History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 389 Xu's Special Wu 3
This move was very effective. Wei Quanfeng suspected that Liu Wei had set up an ambush and did not dare to attack rashly. Instead, he camped in Xiangyatan and waited for the reinforcements from Ma Yin of Tanzhou. He lost the great opportunity to capture Hongzhou.

Ma Yin sent Peng Yanzhang, the nephew of Peng Gan, to besiege Gao'an to support Wei Quanfeng. Peng Gan was the former governor of Jizhou and a general under Zhong Chuan of Hongzhou. After Zhong Chuan's death, his sons killed each other, and eventually the Huainan forces took advantage of the situation and occupied the Hongzhou Zhennan Army. Peng Gan of Jizhou was unwilling to surrender to Huai, so he surrendered the city to Ma Yin of Tanzhou.

Liu Wei of Hongzhou held back Wei Quanfeng's 100,000 men with only 1,000 men. The situation was critical, and the Chu army opened up a new battlefield (Gao'an). The situation was not optimistic.

Xu Wen asked for advice from his strategist Yan Keqiu, who recommended an excellent commander, Zhou Ben, saying that if Zhou Ben took command, the Chu army would be defeated immediately.

Xu Wen obeyed Yan Keqiu almost by his own will, so he immediately sent Zhou Ben to lead the army to support him. Zhou Ben had just suffered a defeat in Suzhou not long ago, and was in a very low mood. He claimed to be sick and stayed in bed all day. After receiving the appointment letter, he repeatedly declined, saying that he was useless and could not handle the important task, and asked the lord to find someone better.

Yan Keqiu came to the door in person, broke into the bedroom, pulled Zhou Ben out of the quilt, and said a few heartfelt words to him, saying that he should not blame himself for the failure of Suzhou, because it was not his fault, but the fault of "certain people". It was because the lord was unwilling to give up power and was hindered everywhere, preventing him from doing his best.

Zhou Ben immediately perked up because Yan Keqiu had hit the nail on the head and revealed the secret. This sentence is very interesting. Just imagine, who was Zhou Ben's superior at that time and could give him orders blindly? Who else but Xu Wen?
This is slightly related to the previous article. Xu Wen wanted to control Huainan, but he was not confident about the meritorious old generals, especially those who held heavy troops and led troops outside. Xu Wen must keep them under his control. The big boss did not understand the situation on the front line, but he was pointing fingers at the front line from the rear. The commander of the front line had a hard time. If he won, it was due to the leadership's command and dispatch; if he lost, it was due to his own incompetence.

The shame of defeat made Zhou Ben depressed and decadent. He had to take the blame for his leader, which was the main reason why he claimed to be sick and stayed at home, giving up his responsibility.

Yan Keqiu's words refreshed Zhou Ben, and he immediately made a promise: "As long as you don't send me a deputy general or military supervisor, and let me work alone, I guarantee there will be no problem. Otherwise, please chop off my head!"

Yan Keqiu had already informed Xu Wen and agreed to Zhou Ben's conditions on the spot.

Xu Wen ordered Zhou Ben to rescue Gao An, first repel the reinforcements of the Chu army, and then concentrate on dealing with Wei Quanfeng.

Zhou Ben led 7,000 elite troops, marching day and night, and rushed to Xiangyatan. Zhou Ben said to those around him: "The Chu people are not really going to attack Gaoan, but are using the strategy of besieging Wei to save Zhao to support Wei Quanfeng in Xiangyatan. After we kill Wei Quanfeng, the Chu people will definitely retreat without a fight. Why go to Gaoan? Follow me to Xiangyatan!"

Zhou Ben led the team to rush. When they passed Hongzhou, Liu Wei finally breathed a sigh of relief and took out good wine and food to reward the reinforcements. However, Zhou Ben did not stop at all and acted like Guan Yu who drank wine and killed Hua Xiong. He said, "Keep it for now. I will kill Wei Quanfeng of Xiangyatan first."

Some people advised Zhou Ben to stay there first, reorganize himself, and observe the terrain and topography. Otherwise, our army would be exhausted after traveling thousands of miles, and the enemy would be well rested. Moreover, the enemy and we had a huge disparity in numbers, 100,000 versus 7,000...

Zhou Ben glared at him, "What do you know? That's why we can't hesitate, we must charge forward at once. If we pause for a moment, our soldiers will learn more about our disadvantages, and their morale will collapse, and they will collapse without a fight!"

Except for a few senior generals, the 7,000 men led by Zhou Ben had no idea that they were facing an army of 100,000... and they just launched the charge in a confused manner.

Zhou Ben was definitely a ruthless man. It is said that he was a descendant of Zhou Yu, the great commander of the naval forces of the Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. After Zhou Yu's death, he was buried in Susong, Shuzhou. A temple was built next to his tomb, and his descendants settled down around him. By the end of the Tang Dynasty, there were dozens of families living there. One of the poor families was Zhou Ben. Zhou Ben was very strong and was a tiger-fighting hero. He once defeated a tiger in a single fight. His martial arts value was off the charts. He always led the way in every battle and always rushed to the front. Every time the battle ended, he would be covered with wounds, to the point of being completely bruised, but he could actually hold a red-hot iron by himself, ironing his wounds while chatting and laughing with others in the aroma of barbecue.

Wu Song plus Guan Yu, with a very high IQ, is a rare talent with courage, knowledge, and both civil and military skills. No wonder he dared to make such a boast and set a FLAG in front of Yan Keqiu.

Wei Quanfeng set up camp along the stream at Xiangyatan, stretching for dozens of miles. Zhou Ben lined up his troops on the other side of the stream, sending his thin soldiers forward to challenge and lure the enemy into battle.

Wei Quanfeng was easily deceived and sent his troops to chase them on foot, but they were attacked by Zhou Ben halfway across the river. Wei Quanfeng's troops were defeated and a serious stampede occurred, with many soldiers being trampled or drowned. Zhou Ben then divided his troops to attack and cut off their way back.

Zhou Ben captured Wei Quanfeng and 5,000 soldiers alive, then took advantage of the victory to attack Yuanzhou, captured Yuanzhou governor Peng Yanzhang alive, and continued to attack Jizhou.

At the same time, Tao Ya also sent his son to attack Raozhou and Xinzhou. The governor of Raozhou abandoned the city and fled, and the governor of Xinzhou Wei Zaichang surrendered; Mi Zhicheng and Lu Shizao attacked Gao'an, and the Chu army lifted the siege and escaped.

When Huainan sent troops into Xinzhou to take over, Wei Zichang fled in fear and defected to Qian Liu in Hangzhou.

Under the sharp attack from Huainan like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, Lu Guangchou of Qianzhou, a man of insight and wisdom, immediately took the initiative to express his allegiance to Huainan.

At this point, the Huainan Group had annexed the entire territory of Jiangxi.

However, it should be noted that Lu Guangchou of Qianzhou only expressed his allegiance to Huainan, while the actual control was still in the hands of Lu Guangchou. Moreover, he was playing both sides. While expressing his allegiance to Huainan, he also sent people to Bianzhou to express his allegiance to Zhu Wen.

This double-dealer Lu Guangchou is said to be a descendant of Lu Zhi, a famous official in Hebei during the Three Kingdoms period. Lu Zhi angered Dong Zhuo because of his straightforward advice, so he resigned from office and lived in seclusion. Later, he became Yuan Shao's military advisor. Gongsun Zan and Liu Bei were both students of Lu Zhi.

After the annexation of Jiangxi, Huainan's jurisdiction bordered on that of Wang Shenzhi of Fujian. However, Huainan was in a dangerous situation with enemies on all sides and wars on all sides (Liangzhe, Central Plains, and the two lakes), so it was not appropriate to have disputes with the new neighbor in the south, so Zhang Zhiyuan was sent to Fujian to seek good neighborliness.

This matter has been mentioned in the previous story line of the Min Kingdom. Zhang Zhiyuan thought that Huainan had just annexed Jiangxi and its momentum was huge, so he airdropped into Fujian with a condescending and arrogant attitude. His words were threatening and intimidating, and he was aggressive towards Wang Shenzhi, and was eventually beheaded by Wang Shenzhi.

In order to consider the overall situation, Huainan had to swallow its anger.

(End of this chapter)