History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 792: The Battle of the Nation
[Battle of the Nation]

The "Battle of Gaoping" had a profound impact on all three warring parties.

1. Northern Han.

The Northern Han was a political dwarf, and was a vassal of the Khitan, following the footsteps of the Khitan father in the north. This was followed by the trampling of sovereignty and economic exploitation.

No one wants to be a grandson. Liu Chong was eager to improve the international reputation of Northern Han, so after witnessing the weak military strength of Later Zhou in Gaoping, he firmly requested the Khitan reinforcements to stand aside and defeat Later Zhou with Northern Han's own strength, in order to show off Northern Han's strength to Khitan and refresh Khitan's attitude towards Northern Han.

Unexpectedly, the game went wrong. The 30,000 elite troops of the Northern Han were turned around and killed by the Later Zhou. Liu Chong fled the battlefield in a panic with only a hundred or so personal cavalrymen, while the "100,000 Khitan cavalry" really stood idly by.

Later, the Later Zhou Dynasty took advantage of the victory to besiege Taiyuan. Liu Chong had no choice but to continue to beg for reinforcements from the Khitan.

Liu Chong, who wanted to make a comeback through the "Battle of Gaoping", backfired and his international reputation plummeted. From then on, he had to become more dependent on his Khitan father.

Liu Chong became sick from worry and anger and never recovered. Liu Chong felt that he didn't have much time left, so he ordered his son Liu Chengjun to supervise the country and act as regent. Six months later, Liu Chong passed away in infinite loss and reluctance at the age of 60, having reigned for 4 years. The Northern Han regime then welcomed its second ruler, Liu Chengjun.

According to records, Liu Chengjun was "filial and prudent by nature, diligent in government, loving the people and respecting scholars", which made "the territory relatively peaceful". The "Battle of Gaoping" crippled the Northern Han Dynasty, making its new ruler Liu Chengjun unable to covet Bianzhou and could only rest and recuperate.

In order to maintain the Northern Han regime, Liu Chengjun rested and recuperated internally, and was more cautious in dealing with the Khitan externally. Whenever he submitted a memorial, he would call him "son", and the Khitan also called him "child emperor" in their reply.

Liu Chengjun is proud to be known as the “second generation son”.

2. Khitan
The main participants in the "Battle of Gaoping" were Northern Han and Later Zhou. The judging criterion here is the investment of war resources. From this perspective, Khitan is just a bystander.

However, although a small weight can weigh a thousand pounds, a mere few thousand Khitan cavalrymen were able to stir up a war involving hundreds of thousands of people and changed the course of the war. Therefore, from the perspective of their influence on the war situation, the Khitan was the most important finishing touch.

Among the three parties involved in the war, Khitan was the only one to achieve positive returns.

Needless to say, the Northern Han lost all its capital, suffered heavy casualties in personnel and material, and its international reputation plummeted. Liu Chong himself died of grief and anger. The Later Zhou also suffered heavy losses in personnel and material, did not gain an inch of land, and lost the support of the people in Hedong.

The Khitan confiscated a large amount of military supplies, and the losses of the Later Zhou Dynasty almost all became the gains of the Khitans. The Northern Han Dynasty not only failed to share the spoils of war, but was also plundered by the Khitan army. According to historical records, when the Khitan army was robbing the spoils of war, they "accidentally robbed" the soldiers and civilians of the Northern Han Dynasty. It was not until Liu Chong came forward to ask for them that the Khitans generously returned the looted people.

Please note that only the population of Northern Han was returned. As for the supplies...it's good enough to return the people to you, what else do you want?
In addition, the official report of the Northern Han Dynasty said that "some Chinese people were mistakenly looted by the Khitans", and the official report of the Khitans also said that "some Han people were mistakenly looted by the Liao army". How could they be "mistakenly looted" in the territory of the Northern Han Dynasty? If the battlefield was on the border between the Northern Han Dynasty and the Later Zhou Dynasty, this statement would certainly be true. The Khitan army looted the people of the Later Zhou Dynasty, accidentally crossed the border without knowing it, and mistakenly took the people of the Northern Han Dynasty for the people of the Later Zhou Dynasty. This is still convincing.

The battlefield was in the heartland of Northern Han, filled with Northern Han civilians. Did you "plunder by mistake"?
Khitan did whatever they wanted in Northern Han territory, and Northern Han not only accepted it, but also took the initiative to clean up the mess for Khitan afterwards. This was a common practice. This has always been the case in ancient and modern times, both in China and abroad. You can refer to the various atrocities committed by the Lighthouse Kingdom in Shanghai during the Republic of China period, or the atrocities committed by the Lighthouse Kingdom’s garrison in South Korea, or the Lighthouse Kingdom in Japan…

In addition to a large amount of money, food, materials, population and other resources, the biggest gain of the Khitan was political gain, that is, as mentioned above, the Northern Han regime had to become more dependent on the Khitan. As a result, the Northern Han became a bridgehead and troublemaker for the Khitan to get involved in the Central Plains.
The performance of the Later Zhou Dynasty in the "Battle of Gaoping" was very eye-catching. Although it eventually withdrew its troops in a hurry, the timely and decisive retreat was also comparable to a victory.

The impact of the Gaoping War on the Later Zhou Dynasty was enormous. Although the losses were heavy, overall, the impact on the Later Zhou Dynasty was positive and active. It was mainly manifested in the following aspects:

1. Enhanced internal cohesion.

At the beginning of the war, or when Chai Rong ascended the throne, although there was no military and political force in the Later Zhou Dynasty that was enough to threaten Chai Rong's rule, there were many people who were fence-sitters. Especially when the Northern Han Dynasty invaded Luzhou on a large scale, many civil and military officials in the court took a wait-and-see attitude.

During the battle, Fan Aineng, He Hui and others fled and spread rumors to confuse the people. In addition, Chai Rong also deduced that if Liu Chong failed, he would definitely escape from Jiangzhuling, so he ordered Li Yanchong, the governor of Zezhou, to lead troops to guard Jiangzhuling, which was Liu Chong's Huarong Road. Li Yanchong believed the rumors of Fan Aineng and He Hui and thought that the Later Zhou Dynasty was doomed, so he led his troops back. As a result, Liu Chong really escaped from Jiangzhuling without any danger.

Chai Rong demoted Li Yanchong and beheaded dozens of generals including Fan Ainen and He Hui.

The desertion of the battlefield by Fan Ainen and others greatly stimulated Chai Rong, causing him to embark on military reform, which achieved results, especially the reform of the imperial guards, which will be described in detail later.

Chai Rong's series of reforms in the army had a profound impact on later generations and laid the foundation for the Song Dynasty.

At the same time, Fu Yanqing and other meritorious soldiers were rewarded.

Chai Rong lacked his own direct lineage, but through the "Battle of Gaoping", Chai Rong reorganized the troops, clearly distinguished between rewards and punishments, and quickly established a direct lineage of force centered on "heroes who participated in the expedition", making the Later Zhou Dynasty closely united in a power system with Comrade Chai Rong as the core.

2. Increased Chai Rong's confidence

In the "Battle of Gaoping", Chai Rong won the battle despite all the opposition, so from then on, no matter how big or small the political affairs were, Chai Rong would make all the decisions personally. Chai Rong was more confident in his judgment, which became an advantage in the subsequent war of unification. However, this undoubtedly increased Chai Rong's workload. Just like Zhuge Liang, who "personally handled everything, big or small", heavy work would inevitably shorten his life. This is also one of the reasons why Chai Rong left us prematurely at the age of 39.

Countless facts tell us that “996” can really lead to death from overwork.

3. It greatly enhanced the international prestige of the Later Zhou Dynasty, which was then powerful and laid the foundation for the subsequent war of unification. The "Battle of Gaoping" became the battle for Chai Rong to establish his country. In the following text, we will witness the wonderful drama of the enemies on all sides being defeated.

4. Started the process of unification

Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, eradicating separatist regimes, unifying China, and restoring the Chinese nation have always been the great ideals of people with lofty ideals. They have sacrificed their lives and shed their blood for it, and Chai Rong is no exception.

According to historical records, "after Chai Rong won the Battle of Gaoping, he had the ambition to conquer the whole world."

(End of this chapter)