History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 646: River Attack
Faced with the opportunity that was within reach, Li Jinquan threw it away. Although everyone was puzzled, they did not dare to ask more questions.

When it was evening and it was about to get dark, there was a sudden rumbling sound of war drums. The sound was so deafening that it could be heard more than ten miles away. Following the sound of the war drums, the ambush troops of the Later Han Dynasty in various places also came out, "Turn back! March in unison!"

The Southern Tang soldiers were terrified. Li Jinquan pointed at the endless Later Han troops and said, "Do you know the consequences of charging over there just now?"

Hezhong was thousands of miles away. The Southern Tang had no grudges against the Later Han in the past or in the present. Moreover, it was clearly interfering in the internal affairs of another country and helping traitors to betray their own country. Therefore, the soldiers had no fighting spirit and low morale. More importantly, even if they won the Battle of Hezhong by chance, the Southern Tang would not be able to effectively control Hezhong. They could only help Li Shouzhen, who had never met them before, to take advantage of the situation. Unless the Southern Tang really conquered the entire Central Plains in one go, it could effectively curb the forces of the Later Shu and Khitan.

So when the passion subsided, Li Jing also felt a little regretful. At this time, Li Jinquan had also retreated to the territory of Southern Tang and returned to Haizhou. He reported to Li Jing on the situation on the front line, saying that the Later Han Dynasty was ready for battle and our army was at a disadvantage.

Therefore, Li Jing decisively ordered to stop the military action of "saving Li Shouzhen". However, in order to take into account the face of the "Great Tang Empire", Li Jing wrote a letter to Liu Chengyou of the Later Han Dynasty, apologizing to Liu Chengyou and requesting to restore normal diplomatic relations and trade between the two countries. At the same time, he advised him to be more generous and forgive Li Shouzhen. It can also be regarded as an explanation to Li Shouzhen that I am not ignoring you, buddy.

Liu Chengyou ignored the letter and did not respond at all, not even bothering to say "haha" in reply.

This made Li Jing very angry.

Soon, Li Jing got his chance. As the war in the west became stalemated, many soldiers and civilians in the Huaibei area of ​​the Later Han Dynasty fled to Huainan. So Li Jing sent Huangfu Hui to lead an army of 10,000 to Haizhou, Sizhou and other border areas to recruit people.

Huangfu Hui, more than 926 years ago (947), coerced Zhao Zaili to launch a mutiny in Beizhou, and then occupied Weizhou. Then, in Weizhou, he supported Li Siyuan and "Mingzong entered Wei", forcing Li Cunxu to die in the "Xingjiao Gate Incident". After the Khitans invaded Bianzhou, he fled to Huainan () because he was worried that the Khitans would seek revenge on Li Cunxu.

Li Jing found a legitimate reason for his shameless act of recruiting rebels. He claimed that China had been in chaos for a long time because it had been without a leader, but I cannot take advantage of others' misfortune and throw stones into the well. Young people still have to abide by martial ethics, so I don't want to intervene with force and restore the foundation of my ancestors' country through violence... So I provided a paradise for the people of the Tang Dynasty, and everyone is welcome to stay.

Look at this public relations work!

Under the persuasion and guidance of Huangfu Hui, Xian Shilang, the defender of Mengcheng under the jurisdiction of Bozhou in the Later Han Dynasty, happily rebelled and fled to the "free world".

Immediately afterwards, the recruitment team was expelled by the Later Han Dynasty with force. Cheng Deqin, the inspector of Xuzhou, repelled the Southern Tang army at Dongyou Town (now Xinyi City, Jiangsu Province) on the Later Han side of the border between the two countries, killing 500 people and capturing 120 alive. Huangfu Hui led his troops to retreat.

When Xuzhou escorted the captured Huainan general Li Hui and 33 others to Bianzhou, Liu Chengyou ordered them to be given clothes and released to Huainan. The Later Han Dynasty despised Huainan from the perspective of strength, but did not want to make the relationship too stiff. After all, more friends are better than more enemies.

Since the development of Southern Tang, its overall strength has actually declined, and it can no longer be compared with the Huainan power during the Yang Xingmi period. The details of its origins and development will be presented later.

In short, Li Jing of Southern Tang coveted the Central Plains but lacked the ability to do so. During the rebellion of the three towns in the Later Han Dynasty, there were many sporadic minor frictions in the border areas. It was not until the news of Li Shouzhen's failure came soon after that Li Jing gave up completely and ordered the revocation of Li Jinquan's post as "Northern Camp Recruiting Envoy".

Without any help, Li Shouzhen could only stay in Hezhong and wait for a miracle. Due to the depletion of food, more than half of the people in the city had starved to death (the food in Hezhong City was almost gone, and 949% to 4% of the people starved to death). On April 30, the second year of Qianyou (), Li Shouzhen organized more than infantrymen to attack the northwest corner defense line, intending to break the encirclement. However, he was repelled by Guo Wei, and more than half of the soldiers were lost, and all the combat equipment was lost.

Three days later, Li Shouzhen returned and organized another breakout, but was still repelled.

On May 5, Li Shouzhen's generals Wang Jixun, Zhou Guangxun, Nie Zhiyu and more than a thousand people surrendered, and the rest surrendered one after another.

Among them, there are two surrendered generals worth mentioning:
"Famous General", "Wang Santie" Wang Jixun
Wang Jixun’s title of “famous general” is quite interesting. Although he was famous for his bravery, he did not go down in history for this reason. The reason why he was called a “famous general” was because he maintained a record of repeated defeats in battles.

When Li Shouzhen first started his army, he sent him to attack Tongguan, but he was defeated and fled back; he sent him to steal camps and rob camps, but he was defeated and seriously injured. Later, when he saw that Li Shouzhen had lost power, he surrendered to Guo Wei, who recommended him as a sacrificial official. After Guo Wei became emperor, he promoted him to governor, and he served in many places. Wang Jixun lived until the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, during which time he never won a battle.

He looked very fierce and famous, but he was not good at anything except making trouble. Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, once formed a 10,000-strong imperial guard and gave it to Wang Jixun to lead. In order to appease the soldiers, he also allocated special funds to help the soldiers marry wives and start families.

Wang Jixun stuffed the money into his own pocket. How could the soldiers marry without money? Wang Jixun taught them: do it yourself and have enough food and clothing. He ordered the soldiers to rob civilian women in broad daylight, whether they were married or unmarried, whoever grabbed the woman would be the one.

More than 10,000 imperial guards openly robbed the bride, and local officials did not dare to stop it. The nature of this was extremely bad, and the social impact was extremely bad. Emperor Taizu of Song was furious and arrested more than 100 people and beheaded them all.

Wang Jixun is just chicken ribs, a pity to throw away but tasteless to eat.

Zhou Guangxun

He is the main general of Hezhong West City, and West City is the focus of the Battle of Hezhong City. Guo Wei has repeatedly emphasized the importance of West City to Bai Wenke and Liu Ci before.

Now, the surrender of Xicheng means that Li Shouzhen has lost almost all of his elite troops and also lost an important fortress.

So, Guo Wei thought that the moment of decisive battle had come.

On May 5, after careful deployment and dispatch, at Guo Wei's command, various troops launched a fierce attack from all directions at the same time, and the clarion call for the general offensive was sounded.

Thanks to our friend “Dadi Longteng” for his recommendation votes and support over the past few days, thank you!
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(End of this chapter)