History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 16 Pang Xun's favorable situation
[The Central Army collapsed at the first blow]

Although the transfer order has been issued, the efficiency of the bandit suppression work is still very worrying.

The main component of the so-called official army was the local army, that is, the various armies of the vassal states that were ordered to be mobilized by the central government, such as the Huainan Army and Zhenhai Army mentioned earlier, as well as a small number of foreign troops, such as the Shatuo, Tuhun and other tribes.

After receiving the conscription order, each local vassal state would mobilize and assemble its own troops, and then, led by a general, report to the agreed gathering place. As for the allocation and transportation of food and fodder, each local vassal state also subcontracted and cooperated.

Therefore, before the assembly is completed, the commander-in-chief is often in an awkward situation, and many of them are left alone. The so-called "army of various regions" and "hundreds of thousands of troops" often remain only on paper.

For example, Kang Chengxun, the commander-in-chief of the Xuzhou bandit suppression, is now stationed in Xinxing (today's north of Woyang County, Anhui Province), and the actual number of troops around him is only about 10,000. This is the main force of the bandit suppression, the Central Army Group.

To his east was Liuzizhai, guarded by Yao Zhou, one of the "Four Dogs of the First Uprising".

After finding out the true strength of Kang Chengxun, Yao Zhou decisively led the group. Kang Chengxun was forced to retreat to Songzhou (now Shangqiu City, Henan Province) to continue waiting for others to gather.

The main force and backbone of the anti-bandit campaign collapsed at the first blow and were vulnerable.

Pang Xun was overjoyed. It seemed that the so-called imperial court was nothing but a paper tiger. So Pang Xun dispatched his generals to attack Shuzhou and Luzhou in the south, Yizhou and Haizhou in the north, and to capture Shuyang, Xiacai, Wujiang, Chaoxian, Chuzhou, and Hezhou...

The bandit army rampaged as if they were in an empty land. Today, the prefectures, cities, counties and districts in Anhui, Jiangsu, Shandong and other places have all fallen into the hands of the bandits.

Almost all of the land north of the Huai River fell. Pang Xun's evil claws even extended to the south of the Huai River, and a large area of ​​land on the south bank of the Huai River also fell into the hands of the thieves.

Sizhou City was trapped deep in the enemy's territory, with all land and water transportation cut off, and it became an isolated city. The food in the city was almost gone, and people had to eat thin porridge.

If this continues, all the soldiers and civilians in Sizhou City will starve to death.

In the critical moment, Xin Dan once again volunteered to go to Huainan and Zhenhai to ask for help.

After suffering setbacks in a series of sieges, the rebel general Wu Jiong changed his siege strategy and adopted siege tactics to trap Sizhou. He set up roadblocks and trenches on land and buried iron chains on the waterways, surrounding the city of Sizhou like an iron barrel.

Xin Dan could no longer be a lone hero, so he recruited ten death-defying warriors, armed with axes, and drove small boats. Under the cover of night, they cut the iron chains in the water and broke through by force.

After daybreak, the rebel army discovered Xin Dan's whereabouts, so they sent warships to intercept him in front and sent 5,000 infantrymen to chase him from behind along the river bank.

The pirates' warships were large, deep-drafted, and inflexible. With their skilled driving skills and unwavering faith, Xin Dan and his ten-man death squad used the lightness and flexibility of their small boats to maneuver around the pirates' ships, dodging and moving, fighting and retreating, and finally succeeded in breaking through after a 30-mile battle.

Four days later, Xin Dan arrived in Yangzhou and paid a visit to Linghu Tao, the governor of Huainan; the next day he arrived in Runzhou and paid a visit to Du Shenquan, the governor of Zhenhai.

At that time, the enemy army was wreaking havoc on both sides of the Huai River, and Sizhou was blockaded and no news had been heard for a long time, so people thought that Sizhou had fallen.

Xin Dang and his death squad, like the dove of peace holding an olive branch on Noah's Ark, appeared in the public eye, announcing an exciting news: Sizhou is still there! Xin Dang strengthened everyone's belief in fighting against the bandits with practical actions.

Not long ago, 4,000 reinforcements of the Zhenhai Army were wiped out on the south bank of the Huai River. Now, the Jiedushi Du Shenquan sent another 2,000 soldiers and allocated 5,000 hu of rice and 500 hu of salt in time to solve the urgent problem and rush to support Sizhou City.

[The short-lived Southern Army]

Dai Keshi, the commander of the Zhengnan Front Army, assembled 30,000 troops and approached the Huai River, bringing hope of victory to the people on the south bank of the Huai River.

Dai Keshi's battle plan was to first retake Huaikou, gain control of the waterways of Sishui and Huaihe River, and then lift the siege of Sizhou. Going west along the Huaihe River from Huaikou could lift the siege of Sizhou; going north along the Sishui River could lead directly to Xuzhou and attack Pang Xun's heart. The plan seemed perfect, but there was a problem: whether going west or north, it was all upstream.

Master Dai Ke was known as the "Wolf Commander". He was brave, bloodthirsty and quite famous.

When the rebel army heard that Dai Keshi was leading his troops to attack, they immediately gave up their strongholds south of the Huai River and retreated without a fight.

Dai Keshi led his troops to Huaikou as planned. There were still a few bandits in Duliang City on the south bank who had not yet escaped. The bandits knelt on the top of the city wall, kowtowed like chickens, begging the commander to give them some time so that they could prepare and surrender.

In order to demonstrate the court's leniency and magnanimity, Dai Keshi immediately ordered a five-mile retreat to give the rebels enough time to surrender calmly and honorably.

There was a river to the north of Duliang City, so Dai Keshi surrounded the city on three sides within a radius of five miles, thinking that the enemy would have nowhere to escape.

The next morning, Dai Keshi was surprised to find that Duliang City had long been deserted, with only a few sick old ladies in the city. It turned out that the river to the north was only above the waist, and the bandits had waded through the water to escape last night.

Master Dai Ke underestimated the enemy and was careless. After entering Duliang City, he did not even arrange any reconnaissance personnel, as if the enemy army would only flee at the sight of them.

The next day, heavy fog fell, and visibility was extremely low. Dai Keshi counted on his fingers and realized that it was not a good time to go out. The Huai River was wide, and it formed a T-junction with the Si River. In addition, the fog was thick and it was difficult to tell the direction, so the military operation to retake the Huaikou was postponed.

The entire Dai Ke Division relaxed its command and prepared to take advantage of the fog to rest and make plans after the fog cleared.

Dai Keshi was drunk when countless bandits suddenly emerged from the fog and rushed towards Duliang City.

The southern army was caught off guard and collapsed at the first blow. Countless people were trampled to death by the crowds of people and horses, and some soldiers were squeezed into the Huai River and drowned...

Of the 30,000 soldiers, more than 29,000 died, and only a few hundred escaped alive. Among these few hundred survivors, Dai Keshi and his eunuch supervisors and generals were not included. They were all killed, their heads cut off, and sent to Xuzhou to report their merits and receive rewards.

All the food, weapons, bags, armor and horses carried by the southern army fell into the hands of the enemy.

The enemy army won a complete victory!

The commander who annihilated the Southern Route Army was Wang Hongli, one of the "Five Tiger Generals".

Wang Hongli was extremely lucky. At the beginning of the uprising, he was assigned the task of attacking Haozhou. The governor of Haozhou opened the city and surrendered, and he occupied Haozhou without a single soldier. However, his close comrade-in-arms, Li Yuan, encountered stubborn resistance in Sizhou. Afterwards, Wang Hongli was sent to Sizhou by Pang Xun for support. Not long after he arrived, he completely wiped out the Southern Army Group of the imperial court, gained a lot, and directly killed the commander-in-chief of the army group, "Wolf General" Dai Keshi.

Then, Wang Hongli used Huaikou as a seesaw, went west along the Huai River, and took advantage of the victory to attack Shouzhou. This was the temporary base of Wang Yanquan, the commander of the Northern Army Group. Wang Yanquan was also caught off guard and was defeated.

Shouzhou was a transit station for the tribute from the southeast of the imperial court, and also a hub for business travel and trade. So far, the rebel army has completely cut off the tribute from the southeast, blocking the north-south trade route.

Wang Hongli became the most famous general of the Xu bandits.

The rebel army also regained control of the areas on both sides of the Huai River.

Master Dai Keshi died, but his arrogant spirit did not die, nor did his soul that underestimated the enemy and was conceited. They soon found new hosts, Wang Hongli and Pang Xun, and they would soon repeat the same mistakes.

(End of this chapter)