History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 276: Defeat the Enemy in Three Days
【Defeat the enemy in three days】

Upon hearing the news that "Wang Tieqiang" Wang Yanzhang was taking command, Li Cunxu attached great importance to it and personally led his troops to station in Chanzhou. He also ordered his confidant Zhu Shouyin to station in Desheng Jiacheng, and warned him that Wang Tieqiang was brave and courageous and had far-sighted strategies, so he must not be taken lightly.

Often, the evaluation of competitors is the most realistic, because it is earned with blood. However, the evaluation of one's own people is often mixed with conflicts of interest and often cannot truly reflect the true value of someone or something.

Through Li Cunxu's reaction, we can already get a glimpse of the clue of "defeating the enemy in three days."

Wang Yanzhang bid farewell to Zhu Youzhen and rushed to the front line of Huazhou without stopping. He then held a grand banquet to reward the soldiers of the three armies. He secretly sent people to Yangcun to assemble landing ships and selected 600 brave warriors. They were armed with huge axes, manual blowers for fanning the wind and fire starters, and a group of blacksmiths. They quietly went downstream under the cover of night and approached Desheng Jiacheng.

The banquet was in full swing when Wang Yanzhang, with a red face and full of drunkenness, staggered to leave the table, saying that he wanted to go to the bathroom. However, as soon as he left the tent, Wang Yanzhang was full of energy and personally led thousands of elite troops to attack Desheng South City at lightning speed.

Using banquets as a pretext to confuse the enemy is a glorious tradition left by Zhu Wen.

As expected, the defending general Zhu Shouyin was not on guard at all and responded hastily.

The surface troops that had been secretly lurking on the Yellow River cooperated, burned the large iron chains used by the Later Tang army to block the river, and chopped off the pontoon bridge with a giant axe, dividing Desheng Jiacheng into two again. The troops on the north bank were unable to support the south city and could only watch the fall of the south city.

The Later Tang army stationed in Nancheng was almost wiped out, with thousands of casualties.

At this time, it was exactly three days since Wang Yanzhang left Bianzhou. Wang Yanzhang was both wise and brave, and completed the myth of defeating the enemy in three days.

After conquering the southern city of Desheng, Wang Yanzhang used the momentum of his victory to occupy all of the Later Tang strongholds on the south bank of the Yellow River, including Panzhang, Majiadu, and Jingdian, thus clearing the area south of the Yellow River in one fell swoop.

The military power of the Later Liang Dynasty was greatly boosted, and the army and civilians were jubilant. The stock has bottomed out and is about to take off. It has reached the daily limit. There is no time to explain. Get on board!
Wang Yanzhang continued to move his army eastward, heading towards Yangliu. If Yangliu was conquered, then Li Siyuan of Yunzhou would be completely surrounded by the Later Liang, and the control of the Later Tang would completely return to the north of the Yellow River.

Li Cunxu hurriedly sent the eunuch Jiao Yanbin to Yangliu to assist the defending general Li Zhou in holding on, implying that Jiao Yanbin was also the highest political commissar and military supervisor to monitor Li Zhou and prevent him from defecting and surrendering out of fear of the power of Later Liang. He ordered Zhu Shouyin to abandon the northern city of Desheng, demolish the houses, turn them into rafts, and then send the weapons and supplies downstream and quickly transport them to Yangliu.

Great minds think alike. Wang Yanzhang also demolished the houses in the south city of Desheng and turned them into rafts to carry troops and supplies downstream to the Yangliu front.

Thus, an interesting scene took place: on the surface of the Yellow River, two continuous fleets were racing eastwards downstream. Whenever they encountered narrow bends, the distance between the two fleets would get closer and closer, until they scraped and collided, and every time this happened, the crews of both sides would engage in close combat.

Depending on the distance, the two sides used loud insults, bows and arrows, and close combat to greet each other. Since most of the rafts were hastily made and of poor quality, many of the boats capsized and sank when they collided with each other, resulting in the death of all the people on board.

This kind of dragon boat race-style battle was extremely brutal, with more than a hundred battles of varying sizes taking place in one day, with both sides winning and losing. By the time they reached Yangliu, both sides had lost more than half of their men.

Wang Yanzhang and Duan Ning led an army of 100,000 to attack Yang Liu. They took advantage of their numbers and launched attacks from multiple directions, one after another, day and night. They also chained nine huge ships together with iron chains and blocked the middle of the Yellow River to block the Later Tang reinforcements from the north bank.

Yang and Liu were in danger. Li Zhou resisted with all his might and sent people to Li Cunxu for urgent help, asking Li Cunxu to march quickly, requiring him to travel a hundred miles a day to rush to the aid of Yang and Liu.

Li Cunxu, however, remained calm and acted leisurely, saying to those around him, "With Li Zhou here, what do I have to worry about?" He only advanced sixty miles a day, and did not forget to hunt for entertainment along the way.

Li Cunxu knew that speed is of the essence in war. The reason why he acted so calm and composed was not only to stabilize the army and boost morale, but also because he looked at things from a different perspective.

The other generals only viewed Yang and Liu from a tactical perspective, while Li Cunxu viewed them from a strategic perspective.

Yangliu City and Yunzhou City are not the core interests of Later Tang. Simply put, its fall will only delay the attack of Later Tang, but will not harm Later Tang itself, let alone threaten the foundation of Later Tang. However, the western ferry crossings such as Desheng Ferry and Majia Ferry, as well as Luzhou, are the core interests of Later Tang.

What if Wang Yanzhang's hasty attack on Yang Liu was just a feint? What if Li Cunxu led the main force to rescue Yang Liu, and Wang Yanzhang suddenly turned back and transferred the Huazhou troops to cross the river to the north? You know, now all the ferry crossings on the south bank of the Yellow River are under the control of Houliang, and the lands such as Weizhou on the north bank of the Yellow River are also under the control of Houliang, and Luzhou in the rear and Zezhou, which controls the entrance and exit of Taihang Mountain, are also under the control of Houliang. In other words, at this stage, the initiative of the war along the river is completely in the hands of Houliang, and Houtang has switched from offense to defense.

A general considers “how to do it”; a handsome considers “why to do it”.

Li Cunxu advanced steadily and slowly eastward in order to find out Wang Yanzhang's true intentions and observe the main strategic attack direction of the Later Liang army.

When Li Cunxu arrived at the Yangliu front, he found that the Later Liang army had dug numerous trenches and built layers of bunkers around the city of Yangliu, creating a very tight blockade, making it impossible for the Yangliu defenders to escape.

While secretly admiring Wang Yanzhang, Li Cunxu could not hide his sorrow and asked Guo Chongtao for advice.

Guo Chongtao proposed to open up a second battlefield, and proposed the "left hook" in the "left hook". He pointed out that although Li Siyuan of Yunzhou was trapped in the enemy's hinterland and was isolated and surrounded, he was actually a thorn in the flesh of Houliang, tying down a large number of Houliang troops. Since the Yangliu front was in a stalemate and the ferry crossings in the west were all controlled by Houliang, we should continue to detour eastward, force a crossing at the ferry crossing in the lower reaches of the Yellow River where Houliang had weak defenses, establish a stronghold, and support Yunzhou.

Li Cunxu nodded repeatedly, but would Wang Yanzhang sit back and watch us make a detour?

Guo Chongtao set a goal, "Ten days, just give me ten days, and I can build a stronghold. I hope Your Majesty will recruit warriors to challenge Hou Liang day and night and hold back Wang Yanzhang."

Li Cunxu approved Guo Chongtao's plan and sent Guo Chongtao with 10,000 people to set out at night and march eastward quickly. They finally crossed the Yellow River at Majiakou, and then built cities and fortifications day and night. Li Cunxu challenged Wang Yanzhang day and night in Yangliu to attract his attention.

Guo Chongtao completed the new city ahead of schedule in just six days.

After Wang Yanzhang learned that the Later Tang army was detouring eastward, he immediately led tens of thousands of people to attack. He then attacked the new city of Majiakou, following the same prescription, connecting more than a dozen large ships with iron chains, and blocking the middle of the Yellow River to block the Later Tang reinforcements.

Although Guo Chongtao was a civil servant, he led the resistance and fought with a small force against a large one. While holding his ground, he sent people to take a shortcut to ask Li Cunxu for help.

Unlike the support to Yang and Liu, this time Li Cunxu rushed to help and assembled on the other side of the river. When Guo Chongtao's defenders saw the reinforcements, their morale was boosted, and they shouted at the Later Liang soldiers who were besieging the city on the city wall.

Wang Yanzhang was at a disadvantage in the battle, so he withdrew his giant ships, lifted the siege, and retreated to Zoujiakou in the west.

Li Cunxu opened up the road to Yunzhou and got in touch with Li Siyuan. Li Siyuan secretly reported to Li Cunxu, asking him to hold Zhu Shouyin responsible for the loss of Deshengjiacheng, but Li Cunxu rejected it.

The story of Li Cunxu's love for actors will be described in detail later, so I will just mention it briefly here. It was only because Zhu Shouyin lost Deshengjiacheng that Li Siyuan was trapped in Yunzhou. Li Siyuan requested to kill Zhu Shouyin, which was a mixture of public and private, so it needs to be mentioned here.

After a short rest, Li Cunxu advanced along the Yellow River, and Wang Yanzhang abandoned Zoujiakou and retreated back to Yangliu.

A few days later, a guerrilla harassment force of the Later Tang, led by Li Shaoxing, suddenly appeared near the southern city of Desheng and ambushed the scouts of the Later Liang. Duan Ning mistakenly believed that the Later Tang army had crossed the Yellow River upstream, so he was shocked and reprimanded Wang Yanzhang in person for abandoning Desheng Ferry and attacking Yang and Liu in the east.

After crossing the Yellow River, the vast and flat plains became the great arena for Li Cunxu to display his skills. The vanguard Yuan Xingqin advanced vigorously, captured the patrol soldiers of the Later Liang alive, and burned the warships of the Later Liang. The soldiers of the Later Liang were in a state of panic.

Wang Yanzhang continued to retreat, lifted the siege of Yang Liu, and retreated to Yangcun.

The Later Tang army pursued all the way and recaptured Deshengdu.

At this point, Wang Yanzhang’s efforts to “defeat the enemy in three days” were exhausted and he returned to the starting point.

(End of this chapter)