Faced with the immediate advantage, Li Jinquan gave it up and ignored it. Although everyone was puzzled, they did not dare to ask any more questions.
In the evening, when the sky was about to darken, suddenly there was the sound of rumbling war drums. The sound was so shocking that it could be heard more than ten miles away. With the sound of war drums, all the ambush troops of the Later Han Dynasty who were lying in ambush everywhere came out. , "Turn backwards! Move together!"
The soldiers of the Southern Tang Dynasty were terrified. Li Jinquan pointed at the Hou Han team that could not be seen to the end, "Do you know the consequences of rushing over just now?"
Thousands of miles away in the river, the Southern Tang Dynasty and the Later Han Dynasty had no grudges in the past or recent times. Moreover, their names were unfair and their words were inconsistent. They were clearly blatantly interfering in other countries' internal affairs and helping traitors to betray their motherland. Therefore, the soldiers had no fighting spirit and low morale. More importantly, even if they were lucky enough to win the Battle of Hezhong, the Southern Tang Dynasty would not be able to effectively control Hezhong. They could only draw chestnuts from the fire for Li Shouzhen, a stranger. Unless the Southern Tang Dynasty really conquered the entire Central Plains in one go, it could effectively contain it. Later Shu, Khitan and other forces.
So when the passion subsided, Li Jing also felt a little regretful. At this time, Li Jinquan had also retreated to the territory of the Southern Tang Dynasty and returned to Haizhou. He reported to Li Jing the situation on the front line, to the effect that the Later Han Dynasty was ready for battle and our army was at a disadvantage. status.
Therefore, Li Jing decisively ordered to stop the military operation to "rescue Soldier Li Shouzhen". However, in order to take into account the face of the "Datang Empire", Li Jing wrote a letter to Liu Chengyou of the Later Han Dynasty, apologizing to Liu Chengyou, requesting the restoration of normal diplomatic relations and trade between the two countries, and at the same time urging him to be more generous. , forgive Li Shouzhen. This can be regarded as an explanation to Li Shouzhen, buddy, I don't care about you.
Liu Chengyou ignored the letter of credence without any response, not even bothering to reply with "haha".
This made Li Jing very angry.
Soon, Li Jing waited for an opportunity. As the war in the west became stalemate, many soldiers and civilians in the Huaibei region of the Later Han Dynasty fled to Huainan. So Li Jing sent Huangfu Hui to lead an army of 10,000 to Haizhou, Sizhou and other border areas to be responsible for the recruitment work.
Huangfu Hui coerced Zhao Zaili to launch the Beizhou Mutiny more than 20 years ago (926), then occupied Weizhou, and then supported Li Siyuan in Weizhou, "Mingzong entered Wei", and forced Li Cunxu to die in the "Xingjiaomen Incident". After the Khitans invaded Bianzhou, they fled to Huainan (947) because they were worried that the Khitans would seek revenge for Li Cunxu.
Li Jing found a grand reason for his shameless act of recruiting traitors. He declared that Zhongyuan had been without an owner for a long time and had fallen into chaos. However, I cannot take advantage of others' danger and throw stones into the well. Young people still have to practice martial ethics, so I don't want to The intervention of force was used to restore the foundation of the ancestors through violence... Therefore, a paradise was provided for the people of the Tang Dynasty, and everyone was welcome to stay.
Look at this PR job!
Under Huangfuhui's persuasion and guidance, Xian Shilang, the Mengcheng garrison under the rule of Bozhou in the Later Han Dynasty, readily rebelled and defected to the "free world."
Immediately afterwards, the recruitment team was expelled by force from the Later Han Dynasty. Xuzhou inspection envoy Cheng Deqin repelled the Southern Tang army in Dongyu Town (today's Xinyi City, Jiangsu Province) on the Hou Han side of the border between the two countries, killing 500 people. One hundred and twenty people were captured alive, and Huangfu Hui led his army back.
When Xuzhou escorted the captured Huainan general Li Hui and 33 other people to Bianzhou, Liu Chengyou ordered them to be given clothes and allowed them to return to Huainan. The Later Han Dynasty despised Huainan from the perspective of strength, but did not want to make the relationship too tense. After all, multiple friends are better than multiple enemies.
Since the development of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the overall strength has actually declined, and it can no longer be compared with the power in Huainan during the Yang Xingmi period. The ins and outs of it will be presented later.
In short, Li Jing of the Southern Tang Dynasty coveted the Central Plains, but he was more than willing and insufficient. During the rebellion of the three towns of the Later Han Dynasty, many small frictions occurred sporadically in the border areas. It was not until the news of Li Shouzhen's failure came soon that Li Jing gave up completely and ordered Li Jinquan was dismissed from his position as "Northern Camp Recruitment Envoy".
Without any help, Li Shouzhen could only stay in the river and wait for a miracle to come. Due to the depletion of food, more than half of the people in the city have died of starvation (the city in the river has run out of food, and fifty-six people have died of starvation).
On April 30, the second year of Qianyou (949), Li Shouzhen organized more than 5,000 infantrymen and launched an attack on the northwest corner of the defense line with the intention of tearing apart the encirclement. However, they were repulsed by Guo Wei. More than half of the soldiers were lost and all combat equipment was lost.
Three days later, Li Shouzhen made a comeback and organized a breakout again, but was still repelled.
On May 9, Li Shouzhen's generals Wang Jixun, Zhou Guangxun, Nie Zhiyu and others led more than a thousand people to surrender, and the rest surrendered one after another.
Among them, there are two demoted players worth mentioning:
"Famous General" and "Wang Santie" Wang Jixun
Wang Jixun's title of "Famous General" is more interesting. Although he is famous for his bravery, he is not famous in history because of it. The reason why he is called a "Famous General" is because he maintains an unbeatable record of repeated defeats.
When Li Shouzhen started his army, he sent him to capture Tongguan, but he was defeated and fled back; he was sent to steal a camp and rob a stronghold, but he was defeated and seriously injured. Later, seeing that Li Shouzhen was losing power, he surrendered to Guo Wei, who appointed him as an enshrined official. After Guo Wei proclaimed himself emperor, he was promoted to governor and served in many places. Wang Jixun lived until the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty. During this period, he never won a battle.
He looks very fierce and famous, but he just can't do anything and is the first to cause trouble. Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin once organized a forbidden army of more than 10,000 people and gave it to Wang Jixun to command. In order to appease the morale of the army, he also allocated special funds to marry the soldiers and help them start a family.
Wang Jixun stuffed the money into his pocket. How can soldiers get wives if they have no money? Wang Jixun taught them: Do it yourself and have enough food and clothing. The soldiers were ordered to rob civilian women in broad daylight, whether they were married or unmarried, whoever snatched them got the final prize.
More than 10,000 imperial troops openly snatched brides, and local officials did not dare to stop them. The nature was very bad and the social impact was extremely bad. Song Taizu was furious and captured more than 100 people and beheaded them all.
Wang Jixun is useless, it is a pity to discard it, and it is tasteless to eat.
Zhou Guangxun
He is the commander of Xicheng in the middle of the river, and Xicheng is the focus of the battle in the city in the middle of the river. Guo Wei has repeatedly emphasized the importance of Xicheng to Bai Wenke and Liu Ci before.
Now, the surrender of Xicheng means that Li Shouzhen has lost almost all his elite troops and important fortresses.
Therefore, Guo Wei believed that the moment of decisive battle had come.
On May 19, after strict deployment and dispatch, under Guo Wei's order, people from all walks of life launched a fierce attack from all directions at the same time, and the clarion call for the general offensive was sounded.
