Northern Prefecture Rivers and Mountains

Chapter 455 Revenge

Liu Daogui discovered that whenever Wang Zhen'e and Mao Dezhu cooperated, they usually achieved great success.

This was true when we attacked Qin and Liang, and it is true now when we destroy Wei.

In this battle, Mao Dezhu tied down Tuoba Si's main force, while Wang Zhen'e sailed down the Yellow River from its upper reaches, invaded the heart of Wei, and reached Pingcheng, cutting off Tuoba Si's retreat.

This forced Tuoba Si to take a desperate gamble and fight to the death.

Then Mao Dezhu ordered Gongsun Biao to persuade the Wei army to surrender on the battlefield, which demoralized the Wei army and caused the 200,000-strong army to fall into disarray.

Both of them are second to none in command and strategic thinking.

Of course, the main reason is that the Wei Kingdom was severely weakened after the Battle of Fangtou, and its famous generals were dying out, making it unable to withstand the overwhelming pressure of the Han Dynasty.

After Tuoba Si was killed in battle, the two fortresses of Zhongshan and Xiangguo surrendered.

The Taishan defense line subsequently collapsed.

The Wei Kingdom was left with only Pingcheng still holding out, and the general in charge was Tuoba Yao, the Prince of Henan, who was the fourth son of Tuoba Gui.

In early November, Wang Zhen'e personally led 20,000 Tiger Guard troops south to control the floods and launched a surprise attack on Liu Hu's army of refugees. The 100,000 refugees were like clay before the 20,000 elite Tiger Guard troops, and Liu Hu himself died under Wang Zhao's spear.

In this battle, more than 10,000 were killed in action, and 40,000 were captured. More than 7,000 Jie people, Xiongnu people, and other Hu people from Shangdang who had followed Liu Hu in raising an army were all beheaded and their heads displayed to the public.

After returning to the Pingcheng camp, Wang Zhen'e, under the pretext of avenging the Western Jin, dispatched Shen Tianzi to lead the Qin Liangyi army to launch attacks in all directions, searching for and killing the scattered Jie people and other Hu people.

In reality, they sent the Qiang and Xianbei armies from Qin and Liang to cleanse Bingzhou.

After so many years of war, less than two-tenths of Bingzhou's population are Han Chinese; the rest are non-Han people who migrated from various places.

Shen Tianzi was an expert at this kind of work. When he encountered cities and fortified villages that resisted, he would slaughter them all. Wherever he went, the corpses of the Hu people were everywhere...

"Zhen'e, Zhen'e, this name is indeed well-chosen." Liu Daogui praised Wang Zhen'e even more.

Not everyone is willing to do this kind of dirty work.

By doing this, Wang Zhen'e essentially took the blame for Liu Daogui.

Liu Muzhi said: "The Yongjia Rebellion started in Bingzhou. Bingzhou is the backbone of the country, overlooking the Guandong region and connecting Guanzhong. We must use swift and decisive measures."

Bingzhou holds a superior position over Guanzhong, Hebei, and the Central Plains. If Wei can establish a foothold in Bingzhou, Hebei and the Central Plains will be as easy as taking candy from a baby.

Tuoba Gui's decision to establish his capital in Pingcheng was a strategic move demonstrating foresight.

Feng Kai asked, "What does Your Majesty intend to do with Pingcheng?"

With Tuoba Si dead, Tuoba Yao certainly can't hold out.

Mao Dezhu took over Zhongshan and Xiangguo, and together with Liu Guangzhi and Hu Fan's troops, they crossed Feihu Pass and attacked Pingcheng from the north.

Zhu Lingshi and Zhu Chaoshi captured Jinyang in the south, and Wang Zhongde captured Shangdang. The entire Han army of 400,000 men from five routes stormed into Bingzhou.

Pingcheng was surrounded by Han troops on all sides, and the Tuoba clan had nowhere to retreat.

"Aren't Wang Zhen'e and Mao Dezhu at the front? Just leave it to them." Liu Daogui didn't interfere too much with the decisions of the generals at the front, as long as the goal of conquering and destroying Wei was achieved.

A heavy snow fell, turning the world into a silvery white.

If Chang'an is like this, Dai County will only be even colder.

However, those who participated in the great battle were either Qiang and Xianbei people who came from Qin and Liang, or soldiers from both sides of the Yellow River, who were already used to this kind of weather.

Previously, Wang Zhen'e had seized hundreds of thousands of cattle and sheep, and had also plundered Bingzhou with his troops, so he was not short of supplies for the winter. The other armies had also seized large amounts of grain and livestock while attacking cities and seizing territories.

Just as the Hu people treated the Jin people during the Yongjia Rebellion, the Han army is now treating the Hu people the same way. Those who surrendered were relatively safe, but those who did not surrender were killed without mercy.

In this day and age, there is no such thing as repaying evil with kindness; only blood for blood and teeth for teeth.

When the Former Qin Dynasty fell, the Han people in the north were plundered by the Hu people again. Wang Zhen'e, Mao Dezhu, and Wang Zhongde all led their clans south after their families and relatives were brutally killed by the Hu people.

If even powerful figures like them are like this, then the ordinary people are even more so.

Every time the northern kingdoms fall and rise again, the Han people of the north always suffer the most.

Now that these descendants of Han Chinese from the north have returned to fight back, how could they possibly be merciful?

Not only did they commit massacres, but even the powerful clans of the north rose up in rebellion to join the campaign against the Hu people.

This hatred, suppressed for nearly ninety years, was incredibly destructive once it erupted.

Throughout the winter, the memorials and news sent from the prefectures of Ji, You, and Bing were alarming.

The Xianbei, Dingling, and Wuhuan tribes looked similar to the Han people, making it difficult to distinguish them. Therefore, the Han people mainly used their swords against the Jie and other non-Han peoples, and blood flowed in almost every county in Hebei.

Yin Zhongwen couldn't bear to watch. "If this killing continues, I'm afraid... there will be no one left in Hebei."

"If no one is allowed to reproduce, the will of the people has already risen, and it is like a flood that cannot be stopped by a single decree from me."

It is a sign of no gentleman not to seek revenge; the ancient Chinese sages have always encouraged the pursuit of vengeance.

The Gongyang Commentary clearly states: "Can avenge a crime after nine generations?" The answer is: "Even after a hundred generations, it is possible!"
If you don't avenge this blood feud, the surviving remnants will look down on you.

When Shi Hu was in power, he conscripted three out of every five able-bodied men, and two out of every three, to build the magnificent city of Ye with the countless bones of the Jin people. He also seized 100,000 wives and daughters of the Jin people to bring into the palace. The nobles of Jie and Zhao followed suit, and the princes and dukes privately issued orders to select nearly 10,000 beautiful women.

Wives and daughters were plundered, and men were either driven to the battlefield to die or worked themselves to death on construction projects. Their homes and native lands became hunting grounds for the nomadic tribes.

Although the Former Yan dynasty was not as brutal as the Later Yan, it still treated the Jin people as slaves. The Xianbei nobles and powerful chieftains were enslaved at will, and their land was seized. Murong Jun had just occupied Ye City and had not yet settled in, but he followed Shi Hu's example and conscripted three out of every five able-bodied men, and two out of every three able-bodied men, intending to raise an army of 1.5 million to conquer the Jin dynasty in the south.

Apart from Fu Jian, under the rule of Wang Meng, the Jin people in the Guandong region had a slight chance to catch their breath. However, after Wang Meng's death, Fu Jian suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Fei River, and the Hu people began a new round of massacres...

These national and personal grievances were already etched into their hearts, so it's no wonder that the soldiers who returned to the north sought revenge.

The courage to seek revenge precisely demonstrates that the Han people still possess cohesion and fighting spirit.

Hebei has more Hu people than Han people. If we don't clean it up in this way, decades later, we still won't know who owns Hebei.

Liu Daogui was the emperor of the Han Dynasty, not the Khan of the Hu people, so he only considered the interests of his own people.

In many cases, killing is the most effective means, including the slaughtered Hu people, who only recognized swords.

However, despite the brutality of the massacre, the number of Han Chinese in Hebei suddenly increased. It was as if overnight, a large number of Han Chinese appeared out of nowhere, tied up their hair, and joined the army of slaughter...

Liu Daogui turned a blind eye to this.

Anyone who has the appearance of someone from the Central Plains and speaks the Han language can be classified as a Han person.

Just as the Murong clan took control of Hebei and a million Xianbei people emerged instantly, many Jin people actively became Xianbei, and now many Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Xiongnu people are actively becoming Sinicized.

Survival is the basic human instinct.

No matter how sharp the swords of the Northern Expeditionary Army were, they couldn't possibly kill everyone...

(End of this chapter)