History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 807: Battle of Zhengyang (Part )

On the second day of the "Zhengyang Encounter" (January 18), Chai Rong arrived at Yongning Town, Ruyin County, Yingzhou, more than miles away from Zhengyang. Here, Chai Rong made an accurate prediction of the battlefield situation and said to his attendants:
"After Shouzhou was relieved, most of the farmers who had taken refuge in the city returned to their villages. Now that they heard that our army was gathering, they would definitely enter the city again. In this case, many people in the city would starve to death. We should first send people to comfort them so that they can farm in peace."

On the 20th of the first lunar month, Chai Rong arrived in Zhengyang. He was very dissatisfied with Li Gu's performance, so he replaced Li Gu with Li Chongjin as the commander-in-chief, and Li Gu was appointed as the "Shouzhou Xingfushi". It should be said that the transfer of Li Gu was very severe, not as harmonious as it seemed on the surface.

On the surface, he was transferred from "Huainan Road Camp Recruiting and Suppressing Envoy" to "Shouzhou Executive Office", and the commander-in-chief became a high-ranking official.

In fact, this "high official" position was not very popular in Li Gu's hands, because the original text said "Gu was in charge of the affairs of Shouzhou". At that time, the governor of a prefecture was of the fifth rank, and the governor of a prefecture was of the third rank, just like today's "cities" are divided into municipalities, provincial capitals, prefecture-level cities, and county-level cities. Although they are all "mayors", the administrative levels may be several levels different. Although Shouzhou was a governor, it was only of the third rank, and Comrade Li Gu was already a prime minister of the first rank.

The same rank is called "zhi", and the next rank is called "pan". Li Gu was the "pan" of Shouzhou Prefecture. He was a first-rank official, but he was doing a third-rank job, which was obviously a demotion.

Furthermore, Shouzhou was still under the control of the enemy, so this "judge" was still the "remote judge" we are familiar with, with a name only and no real power. He had the title of a high-ranking official, but actually had no job.

In other words, Comrade Li Gu was "pushed aside" because of his overly conservative performance during the Zhengyang Campaign, which angered Chai Rong.

On the 22nd day of the first lunar month, Chai Rong arrived at the city of Shouzhou and set up camp on the north bank of the Fei River. He ordered the troops to re-encircle the city of Shouzhou and move the pontoon bridge from Zhengyang Town to Xiacai Town.

The Fei River is only 2 miles away from Shouzhou City. Chai Rong's operation was a close-range attack. Xiacai Town was originally Xiacai County, which belonged to Yingzhou. Later, the county was abolished and became a town. Xiacai Town is 55 miles east of Zhengyang Town. The Later Zhou Dynasty attacked from the northwest of Shouzhou, which means that Chai Rong pushed the pontoon bridge about 55 miles to the front line.

It was obvious that Chai Rong had adopted a sharp offensive posture, determined to win.

On the second day (23rd), Chai Rong issued an imperial edict to recruit men from the neighboring states of Song, Bo, Chen, Ying, Xu, Su, Xu, and Cai to assist in the siege. As soon as the imperial edict was issued, hundreds of thousands of men gathered under the city of Shouzhou, and the siege continued day and night.

The Southern Tang sent a reinforcement force of more than 10,000 people, stationed in Tushan, and the ships were anchored on the Huai River.

Tushan is located to the east of Shouzhou and west of Haozhou, in today's Bengbu City, Anhui Province. It was here that Dayu, when he was controlling floods, left behind the famous story of "passing by his home three times without entering".

The Woshui River is located north of the Huaihe River and flows into the Huaihe River from the northwest. The place where the Woshui River enters the Huaihe River is called "Wokou". It is certainly a place of contention for military strategists, especially an important bridgehead for the northern army to attack Huainan.

Tushan is just across the Huai River from Wokou, so it has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times. The Han Dynasty established Dangtu County at the foot of Tushan, and it was changed to Matou County during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Now, more than 10,000 naval forces of Southern Tang were stationed at the foot of Tushan, and they could go upstream along the Huai River. They could not only support Shouzhou, but also continue to destroy the floating bridge westward and cut off Chai Rong's retreat. They could also control Wokou and block the possibility of Later Zhou entering the Huai River through Woshui.

More than 10,000 people was a thorn in Chai Rong's side.

On the 26th day of the first lunar month, Chai Rong sent a trusted general to Tushan to remove the nail. This trusted general was the one who had shown his resourcefulness, bravery, and loyalty in the recent "Battle of Gaoping". His name was Zhao Kuangyin.

Zhao Kuangyin first set up an ambush in a strategic location, and then sent more than 100 cavalrymen to feint and attack the Tushan military camp of the Southern Tang. After encountering resistance from the Southern Tang, the more than 100 cavalrymen "fled in panic". The Southern Tang soldiers immediately took the bait and bravely pursued them, but were ambushed and annihilated. The general commander He Yanxi and others were killed, and more than 50 warships were also seized by Zhao Kuangyin.

The threat from Tushan was lifted.

Chai Rong also issued an edict to Wang Kui, the governor of Wuping Army in Langzhou, asking him to lead the Hunan troops to attack Ezhou controlled by the Southern Tang.

Li Jing immediately issued the highest instructions to He Jingzhu, the military governor of Wuchang Army in Ezhou: move the people into the city, hold on and wait for help.

He Jingzhu refused the order. He ordered his men to flatten the land outside the city to use as a battlefield, and then replied to Li Jing, saying that he was ready to die for the country with all the soldiers and civilians in the city.

Li Jing was deeply moved and immediately issued an imperial edict to praise him, calling on soldiers across the country to learn from Comrade He Jingzhu.

On February 2, the Xiacai Floating Bridge was completed and Chai Rong went to inspect it in person.

On February 2, the frontline patrol of the Later Zhou defeated 5 Southern Tang troops in Shengtang County (now Lu'an City, Anhui Province) south of Shouzhou, seized more than warships, and captured General Gao Bi and others alive, thus consolidating the encirclement of southern Shouzhou.

In the Zhengyang encounter, the Later Zhou army set up camps to the north and west of Shouzhou; in the Tushan ambush, the Later Zhou cut off the support from the east of Shouzhou; in the Shengtang encounter, the support from the south of Shouzhou was cut off.

However, Chai Rong could not be blindly optimistic, because the battles of Tushan and Shengtang only temporarily annihilated part of the reinforcements, and the Southern Tang could still continue to increase its troops and continuously send troops to Shouzhou.

In order to completely cut off the reinforcements from Shouzhou, it was necessary to cut off the main artery of blood transfusion for Southern Tang - Chuzhou.

From Shouzhou to the east, there are two strategic corridors, which generally present a "<" trend. The intersection of the two lines is Shouzhou. The upper line is along the Huaihe River, from west to east it is "Shouzhou-Tushan (Wokou)-Haozhou-Sizhou-Chuzhou", and the lower line is "Shouzhou-Chuzhou-Shengzhou-Yangzhou".

The upper route is the water route, going downstream along the Huai River; the lower route is the land route, connecting to the political heart of Southern Tang and being closer in distance, so Chuzhou's strategic position is highlighted.

Chuzhou was the gathering place for reinforcements from the Southern Tang Dynasty and also the outer defense line of the capital Shengzhou.

If the Later Zhou could advance the front to Chuzhou, then the Southern Tang would have to sacrifice the chariot to save the general and would have no time to take care of Shouzhou. Therefore, Chai Rong gave this glorious and arduous task to his trusted general, Zhao Kuangyin, and said, "Think of a way to kill him!"

Zhao Kuangyin led thousands of soldiers and horses to Qingliu Pass.

Qingliu Pass is located between Chuzhou and Shouzhou, close to Chuzhou, and is the outer defense line of Chuzhou. After the Tang generals Huangfu Hui, Yao Feng and others retreated from Haozhou, they stayed at Qingliu Pass. At present, there are 100,000 Southern Tang troops here. Zhao Kuangyin came to knock on the pass with thousands of soldiers and horses.

The enemy and us were outnumbered, and the Southern Tang defenders held a strategic position, which gave them the advantage. Zhao Kuangyin suffered a disadvantage in the first battle and retreated in time. Although he suffered a small defeat, he did not suffer too much loss.

After the defeat, Zhao Kuangyin was also thinking hard about how to turn the tables. Note: The following passage is selected from the unofficial history of the Song Dynasty, "Moji":
"Zhao Kuangyin asked around for information and learned that there was a private teacher in a nearby village - 'Zhao Xuejiu'. This person was from Zhenzhou, Hebei Province, and was currently the village teacher. When villagers had disputes or lawsuits, they liked to ask him to judge the right and wrong. He was the hope of the whole village. So Zhao Kuangyin personally visited him.

This scholar Zhao said that I have a clever plan that can turn defeat into victory and misfortune into blessing. There is a small path at the foot of Qingliu Pass and on the back of the mountain. No one has walked on it for a long time, and even the government troops of the Southern Tang Dynasty had long forgotten it. By taking this path, we can reach the foot of the city without being noticed.

Zhao Kuangyin was very happy and asked Zhao Xuejiu to lead the way, and Zhao Xuejiu did not refuse.

That night, Zhao Kuangyin led his troops over mountains and across rivers, took shortcuts at night, and miraculously got behind the Southern Tang army.

The soldiers of Southern Tang were still immersed in the joy after the victory. All of them were slack, took off their armor and celebrated. They were completely unprepared. Suddenly, they heard that the Zhou army had entered the pass and fell into panic in an instant.

Huangfu Hui personally put on his helmet and armor, held a weapon, and fought with Zhao Kuangyin in the streets. The two fought back and forth with spears and swords, and Zhao Kuangyin captured Huangfu Hui three times and released him three times, and finally captured him alive. When the Southern Tang soldiers heard that their commander had been captured, they were even more unstoppable, and they fled in a rush, trampling on each other and killing countless people.

Since then, Chuzhou was conquered by Zhao Kuangyin. "

The above description, especially the street fight between Huangfu Hui and Zhao Kuangyin, and the three captures and three releases, clearly has the flavor of a novel. "Moji" itself is a kind of unofficial history. It is a notebook written by Wang Zhi in the Southern Song Dynasty, recording rumors of the court and the public during the Northern Song Dynasty. In other words, it is a tabloid about the Northern Song Dynasty gossip in the Southern Song Dynasty.

In addition to the duel plot, the notes also said that this "Zhao Xuejiu" was Zhao Pu, a founding hero of the Northern Song Dynasty. Zhao Pu helped Zhao Kuangyin come up with many ideas and planned many major events, two of which are well known to everyone, namely the "Chenqiao Mutiny" and "Releasing Military Power with a Cup of Wine".

We will elaborate on Zhao Pu's background later. It is worth mentioning that the story in "Silent Notes" says that Zhao Pu lived in seclusion in Chuzhou, and Zhao Kuangyin "visited him three times" to ask him to come out of seclusion and help take Chuzhou. This is obviously inconsistent with Zhao Pu's experience in the official history. The plot similar to "visiting him three times" is also a novel.

According to official historical records, Zhao Kuangyin was indeed defeated first and then won, and he appeared behind the enemy by taking a shortcut. Huangfu Hui gave up Qingliu Pass in a panic and retreated to Chuzhou City.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Kuangyin held on to him and pursued him relentlessly. Huangfu Hui originally planned to defend the broken bridge after retreating, but Zhao Kuangyin waded through the water to pursue him.

Huangfu Hui shouted to Zhao Kuangyin in a hurry: "You and I have no grudges in the past and no hatred in the present. The reason we are fighting is that we each serve our own masters. Why do you have to force each other so much? Let me form the battle line, and don't take advantage of my misfortune."

Can you wait for me to get ready for the beating?

Zhao Kuangyin was amused by his humor and agreed to his request (Emperor Taizu agreed with a smile).

Huangfu Hui said two sentences in total, each of which was funny.

"Each serves his own master". Huangfu Hui was originally raised by Li Cunxu, the Emperor Zhuangzong of the Later Tang Dynasty, but he supported Li Siyuan and forced Li Cunxu to death. When the Khitan entered the Central Plains, he defected to the Southern Tang Dynasty. At this time, he was so desperate that he shouted "Each serves his own master". I wonder if the "master" he mentioned should include Li Cunxu.

"Willing to fight in formation", this scene is more like the little people in comedy movies who are "negotiating" with the opponent in a serious manner before being beaten, "We agreed that no hitting in the face is allowed", or like Stephen Chow in "Kung Fu" "Okay, the rules of the martial arts world, single combat, one on one, no one can break the rules."

Soon, Huangfu Hui arranged the array, "Come here!"

Zhao Kuangyin held the horse's neck and urged it hard, charging straight into the enemy camp, shouting, "I will only kill Huangfu Hui, everyone else get out of the way!"

Like a tiger among a flock of sheep, the Southern Tang army had already survived a disaster and their morale was low. Upon hearing Zhao Kuangyin's call, the soldiers in front of the battle line all moved aside. "Navigation prompt, turn left 30 meters ahead, the man wearing a helmet is Huangfu Hui."

It happened so quickly that Zhao Kuangyin rushed to Huangfu Hui in the blink of an eye. Huangfu Hui was panic-stricken. Zhao Kuangyin swung his sword and hit Huangfu Hui on the head. Huangfu Hui was seriously injured and fell off his horse, so he was captured alive by Zhao Kuangyin.

This scene is very similar to "The Assassination of Yan Liang at Baima Slope".

This record comes from "Zizhi Tongjian", which was written in the Northern Song Dynasty, so it is inevitable that Zhao Kuangyin is beautified. Of course, we cannot conclude without any basis that this record is not historical fact, but we can also speculate that there may not be such a conversation between Zhao Kuangyin and Huangfu Hui.

I personally think that Zhao Kuangyin had a small but sharp army, while Huangfu Hui had a large army but was defeated. If Zhao Kuangyin waited for Huangfu Hui to prepare his formation, he would be in a passive position. Therefore, Zhao Kuangyin should not joke about war and engage in personal heroism. It seems more logical for Zhao Kuangyin to pursue the victory and not give Huangfu Hui a chance to breathe, but to enter the enemy camp and capture the commander directly.

In short, Zhao Kuangyin took a shortcut and launched a surprise attack on Huangfu Hui from behind, defeating the larger force with a smaller one, and captured Huangfu Hui, Yao Feng and other main generals of the Southern Tang alive. The Chuzhou governor Wang Shaoyan abandoned the city and fled, and Zhao Kuangyin then took over Chuzhou.

(End of this chapter)