History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 250 The Family Will Destroy Itself 2 Liu Xun's Enemy

[The Family Will Destroy Itself 2 Liu Xun's Enemies]

Liu Xun and Li Cunxu of Hedong confronted each other along the river. However, Liu Xun's biggest enemy was not Li Cunxu, but the ruling center of Later Liang.

Zhu Youzhen and his "foreign relatives" never trusted Liu Xun. Not only Liu Xun, but any "outsider" was not trustworthy. They could all become the second Yang Shihou.

After Liu Xun suffered a disastrous defeat in his surprise attack on Taiyuan, he retreated to Shen County and held his ground. After Zhu Youzhen's group learned the news, they immediately held a secret meeting. After research and discussion, Zhu Youzhen and the "foreign relatives gang" unanimously believed that Liu Xun had ulterior motives for holding his troops and playing with the enemy.

Therefore, Zhu Youzhen issued an edict to blame Liu Xun for the failure in the battle, which caused serious casualties and severe consumption of food and money, and ordered Liu Xun to fight a decisive battle as soon as possible and end it quickly.

Facing each other across the river, the situations of Liang and Jin were very different, and their tactical demands were also completely opposite.

The Hedong army was extremely powerful, but they were fighting away from home. Although they had the support of Zhen and Ding, they still had to travel thousands of miles, and the battle line was too long. Moreover, the alliance agreement between Hedong and Heshuo was very fragile. The vassal states of Heshuo were between Qi and Chu, and sandwiched between the two major camps of Houliang and Hedong. The dragons helped the dragons, and the tigers helped the tigers. Therefore, Hedong Li Cunxu's appeal was to fight a quick battle and achieve success in one battle to avoid more troubles and complications.

The combat effectiveness of the Houliang army was relatively low, but it was fighting at home. Whether it was logistical supplies or mass base, it was beyond the reach of the Hedong army. The tactical thinking of the Houliang army should be to rely on a strong city defense system and sufficient logistical supplies, wait for the later stage, fight for consumption, and wait for changes in Heshuo. Or take advantage of the regional advantage and open up a second battlefield in the Hezhong area, so that Hedong Li Cunxu fell into the dilemma of fighting on two fronts. Because Taihang Mountain is completely within the sphere of influence of Hedong, even if two fronts are rushed to support, theoretically it is more convenient and mobile for the Houliang army.

Li Cunxu and Liu Xun were both very powerful. So Li Cunxu challenged again and again, while Liu Xun always hid in the high ground fountain and refused to leave the tower.

However, Zhu Youzhen ordered Liu Xun to abandon the idea of ​​a protracted war and fall into Li Cunxu's trap.

Liu Xun hurriedly reported to the emperor, saying that I had originally planned to launch a surprise attack on Taiyuan, Huige Town, and Ding, and I would be able to wipe out Heshuo within ten days or half a month. Unfortunately, God was tired of war, and it rained for more than ten days in a row. The unpredictable weather caused the plan to fail. I also planned to rob Linqing's food and grass to pay tribute to Cao Cao's burning of Wuchao, but unexpectedly, Zhou Dewei was as fast as lightning and attacked thousands of miles away, one step ahead of me. Now I have to retreat to Shen County and wait for the next good opportunity. If there is a chance to defeat the enemy, I will definitely fight to the death. How dare I live in peace?

Zhu Youzhen issued another edict, "So what good strategy do you have to defeat the enemy?"

Liu Xun replied: "No."

I don’t know whether Liu Xun was sincerely angry with the emperor or was just stupid and had low emotional intelligence. In his reply, Liu Xun said that although I haven’t figured out a plan to defeat the enemy yet, I dare to set a flag: as long as you give each of my soldiers ten hu of food, I can guarantee to defeat the enemy!
Zhu Youzhen was furious, "This kid really wants to be the second Yang Shihou!"

So, Zhu Youzhen issued an edict to rebuke: "Why do you need so much food and grass? Do you want to kill the enemy, or do you have other intentions? What do you want to do?" Along with the edict arrived the eunuch who was sent by Zhu Youzhen to supervise the war, under the imperial order.

An amateur commanding the professionals, Zhu Youzhen is about to lead his army and his empire into an abyss of no return!
Liu Xun was heartbroken but helpless. He called a meeting of his generals and said, "The current emperor lives in the inner palace and does not know the situation on the front line. He only discusses military and national affairs with a bunch of equally inexperienced young men. It's simply nonsense! Now the enemy is strong and our army is weak. If we face off, what should we do if something goes wrong?"

Unexpectedly, his generals said in unison: "Instead of delaying indefinitely, it is better to fight to the death!"

Liu Xun was shocked and silent for a long time before he sighed and said slowly, "Let's adjourn the meeting."

After the generals left, Liu Xun left behind a few confidants and confided in them: "The lord is ignorant, the wicked are in power, and even the cadres in the army only know how to flatter and obey. The generals are arrogant and ignorant, and the soldiers are tired and afraid... Oh! I really don't know where I will die in the future!"

A few days later, Liu Xun summoned all the generals again, and placed a bowl of muddy river water in front of each of them. Liu Xun picked up a bowl and said, "Come on, drink it." He drank it all in one gulp, and then said to all the generals, "Please..."

No one understood what he meant. You looked at me, I looked at you, frowned reluctantly, and reluctantly pursed the liquid.

Liu Xun nodded and said earnestly: "It's hard to swallow even a bowl of water--" he stood up and pointed in the direction of the Yellow River, "How can you drink the endless Yellow River?" After saying that, he turned away.

The generals were terrified and their faces turned pale.

Under pressure, Liu Xun led more than 10,000 soldiers out of the city to fight, targeting the troops of Zhenzhou and Dingzhou. Hedong general Li Cunshen led 2,000 soldiers to support, and Li Jianji led 1,000 "Silver Spears and Loyalty Guards" to help. With just these 3,000 people, Liu Xun's 10,000 soldiers were defeated. Liu Xun retreated to the camp and continued to hold his ground. His move of leading 10,000 soldiers to attack seemed to be just a gambling act to deal with the official duties, to give an explanation to the eunuchs supervising the army and to Zhu Youzhen.

However, Zhu Youzhen still kept urging Liu Xun to continue the attack. Perhaps the "foreign relatives" at the core of power in the Later Liang Empire wanted to kill with a borrowed knife, so that Liu Xun and Li Cunxu would both suffer losses. Killing Li Cunxu would be considered to quell the external threat, and killing Liu Xun would be considered to eliminate the internal strife.

Imperial edicts urging him to go to war came in like snowflakes, and Liu Xun was under tremendous pressure.

Li Cunxu was cunning and had a keen insight into the thoughts of the core of the highest power in the Later Liang Dynasty. After all, he had just completed the handover of the highest power of the Hedong Group and was a "veteran". Therefore, Li Cunxu customized a trap for Liu Xun.

Li Cunxu ordered Li Cunshen to stay at the front line in Shen County, while he led his troops back north, claiming to be returning to Taiyuan Prefecture, but in fact he was going to Beizhou to comfort the troops.

After Liu Xun received the information, he immediately wrote a memorial to Zhu Youzhen for instructions, saying that he planned to take advantage of the opportunity to recapture Weizhou.

Zhu Youzhen immediately agreed, "The entire nation's army is in your hands. The survival of the empire depends on this battle. Come on, Oli Gei!"

After obtaining approval, Liu Xun ordered the governor of Chanzhou, Yang Yanzhi, to lead 10,000 people to join the army in Weizhou, and the two agreed on a time for the meeting.

Yang Yanzhi was eager to make a contribution, so he arrived at the south of Weizhou alone half a day in advance at midnight. The Hedong garrison in the city sent out 500 death squads to attack the city. Yang Yanzhi was caught off guard, the army immediately collapsed, and the soldiers fled in all directions.

Last time, the Hedong army had 3,000 troops fighting against 10,000; this time, 500 troops fought against 10,000.

After dawn, Liu Xun arrived at the east of the city as agreed, but saw Yang Yanzhi gathering the remaining soldiers and generals, and then he knew what happened last night. At this time, the Hedong Army ambushed and surrounded Liu Xun from all directions, and he fell into a very passive situation as soon as he arrived at the battlefield.

Li Cunshen led a large army and followed all the way from Shen County; Li Siyuan in the city also led the defenders out of the city to meet the attack; Li Cunxu also came to support from Beizhou and joined forces with Li Siyuan.

Liu Xun was surrounded and overwhelmed. He looked up suddenly and found that Li Cunxu and Li Siyuan were standing shoulder to shoulder, leading the troops at the front of the team, and the two armies were so close that they were almost face to face.

In shock, Liu Xun blurted out subconsciously: "Damn, Li Cunxu!" Liu Xun knew that he had fallen into a trap and was tricked by Li Cunxu, so he hurriedly ordered a retreat.

Li Cunxu led his army in hot pursuit, all the way to the west of Guyuan City near Shen County, where he finally surrounded Liu Xun again and launched a pincer attack.

Liu Xun was surrounded by enemies on all sides, and the two armies fought for a long time, and finally the Later Liang was defeated. Liu Xun knew that the situation was hopeless, so he led dozens of personal cavalry to break out, abandoning the 70,000 infantry behind him.

Next, the 70,000 infantrymen faced a bloody massacre. The Hedong cavalry surrounded them, charging and killing them. Wherever they passed, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and corpses were scattered all over the ground. The soldiers of the Later Liang Dynasty climbed up trees to hide, but the branches broke and fell due to the large number of people. Some soldiers jumped into the river in panic and drowned. All 70,000 people were killed or wounded.

Liu Xun led his remaining troops across the river to the south and retreated to Huazhou.

Zhu Youzhen summoned Liu Xun to the capital to meet the emperor, but Liu Xun declined politely. Zhu Youzhen summoned him many times, but Liu Xun refused many times with various reasons.

Liu Xun was worried that he would never return, so he simply disobeyed the imperial order. After Liu Xun's army was defeated, the people south of the Yellow River were in a panic. At this time, Liu Xun did not obey the imperial order, so the morale of the army was shaken.

In order to avoid forcing Liu Xun to rebel, Zhu Youzhen went with the flow and appointed Liu Xun as the governor of Huazhou Xuanyi Army.

(End of this chapter)