Xu Wen is a calm hunter, bold and careful, and thoughtful. He targeted the regional powder keg - Jingnan, and the first step was to occupy the strategic location - Yuezhou (Mayin's jurisdiction).
Chen Zhang launched a blitzkrieg against Yuezhou and captured it in one fell swoop, then continued upstream to attack Jingnan.
Ma Yin immediately sent surface troops to reinforce, and Huainan also sent Liu Xin, a powerful general, to lead a heavy force to station in Jizhou to support Chen Zhang. Chen Zhang's attack on Jingnan attracted much attention.
However, what Chen Zhang never expected was that just earlier this year, Jingnan Gao Jichang rushed to repair the fortifications of Jiangling City, expanded the outer city, and built Xiongchu Tower and Wangjiang Tower. With more than 100,000 people, after the completion of the project, although Jiangling City has no strategic depth, it does have a hard nut to crack. This is the capital of Gao Jichang's dominance in Jingnan.
With the defense of Jiangling Prefecture upgraded, Gao Jichang went west this year to attack Guizhou and Xiazhou under the rule of former Shu, and was taught by Wang Zongshou to make a new life. He also held the banner of going north to attack Li Cunxu in Hedong, and carried out a false plan to destroy Guo. Attacking Kong Qing on the east road of Shannan in Xiangzhou, he was pinned to the ground and rubbed by Kong Qing.
Gao Jichang's ambition that had just been aroused had nowhere to vent, and it was at this moment that Chen Zhang came to the door without hesitation.
Gao Jichang was very considerate to Chen Zhang and sent the first general in Jingnan, Ni Kefu, to lead the navy to attack Chen Zhang.
If there were a ranking of five generations of famous generals, Ni Kefu should barely squeeze into the first echelon. Conservatively speaking, he would also be among the best among the second-rate generals; while Chen Zhang would be a fourth-rate general and an eighteenth-rate general.
Chen Zhang was originally just a low-level officer, a company and platoon-level cadre. He made great contributions in the "Xu Xu Rebellion" and was awarded the governorship of Quzhou for his merits. Later, he secretly colluded with Huainan and eventually defected to Huainan. Therefore, Chen Zhang's ability cannot reach the third-rate level in any case. It should be said that he is average in the fourth-rate level.
Xu Wen also had his own reasons for sending Chen Zhang to take on such important tasks. Liu Wei, Li Jian, Tao Ya and others cannot be used. Although they have expressed their recognition of Xu Wen's dominance, they are still famous and meritorious old ministers. They can only be suppressed and excluded. How can they make new contributions? It is even more impossible to go deep into enemy territory with heavy troops.
Chen Zhang, who was born as a rebel general and had average abilities, was the new generation worthy of trust and promotion.
Jiangling City's defense upgrade has exceeded Chen Zhang's expectations, and Ni Kefu's bravery and invincibility surprised Chen Zhang even more. So, Chen Zhang made the right decision - run!
Do you think this is a public toilet? Come when you want and leave when you want?
Gao Jichang sent a request for joint operations to Ma Yin, asking Ma Yin to set up an ambush to intercept Chen Zhang on his way back and recover Yuezhou by the way.
When it comes to escaping, Chen Zhang is no amateur. He connected 200 ships prow to stern, connecting the city in a row, and then rushed on day and night. Ma Yin could not catch up, and Chen Zhang successfully escaped back to Huainan.
When Xu Wen sent Chen Zhang to invade Jingnan, it was mostly a tentative attack, aiming to stir up a thousand ripples with one stone and stir up political turmoil with a military conflict. The effect he wanted was achieved:
Jingnan Gao Jichang also had a clearer understanding of his neighbor to the east. After suffering Huainan's unprovoked invasion, he actually took the initiative to show his goodwill to Huainan, flirting with him, and it was quite ambiguous. As mentioned earlier, Gao Jichang later simply surrendered to Huainan.
Ma Yin also had to redefine his strategic enemies and re-examine the energy contained in Huainan. After this battle, Ma Yin sent Yao Yanzhang to besiege Ezhou under Huainan's rule as a response to Huainan's invasion of Yuezhou. However, when Huainan sent troops to support, the Chu army retreated upon hearing the news.
Subsequently, Ma Yin happily agreed to Guangzhou Liu Yan's marriage request, and formed a good relationship with Qin and Jin to consolidate themselves.
Two incidents are enough to illustrate Ma Yin's emphasis on Huainan's power and his concerns about himself.
This was the small ripple that caused Xu Wen to send troops to Jingnan, and it was also the political effect Xu Wen wanted to achieve. The military is a continuation of politics. Qualified politicians will use military operations to realize political interests, rather than using political resources to wipe out military operations.
After forming a dynamic balance on the western front, Xu Wen once again set his sights on Qian Liu in the east.
In March of the second year of Qianhua (912), Huainan sent Li Tao to take command and led 20,000 people out of Qianqiu Ridge and attacked Hangzhou. Qian Liu ordered his sons Qian Yuanhuang and Qian Yuanguan to come to the rescue.
Qian Yuanhuang captured more than 3,000 Huainan soldiers, and Qian Yuanguan captured more than 8,000 generals including Li Tao alive. In this battle, more than half of the people were captured alive.
At this time, the emperor of Houliang had just been replaced by Zhu Youzhen. When the good news came, Zhu Youzhen was overjoyed and immediately gave Qian Liu 3,000 additional households and 200 additional households.
Although the regime of the Later Liang Dynasty changed from Zhu Wen to Zhu Yougui and then to Zhu Youzhen, the Later Liang's policy towards the Jianghuai region was consistent, that is, the enemy in Huainan is my friend.
Huainan refused to accept it and made a comeback, with the target still being Hangzhou. Qian Liu sent Qian Yuanguan to fight, and again won a complete victory, capturing more than 7,000 Huainan officers and soldiers alive.
Huainan's two attacks on Hangzhou failed, in exchange for a counterattack by Qian Liu. Qian Liu sent his three sons, Qian Yuanhuang, Qian Yuanyuan, and Qian Chuanying, to attack Changzhou under Huainan.
The Huainan soldiers suffered two disastrous defeats in less than half a year and were already suffering from "Hangzhou fear". Xu Wen Queyun said calmly: "The people of Zhejiang are light and timid, and they are easy to defeat." Then he personally led the army and galloped twice. He and his general Chen You outflanked the Hangzhou soldiers and attacked the Hangzhou soldiers. "They captured a lot of them." .
The two heroes of Jianghuai and Jianghuai are equally powerful. The three probing attacks illustrate the truth. Both sides have more than enough defense but not enough offense. Without the intervention of external forces, it is difficult to obtain substantial advantages on the frontal battlefield.
Qian Liu was very depressed, "Let's not increase our troops one after another. How about you watching the show? Let's go together!"
Therefore, Zhu Youzhen of the Later Liang Dynasty sent Wang Maozhang to lead an army of 10,000 to attack Huaihe.
Wang Maozhang was originally a general in Huainan. He defeated Zhu Wen's army with a small number and killed Zhu Youning, Zhu Wen's beloved nephew. He was forced to defect to Qian Liu because he was excluded by Yang Wo. When Qian Liu surrendered to the Later Liang Dynasty, Zhu Wen named Qian Liu. Ask for Wang Maozhang. Zhu Wen's request for Wang Maozhang was not to avenge his nephew's murder, but to use his talents regardless of suspicion and appreciate this talented general who was brave and resourceful.
This battle has been described in detail previously. Wang Maozhang invaded Luzhou and Shouzhou. Xu Wen personally led his troops to fight against them, and defeated the many with less.
Later, the governor of Yuanzhou under the rule of Huainan rebelled against Ma Yin in Tanzhou. Xu Wen sent Chai Zaiyong and Mi Zhicheng to attack. It took more than a month to finally drive away the Chu soldiers and save Yuanzhou.
The Jianghuai battlefield was very strange and interesting. All the participating parties were extremely cautious. They unfolded the map and marked the timeline. They found that Huainan and its neighbors have been at war for the past two years, but they are all afraid of wolves in front and tigers in the back. They are afraid of fighting. The feet are just tentative attacks.
The increasingly declining Central Court of the Later Liang Dynasty lost its absolute leadership position and was unable to organize an effective joint military operation. Tanzhou and Hangzhou fought independently, lacking unified command, and were never able to form a fatal deterrent to Huainan.
Of course, this is also mixed with the little calculations of the Later Liang court. Just because it is not strong enough to be in an absolute leadership position, it does not want to see Huainan be completely wiped out at this time, otherwise it will feed the forces of Hangzhou, Tanzhou and other forces. .
What the central court of the Later Liang Dynasty needs is to let them fight and wear each other out so that the fishermen of the Later Liang Dynasty can benefit.
Just when Hou Liang was making his own plans, Wang Yin, the governor of Xuzhou, rebelled and attached himself to Huainan. Xu Wen sent Zhu Jin, the "pig-killing vanguard", to cross Huaibei, but was defeated by Niu Cunjie and Liu Wei and returned without success. . Wang Yin was defeated and burned himself. Little Xuzhou did not cause much turmoil, because the rebellion in Xuzhou was expected by Zhu Youzhen, as detailed above.
In this way, the Jianghuai area returned to deathly silence and everyone returned to normal.
