Video spoilers history, starting with the blitzkrieg on Poland

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The military defeat failed to sober Yin Hao up.

When one plan failed, he devised another, turning his attention to the enemy country's interior.

[Attempting to overthrow the Former Qin dynasty through conspiracy.]

Yin Hao secretly sent men to contact Lei Ruoer, the Grand Marshal of the Former Qin, and Liang An, a general, offering them large sums of money in exchange for assassinating Emperor Fu Jian of the Former Qin.

Lei Ruoer and Liang An feigned agreement, even putting on a show to request Yin Hao to send troops to support them during their "operation," so as to coordinate an attack from within and without.

Yin Hao was convinced of this and began to dream of winning without a fight.

Meanwhile, an attempted palace coup did indeed occur within the Former Qin dynasty.

[Zhang Yu, a former general of the Eastern Jin Dynasty who had previously surrendered to the Former Qin, was taken as a concubine by Fu Jian, the founding emperor of the Former Qin, because of the beauty of his stepmother.]

Fu Jian, being a boisterous and uncouth man, often teased Zhang Yu about this in public, calling him "son."

[He jokingly said, "Zhang Yu, I'm your dad!"]

This extremely insulting joke left Zhang Yu feeling deeply ashamed and indignant.

Driven by pent-up resentment, Zhang Yu conspired with Liu Huang, a court official of the Former Qin dynasty, to launch a surprise attack at night and assassinate Fu Jian.

However, just as the operation was about to begin, Liu Huang was suddenly dispatched by Fu Jian on official business.

Zhang Yu was completely unaware of this turn of events.

[As planned, they led their troops to the agreed-upon palace gate.]

As a result, the palace gates remained closed after the loss of an inside agent, and the surprise attack was instantly exposed.

Zhang Yu and his troops were surrounded and ultimately defeated and killed.

Yin Hao, who was still in Shouchun at this time, eagerly awaited the day Fu Jian's head would roll.

[I've heard about Zhang Yu's actions.]

[Again, Fu Jian's elder brother, Fu Huangmei, hastily led his troops westward from Luoyang.]

They mistakenly believed that Lei Ruoer and Liang An had succeeded.

Overjoyed, Yin Hao believed that a golden opportunity for a northern expedition had arrived.

[The authenticity of the intelligence needs not be verified.]

Yin Hao immediately mobilized his entire army of 70,000 from Shouchun and marched in a mighty force towards Luoyang, launching the third Northern Expedition.

Even more absurdly, he appointed Yao Xiang, whom he had just forced into rebellion and who hated him to the core, as the vanguard of the Northern Expedition!

This is tantamount to handing the blade of revenge to one's enemy.

This gave Yao Xiang a golden opportunity to take revenge.

Yao Xiang decisively led his troops to turn around and ambush Yin Hao. The Jin army was caught off guard, their formation was thrown into chaos, and they suffered a devastating blow.

Yin Hao himself barely escaped with his life, abandoning his baggage and official seal, and fled back to the Eastern Jin Dynasty in a sorry state.

This disastrous defeat, triggered by a series of foolish decisions, not only wiped out a major force of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

[This gave Fu Jian, who was stationed in Chang'an, a false alarm, and he probably woke up laughing in his dreams.]

Yin Hao's three Northern Expeditions, though costly and draining of national resources, ultimately ended in a series of humiliating defeats.

Beyond the sky, at the end of the Han Dynasty.

Upon seeing this, Liu Bei finally couldn't help but launch into a tirade:

"This Yin Hao of later generations, who held the resources of half of the Southern Dynasty, was so incompetent."

"How can someone like that be a regional commander?"

"If he had led the army well on the northern expedition, even if he had lost, it would have been considered that he was simply outmatched."

"But Yin Hao is in a bad situation, suffering heavy losses and incurring enormous expenses."

"Let alone achieving any results."

"They didn't even launch a real attack."

"It is truly regrettable that the entire army was wiped out before the formal attack even began."

"Just how much wealth did the Eastern Jin Dynasty have that Yin Hao could squander?"

"But it doesn't matter anymore."

"If it were always Yin Hao leading the army, even a million-strong army would be a complete waste of lives."

Liu Bei was eager to see Yin Hao replaced.

And the sky continued to fall:
The series of humiliating defeats completely exhausted Yin Hao's political capital and the court's patience.

[Discontent is widespread throughout the government and the public.]

Huan Wen, who had been observing from the sidelines and waiting for his opportunity, decisively made his move.

He submitted a memorial to the court, listing Yin Hao's major crimes, including the loss of troops and generals, the disgrace of the nation, and his erratic actions, and strongly demanded that he be severely punished.

Faced with immense public pressure and an undeniable defeat.

The court had no choice but to depose Yin Hao, reduce him to commoner status, and exile him to a distant place.

This political experiment, intended to check and balance Huan Wen, ended in utter failure.

With Yin Hao's downfall, no one in the court could effectively restrain Huan Wen.

Huan Wen, relying on his formidable military strength and the prestige he gained during this event, completely seized control of the military and political power of the Eastern Jin court.

This officially marked the beginning of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which belonged to Huan Wen.

In February of 354 AD, banners covered the sun in Jiangling City, and war drums thundered.

Huan Wen personally led 40,000 infantry and cavalry on a grand expedition, while his navy sailed down the Yangtze River to Nanxiang, and his infantry charged straight at Wuguan Pass like arrows released from a bow.

At the same time, Huan Wen ordered Sima Xun to lead an army northward through the Ziwu Pass.

[Multiple routes are being pursued simultaneously, with their sights set on the Guanzhong Plain of the Former Qin Dynasty.]

Meanwhile, the Former Liang army in the northwest also launched an attack on Chencang, echoing the attack from afar.

[In a short time, multiple armies marched towards Chang'an, and the momentum of the Eastern Jin's northern expedition reached its peak since the Yongjia Rebellion.]

At the beginning of the Northern Expedition, it seemed that fate was on the side of the Jin army.

The territory of the Former Qin was not a monolithic entity.

[Earlier, Zhang Yu, a general of the Former Qin Dynasty, plotted a rebellion due to unbearable humiliation.]

Although his night raid failed and he was killed because his inside man, Liu Huang, was temporarily absent, [before the uprising, he had secretly contacted many powerful Han Chinese clans in Guanzhong who were loyal to the former Jin dynasty, and they agreed to rise up together.]

Although Zhang Yu is dead, these agreements have not disappeared.

Due to information isolation, the powerful clans in Guanzhong were unaware of Zhang Yu's defeat and death, and they all raised troops in response as originally planned.

Kong Chi occupied Chiyang (northwest of present-day Jingyang, Shaanxi).

Liu Zhen occupied Hu County (present-day Hu County, Shaanxi Province).

Qiao Bing occupied Yong County (south of present-day Fengxiang, Shaanxi).

[Hu Yangchi occupied Sizhu (present-day Sizhu Garden in Zhouzhi County, Shaanxi Province).]

[Huyan Duzhe controlled Bacheng (present-day east of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, near the Ba River).]

They each established their own independent cities and quickly dispatched envoys, breaking through the Qin army's blockade, to seek aid from the Eastern Jin court.

However, the Eastern Jin court's response was regrettablely slow.

Perhaps it's due to the long distance, or perhaps it's due to slow internal coordination.

The imperial court only formally dispatched troops to respond to these righteous uprisings in Guanzhong six months later.

This precious six months gave the Former Qin regime a chance to regroup and continue its suppression.

When the Jin army finally entered Guanzhong, several powerful warlords, including Kong Chi, Liu Zhen, and Hu Yangchi, had already been defeated by the Qin army's counterattack.

Despite this, the forces of Qiao Bing (in Yong County) and Huyan Du (in Bacheng) continued their tenacious resistance.

They became a reliable source of internal support for Huan Wen's army.

After Huan Wen's main force entered Former Qin territory, their offensive was fierce and unstoppable.

The Qin garrison was unable to withstand this highly motivated and well-prepared elite force.

Cities along the way were successively captured.

The Guanzhong Plain is in dire need of attention!

When the news reached Chang'an, Fu Jian of the Former Qin Dynasty was greatly shocked.

He urgently ordered Crown Prince Fu Chang, Prince Fu Sheng of Huainan, and others to lead 50,000 elite Qin troops south to intercept Huan Wen, attempting to keep the Jin army outside Chang'an.

The two armies eventually met in Lantian, southeast of Chang'an.

[Fu Sheng, the Prince of Huainan, was described in historical records as having "the strength to lift a thousand jun (a unit of weight), and being brave, fierce, and fond of killing."]

To boost the morale of the Qin army, which was demoralized by a series of defeats, he single-handedly charged into the well-prepared Jin army ranks.

With extraordinary courage and strength, he charged through the Jin army's ranks, repeatedly attacking more than ten times!

Wherever they went, Jin soldiers fell to the ground, greatly intimidating the Jin army.

Fu Sheng's personal martial prowess greatly boosted the morale of the Qin army.

However, Huan Wen, as the commander-in-chief, remained calm in the face of danger.

He personally supervised the battle, inspiring his soldiers to fight bravely and resolutely refuse to retreat.

Under Huan Wen's command, the Jin army withstood the shockwaves brought by Fu Sheng, this "fierce tiger."

[Keep the formation intact.]

[And through their overall discipline and high morale, they gradually turned the tide of the battle.]

After a fierce battle, the Qin army finally succumbed to the Jin army's tenacious counterattack, their lines collapsed, and they fled in disarray.

Crown Prince Fu Chang led his defeated troops in a retreat to the south of Chang'an.

[Using the city walls for a final defensive maneuver.]

[Following this, Huan Wen's younger brother, Huan Chong, led his troops to defeat another Qin army at Bailu Plain, bringing another victory to the army.]

[At this point, Huan Wen's army pressed forward victoriously, reaching the banks of the Ba River and encamping there.]

The majestic outline of Chang'an is now clearly visible, and the recapture of the old capital seems imminent.

[Nearly forty years after the Yongjia Rebellion of the Western Jin Dynasty and the southward migration of the Jin court.]

For the first time, the imperial army was threatening the former Han capital, which was occupied by a non-Han regime, at such close range.

The Han people of Guanzhong, who had suffered greatly from war and foreign rule, were overjoyed upon hearing of the arrival of the "royal army."

They spontaneously brought their only food and drink, along with their cattle and sheep.

They arrived in droves at the Jin army camp to reward the soldiers.

The roadsides were packed with men, women, and children, all eager to witness the might of the Jin army.

Many elderly people with white hair, looking at the fluttering Jin army banners and the brightly armored soldiers, reminisced about their homeland's past.

These elderly people, who had lived under the rule of the Hu people for decades, were so moved that tears streamed down their faces as they choked back sobs as they said:

"I never imagined I'd see the government troops again today!"

[This means I never imagined I'd live to see the government troops fight back!]

This scene vividly illustrates the meaning of "welcoming the king's army with food and drink."

Barrage:

Another year has passed, and the elite Jin army weeps!

"Grand Marshal Huan is still awesome!"

If Huan Wen had sent troops sooner, the Former Qin dynasty wouldn't have had a chance.

"The Later Zhao dynasty didn't launch a northern expedition when it was at its most chaotic; it only started now that the Later Zhao was destroyed and the Former Qin and Former Yan had risen to power."

At this time, the Former Qin Dynasty was teeming with powerful generals and was on the rise, making it extremely difficult for Huan Wen to conquer it.

Even a powerful state like Later Qin, under Liu Yu, was nearly defeated.

"Alas, it's 354 AD. Shi Hu has been dead for five years. That's how powerful clans are—wasting such a great opportunity."

It was almost a success, but it fell short at the last hurdle.

The aristocratic system of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was indeed rigid.

The Southern Dynasties suffered from severe internal strife.

However, as it turns out, the Eastern Jin court's precautions against Huan Wen were correct.

Speed, Wang Meng is about to go online. (End of this chapter)