History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 367: Worried 6
Wang Yanqiu took advantage of the victory and marched north to Wangdu in the north of Dingzhou, preparing to strike a direct blow to the Khitan reinforcements, and ordered Zhang Yanlang to retreat to Xinle in the south of Dingzhou as a strategic depth. However, Zhang Yanlang retreated to Zhenzhou, which was further south and safer, and ordered Zhu Jianfeng, the governor of Zhaozhou, to station in Xinle.

The Khitan sent two heavyweights, Tiyin (official title, used to handle internal affairs of the royal family) Nerigun (also known as "Teligun") and Dutong (military commander) Chala. The two were indeed sharp, bypassing the heavily guarded Wangdu and attacking Xinle in the rear, conquering Xinle in one fell swoop, and Zhu Jianfeng died for his country.

Wangdu and the Khitan army celebrated and after joining forces in Dingzhou, they dispatched 5,000 Khitan cavalry and several thousand Dingzhou infantry to march westward to Quyang. If they could control Quyang, the retreat route of Wang Yanqiu in Wangdu in the north would be cut off, and he would be strategically surrounded by the coalition forces of Dingzhou and Khitan.

Wang Yanqiu rushed directly to Dingzhou and gave an impassioned mobilization speech before the battle, saying that Wang Du was just a frivolous and arrogant waste, and the Khitan were profit-seeking villains. Although they were numerous, they were not to be feared. At the same time, two temporary military orders were issued: 1. No bows and arrows were allowed, and everyone had to use short knives and close combat was required; 2. Anyone who dared to look back would be beheaded.

Forget about deserting the battlefield. If you dare to look back, you will be beheaded.

In this battle, the coalition forces of Wangdu and Khitan were defeated in the deployment of troops and were further attacked by the weather god.

The Khitan coalition forces in Wangdu sent their infantry to the front to attract firepower and delay time, and then their cavalry made a detour from behind to encircle the enemy and then attack from both sides.

Wang Yanqiu ordered Li Yanqing and Gao Xingzhou to attack the left and right wings respectively, and use cavalry to charge the infantry formation of Wangdu to disrupt their formation, and then the infantry followed up to reap the harvest. When the cavalry charged, they all covered the eyes of the horses in advance to prevent them from being afraid and then hugged the horses' necks tightly. They were not required to swing swords to kill the enemy, but only to control the horses as long as possible and use the impact of the horses to disrupt the infantry formation.

Nergun led 5,000 cavalrymen in a detour, but encountered heavy rain, the river water swollen and overflowed. Wang Yanqiu took the opportunity to attack, and the Khitan cavalry was trapped in the lake. Nearly half of them were captured alive. Nergun led the remaining cavalry to flee northward.

Zhao Dejun of Youzhou sent troops to intercept the enemy in time, controlled all the important traffic routes, killed the defeated troops fleeing to the north, and captured alive Khitan generals such as Nerigun. The Khitan cavalry scattered among the people were beaten to death by Hebei farmers who had suffered from Khitan harassment with rakes, hoes, wooden sticks and other weapons.

Wang Du fled to Dingzhou City in a panic and closed the city to defend it.

Wang Yanqiu then surrounded Dingzhou and prepared for a long-term war of attrition. However, Zhu Hongzhao and Zhang Qianzhao reported to the court that Wang Yanqiu had a negative attitude, was unsteady in his will, and was afraid of the enemy and retreated...

Zhang Qianzhao was the chief political commissar (dujian), and his head was determined by his butt, so he had to be an active advocate of war; Zhu Hongzhao was one of Li Siyuan's confidants, but he did not get along well with An Zhonghui. An Zhonghui was at the peak of his career, so he had excluded him for a long time. Now that he was sent to the front line, his idea was the same as Zhang Qianzhao's, that is, he could not advocate conservatism, but had to actively advocate war, otherwise he would be accused by political enemies such as An Zhonghui of secretly colluding with bandits and having two minds.

Throughout history, both in China and abroad, those who advocate war are usually regarded as national heroes by angry young people, while those who advocate peace are denounced as capitulationists, spineless people, and traitors.

So Li Siyuan ordered Wang Yanqiu to attack.

Wang Yanqiu had no choice but to launch a strong attack on Dingzhou City, which was tall and easy to defend but difficult to attack. As a result, he lost 3,000 people in a round of tentative attacks. From then on, no one dared to take the initiative to attack again.

Wang Yanqiu sent troops to seize the food and grass in Yiwu Army's territory and cut off all external contacts of Dingzhou City. Without reinforcements from outside and food and grass from inside, Dingzhou would surely collapse without a fight in a few days.

Just a few days after the siege began, a man in a dragon robe suddenly appeared on the top of the city wall. The defenders shouted loudly, asking Wang Yanqiu and other besieging troops to look, saying that this man was the crown prince of Zhuangzong and should be the legitimate emperor of the empire.

Wang Du shouted to Wang Yanqiu, "This man is none other than the late emperor's crown prince! You have received so much kindness from the late emperor, are you still indifferent? Why don't you quickly swear allegiance and join me in supporting the wise ruler?"

Wang Yanqiu and other generals took a closer look and then laughed out loud, "Shanzhai! Isn't this little Dede? Do you think we don't recognize him?"

It turns out that this boy wearing a dragon robe and known as "Zhuangzong's Prince" was an orphan picked up from the battlefield when Li Cunxu was fighting in Hebei in his early years. At that time, Li Cunxu saw that he was outstanding in appearance and lonely, so he felt sympathy for him and took him back to the army and adopted him as his son. Because he was "captured", his nickname was also called "De De". When he grew up, Li Cunxu gave him the name Li Jitao.

After Li Siyuan entered Luoyang, An Zhonghui gave him to the eunuch Duan Huai to raise. Duan Huai didn't like this stray dog ​​very much, and "allowed him to do whatever he wanted." Wang Du, who had been harboring evil intentions for a long time, secretly took him to Dingzhou in case of emergency. Now, it was finally time to use him, and he put on a dragon robe and said he was the prince of Zhuangzong Li Cunxu.

Unexpectedly, Wang Yanqiu and other generals knew the whole story of "De De" and were not fooled at all. Besides, even if there really was a "Prince Zhuangzong", he would have been killed by An Zhonghui, Huo Yanwei and others long ago. How could he survive until today? Wang Yanqiu ordered his loud-voiced soldiers to scold loudly, listing all of Wang Du's rebellious behaviors, and then advised: "Things have come to this point, and doing such a small trick will only add to the ridicule. You only have two choices: mobilize the entire army and fight to the death; or tie your hands and surrender out of the city. There is no other way!"

Zhu Hongzhao and Zhang Qianzhao kept reporting on Wang Yanqiu, so Li Siyuan once again ordered Wang Yanqiu to take the initiative to attack.

Wang Yanqiu remained calm and asked the envoy who delivered the imperial edict to ride with him around Dingzhou City. Wang Yanqiu pointed at the tall and solid city wall and said, "Look for yourself. Not to mention that there are people defending it, it's an empty city. If you are asked to build a ladder or a battering ram, can you climb up? Attacking it by force is really a waste of life. It is better to besiege it and cut off all food and grass supplies. I guarantee that they will have internal strife!"

The envoy reported to Li Siyuan the situation on the Dingzhou front line that he had witnessed with his own eyes. Only then did Li Siyuan stop urging him and accepted Wang Yanqiu's suggestion of a protracted war.

More than a month later, the defenders in the city tried to break out, but failed. As expected, they had internal strife and opened the city gates to surrender to the king's army. Wang Du saw that the situation was hopeless, so he and his entire family burned themselves to death.

After Dingzhou was pacified, Wang Yanqiu and Zhao Dejun were given the title of Shizhong for their merits.

Wang Du's head was presented at Taishe; Wang Du's four sons, one younger brother, and Tuli Tiela and his son were captured alive and executed by slow slicing; Teligun and fifty others were kept as personal guards, and the remaining more than 600 Khitan prisoners were all beheaded.

Previously, after Zhao Dejun captured generals such as Terigun, Li Siyuan wrote a letter to the Khitan, scolding the Khitan for their rudeness and emphasizing that the basis of the exchanges between the two countries was that there had never been a Luoyang or a Dingzhou. However, the Khitan this time blatantly violated the peace consensus between the two countries, brazenly sent troops, brutally interfered in internal affairs, fueled the arrogance of ethnic separatists, and obstructed the great cause of China's reunification. It was really hateful and deserved to be smashed to pieces by the Great Wall of Steel.

At this time, the leader of Khitan was Yelu Deguang (the second emperor of the Liao Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Liao). Yelu Deguang apologized humbly and begged Li Siyuan to release the prisoners of war and restore the old relationship.

How did Li Siyuan respond? Li Siyuan, who was in a strong position, naturally showed his strong side: not only did he kill all the Khitan captives, but he also killed the Khitan envoy who delivered the letter.

In the Battle of Dingzhou, the Khitan did not gain any advantage, nor did they occupy an inch of territory in the Central Plains. Instead, they lost about 7,000 elite Khitan cavalry. The chieftain of the Xi tribe, Tuli Tiela, was killed, and dozens of generals including Teligun and Chala were captured and surrendered...

After this battle, the people of the Central Plains recorded with great pride:
"At that time, China's power was almost shaken, and the Khitan began to decline slightly, starting with Yan Qiu." - "New History of the Five Dynasties"

"Khitan became weak" - "Old History of the Five Dynasties"
The Khitan people recorded with great regret: "I regret it very much."

Wang Yanqiu, who recovered Dingzhou, never killed anyone during the entire war, and did not rely on killing to establish his authority, but instead used the righteousness of the Spring and Autumn Period to influence his soldiers; Wang Yanqiu shared the joys and sorrows with his soldiers, and distributed all the gold and silver treasures awarded by the emperor to his men; when eating, he ate from the same pot and sat at the same table with his soldiers, instead of having a separate kitchen or "special supply"; he was also polite to his subordinates... All the soldiers were impressed and were willing to die for him.

After recovering Dingzhou, he was first appointed as the Jiedushi of Tianping Army in Yunzhou, and later moved to Pinglu Army in Qingzhou. He was promoted to Zhongshu Ling for his meritorious service. He died of illness in Qingzhou in the third year of Changxing (932) at the age of 62. He was posthumously awarded the title of Taiwei. Defeating the Khitan and recovering Dingzhou became the pinnacle of Wang Yanqiu's life.

9. Others

In May of the first year of Tiancheng (926), Linzhou reported that the commander Zhang Yanchong had caused chaos, burned and looted citizens, and had already killed them all.

In July, Wang Jianli of Zhenzhou reported that Liu Yinzhao, the governor of Zhuozhou, had refused to accept his succession, openly rejected the imperial edict, and refused to transfer power to the governor he trusted. He had been suppressed, and Liu Yinzhao and 7 of his accomplices had their feet broken and were imprisoned.

In September of the third year of Tiancheng (928), Dou Yanwan of Qingzhou refused to accept the emperor's order, so the emperor ordered Li Jingzhou, the governor of Bingzhou, to attack him. On December 9, Li Jingzhou submitted a memorial: capture Qingzhou and kill Dou Yanwan's entire family.

(End of this chapter)