History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 279: Wang Yanzhang's Martyrdom

【Wang Yanzhang died for his country】

Li Cunxu ordered that all civil and military officials should send their families to Weizhou and fight to the death with the Later Liang.

October 10, solar eclipse.

Li Cunxu sent his wife Liu and son Li Jiji back to Weizhou. At parting, Li Cunxu said to them with tears in his eyes: "Life and death, honor and disgrace, all depend on this battle. If it fails, you should gather your family members in the palace and burn yourself to death for the country!" Afterwards, from Li Cunxu down, all the civil and military officials and their families said goodbye to each other in tears, wrote their wills, and arranged their affairs after their death.

On October 10, Li Cunxu personally led the army from Yangliu and crossed the Yellow River to the south;
On October 10, he met up with Li Siyuan in Yunzhou; at night, he continued to advance without stopping;

On October 10, in the early morning, the army encountered a patrol team of the Later Liang Dynasty. The Later Tang Dynasty followed them all the way and directly surrounded Zhongdu. The defenders were caught off guard and immediately broke through. The Later Tang army pursued them closely.

At this time, Xia Luqi, a general of the Later Tang Dynasty, was chasing dozens of Later Liang cavalrymen alone. In the darkness, he could not see the figures, but he could vaguely hear their conversation. After listening to a few sentences, Xia Luqi was very excited, "Hey, Wang Tieqiang!"

Xia Luqi was originally a lieutenant of Xuanwu Army in Bianzhou. He defected to Hedong because of a conflict with his commander. He once followed Zhou Dewei to fight in Youzhou. At that time, Youzhou's famous generals Shan Yangui and Yuan Xingqin were both known for their bravery and invincibility. Xia Luqi challenged them in a duel, and the fight was so exciting and fierce that the soldiers on both sides unconsciously stopped fighting and watched and cheered (Luqi fought with him, and the two sides could not be defeated, so the soldiers all put down their weapons and watched).

Li Cunxu had previously encountered an ambush by Liu Xun and was surrounded, his life hanging by a thread. Xia Luqi, holding a gun in one hand and a sword in the other, killed more than a hundred Bian soldiers with his own hands and rescued Li Cunxu. Xia Luqi was also seriously injured, so Li Cunxu gave him the name Li Shaoqi.

Xia Luqi had served in the Xuanwu Army and was a good friend of Wang Yanzhang, so he instantly locked onto Wang Yanzhang's back by using his voice.

"Wang Tieqiang!"

Wang Yanzhang heard the voice sound familiar, not knowing whether the person behind him was a friend or an enemy, nor what his intentions were, so he turned around. But he saw a flash of cold light in the darkness, and the cold spear pierced Wang Yanzhang's neck.

Wang Yanzhang was severely injured and captured. "So it was you?"

More than 200 generals including General Zhang Hanjie and Deputy General Zhao Tingyin were captured alive, and thousands of people were killed. The Eastern Route Army planned by Duan Ning was completely annihilated and ceased to exist.

Zhao Tingyin was originally on the list of people to be executed. When he was about to be executed, Xia Luqi shouted to spare his life and reported to Li Cunxu that he was a useful person. As a result, Li Cunxu pardoned Zhao Tingyin, and Zhao Tingyin pledged allegiance to the Later Tang. Later, he assisted Meng Zhixiang in establishing the Later Shu (one of the "Ten Kingdoms").

As for Wang Yanzhang, Li Cunxu wanted to persuade him to surrender.

Previously, in order to boost morale, Wang Yanzhang had said to his men, "Li Yazi is just a little brat who is addicted to cockfighting and dog walking. There is nothing to be afraid of." Now, when Li Cunxu saw Wang Yanzhang, he jokingly asked, "You always say that I am a little brat who is not worth worrying about. Are you convinced today?"

Wang Yanzhang smiled bitterly and said nothing.

Li Cunxu asked again: "You are a wise general, why don't you defend Yanzhou, but choose to garrison in Zhongdu, which has no city walls?"

Obviously, this was the work of Zhang Hanjie and other "relatives". Wang Yanzhang was too lazy to explain, and only said, "The great event is over, and it is beyond human control."

Li Cunxu teased Wang Yanzhang, but he understood Wang Yanzhang's difficulties. He hoped that Wang Yanzhang would abandon his dark side and join the light side and join the Later Tang Dynasty, so he comforted him with kind words and ordered the imperial doctor to treat his wounds. Facing Li Cunxu's sugar-coated bullets, Wang Yanzhang said a bold statement, "How can I serve Liang in the morning and Jin in the evening? How can I face the people of the world?" Serving Liang in the morning and Jin in the evening is similar to serving Qin in the morning and Chu in the evening.

Li Cunxu failed to persuade him, so he asked others to persuade him, but it still failed. Finally, Li Cunxu sent Li Siyuan to persuade him.

When Wang Yanzhang saw Li Siyuan, he said with great contempt: "Aren't you Miao Jilie? Don't waste your energy. I would rather die than surrender."

Li Siyuan was a "low-class person" in the Shatuo tribe. He did not even have a surname, only a nickname "Miao Jilie". He was named "Li Siyuan" after being adopted by Li Keyong. Calling him "Miao Jilie" was the biggest insult to Li Siyuan. In order to show his determination not to surrender, Wang Yanzhang deliberately angered the lobbyists.

Li Cunxu still did not give up. When the army set out, he sent someone to carry the seriously injured Wang Yanzhang on a stretcher so that he could see the might of the Later Tang army. "What do you think? Can I win a great victory this time and destroy the Later Liang?"

Wang Yanzhang rolled his eyes, "Wishful thinking! Although Duan Ning does not have outstanding talents, he has 60,000 elite soldiers under his command. With your sneak attack, hehe, it is not certain who will have the last laugh."

Li Cunxu knew that Wang Yanzhang would never surrender, so he ordered him to be beheaded.

After completely annihilating Wang Yanzhang's troops, all civil and military officials congratulated Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu toasted Li Siyuan and Guo Chongtao, saying that today's victory was all thanks to the two of them. If I had listened to Li Shaohong, the consequences would have been disastrous.

At this time, most of the generals still did not have enough confidence in the "Left Hook" operation, thinking it was too risky. They proposed to expand the territory eastward, extending it all the way to the coast, occupying today's Shandong and northern Jiangsu regions, slowly developing and operating them, and then slowly taking over Bianzhou.

Kang Yanxiao firmly supports the "Left Hook" operation.

Li Siyuan supported the continuation of the "left hook", pointing out that Wang Yanzhang was captured and Duan Ning was not aware of it. Even if the defeated army rushed there to report, he might not believe it. With his character, even if he believed it, it would take at least three days to make a decision. When he went south to rescue, he would be blocked by the flood he had caused. He would need to take a long detour to Baimajin, where a few small broken boats would transport tens of thousands of troops, which would take a lot of time. However, the straight-line distance from us to Bianzhou is less than 500 miles, and there are no mountains and rivers in the middle. The road is flat. If we travel day and night, we can reach the city of Bianzhou in three days. Before Duan Ning could react, Zhu Youzhen had already become our prisoner.

Li Siyuan pointed and drew on the map, using data to support his argument. Finally, Li Siyuan volunteered again, "I am willing to lead a thousand cavalry as the vanguard and rush into Bianzhou. Your Majesty can lead the main force to follow slowly."

Li Cunxu approved it.

So Li Siyuan led a thousand Shatuo special forces and galloped across the vast plains of central China, rushing towards Bianzhou day and night.

On October 10, they arrived at Caozhou, which was between Zhongdu and Bianzhou, close to Bianzhou. In other words, the Later Tang army had already traveled more than half of the way. The Caozhou garrison gave up resistance and opened the city to surrender.

On October 10, Bianzhou received intelligence that the Later Tang army had crossed Caozhou. The dust was so high that it covered the sky and the sun, and the number of troops was unknown. The Later Liang emperor and his ministers were in a panic, and the last emperor Zhu Youzhen committed suicide in despair. From Zhu Youzhen on, all the civil and military officials fled.

In the early morning of October 10, Li Siyuan's troops approached the city of Bianzhou. Wang Zan, the former commander-in-chief of the Northern Expedition Army of the Later Liang Dynasty, opened the city and surrendered. Li Siyuan entered the city to appease the people.

After dawn, Li Cunxu entered Bianzhou. The civil and military officials of the Later Liang Dynasty knelt on both sides of the road and kowtowed, asking for forgiveness. Li Cunxu ordered them to be comforted with kind words and let them return to their respective jobs.

Three days, just three days, and Later Liang was destroyed.

(End of this chapter)