Li Zhiyun led five thousand soldiers and horses to Meiliangchuan. Meiliangchuan is located in Wenxi County, only half a day's journey from Song Jingang's army camp. After Yuchi Gong led the army to arrive here, he must be paralyzed and could catch him off guard.
After the army arrived at Mirangchuan, Li Zhiyun led four generals to check the terrain. At first glance, he was disappointed. From the terrain point of view, Miragawa is not suitable for an ambush. Meiliangchuan is a valley about thirty miles long at the foot of Tangwang Mountain. However, this valley is too wide, about ten miles wide, and the official road passes in the middle of the valley. Therefore, Miragawa is not so much a valley as it is an open land. If the army ambushes on the hills on both sides, it cannot effectively use the terrain to ambush the enemy, and the ambush is likely to turn into an encounter. Moreover, Yuchi Gong's troops and horses were no less than theirs. Therefore, the next battle will definitely be a tough one.
Meiliangchuan is an ancient battlefield. It guards the traffic chokepoint and has always been a battleground for military strategists. King Tang of Shang and Jie of Xia had a decisive battle here. After Wang Mang usurped the Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty Liu Xiu was chased by Wang Mang's general Su Xian here, but luckily escaped.
Li Zhiyun thought for a long time and decided to divide the five thousand troops into four, led by four generals respectively. After Yuchi Gong entered Meiliangchuan, Qin Shubao's army intercepted him head-on. Fan Botong and his daughter attacked from the left and right, and Cheng Yaojin went around behind the enemy to cut off the enemy's retreat.
After the task assignment was completed, the army moved to the northwest of Mirang River and hid in a dense forest three miles away, hiding and waiting. Li Zhiyun sent a number of scouts, disguised as villagers, and went out for thirty miles to conduct reconnaissance. Once they discovered Yuchi Gong's army approaching, they immediately rushed back to report the news.
The army waited in the woods. Time passed day by day. Every day, Li Zhiyun would take people to Miraikan River, climb the nearby hills, and look into the distance with telescopes. However, there were only a few pedestrians, carriages and horses on the official road, and no trace of the army could be seen at all. Occasionally, scouts came back to get food, but they did not bring back any news of enemy troops.
On the seventh day, Li Zhiyun became anxious and uneasy. There was not much food and grass left in the army. If Yuchi Gong did not come tomorrow, he would have no choice but to give up the battle and return home.
At midnight the next day, Li Zhiyun was preparing to take Cai Hu to Meiliangchuan. A scout hurriedly ran over, clasping his fists and saying: "King Chu, Yuchi Gong's army is coming." When Li Zhiyun heard this, he was extremely surprised and said hurriedly: "They are leaving here. How far is it?"
"I met them twenty miles away. Based on the speed of their march and the time of my return, they should be still ten miles away from the Mirang River at this moment."
Li Zhiyun immediately sent someone to call the four generals over, informed them of the situation, and asked them to lead their respective troops to ambush around Meiliangchuan. He himself led a group of soldiers to a hill on the left side of the Mirang River and set up a command post here.
Li Zhiyun hid in the woods and used binoculars to look at the official road in the distance from time to time. About two sticks of incense later, the enemy troops appeared. Flags were fluttering on the official road and dust was flying. About one-third of Yuchi Gong's troops were cavalry, and the rest were infantry. Behind the army was a baggage convoy. The convoy was very long, and the cart was filled with bags of grain. These grains may be the spoils Yuchi Gong captured in Xia County. If so much grain was escorted back by Yuchi Gong and handed over to Song Jingang, it would be extremely detrimental to the second brother. Therefore, we must take back the food. At this moment, Li Zhiyun felt that it was really wise for him to lead his army to intercept Yuchi Gong, who had made a fortune.
After the enemy troops entered the Meiliangchuan River, Li Zhiyun ordered the drums to be beaten. As a result, the whole valley was filled with drums and shouts of killing. Qin Shubao led his men and horses, took the lead, rushed over and blocked the enemy's way.
At the front of the enemy's team is a general riding a white horse, wearing a silver helmet and holding a horse's spear in his hand. This man is of medium build, with slightly dark skin, rough appearance, and piercing eyes. He is Song Jingang's general Wei Chigong. Yu Chigong was engaged in blacksmithing when he was young. At the end of Emperor Yang's career in the Sui Dynasty, he joined the army in Gaoyang to fight against the rioters. He was famous for his bravery and was promoted to the rank of Chaosan doctor. After Liu Wuzhou rebelled against the Sui Dynasty, he heard that Wei Chigong was brave in battle, so he recruited him into his army and served as a partial general. After Liu Wuzhou raised his troops and went south, Yuchi Gong followed Song Jingang to conquer the city.
At this time, in addition to Qin Qiong leading his troops to block the front, Fan Botong and his daughter also led their troops to kill from the left and right sides respectively, and Cheng Yaojin also led his troops to go behind the enemy. When the enemy soldiers saw that they were surrounded by the Tang army, they panicked and became confused. When Yuchi Gong saw it, he immediately raised his horse and shouted loudly to calm everyone down.
"Don't panic. The terrain here is open, just right for a decisive battle with the Tang army." After Yuchi Gong said this, he ordered his generals to form a fighting formation and prepare for a decisive battle with the Tang army.
The horse spear in Yuchi Gong's hand is a lengthened and weighted spear, which is particularly easy to use. When he saw a war horse rushing out of the Tang army's formation opposite, he immediately drove his horse forward to meet him and shouted loudly: "Who is coming? Tell me your name."
"I am Qin Qiong, the general under the command of King Qin," Qin Shubao said, holding a spear in his hand, "Are you Yuchi Jingde?"
"It's this general."
"Yuchi Jingde, you have been surrounded, surrender quickly."
"It depends on whether the guy in my hand agrees or not." After Yuchi Gong said that, he rode his horse and thrust forward. Qin Shubao used his spear to push him away and started fighting with him. Both of them are fierce generals, and both are good at fighting on horseback. They killed each other in a blinding manner.
Qin Qiong was a native of Licheng, Qizhou (today's Jinan, Shandong). During the Daye period of the Sui Dynasty, he served under the guardian of the future Sui Dynasty. When Qin Qiong's mother passed away, Lai Hu'er sent people to express condolences. The sergeants were surprised by this and asked Lai Hu'er, "There are many deaths of soldiers and funerals in the family. Why does the general only express condolences to Chen Shubao's family?" He replied: "This man is brave and strong, and he has ambition and integrity. He will surely achieve wealth by himself in the future. How can he be treated as a humble person?" In December of the 10th year of Sui Dynasty (614), the leader of the Zhuo County rebels Lu Mingyue led more than 100,000 people to attack Zhu'a, and Qin Qiong followed Zhang Xutuo, the commander of Qi County, to conquer. Zhang Xutuo's tribe, with a total of more than 10,000 people, was unable to compete with Lu Mingyue's army, so he went to camp six or seven miles outside the rebel camp. After dozens of days of confrontation, the food and grass would be exhausted, and the situation was very unfavorable. Zhang Xutuo said to the soldiers: "Lu Mingyue will definitely come to pursue our army when they see that they are retreating. When their army is sent out and the camp is empty, if someone leads a thousand troops to attack the camp, they will definitely win by surprise. But this action is really dangerous. , I wonder who among you can go?" No one among the generals responded, only Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin stepped forward to fight. Zhang Xutuo then asked each of them to lead thousands of troops to ambush in the reeds, and he led the army to pretend to abandon the camp and escape. As expected, Lu Mingyue went out in full force to pursue him, and Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. Seeing that the gate of the enemy camp was closed and unable to enter, the two men climbed up the gate tower and pulled down the rebel flag tent, killing several people each. Then they cut off the door lock and let in the ambush outside the door. They set fire to more than 30 Lu Mingyue's troops in one fell swoop. Every camp. When Lu Mingyue hurriedly returned for reinforcements, Zhang Xutuo led the main force to turn around and cover up the attack, defeating Lu Mingyue's army. Lu Mingyue only escaped with more than a hundred cavalry, and the rest of his men were captured. After this battle, Qin Qiong and Luo Shixin's reputation for bravery became known far and near.
In November of the twelfth year of Daye (616), Qin Qiong accompanied Zhang Xutuo to conquer the Wagang Army. Zhang Xutuo fell into Li Mi's trap and was defeated and died in the battle. Qin Qiong led the remnants of the Sui army to attach themselves to Pei Renji, who was guarding Hulao Pass. The following year, Pei Renji was at odds with Xiao Huaijing, the censor of the imperial army. Li Mi successfully recruited him, killed Xiao Huaijing, and used Hulao City to surrender to the Wagang Army. Qin Qiong followed Pei Renji and surrendered to Li Mi. Li Mi was very happy after getting Qin Qiong. He used Qin Qiong as a hussar in his tent and commanded eight thousand internal troops together with Cheng Yaojin and others. The treatment was very generous.
In July of the 14th year of Daye (618), the Wagang Army and Yu Wenhuaji Army fought in Liyang. The fierce battle lasted from early morning to dusk. During the melee, Li Mi was shot by a stray arrow and fell off his horse and fainted. All his men fled and almost fell into the hands of the pursuers. Fortunately, Qin Qiong defended him to the death and was able to escape. After rescuing Li Mi, Qin Qiong gathered the defeated army and fought with Yu Wenhua and his army, finally repelling him. In September of the same year, after Wagang's army defeated Yu Wenhuaji, his vitality was severely damaged. Li Mi became arrogant and arrogant because of his victory. He no longer cared about the soldiers and made his subordinates alienate. At the same time, because of his contempt for Wang Shichong, he did not even build fortifications when setting up camp. Wang Shichong took the opportunity to launch a sudden attack and defeated Li Mi at the foot of Mang Mountain. After Li Mi's defeat, he was afraid of Zhai Rang's old army's revenge, so he fled westward to Chang'an in a hurry and defected to Li Yuan.
After Qin Qiong was captured, he temporarily defected to Wang Shichong and was named General Long Xiang. In February of the second year of Tang Wude (619), Qin Qiong, dissatisfied with Wang Shichong's treacherous conduct, defected to Li Tang with Cheng Yaojin and others while the Tang and Zheng armies were fighting in Jiuqu, and was arranged by Tang Gaozu Li Yuan to serve in the palace of King Qin Li Shimin. hold office. Li Shimin had long heard about Qin Qiong's bravery, and treated him very politely. He granted him the position of commander-in-chief of the horse army and guarded Changchun Palace with him.
Qin Shubao and Yuchi Gong were fighting in full swing, and the others were not idle either. The two sides were fighting against generals and soldiers against soldiers. Although the numbers of the two sides were about the same, Yu Chigong's men and horses were running all the way, tiring from the journey and exerting a lot of physical strength, while the Tang army was recharging its energy and waiting for work. Therefore, after a stick of incense, Yuchi Gong's soldiers and horses gradually became unable to withstand the situation and showed a tendency of defeat.
Yuchi Gong could hardly resist anymore. Qin Qiong was extremely powerful, and he was even more powerful when he mounted the divine horse. This horse was known as Thunderbolt, and Qin Qiong often fed it wine. Once it became powerful, it could fly over three tents in a row. Yu Chigong struggled to cope with Qin Qiong's powerful offensive. Seeing that he could not defeat Qin Qiong, he immediately put oil on his feet, got rid of the opponent's entanglement, and fled back to his own camp. However, his troops were routed and the soldiers were in chaos, trampling on each other. In desperation, Yuchi Gong could only lead a few elite cavalry to break out of the Tang army's encirclement and flee.
In the Battle of Meiliangchuan, except for Yuchi Gong and Xun Xiang who led a few cavalry to escape, the Tang army killed more than 2,000 people and the rest were captured. The large amount of loot that Yuchi Gong captured in the battle of Xia County was all taken back by the Tang army. The victory in the Battle of Meiliangchuan was of great significance. It was the first major victory achieved by the Tang Army against Liu Wuzhou in more than nine months. It reversed the unfavorable situation of the Tang Army's previous repeated defeats and was crucial to the entire effort to regain Hedong. The battle has an important turning point.
In the Battle of Meiliangchuan, Qin Qiong made the greatest contribution. This was the first and last contest between him and Yuchi Gong. Later, Yuchi Gong was surrounded by the Tang army in Jiexiu and was forced to surrender. He became an important general under Li Shimin. It is said that after Li Shimin became emperor, he was always plagued by nightmares for a period of time. In order to let him sleep peacefully, Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong put on their swords and stood vigil at the gate for him. As expected, Li Shimin no longer Have nightmares. Later, in order to prevent the two generals from working too hard, Li Shimin had their portraits painted and posted on the gate. Common people heard that the portraits of these two people could drive away ghosts, so they imitated them one after another. This is the origin of the folk door gods in ancient China.
Therefore, in the battle of Miragawa, it can be said that the right door god defeated the left door god.
