A thousand-year-old family that began with the Battle of Makino

Chapter 556: Leling fell and the army returned to the army, and they attacked each other in the second year of Yanping

It is said that King Shi Chong of Zhao Guopei left Ningbei General Shu Jian and led an army of 30,000 to guard Qingzhou. He led an army of 50,000 to the west to Kaifeng, entered the capital, and pointed his sword at the throne.

Time turned around, and when the imperial court's petition for war was approved, Xia State's Qingzhou garrison and Shanyang Wang Baiji took advantage of the civil strife in Zhao to mobilize 20,000 plain troops to attack Leling.

Because the Leling garrison had been deployed by Zhao Ting many times before, they went to quell the Liang Du rebellion in Guanzhong and the Jin court's attack to the north.

As a result, Leling's defenders only had more than 10,000 people.

At the same time, Wang Baihai, the governor of Jizhou and Taiyuan, who received the order from the imperial court, also led the 10,000 garrison in Nanpi to assist the Baiji army in attacking Yangxin.

Shao Xian, the prefect of Leling in Zhao State, who was fighting on two fronts, had to shrink his troops and garrisoned Yanci in the county seat, waiting for reinforcements from the court.

Soon, the Xia army defeated Leling and Yangxin, and was besieged many times.

In March of the second year of Yanping, the Zhao court, after receiving an urgent report from Shao Xian, hurriedly sent 50,000 reinforcements to Leling.

On March 17, Zhao Yuanjun arrived at Yanci. Bai Ji and others retreated twenty miles to resist Zhao Jun.

Just as Bai Ji and Bai Hai were discussing retreat, Zhao Jun suddenly withdrew from Leling County, leaving only 5,000 men to defend the city with Shao Xian.

Since the Xia army continued to attack the city in the first half month, Shao Xian only had more than 8,000 men, and with these 5,000 men, there were only 13,000 men.

Bai Ji, who had been stationed in the plains all year round and knew the Zhao State very well, realized that this was the best opportunity for the Xia State to capture Leling County.

So he and Bai Hai jointly submitted a petition, requesting the imperial court to send more reinforcements, and attached their own guesses.

At the same time, Bai Ji continued to communicate with the wealthy families in Yanci City and even Shao Xian himself through the communication channel with Leling over the years, with the intention of persuading him to surrender.

On April 25, Emperor Xia Bai Kai sent Polu general Ran Min to lead 30,000 troops to assist Bai Ji.

On May 28th, under Ran Min's constant attacks, Yanci City was crumbling.

Shao Xian, who was sleepless all day long because of the Xia army's siege, found Zhao Dingbei General Chu Bei who was stationed with him at Yanci:
"General Chu, the Xia army's offensive is becoming more and more fierce now. The enemy general Ran Min has even reached the top of the city tower. If I hadn't stopped him with my strong bow, Yanci would have fallen two days ago.

Can you tell me a sure thing about whether the imperial reinforcements can still arrive? "

"Prefect Shao is overly worried. Prime Minister Zhang is only temporarily transferring the army back to suppress the rebellion. With the elite of the imperial army, it will be back in the near future. Don't worry."

"What day is it? There are only more than 5,000 defenders in the city. If this continues, we will break through in less than three days."

Upon hearing this, Chu Bei showed hesitation on his face and said sternly:
“Prefect Shao, are you thinking of surrendering to the summer?

I will tell you, in your dream, when your father betrayed the Duan family, then betrayed the Xia Kingdom, and then betrayed the imperial court, is there any place for you, the Shao family, in this world?
If you have a hint of rebellion, I can kill you on the spot. "

Shao Xian's face was expressionless, but the anger was clearly visible in his eyes. However, when the imperial army came before, they had already taken away all his military power.

Although the army left later, Yanci's army is now in the hands of Chu Bei, and his family is in the city. If he offends Chu Bei, he may be wiped out today.

If Zhao State had not relied on the Shao family to suppress Leling and assist Zhao State in resisting Xia State, I am afraid that many people would have died long ago.

Fortunately, his brother is now serving as a minister in the imperial court and is Zhang Jack's confidant. Chu Bei only dares to talk about it but does not dare to take action.

Just as the two fell into silence, the battle at the top of the city began again.

No longer caring about Shao Xian's thoughts, Chu Bei grabbed his pocket and headed out.

At this time, a general covered in blood broke in:

"General, something has happened. Prime Minister Zhang has been killed by King Pengcheng. King Pengcheng has ascended the throne and become the emperor."

"what?"

The voices came out of two people's mouths at the same time.

I saw Chu Bei put down his bag, grabbed the general's shoulder, and kept confirming, and finally had to believe the news.

"Xiang Zhang is dead, where are the others in the capital?"

The person asking the question was Shao Xian.

The general said with a sad face:
"I was going to Beijing to ask for help from the imperial court, but when I got to the outskirts of Beijing, I saw the imperial cavalry going around arresting Zhang Tong's party.

Afraid of being discovered by the court, I had no choice but to return the way I came. According to the characters of King Pengcheng and others, I guess they were in danger. "

Shao Xian collapsed on the ground.

Now that the pillars of the imperial court have fallen, and the Xia army is about to break through the city, it is truly a matter of life and death.

After a while, Shao Xian stood up from the ground, walked towards the heartbroken Chu Bei, and suggested:

"Surrender. Only by surrendering will we have a chance to survive. Otherwise, according to the nature of the court, you and I will definitely be beaten as Zhang Tongtang's party.

We still have thousands of people in our hands, so Xia Guo will not treat us harshly. "

"Surrender, yes, surrender."

On May 29th, Leling garrison Chu Bei and Leling prefect Shao Xian led the entire city's army and civilians to surrender to the Xia army.

This important place in Hebei that Zhao relied on to resist Xia for several years was finally broken by Xia.

On the same day, the Xia army entered Yanci City.

On June 10, the Xia army regained the entire territory of Leling County.

On June 21, the Xia army's commander-in-chief Bai Ji, with Polu general Ran Min as the vanguard general, led 10,000 people to cross the Yellow River and successfully secured a stronghold on the south bank of the Yellow River.

On June 25, the main force of the Xia army crossed the Yellow River. This was the first time that the Xia Kingdom landed in Henan.

On June 29, Ran Min captured Linji City.

In July, Zhao Qingzhou governor Kong Jie led more than 20,000 Qingzhou soldiers to Gaoyuan, Le'an County, preparing to resist the Xia army here. On July 5, Bai Ji ordered Bai Hai to lead an army of 30,000 to continue the siege of Gaoyuan, and he took Ran Min to lead an army of 40,000 to the west, preparing to invade Yanzhou.

On July 10, the Xia army defeated Liangzou and Dongpingling in succession, and marched to Licheng.

Zhao Pei Wang Shichong led more than 70,000 imperial troops to Licheng in time.

Since Shi Chong's heart was in the imperial court, he had no intention of fighting Xia's army, so he only defended but did not attack.

On July 23, Shi Chong finally made up his mind and left Ningbei General Shu Jian to guard Licheng and Qingzhou Governor Kong Jie to guard Qingzhou.

He led 50,000 soldiers from Licheng to the west to compete for the throne.

However, it is said that Shi Chong's army marched westward and conveyed the message of crusade against Shi Zun to Yanzhou and Yuzhou.

Everywhere Shi Chong went, people gathered. By the time he arrived in Puyang, there were more than 100,000 soldiers.

When he was stationed in Yuanxiang, Shi Chong saw Shi Zun's edict of amnesty. He suddenly hesitated again and said to his generals:
"Shi Shi and Shi Zun are both my brothers. The dead ones can no longer be resurrected, so why do they continue to kill each other!
Now that the Xia army is invading south, I am the important general who defends the Xia army. If because of my selfishness, the Xia army marches in and captures Qingzhou, I will be the sinner of the Shi family.

I'm going back. "

But Shi Chong was so swaying that everyone under his command became anxious.

You must know that Shi Chong is Shi Zun's brother, but they are not. If Shi Chong loses power, there is no guarantee that Shi Zun will not settle the score in the future, and they will lose their lives.

So the general Chen Xian immediately spoke to dissuade him:
"Pengcheng King Shi Zun killed you to seize the throne and established himself as emperor. He committed a heinous crime!
Although your Majesty wants to wave the flag and return north, I will continue to march westward until the capital is pacified and King Pengcheng is captured, and then I will come to welcome you. "

After hearing this and seeing the demeanor of the generals, and knowing that he was no longer in control, Shi Chong changed his mind and continued to move forward.

Here, Shi Zun learned that the number of Shi Chong's troops had exceeded 100,000, and was very frightened. He quickly sent a letter to Shi Chong to persuade him not to repeat the Eight Kings Rebellion of the Jin Dynasty.

But Shi Chong didn't listen.

There was no other way. In September, Shi Zun also summoned 100,000 people and sent Yao Yizhong and general Li Nong to lead an army to attack Shi Chong.

The two sides fought in Pingqiu. The battle lasted for three days and three nights, with blood flowing everywhere. In the end, Shi Chong was defeated.

Yao Yizhong and others captured Shi Chong in Pucheng.

After the army was reorganized, Shi Zun ordered Shi Chong to be killed and killed more than 30,000 of Shi Chong's soldiers.

After this battle, Shi Zun relied heavily on Yao Yizhong, almost letting him go, and regarded him as his confidant general.

Since Yao Yizhong and Pu Hong were both in Guanzhong, they always had conflicts of interest.

He took the opportunity to say to Shi Zun:

"Pu Hong is an outstanding talent. If we let him guard Guanzhong now, I'm afraid the land of Qinzhou and Yongzhou will no longer belong to Zhao.

Although letting Pu Hong guard Guanzhong was the late emperor's order before his death, now that His Majesty has ascended the throne, he should naturally change his strategy. "

Shi Zun listened to Yao Yizhong's advice and dismissed Fu Hong from his post as governor of Guanxi, but the benefits of other official positions remained the same as before.

Pu Hong was very angry about this. After returning to Fangtou with his troops, Pu Hong took this as an insult and changed his name to Fu Hong. At the same time, he sent an envoy to surrender to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, not wanting to take revenge.

Here, not only did the Xia Kingdom take advantage of the civil strife in Zhao to raise their troops for the southern expedition, but the capable people and lofty ideals within the Jin Kingdom also did not miss this excellent opportunity and raised their troops for the northern expedition.

The Jin State first contacted Wang Yan, the governor of Yangzhou appointed by Shi Zun, and brought Huainan to surrender to the Jin Dynasty.

He also sent Xizhonglang general Chen Kui to advance and occupy Shouchun. Chu Pei, the general who had surrendered to the Jin Dynasty, led an army to attack Shi Zun and reached Xiapi with the intention of capturing Xuzhou.

Shi Zun took Li Nong as the southern governor and led 20,000 cavalry to resist.

He also took Yao Yizhong as the governor of the north and led 50,000 troops to resist the Xia army that had already attacked Jibei.

After Shi Chong led his troops to withdraw from Licheng, leaving Shu Jian alone to lead 20,000 troops to defend Licheng, Baiji took advantage of this to build more weapons and let Ran Min attack by force.

Since the civil strife in Zhao had not subsided for a long time, by September, it was difficult to hold on to Licheng, which had been attacked by the Xia army for two consecutive months.

Many walls of the heavily attacked North City had been destroyed by catapults. Shu Jian only led more than 13,000 people to defend with difficulty.

Just because of Shi Chong's promise to him:
"If Licheng is still in your hands after I seize the throne, I promise to give you a high official and a generous salary, no matter what."

On September 23, the news of Shi Chong's defeat came, and at the same time, the news that Shi Zun had killed more than 30,000 people from Shi Chong's old tribe came.

The frustrated Shu Jian surrendered to the city, and the Xia army entered Licheng on September 24.

In October, the Xia army arrived in Luzi County, Jibei, Yanzhou. At this time, the Zhao court had already reacted and sent General Yao Yizhong.

The two sides fought for more than a month twenty miles east of Luzi County.

In the end, the Xia army had been on the campaign for many days, but was running out of food and grass, so they prepared to retreat to Licheng.

Yao Yizhong took the opportunity to send cavalry to bypass the main force of the retreating Xia army. His light cavalry took one step ahead of the Xia army and captured Licheng.

Baiji had no choice but to send Ran Min to lead 5,000 troops to garrison Dongpingling in advance before finally retreating into the county.

Fortunately, Bai Hai, who besieged Gaowan, made some achievements, defeated Kong Jie's Qingzhou Army, and even reached the foot of Linzi City for a time.

It was also because they could not keep up with the food and grass that they ordered the troops to withdraw and garrisoned in Gaowan.

In the end, the defense lines of Xia and Zhao were finally determined. Xia captured Leling and Le'an counties and half of Jinan County in this battle.

On the other side of the battle between Zhao and Jin, Chu Pei was unable to advance and retreated to Guangling.

Chen Kui was afraid that Zhao's army would cut off his retreat, so he burned Shouchun's accumulated belongings and destroyed the city before leaving.

(End of this chapter)