History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 134 Zhu Wen's Crisis

[Zhu Wen's Crisis]

When Li Keyong was delighted to have the Lulong Army, a letter for help from the two Zhus of Yan and Yun arrived at his tent again, saying that the three An brothers' army had been completely wiped out and Zhu Wen was attacking the city very urgently, and they hoped that the heavenly soldiers and generals would descend as soon as possible.

Li Keyong waved his pen and dispatched 10,000 cavalrymen, led by generals Shi Yan, Li Chengsi, He Huaibao and others, to the battlefield of Yanyun.

Zhu Yougong, who was besieging Yunzhou, retreated to Bianzhou, and Zhu Wen's front line began to shrink and retreat.

Although the number of reinforcements from Hedong this time increased twenty times compared with the past, it was only 10,000 people after all, and the long-distance raid would not have a substantial impact on the Yanyun battlefield.

However, the problems Zhu Wen encountered were far more than just the 10,000 Hedong troops.

First of all, Li Keyong had just annexed the Youzhou Lulong Army. The Lulong Army's jurisdiction was very large, with as many as twelve states. Generally speaking, the standard configuration of a vassal state is three to four states, such as the Zhenzhou Chengde Army (four states), so Li Keyong's record is still very impressive.

The key point is that this vast territory is located in today's Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei, hanging high above Shandong Yanyun. Moreover, Chucun, the Yiwu King of Hebei, was originally a close ally of Li Keyong; the Chengde Army of Zhenzhou, needless to say, was a newly conquered younger brother; the Weizhou Wei Bo Army, with its mouth in Bianzhou and its heart in Hedong.

In other words, the Hebei region had become Li Keyong's back garden, which was one of the reasons why Zhu Wen gave in and retreated.

Secondly, chaos broke out again in the Huainan region, and Zhu Wen fell out with his southern neighbors.

There is a story in "The Spring and Autumn Annals of Master Yan" called "The Fierce Dog in the Hotel". The general idea is that a businessman who sells wine has fine wines, is clean and hygienic, and has eye-catching advertisements, but his business is sluggish and the wine merchant is very distressed. His neighbor reveals the truth in one sentence, saying that the reason is the vicious dog that you keep at the door. Whenever someone wants to buy wine, the dog bares its teeth and barks at them. Who dares to buy it?
This story is meant to tell leaders that they must manage their subordinates well. For example, many officials who have been dismissed today were "cheated by their fathers" or "cheated by their husbands."

Zhu Wen suffered the loss of being attacked by a fierce dog.

During the battle with Shi Pu of Xuzhou, Shouzhou, Haozhou and Sizhou surrendered to Zhu Wen one after another, so Zhu Wen sent people to appease and inspect them.

Generally speaking, the person who carries out this work must be smart and capable, have a good sense of the overall situation, and must convey the leader's broad mind and benevolent ideas, win the trust of the military and civilians in the newly-annexed areas, win their favor, and strengthen the leader's rule over the area. At the same time, they must also inspect local customs and various military and political work in order to report to the leader so that the leader can grasp the dynamics of the region and the people's will.

What disappointed Zhu Wen was that he chose the wrong people.

The general sent to Shouzhou was Zhang Conghui. As soon as he arrived in Shouzhou, his upstart mentality was immediately revealed. He pouted his lips, acted arrogantly, and openly insulted the governor Jiang Yanwen, with a completely conqueror-like attitude. Jiang Yanwen could only silently endure the humiliation.

One day, Zhang Conghui privately invited the generals of Shouzhou to a banquet, but the governor Jiang Yanwen was not among the invited guests. Jiang Yanwen was extremely frightened and thought that Zhang Conghui was going to incite a mutiny and attack him. So Jiang Yanwen took the initiative and arrested and killed all the generals who attended the banquet the next day. He then wrote an apology letter to explain the whole story to the commander-in-chief Zhu Wen, and then committed suicide to apologize. The troops recommended his son Jiang Congxu as the acting governor.

After Zhu Wen got the news, he immediately beheaded Zhang Conghui, who was relying on his master for power, and sent envoys to appease Shouzhou, which was in a state of panic.

The people who went to Sizhou were also not worry-free, and they were also arrogant and insulted the governor Zhang Jian. Zhang Jian was not as loyal as Jiang Yanwen, and in a fit of anger, he surrendered the city to Yang Xingmi.

At this time, Yang Xingmi was no longer the same person as before. He was no longer a chess piece at the mercy of others. When Li Keyong planned to attack Hebei and Zhu Wen fought for Xuzhou, Yang Xingmi finally defeated his old rival, Sun Ru.

[Who rules Huainan]

When Zhu Wen attacked Xuzhou for the second time, he adopted the "hidden truth" strategy of his adviser Jing Xiang, and asked Ding Hui and Ge Congzhou to lead troops south, claiming to assist Yang Xingmi in attacking Sun Ru, but when passing through Suzhou, they attacked Suzhou. Ding Hui flooded Suzhou, completing the first step of the strategic encirclement of Xuzhou, pinning down the reinforcements from Sizhou, and allowing Zhu Wen to win the battle of Xuzhou.

Zhu Wen used the strategy of "hiding the truth from the heaven and crossing the sea" very well. He deceived everyone and made everyone believe that Ding Hui and Ge Congzhou were going to Huainan. Shi Pu believed it, Yang Xingmi believed it, and Sun Ru also believed it.

Sun Ru's approach was the most radical. He destroyed his own old nest, burned down the city of Yangzhou, and acted as if he was determined to burn his boats. He took all his troops, drove away all the people, and claimed to have an army of 500,000. He crossed the Yangtze River to the south and fought a desperate battle with Yang Xingmi.

Sun Ru not only burned Yangzhou, but also Suzhou and Changzhou, forcing the people to follow the army as coolies and "two-legged sheep". The army was full of flags and transport vehicles, stretching for more than a hundred miles.

Yang Xingmi was defeated in battle after battle and the situation was critical. He asked Qian Liu in Hangzhou for help.

Qian Liu of Hangzhou and Yang Xingmi of Xuanzhou shared the same fate, having been harassed by Sun Ru for a long time. Facing a common powerful enemy, Yang Xingmi and Qian Liu were inseparable. Qian Liu supported Yang Xingmi with a large amount of food and supplies.

Yang Xingmi convened a meeting of his subordinates to discuss the current situation. He said that Sun Ru’s military strength was more than ten times that of ours, and it would be difficult to fight against him. He planned to retreat to Tongguan (now Tongling City, Anhui Province). What do you think?
As soon as this was said, all the generals opposed it. Among them, Li Shenfu and Liu Wei pointed out that Sun Ru was out in full force this time, eager to win a quick victory, so we should defend the strategic points, clear the fields, fight a protracted war, and drag Sun Ru into our rhythm.

Dai Yougui further proposed the strategy of "cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron".

The people in Huainan suffered from Sun Ru's cruelty and ruthlessness, and they were attracted by Yang Xingmi, who was kind and benevolent. Therefore, many people in Huainan followed Yang Xingmi across the river to the south with their elderly and children, and many of Sun Ru's soldiers also came to join him. So Dai Yougui suggested that Yang Xingmi send these people back to their hometown in Huainan with courtesy, let them farm and do business, and resume production. Seeing the people of Huainan living and working in peace and contentment, Sun Ru's men must have wanted to return to their hometown, and no one was willing to continue to help the tyrant. In this way, Sun Ru's army would inevitably lose morale and disintegrate on its own.

Seeing that his generals showed no fear, shared the same hatred for the enemy, and had clear thoughts and accurate judgments, Yang Xingmi laughed and said, "This is exactly what I want! I am worried that you will retreat in fear of the enemy, so I am testing you with words!"

Sun Ru surrounded Xuanzhou, and his general Liu Jianfeng led the main force from Changzhou to join forces and attack Xuanzhou together.

Yang Xingmi avoided the strong and attacked the weak, and sent his general Zhang Xun to raid Changzhou, and then conquered Runzhou, trying to drag the blitzkrieg into a war of attrition.

Sun Ru revealed his strategic intentions too early, which was an important reason for his failure.

Yang Xingmi's group was highly unified in their opinion, which was to disrupt Sun Ru's war rhythm, avoid the "decisive battle", and strive to drag the war into a war of attrition and a protracted war.

You come to Xuanzhou to play with me, but I will go to Changzhou and Runzhou to steal towers, and harass your jungle area to prevent you from developing your economy.

Yang Xingmi sent out cavalry to cut off Sun Ru's food supply and to harass Sun Ru's garrison through guerrilla warfare, making Sun Ru's army unable to bear the pressure.

Soon, Sun Ru's army ran out of food, so he sent generals Liu Jianfeng, Ma Yin, and Zhang Ji to lead elite troops to neighboring counties to plunder in order to replenish military supplies.

At this time, a plague broke out again in the Jianghuai region, and Sun Ru's troops suffered serious casualties due to the epidemic. "Many soldiers died, and Sun Ru also fell ill." Sun Ru was not spared and suffered from severe malaria.

Yang Xingmi carefully analyzed the intelligence from various sources: the main force was not there (the brave generals Liu Jianfeng and Ma Yin were away with their troops), the combat effectiveness of the remaining troops was sharply reduced (plague), and the command center of the troops was paralyzed (Sun Ru was bedridden due to malaria). A godsend opportunity!
He immediately made a decision and issued an order to counterattack. This was his only chance to fight back, and only by winning could he survive. Yang Xingmi prayed devoutly, begging God to bless him to eliminate the evil for the people, considering their suffering.

A decisive battle to determine the ownership of Huainan is about to begin.

Thanks to my old friend “昏醉雪” for his generous 9 recommendation votes!

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(End of this chapter)