6. Resist the Huaihe River and Aid Piety
In 918, Huainan attacked Qianzhou, and Qianzhou's defense envoy Tan Quanbo urgently asked for help from its neighbors—Wuyue, Nanchu, and Fujian.
None of the neighbors want to see Huainan become bigger and stronger. The Min State and Qianzhou entrenched in Fujian were at loggerheads. Later, Huainan annexed the Min State and used the Qianzhou area as a springboard. After Huainan annexed Qianzhou, it would also pose a semi-encirclement threat to Southern Chu; and the significance of Qianzhou to the Wuyue State It is even more important because this is the only land communication line between Wuyue Kingdom and the central court.
One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and all three families actively sent troops to support them to resist the Huaihe River and aid Qian.
Southern Chu sent general Zhang Keqiu to lead ten thousand people to garrison Guting; Fujian sent troops to garrison Edu; Qian Liu sent his son Qian Yuanqiu to take command, and together with general Bao Junfu and others led their troops to surround Wei and rescue Zhao, and attacked Xinzhou under Huainan to divide Qianzhou's troops.
This battle in Huainan was particularly difficult. First, due to the intervention of three parties, Qianzhou could not be attacked for a long time; secondly, a plague broke out on the front line of Qianzhou, and even the coach Wang Qi became seriously ill; and finally, Huainan suffered a major internal crisis. Political changes - Xu Wen's eldest son Xu Zhixun was killed, and what followed was a bloody purge. Huainan veteran veteran Mi Zhicheng and others were also involved and were killed by Xu Wen.
Subsequently, Huainan was forced to improvise and replaced Wang Qi with Liu Xin. Wang Qi died of illness soon after.
Qian Yuanqiu made his first victory in Xinzhou, killing one Huai general and capturing more than a thousand soldiers. However, there are also historical records saying that the Huainan defenders only had a few hundred people in total. Obviously this is an old routine used by both warring parties. On the one hand, they exaggerate the number of enemy troops, and on the other hand, they reduce their own battle losses. In addition, it is not ruled out that Qian Yuanqiu's side may have committed acts of killing good people and taking credit for their merits. After all, they were fighting in enemy territory, and it was a routine operation to arrest a few enemy civilians to pretend to be enemy soldiers.
The defender of Xinzhou is Zhou Ben, the veteran veteran of Huainan. Zhou Ben sang an "empty city strategy" to Qian Yuanqiu.
According to historical records, Qian Yuanqiu led an army of 20,000 troops to the city. Shinshu Zhouben only had a few hundred defenders, and they were defeated first on the periphery, making the situation precarious. However, Zhou Ben ordered the city gates to be opened wide and a banquet was held on the top of the city. Zhou Ben and his staff calmly drank and chatted on the top of the city, sitting still even though the arrows were flying and raining down, they continued to play music and dance.
Qian Yuanqiu believed that there must be an ambush in the city, so he withdrew his troops. The siege of Xinzhou was lifted.
Xu Wen also treated others in his own way and sent Wu Yue surrender general Chen Zhang to lead his troops to attack Huzhou to contain Wu Yue soldiers. Cautious Qian Yuanqiu moved from Xinzhou to Tingzhou to wait and see.
At the same time, Xu Wen sent troops to sneak attack the Chu soldiers in Guting at night and defeated them. Then they concentrated their efforts to attack Wu Yue soldiers and Fujian soldiers.
The three parties' aid to Qian seemed to be in harmony with the spirit. It was a bit like the 18th princes in the late Han Dynasty trying to challenge Dong Zhuo. They do not want Qianzhou to be annexed by Huainan, nor do they want to be annexed by the other two families. At the same time, they also want to preserve their own strength. To put it simply, they want the other two families to go first. It is best to fight to the death with Huainan, both sides will lose, and then they themselves Clean up the mess at the end and take the fruits of victory alone.
After learning about the Chu army's defeat, Wu, Yue and Min urgently withdrew their troops to preserve their strength.
Qianzhou was still resisting tenaciously, and Huai general Liu Xin was unable to conquer it for a long time, so he secretly negotiated peace with Qianzhou. After demanding a large sum of war compensation, he actually rescued the siege and retreated. Xu Wen was very angry at Liu Xin's tyrannical behavior, and immediately sent a large number of elite forces to Liu Xin. In one sentence, either you use these soldiers to capture Qianzhou, or you are killed by these soldiers.
So Liu Xin was forced to betray his faith, counterattack and capture the unsuspecting Qianzhou.
In it, the battle of Qianzhou was described as "the Huai people besieged Qianzhou...the king ordered troops to be recruited to help, but Qianzhou was overthrown before it reached the border." It deliberately misleads people, as if Qianzhou was captured before Wu Yue's reinforcements arrived on the battlefield, and as if Wu Yue had not lost the battle. There is nothing wrong with saying that, because they were not going to Qianzhou, but to Xinzhou. This is the charm of history books, it tells all the truth, but it does not tell all the truth.
Key figure: Qian Yuanqiu.
7. Battle of Langshan
Huainan annexed Qianzhou, cutting off the connection between Wuyue Kingdom and the central court. Huainan's sphere of influence entered the hinterland of Jiangxi, threatening Wuyue Kingdom, Min Kingdom, Southern Chu, and Southern Han, and becoming the regional hegemon in South China. When Huainan's power was on the rise, Xu Wen continued to force the puppet Yang Wei to proclaim himself emperor.
Yang Wei tried his best to oppose proclaiming himself emperor or emperor, but he had long been a puppet of the Xu Wen Group. He had no choice but to do the next best thing. On April 1, 919, he proclaimed the throne of the King of Wu and changed his name to Wuyi. The "Southern Wu" regime was formally established.
Proclaiming emperor, founding a country, and changing the Yuan Dynasty were the political red lines of the Central Plains court and had zero tolerance. And in last year's Qianzhou War, Hedong Li Cunxu colluded with Huainan forces and asked the north and south to attack Houliang. Huainan did not agree because it was caught in the Qianzhou War.
Therefore, the central court urgently needs someone to teach Huainan a lesson and contain him. In March 919, Hou Liang issued an edict to Qian Liu of Wuyue State, ordering him to launch a large-scale military operation against Huainan.
Qian Yuanguan was ordered to take command and set out from Dongzhou with 500 warships. These five hundred warships are majestic and "all carved in the shape of dragons." In April, the two sides encountered each other on the Langshan River, and the famous "Battle of Langshan" broke out.
This was the first battle of the Nanwu regime. Xu and Wen Group attached great importance to this and assembled a large number of ships. They wanted to shock the neighbors and establish Nanwu's international status through the brilliant performance of annihilating the Wuyue navy. Historical records record that the Nanwu Navy was well-equipped and had high morale, and "dangerous and huge ships were as powerful as clouds."
Before the war, Qian Yuanguan made careful arrangements. The strategic policy was still "I hide the elites." The specific tactical idea was to avoid the enemy's edge, first use weak troops to deceive the enemy, and bring the enemy into our ambush circle. Then annihilate them in one fell swoop. In addition, Qian Yuanguan also took great pains in weapons and equipment, ordering all ships to prepare enough lime, black beans, and river sand, and also equipped with a secret weapon-kerosene machine.
When the battle started, Nan Wu's huge navy came to attack with great force. Wu Yue's naval forces were ordered to "avoid them all". As expected, the Nanwu navy fell into the trap and thought that Wu Yueguo was timid and cowardly, so they charged forward at full speed, rushing from the upstream to the downstream with great momentum.
Seeing that the time had come, Qian Yuanguan ordered a counterattack. A magical scene occurred. The Wu Yue Army, which was originally located downstream, became the upstream, and the Nanwu Navy moving down the river became the downstream. The two sides exchanged places. The Nanwu navy was "too tall and huge to be mounted again." Wu and Yue warships made a small U-turn, making full use of their maneuverability advantages to divide and surround the Nanwu ships.
Then an even more magical scene occurred. The Wu and Yue navy threw lime on the upwind side. The Nan Wu sailors were blinded by the lime and all became blind. After the ship approached, the Wu and Yue navy sprinkled large amounts of lime on the Nan Wu ships. black beans, and throw sand into his boat.
The Nanwu navy was confused, but they soon understood the mystery. "The blood of war is stained, and those who practice beans are unsteady." The soles of the feet were covered with beans, making it impossible to stand firmly. The sand on the Wuyue Army's ships actually played an anti-slip effect after being stained with blood.
By the time the Nanwu navy realized it, it was too late, because the Wuyue navy showed off its powerful weapon - the kerosene machine. An ancient version of the flamethrower.
The Wuyue navy achieved a great victory at Langshan, killing its commander Peng Yanzhang, capturing more than 7,000 soldiers, capturing more than 400 enemy ships, and killing countless enemies. According to records, the river in the combat area and the places on both sides of the river dozens of miles deep, All stained red with blood.
Historical records say that "kerosene" is a flammable liquid. The more water you pour after it is lit, the more flammable it will be. This kind of thing comes from a country with great food... I'm afraid if I think about it carefully, could it be oil from the Middle East? It's funny but serious.
"Hainan is a great food country with fire oil...the water is fertile and the flames are more abundant."——
As early as the Han Dynasty, there were records of this magical kerosene, and it is speculated that it should be today's oil. In fact, the Huainan Group also had this kind of thing. Before the "Battle of Langshan", Huainan also presented a batch of fierce fire oil to the Khitan and taught how to use it, so that the Khitan could contain the rear Liang. So why did the Huainan Navy not install this kind of black technology weapon, but the Wuyue Navy was so angry that it exported it?
The reason is that although Huainan has powerful kerosene, it has not invented a kerosene machine. Huainan only knows how to pour kerosene on the enemy's walls or equipment, and then set it on fire. It is mostly used for siege or defense.
The problem comes again. The craftsmanship of the kerosene machine is not complicated. As long as it is captured by the enemy, it can be easily copied. So why has the Huainan Group not imitated it?
The answer is given because Qian Liu fully explored the weaknesses of human nature and exploited them. "The mouth of the barrel is decorated with silver." When captured by the enemy, "the silver must be stripped off and the barrel discarded." Therefore, the secret of the craftsmanship of the kerosene machine was monopolized by Wu Yue for a long time. Always imitated, but never surpassed.
In June, the Huainan Army defeated the Wuyue Army in Shashan and regained a victory; in July, Qian Liu sent Qian Yuanguan to attack Wuxi County in Changzhou.
Xu Wen personally led the generals to fight, and sent Chen Zhang to lead the navy to go behind the Wu Yue army, and then launched a flanking attack. At that time, there was a long drought and the grass was dry, Xu Wen was at the upper hand, so he ordered arson. The Wu Yue army was defeated, generals He Feng and Wu Jian were killed, and Qian Yuanguan escaped. Xu Wen ordered the pursuit and pursued it to Shannan, where he ruthlessly harvested the remaining Wuyue army. At the same time, Chen Zhang also won victory behind the enemy lines and captured and killed countless people.
Wu Yue's army was defeated and returned.
According to records, Qian Yuanguan fled to the high bank on horseback alone, with the turbulent river in front and the aggressive pursuers behind him. In desperation, Qian Yuanguan looked up to the sky and sighed, then raised his whip and swore to the sky: "Heaven Ah, if you help me, let me jump to the other side; otherwise, let me die here!" Then he made a desperate move and beat his mount hard. Just like Liu Bei's horse leaping over Tanxi River, Qian Yuanguan's horse miraculously flew to the other side. This also belongs to the later issue of "Approaching Science".
Unsurprisingly, the subsequent records were deviated. According to the records, after Qian Yuanguan escaped, he "reorganized his troops, defeated the thieves and returned."
According to historical records, the Wu and Yue troops were defeated at that time, so Xu Zhigao volunteered to lead two thousand elite infantrymen, put on Wu and Yue military uniforms, hold the flag of the Wu and Yue troops, follow the Wu and Yue troops to fish in troubled waters, sneak into Suzhou City, and then capture Suzhou in one fell swoop. This strategy was eventually rejected by Xu Wen, because Xu Wen wanted to make peace with Wu Yueguo next.
Is it "breaking the thief and returning it", or is Xu Wen showing mercy? If you have to investigate it carefully, it actually makes sense and is not contradictory.
First of all, what Qian Yuanguan is best at is avoiding the enemy's main force and avoiding the enemy's edge, and then showing weakness to lure the enemy, and then annihilate the enemy with a surprise attack, such as the battle of Langshan that he just won. Therefore, Xu Wen may not be completely sure whether Wu Yue's army fled in embarrassment on the surface. In fact, it was a fake defeat to lure the enemy.
Secondly, the Battle of Langshan severely damaged Nanwu's surface forces, weakened its overall national strength, and did not restore its vitality. The new Nanwu regime needs to gain international recognition most. It must make as many friends as possible instead of making enemies. Even if it can capture Suzhou, it is impossible to swallow up the two Zhejiang regions in one go. If Xu Zhigao's advice is followed, Nanwu will only Xu Wen was locked in a long-term tug-of-war with Wu Yue State, and Xu Wen would not have known the reason why the snipe and the clam were fighting. Therefore, even if Qian Yuanguan is really defeated, Xu Wen will probably show mercy and pave the way for the upcoming peace talks.
Furthermore, Xu Zhigao was originally the biggest suspect in "Xu Zhixun's death". Xu Wen's confidants had been earnestly persuading him to get rid of his adopted son Xu Zhigao as soon as possible and pass on the country's legacy to his biological son. If Xu Zhigao is allowed to perform too many meritorious deeds, it will inevitably shock his master. As detailed above, Xu Wen had been vigilant and consciously suppressed Xu Zhigao, and had even made up his mind to get rid of Xu Zhigao. However, he suddenly fell ill and died on the way to get rid of him, which allowed Xu Zhigao to finally usurp Xu Wen's foundation. Therefore, even if Xu Wen was heartbroken, he would not allow Xu Zhigao to establish too high a prestige in the army and increase his own power.
Finally, Xu Wen was not only a military strategist, but also a statesman. Now that the grand strategy of making peace with Wu Yue has been decided, a suitable node is needed as to when to extend an olive branch. This node is the battle of Wuxi. We need to negotiate as a victor, but we must not beg for mercy as a weakling after the "Battle of Langshan". To put it simply, you need to accept things as soon as you see fit, and negotiate while accepting them, so that you can fully grasp the initiative and maximize your benefits.
In August, Xu Wen took the initiative to return the prisoners of war of the Wuyue Army and sent the foreign minister to visit Hangzhou to express his willingness to make peace.
Qian Liu readily agreed and sent officials to return the visit. Since then, the Huainan Group and the Wuyue Qian Group have maintained peace for more than 20 years. The people of Jianghuai have lived and worked in peace and contentment for a whole generation since then.
Regarding this important reconciliation, they still forcibly paid money to Qian Yuanguan, saying that Huainan sued us for peace because of the "Battle of Langshan" in April, and the Battle of Shashan in June and the Battle of Wuxi in July. Tactical forgetting.
"In the fourth month of summer, Yisi, there was a battle with the Huai people at Langshan River... The Huai people naturally asked for general employment."
It really has an ulterior motive, because the historian placed "The Huai people naturally asked for general employment" after the "Battle of Langshan" in April, and only recorded the Battle of Wuxi in July after it, briefly mentioning it in one or two sentences. , and the last sentence is still "then reorganize the troops, defeat the thieves and return."
This small adjustment in time makes it easy for readers to be misled into thinking that Huainan was indeed defeated by the "Battle of Langshan" and quickly begged for peace with Wu Yue.
Strictly speaking, it's not a complete lie. Because the "Battle of Langshan" indeed made Huainan decide to make peace with Wu Yue, but there is an essential difference between "thinking" and "doing". It was precisely because the politician Xu Wen wanted to make peace that he "forced peace with war" , after winning enough bargaining chips through great victories in June and July, in August they officially made a series of friendly gestures such as the return of prisoners and visits by senior officials.
History is the politics of the past, and politics is the history in progress. Politicians never lie to people, but are good at guiding people to read history.
Key Person: Qian Yuanguan
The above are a few candidates who have made great contributions to the development of Qian's Group in Zhejiang and Zhejiang. There are many people who have made contributions, but there can only be one successor. Who will succeed?
