Wang Yanqiu took advantage of the victory and went northward, pushing the front line to Wangdu in the north of Dingzhou, preparing to deal a head-on blow to the Khitan reinforcements, and ordered Zhang Yanlang to retreat to Xinle south of Dingzhou as a strategic depth. However, Zhang Yanlang retreated to Zhenzhou, which was farther south and safer, and ordered Zhu Jianfeng, the governor of Zhaozhou, to garrison in Xinle.
The Khitan sent two heavyweights - Tiyin (official name, customary for internal affairs of the royal family) Nerigan (also known as "Teligun") and Dutong (commander-in-chief of the army) to investigate. The two men were really sharp. They bypassed the heavily guarded Wangdu and jumped to attack Xinle in the rear. They captured Xinle in one fell swoop and Zhu Jianfeng died for his country.
The royal capital celebrated with the Khitan army. After joining forces in Dingzhou, they dispatched five thousand Khitan cavalry and thousands of Dingzhou infantry to march to Quyang in the west. If Quyang can be controlled, Wang Yanqiu's retreat to Wangdu in the north will be cut off, and he will be strategically surrounded by the Dingzhou and Khitan coalition forces.
Wang Yanqiu rushed directly to Dingzhou. Before the war, he gave an impassioned mobilization speech, saying that Wangdu was just a frivolous and arrogant waste, and the Khitan was a mercenary villain. Although they were large in number, they were not to be feared. At the same time, two temporary military orders were issued: 1. Bows and arrows were not allowed, all daggers were used, and hand-to-hand combat was required; 2. Anyone who dared to look back would be beheaded.
Not to mention running away from the battle, if you dare to look back, you will be beheaded.
In this battle, the allied forces of Wangdu and Khitan were defeated in their formation, and were even hit by the God of Weather.
The Khitan coalition forces in the royal capital let the infantry go forward to attract firepower and delay time, and then the cavalry went outflanking behind, and then attacked from both front and back.
Wang Yanqiu ordered Li Yanqing and Gao Xingzhou to attack the left and right wings respectively, and used cavalry to charge the infantry formation in the capital, disrupting its position, and then the infantry followed up to harvest. When the cavalry charged into battle, they all covered their horses' eyes in advance to prevent them from moving forward in fear. Then the knights hugged the horses' necks tightly. They were not required to wield their swords to kill the enemy, but only wanted to control the horses for the longest time and use the impact of the horses. Crush the infantry array with force.
Nerigan led five thousand cavalry in a detour, but encountered heavy rain and the river swelled and overflowed. Wang Yanqiu took the opportunity to attack. The Khitan cavalry was trapped in the lake, and nearly half of them were captured alive. Nerigan led the remaining cavalry to flee north.
Zhao Dejun of Youzhou sent troops to intercept in time, controlled various traffic arteries, intercepted and killed the defeated troops fleeing north, and captured Nerigan and other Khitan generals alive. The Khitan cavalry scattered among the people were held in the hands of Hebei farmers who had been harassed by the Khitans. He was beaten to death with rakes, hoes, wooden sticks and other gangs.
The royal capital fled into Dingzhou City in embarrassment and closed the city to defend it.
Wang Yanqiu then surrounded Dingzhou and prepared for a long-term war of attrition. However, Zhu Hongzhao and Zhang Qianzhao reported to the court that Wang Yanqiu had a negative attitude, was not determined, was unwilling to move forward when playing against the enemy, and was afraid of the enemy...
Zhang Qianzhao is the general political commissar (du supervisor), and his butt determines his head, so he must be an active fighter; while Zhu Hongzhao is one of Li Siyuan's cronies, but he does not get along well with An Zhongjie, who is He was at the height of his power, so he had been excluded for a long time. Now that he is stationed on the front line, he has the same idea as Zhang Qianzhao, that is, he cannot advocate conservatism, but must actively take the lead in the war, otherwise he will be accused by An Zhongjie and other political enemies of secretly collaborating with bandits and bandits. Have second thoughts and wait for the hat.
In ancient and modern times, at home and abroad, all warring factions are usually regarded as national heroes by angry youths, while peace advocates are denounced as capitulationists, weaklings, and traitors.
So Li Siyuan ordered Wang Yanqiu to attack.
Wang Yanqiu had no choice but to launch a strong attack on Dingzhou City, which was tall, easy to defend and difficult to attack. As a result, he lost 3,000 people in a trial attack. From then on, no one dared to take the initiative to attack again.
Wang Yanqiu sent troops to confiscate the grain and grass within the territory of the Rebel Army and cut off all connections between Dingzhou City and the outside world. There are no reinforcements from outside and no food and grass inside. Within a few days, Dingzhou will collapse without a fight.
Just a few days after the siege began, a man wearing a dragon robe suddenly appeared on the top of the city. The defenders shouted loudly, asking Wang Yanqiu and other siege troops to watch, saying that this man was the Crown Prince Zhuang Zong and should be the legitimate son of the empire. Son of Heaven.
The capital shouted to Wang Yanqiu: "This person is the late emperor's prince! You have been greatly favored by the late emperor. Are you still indifferent? Why don't you quickly swear allegiance and work with me to protect Mingjun?"
Wang Yanqiu and other generals took a closer look, and then laughed loudly, "Shanzhai! Isn't this person a little 'Dede'? Do you think we don't recognize him?"
It turned out that the man wearing a dragon robe and known as the "Prince Zhuangzong" was an orphan picked up from the battlefield by Li Cunxu during his early campaign in Hebei. At that time, Li Cunxu saw that he was outstanding in appearance and lonely, so he was overflowing with sympathy, so he took him back to the army and recognized him as his adopted son. Because he was "obtained as a prisoner," his nickname was "Dede". When he grew up, Li Cunxu named him Li Jitao.
After Li Siyuan came to Luoyang, An Zhongjiao handed him over to the eunuch Duan You to raise him. Duan You didn't like the lost dog very much and "allowed him to do whatever he wanted." Wangdu, who had long had evil intentions, secretly took him to Dingzhou in case of emergency. Now, it was finally time to use him, put him in a dragon robe, and said he was the prince of Emperor Zhuangzong Li Cunxu.
Unexpectedly, Wang Yanqiu and other generals knew the whole story of "De De" and were not fooled at all. Besides, even if there really was a "Prince Zhuang Zong", he had been killed by An Zhongjie, Huo Yanwei and others long ago. How could he still be here today?
Wang Yanqiu ordered his high-pitched sergeants to scold loudly, listed all the rebellious acts in the royal capital, and then advised: "The matter has come to this, doing such small tricks can only add to the laughing stock. You have only two choices: send out the entire army and fight to the death; Or tie your hands, leave the city and surrender. There is no other way!"
Zhu Hongzhao and Zhang Qianzhao kept making reports, and Li Siyuan ordered Wang Yanqiu to take the initiative to attack again.
Wang Yanqiu remained calm and asked the envoy delivering the edict to ride with him and patrol around Dingzhou City. Wang Yanqiu pointed to the tall and solid city wall and said: "Look for yourself, let alone anyone defending it, it is just an empty city. If you are asked to build a ladder or rush a car, can you climb up? A strong attack will really lead to death in vain. It is better to They besieged and cut off all food and grass supplies, I can guarantee that they will have internal strife!"
The envoy truthfully reported to Li Siyuan the situation on the Dingzhou front line that he had witnessed with his own eyes. Li Siyuan stopped urging and accepted Wang Yanqiu's suggestion of a protracted war.
More than a month later, the defenders in the city tried to break out. After the failure, internal strife broke out and they opened the city gate and surrendered to the king's army. Seeing that the situation was over, the whole family set themselves on fire and died.
Dingzhou was pacified, and Wang Yanqiu and Zhao Dejun also served as ministers for their merit.
Wangdu's head was presented to Taishe; Wangdu's four sons and one younger brother, together with Tuli Tiela and his son, were captured alive and executed at Lingchi; Fifty people including Teligun were retained as bodyguards, and more than 600 Khitan prisoners remained. Behead them all.
Previously, after Zhao Dejun captured Teligun and other generals, Li Siyuan wrote a letter to the Khitan, scolding the Khitan for being rude and emphasizing that the basis of exchanges between the two countries is the recognition of the basic political principle of one China. There has never been a Luoyang China or a Ding Dynasty. state of China, but the Khitan blatantly violated the peaceful consensus between the two countries, blatantly sent troops, grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, fueled the arrogance of ethnic separatists, and obstructed the great cause of China's reunification. It is really hateful and deserves to be hit on the head by the Great Steel Wall. flow.
At this time, the leader of the Khitan Kingdom was already Yelu Deguang (the second emperor of the Liao Dynasty, Taizong of the Liao Dynasty). Yelu Deguang apologized humbly and humblely begged Li Siyuan to release the prisoners of war and restore the old relationship.
How did Li Siyuan respond? Li Siyuan, who was in a strong position, certainly showed his strong side: not only killed all the Khitan prisoners, but also killed the Khitan envoys who sent the message.
In the Battle of Dingzhou, the Khitan did not gain any benefit and did not occupy an inch of territory in the Central Plains. Instead, they lost about 7,000 elite Khitan cavalry. The chief of the Xi tribe, Tuli Tiela, was killed, and dozens of generals including Teligun and Zhala were killed. Captured and surrendered...
After this battle, the Central Plains people recorded with great pride:
"At that time, the power of China was almost greater than the great earthquake, but the Khitan was in decline, starting from Yan Qiu." - "New History of the Five Dynasties"
"Khitan then weakened" - "Old History of the Five Dynasties";
The Khitan people recorded with great regret: "I regret it very much."
Wang Yanqiu, who regained Dingzhou, did not kill anyone during the entire war, and did not rely on killing to establish his authority. Instead, he inspired the soldiers with the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period. Wang Yanqiu shared the joys and sorrows with the soldiers, and distributed all the gold and silver treasures rewarded by the emperor to his subordinates; while eating, Just eat from the same pot and sit at the same table as the soldiers, without turning on a small stove or making "special offerings"; you can also treat your subordinates politely... The soldiers are all impressed and willing to die for the service. The current situation is concerned about the general's strategy.
After regaining Dingzhou, he first served as the envoy of the Tianping Army in Yunzhou, and then moved to Pinglu Army in Qingzhou. He achieved great success in Zhongshu Ling and died of illness in Qingzhou in the third year of Changxing (932) at the age of 62. After his death, he was given posthumously to the Taiwei. The great defeat of Khitan and the recapture of Dingzhou became the pinnacle of Wang Yanqiu's life.
9. Others
In May of the first year of Tiancheng (926), Linzhou reported that Zhang Yanchong, the commander, had caused chaos and burned and plagiarized the citizens, and the killings had been completed.
In July, the king of Zhenzhou made a memorial: Liu Yinzhao, the governor of Zhuozhou, refused to be replaced, blatantly refused the edict, and refused to transfer power to the trusted governor. He had been defeated, and Liu Yinzhao and 13 of his associates were sentenced to prison.
In September of the third year of Tiancheng (928), Dou Yanwan of Qingzhou refused to accept the imperial edict and ordered Li Jingzhou, the governor of Pizhou, to discuss the matter. On December 3, Li Jingzhou reported: Capture Qingzhou and kill Dou Yanwan's entire family.
