History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 233: Fighting against Bian and Aid Town
【Anti-Bian aid town】

At the meeting, some generals pointed out that Wang Rong had been serving Zhu Wen for eleven years, and that his children were in-laws of Zhu Wen. He also paid large amounts of gold and silver as tribute to Bianzhou every year. Their relationship was extraordinary, and this must be a scam.

Li Cunxu rejected all the opinions and said that Wang Rong's actions were all profit-oriented. The Wang family had been half-hearted in dealing with the Tang Dynasty for generations. How could they serve Zhu Wen sincerely? Could it be that Zhu Wen's daughter was not as good as the Princess Shou'an of the Tang Dynasty (Wang Rong's great-grandfather Wang Yuankui married Princess Shou'an)? Now Wang Rong is in deep trouble. If we don't help him, we will fall into Zhu Wen's trap! Now, we should send troops immediately, and Jin and Zhao should unite to drive the forces of the Later Liang out of Heshuo!

He then appointed Zhou Dewei as commander-in-chief and sent troops to Heshuo.

Li Cunxu may not be an excellent military strategist, but he is certainly an excellent politician. When he was a teenager, he had a very thorough understanding of the geopolitics of the Heshuo region, even more far-sighted than his father Li Keyong. At that time, Liu Rengong of Youzhou was attacked by Zhu Wen and came to ask for help. Li Keyong also planned to stand aside and watch. Li Cunxu had a far-sighted vision and tried his best to persuade his father to put aside the past grudges and repay the grievances with virtue.

The height determines the vision, and the pattern determines the outcome. Li Keyong was limited to Hedong, while Li Cunxu had the whole world in mind, so if Li Keyong preserved Hedong, Li Cunxu would own the whole world.

After gaining support from the Hedong Group, the Chengde Army of Zhenzhou and the Yiwu Army of Dingzhou announced their separation from the Later Liang Dynasty and restored the Tianyou era name of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang (the seventh year of Tianyou). They also abolished the names in the territory that had been changed to avoid the taboo of the Later Liang Dynasty. For example, the Chengde Army was changed to the Wushun Army to avoid the taboo of Zhu Wen's father (Zhu Cheng), and from now on it would be changed back to the "Chengde Army".

Li Cunxu was far-sighted and took over the Heshuo region that Zhu Wen had worked so hard to manage in one fell swoop, allowing the Hedong forces to move out of the Taihang Mountains again.

Upon hearing the news, Zhu Wen immediately ordered Wang Maozhang to launch an attack in an attempt to retake Heshuo. Wang Maozhang joined forces with Wei Bo Luo Zhouhan, with a combined force of 40,000, and stationed in Xing and Ming states in Dongzhaoyi. After a short rest, the Northern Expedition Army, led by Marshal Wang Maozhang, marched towards Baixiang (now Baixiang County, Hebei Province).

If we unfold a map, the importance of the Battle of Baixiang will be clear at a glance: Baixiang is located north of the border line between Chengde Army and Wei Bo Army, on the side of Chengde Army. Further north of Baixiang is Yehe River, and across Yehe River is Zhaozhou. The main force of Hedong is stationed in Zhaozhou. Further north of Zhaozhou is Zhenzhou, and to the northeast of Zhenzhou is Dingzhou.

The headquarters of the two major war zones were very close to each other, and the road was flat, with almost no strategic locations to defend. Therefore, when Zhu Wen swept Heshuo before, the Bian army was able to move freely between Zhen, Ding, and You, sweeping across all the towns in Hebei in one breath.

The strategic position of Baixiang is self-evident. It will determine the initiative of the war and even the final outcome of the war. The main forces of the two camps will gather in Baixiang to fight.

Li Cunxu attached great importance to the Battle of Baixiang and almost mobilized all his troops. He left Li Cunshen to guard Taiyuan Prefecture and personally led the army to the front line to join forces with Zhou Dewei. Wang Chuzhi of Dingzhou also sent 5,000 people to join forces.

The Hedong Army captured more than 200 Later Liang soldiers who were out collecting firewood, and obtained an important piece of information from these prisoners: "Zhu Wen said that Wang Rong is fickle and will definitely be a future trouble. Even if the city of Zhenzhou is made of iron, we must take it down!" So Li Cunxu ordered his men to escort these prisoners to Wang Rong, so that Wang Rong could also listen to his father-in-law's inner thoughts.

Li Cunxu led his army to advance slowly, and ordered Zhou Dewei to lead the elite cavalry as the vanguard to challenge the Houliang camp. The Houliang army closed the gates and held their ground.

On the 27th day of the twelfth lunar month, Li Cunxu led the main force to station five miles away from Baixiang, and continued to send cavalry to the front of the Later Liang army to provoke the enemy.

Han Xing, a general of the Later Liang Dynasty, could not bear the humiliation, so he led 30,000 men out of the camp to pursue the enemy, intending to use force to fight against the three vulgar rebels.

These 30,000 Later Liang soldiers all met the standards of a ceremonial guard. They were tall and strong, with shining helmets and armor. Their armor was covered with silk decorations and had gold and silver ornaments carved with various patterns. They looked dazzling and majestic, and they were obviously VIP and out-of-print skins.

When the Hedong soldiers saw this, their morale dropped sharply and they were very depressed. Zhou Dewei said to Li Cunzhang: "These Houliang troops don't really want to fight, but they are deliberately showing off their military power to us and undermine our morale. We must kill their spirit at this time, otherwise our army will not be able to recover."

So Zhou Dewei preached to his soldiers: "They are just the honor guard of Hou Liang. Don't be fooled by their good looks. They are actually a group of street thugs who steal chickens and dogs. They don't know how to fight at all. They are just flashy and can only scare people. Besides, if you catch them, won't the equipment on them be your spoils of war? They are here to give us money, so don't let them get away. Brothers, make a fortune!"

Zhou Dewei personally led a thousand cavalrymen to charge the 30,000 Later Liang troops, and indeed won a great victory, capturing more than a hundred people.

After the small victory, Li Cunxu and Zhou Dewei had serious differences of opinion. Zhou Dewei advocated conservatism and keeping the troops in place, while Li Cunxu advocated radicalism and pursuing the victory.

The reason for this contradiction is that the two people consider the problem from different angles. Zhou Dewei is completely from a military perspective, while Li Cunxu is more from a political perspective.

Zhou Dewei believed that the Later Liang army was powerful and although it suffered a small setback, it was not seriously injured and still maintained an absolute advantage. It should not develop a mentality of being arrogant and underestimating the enemy because of a small victory.

Li Cunxu believed that the Hedong Army was isolated and deep in the enemy's territory, and their will to remain calm and stable was not firm. They might return to the Later Liang Dynasty at any time and stab Li Cunxu in the back, so he should fight quickly and decisively to avoid any further complications.

The two argued endlessly, and the vast majority of the generals in the army supported Zhou Dewei's opinion. Li Cunxu was furious, so he left the meeting, returned to the central army tent, and fell asleep. The lord had given up.

Li Cunxu had a hard time speaking out his feelings, and he couldn't tell anyone about his difficulties. To put it bluntly, Li Cunxu was seriously wary of Zhou Dewei.

Although Li Kening was eliminated, Li Cunxu's ruling position in Hedong was still challenged by various potential opponents, such as Zhou Dewei. During the Battle of Luzhou, Li Cunxu let the surrendered general Ding Hui take command, and Zhou Dewei served as his deputy. This time, Li Cunxu personally led the battle and supervised the front line. Li Cunxu was always worried about Zhou Dewei.

Even when Li Cunxu led the army in person, when he and Zhou Dewei had different opinions, most of the generals stood on Zhou Dewei's side. Zhou Dewei's prestige in the army far surpassed Li Cunxu's. What a dangerous signal!
This is why Li Cunxu was so angry. The Hedong army was named Zhou, not Li!
Li Cunxu left in anger, and the generals were silent.

Zhou Dewei had no choice but to visit the military supervisor, the eunuch Zhang Chengye, to analyze the battlefield situation for him and predict the next move of the Later Liang: build a pontoon bridge and launch a surprise attack. Zhou Dewei strongly suggested a temporary retreat to lure the Later Liang army away from the station, forcing it to stretch the battle line, and then take advantage of the mobility of the Hedong cavalry to cut off its supply line. In this way, within a month, the Later Liang army will collapse without a fight.

Among the entire Hedong army, only Zhang Chengye dared to "teach" Li Cunxu a lesson. So Zhang Chengye rushed into the sleeping tent, pulled back Li Cunxu's quilt, and pulled him up, "What time is it? You still want to sleep? Get up!"

Zhang Chengye, the military supervisor, was trusted by Li Keyong and was one of the important ministers entrusted with the care of the young emperor. Li Cunxu called him "Seventh Brother", but actually respected him as his uncle. When Li Cunxu saw that it was Zhang Chengye, he could not speak his grievances or express his anger. He lowered his head and sulked, saying casually, "I'm thinking about it!"

Zhang Chengye's earnest words and patient persuasion finally made Li Cunxu realize that the political struggle could be put aside temporarily and winning the battle of Baixiang was the top priority. So Li Cunxu accepted Zhou Dewei's proposal and retreated overnight that night.

After dawn, no matter how the Hedong soldiers challenged the enemy and insulted them, the Houliang army closed the gates and refused to fight. When a surrendered Houliang soldier was interrogated, he said that the commander Wang Maozhang was building a pontoon bridge. After hearing this, Li Cunxu broke out in a cold sweat and turned to Zhou Dewei and said, "It's just as you expected!"

(End of this chapter)