The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 548 War Progress
In mid-November, the Zhenhuai Army had just completed preparations, and the imperial court issued three edicts in succession, urging the Huaibei armies to move into combat positions as planned.

The Suppressing Huai Army is located on the front line of Huaibei. Logically speaking, there is no need to leave in a hurry. It will not be too late to wait until the imperial army sets off from Kaifeng.

Even after Zhu Xiu's death, Li Chongjin, the governor of the Guide Army stationed in Bozhou, had not moved yet, so he didn't need to worry.

There are two main routes of advance in this attack on Huainan.

Li Gu, Li Chongjin, and Wang Yanchao commanded the main force and were naturally responsible for the main attack on Shouzhou.

Zhu Xiu and Han Lingkun marched towards Sizhou and coordinated the main force in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River to besiege Shouzhou. At the same time, they suppressed Yangzhou, guarded against the Tang army in Chuzhou, and waited for an opportunity to capture Yangzhou.

Chuzhou is the Qingpu District of Huai'an City in later generations. It is located on the east side of Hongze Lake. It is densely covered with water networks, many lakes and swamps, and has a Tang army of more than [-] people.

The Zhenhuai army was training at Hongze Lake, and Zhu Xiu had already figured out the details of this Tang army.

The commander of the army is called Zha Baojing, Zha Wenhui's brother of the same clan.

This man followed Zha Wenhui to attack Wuyue last year. Unexpectedly, Zha Wenhui was defeated and captured. When he was released to the Southern Tang Dynasty, Qian Hongchu, the king of Wuyue, gave him a glass of poisonous wine. Not long after Zha Wenhui returned to Jiangning, he became poisonous. Death.

Zha Baojing was trembling in Chuzhou. He had to guard against Da Zhou in the north and Wu Yue in the south. He wrote several times to ask the court to transfer him back to the court, but Li Jing just refused.

Zha Baojing is not very good at fighting. His greatest advantage is that he is timid and cautious.

Li Jing took a fancy to these two advantages of his and felt that it was most appropriate to keep him stationed in Chuzhou.

The land of Chuzhou was the outpost of the Southern Tang Dynasty in Huaibei. There was no need to attack in all directions. All one had to do was to guard against attacks by Zhou soldiers, always pay attention to the movements of Zhou troops, and report to the court in a timely manner.

After Zhu Xiu thought about it, he felt that there was little point in attacking Chuzhou first. There were many scattered lakes and swamps in Chuzhou where troops could hide. The 2-strong Huai army and the [-] Tang troops in Baojing were surrounded and attacked, which was like herding cats to catch mice. , wasting time blindly will not have much effect if caught.

After reporting to the court, Chai Rong agreed with this judgment and did not require the Suppressing Huai Army to capture Chuzhou. He only needed to station in Sizhou as planned, suppress Yangzhou, and put pressure on the Tang Army from the east and west fronts of Huaibei.

Zhu Xiu sent a small group of soldiers and horses, more than [-] people, to cut off the canal between Chuzhou and Yangzhou, and deliberately let out rumors that he would lead an army to attack Chuzhou. In fact, he had already led the army to Sizhou.

Sizhou was later known as Xuyi, Jiangsu Province. It was located in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River. The terrain facing the river to the north was flat and there was basically no danger to defend.

Zhu Xiu led his army to board the boat from the west bank of Hongze Lake, followed the Huaihe River southward after entering the lake, landed at Xianrendu in the northeast of Xuyi, and marched towards Sizhou with great momentum.

Sizhou had less than [-] troops, so the governor of Sizhou simply led his troops to retreat south and returned to Xiongzhou (Tianchang County) to wait for reinforcements.

In the first battle of Huainan, Zhu Xiubing captured Sizhou without bloodshed.

After occupying Sizhou, the Suppressing Huai Army completely blocked the lower reaches of the Huai River and strictly prohibited civilian ships from appearing on Hongze Lake.

He also built granaries in Sizhou City to store a large amount of military rations, built a walled city in a hilly area in the southwest and a plain area in the southeast, and stationed a small number of soldiers and horses to prepare for the Tang army's counterattack.

Zhu Xiu prepared to build Sizhou into a forward position for advancing into Yangzhou and lay a solid step towards advancing into Huainan.

At the same time, Li Gu and Wang Yanchao led their troops to Xiacai, facing Shouzhou across the Huaihe River.

The Zhou army arrived with great speed. The Tang army stationed at Laiyuan Town on the north bank of the Huaihe River had no time to evacuate. It was besieged and annihilated by Wang Yanchao's magic soldiers descending from the sky.

Shouzhou defender Liu Renzhan urgently ordered the Tang army to shrink back to the city, fortify the walls and clear the fields, and completely avoid contact with the Zhou army.

In accordance with the previous battle plan set in Kaifeng, Li Gu built a pontoon bridge at a place called Zhengyang Town upstream of Shouzhou City. After ten days, more than [-] Zhou army vanguard troops successfully crossed the river.

Wang Yanchao and Pioneer both commanded Si Chao to lead his army straight to Shouzhou. In the west of the city, they met more than [-] reinforcements from the Southern Tang Dynasty coming from Haozhou. They defeated them and killed four enemy generals.

For the next half month, Li Gu took control of Zhengyang. Wang Yanchao and Si Chao continued to provoke the Shouzhou city. Liu Renzhan restrained the Tang army from fighting. The Shouzhou city was tall and dangerous, and the Zhou army had nothing to do.

During this period, Li Gu made a tentative attack on the city. The Tang army resisted fiercely, but Liu Renzhan sat at the top of the city and commanded the city well. The Zhou army suffered heavy casualties, so Li Gu could only give up in time.

At the end of December, Li Jing sent General Liu Yanzhen to send troops from Guangzhou to rescue Shouzhou. Liu Yanzhen's waterway army totaled more than [-] people and went south along the Huaihe River, approaching the Zhou army under Li Gu's command.

Li Gu was concerned that the Zhou army was not used to water warfare and did not have superior strength. If the pontoon bridge was defeated and the pontoon was destroyed, the more than 1 vanguard troops would be wiped out on the south bank of the Huaihe River.

So, while Li Gu reported the situation, he led the entire army to retreat to the north bank and stationed in Zhengyang North.

What Li Gu didn't know was that at the same time he was withdrawing his troops, Li Chongjin had led more than [-] German troops to Yingshang, not far from Zhengyang. Hearing that Liu Yanzhen was leading an army to help Shouzhou, Li Chongjin also rushed over with his troops to support him.

Unfortunately, it was too late. Li Gu retreated to the north bank of the Huaihe River and voluntarily abandoned his position on the south bank.

Liu Yanzhen led his army into Shouzhou City and joined forces with Liu Renzhan.

At the beginning of the first month, Chai Rong received the news that Li Gu had withdrawn his troops. He was furious in court and reprimanded Li Gu for retreating before fighting, which was detrimental to the morale of the army.

Since the siege of Shouzhou had made no progress for two months, Chai Rong decided to personally conquer Huainan. He issued an edict and ordered Xiang Xun, the envoy of Xuanhui Nanyuan and Zhen'an Jiedushi, to serve as the left guard in Tokyo. During the inspection, the other prime ministers and ministers performed their duties.

The military commander of the Guards Department is Li Chongjin. Han Tong has the power to inspect the Guards Department, that is, he temporarily serves as the supreme commander of the Guards Department. He is responsible for the security inside and outside Kaifeng, and guards the capital together with Xiang Xun.

Chai Rong also issued an edict, appointing Li Chongjin as the envoy of the Huainan Road camp, with Li Gu as deputy, and also in charge of Shouzhou government affairs.

Both the Du Deployment and Du Recruitment Envoys are the highest commanders temporarily set up for war. They can be used interchangeably. The subtle difference is that Du Deployment is usually held by important court ministers and generals of the imperial army, while the Recruitment Envoy is usually held by local military envoys.

In terms of power and responsibilities, recruiting envoys is more important than capital deployment.

The so-called Shouzhou Xingfu refers to a temporary military affairs dispatching agency set up outside the capital.

Chai Rong's move was also a punishment for Li Guanggang's promotion of retreat.

In the middle of the first month of the third year of Xiande, Liu Yanzhen, the general of the Southern Tang Dynasty, believed that the Zhou army entrenched on the north bank of Zhengyang was small in strength, so it was better to take advantage of the situation and take the initiative to attack and annihilate this enemy army.

Shouzhou defender Liu Renzhan and Chizhou governor Zhang Quanyue tried their best to dissuade him, believing that Li Chongjin had already led a large army to garrison Yingshang and could rescue Li Gu's troops at any time. At this time, he should stick to his position instead of taking the initiative to go out to fight in the city.

Liu Yanzhen refused to listen, and led more than [-] soldiers and horses under the command of his troops to set out from Shouzhou City to Zhengyang, preparing to forcibly cross the Zhengyang Ferry and attack the Zhou army on the north bank.

Tang Jun had no information. What they didn't know was that the head coach of Zhou Jun had been replaced by Li Chongjin.

After Li Chongjin arrived, he took over Li Gu's more than [-] vanguard troops and moved the pontoon to the northeast of Zhengyang. He had secretly started crossing the river a few days ago.

After learning that Liu Yanzhen was leading his army out of the city, Li Chongjin and Wang Yanchao decided to set up an ambush and siege.

A small group of soldiers led by Wang Yanchao pretended to go to Shouzhou City to inquire about the military situation, and fled westward in panic after encountering Liu Yanzhen's army.

Liu Yanzhen didn't know Zhou Jun's strategy, so he personally led the army to pursue it. When it led to a river valley called Sigoutou, Li Chongjin led an ambush everywhere.In this battle, the Zhou army won a complete victory, beheading more than ten thousand Tang troops, chasing the Tang army all the way to the east, laying down their corpses for more than [-] miles, and seizing hundreds of thousands of ordnance and tens of thousands of grain and grass.

The chief general of the Tang army, Liu Yanzhen, was beheaded by Li Chongjin, and general Xian Shilang and others were captured by Wang Yanchao.

After this battle, Li Chongjin's reputation resounded throughout the south of the Yangtze River, and the soldiers and civilians in the Huainan states were frightened. Li Jing was so angry that he cursed Liu Yanzhen in the court for his incompetence and harming the country.

Zhang Quanyue, the governor of Chizhou, gathered his remaining troops and retreated to Shouzhou, where he and Liu Renzhan could not escape.

This battle was also the greatest victory won by the Zhou army since the southern expedition. After Chai Rongyujia heard about it on the way, he was very happy and issued an order to praise Li Chongjin and Wang Yanchao.

At the end of February, Chai Rong arrived at Zhengyang, and the Zhou army crossed the river in full force and marched to the gates of Shouzhou City.

Civilians recruited from Kaifeng Prefecture, Huaibei and other places also arrived one after another. Chai Rong gave an order, and 10,000+ civilians and tens of thousands of Zhou troops took turns attacking Shouzhou City day and night.

Li Chongjin's victory over Liu Yanzhen had such a far-reaching impact that Tang army generals Huangfu Hui, Yao Feng and other generals who originally planned to send troops from Chuzhou and Haozhou to attack the Zhou army to rescue Shouzhou did not dare to send troops easily anymore, so they had to retreat to the pass and wait until the Jiangning court sent another large army. support.

When a fierce offensive and defensive battle began in Shouzhou City, Zhu Xiu also joined more than [-] soldiers and horses led by Han Lingkun in Sizhou.
~~~
"General Han, please sit down!"

In Sizhou City's Temporary Commander's Mansion, Han Lingkun came to see him, and Zhu Xiu personally led him to sit down in the hall.

Han Lingkun led his army to Sizhou half a month ago. He was very sensible and did not compete with the Huai army for the already crowded barracks in the city. Instead, he took the initiative to set up camp in a village five miles outside the city. The two sides were rivals.

Zhu Xiu politely invited him to live in the city with him, but Han Lingkun naturally declined, so Zhu Xiu did not force himself and sent Mi Xin and Tian Chongjin each with [-] sergeants to assist him in setting up camp.

A few days ago, news came from Shouzhou that Li Chongjin had defeated Liu Yanzhen. Zhu Xiu sent people to publicize it widely. The Zhou army was delighted, but the response from the people of Sizhou was mediocre.

Since the troubled times of the Five Dynasties, Sizhou has been at the forefront of the struggle between the north and the south. There have been endless wars, big and small, and the people have long been accustomed to war.

The banner at the top of the city may change at any time. In the eyes of the people of Sizhou, this place can belong to anyone.

Yesterday it belonged to the Tang Dynasty, today it belongs to the Zhou Dynasty, tomorrow it may be taken away by the Tang Dynasty, and it may be recaptured by the Zhou army the next day, and so on.

Compared with the soldiers and civilians in Huainan who have not seen war for decades, the people of Sizhou are much more familiar with war.

When the news of Liu Yanzhen's defeat came, the people of Sizhou were only slightly amazed at the strength of the Zhou army, but there was not much other reaction.

However, Han Lingkun couldn't sit still. Seeing His Majesty's arrival in person, Shouzhou was winning great victories one after another. They were holding Sizhou as quietly as if they didn't exist. If this continued, wouldn't all the credit be taken by Li Chongjin, Wang Yanchao and others?

"Deputy Commander Zhu, although our army is not responsible for the main attack, it has been holding back in Sizhou for so long. Is there something wrong?"

After a few words of greeting, Han Lingkun put down the tea cup and couldn't help getting down to the topic.

Zhu Xiu fiddled with the bowl: "Our army captured Sizhou. As long as it can take root, it will be a great achievement. Even if you and I stay here until the war is over, Your Majesty will not say anything."

Han Lingkun said anxiously: "But the strategic task assigned by His Majesty is for us to wait for opportunities to attack Yangzhou and Taizhou. How can we make progress in the lower reaches of the Huaihe River if we just stand still?"

Zhu Xiu joked: "General Han, seeing the lively fighting in Shouzhou, is a little bit too nervous to sit still, right?"

Han Lingkun smiled bitterly and said: "A big war has begun. As a general, who doesn't want to win a few beautiful battles? After all, Vice Admiral Zhu has contributed to the capture of Sizhou. Since Han came to Huainan, even Commander Tang looked like I haven’t seen it, if I keep waiting, I’m afraid that when the city of Shouzhou is defeated and His Majesty’s army reaches the edge of the Yangtze River, then we won’t have anything to do with it.”

"Don't worry, General Han. Shouzhou defender Liu Renzhan has always been known for his good defense. Shouzhou city is tall and dangerous. He has enough food for a year. It will be difficult to break through it in a short time!" Zhu Xiu shook his head.

Han Lingkun didn't believe it: "Your Majesty is here in person, and 10,000+ civilians and tens of thousands of strong soldiers are attacking day and night. How long can Liu Renzhan hold on?"

Zhu Xiu asked back: "How long does General Han think Shouzhou can be broken?"

Han Lingkun thought for a while: "We must persist for another three months at most. It will be broken before the end of May!"

Zhu Xiudao: "General Han might as well make a bet with me. If Shouzhou can be defeated before the end of May, you will win. Otherwise, I will win!"

Han Lingkun also said cheerfully: "Okay, let's bet! I wonder what Deputy Commander Zhu wants to bet on?"

Zhu Xiu smiled and said: "I can't even remember it for a moment. If I win, just think that General Han owes me a favor!"

Han Lingkun laughed and said: "If Han is lucky enough to win, I will ask Deputy Commander Zhu for the Jinshan Horse King Red Boy. Then Deputy Commander Zhu don't feel bad!"

Han Lingkun half-joked and observed Zhu Xiu's reaction.

Zhu Xiu thought for a moment and said cheerfully: "Okay! If you win, I will personally take Red Boy to the camp!"

Han Lingkun didn't seem to expect that Zhu Xiu would be willing to bet on the priceless Jinshan horse. He waved his hands and said, "It's just a joke. Deputy Zhu doesn't need to take it seriously! If Han wins by luck, when he returns to Kaifeng, Deputy Zhu lets someone Just eat at Taihe Building for a month!"

"Haha~ It's easy to talk! You have to eat and you have to give the horse! You are willing to admit defeat!" Zhu Xiu said very boldly and authentically.

Han Lingkun also laughed, seeing that Zhu Xiu didn't seem to be putting on a gesture. If he lost, he would really be willing to give away the Jinshan Horse King, plus one month's free meals in Taihelou.

Han Lingkun had a good impression of him. Although this man was young and a literati commander, he had a comfortable and refreshing aura about him.

Originally, Han Lingkun was worried that he would not be able to get along happily with Zhu Xiu. After all, his younger brothers Han Lingjun and Zhao Kuangyi conspired to plot Zhou Xian's plans.

This incident really angered Zhu Xiu. Han Lingkun also knew about Zhao Kuangyi's fate. Han Lingjun's fault was not serious, so Zhu Xiu did not pursue the case.

But in private, Han Lingkun scolded him and almost took advantage of him.

From then on, Han Lingjun became more honest and studied in the Imperial College. It was not until last year that Han Lingkun found a way to fill the vacancy for him as a supervisor. He started from the Yushitai as a low-level official and officially became an official.

In recent years, Han Lingkun has been traveling around the prefectures and counties in Gyeonggi Province, inspecting folk customs, inspecting household registration, farming, and official administration. He has made a lot of progress, and Han Lingkun basically does not need to worry about him anymore.

During this expedition to Huainan, Han Lingkun was originally worried that Zhu Xiu would have objections to him because of past festivals, but after getting along with him for half a month, he found that Zhu Xiu didn't mention anything about the past and treated him quite politely and thoughtfully.

Han Lingkun gradually calmed down.

He is nearly ten years older than Zhu Xiu, but his official rank is below Zhu Xiu. If it were anyone else, he would probably feel a little uncomfortable.

However, Han Lingkun was not affected in the slightest, but whenever he met, he would respectfully address him as Deputy Commander Zhu, and put his position extremely low.

Zhu Xiu admired his personality and ability, so naturally he treated him politely.

In this way, two people with average friendships worked together surprisingly harmoniously this time.

(End of this chapter)