August 15th, the 10th year of Baoda, coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival.
In fact, during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people began to enjoy the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but it has not yet formed a custom. In the Tang Dynasty, admiring and playing with the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival was quite popular. Ouyang Zhan, the imperial eunuch of the Mid-Tang Dynasty, once wrote in the "Preface to the Poetry of Wan Yue in Chang'an": "The eighth month is in autumn, the season begins and ends in Meng, the fifteenth is in the night, and it is in the moon. If you follow the great road, the cold and heat will be even, so take it. According to the number of months, the toad soul will be round."
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, the gentry and common people suffered from wars and wars, and naturally had an eager desire for family reunion. The Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th naturally became more and more important in people's hearts. However, the people longed for peace and stability, but the soldiers who shouldered the combat mission could not stop their conquests. Wuping's army was fighting bloody battles on two fronts.
On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Peng Shigao was on his way to Yiyang to meet Li Yuan. The battle in Yiyang City to the east has been fierce for nearly a month, and the battle is naturally fierce. Because Li Yuan had urgently transferred Zhu Kuang from this general back to Langzhou, Zhu Kuang, who originally wanted to rescue Yiyang, stopped for two days. . But in any case, by this time the chaos in Langzhou City had subsided, and Li Yuan and Zhu Kuangcong had already led the army again, arriving at the front line in time on August 13th.
Shifting the perspective to the west for the time being, Chenzhou City, located in the land of Dongxi, is also in a moment of imminent emergency.
Located in Yunshi Valley on the west side of Yuanshui River, 15,000 troops led by Han army commander Pan Chongche finally officially launched an attack on Chenzhou City in the north of Yunshi Valley after several days of trekking through mountains and rivers.
Pan Chongche had a strong army and strong horses. In order to conquer the Chu territory this time, Liu Cheng, the leader of the Han Dynasty, specially handed over the 50,000 giant elephant army guarding the Xingwang Palace in the capital to this famous general. In terms of the number of men and horses alone, this has reached the largest scale of the Southern Han Dynasty's use of troops against other countries in recent years. When it comes to the quality of this army, Pan Chongche is even more confident.
You must know that the Southern Han Dynasty was still a regime established by warlords, which attached great importance to military power. The emperor not only personally controlled the planning and deployment of major military operations, but even liked to serve as the commander-in-chief of major military operations. This tradition not only dates back to the founding monarch Liu Wei, but also dates back to the late Tang Dynasty. When Liu Qian's father Liu Qian was appointed governor of Fengzhou, he already "had more than 10,000 troops, more than 100 warships, and was present in all major and major battles." .
(Note: "The Chronicles of Gaozu" in Volume 58 of "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn" records: "In the summer and April of the eighth year of Qianheng, the emperor himself invaded Fujian and stationed troops in Ting and Zhang. He was attacked by the Fujian people and returned defeated.")
After Liu Cheng came to the throne, Xu Shi was happy to sit back and enjoy the country, and was not enthusiastic about the imperial commander's personal expedition. However, he did not dare to really delegate the power of the general to the envoys of various towns, so he followed the Tang system and appointed temporary officials during each expedition. The "dutong" or "recruiting envoy" was regarded as the commander-in-chief of the troops. He took the troops and horses with the seal issued by the emperor and returned them after the battle. It was like a loan, forming a set of strict regulations.
As for the quality of the army that the commander of the army receives, it depends on the mood of the emperor and the importance of the war. Fortunately, the 50,000-strong army, the Giant Elephant Army, led by Pan Chongche, the "Conqueror of the Northern Capital" in this battle, was considered one of the few elites in the Southern Han Forbidden Army.
What is the Giant Elephant Army? As the name suggests, it is an army equipped with war elephant cavalry.
The Giant Elephant Army is not only one of the six main forbidden armies of the Southern Han Dynasty, but also an army that highlights the local characteristics of the Southern Han Dynasty. Its past achievements are also very brilliant, and there are many records in historical materials.
Last year, the Southern Han Dynasty, with Wu Huai'en as its commander, took advantage of the internal chaos in Chu to conquer the eight Lingnan states of Kehe, Gui, Quan, Zhao and so on. They relied on this giant elephant army to trample all directions. This shows its strong combat capabilities. Although war elephants do not play a big role when attacking a city, most of the enemy troops become confused when they see these huge living creatures that are several feet tall.
At this moment, looking at the forest of swords and guns under his command, the Southern Han soldiers and horses covering the Yunshi Valley like dark clouds, and the long roar of war elephants ringing in his ears, Pan Chongche smiled faintly. Not only because of the strength of the troops he led, but also because of his experience as a leading general who has experienced hundreds of battles. It is no exaggeration to say that Pan Chongche has spent most of his time fighting the enemy on the battlefield, and almost all of it. It’s the return of victory.
I don’t know how many battles, large and small, he has gone through, and there is no need to go into details about the various strategies of his military use. In short, after Pan Chongche killed a large number of famous generals in the Southern Han Dynasty, he relied on his conquering the south and the north to win many victories. Qi Gong, and the oldest among the military commanders, has become the number one commander-in-chief in the eyes of Liu Cheng, the leader of the Han Dynasty.
This time, Pan Chongche led 50,000 elite troops into Chu territory, and the results achieved by Pan Chongche did not disappoint Liu Cheng. After successfully ambushing Bian Hao and Zhang Luan's army, the Han army successfully conquered the entire Guiguan territory, and then pushed the battle line to the foot of Tanzhou City, gaining two of the three points in Chu territory. The battle report was sent back to the Duxing Palace of the Southern Han Dynasty. Liu Cheng was so happy that he ordered a banquet for three days to celebrate the veteran general.
But Pan Chongche's mood was not as calm or complacent as that of the Han monarchs, because he knew in his heart that since the goal of this army was to completely conquer Chu, it would eventually have to face the now famous "Tian Shen Tian" of the Southern Tang Dynasty. "General Star" Li Yuan. Although Pan Chongche had never fought against this young famous Southern Tang general before, he did not dare to take it lightly.
The so-called survival from desperate situations, the Han army wanted to incorporate the entire Chu region into the Han territory, and Langzhou was no exception. However, the town of Wuping was also the place where Li Yuan relied on to establish a festival. Pan Chongche knew in his heart that it was a matter of life and death. Regardless of whether this "current world leader" has a false reputation or not, he will definitely risk everything to fight.
Previously at the gate of Tanzhou City, just when Pan Chongche was worried about being unable to attack for a long time, he received two surprising news in succession. One is a letter from Tian Hongyou of Xizhou, and the other is that Li Yuan has decided to mobilize a large army to conquer Dongxi.
He originally thought that Wu Ping's army would go south to reinforce Tanzhou, but now he abandoned Chu territory and went to attack the barbarians regardless of the safety of Chu. Pan Chongche was deeply puzzled at first, and then secretly rejoiced, determined to maintain the previous deployment, and only wanted to capture Tanzhou city as soon as possible. , and then take advantage of the situation to move the front a hundred miles north. If Li Yuan is trapped in the quagmire of Dongxi, it will be difficult for the army to return, and Langzhou's defeat is certain.
But then a Wuping Qingqi suddenly appeared and disrupted Pan Chongche's plan. This elusive cavalry is really a headache, and its tactics can be described as extremely cumbersome. They lurk in dense forests during the day and attack camps at night, but they are not willing to fight at all. They especially like to go straight to the rear to carry food, grass and baggage when the Han army is attacking a city, and chop and kill them. After looting some time, they left calmly.
The Han army had been far away from their homeland and had penetrated deep into the Chu region for several months. At this moment, Tanzhou City could not be captured for a long time, and the war was in an anxious state. The sergeants had secretly complained about being harassed several times by this Wuping Qingqi. If Pan Chongche was so experienced, The steady commander couldn't sit still anymore. After discussing with the generals, he decided to divide his troops and go north to Yiyang in an attempt to lure away this annoying cavalry.
But what happened next made Pan Chongche unexpected. First, Yiyang City also fell into a hard battle. The Han army had an obvious numerical advantage, but it encountered stubborn resistance from the defenders. They attacked for seven days in a row and injured three to four thousand people. The most terrifying thing was that at some point outside Tanzhou City, there was another enemy. After scoring twice, a Wuping Qingqi team appeared again, specializing in harassment.
This made Pan Chongche couldn't help but feel confused, and even wanted to retreat for a while, but after thinking about it, he discovered the clues. From the combat methods of Wuping Qingqi who appeared twice, and Qingqi's actions to rescue Yiyang, it can be vaguely seen that Wuping Army has no intention or even the ability to engage in a direct battle with the Han army. The real main force should be led by Li Yuan. Going to conquer Dongxi, it is difficult to escape at this moment.
Pan Chongche relied on his many years of conquest experience to judge that Langzhou and even Wuping must be in a state of weak defense at this moment. The Dongxi area is notoriously dangerous. If Li Yuan's army can be trapped in the quagmire, a surprise force can be sent directly to Langzhou City, maybe something big can be done.
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Chapter 193 Pan Chongche is free to read.
