History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 791: Showing Off the Army in Taiyuan (Part )
Fu Yanqing is the adopted grandson of Li Keyong. His father is Li Cunshen (Fu Cunshen), the adopted son of Li Keyong and a famous general of the Later Tang Dynasty. Li Cunshen served under Li Keyong and Li Cunxu. He defeated Zhu Wen many times, expelled the Khitan, and ruled Youzhou. He fought more than a hundred battles and never lost. Fu Yanqing is the fourth son of Li Cunshen.

Fu Yanqing was able to ride and shoot at the age of thirteen and had extraordinary martial arts. He was initially employed under Li Cunxu and served in the Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, and Later Zhou dynasties. He was a well-known veteran and fierce general in the Central Plains.

Fu Yanqing was experienced, prudent and prudent, and he knew that the outcome of this battle would have a decisive influence on the entire war situation, so he did not dare to underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, but instead requested reinforcements. Chai Rong immediately sent Li Yun and Zhang Yongde to lead 3,000 troops to help.

The Khitan sent cavalry to investigate and harass Fu Yanqing's army. Fu Yanqing was on high alert and sent the vanguard Shi Yanchao with 2,000 cavalry to explore the way, while Li Yun led the troops to follow.

In close combat, the Khitan army was defeated and two thousand people were killed.

At this time, according to Fu Yanqing's idea, we should stop while we are ahead and play more cautiously. We should develop slowly and not waste time.

However, the vanguard Shi Yanchao continued to pursue the Khitan cavalry with his courage and recklessness, and he shook off his own large force and advanced deep into the enemy territory alone. In the end, he was defeated due to being outnumbered and was killed by the Khitan army.

Later, the Khitan attacked with a surprise attack, and Li Yun, who led the infantry as the rear army, was unable to resist. In the end, Li Yun escaped with his life, and the Later Zhou army suffered heavy losses. Fu Yanqing had to retreat to Xinzhou and then returned to Taiyuan.

Shi Yanchao, known for his bravery and valor, was one of Guo Wei's original meritorious officials. After Guo Wei became emperor, Shi Yanchao was appointed as the commander of the imperial army (the commander of the tiger and swift troops) and led his troops to garrison in Jinzhou. During the first "Battle of Jinzhou", the commander of Jinzhou had not yet arrived, and there was only an acting governor (the governor of Jinzhou), Wang Wangan. Facing the aggressive Northern Han army, Wang Wangan immediately backed down. As a member of the central garrison, Shi Yanchao bravely took on the heavy responsibility and led his troops to persist in resistance, fighting against the enemy with fewer troops and persisting for more than a month until Wang Jun's reinforcements arrived. He was awarded the title of Zhengzhou Defense Envoy for his merit in defending Jinzhou.

In the previous Gaoping Tuan battle, Shi Yanchao led the troops and was the first to break into the battle line. He was promoted to the governor of Huazhou for his meritorious service. In the Battle of Xinkou, Shi Yanchao once again showed his fearless spirit and only knew how to charge forward without retreating. If a clay pot is not left at the well mouth, it will break. A great general will inevitably die in battle. The brave general Shi Yanchao finally died for his country.

Shi Yanchao did not have many outstanding military achievements, but he was included in the "Biography of Death" by Mr. Ouyang Xiu. According to Mr. Xiu, he was "a man who had no outstanding integrity at the beginning, but ended up dying". Mr. Xiu was a person with a moral obsession. He advocated loyalty to one man and despised slaves with three surnames. Therefore, he specially wrote "Biography of Death", which included three people including "Wang Tieqiang" Wang Yanzhang, and "Biography of Death" included fifteen people including Zhang Jingda, Shi Yanchao, Sun Sheng, etc.

When the news of the defeat at Xinkou came, Chai Rong was so worried and angry that he couldn't eat for several days. Xinkou was to Chai Rong what Jieting was to Kong Ming and Waterloo was to Napoleon. The defeat at Xinkou was the turning point of the entire Battle of Taiyuan.

At that time, according to the record of "Zizhi Tongjian", it is said that Chai Rong personally led the army to besiege Taiyuan, and the flags circled the city forty miles. What this concept is is not explained clearly, and the answer is given in "Ten Kingdoms Spring and Autumn": "Jinyang City is forty miles square". The circumference of Taiyuan City is only forty miles, so the concept of the flags of the Later Zhou Dynasty stretching for forty miles means that the Later Zhou army has surrounded Taiyuan with three layers inside and three layers outside. The Later Zhou army "surrounded the city 300 steps away."

In order to race against time with the Khitans, Chai Rong did not dare to delay for a moment and tried every means to attack Taiyuan City, but he made no progress and the situation became increasingly unfavorable for the Later Zhou Dynasty.

The first is insufficient strategic preparation.

We cannot say that it was a strategic misjudgment by Chai Rong, because plans are not as good as changes, and adapting to local conditions and keeping pace with the times are also basic qualities of strategic planning.

Initially, Chai Rong just wanted to "show off his troops at the gates of Jinyang" to scare the Northern Han and intimidate the "Jin separatists." It was the finale of the "Luzhou Self-Defense Counterattack" and a small-scale operation, so there was not enough room left for war mobilization, especially logistics supplies.

As a result, the situation got off to a too smooth start, and before they knew it, they had pushed to the outskirts of Taiyuan, and before they knew it, they had occupied half of Northern Han, and before they knew it, they might have cut off the Khitan’s aid route… Therefore, “they began to have the intention of annexation.”

The war escalated from a military parade to a war of annihilation; then, the Khitan came to help, and Chai Rong had to divide his troops to Xinzhou and Daizhou. While besieging Taiyuan, he had to face even more powerful Khitan cavalry, and the scale of the war escalated again.

Military supplies were in danger. In order to fill the shortage of military rations, the Later Zhou army had to tear off the mask of "liberators" and began to plunder the people of Hedong.

The people of Hedong were greatly disappointed. Liu Chong and Chai Rong were just birds of a feather. So, the people fled to the valleys to hide.

Chai Rong hurriedly stopped the looting and posted a notice to reassure the people, encouraging them to live and work in peace and resume production. At the same time, he announced that people could "donate to be officials". Anyone who donated 500 hu of grain and 500 hu of fodder to the army would be granted the title of Jinshi; anyone who donated 1,000 hu of grain and 1,000 hu of fodder would be granted the title of county-level official (granted a prefecture-level official).

But - it's a failure, it's a failure. Even rabbits know not to eat grass near their nests... They are simply bandits! They are worse than bandits, and they still want the people to think well of you. In one word, disgusting! You will definitely not be able to make money. Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting! Pah - too disgusting!
Furthermore, plundering the people was like draining the pond to catch fish, which was not a long-term solution. So Chai Rong urgently issued an imperial edict to mobilize civilians from Zezhou, Luzhou, Jinzhou, Jiangzhou, Cizhou, Xizhou, and nearby prefectures and counties such as Dongzhaoyi and Hebei to transport grain and fodder to serve in the army. According to records, there were tens of thousands of civilians involved in transporting grain at that time.

There were hundreds of thousands of Later Zhou troops outside the city of Taiyuan. Hundreds of thousands of people meant hundreds of thousands of mouths to feed. If each person ate one pound of food a day, hundreds of thousands of pounds of food would be consumed every day. In addition, the tens of thousands of civilians who transported the food and fodder would also consume it themselves, and there would be a certain proportion of losses during transportation... Due to the lack of previous strategic planning, the logistics were overwhelmed, and ultimately the Later Zhou army could no longer sustain itself.

Second, it’s the right time.

The Later Zhou not only lost the support of the people in Taiyuan, but also lost the weather. At that time, it rained heavily for several days and the roads were muddy, which not only made it difficult for the Later Zhou to supply logistics, but also caused the garrison troops under the city to suffer from diseases, and the soldiers suffered terribly.

Finally, the military situation is not ideal.

Chai Rong mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops and tens of thousands of civilians to attack Taiyuan in a hurry, "expecting to take it overnight", but he failed to do so. The defeat at Xinkou not only resulted in the loss of General Shi Yanchao and thousands of soldiers and supplies, but also opened up the lifeline of Khitan's aid to Jin. A large number of Khitan cavalry will continue to pour into Hedong.

This was the real reason for Chai Rong's anxiety and anger, and the reason why he couldn't eat for several days in a row. It was over, the Battle of Taiyuan was over.

Therefore, Chai Rong made a decisive move and retreated to preserve the strength of the Later Zhou Dynasty.

After Chai Rong issued an edict to return to the capital, chaos broke out in the army of the Later Zhou Dynasty. Some people spread rumors in the army, which shook the army's morale and caused a large amount of military supplies to be lost. The so-called loss was theft by the guards.

General Yao Yuanfu said to Chai Rong: "It is easy to advance, but difficult to retreat." So Chai Rong appointed Yao Yuanfu to cover the rear. As expected, Liu Chong took advantage of the retreat of the Later Zhou army and sent troops to pursue and kill him, but was repelled by Yao Yuanfu. Even so, the Later Zhou still suffered heavy losses. Hundreds of thousands of grains and fodders that could not be transported in time had to be burned, and the number of weapons and supplies lost was incalculable.

As the Later Zhou army withdrew, all the officials of the prefectures and counties of the Later Zhou who had surrendered abandoned the city and fled, and the Northern Han quickly recovered their homeland. Only Daizhou remained to defend itself.

Prior to this, Zheng Chuqian of Daizhou surrendered to Zhou, but was soon killed by his subordinate Sang Gui. Sang Gui reported to Chai Rong, falsely accusing Zheng Chuqian of colluding with Khitan. Sang Gui also sent Chai Rong a big gift as a token of his submission to Zhou. This gift was Wang Dezhong, the Privy Academician of Northern Han.

In the Battle of Gaoping, Liu Chong believed the words of the Astronomical Observer and insisted on fighting against the wind. Wang Dezhong held his horse and cried to persuade him, but was scolded and retreated. After the battle, Liu Chong sent Wang Dezhong to escort Yelu Dilu back to his country with courtesy, and by the way, he asked the Khitan to continue to send troops to assist in the defense of Taiyuan, and the Khitan promised. When Wang Dezhong was returning to his country via Daizhou, he happened to catch up with Sang Gui's mutiny and killing Zheng Chuqian. Sang Gui arrested him and sent him to Chai Rong to show his sincerity in surrendering to the Later Zhou.

After the Battle of Xinkou, Daizhou was isolated in northern Shanxi and surrounded by Khitan and Northern Han. Sang Gui did not dare to surrender to Northern Han, nor could he escape, so he could only close the city and hold on. Northern Han sent troops to attack, and Daizhou was unable to resist, so Northern Han easily recaptured Daizhou.

It is said that Chai Rong received Wang Dezhong, who had just returned from Khitan, and was overjoyed. He rewarded him with a jade belt, a BMW and other items, and then asked him about the latest developments on the Khitan side.

Wang Dezhong only admitted that he was ordered to send Yelu Dilu back to his country. He flatly denied that the Northern Han Dynasty asked the Khitan for help and insisted that the Khitan would not go south to support.

It was not until the news of the defeat at Xinkou came that Chai Rong realized that Wang Dezhong had lied. Not only did he send Yelu Dilu back to the country, but he was also ordered to ask for reinforcements. He also knew that the Khitan would soon send troops to rescue. So he executed Wang Dezhong for deceiving the emperor.

Before he died, someone felt sorry for Wang Dezhong and said to him, "You knew that the Khitans would send troops to rescue you, but you didn't tell them the truth. The day the Khitan reinforcements arrived would be the day you died, right?"

Wang Dezhong sighed and said, "I am a loyal person and I am a worker who earns a living. I am a worker for Liu, and my mother is in Taiyuan. If I tell them the truth, the Zhou people will definitely send a large number of troops to occupy the dangerous places. In this case, my country and my family will be destroyed. What's the point of me living alone? It's better to exchange my death for the safety of my country and my family."

Obviously, Chai Rong was deceived by Wang Dezhong to a certain extent. Although he expected that the Khitan would send troops to rescue him, he was still optimistic and gathered hundreds of thousands of troops under the city of Taiyuan, but only sent 20,000 troops to Xinzhou and Daizhou. Therefore, after the defeat at Xinkou, Chai Rong took his anger out on Wang Dezhong and killed him to vent his anger.

On June 6, Chai Rong issued an edict to return to the capital. The "Battle of Gaoping" ended here.

(End of this chapter)