On the north bank of the Bianhe River, in addition to city walls and ramparts, there are buildings with uneven heights. Standing on one of the four-story buildings, you can look out into the distance and look at the bleak autumn wind and the surging waves below. , Liu Chengyou couldn't help but feel a little sad in his heart.
Kaifeng is the most important place in the world. It controls the number of boats and vehicles, controls the throat of the river, and the canal that connects the Huaihu Lake. The foundation of the city and the foundation of the capital lies in the Bianhe River. This golden waterway that connects the north and the south, along with politics, The shift in economic focus has become increasingly important. It is almost related to the fate of the country and is the life course of the empire.
Up here, there should have been public water transportation, private business travel, and boats and boats one after another. However, such grand scenes, as far as the Bianhe River is concerned at this time, only exist in words. Although with the development of the Central Plains Gradually, boat traffic increased day by day. However, due to the impact of the previous war, the damage to the Khitan was too serious, and the sequelae were here. In addition, the products in the south of the Huaihai River were almost in the "enemy country", and the development potential of the Bianhe River was still there. Very big.
Even though water transportation was slowed down due to the war, the cargo throughput on the river is still quite large today.
Naturally, Liu Chengyou would not have the leisure to lament the decline of river transport and to revitalize canal transport. That is a matter for the future. For now, as long as it can still be effective and support Tokyo. At this moment, the most important thing is the war in Yedu.
Since the outbreak of the war against Du, it has always affected the hearts of the government and the public. He walked around the city and saw that the people were really worried about the court, or they were worried about themselves. Since the fall of the previous dynasty, the Khitan The city of Tokyo has been in chaos for seven or eight months since the invasion, but in these two months it has become a little more stable.
Although life is still difficult under the rule of the New Han Dynasty, it is better than no order. At least there is some hope. If the new court falls again, there is no telling how long the chaos will last. Therefore, even if the current situation is The government of the Han Dynasty was lackluster, and even evil was breeding. Still no ordinary common people expected him to collapse. From Liu Chengyou's point of view, this could only be explained by "people's minds".
The war in Yedu, just as Liu Chengyou had worried before, eventually went wrong, and it was his uncle Murong Yanchao.
When Du Chongwei first raised his troops, he used Chanzhou as the key to Tokyo, and was forced to the south of Guangjin Prefecture. He was also in danger of Yedu, so he took the initiative to attack Desheng City (the northern city of Desheng is today's Puyang).
Although Du Chongwei screamed fiercely, he probably did not have the ambition to march south to Kaifeng after taking Chanzhou. His real purpose, more likely, was to capture Deshengkou and then attack Liyang westward to block the Han army in the Henan. Waiting for news from the north, he has sent his son Du Hongsui to the north to ask for support. If the Khitan "father" can break through to the south, then he will still be saved...
On the Han army's side, the court's preliminary arrangements were not just decorations. Although all the armies had not arrived and the commander-in-chief Gao Xingzhou was not yet in place, they were not afraid of Du Chongwei's turmoil at all.
However, Murong Yanchao started to cause trouble. He was proud of his courage and talent, and was not convinced by the decrepit old man Gao Xingzhou, the imperial commissioner. When he heard that Ye's soldiers were coming from the south, he happily accepted the battle, regardless of defensive measures. After being dissuaded by Guo Rong, he led the garrisoned five thousand imperial troops to attack, and the two sides fought on the outskirts of Desheng City.
It would be fine if they were defeated directly. The key point is that Du Chongwei's vanguard troops were useless and were defeated by Murong Yanchao in one blow. As a result, Murong Yanchao became more and more arrogant, and the word "enough is enough" probably did not exist in his dictionary.
Ci, led the army in pursuit, far away from the city defense. Then, they ran into Du Chongwei's Chinese army of more than 30,000 people.
The soldiers on both sides were brave, but under the command of the two generals, they were forced to fight each other. Murong Yanchao relied on the central government's righteousness and the strength of the imperial army, but he could not resist Du Zhongwei's large number of soldiers. He fought recklessly for more than an hour and was defeated.
Besieged Lujiadian in Qingfeng County.
Seeing that he was alone and in danger, the defense commander Guo Rong worked tirelessly to lead the remaining thousands of troops in Desheng City, risking his life to break through the Ye soldiers' blockade, and forcibly rescued Murong Yanchao.
Following Murong Yanchao's defeated army, they fought and retreated all the way until they retreated to Desheng City, barely holding on.
Guo Rong had no choice. Most of the troops were led by Murong Yanchao to fight. If Murong Yanchao was completely wiped out by Du Chongwei, it would be difficult for him to resist with only the remaining thousands of troops. Desheng Ferry
If they were lost, Liyang in the west would be affected. If both crossings were lost, it would be difficult for the Han army to cross north.
Even if Du Chongwei can be eliminated in the end, the price to be paid will inevitably double, and this is not just a matter of Du Chongwei's rebellion.
He has a broad vision and a good understanding of the overall situation. It is precisely because he saw the possible consequences that Guo Rong just chose to take risks and make a desperate move. Of course, it is not ruled out that Guo Rong wants to take a gamble. The greater the risk, the greater the return.
Gao. In the end, Guo Rong's bet was successful, and the narrow escape ended in Guo Rong's death.
And Du Chongwei was really stretched. He was disrupted by Guo Rong's thousands of soldiers, so he just rescued Murong Yanchao. With so many soldiers, if he only needed to divide a small force to attack Desheng Beicheng, the Han army would be defeated. He just chose to fight with the Han army.
The battle continued step by step until the Han army retreated and defended the city.
Regarding Murong Yanchao, his previous efforts to persuade him were in vain, resulting in the defeat, and Guo Rong was also extremely angry. Only after experiencing the work together personally did he know how difficult this man was to serve. Du Chongwei attacked the pass fiercely and failed, and had no choice but to retreat. Waiting for him
After retreating, Murong Yanchao took over the command again, blaming Guo Rong for the ineffective rescue. Now, Guo Rong was angry and sent people to Tokyo to impeach Murong Yanzhao.
The Battle of Du Chongwei, the first battle, ended with the defeat of the Han army, with more than 2,000 casualties. Of course, Du Chongwei also failed to get a good result. The defeat of the forward and the fierce battle that followed resulted in nearly 3,000 casualties.
, more than the Han army. However, judging from the scene and the result, it was the Ye soldiers who won.
In fact, the morale of the Ye soldiers was not high. The soldiers had weak fighting will and little desire to rebel. They were just coerced by Du Chongwei. However, after the Lujiadian battle, the morale of the Han army was not much better.
A bad start is never a good sign.
When the news of the defeat reached Tokyo, the whole court was in an uproar and was even caught off guard. Liu Chengyou was also extremely speechless, secretly scolding Murong Yan for failing to achieve more than he failed. It was because of the importance of Deshengkou that the court decided to prevent Du Chongwei from going south.
Gather heavy troops here.
With 5,000 forbidden troops in hand, they only need to hold on firmly until other troops from the imperial court gather together and attack in a coordinated manner, then they can steadily advance to Yedu. This Murong Yanchao insists on being smart. If it weren't for Guo Rong who turned the tide and suppressed the rebellion,
The situation may not be optimistic.
However, for Guo Rong personally, he suddenly gained a lot of fame. In order to reduce the impact of the defeat, the imperial court used the Spring and Autumn style of writing on the Lujiadian battle, trying to avoid talking about the defeat, and instead focused on promoting Guo Rong's turning defeat into victory.
, severely defeated the rebels, and destroyed the rebels' conspiracy to seize Deshengkou.
In order to reward the meritorious officials and appease the morale of the soldiers, Liu Zhiyuan was demoted and appointed as the commander of the Deqing military capital, the defense envoy of Chanzhou, and the camp formation envoy of Yedu.
As for Murong Yanchao's treatment, Liu Zhiyuan hesitated. According to the opinions of the courtiers, he should be held accountable, and if nothing happened, he would be summoned back to Tokyo. As a result, Liu Zhiyuan just put it down gently, avoiding talking about his crime and waiting to see the consequences.
, leaving him in front of the army, still holding his original post, as Gao Xingzhou deputy.
Murong Yanchao's defeat completely disrupted the imperial court's expected rhythm of counterinsurgency. The damage to soldiers and horses was not a big deal. The key was morale and cold weapon warfare. The importance of morale was sometimes more important than training and equipment.
Before the coach could take over, his morale was demoralized by Murong Yanchao.
After hearing the news of the defeat, under the urging of the imperial court, Gao Xingzhou, who was originally calm and unhurried, had to speed up the rush to the front of the army. The old general worked tirelessly and galloped hundreds of miles to join the following imperial troops and cross the river to the north to Desheng City, regardless of the dust.
Servant, he worked hard to wipe Murong Yanchao's butt.
It would take several days just to regain the morale of the army and restore morale. There is no doubt about Gao Xingzhou's ability to command the troops, and his prestige is also very reliable. Among the Han imperial troops who went out to the expedition, there were many "Jin troops", and Gao Xingzhou
He once served as the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Guards of the Later Jin Dynasty for a period of time. Many of the generals had served under him. With this kind of friendship, we are now fighting under the banner of the "big Han". Gao Xingzhou gave orders, but
There isn't much astringency either.
After everything was prepared, Gao Xingzhou led more than 50,000 horse and infantry troops and marched north from Desheng City. Du Chongwei, who probably gained confidence in the last battle, actually led his army to attack the enemy at the same place as before. The two armies fought at Lujiadian.
Du Chongwei thought that the morale of the Han army must have declined due to the impact of the previous defeat, but he underestimated Gao Xingzhou's ability to control the army. The result is self-evident, and he lost troops and generals and was defeated.
As he got older, Gao Xingzhou's military tactics were old-fashioned and at the same time, he gradually lost some vigor and focused on safety. Seeing that Ye's army was defeated too quickly, he only asked the troops to pursue them cautiously in order to be safe. But Murong Yanchao disagreed.
Having lost face before, he was eager to seize the opportunity to prove himself and strongly suggested Ji Jin, which was rejected by Gao Xingzhou. Murong Yanchao angrily rebuked him and countered him.
What kind of person was Gao Xingzhou, and why would he be influenced by a "kid" like Murong Yanchao? He resisted his pressure, fought steadily, controlled the entire army at any time, and pursued him all the way to the gates of Yedu.
Murong Yanchao suggested taking advantage of the situation to attack quickly, but Gao Xingzhou rejected it. In his opinion, the city of Yedu was strong and Du Chongwei had spare strength, so it was inconvenient to attack by force, so he ordered to set up camp and garrison troops under the city. Murong Yanchao wanted to wash away the previous humiliation.
, impatient and eager to fight, but Gao Xingzhou suppressed him.
The two argued endlessly, but Gao Xingzhou finally suppressed him with military orders. He made up his mind to weaken the enemy's morale first, and then launch a fatal blow. But Murong Yanchao just couldn't wait, and even humiliated Gao Xingzhou in person.
, in his opinion, Gao Xingzhou could win with more troops. If he had enough troops in the previous battle, he would have captured Du Chongwei on his horse.
Although the counter-rebellion Han army achieved victory under the command of Gao Xingzhou, the disagreement between the commander and deputy commander cast a shadow over the war and directly affected the subsequent battle situation.
Murong Yanchao was like a stick stirring up troops. Every time he made a decision, he would contradict Gao Xingzhou, which greatly affected the morale of the army. Gao Xingzhou really had the guts to kill this person to show his military power.
Impulsive, but really helpless considering his status.
In the middle, Gao Xingzhou tried to launch an attack, but the Ye soldiers might not be able to withstand the field battle, but the defense of the city was always under little pressure and failed. Then Murong Yanchao mocked Gao Xingzhou.
Amid the turmoil, the counter-rebellion army surrounded the rebels in Yedu, and the stalemate continues until now.
