History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 820 Second Battle
[Second Battle]

Li Jing did not fail to learn a lesson from the beating. In November 956, Li Jing issued an edict to abolish harsh policies such as "Yingtian" to appease the people.

In December, Li Jing sent people to Khitan again to ask for reinforcements, but Emperor Muzong of Liao, Yelü Jing, flatly refused.

At the Shouzhou front, Li Chongjin and Zhang Yongde reported the latest battle situation. Li Chongjin defeated the Southern Tang reinforcements in Shengtang County, killing 2,000 people, and defeated 2,000 Southern Tang soldiers north of Tashan. Zhang Yongde successfully intercepted the Southern Tang supply team from Haozhou and captured more than ten grain transport ships.

The significance of Shouzhou on the Huainan battlefield is becoming increasingly important, and it has become a weather vane on the battlefield.

In December, Chai Rong issued an imperial edict to mobilize men from Chen, Cai, Song, Bo, Ying, Cao, Shan and other states to serve as engineers in Xiacai and build defensive fortifications. He was determined to take over Shouzhou at all costs.

After the Spring Festival in the fourth year of Xian De (957), the two sides once again launched a major battle around Shouzhou.

Li Jing sent his younger brother Li Jingda to rescue Shouzhou. This time, Southern Tang used all its national strength and sent out an all-star team:
Head coach: Li Jingda
Military Supervisor: Chen Jue

The Four Great Kings: Xu Wenzhen, Bian Hao, Zhu Yuan, and Li Ping

Li Jingda, needless to say, is the emperor's younger brother; Chen Jue, the backbone of the "Four Evils and Five Ghosts" group; Xu Wenzhen, a famous general in Fujian; Bian Hao, a hero who destroyed Chu; Zhu Yuan and Li Ping, newly promoted generals, have made great contributions to the recovery of Jiangbei.

Shouzhou was under siege for more than a year, and the grain transport fleet was intercepted many times, resulting in a shortage of food and grass in the city. Li Jingda stationed his main force in Haozhou and sent his "Four King Kongs" upstream from Haozhou. The initial goal was to open up a strategic transportation line and then lift the siege of Shouzhou.

The Southern Tang reinforcements arrived at Zijin Mountain, northeast of Shouzhou and south of Huainan, and set up camp. More than ten camps were connected end to end like a string of Buddhist beads, corresponding to the beacon fire in the city. Afterwards, the reinforcements built a corridor, that is, a "Great Wall" on flat ground, to build a safe passage on the physical level, directly to the city. The corridor stretched for dozens of miles.

Just when the tunnel was about to be completed, Zhou general Li Chongjin suddenly led his troops to attack, killing 5,000 enemies and capturing two of their camps.

The "Four Heavenly Kings" wasted time and effort, suffered heavy losses, and did not achieve any results.

Let’s talk about Liu Renzhan who defended Shouzhou.

Since the beginning of the war, Chai Rong had used all the tactics of siege, mobilized all the troops and civilians he could, and attacked day and night. According to records, the drums and trumpets of the Later Zhou army were so loud that even the city walls shook. However, Liu Renzhan commanded the army well and countered each move, making it impossible for the Later Zhou army to capture Shouzhou.

At that time, Chai Rong was personally at the siege front. Liu Renzhan was an expert in archery, so he drew his bow and shot, but the arrow fell to the ground a few feet away from Chai Rong. Chai Rong looked up at the top of the city wall, then at where the arrow fell, and then ordered the imperial carriage to be moved forward, within Liu Renzhan's range, "I'll give you one more chance, shoot me."

Liu Renzhan bent his bow and drew his arrow, but the arrow fell a few feet away from Chai Rong.

So Chai Rong moved forward again, "Hit me, hit me."

Liu Renzhan's arrow once again fell a few feet away...

Chai Rong seemed to have a transparent protective shield.

Liu Renzhan was so angry that he threw his bow to the ground and sighed, "Oh, God, will you not bless the Tang Dynasty? Alas, if this is true, how can I save the situation? It seems that I will die in Shouzhou."

Chai Rong sent people to persuade him to surrender, saying, "I know you have a loyal heart, but the people in the city are innocent. Please don't put them in danger. Open the city and surrender, and leave everyone a way to survive."

Liu Renzhan ignored it and has persisted till now.

Zhang Yongde and Li Chongjin, the main generals of the Later Zhou, were at odds with each other. Liu Renzhan thought it was a good opportunity, so he asked Li Jingda to take advantage of the opportunity to go to war, but was rejected by Li Jingda (Chen Jue). Liu Renzhan then asked General Bian Hao to stay in Shouzhou while he personally led troops to attack Li Chongjin, but was rejected by Li Jingda (Chen Jue) again. Liu Renzhan became sick from worry and anger and never recovered.

The siege war of attrition is not only a battle of logistical support, but also of the psychological defenses of both sides.

The officials of the Later Zhou Dynasty believed that the counterattack of the Southern Tang was too strong and beyond their expectations. The long siege of Shouzhou was fruitless. The Later Zhou Dynasty could no longer maintain the war in Shouzhou, so they requested to withdraw their troops.

It was not Chai Rong's character to retreat without success. At that time, Prime Minister Li Gu had suffered a stroke and submitted three petitions to ask for his ashes, but Chai Rong refused. So Chai Rong sent Prime Minister Fan Zhi and Wang Pu to visit Li Gu's home to see how he was doing and to ask for his opinion.

Previously, Li Gu was the commander-in-chief of the Huai River expedition, but was dismissed for his cautious and conservative style. This time, Li Gu, who was critically ill, suddenly became very tough and wrote a memorial saying that Shouzhou had been fought to this point, and the city would be broken at any time, and there was no retreat, otherwise all the previous efforts would be wasted! If Your Majesty could lead the expedition in person, the morale of the front line would be greatly boosted, and the defenders in the city would be in a panic, and the capture of Shouzhou would be just around the corner!

After reading it, Chai Rong was very pleased and immediately issued an edict: I will lead the army in person for a second time!
Like the officials of the Later Zhou, the psychological defenses of the Southern Tang were also on the verge of collapse, especially in the besieged Shouzhou City. A man in Shouzhou City had a mental breakdown and secretly sailed to the north bank of the Huai River, intending to surrender to the Later Zhou. He was caught by the patrol soldiers of the Southern Tang and taken back to the city. It was normal for someone to desert, but the identity of this person was very special. His name was Liu Chongjian, the son of Liu Renzhan.

When the seriously ill Liu Renzhan heard about this, he was furious and immediately ordered that this useless son be beheaded!

Seeing Liu Renzhan's firm attitude, none of the generals dared to plead for mercy. Only the military supervisor Zhou Tinggou cried and pleaded for mercy, but was rejected by Liu Renzhan.

Zhou Tinggou then turned to the wife's route and pleaded with Liu Renzhan's wife, Xue, asking her to persuade him.

Xue said, "Chongjian is my youngest son. Do I want to see him die? However, military law cannot be partial, and reputation cannot be tarnished. If we let him go, then Liu will be a family of disloyalty. How can you and I face the soldiers of the city?"

Afterwards, Liu Chongjian was beheaded in public.

The soldiers defending the city were deeply moved and vowed to live and die with Shouzhou.

After Liu Chongjian was executed, Xue also died after fasting for five days.

Historical books praised Liu Renzhan as a loyal minister and Xue as a heroic woman.

In February 957, Chai Rong personally led an expedition to Huainan for the second time.

The people of Huainan were good at naval warfare, but the northern army was no match for them. This was a headache for Chai Rong. After returning to Bianzhou, Chai Rong built hundreds of warships in the Bian River to the west of Bianzhou, and then ordered the surrendered soldiers and generals of the Southern Tang to teach the northern soldiers how to fight on the water. After several months of devilish training, he actually built a qualified navy of thousands of people. It is said that its surface combat capability was even stronger than that of the Southern Tang navy.

At this point, Zhang Huan, who was known for chiseling bones to obtain arrows, was ordered to lead the navy to set out from Cai River, go downstream in the southeast direction, pass Chenzhou, and reach Caikou, where they merge into Ying River. After the Cai River and Ying River merge, they pass through Yingshang County, reach Xizhengyang County, and flow into the Huai River.

When Zhang Huan led this navy and suddenly appeared in the Huai River, "the Tang people were greatly shocked."

Chai Rong set out on February 2 and arrived at Xiacai Floating Bridge on the 17th. On March 27, Chai Rong crossed the Huai River at night and arrived at the city of Shouzhou.

On the morning of March 3, Chai Rong arrived at the south of Zijin Mountain in full armor and armed with sharp weapons. Although Li Chongjin had stopped the Southern Tang reinforcements from building the tunnel and dealt them a heavy blow, their main force was still there. If they wanted to capture Shouzhou, they had to completely eliminate the reinforcements from Zijin Mountain.

Chai Rong personally took command and ordered Zhao Kuangyin to lead his troops to attack the Xianfeng Camp and Shanbei Camp of the Southern Tang. Zhao Kuangyin attacked vigorously and conquered them all, beheading more than 3,000 people, and successfully cut the string of beads in the middle, making it difficult to take care of both ends.

In the evening of that day, Chai Rong arranged for the generals to garrison and then returned to Xiacai Floating Bridge.

(End of this chapter)