The Emperor ordered Zhao Tang

Chapter 286: Second Battle with Feng Yi (Part )

On August 26, the third year of Qianning, the coolness of mid-autumn came.

As soon as the negotiations broke down, the saint and Zhao Fu set out from Dongluchi and Huayin County.

On the 23rd, the Saint Army passed through Anleyuan, more than ten miles north of Dali City, leaving Murong Zhang to attack Li Cunzhang who was stationed there. On the 26th, they set up camp in Changpingyuan between Dali and Chaoyi.

Li Keyong's army was divided into two camps in Dali, Chaoyi's north Tonglingbi, Changchun Palace, Pujin Pass, and Shayuan. Li led 80,000 troops to camp in Changpingyuan, Murong Zhang led the Zhengyi Army in Anleyuan, and Zhao Fu led 30,000 troops in Shayuan.

Time flies. It has been two years since I left Zuo Fengyi after my last expedition against Zhang Cunjing. Since I defeated the Tongzhou Army, the people of Zuo Fengyi have enjoyed a few years of peace. But now, it seems that they have to pay their debts. Let's see how many more families have been displaced and their families have been destroyed.

However, Emperor Li may not have to worry. The people of Zuofengyi had already fled, hoping that the two armies would be destroyed together. Although the saints did not mess around, he made the lives of the common people difficult in order to support the army. Not to mention the rebels, they had just been ravaged.

On the 27th, the sage issued an order to appoint Nangong Daoyuan, Zhang Chengfa, Geng Tong, the captain of the Tiance Army's Longxiang, and Yuan Tan, the chief architect, as the envoys of the pass, trenches and fences. They led eight foreign armies such as the Huorui and Longwu armies, as well as the recruited civilians and craftsmen to make equipment, collect stones and earth, and be responsible for the preliminary work of siege and attack.

The main force rested and prepared for the battle. They were indeed tired from running around during this period.

This kind of large-scale battle is not something that can be decided by simply agreeing on a time and place. Except for lunatics like Zhu Wen, who like large-scale decisive battles, the saints and Li Keyong are both cautious or timid in using troops, and will try to avoid it.

The main reason is that the risk is too great, and most people don't have as much wealth as Zhu Wen. They can afford to lose Qingkou and Baixiang, but can you?
Multiple troops are distributed in multiple places, and various tactical actions are carried out. Each side constantly tries to attack the other's logistics and morale, create trouble, and at the same time try to maintain and improve their own status, and then wait for an opportunity to break through.

Even after judging that it is difficult to win, it is common for one side to run away.

During the Liang-Tang struggle, there were many such battles. The battles were mainly hand-to-hand combat, naval battles, and field battles. Unfortunately, Li Keyong's style was different from his son's. Whether out of caution or something else, he took a defensive stance this time.

That's it.

Mr. Li still used the same trick and started a siege on the city.

I'll hold his thigh here, Li Renmei, Li Zan, Li Sizhou, Yin Shouzhi, you guys hurry up!
See who gets anxious first.

He had already sent people to Heyang and Guanbei to speed up the march and sabotage the enemy at all costs, so that Li Keyong would not have food to eat next year and the whole army would become zombies again. In addition, the court had also sent important officials, such as Weiwei Xiao Kuan and Palace Censor Liu Yong, to the three towns in Hebei to urge Zhao, Wei and Yan to send troops and take advantage of the opportunity to attack Hedong.

Liu Rengong agreed verbally, and the military government had no objection. Perhaps it would only take a second wave of envoys from the court to arrive in Fan Yang, whether it was to confer official titles or rewards such as money and goods.

The saint was still willing to give it. The Youzhou Army, which was known for its arrogance, would not break its promise once it had agreed. Moreover, they had a grudge against Li Keyong and had often fought against him since the Qianfu Year. Currently, they had no conflict of interest or geographical interests with the court.

What? You said he likes to fix matches?

Well, it's better than Wei Bo who fixed matches on both sides.

From late August to mid-October, for more than 40 days, the sage had been leading the army in Changpingyuan, confronting Li Keyong. Li Kening, who was stationed in Taiyuan, was given the title of Jiedushi of Hedong, Yin of Taiyuan, and the governor of Beijing. He was the younger brother of the one-eyed dragon, and had a close friendship with Li Keyong, but his faction had many conflicts with Li Keyong's faction. This time, the court wanted to take advantage of him to see if he would be persuaded by the closeness and take the throne like Tian Xu did.

The superior force of more than 100,000 troops firmly pinned to Zuo Fengyi also greatly compressed Li Keyong's strategic space. The two sides' patrol and cavalry units fought outside every few days.

Li Keyong's Khitan troops were severely damaged by the Turkic troops led by Ashina Luoxue and Ashina Yingchen under Emperor Li's command, with more than 2,000 casualties.

In comparison, the result of the Puzhou Pass encounter was disappointing - Li Junqing and Li Sixun led their cavalry to annihilate the Jinjian Army, the deputy envoy Gadebei died in the battle, and Lun Hongyi only escaped with his life.

This army was the Tubo of Lun and Ga who were taken in when Helong was recovered. There were more than 4,000 people in total. The sage knew that their fighting power was limited, so during the fierce battle with Zhu Wen, they were always assigned the tasks of the second-line troops. Unexpectedly, they survived under Zhu Wen, but were defeated by Ma Zhi.

Congmazhi, I will remember you!
This seems to be the army that launched the Xingjiao Gate Rebellion and the Yellow Robe Rebellion in Yecheng in later generations. They are indeed quite capable.

Overall, the cavalry on both sides are evenly matched.

The Saint's advantage is the large number of cavalry, with 60,000 to 70,000 cavalry. The disadvantage is that they are mixed. For example, the guards of the cavalry, such as Long Jie and Bao Zi, have made decisive achievements many times, but the number is small. Most of the cavalry can beat the Bian army cavalry, but they have little chance of winning against the opponents of Hedong, Zhao, Wei, Yan, and Qi, who have a long history of cavalry and a mature cavalry system.

In addition, due to the large quantity, the consumption of war horses is too high and the saints cannot afford it, so the horses here are not well fed and their overall quality is not as good as that of Hedong.

There is nothing to say about Li Keyong, but the number of cavalry he brought into the pass was far less than that of his son-in-law.

It is inevitable that two fists are no match for four hands.

Let's wait and see who can outlast the other. In addition, several offensive battles also took place.

Over in Anleyuan, after a long fight, both sides were numb and just stared at each other through the fence.

On September 14, Zhang Hui sent a letter to Wang Yanzhang, Shui Wusheng and others to inquire about the progress. I don't know what they said, but the next day Wang Yanzhang and Ding Hui attacked Anleying desperately. They fought for most of the day and were wounded several times. Maybe they were anxious and led the team to attack in the middle of the night. However, Li Cunzhang was repairing the camp every day, and he was a veteran, so it was really difficult to deal with him.

In the dark, hundreds of people were captured, and Wang Yanzhang's face was swollen. This made him completely lose his defense and he stood with his hands on his hips and cursed at Li Cunzhang's camp. Later, he sent people to challenge him in turn, but Li Cunzhang ignored him and remained indifferent to the humiliation of the Bian army. Wang Yanzhang was so angry that he used the catapult he got from the saint to throw feces, urine, and dead rats into the camp day and night.

Now Li Cunzhang could no longer hold back. Seeing that Wang Yanzhang was determined to take Anleyuan, he simply led his troops to withdraw.

I'm leaving, I'm leaving, okay?
The two armies, blood-thirsty, engaged in another chase.

In the end, with an exchange ratio of about one to one and more than 4,000 casualties on both sides, the offensive and defensive battle ended with the righteous army occupying Anleyuan; the rebels' space for activities was further eroded.

The sage was very satisfied with the loyalty of the Bian army. He showed an attitude of buying bones with a huge amount of gold and lavishly rewarded and praised Wang Yanzhang and other generals. Not only did he grant them official titles, honorary positions, seals, and clothes to whitewash them, but he also burned the dead Bian soldiers according to his boast before the battle, and ordered the officials to move them to the Hall of Heroes and the East Courtyard Shrine, with portraits, tablets, steles, and murals.

This was a pleasant surprise for them.

Although this thing is just a tool to win people's hearts and brainwash people, but both of them died in battle. One has a shrine in the palace, and is called a heroic spirit as long as the country, while the other has a small grave in the wilderness called something, which may be blown away by rain and wind at any time. It depends on what you think.

In late October, high-ranking officials from Chengde, Weizhou, Youzhou, and Yiwu, including Shangguan Daozi, came together and said they would represent the military government to negotiate peace between the imperial court and Hedong.

Shangguan Daozi was the governor of Chengde and the chief judge of the prefecture.

Ashina Gaoyang, general of Weizhou government, and head of Shanhe.

Shi Sizhong, Yuan Fengzhen and Yang Chengxian were all generals in Fanyang.

Liang Wen was a clerk in Yiwu Army.

In the Changpingyuan camp, after listening to the self-introductions of these foreign officials one by one and letting them take their seats, the saint's eyes lingered on Shangguan Daozi, who was well-dressed and had an air of immortality, and asked his old friend, "Why didn't Zimei come?"

"Thank you for your concern, Lord." Shangguan Daozi replied respectfully, "Zimei offended the king because of something, and was demoted to the position of city gate lieutenant. He is now guarding the gate in Zhenzhou."

The saint's heart ached, and he hurriedly asked, "What crime have you committed?"

Well, Shangguan Daozi didn't want to say it, but he felt that he couldn't hide it, so he had to say it honestly: "Marshal Wang was trained to be a marshal, and all officials sent congratulatory letters, but my only son Mei was not able to go, so..."

Wang Rong, Wang Rong, you treat me as a precious warrior like this? You are such a tyrant! You will be killed sooner or later.

"It's a pity." The saint said gloomily, "After we parted in Luoyang, Zimei and I walked out of Shangyang City. He also promised to come to see me every winter solstice. I didn't expect to be able to climb over the wall and look at the pass again... Who would be willing to live like this, without any worries or ties to each other..."

As he spoke, he supported his forehead with one hand, looking sad.

Shangguan Daozi never expected that after such a short period of time together, the relationship between the emperor and his subject would have developed to this point?

"Your Majesty, don't worry." Shangguan Daozi comforted him, "Don't be angry, General. Autumn is the deadline."

When I get back, I will talk to General Wang on his behalf and ask him to fulfill his promise.

The saint nodded slightly.

"Holy Lord." After the greetings broke the ice, Ashina Gaoyang opened the topic and expressed his position: "We will discuss Keyong. General Tian and the soldiers of Wei Bo have no objection, but this is a time of trouble. Zhu Dalang is training his troops in Bian Song and integrating his old subordinates. His intentions are unknown. Our army still needs to guard against the Bian Lu going north and guard Hebei for the country. Therefore, we think it is not appropriate to have anything to do with Li Keyong for the time being. After the audience with the Holy Lord, we will go to Li Keyong again and ask him to withdraw his troops. If we can reach an agreement, I hope the Holy Lord will clear his name and restore his official title. If this person is really unyielding, it will not be too late to punish him like Zhu Wen."

Wei Bo’s current strategy is to balance the islands. It does not want to see any party become bigger, nor does it want to be an enemy of anyone.

"I think so too," Shangguan Daozi followed up.

(End of this chapter)