【War of Defeating Shu 3】
On October 18, Kang Yanxiao, the pioneer of the Later Tang Dynasty, attacked Weiwu City, which was the front line of resistance against the enemy from which 24 armies had just been transferred by Wang Zongyan. It was regarded by Wang Zongyan as a military fortress symbolizing the deep friendship between Tang and Shu.
Hundreds of people under the command of the mighty city commanders Tang Jingsi, Wu Duo and Wang Quansi welcomed the surrender. Tang Jingsi saw that the situation was not good and immediately led all his troops to surrender. Generals Zou Yanxi and Li Fan wanted to resist, but saw that the surrender was like a tide and was unstoppable, so they were forced to surrender. He surrendered the city and surrendered.
Kang Yanxiao implemented the second military rule: surround and surrender, and kill those who surrender. Because Zou Yanqi and Li Fan "had no intention of surrendering at first, they both executed them".
Kang Yanxiao released more than 10,000 captured Shu soldiers, letting them bring the fear of war and the hope of surrender to his comrades in the rear. Then he led the vanguard and continued the rapid march to Fengzhou. Li Yan took advantage of the victory to send a message to Fengzhou defender Wang Chengjie. Come to persuade him to surrender.
The main force of the Later Tang Dynasty headed west from Luoyang, passing through Fengxiang, and then turned south and entered Shu. Fengxiang, an important town in Kansai, is not only a transit point for the march, but also shoulders the important task of providing food and grass for the army. Fengxiang Jiedushi Li Jiyu (son of Li Maozhen) tried his best and donated all the food in Fengxiang, but it was not enough for the expedition. Guo Chongtao was worried about this.
On the day when Kang Yanxiao led the vanguard army to take over Weiwu City, Guo Chongtao led the main force of the Chinese army into Dashan Pass. Guo Chongtao looked sad, turned back and pointed at Qinling, and said to the people around him: "From now on, we have no retreat. We can only succeed, not fail!"
After the order to attack Fengzhou was issued, the generals expressed their concerns one after another, saying that it was a taboo for military strategists to go deep alone. Moreover, the mountains in Shu were high and the roads were dangerous, so it was not possible to march straight in. Instead, they should camp step by step, fight steadily, and advance slowly.
Guo Chongtao asked Li Yu for advice. Li Yu said that the people of Shu had long been fed up with Wang Zongyan's debauchery and immorality. We should take this opportunity to launch a lightning-fast attack so that they had no time to think. In the frightened state, they just wanted to surrender and survive. If you work for the Lord of Shu again, don’t hesitate!
However, only these two civilian officials in the army advocated aggressive and aggressive advancement, while almost all military generals advocated conservative and slow advancement. Guo Chongtao is facing tremendous pressure.
At this moment, good news came from the front line: Mighty City is coming! What made Guo Chongtao even more excited was that the army of the Later Tang Dynasty seized the 200,000 dendrobium grains stored in Weiwu City, which solved the urgent need of the expeditionary army of the Later Tang Dynasty.
Guo Chongtao was very excited, "Stop saying anything and just do it for me!"
The next day (October 19), Wang Chengjie, the former Shu Fengzhou Jiedu envoy, surrendered the four prefectures of Feng, Xing, Wen, and Fu. The Later Tang Dynasty received 8,000 surrendered troops and seized an additional 400,000 hu of grain!
Guo Chongtao couldn't hide his joy and couldn't help but sigh: "The elimination of Qianshu is just around the corner!"
Li Jiji then appointed Wang Chengjie to continue to be the governor of Fengzhou as a positive example.
Another day later, on October 20, Wang Zongyan arrived in Lizhou in high spirits, and happened to meet the defeated generals who had retreated from Weiwu City. Only then did Wang Zongyan finally believe the news of Later Tang's invasion.
"What should I do?"
During Wang Zongyan's period, he asked Song Guangsi for decisions on internal affairs, and Wang Zongbi for decisions on foreign affairs. Wang Zongyan asked the two for advice. The two said that although the Later Tang Dynasty won the battle in the early days and occupied our prefecture and counties, most of the territories such as Dongchuan and Shannan were still intact, and we still retained strong strength. Your Majesty only had to defend Lizhou, and the Later Tang Dynasty would not dare to go deep.
Wang Zongyan believed this, so he sent out the "Three Moves" Wang Zongxun, Wang Zongyan, and Wang Zongyu with an army of 30,000 to face the Later Tang Dynasty, hoping to give the enemy a head-on blow and dampen his spirit.
On October 21, Xingzhou guard Cheng Fenglian surrendered to Kang Yanxiao and took the initiative to help him build bridges and roads. From then on, the road to Shu was no longer difficult;
On October 22, Wang Chengjian, the governor of Xingzhou, abandoned the city and fled. Guo Chongtao appointed Tang Jingsi, who was the first to surrender, as the governor of Xingzhou;
On October 26, Wang Chengpu, the governor of Chengzhou, abandoned the city and fled...
Kang Yanxiao made great progress almost every step of the way. On the 26th, Kang Yanxiao and the "Sanzhaobao" encountered each other in Sanquan, and the "Battle of Sanquan" broke out.
The Battle of Sanquan should be the only serious battle fought by the army of the Later Tang Dynasty.
Looking at numbers alone, the Later Tang had less than 10,000 troops, while the former Shu had 30,000 troops. The military strength ratio was 1 to 3, and the Later Tang army went deep alone and fought away from home, while the former Shu defended the country at home.
However, in the Later Tang Dynasty, the morale was high and the fighting spirit was high, but in the former Shu, the morale was low and there was no fighting spirit.
The 30,000 people from the former Shu were soldiers who had followed all the way from Chengdu. They set out from Chengdu and passed through Mianzhou and Hanzhou, thousands of miles away. They were very tired. What made them most resentful was that they were treated unfairly. fair treatment. If there is a way, people will not worry about poverty or inequality. Wang Chengxiu mobilized elites to form the Longwu Army. The salary of the Longwu Army was several times that of other troops, and the rewards were generous. However, once the country was in trouble and needed to go to the battlefield, they were allowed to be used as cannon fodder. Thirty thousand people complained and were extremely reluctant.
The result is conceivable. After throwing away five thousand corpses, the former Shu troops were unable to stop their retreat. Kang Yanxiao defeated the many with less and won a great victory, and captured another 150,000 dendrobium grains.
200,000 dendrobium in Weiwu City, 400,000 dendrobium in Fengzhou, and 150,000 dendrobium in Sanquan... At this point, the expeditionary army of the Later Tang Dynasty supported the war with war, and used the captured military rations to tide over the food crisis. "Without food and clothing, the enemy came forward; without guns and cannons, the enemy made them for us."
When news of the defeat of the "Three Moves" came, Wang Zongyan finally realized the seriousness of the matter. This mama's boy who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth has never faced any difficulties or setbacks. He thinks that the so-called war is nothing more than a few domineering poems. He can wipe out his enemies by talking and laughing while wearing a feather fan and a scarf.
When news of the great defeat came, Wang Zongyan issued three orders: 1. Go home and return to Chengdu; 2. Let Wang Zongbi come to Lizhou to garrison; 3. Kill the "Three Moves"!
Wang Zongyan rushed to Chengdu, and the follow-up troops destroyed bridges and plank roads along the way to slow down Later Tang's advance.
Kang Yanxiao is also chasing Lizhou non-stop, striving to capture Wang Zongyan alive and achieve an eternal feat.
Although the scale of the "Battle of Sanquan" was small, with the total number of troops invested by both sides being less than 40,000, the significance of this battle was huge.
The victory of the Later Tang Dynasty with less made the fence-riding faction in the former Shu adopt a wait-and-see attitude and strengthened their belief in surrendering to the Later Tang. From then on, generals surrendered like clouds and troops surrendered like a tide, and there was no organized resistance in the former Shu.
For example, Song Guangbao, the eunuch who was the governor of Dongchuan and the "main war faction", proposed conditional surrender to Guo Chongtao and asked Guo Chongtao to restrain the vanguard troops and not harass the ground in Dongchuan. Then Dongchuan would open the door to welcome the surrender, otherwise he would fight with his back to the wall. Guo Chongtao wrote back with kind words and words of comfort.
On October 30, Song Guangbao officially donated the entire territory of Dongchuan (the five prefectures of Zi, Mian, Jian, Long, and Pu) to the army of the Later Tang Dynasty; Wang Chengzhao, the military governor of Yangzhou, donated the three prefectures of Yangzhou, Peng, and Bi under his jurisdiction. Wang Zongwei, the governor of Shannan West Road, offered his jurisdiction to the five prefectures of Xingyuanfu, Kai, Tong, Qu, and Lin; Wang Chengyue, the governor of Jiezhou, offered his city to surrender... Other prefectures and counties also surrendered.
Wang Chengzhao is the son of Wang Zongkan. Wang Jian's nephew is named "Zong", and his grandson is named "Cheng". It can be seen that those who were in important towns and voluntarily surrendered were either "Wang Zongx" or "Wang Chengx". I don't feel bad selling my father's land.
After the surrender of important towns such as Dongchuan and Shannan, the situation in Qianshu was really over, and there was no point in other states and counties even if they did not surrender.
In less than a month, Qianshu lost half of its territory.
Guo Chongtao also wrote to Wang Zongbi, analyzing his interests and persuading him to surrender. Just when Kang Yanxiao was approaching Lizhou, Wang Zongbi abandoned the city and fled. At this time, the "Three Moves" did not know that he had been sentenced to death, and foolishly came to chase Wang Zongbi. After catching up, Wang Zongbi took out the edict to kill them, "Look, Song Guangsi wants me to kill you!"
"Three Moves" scared him to the point where he knelt down and cried bitterly, begging for mercy and asking Wang Zongbi for mercy.
Wang Zongbi pretended to be heartbroken and said, "Victory and defeat are common things in military affairs. Of course I know the grievances of my brothers. Brother, I really can't bear to do it. But I can't explain it to the court without killing you... Why don't you, brothers, show me a clear path?" "
The "Three Moves" had been sentenced to death by the imperial court. There was no other way but to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, so he happily reached an agreement with Wang Zongbi: Surrender to the Later Tang Dynasty!
