Elegy of Tang Dynasty

Chapter 468 There are still masters!

In the spring of the twelfth year of Tianbao, Fang Chongyong led the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army and part of the Hedong Army to repel Cai Xide and drive him to Jingxing Guguan and Tumenguan.

There was also war on both sides of the Yellow River.

Huangfu Weiming, who was stationed in Xiangzhou City (Yecheng), ordered his troops to attack Henan in two groups.

The first detachment was led by General Li Huaixian, with 10,000 infantry and cavalry under his command, and set out from Jixian to attack Henei. As a surprise attack, they took a detour through the three cities of Heyang in an attempt to capture Luoyang from the side and rear.

Of course, Huangfu Weiming's move also had the intention of attracting government troops to return to defend Luoyang.

Only by attracting all the government troops to the west of Hulao Pass can a large area of ​​Henan be vacated to allow the Hebei army to capture cities!

It has to be said that Huangfu Weiming's thinking and deployment of the battle situation were very thorough.

At the beginning, Li Huaixian's detachment made extremely smooth progress, with almost no effort, and even captured Xiuwu, Wuzhi, Wenxian and other places.

Further west are the three cities of Heyang!
The government troops seemed to be intentionally reducing their forces, and the resistance Li Huaixian encountered in these places was insignificant, and he did not lose many soldiers.

However, just as Li Huaixian was preparing to attack the three cities of Heyang, an accident occurred.

His original intention was to cross the river from the floating bridge and attack Luoyang from the west after conquering Beizhong City. But it was obvious that the government troops could not do nothing and watch Li Huaixian attack Beizhong City.

A certain unit of the government army with unknown number and no flag, about 2,000 people, suddenly took advantage of the night to force a crossing of the Yellow River from Heyin County on the south bank of the Yellow River. After reaching the north bank, they cleanly recaptured the county towns of Xiuwu, Wuzhi, Wenxian and other places that were captured by Li Huaixian!

These counties were originally very close to each other, and they had just been captured by the Hebei rebels, so the people were not yet stable. In addition, Li Huaixian did not think that the government troops would be attacked after crossing the Yellow River, so he did not leave many troops to guard.

This led to the capture of three county towns overnight!

Henan is short of military forces, and Hebei has more than 100,000 border troops ready for battle at any time. Who dares to cross the Yellow River and fight against the Hebei rebels?
Li Huaixian's laxity was not entirely due to carelessness, but also due to his clear understanding of the battle situation.

However, what surprised him was that after this government army conquered the three places, they raised the Tang army flags in the county town and asked the local county magistrate to organize the people to put on military uniforms and stand on the city walls to confuse the enemy.

Then, this army did not leave anyone to guard the city, but marched northwest at lightning speed, taking advantage of the empty rear of Li Huaixian's attack on the three cities of Heyang, and stormed the county seat of Jixian.

This is the place where Li Huaixian's troops store grain. The grain and fodder have just been transported here from Beizhou for him to use in conquering Henei.

After this government army captured the poorly defended Ji County, they took advantage of the situation and set a fire to burn all the food and fodder. The thick smoke could be seen clearly from more than ten miles away.

After burning the food and grass, they turned back to the south bank of the Yellow River and disappeared without a trace.

Li Huaixian was unaware that his retreat was cut off, and still followed the original plan to storm Beizhong City, one of the three cities in Heyang, Mengzhou, located on the north bank of the Yellow River.

The defending general Lu Jing was appointed as the "Jiedushi of the Three Cities of Heyang" by Li Ying, the prince who proclaimed himself as the "Grand Marshal of the Army of the World" in Luoyang.

Facing Li Huaixian's strong attack, they actively defended the city and fought to the death. Many times, Li Huaixian's vanguard had already reached the city wall, but was driven back by Lu Jing's reserve troops.

Beizhong City was originally small in area and had high walls, which made it difficult to climb. Moreover, it could also continuously receive reinforcements from Luoyang City on the south bank of the Yellow River through the Yellow River Floating Bridge.

For a moment, Li Huaixian just looked at the city and sighed.

Unfortunately, Li Huaixian, who had been attacking the city for two days without success, was finally shocked to hear that his retreat was cut off. All the newly conquered cities were recaptured by the government troops. For a moment, he was like a frightened bird, worried and unable to concentrate his forces to attack the city.

Moreover, Li Huaixian was full of doubts about whether to continue attacking Beizhong City, and he was unwilling to retreat back to Yecheng.

Unable to advance, and unwilling to retreat, Li Huaixian didn't know what to do for a moment.

This troop is isolated and deep in the enemy's territory, with an unknown enemy situation and its retreat cut off. Whether or not to continue attacking the fortified city is indeed a question that the commander needs to consider carefully.

A day later, Li Huaixian heard from the scouts that the grain and fodder stored in his house in Ji County had been burned by the government troops!
Now Li Huaixian was like a camel that was broken by the last straw. He had no will to fight anymore and was so frightened that he led his troops to retreat overnight, intending to return to Xiangzhou for rest and recuperation.

As a result, when Li Huaixian led his men to Wuzhi County and prepared to cross the Qinshui River, the crossing team was attacked by government troops coming from the direction of Heyin County.

As they were crossing the river, they were suddenly attacked and had no time to prepare. Li Huaixian's troops suffered heavy casualties! In almost an incense stick of time, they were defeated by the opponent!

Li Huaixian was panicked and fled back to Xiangzhou with the remnants of his army, looking disgraced. He had hardly achieved any decent results along the way, and his troops were inexplicably defeated.

Li Huaixian didn't even know which Tang army was fighting him. He only knew that this army wore black clothes and black flags and had no numbers, which was different from the ordinary Tang army uniforms.

The second route of troops sent by Huangfu Weiming, led by General Li Guiren, was the main force to attack Henan.

According to the plan, he should have led his troops across the river from Huatai (Baima) and fought all the way to the north bank of the Grand Canal to cut off the canal's water transport.

If all goes well, then we will take over Kaifeng and completely block the canal transportation! Not a single grain of rice will be allowed to enter Guanzhong!

However, Li Guiren led more soldiers, took longer to prepare, and set out later than Li Huaixian.

As a result, when the troops had just reached Liyang and were about to cross the river, Huangfu Weiming sent someone to urgently stop them and asked him to lead his troops back to Xiangzhou.

It turned out that a government army was marching northward along the Yongji Canal in Hebei and attacked the vicinity of Yuancheng in Weizhou. They set fire to all the grain and fodder stored in the temporary granary at the ferry outside the city!

These grains and fodders were to be transported via the canal and provided to Li Guiren's military supplies.

There’s no food left, so what’s the point of fighting? Let’s just retreat first!

After being beaten twice in a row, Huangfu Weiming, who had a keen sense of battlefield, realized that something seemed to be wrong!

Even though the number of government troops dispatched seems to be small, their moves are deadly and hit the most painful places!

Sure enough, there are still experts!
Huangfu Weiming sighed inwardly. This was actually unexpected but reasonable. How could there be no one who could fight in such a big country like the Tang Dynasty?
"Tell me, what's going on?"

Inside the bond signing room on the city wall of Xiangzhou City, Huangfu Weiming looked at several of his generals and asked with a frown.

Since he started his rebellion in Youzhou, everyone surrendered to him wherever he went. How could he have ever been humiliated like this?

The government troops' proactive attack was like grabbing Huangfu Weiming's ears, slapping him in the face, and teaching him a lesson: "How dare you show off with your skills?"

Make him feel ashamed.

"I also find it baffling. It seems like the enemy is everywhere, but I can never see where they come from. They appear and disappear mysteriously."

Li Huaixian sighed helplessly.

Huangfu Weiming got angry when he heard this.

He suppressed his inner anger and patiently explained:
"The team that was attacked halfway across the Yellow River set out from Heyin County, which is just a stone's throw away from the south bank of the Yellow River. If you set out from Heyin County and sent troops to intercept them halfway across the Yellow River, it would take less than an hour.

Sending out a few scouts can easily detect your movements across the river, and then it will be easy to sneak attack you.

The team that successively conquered Xiuwu, Wuzhi and Wenxian was most likely to have set out from Heyin County!
When they finish this journey, they don’t have to care where you are. They just need to know that you led your troops to Hanoi!
Because they knew that Ji County in the opposite direction must be short of troops, so they just stopped by and burned Ji County's grain and fodder. What a simple thing!"

Huangfu Weiming couldn't hold back and helped Li Huaixian review the situation himself.

He almost called the other person a fool, but thinking about his own grand ambitions, he finally held back.

After hearing this explanation, all the generals thought about it carefully in silence, and then they suddenly realized that it seemed to be just as Huangfu Weiming said!
It's just that we can figure it out after reviewing it afterwards, but when the war was about to start, who could have imagined that the seemingly complicated military situation was actually so simple?
The government troops avoided Li Huaixian's front and let him fight against the tall Beizhong City, then cut off his retreat and burned his granary! When Li Huaixian was frightened and retreated back to Xiangzhou, they attacked him halfway across the river!

A series of combo punches, with smooth moves and seamless connections, leaving people unable to resist.

Huangfu Weiming even wanted to give a thumbs up and praise the mysterious general opposite him.

It's really amazing. Even Huangfu Weiming himself couldn't take this punch. "The elite soldiers of the Tang Dynasty are all in the border towns, and most of the imperial guards are also in Hedong. What kind of troops are these?"

Li Guiren asked doubtfully.

Although Li Huaixian's troops were crossing the river at that time, if anyone wanted to take advantage of the situation by "attacking the enemy halfway across the river", he would have to have some solid strength, right?
If it was a team of mediocre combat effectiveness, even if they were commanded by a famous general, even if they seized the most appropriate opportunity and took advantage of the chaos to launch a surprise attack on the elite Hebei troops under Li Huaixian's command, the final result would only be counterattack and be killed.

After all, if you want to forge iron, you must be strong yourself!
"What do you think, General Lee?"

Huangfu Weiming asked in a deep voice, his eyes fixed on Li Huaixian.

"General, this team is not big, no more than 2,000 people. But really... I'm ashamed to say that I can't even take a single blow. Those soldiers on the opposite side are like wolves and tigers! They fight like they don't care about their lives!
I didn't understand what was going on, but my troops were in chaos. The soldiers, without any organization, ran around along the Qin River, being chased and hacked by the enemy soldiers in black.

That's all. "

Li Guiren still felt frightened when talking about what happened at that time. The cavalry ran back, and all the infantry under his command were left on the north bank of the Qin River. Many corpses floated on the Qin River, and a large area of ​​the river was dyed red. The scene was very scary.

The key point is that this battle was lost inexplicably. Next time we encounter a similar situation, we may still lose!

"That's strange. Such a strong army can't be from an unknown group."

Huangfu Weiming held up his chin, looking confused.

There are only a few strongest troops among the border armies, including the Chishui Army in Hexi, the Tianshan Army in Beiting, and the Jinglüe Army in Shuofang. The strongest among the imperial guards is naturally the Silver Spear Filial Piety Army.

But Huangfu Weiming could be sure that these troops were not active on both sides of the Yellow River at the moment.

"Could it be him?"

Huangfu Weiming suddenly thought of someone, and this person happened to be in Luoyang!

"Marshal, who is it?"

Seeing Huangfu Weiming's face change drastically, Li Guiren asked in confusion.

"Fang Youde."

Huangfu Weiming uttered three words.

Upon hearing this name, Li Huaixian and Li Guiren fell silent.

As generals of the Hebei border army, how could they not know who Fang Youde was?

"A skilled cook cannot cook without rice. Even if Fang Youde is a master, how can he stir up the world without powerful soldiers?"

Huangfu Weiming sighed, feeling a strong sense of unwillingness in his heart.

He still didn't understand what had happened, but he didn't plan to delve into it.

Although it is not clear who defeated Li Huaixian, the deployment of the Tang army on the south bank of the Yellow River is generally clear.

Heyin County! This is the key point of the government army! The fulcrum of the Yellow River defense line!
This is the most critical node in water transport, no doubt about it.

The baggage from Lianghuai and Jiangnan was transported from here to Chang'an. The Luoyang section of the canal has now been officially abandoned, and warehouses have been built in Mengjin and then transported to Luoyang. In other words, Luoyang's economic status has actually been declining since the end of the Kaiyuan period.

Huangfu Weiming had already found out that the government troops were stationed in Heyin County, using it as a strategic fulcrum and a place to gather food and fodder, with the canal as a line of defense, and stationing troops at Heyin, Kaifeng, Suiyang and other nodes.

Originally, he planned to make a "flanking attack", detouring across the Yellow River from the east of Heyin County, first attacking Kaifeng and Suiyang, and finally making a big dumpling to capture the Tang army in several states between the Yellow River and the Grand Canal!
After we have completely controlled the canal, we will then head west to Luoyang! This way, we will be safe.

Huangfu Weiming didn't expect that the government troops were so difficult to deal with and even dared to maneuver their troops in Hebei. So he would not play any tricks on them.

"Gather all the troops and march forward together to sweep the north bank of the Yellow River, then lay siege to Heyin County.

After taking down Heyin County, we will proceed step by step and take down the cities along the canal one by one!

Every time we capture a place, we will station troops there, and never give Fang Youde any chance to take advantage of it!"

Huangfu Weiming pointed to the detailed map of Henan Road drawn on the wall and said.

"Marshal, our troops may not be enough, we still need to transfer troops from Changshan!"

Li Guiren clasped his fists and bowed to Huangfu Weiming.

"If we don't have enough troops, we can mobilize more troops and transport food and fodder from Beizhou.

You should divide your troops into two groups and capture all the cities north of the Yellow River except the three cities of Heyang.

I will transfer officials from Hebei to manage the city, and will not use local officials.

After we take down one place, we will send troops to garrison there and advance steadily!

Don't be afraid of spending time. We just want to ensure that every city will not be recaptured by Fang Youde and his troops. That's enough.

I want to see what tricks he can come up with!"

Huangfu Weiming slapped the map on the wall vigorously and said, his voice roaring.

……

On the top of the city wall of Heyin County, Fang Youde, dressed in black, with one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other on his waist, looked at the other side of the Yellow River.

He frowned and seemed to be worried about something.

At this time, Li Jiaqing, a general, hurriedly walked up to the top of the city wall, and then the other party Youde saluted with his hands crossed and said, "General, since the last time we beat Li Huaixian's troops and made them dare not raise their heads, the enemy troops have learned their lesson. They attacked the city in unison, and after taking the city, they sent people to guard it. They were not eager to move forward, and they were as steady as turtles. We couldn't find any chance at all."

"Have all the food and fodder in the city been transported?"

Fang Youde looked at Li Jiaqing and asked.

"Reporting to the commander, the transportation is basically empty, and most of the food and fodder have been transported to Suiyang."

Li Jiaqing clasped his fists and saluted.

"Let's burn down the ferry outside Heyin County tonight, as well as those empty granaries, and don't leave even a single stick for Huangfu Weiming."

Fang Youde uttered a harsh word and then slowly walked down the city wall.

"Eh? Commander Jie, aren't we going to have a decisive battle with Huangfu Weiming in Heyin County?"

Li Jiaqing was stunned for a long time. After Fang Youde walked away, he chased him and asked in a low voice.

After the ferry and granary in Heyin County were burned, Chang'an will also be out of food!
“The Hebei rebels’ food supply route is still too short, we need to lengthen it.

Fighting here in Heyin County will only result in a pile of deaths and will not buy much time.

What we lack most now is time.”

Fang Youde patiently explained to Li Jiaqing.

(End of this chapter)