianzhou rushed to tell each other: The army from Hedong is approaching the city! The military camp is stationed near Bianzhou!
In an instant, Bianzhou was in an uproar, and the soldiers and civilians in the city were panicked. Zhu Youzhen was also frightened out of her mind and forced the people to go to the city to defend. Then he wanted to flee to Luoyang, Xijing, but he did not leave because the night was too dark.
Fortunately, it was another false alarm.
【Battle of the City】
Both sides gathered their remaining troops and defeated generals to accumulate strength for counterattack.
In order to consolidate the frontline position, Li Cunshen built two cities in the north and south at Deshengdu. Gusheng City was divided into two parts by the ancient Yellow River. The north bank was called Desheng Beicheng, and the south bank was called Desheng Nancheng. After the Yellow River was diverted, the Nancheng was destroyed, and the North City became today's Puyang City, Henan Province.
From Yangliucheng to Majiadu and then to Deshengdu, the Hedong Army's position continued to advance westward. If Houliang can't stop Li Cunxu at Deshengdu, he can only stop him at Huazhou. If he can't stop him at Huazhou, he can only fight to defend Bianzhou.
He Gui, the commander-in-chief of Houliang, could not sit back and watch the Hedong Army operate Deshengdu, so he assembled his troops and launched a fierce attack on Deshengnan City.
He Gui took full advantage of the numerical advantage in the home game and attacked the city in hundreds of ways. There were no feints or assists, and the main attack was from all directions.
At the same time, a "mobile fortress" was dispatched across the middle of the Yellow River. This mobile fortress uses large bamboo ropes to connect more than a dozen warships end to end. It is covered with cowhide, surrounded by battlements and fences. It was placed across the middle of the river to block reinforcements from Beicheng.
Li Cunxu led a large army to rescue, but he was cut off by this mobile fortress and could only watch the fall of Nancheng from the north bank.
A master diver named Ma Polong took the risk of diving across the Yellow River and arrived at Nancheng. He met the guard Yanshang. Ma Polong conveyed Li Cunxu's greetings and asked about the situation in Nancheng. Shi Yanshang told him with sorrow that the arrows had been used up and the stones were about to be used up. If there were no more reinforcements, Nancheng might fall at any time!
Ma Polong conveyed the urgent military information to Li Cunxu.
Li Cunxu piled up a hill of gold and silver silk and satin at the entrance of the military camp, saying that if anyone could defeat the mobile fortress on the river, all the rewards would belong to him.
There must be a brave man under a heavy reward.
There were actually dozens of people who recommended themselves, all of whom claimed to be experts in the magic of making wind and rain, spreading beans to form soldiers, etc. Zhuge Liang's ability to borrow the Dongfeng Shenma was so weak! This one said he could "burn the boat with fire" (prick a villain and draw a circle to curse you), the other said he could "forbidden curse weapon" (Monkey Sun vs. Seven Fairies - "Ding!")...
Li Cunxu was ill and sought medical treatment in a hurry. "He tried all his life, but there was no test."
The fierce general Li Jian and the flash squad came out and said that He Gui had deployed almost all his troops and had great ambitions. In this battle, we can only win and not fail.
nonsense! How can we win?
Li Jianji was outspoken and honest, "In the current situation, it is no longer possible to outwit (spells), we can only attack by force! I am willing to lead my silver spear to serve all the warriors and fight to the death."
Therefore, Li Jianji carefully selected 300 warriors from the elite force Silver Spear Effectiveness Department to form a death squad. All 300 people were wearing heavy armor and holding giant axes, rowing boats and rushing towards the mobile fortress.
Li Jian and his troops rushed to the fortress and cut off the connecting bamboo ropes. At this time, a prepared "burning bottle" floated upstream. It was a wooden barrel filled with firewood, soaked in oil, ignited and then lowered from the upstream. Behind the Molotov cocktails are battleships full of soldiers from Hedong.
After the ropes were cut off, the mobile fortress fell apart. Nearly half of the Houliang soldiers either fell into the river and drowned, or were burned to death. The Hedong Army then landed on the south bank.
Seeing that the mobile fortress had been captured, He Gui immediately lifted the siege and retreated. He was chased by the Hedong Army all the way to Xingtai Village before he stabilized his position.
This battle caused huge psychological trauma to He Gui, and he never became ill again. More than three months later, on August 1, the fifth year of Zhengming (919), the 62-year-old He Gui died of illness.
In just a few months, the two strategic locations of Majiadu and Deshengdu were lost, and the proud "double pride" also died one after another. The situation along the river became increasingly unfriendly to the rear beam.
Zhu Youzhen appointed Wang Zan, mayor of the capital (Kaifeng governor), as commander-in-chief of the northern group army, replacing He Gui. Wang Zan, Wang Chongying's son, most recently appeared when Wang Yin in Xuzhou rebelled. Wang Zan clarified the relationship and said that Wang Yin remarried to the Wang family with his mother and was adopted as an adopted son by his father Wang Chongying, so Wang Yin's "king" He is the king of bastard, not Wang Chongying. Further up, when Wang Ke in the river surrendered to Zhu Wen, Wang Zan and other Wang family descendants were moved to Bianzhou and given generous salaries to high-ranking officials (but without real power) to fulfill Zhu Wen's promise to "treat the Wang family's descendants favorably".
It can be said that although Wang Zan came from a famous family, he was still a little-known young master, a minor figure, and a minor role. Then why could he succeed General He Gui and become the commander-in-chief of the Northern Route Army of the Houliang Empire? Is it true that there is no general in Shu, and Liao Hua is the vanguard?
not completely. While Zhu Youzhen put Wang Zan in command, he also asked "Wang Tiejian" Wang Yanzhang to be Wang Zan's deputy. This is worth pondering. In fact, it was Wang Yanzhang who really made plans and charged into battle, and Wang Zan was just a nominal commander. Personnel transfers reflect the results of political games.
As the old saying goes, Zhu Youzhen did not trust these veterans with military power at all. Yang Shihou, Liu Wei, Xie Yanzhang, He Gui, plus this Wang Yanzhang, any of them may rebel against the separatist regime or defect to the enemy. The rear beam needs to use them, and even more needs to guard against them. And only the "foreign relatives gang" are loyal ministers of the empire. Later, we will mention the political struggle between Wang Yanzhang and the "Foreign Relatives Gang". Here is a foreshadowing. Zhu Youzhen, the emperor, was actually more like an agent of the "Foreign Relatives Gang" interest group. He knew that Wang Zan was useless and wanted everything. Relying on Wang Yanzhang, but still letting Wang Yanzhang be Wang Zan's deputy.
The new official took office with three goals, and the two kings took command. Instead of attacking the front line of Deshengdu, they crossed the Yellow River from Liyang to the north, raided Weizhou and Chanzhou on the north bank of the Yellow River, looted wantonly, and then moved to the area just a short distance away from Deshengdu. In Yangcun, Shibali, a floating bridge was built. This strategy can be summarized as "kill first and treat". Threatening to harass the Hedong Army's Heshuo base camp can not only weaken its endurance, but also have a certain deterrent effect on its morale.
Hedong general Li Cunjin also built a pontoon bridge in Desheng Jiacheng.
A month later, the pontoon bridges on both sides were completed.
A bloody battle is inevitable.
