With the assistance of the 10,000 sergeants of the Chinese Army, all the fires in the rear camp of the Han Army were quickly put out. After Xie Gui patrolled the garrison carefully, he planned to return to the Chinese Army to catch up on a good sleep. After all, he would attack the city tomorrow morning. , you must ensure that you are in high spirits so that you can inspire the sergeants.
Before leaving, Xie Gui carefully ordered that the 10,000 sergeants reinforced by the Chinese army be stationed in the rear camp to prevent the Tang army from causing trouble again. Just wait for the sun to rise in the east and everything will be bright, and then you will not be afraid of the annoying Tang army to continue to harass you.
Then he continued to scold Xie Chong a few words. Although Xie Gui was angry tonight, he still chose favoritism as usual due to the fact that he was from a famous family and was connected by blood. After giving him a slap and a candy, Xie Gui calmed down a bit when he saw Xie Chong trembling and repeatedly pleading guilty. He quickly comforted his unkempt clan brother, and then prepared to return to the camp with his bodyguards.
The moment he was about to mount his horse, a thundering roar suddenly came from nowhere. It was as frightening as the muffled thunder in the sky. It scared the horses of several generals around them and kept neighing and jumping. Xie Gui naturally thought it was thunder rolling in the sky, and hurriedly looked up, only to find that the sky was still filled with calm clouds and mist, and a crescent moon hung comfortably in the sky. The breeze was fine, so where could there be any signs of thunder and rain?
"Go and have a look! Where is the noise?" Xie Gui suddenly felt a sense of uncertainty in his heart and asked loudly.
"Boom! Boom!" Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the continuous roar sounded again, and this time the ground seemed to be shaking. Xie Guixun decisively identified the direction. It was the front camp in the distance. the orientation. The roaring sound continued without stopping at all, and the scene in the distance was even more vague with a slight flash of light. Unfortunately, it was difficult to know what was happening from several miles away.
"Deputy Commander! This is the direction of the front camp!" A general beside him hurriedly raised his hands and said: "This violent sound seems to be... it seems to be a trebuchet..."
After being reminded by the general, Xie Gui couldn't help but tremble. The Han Dynasty followed the Tang system in running its army. How could he not know about the trebuchet? It's just that there are very few such weapons in Lingnan. In addition to being expensive, the effect of attacking a city is also unstable. After all, dozens of kilograms of stone bullets are enough to attack a small city, but when attacking a strong city, it is often just Just supplement it with shock.
Having said that, Xie Gui became more and more panicked. Military camps were mostly made of trees, how could they compare to the bricks and stones of the city? However, Li Yuan, the commander-in-chief of the Tang army, actually used a trebuchet to attack his own Han army camp. It was an unheard-of method. Think about why the trebuchet was so tall and heavy, and how to ensure that it could reach the Han army's front camp safely...
Xie Gui frowned and thought, his heart became heavier, and he suddenly gritted his teeth and shouted: "Hurry to the front camp with the commander! I'm afraid that thief Li Yuan is going to use some despicable trick again!"
…
The Tang army attacked the rear camp at night, and Xie Gui, the deputy commander of the capital, dispatched 10,000 troops to rescue them. It is said that the invading enemy troops were no less than 10,000, and all the grain and grass supplies of the rear camp were burned. This horrifying news quickly spread throughout the Han army camp shortly after the rear camp was attacked. Even if they were not attacked, the generals in the front camp had to panic and increase their vigilance.
The former commander of the camp was Shao Tingxuan, who was granted the title of Envoy of the Giant Elephant Watch by Liu Cheng, the Lord of the Han Dynasty.
Shao Tingzhen was very tall and powerful, and except for his smoother jaw, he looked just like other generals in the army. In fact, he was a famous eunuch in the Han Dynasty.
When he was forced to make a living and entered the palace in his early years, Shao Tingjuan was fortunate enough to be assigned to serve Liu Bin, the second emperor of the Han Dynasty. Xu was deeply involved in military and political affairs, and gradually harbored ambitions in his heart. With his agility and means, he quickly obtained Liu Bin's favor. In the first year of Guangtian of the Southern Han Dynasty (942), he became the eunuch in charge of internal and external edicts. After Liu Cheng came to the throne, he was promoted to the eunuch in charge of the inner court treasury.
Even though the Imperial Bureau Chief was only a member of the eighth rank, this position was coveted by many eunuchs. Being able to control the income and expenditure of the royal family's treasury was naturally a person whom the emperor trusted greatly, and Shao Tingxuan relied on his status as the royal "money bag" , and became prosperous in the Southern Han Dynasty.
Since last year, the Southern Han Dynasty has launched a war against Chu, and has won many battles along the way. Shao Tingqi, who was born tall and burly, has had the ambition to join the army since he was a child. Although he is half-yang now, he does not want to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. opportunity, so he secretly made up his mind to fight for an opportunity to make contributions on the battlefield.
The hard work paid off, and Liu Cheng, the leader of the Han Dynasty who had always had a soft ear, finally couldn't stand Shao Tingxuan's vows of loyalty to the country. Seeing that his physique was indeed like a general in charge of the army, he finally awarded Shao Tingxuan the position of military observer of the Giant Elephant Army.
What does it mean to observe the military and accommodate envoys? As the name suggests, observing military appearance and supervising military affairs is actually the duty of supervising the military. It has been in existence since the first year of Qianyuan (AD 758) of Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty. But it was also the job of supervising the army. Why did the Southern Tang Dynasty call itself Houyin of the Tang Dynasty, but instead of using the four words "Guanjun Rongshi", it was called "Supervisor of the Army"?
Just because the four words "watching the army and envoys" are really notorious.
I recall that in the first year of Emperor Suzong's reign, Guo Ziyi, Li Guangbi and other nine military governors led their troops to surround Anqingxu in Xiangzhou. Emperor Suzong of the Tang Dynasty, Yiyi and Guangbi, were both heroes and could not be subordinated to each other, so they simply did not set up marshals. This man came up with the idea of In order to use the eunuch's method of checking and balancing, he appointed the eunuch Yu Chao'en as the military envoy Rong Xuanwei, supervising hundreds of thousands of troops of the Ninth Army and becoming the de facto commander-in-chief. From then on, Guanjun Rongshi got his name.
Later, Yu Chaoen became "the envoy of the world's military watcher, Rong Xuanwei and Disposal", became the commander-in-chief of the country's army, and directly took control of the military power. The eunuchs began to interfere in politics with confidence, and even the emperor was at his mercy. Although Yu Chaoen was killed soon after, and the post of guanjunrong was abolished for a time, it was soon restored. The strength of the eunuchs was greatly enhanced and out of control. This was an important reason for the eventual collapse of the eunuchs' monopoly in the late Tang Dynasty.
After the founding of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Jianghuai, as a "descendant of the Li family of the Tang Dynasty", he hated the eunuchs for taking their own power. The four words that were nailed to the pillar of shame were naturally abolished. However, the Southern Han Dynasty did not think so. After all, It was a warlord who founded the country, and it was not a royal family with the surname Li, so he didn't have so many worries at all.
Since all the military government orders copied the Tang system, the duties and powers of military inspectors and military supervisors were the same, so there was no need to worry about the words.
Closer to home, since Shao Tingqian was appointed to take office, following the Tang system of supervising the army on behalf of the emperor, Pan Chongche and the other generals, even though they were dissatisfied with this popular man in the palace, had to be respectful to him. Everything must be reported in time, even if they meet. He politely called him "Shao Junrong" and tried to win over him, but in fact he just hoped that during the war, the eunuchs would not point fingers at random...
Shao Tingxuan, who has been in the palace for many years, has always been the best at understanding people's hearts. How could he not know the intentions of these generals? It is rare that Shao Tingzhen has a characteristic that other eunuchs do not have, that is, he is extremely self-aware. Since he came here to make achievements, he did not want to interfere too much as he was not familiar with military affairs. He simply complied with the wishes of Pan Chongche and other generals and never discussed the military affairs. He doesn't speak easily, which also makes everyone more fond of him.
And no one would have thought that Shao Tingxuan, who was so low-key, had been secretly studying military affairs and had amazing talents. In several battles after joining the army, as a high-status military watcher, he took the lead and was very brave and good at fighting. In a short period of time, he also had a strategy for using troops that was recognized by the famous general Pan Chongche. He gradually became an effective general in the army. He had previously defeated the South. Tang Bianhao had his share when he led Zhang Luan's army.
This time, Pan Chongche divided his troops and went north to attack Yiyang. After entrusting the 30,000-strong army to Xie Gui, the deputy commander of the capital, he specifically asked Xie Gui to discuss everything with Shao Tingxuan and not to act arbitrarily.
Xie Gui naturally agreed to his promise, and to show his sincerity, he entrusted all the former troops to Shao Tingxuan. Perhaps because of the power of Guanjun Rongzhi's position, although he really did not dare to act arbitrarily, he still could not avoid the problem of nepotism. For example, recently Since then, he has appointed his younger brother Xie Chong as the main general to attack Yiyang. This move made Shao Tingju very dissatisfied.
However, after Xie Chong returned in disgrace, Xie Gui only demoted Xie Chong to the rear army to take care of the food, grass and baggage. Such obvious protection made all the officers and men in the army complain. If it had been someone else who had committed the crime of slowing down the army, Xie Gui would have had his head chopped off long ago.
Shao Tingxuan also considered the overall situation, and did not openly conflict with Xie Gui because of this, but tried his best to tolerate it.
