Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 407: Dispatching Troops to Hedong (V)

Huan Xi led 130,000 soldiers eastward, and the morale of each unit was high.

Among them, those who were most confident about victory in the war were not Huan Xi's true descendants, the original 5,000 soldiers of the Imperial Guards, but the 10,000 Guanlong cavalry.

The reason was simple. The Minister of War, Duke of Dunhuang, Xie Ai, went with the army to the expedition, which greatly boosted the morale of the Guanlong cavalry.

The title of Duke of Dunhuang was the reward that Huan Xi requested for Xie Ai after he defeated Fu Jian in the Hetao area last year.

The Guanlong cavalry originated from the elite cavalry of the Former Liang Dynasty. There is no need to elaborate on the high prestige that Xie Ai enjoyed in the minds of the generals and soldiers of Liangzhou.

Now with Huan Xi leading the troops personally and Xie Ai joining the expedition, the Guanlong cavalrymen felt like a flying dragon riding on their faces and had no idea how they could lose.

There was a sense of optimism in the army, which, of course, was better than the soldiers being pessimistic about the prospects of the war.

The soldiers may underestimate the enemy, but Huan Xi will never underestimate his opponent.

Even though he looked down upon Fu Jian, Murong Jun and others as insignificant people when he was addressing his soldiers at the Xuancheng Gate, as if he could easily continue his myth of invincibility.

But that was only strategically underestimating the opponent and establishing the belief that the soldiers would win. Huan Xi would never make the mistake of underestimating the opponent tactically.

Although Li Yuan accompanied him along the way, Huan Xi was mostly inseparable from Xie Ai and Quan Yi.

Huan Xi had seen Xie Ai's performance on the Hetao battlefield last year.

When Huan Xi was fighting Murong Ke and Li Wei in Hedong, Deng Xia left Hetao and approached Shengle, forcing the Dai army to return for support. At that time, the military power in the Hetao area was all in the hands of Xie Ai alone. He had every opportunity to lead his troops south and try to take control of Guanzhong and change the situation.

However, if Huan Xi chose to make a drastic decision and escape to provide assistance, Xie Ai would have no chance of success given his prestige in Guanxi and Hetao regions.

Of course, this did not happen. Xie Ai lived up to Huan Xi's trust and did not let down the poem "Song of the Chaste Wife" given to him by Huan Xi.

In this battle, Huan Xi asked Xie Ai to follow the army mainly because Fu Jian was unable to launch another expedition to Yinchuan, and leaving Deng Xia alone to guard the city was enough.

With Wang Meng and Xie An already in charge of Guanzhong, keeping a famous general like Xie Ai in Chang'an was really a waste of talent.

Huan Xi naturally wanted to bring Xie Ai with him and have him assist him in military affairs together with Quan Yi.

At the same time, Xie Ai also had the task of leading troops, and the troops he led were the Guanlong cavalry.

Although Huan Xi had many generals under his command, the only one who could truly make the Guanlong cavalry burst out with strength far beyond their own capabilities was Xie Ai.

This is not only because of Xie Ai's talent, but also because of his high prestige in the hearts of the soldiers in Liangzhou.

As long as Xie Ai was in command, even if the Guanlong cavalry was at a disadvantage in terms of manpower, the soldiers would not be afraid and would be able to move forward without distraction.

Just like Huan Xi to Konoe Yoshitsugu.

When Huan Xi arrived in Dali County, Fu Jian also led his troops to Gaobiling.

Gaobiling is located between the Taiyuan Basin and the Linfen Basin. It is a transportation hub between the north and the south. The terrain is steep and easy to defend but difficult to attack. Because Liu Bang received the head of Han Xin sent by Empress Lu on his way back to Chang'an and buried it here, it is also called Han Xin Territory.

The 100,000 infantry and cavalry of the Yu army were passing through in an orderly manner, while Fu Jian came to Han Xin's tomb to pay tribute.

In front of the tomb stands a stone tablet carved with bluestone, on which is written "Tomb of the Marquis of Huaiyin in the Han Dynasty."

Of course, this is not Han Xin's only tomb. Because his head and body were separated, there is another tomb 30 miles east of Chang'an. After more than 500 years of wind and rain, the tomb of Han Xin on Gaobi Ridge has long been in ruins.

Fu Jian was reminded of the past when Liu Bang was divided into Bashu and Hanzhong and was full of reluctance, while Xiang Yu returned home in glory and honor. However, it was Liu Bang who appointed Han Xin as a general and eventually broke through the blockade of the Three Qins, fought his way to the north bank of the Wujiang River step by step, forced Xiang Yu to commit suicide, and finally took over the world.

Fu Jian’s current situation is even worse than that of Liu Bang who was forced to live in Bashu. He also hopes that a Han Xin can come out at this time to help him turn the tide.

What Fu Jian didn't know was that it was originally his destiny to have a great sage to assist him. This person could single-handedly play the role of one of the three heroes of the early Han Dynasty and help him basically unify the north.

That person was Wang Meng, but unfortunately Huan Xi got there first.

At this time, Fu Jian was paying tribute to Han Xin's tomb, but what he was thinking of was not Wang Meng, but Xie Ai.

Because Huan Xi and Wang Meng had a clear division of labor, Wang Meng only had three opportunities to lead troops alone in the past ten years.

The first time was when Huan Xi led his army to attack Anding County after he captured Chang'an, and Wang Meng led a detachment to take back Beidi County.

The second time was when Huan Xi was fighting Zhang Chonghua in Hexi. Yao Xiang attacked Tongguan and Wang Meng led the state and county troops to support him. Yao Xiang saw that the reinforcements of the Liang army had arrived, so he had no choice but to retreat without firing a single arrow.

The third time was when he led 30,000 infantrymen to support Huan Wen.

During these three times of leading troops alone, Wang Meng did not have the opportunity to demonstrate his military talent to the world.

What Fu Jian needed most at this time was not talent in domestic affairs, but generals he could rely on in military affairs.

"I only regret that Xie Ai cannot be used by me! I am willing to be Huan Xi's lackey!"

Fu Jian said with some regret.

He also had his own sources of information in Guanxi. Huan Xi had determined early on that Xie Ai would go with the army, and this news was also known to Fu Jian.

Last year in Hetao, Fu Jian had fought against Xie Ai and was well aware of his opponent's abilities.

Although the official statement of the State of Yu did not admit defeat, it believed that Fu Jian had to return to Hedong from Hetao because Huan Xi attacked Hedong County.

But if this rhetoric could deceive the ignorant masses, could it also deceive Fu Jian himself?

Huan Xi alone was already a difficult enough problem, and with the addition of Xie Ai, if Fu Jian had not known that Murong Jun would advance westward with the main force of Yan State, he would definitely have abandoned this battle plan.

After calming down, Fu Jian told his ministers before leaving Han Xin's tomb:

"The Marquis of Huaiyin was a famous general in ancient times, but he was killed unjustly. It's pitiful and lamentable. I will order the local government to send people to repair his tomb."

As the saying goes, a thousand gold coins can be exchanged for a horse bone. Today, Fu Jian, let alone having people repair Han Xin's former tomb, even if he built a Wutong Palace, would not be able to attract the phoenix to come and roost.

Zhuge Liang had the right master but the wrong time. However, the reason he came out to assist Liu Bei, who was almost at the end of his rope, was because he had lived in Xuzhou when he was young and might have witnessed the massacre of the city by Cao's army. Liu Bei was the emperor's uncle recognized in public and a legitimate relative of the Han royal family.

What was so great about Fu Jian? Even the position of the Heavenly King of Dayu was obtained through a coup. If it had happened in the Spring and Autumn Period, the historian would have definitely recorded: Fu Jian murdered his king.

As they walked down Gaobi Ridge, a messenger happened to come from Yecheng. It turned out that he was sent by Murong Jun to inform Fu Jian of the news. On the day the messenger left, he had already gathered his troops and marched towards Henei County.

(End of this chapter)