The situation on Shouchun's side was just as Zhao Kuangyin, who was hundreds of miles away, had guessed after the war. The Northern Han Dynasty commander Wang Jun's plan to lure the enemy had also entered a critical stage.
While the Battle of Wukou was going on, Liu Yanzhen, who was deployed in the north of the Southern Tang Dynasty, led 30,000 troops and more than 10,000 strong Huainan troops to Shouchun. Together with the Luzhou army heading north, the number was said to be 100,000, and it was menacing and arrogant.
In the Han army camp, under Wang Jun's order, they had already made covert movements and were ready to withdraw. Li Chongjin, who advanced eastward, and Wang Quanbin, who advanced southward, sent out two groups to intercept the troops.
Li Chongjin led the Holy Guard Army to meet the Tang Army west of Anyuan County in Haozhou. According to Wang Jun's order, they had a small battle. As a result, the feigned defeat turned into a real defeat. After all, the Tang army was outnumbered. If Li Chongjin hadn't cut off his warriors, left one of his troops behind, and retreated decisively, he would have been almost entangled by the Tang army and the entire army was annihilated.
Li Chongjin returned home in disgrace and felt that his reputation had been lost. Li Chongjin was ashamed, angry and embarrassed. However, what was unexpected was that Wang Jun actually looked kind and comforted Li Chongjin. At that time, the army had already withdrawn to Xiacai along the Feishui River. Instead, Wang Jun entrusted Li Chongjin with the important task of making Li Chongjin the rearguard of the army.
Sometimes, in this losing battle, it is more difficult to lose but not collapse, and to grasp the degree of control than to win the battle. Li Chongjin proved this point with the lives of more than a thousand soldiers.
Wang Quanbin, on the other hand, was much more sophisticated. He had no intention of fighting Zhang Quan's army in Luzhou, so he kept an eye on him at the edge of the Feishui River. After receiving Wang Jun's order to withdraw, they withdrew quickly and entered the rear of the palace with Li Chong to guard against the Shouchun garrison's pursuit.
On the side of the Tang army, the army came. Looking across the Feishui River, they saw only the huge and empty Han camp. When he learned that the Han army had retreated from Xia Cai Ferry, the commander-in-chief of the Tang army, Liu Yanzhen, laughed loudly: "The Han thieves are afraid of our army and fled far away from Xia Cai. They are afraid that they will lose their way back and stick to it. If they pursue them, they will definitely win a complete victory. Send the order , send troops to attack Cai!"
At the same time, he also sent an order to He Jingzhu of Shouchun City, who had already attacked Zhang Quanyue from the south, and asked them to gather troops with him and send troops to the northwest. He then divided two groups of envoys to inform the north and south, asking the Haozhou navy and the supplemented Shouzhou navy to attack the Han army's Xia Cai and Zhengyang floating bridges to coordinate his main attack.
After hearing Liu Yanzhen's military order, He Jingzhu immediately persuaded him: "Commanders are coming from far away, and the veterans of the division are tired. We should rest and recuperate the soldiers first, and then make plans. Moreover, the Han army is strong and retreats without fighting. If we rush to pursue it, something unexpected may happen." Change. As a general, you are responsible for the king's orders and the responsibility of guarding Huainan. You should act with caution!"
He Jingzhu's persuasion can be described as good advice, but Liu Yanzhen, who had entered his own state, could not listen to it and reprimanded He Jingzhu's envoy: "I have seen the combat power of the Han army. The Guardian Army is known as the elite of the Northern Han Dynasty, and it is also known as the elite of the Northern Han Dynasty. I was defeated in the first battle and was simply vulnerable. I see why you are old. As a defender, you are so timid when facing a battle."
"You go back and ask He Jingzhu for me. When the Han army retreated, why didn't they go out of the city to pursue it, delaying the delay, and buying time for our army to encircle it. You tell him that if I don't punish him for wasting the opportunity to fight, I miss him as a veteran general. He opened a wide net. Let him leave the city quickly, join forces with a certain person, and pursue Cai Cai. Otherwise, the Han army will escape to Huaibei. Don't blame our military law for being ruthless!"
Liu Yanzhen's words reached He Jingzhu's ears, which made the veteran furious. He couldn't suppress his anger and cursed Shuzi. Then he sent a message to Liu Yanzhen. He was ordered to guard Shouchun and did not dare to leave without permission. You wanted to pursue the Han army and left alone. Shouchun had no soldiers to mobilize.
After receiving the reply, Liu Yanzhen became even more angry, cursed the old man, and almost beheaded the envoy.
The same suggestion as He Jingzhu's report was Zhang Quanyue, the commander of the Baoxin Army from Luzhou. After hearing Liu Yanzhen's order, he sent someone to tell him: "The commander-in-chief was ordered to come north to relieve the siege of Shouchun. Now the Han army has withdrawn." , then the goal is achieved. We should gather heavy troops, observe the enemy's situation, supplement it with the advantage of the navy, and defeat it calmly. As the saying goes, don't pursue the enemy when you are poor, why rush to chase and kill, and give the enemy an opportunity to take advantage of!"
This is a very simple truth, but many times, it is difficult for a person who is in the middle of the situation to understand.
Facing the advice of He and Zhang, Liu Yanzhen felt that they were cowardly and pushy, and perfunctory his military orders. An angry envoy asked Zhang Quanyue: "You are in Luzhou, next to Shouchun. However, you have been delayed in advancing for nearly half a month. You have not fought a single battle or lost a single soldier. How cowardly you are! You should attack the thieves from my own command and establish an unparalleled empire." achievement!"
He also issued a strict order, telling Zhang Quan not to say anything and to lead the troops to follow him. Zhang Quanyue's temperament was not as strong as that of He Jingzhu, so he had no choice but to accept it. He also asked him to serve as a rear guard and to serve as a commander in the army. Liu Yanzhen smiled timidly and agreed.
As for He Jingzhu who disobeyed orders, Liu Yanzhen had no choice for the time being. He was busy chasing him and had no time to fight with him. He only planned to advance to Cai Cai, defeat the Han army, and then go back and take advantage of this veteran... .
Because of the agreement between He Jingzhu and Zhang Quan, Liu Yanzhen summoned the generals to avoid any noise from other generals and said forcefully: "The situation of the enemy in the north is all in my heart. How do you know? Anyone who tries to stop me will be killed!"
Then arrangements were made for the march, and a team of more than 50,000 people, including Zhang Quanyue's army and civilians, marched towards Cai Cai.
Of course, as a person who is familiar with military literature, Liu Yanzhen does not know the principle of not pursuing the enemy when he is poor.
However, he had already promised that he would defeat the Han army and take Wang Jun's head as an offering to Jinling.
Secondly, the easy defeat of Li Chong's army gave him some wrong estimates of the combat power comparison between the Tang army and the Han army.
Third, he patrolled the camps left by the Han army and found that there were a large number of missing public and private property in the Han camps, carriage tents, and even traces of burning of heavy ordnance such as grain and carts. The pontoon bridge hanging over the Fei River and connecting the two sides of the river did not have time to be destroyed. These signs all indicate that the Han army was moving in a hurry.
It was precisely in view of this that Liu Yanzhen had the confidence to pursue boldly and win the battle.
Of course, Liu Yanzhen didn't know that before retreating, Wang Jun severely scolded the soldiers and civilians for being too clean, accusing them of being stupid. Under the careful arrangements of Wang Jun and Murong Yanzhao, Liu Yanzhen came all the way north. What he experienced and saw was that it was difficult to think of a trap.
Xia Cai is not far from Shouchun, only forty miles away. Even with the heavy baggage burden, more than half a day is enough for Liu Yanzhen's army to march to Xia Cai.
Along the way, Liu Yanzhen saw more situations that reassured him. For example, some soldiers of the Tang Dynasty captured some civilians. Liu Yanzhen personally questioned them, and they replied that they were recruited from Huaibei for labor. The Han army retreated north in a hurry and lost them in the wild.
Upon hearing this, Liu Yanzhen was overjoyed and rewarded the civilians with money and food to show the benevolence of his Tang army.
Along the way, the Han army spared no effort to harass them. In Liu Yanzhen's opinion, this was just a clumsy delaying method by the Han army. Without much effort, he repelled three waves of Han army attacks. Liu Yanzhen sent an order to urge the army to speed up...
From beginning to end, Liu Yanzhen seemed to have ignored why the Han army abandoned the cavalry army because it really wanted to delay his advance.
When the Tang army, urged by Liu Yanzhen, came to Cai Fuliang, the scene on the bank of the Huai River was beyond Liu Yanzhen's expectation.
According to his estimate, when he arrived with his troops, he should see the Han army in chaos in front of him, with thousands of troops and horses rushing to cross the pontoon bridge...
However, the reality is that the Han army set up a stronghold on the shore. The formation was huge, solemn and silent, sharpening their swords, and waiting for the Tang army with murderous intent. The setting sun in winter emits dim light, which shines on the armor of the Han army, reflecting a penetrating cold light.
Seeing this scene, the Tang army was immediately frightened, including Liu Yanzhen. Looking at the Han army's Dazhai army formation with their backs to the water, they couldn't help but feel palpitations. The arrogance that he had relied on to overpower Li Zhong and win a great victory suddenly became clear. It was precisely because he was well versed in military science that Liu Yanzhen knew the terror of the Han army.
Seeing this, Liu Yanzhen was in a hurry and almost trembled in his voice when he issued an order for the army to line up to meet the enemy. In front of the formation, horses were set up, sharp knives were placed, wooden signs were erected, and iron caltrops were placed in front of the formation to prevent Han cavalry from raiding. Fortunately, the distance gave Liu Yanzhen some time to react.
In the Han army's formation, a tall general's platform had been set up. Wang Jun sat on it and took an overview of the Tang army's situation. Although they were far apart, the panic of the Tang army could be seen. The army, which had no intention of giving the Tang army a buffer, immediately ordered a war.
The flag was waved, and the Han army's formation began to move slowly, maintaining a tight formation, like a giant war beast, slowly pressing towards the Tang army.
Once they were within the range of the crossbows, the arrows were fired in unison. The general's command was there, and the crossbow formation of 5,000 people fired more than 100,000 arrows at the Tang army's formation without any expense. Faced with this almost strategic attack, the Tang army was seriously injured and suffered many casualties, even though they had large shields, wooden signs, and chariot frames to resist. The most important thing is that the morale has dropped sharply, the position is unstable, and they are directly shot into chaos, without even having time to counterattack.
After the rain of arrows, the infantry immediately launched an attack. When assigning tasks in front of the station, Li Chongjin resolutely asked for orders to lead the Holy Guard Army in the main attack, intending to avenge his previous humiliation, and Wang Jun agreed. They also used the right wing of the Xiaodi Army, the left wing of the Fengguo Army, and the light cavalry of the Hujie Army to press the formation. Together with more than 23,000 infantry and cavalry, they launched an all-out attack on the Tang Army.
The Tang army was unable to resist the attack of the Han army. Including the journey to Shouchun, we marched almost all day long, covering a distance of more than 70 miles without any rest. By the time they arrived at Cai Cai, they had not even eaten. How could they be the opponent of the Han army who was just waiting for work?
The Han army has many wise generals and even more brave generals. Taking the Protecting Saint Army as an example, Li Chongjin and Wang Yansheng both had long-simmered anger, and they burst out and led their troops to charge, directly breaking through the Tang army's front line. There were generals like Han Lingkun who calmly commanded the follow-up.
The rest of the army, including Wang Quanbin, Sun Li, Gao Huaide, Guo Chongwei, Shi Yanchao, etc., are all generals who fought vigorously. Wang Jun supervised the battle from behind, and Murong Yanzhao commanded from the front. All the soldiers fought hard. The Tang army, whose morale and morale had been dissipated, could not resist for half an hour and was defeated before sunset.
After the infantry army made great achievements and the Tang army was defeated, Murong Yanzhao issued an order again, sending more than 6,000 Hujie troops to attack and chase them north.
