History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 11 Three Difficulties and Five Harms
Wen Tinghao, the judge of the militia, analyzed the current situation for Cui Yanzeng and summarized it as "three difficulties and five harms": There are three difficulties in fighting the bandits now, and there are five harms in letting the bandits go.

The court issued an edict to pardon him, but we killed him without authorization. This is a problem;
Leading their fathers and brothers to attack their sons is a dilemma;

The complicated relationships and the involvement of many people will inevitably lead to too much killing, which is a three-pronged problem.

If the garrison soldiers return without permission and are not punished, the garrisons in other places will follow suit, which will cause harm.
The soldier killed his superior officer without guilt, and set a bad example, which was the second harm;
They manufacture weapons, recruit bandits, and grow in strength. If they are not suppressed in time, they will become a big trouble, the third harm;
The soldiers in the city are all relatives of them. If they unite with the remnants of the Silver Sword Army, the consequences will be unimaginable. The four evils;

Now they have forced the government to dismiss the imperial officials and organize them into an independent regiment. Isn't this the resurgence of the Silver Sword Army? Five evils.

There is repetition. We can summarize briefly:

There are two fundamental points of contention: it cannot be asked for, and it is not easy to ask for.

Not being able to ask for it was a political risk. The court's appeasement policy was a hindrance that troubled Linghu Tao and Cui Yanzeng.

It is not easy to defeat them, and it is a military risk. Pang Xun's followers and the soldiers and civilians of Xuzhou City are a loving family, and they are afraid to use force. Even if they succeed in defeating them, the subsequent handling work is also a big problem. Killing too many will arouse public resentment, and killing too few will leave hidden dangers.

At the same time, through the discussion of this meeting, it is not difficult to see that the so-called "secret order" by Pang Xun did not exist at all. The court never gave Cui Yanzeng a secret order to capture and kill the Xu soldiers who returned without permission. Otherwise, there would be no political risk, and Cui Yanzeng would not have to be so embarrassed.

You will be outside, and your orders will not be accepted.

The court may not be aware of the actions of Pang Xun's followers in time. Plans are not as good as changes. The generals of the vassal states should adapt to the situation and flexibly change the inappropriate policies. Even if it means taking huge political risks, dismissal from office is not a problem. Cui Yanzeng finally made up his mind: suppress the Xu bandits!
Pang Xun's gang openly threatened the court, violently resisted the law, and obstructed public affairs. From now on, they will be called "Xu thieves" instead of "Xu soldiers".

On the one hand, Cui Yanzeng deployed troops and generals, and on the other hand, he quickly sent people to inform the court of the latest special situation and explain the rationality and necessity of sending troops.

Before the expedition, Cui Yan made an important pre-war mobilization and announced to the soldiers several major crimes of Pang Xun's gang, saying that they not only dragged the innocent people of Xuzhou into dire straits, but also tarnished the image of soldiers, and especially seriously damaged the reputation of Xuzhou soldiers.

At the same time, Cui Yanzeng also emphasized that according to the usual practice, only the main culprits would be executed in this rebellion suppression, and the rest would not be punished. Your fathers, sons, and brothers who are trapped in the rebel army will not be implicated.

Finally, Cui Yan repeatedly warned the general Yuan Mi to ensure the safety of Zhang Jingsi, the imperial envoy in the rebel army.

Zhang Jingsi was a senior eunuch sent by the court to comfort Pang Xun's army, and was held hostage by Pang Xun.

Throughout history, we can see that whenever a war was ordered to ensure the safety of someone in the enemy army, it would basically lead to defeat. This time was no exception.

When two armies fight, swords and guns are indiscriminate. It is much more difficult to protect a person than to kill him.

Yuan Mi led the army and his main concern was not how to quickly put down the rebellion, but how to save the eunuch Zhang Jingsi.

Finally, Yuan Mi came up with a clever plan: ambush.

The specific plan was to set up an ambush near Renshanguan Posthouse, send soldiers disguised as woodcutters to gather intelligence, and wait for the target person - the eunuch Zhang Jingsi to appear, determine the place of detention, and then work together to close the net.

In the evening, Pang Xun's troops arrived near the post station and immediately noticed something strange.

First of all, the inn was not only empty, but also empty. Is this still a highway service area?

Secondly, the sun has already set, but there are still woodcutters at the foot of the mountain. Isn’t he too hardworking?
Again, the woodcutter worked hard all day, but what was the harvest?
It was just short of putting up a big sign at the entrance of the inn saying "No ambush here". Pang Xun had tried to cover up his mistake before, but Yuan Mi now told him that the silver was not stolen by Wang Er.

The bandit Xu immediately captured the woodcutter and asked him the truth. Pang Xun then ordered people to make a group of scarecrows and set them up near the inn to confuse the government troops, and then the entire army retreated urgently.

It was not until late at night that the government troops realized that the ambush plan had been leaked. Fearing that the enemy troops had set up an ambush on the side road, they did not dare to pursue them. They only pursued them after dawn the next day.

At this time, the rebel army had already arrived in Fuli County, about 15 kilometers away from Suzhou City.

There were 500 government troops stationed here. The sudden appearance of the bandit army caught them off guard, and the government troops fled at the sight of the enemy troops, who were outnumbered. Pang Xun's bandit army marched straight to Suzhou without a single drop of blood.

Suzhou City was deserted, and the chief executive also abandoned the city and fled upon hearing the news. Suzhou City was then declared to have fallen.

Pang Xun took over Suzhou City and did two very representative things. Through these two things, we can also get a glimpse of the strength of Pang Xun's gang.

First, Pang Xun called himself the alternate commander (the troops were left behind); second, he opened the government warehouse, gathered supplies in the city, and notified the people: take whatever you want.

Good news, good news, big opening promotion, free stuff, free stuff for everything, really free stuff...

Within a day, people from all over the world gathered and went there happily.

There is no free lunch in the world.

Pang Xun's followers secretly selected strong men and gave them a choice: "Choose us, otherwise, the butcher's knife will choose you."

On that day, the Xu bandits expanded their army by several thousand people.

Another whole day passed before Yuan Mi's army chased to the city of Suzhou, and then launched a fierce attack on the Xu bandits, successfully killing more than 300 of them and successfully entering a stalemate phase.

Two days ago, the news of the government army's defeat in Fuli reached Suzhou. Before the chief executive abandoned the city and fled, he ordered the Bian River to be diverted, hoping to use the flood to preserve Suzhou.

The Bian River is not the Yellow River, so it is not so turbulent, and the breaching work was very hasty. So when Pang Xun's bandit army arrived in Suzhou, they could wade through the water. When Yuan Mi chased here, he found that there were many more sea view rooms outside Suzhou City.

The flood actually became a moat for Pang Xun's gang.

Yuan Mi ordered his troops to force their way across the river, hoping to build fortifications on the inner side of the moat and trap the enemy troops in a trap.

At the critical moment, a strong wind blew, and the rebels took the opportunity to launch rockets, igniting the houses outside the city. The fire was fueled by the wind, and the wind helped the fire spread quickly to the Yuan Mi camp. In front of them were arrows and stones flying from the city wall, and behind them were ruthless water and fire. The Yuan Mi army was caught in a dilemma.

The enemy army attacked decisively, and Yuan Mi's army suffered heavy losses.

The first battle was lost, and the commander of the imperial army, Yuan Mi, had an unshirkable leadership responsibility. He underestimated the enemy and thought that the enemy army could only rely on the tall city walls to retreat and defend, so he did not formulate a plan B. Who knew that the enemy army dared to go out of the city to fight, how cunning!

After all, Yuan Mi's army was large in number and well-equipped, so although it was at a disadvantage, it was still at an advantage. So they retreated to the other side of the river, reorganized themselves a little, and continued to formulate plans for the siege.

Thanks to the book friends "Xiao Qianxi Shero. (female English 325555867)" and "Rui Han Qiwei I am from the law" for their recommendation votes. Here are three more updates!
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(End of this chapter)