Eastern Jin Dynasty: My powerful father

Chapter 422: Fighting in Hedong (X)

Murong Jun was never a broad-minded monarch, and could even be described as vindictive.

The killing of 3,000 surrendered Xianbei soldiers from the Duan tribe might have been a momentary impulse, but the bad impact it caused was beyond Murong Jun's expectations.

Under Huan Xi's deliberate propaganda, the story of the 3,000 surrendered soldiers of the Duan tribe of the Xianbei was distorted from being defeated and captured to being surrendered voluntarily after receiving Murong Jun's promise.

Since it is a war of public opinion, how can we seek truth from facts? Huan Xi must take this opportunity to discredit Murong Jun.

Therefore, in the inherent impression of the Liang army's soldiers, Murong Jun killed prisoners at will and had no faith or loyalty at all, so who would dare to surrender to the Yan army?

Murong Jun knew clearly that Yang An was definitely using this to motivate the defenders to fight to the death. He had completely given up hope of persuading Yang An to surrender, and the only thing he could do was boost the morale of the troops and capture the city in one fell swoop.

Fu Jian did not adopt Lu Polou's suggestion, but Murong Jun was not Fu Tianwang who was deeply influenced by Han culture. If he was a monarch who emphasized benevolence and righteousness, he would not have killed the surrendered soldiers of the Duan tribe of Xianbei.

Therefore, Murong Jun issued an order to the entire army that after the city was captured, they should not put down their weapons for three days and should allow looting.

This indeed inspired the fighting spirit of the Yan army.

The defenders of Dongyuan were also destined to be involved in a tough battle.

The reason why Murong Jun did not divide his troops to besiege Dongyuan County, but continued to advance westward with his main force, was because this battle was different from Yang Su's campaign against King of Han Yang Liang.

Yang Su dared to head straight for Jinyang only after he had defeated the main force of Yang Liang's Hedong Army.

If Murong Jun divided his troops to besiege cities along the way and penetrated deep into Hedong County, he would easily be cut off from food supplies by Xie Ai, Shen Jin and others, and put himself in danger.

Let’s put aside the hard battle of the Dongyuan defenders for now. At this time, Huan Xi’s 70,000 infantry and cavalry had already arrived in Wenxi County and stationed in the south of Wenxi County, 20 miles away from Fu Jian.

For safety reasons, the camp was set up by soldiers from the prefectures and counties in Wenxi City, while the soldiers brought by Huan Xi stood guard on the side to prevent Fu Jian from suddenly attacking them while they were setting up camp while they were still unstable.

It can be said that Huan Xi took the strategy of steady and cautious to the extreme, leaving Fu Jian no chance to take advantage of. The two sides could only decide the outcome through a battle. After all, neither Huan Xi nor Fu Jian were willing to form a stalemate in Wenxi County.

In the Liang army camp, Huan Xi had already ordered people to prepare a cart of wine and meat. He called Zhou Qiong and asked:

"Do you have the courage to go to the enemy camp?"

Zhou Qiong was startled, then he said seriously:

"Since Lord Liang has given the order, I am not afraid of mountains of swords and seas of fire, so why should I be afraid of being sent to the enemy camp?"

Huan Xi said meaningfully:
"On this trip, we need to pay attention to the enemy camp's arrangements."

Zhou Qiong understood clearly that the so-called gift was clearly intended to allow him to take the opportunity to explore the camp and find out where Fu Jian's imperial tent was. Once he discovered that the Yu army's defenses were lax, he could launch a tentative night attack on their camp.

"The last general takes command!"

Seeing that he agreed so readily, Huan Xi smiled with satisfaction and said comfortingly:
"Although Fu Jian is a barbarian, he also knows etiquette. You can go without worry. Since he is nominally sending wine and meat on my behalf, he will definitely not embarrass you."

After all, Zhou Qiong was the eldest grandson of Zhou Fu, the governor of Yizhou. If Huan Xi was not sure about his safety, he would never let him go to die.

If he was facing Murong Jun instead of Fu Jian, Huan Xi would not have sent his confidants to investigate the camp.

However, before Zhou Qiong left the camp, a scout reported to Huan Xi that it was Fu Jian who sent an envoy to greet him.

Huan Xi smiled at Zhou Qiong and said:

"It seems he has the same idea as me."

Zhou Qiong could only shake his head helplessly and asked, "Mr. Liang, do I need to prepare anything else?"

Huan Xi nodded and said:
"Of course, Fu Jian would never send an envoy to visit the camp empty-handed. You should also return the gift on my behalf."

After saying this, Huan Xi asked Zhou Qiong to go down and rest first, and ordered someone to welcome Fu Jian's envoy into the house.

Fu Jian indeed had the same plan as Huan Xi. Before the decisive battle, he would first scout the camp and find out the bottom line of the Liang army.

Since Fu Jian wanted to see it, Huan Xi showed it to him openly. Huan Xi did not even blindfold Fu Jian's envoy, but ordered five thousand veteran soldiers of the imperial guards to be fully armed and to lead war horses to guard around the general's tent, naturally in order to intimidate the envoy.

Since Xie Ai and Deng Xia had killed Yu's envoy before, Fu Jian did not dare to take the risk of sending out his trusted aides, but only selected a military clerk.

Just as Huan Xi expected, Fu Jian attached great importance to etiquette, so he naturally brought gifts to Huan Xi and also prepared wine and meat. After Huan Xi accepted them with a smile, he certainly would not really eat the food sent by Fu Jian, just as Fu Jian would not enjoy Huan Xi's wine and meat.

The burden on their shoulders does not allow them to joke with their lives.

The envoy of the State of Yu was named Li Cheng, a Di people, of the same clan as Li Wei.

Huan Xi asked Li Cheng about Fu Jian's recent situation. Li Cheng answered selectively. Huan Xi realized that he could not get any information out of Li Cheng, so he mentioned an old friend instead:
"I heard that Zhang Yu is accompanying the emperor on his trip south. I wonder if I will have the chance to meet him again. Please tell him that both he and his mother miss him very much."

Li Cheng was stunned. He thought it was just Huan Xi's bad taste, but he still agreed.

He didn't know that Huan Xi was trying to manipulate Zhang Yu's mentality. In fact, Huan Xi was just doing it casually. If Zhang Yu was blinded by anger on the battlefield, it would be worth Huan Xi's words.

Even if it could arouse Fu Jian's suspicion of Zhang Yu, it would not be a bad thing.

Of course, even if it has no effect, Huan Xi is just talking, there is no loss.

After the greetings, Li Cheng finally brought up the business. It turned out that Fu Jian had sent him here with another mission, which was to discuss the date and place of the battle with Huan Xi.

It takes two to tango. Since it is a battle, the time and place must be set in advance. Both sides must make sufficient preparations and then decide the outcome on the battlefield in a fair manner.

Huan Xi muttered:
"Go back and tell King Fu that three days later, he and I will line up in battle array five miles north of the city to fight to the death. If you have any objections, we can discuss it later."

Li Cheng bowed and replied:

"The foreign minister will convey the truth."

After saying this, Li Cheng was about to say goodbye, but Huan Xi stopped him and said:
"It is impolite not to reciprocate. I have also prepared a cart of wine and meat for the king."

As he spoke, Huan Xi called Zhou Qiong into the commander's tent and said to him:

"You are going to Yuying on my behalf to pay homage to King Fu. Remember, you must not lose your manners."

Zhou Qiong agreed and left with Li Cheng taking the wine and meat.

Along the way, the two men encountered many groups of scouts, including those from the Liang Army and the Yu Army. It can be seen that in the face of a great war, Huan Xi and Fu Jian both attached great importance to the safety of the camp.

On the way, Zhou Qiong asked Li Cheng about his opinion of the guards who protected the general's tent.

Li Cheng sighed:
"They are all sharp warriors."

Of course, Li Cheng had heard of the reputation of the Imperial Guards. In the battle of Langshan, the elite cavalry of the Di tribe was defeated by the Imperial Guards and the Xiongnu archers. It was not until a few years ago that they recovered.

The two chatted along the way. Soon, Li Cheng pointed to a magnificent rectangular camp and said to Zhou Qiong proudly:
"This is our Dayu military camp."

(End of this chapter)