History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 107 Battle of Xuzhou
Jing Xiang's version of "Longzhong Strategy" formulated the strategic direction of "looking eastward" for Zhu Wen. Shi Pu, the commander of Xuzhou Ganhua Army, was Zhu Wen's biggest imaginary enemy at this stage.

Plans are worse than changes.

First, Zhu Xuan and Zhu Jin took the initiative to provoke Shi Pu to protect his strength; then riots broke out in Huainan, Wei Bo, and Heyang, which added to the chaos and made Zhu Wen an unexpected fortune.

When Zhao Dezhen of Shannan East Road surrendered and Qin Zongquan was left with little blood, Zhu Wen decided to follow the original plan and attack Xuzhou in the east.

There was no need to worry about finding an excuse to send troops to Xuzhou. Zhu Wen used the same old trick again and carried out a trap to enforce the law.

The bait this time was Liu Zan, the former governor of Chuzhou. After Gao Pian's death, Huainan was in chaos, and Liu Zan, the governor of Chuzhou, abandoned the city to avoid the chaos and fled to Bianzhou to seek refuge with Zhu Wen. Now, Zhu Wen sent his capable general Zhu Zhen to lead 5,000 soldiers to escort Liu Zan to Chuzhou to take up his post.

This was a move that killed two birds with one stone. Chuzhou, today's Huai'an City in Jiangsu Province, was under the jurisdiction of Huainan at that time. Escorting the governor of Chuzhou to take office allowed Zhu Wen to appear in Huainan as a strong man who restored regional order and arbitrated regional affairs, and to make a high-profile presence.

And if Shi Pu interfered again, he would fall into Zhu Wen's trap.

As expected, when Zhu Zhen passed through the territory of the Xuzhou Ganhua Army, he was intercepted by Shi Pu again.

The last time he went fishing, Zhu Wen wanted Shi Pu's reputation, but this time he wanted his life.

The two sides had information asymmetry. The Xuzhou Probation Army thought it was just a minor friction, just like the last time. But the secret order Zhu Zhen received was: Fight to the death!
Shi Pu did not realize the seriousness of this "conflict" and that Xuzhou made a serious strategic misjudgment.

When the soldiers of the Xuzhou Ganhua Army said that they would not allow the Bian Army to pass, the Bian Army swung their knives and chopped them without saying a word. "Borrowing the road? I'm here to kill you!" They occupied Fengxian and Peixian in one breath. The two counties were only a hundred miles away from Xuzhou City.

Shi Pu was panicked and realized that Zhu Wen was looking for trouble. So he quickly mobilized 70,000 troops and rushed to Fengxian to rescue him.

In Wukang Town south of Fengxian County, 14 Xu soldiers faced 1 Bian soldiers, which was almost :. Shi Pu had an overwhelming advantage in numbers.

However, the commander of these 5,000 Bian troops was Zhu Zhen, and his deputy was Li Tangbin.

Although these two men have some discord, it is undeniable that these two brothers are both rare military talents.

Zhu Zhen fought one against a hundred, leading the elite core force to fight hard on the line, while Li Tangbin cooperated from the flank. Faced with a 14:1 disparity, the two of them were able to split up into two groups. This kind of ambition to swallow mountains and rivers and despise the heroes is unparalleled.

After a fierce battle, more than 20,000 soldiers of the Xuzhou Ganhua Army were killed and the army was completely defeated. Shi Pu fled back to Xuzhou City in a panic and wrote a letter to Zhu Xuan of Yunzhou, asking for help.

Zhu Xuan was in a dilemma, holding the letter in his hand.

On the one hand, he and Shi Pu had a close relationship. In order to resist Zhu Wen's attack, he was forced to form an alliance with Shi Pu to support each other. On the other hand, he had already experienced Zhu Wen's power.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhu Xuan adopted a compromise method: writing a letter to Zhu Wen, persuading him to turn hostility into friendship.

Zhu Wen was amused by Zhu Xuan's humor, so he sent more troops to Xuzhou to slap Zhu Xuan in the face and the "Yanyun-Xu Anti-Zhu Alliance" in the face.

Zhu Zhen lived up to everyone's expectations and captured Xiao County in one fell swoop, which was only a few dozen miles away from Xuzhou. He then divided his troops to attack the strategic city of Suzhou, and the governor of Suzhou directly surrendered the city.

Zhu Zhen also ordered his deputy general Pang Shigu to lead his troops deep into the hinterland of Sizhou, capture Suqian, and then detour to the east of Xuzhou to form a pincer attack with the main force stationed in Xiaoxian in the west.

Shi Pu hurriedly dispatched 20,000 troops to meet Pang Shigu's detachment, intending to prevent the Bian army's strategic encirclement.

Pang Shigu showed no fear, and led the way, disrupting the Xuzhou troops' formation, and took advantage of the victory to kill more than 2,000 people. Shi Pu fled back to Xuzhou City and ordered: No one is allowed to go to war without authorization in the future!

Every soldier in Bian is cheating, everyone charges money, everyone is a VIP player, you can’t afford to offend them, you can’t afford to offend them, you can’t afford to offend them.

In the opening team battle, the Bian army was defeated with ease, and Shi Pu retreated into the fountain.

What followed was a months-long standoff.

Zhu Wen was suspicious and jealous by nature, much like Cao Cao, and this character trait caused him a lot of trouble.

Zhu Zhen once secretly welcomed his family members, which was a big taboo. Although he cleared up the misunderstanding in time and obtained Zhu Wen's forgiveness, this incident still planted a grudge in Zhu Wen's heart.

Afterwards, Zhu Wen secretly instructed Li Tangbin to keep a close eye on Zhu Zhen and report his every move and every word in a timely manner.

The personal relationship between Zhu Zhen and Li Tangbin, the strongest CP, also reached a freezing point.

After several months of stalemate in Xuzhou, Zhu Wen finally couldn't hold back his restlessness and decided to go to the front line to inspect the troops. On the one hand, he wanted to boost the morale of the frontline troops, and another more important factor was to check the loyalty of the generals, especially Zhu Zhen, and whether he had any behavior of playing the enemy and not advancing.

After all, the start of the Xuzhou campaign was too smooth, and the stalemate that lasted for several months was too inexplicable. Zhu Zhen, are you letting us win on purpose, or are you acting?
Zhu Zhen knew the importance of the inspection by the leader and did not dare to neglect it. He ordered the whole army to repair its armaments and prepare for the National Day military parade. Not only did the soldiers have to dress up like the three-service guard of honor, but even the horses had to be fully washed, cut and blow-dried, and the stables had to be renovated to prevent any odor.

After receiving the order, the entire army was mobilized and started the cleanup in full swing.

Zhu Zhen, along with his entourage and guards, personally went to the grassroots to inspect the work, making sure that no blind spots were left. Zhu Zhen wanted to use this inspection to make up for the deadlock in Xuzhou and let Zhu Wen see that he was not passive and lazy.

Everything seems to be going on in an orderly manner.

But when Zhu Zhen inspected a stable, he found that the work was being done perfunctorily. He immediately became furious, called the person in charge, reprimanded him for poor supervision and dereliction of duty, and convinced the man with a beating.

The person who was punished was named Yan Jiao, and his immediate superior was Li Tangbin.

Yan Jiao, who was punished, bore a grudge against Zhu Zhen, so he ran to Li Tangbin to complain, fanning the flames and making trouble.

"When you hit a dog, you have to look at its owner first. Zhu Zhen didn't hit my butt, he hit your face!"

Li Tangbin agreed with the words and thought Zhu Zhen was deliberately looking for trouble.

Under Yan Jiao's instigation, Li Tangbin felt humiliated, so he personally broke into Zhu Zhen's military tent to ask for an explanation.

Li Tangbin took the initiative and loudly denounced Zhu Zhen for inappropriate punishment and personal revenge.

In fact, Li Tangbin regretted it a little on the way here, and secretly hated Yan Jiao. As the saying goes, those who talk about right and wrong are definitely wrong people. But he hated himself more for being impulsive. Zhu Zhen was impartial in enforcing the law, and even if he deliberately targeted him, Li Tangbin, he had reasons and evidence. He could only suffer in silence. Who made his men blind and run into the gun?
It was really unreasonable to go to Zhu Zhen to argue. Besides, Zhu Zhen was the superior and he was the subordinate. No matter what, he was not right.

But if I turn back halfway, wouldn't it be even more embarrassing? Forget it, I'll just go ahead and yell a few words. There will definitely be people around to mediate and help to smooth things over. As the highest commander of the army, Zhu Zhen will definitely consider the overall situation and say a few soft words to be polite. Then I'll back off and both sides will have a way out.

As the commander-in-chief of an army, he is a great leader. He will not bear grudges against small people. He will definitely leave me a way out... What if he doesn't? What if this kid makes a fool of himself and insists on being unreasonable?

It's easy. If he argues with reason, isn't it equivalent to publicly reiterating the reasonable basis for punishing Yan Jiao? Then I will also quickly express my position that I will never shield those who violate the law and discipline. This can be considered a step down, and I can barely save some face.

Yes, let’s do it. This is Li Tangbin’s inner monologue, his wishful thinking.

Li Tangbin broke into Zhu Zhen's office with a nervous mood.

Thanks to old friends "feitian", "Feitian Shenlongzhan", "Book friend 151023051918540" for their recommendation votes and support

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(End of this chapter)