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

Chapter 951: Generals fight hundreds of battles and brave men die, redeeming their sins Wang Pinglu

March 13th, the first year of Qianning

The bright sun gradually became hazy, and a setting sun hung high on the top of the mountain, wanting to go home. A bloody smell lingered in the Xuanwu Army camp not far from Juancheng.

Soldiers in groups of two or three, ignoring the blood clots on their own bodies, continued to carry the bodies of both sides that were missing limbs.

On the platform, Guo Huilong's figure was no longer there. Only flags of various colors were floating in the air, and a large banner with the word "Guo" standing tall on the side.

He Gui ultimately failed to achieve the same feat as the famous general in history and died fifty-six steps in front of Guo Huilong.

Even though the more than a thousand men under Chen Daniu's command summoned by Guo Huilong did not arrive in time, He Gui was still strangled by the Banner Guarding Battalion under the high platform, and not a single one of his five hundred brave warriors survived.

In this battle, the Xuanwu Army beheaded 501 people and lost 1,300 of its own men, including 13 officers, most of whom were captains and team leaders. Only Yan An, the commander of the left 1st battalion of the Huazhou Army who was guarding Xitai City, died.

Because of Yan An's death, several camps of Xuanwu troops near Xitai City were left leaderless, allowing He Gui to easily break through and break into the camp.

Fortunately, after a brief panic, Bai Liyi, commander of the left third battalion of the Huazhou Army, stepped forward to take charge of military affairs and integrated the scattered battalions totaling 2,800 people.

He sent two battalions of a thousand men to support the main camp, and the rest of the troops, under his leadership, took advantage of the fact that there were five hundred fewer men in Xitai City and launched a fierce attack.

At this time, Zhu Xuan in Juancheng was pinned down by the 30,000 Xuanwu troops outside the city and had no way to send reinforcements.

The only person left in Xitai City was He Gui's deputy general Chi Hongde, who was leading 500 men. How could he withstand the fierce attack of Bai Lili's troops of 1,800 men?

Long before the battle, Bai Liyi summoned the commanders of various camps. Although they were mainly soldiers from Huazhou, they were not without any combat effectiveness.

"Now that Deputy Commander Yan is dead, He Gui has torn through our defenses and attacked the camp. If things go as expected, we will not be able to escape the blame for losing the defenses."

"Demotion and dismissal are both good, but I'm afraid that this battle will not go well, and the military government needs to make an example of them and punish them severely. We all have to go to the vegetable market."

"There is only one way to avoid the blame now, and that is to capture the city in front of us."

"If we succeed, we can atone for our sins and continue to enjoy the 100 mu of fertile farmland. If we fail, we will be deposed from the military system, stripped of our military household status, and become civilians again. Digging for food in the fields is probably our best fate."

As Bai Liyi broke down the importance of the matter and fed it to the group of camp commanders, they finally made up their minds.

Therefore, after launching the offensive on Xitai City, these battalion commanders were like crazy, and the Type B army exerted the momentum of the Type A army such as Xuanyi.

However, in just two hours, the Huazhou soldiers captured Xitai City, which was no less powerful than Dongtai City, at the cost of more than 600 people.

Soon after Xitai City was captured, Dongtai City also fell under the strong force of Bai Xiaoqiang and Bai Haoyuan. Liu Cun, who was about to escape, was caught by the Xuanwu soldiers, and the rest of the people surrendered.

The Battle of Dongtai City lasted for two days and two nights. The Xuanwu Army lost more than 3,000 people, beheaded 1,200 people, and captured more than 300 people.

The East and West Taicheng were both captured by the Xuanwu Army. Zhu Xuan knew that counterattack was a luxury, so he recalled An Fushun and An Fuqing.

After the two divisions came back, they counted the losses. It was found that An Fushun's 3,000 infantrymen had lost more than 500 men, and An Fuqing's 1,000 cavalrymen had lost 535 men.

Zhu Xuan felt like crying but had no tears. You have to know that these one thousand cavalrymen were all he had left, and half of them were lost in just two or three hours.

On the opposite side were only 500 cavalry led by Li Cunqian. It can be seen that the Xuanwu cavalry was as powerful as the elite cavalry from Hedong, foreign tribes, Youzhou and other places.

Zhu Xuan himself suffered heavy losses, and so did Guo Huilong.

In order to capture the East and West Taicheng, the Xuanwu Army lost more than 4,000 people in just a few days, and nearly 10,000 were injured, which seriously damaged their vitality. So after this battle, the two sides fell into a strange calm.

It was not until Zhu Jin arrived near Juye Lake that he was discovered by the Xuanwu Army's cavalry.

Guo Huilong knew that the battle to take Puzhou was basically a failure, so he led his troops back.

Looking at the slowly retreating Xuanwu Army, Zhu Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, within a month, he had lost two important generals, one dead and one surrendering. Moreover, he did not know how much food and grass would be wasted if he wanted to recover the East and West Taicheng cities that were destroyed by the Xuanwu Army.

But he had finally managed to get through this year. Thinking of this, he quickly went to meet his brother Zhu Jin who came to support him:
"Brother Jin, I really trouble you. Every year I need you to lead the troops to help me. Come in and drink with me."

Zhu Jin, who looked exhausted, replied:

"Brother, what are you talking about? Let's not talk about the fact that we are brothers from the same mother. Xuanwu is so strong that it cannot be defeated without the combination of you and me. Zhu Quanzhong is an ambitious man, and Yang Xingmi is a coward."

"If you and I don't help each other, then we will let that old man Bai Yi take advantage of us. But if I have any difficulties in the future, I hope you will not refuse."

Without the threat of the Xuanwu Army, Zhu Xuan regained his former heroic spirit and pulled Zhu Jin into the city: "Of course, of course, let's drink first."

Qingzhou, Yidu, and Pinglu Army are located there, and can also be called Zibo-Qingzhou Army.

The current Jiedushi of Pinglu Army is Wang Shifan, the son of the former Jiedushi of Zibo and Qingzhou, Wang Jingwu. He controls six prefectures, namely Qi, Zibo, Qing, Lai, Deng and Di.

In addition, Qi has been a prosperous commercial area since ancient times, and the Bai family invested a large amount of money here to open up trade and rely on sea routes to gain the benefits of Liaodong, Korea, and Japan.

Although the Tang Dynasty is currently in civil strife, with many heroes rising up and warlords dividing the country, the lands of Qi and Korea seem to be very peaceful.

Apart from the battle for succession caused by Wang Shifan's succession in the past two years, there have been basically no major disasters.

Relying on Korea and Japan, Qi had basically no shortage of things, and even had enough energy to pay tribute to the imperial court in exchange for its support.

In Yidu City, at the Pinglu Military Headquarters, Wang Shifan held a banquet with civil and military officials and local talents.

Wang Shifan was seen dressed in brocade clothes, with a jade belt around his waist and a beard at the corners of his mouth. It was obvious that he groomed himself regularly. He did not look like the head of a military headquarters, but rather a civil servant like a provincial governor.

This is indeed the case. Wang Shifan is not like his father. He is very good at calligraphy and is a famous bibliophile.

People say that Master Wang is elegant and Confucian, and that he governs the local area properly and is quite popular among the people.

However, it was precisely because he was not well-known for his military prowess that Zhang Chan, the governor of Dizhou, rebelled.

Zhang Chan believed that Wang Shifan was too weak to fight and unable to protect Wang Jingwu's foundation, so he rebelled.

After suppressing the rebellion of Zhang Chan and expelling Cui Anqian, the pseudo-Pinglu Jiedushi inserted by the court, Wang Shifan gained full control of the military and political power of Pinglu. From then on, he retired to the southern mountains, took charge of civil affairs, and Pinglu was greatly governed.

"Drink up, everyone. This is the Japanese wine that I bought from Japan. It is different from the local wine. There is also the ginseng wine that Brother Jin from Korea gave me. It is a very tonic food."

Teacher Wang's face turned red, and he kept urging the famous people from Qi in the hall to drink, obviously very proud.

(End of this chapter)