On the night when Li Huixian had his first kiss after traveling through time, outside Guangling City, six hundred miles northeast of Juchao County, a huge army was marching in the night wind.
They were the soldiers and horses led by Huan Wen who went to Shouyang to fight. There were 30,000 horse and infantry troops, plus 30,000 manpower for logistics and transportation of food and baggage. They were known as an army of 100,000. They marched out overnight to attack Shouyang.
Ever since the defeat at Lifangtou last October, Huan Wen's mood has not been better. The 50,000-strong army was defeated and retreated to Shanyang. After gathering the remnants, only 10,000 soldiers and horses were left alive. Moreover, the ships, food, grass and baggage were abandoned and burned by himself.
, countless were captured by the enemy.
This was an embarrassing defeat. They originally set off aggressively to seize Yecheng, the capital of the Yan Kingdom. As a result, they were blocked at Fangtou because of the lack of food and grass. They were only a few dozen miles away from Yecheng but could not advance even an inch.
In the end, Murong Chui succeeded in his trick and was attacked by Murong Chui's cavalry in Xiangyi. He was defeated and returned.
The people of Qin also took the opportunity to intervene, beat up the drowned dog, and successfully launched a surprise attack in Qiao County, Huan Wen's hometown, killing another 10,000 Jin troops.
For Huan Wen, this was a great shame and an unbearable failure.
In fact, it would be fine if it was just a defeat. After all, Huan Da Sima had not won many battles in his life. Victory and defeat are commonplace for military strategists, and defeat is actually nothing. But the problem is that the losses in this Northern Expedition were too great. After the defeat, for
His own strength and reputation were both huge blows.
After the defeat, there were all kinds of sounds of gloating in the court, and the families that had been attached to the Huan family immediately turned against each other. The Wang Xie family and the Yu family in the court were overjoyed, as if they had encountered some great happy event. Huan
The family and its staff could not hold their heads up.
Of course, Huan Wen could not tolerate this failure. He had to regain his position and try every means to establish his authority. Shirking responsibility was the first thing he had to do. Yuzhou Governor Yuan Zhen was the one who took the blame.
Xi Chao, the Grand Sima who joined the army, gave Huan Wen the idea and put the blame on Yuzhou Governor Yuan Zhen. Huan Wen felt something was wrong at first because he realized that if he did this, Yuan Zhen would not admit guilt and things would get messy.
The point of tidying up.
But after Xi Chao's analysis, Huan Wen immediately felt relieved and thought this was an excellent move.
"In the defeat of Fangtou, Yuan Zhen's Yuzhou army moved slowly and failed to break through Shimen. When he retreated, Yuan Zhen quickly retreated and failed to form a cross cover with the main force of the Northern Expedition. He protected the main force from the flanks and retreated.
It gave the Qin army the opportunity to pursue from the flank. Yuan Zhen could not help but feel guilty. These two mistakes were enough to punish him. Duke Huan did not ask him to take the blame, but he was already guilty. This is to hold him accountable, which is reasonable.
among.”
"The purpose of Duke Huan's Northern Expedition actually has nothing to do with victory or defeat. I am happy to win, but defeat is not necessarily a bad thing. Today's defeat can reveal the true nature of gentlemen and villains, as well as the true nature of people's hearts. Those hypocritical and speculative people have been exposed one after another, and Duke Huan can see clearly.
Isn't this a good thing if we can't see their faces? Jingxing believes that this is exactly an opportunity to gain insight into people's hearts."
"Besides, the purpose of Duke Huan's Northern Expedition is nothing more than to gain a long and realistic hope for the future. Now, although he has failed temporarily, Xu Yan of Jingkou is already in his hands, so it can be said that he has gained nothing. After the defeat, some people say that Duke Huan's hope is real.
However, in Jingxing's view, it was high hopes, not strength, that suffered the loss. With the acquisition of Xu Yan's land at Jingkou, his strength has been strengthened. Nowadays, Jing Yang, Jiang Xu Yan are all in public hands, and Jiang Zuo Da
All the towns and towns were under the control of Duke Huan. All that was missing around Jiankang was the land of Yuzhou in the north of the Yangtze River. Once Yuzhou fell into the hands of Duke Huan, Jiankang would be locked with eight golden locks, and the world would be like a turtle in an urn. Therefore, Yuan Zhen was forced to rebel and took the opportunity to pacify Yuzhou.
To seize it is the best strategy."
"Jing Xing believes that once he is held accountable, Yuan Zhen will rebel. Duke Huan leads the army to quell the rebellion. On the one hand, he can restore his reputation, and on the other hand, he can gain Yuzhou. Why not? However, the only one he worries about is Yuan Zhen.
You may be tempted to jump over the wall and join Qin and Lianyan, but there may be twists and turns. But if you achieve great things, how can you hesitate to move forward at both ends? With Duke Huan's talent, he should know the priorities and the balance between gains and losses."
This is a passage that Xi Chao, the great Sima who joined the army, analyzed to Huan Wen. In order to curry favor with Huan Wen, Xi Chao did not hesitate to sacrifice his family's interests, even giving up his Xi family's ancestral property. He deceived his father Xi Min, forged his letters, and gave them away.
The two important towns of Jingkou and Xuyan were given to Huan Wen.
But it has to be said that Xi Chao's analysis of the situation is extremely correct and he also has an overall view.
Although Huan Wen suffered heavy losses in the failure of his third Northern Expedition, he also gained Jingkou and Xu Yanzhou in the name of the Northern Expedition. The current situation in the Jin Dynasty is that Jingzhou, an important town on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, is controlled by Huan Wen's second brother Huan Huo.
Jiangzhou was controlled by Huan Chong, the fifth brother of Huan Wen. Huan Wen himself led Yangzhou and was in charge of the military troops and horses of Xu Yan and other places in Jingkou. Now the entire area around Jiankang City, except Yuzhou in the north of the Yangtze River, is not under the control of the Huan family.
sphere of influence.
As long as the thorn in the side of Yuzhou Yuan Zhen is removed, Jiankang will be an isolated city and will be completely sealed within Huan Wen's sphere of influence. Although Jiankang City is defended by 50,000 elite Chinese troops, if an incident occurs, Jiankang will be
Cannes will be left alone.
Therefore, it is extremely important to deal with Yuan Zhen, and it is also the last resort for the overall situation.
What kind of person is Huan Wen? Of course he knows that what Xi Chao said is the truth and what he thinks in his heart. After praising Xi Chao greatly, Huan Wen accepted his advice.
What happened later was as expected by Huan Wen, Xi Chao and others. How could Yuan Zhen be willing to surrender and capture him, but he did the opposite according to Shou Yang. Things developed step by step in the direction that Huan Wen, Xi Chao and others wanted.
In February of this year, Huan Wen led his army to Guangling, and began to actively prepare for the war against Yuan Zhen's rebels in Shouyang. After spring, Huan Wen planned to launch an attack. But just as Xi Chao had worried before, Yuan Zhen, in order to protect himself, and Qin
Both the State of Yan and the State of Yan got in touch and asked them to help when they were attacked.
After learning the news, Huan Wen had to suspend his attack plan. After a big defeat, Guangling's troops were not very large. If the attack on Shouyang failed to succeed, if it was delayed, he would be attacked by a joint attack by the Qin and Yan people.
Shouyang is a border city with strong defenses. Yuan Zhen has 30,000 Yuzhou soldiers under his command. He is not a soft persimmon. If the attack on Shouyang fails, then not only will the plan to seize Yuzhou fail, but also the Shouyang rebels will be defeated by Huan Da Sima.
If it can't be solved, it will become a joke among people all over the world.
In these days, strength is important, but reputation is equally important. When reputation is high, the world will return to its heart, and everything will fall into place. Otherwise, extraordinary means must be used to seize the country by force. This is Huan Wen's last resort.
In the middle of the Jin Dynasty, the powerful families are deeply rooted and powerful. Without their support, it will be difficult for things to succeed. If you do it reluctantly, the world will be in chaos. When the time comes, you have to worry about not getting what you want, but you may
It will destroy the north-south pattern.
Huan Wen thought about these things very clearly. Therefore, he decided to sit still and wait for the right time before taking action. At the same time, he mobilized soldiers, horses and food from other places such as the school to make more complete preparations.
Not only that, he also ordered someone to send a message to his third brother Huan Huo, asking him to send thousands of troops to Lujiang County, disguised as Lujiang County soldiers, and belong to his nephew Huan Xu. They would then serve as auxiliary troops to attack Shouyang.
Horse, coordinate the attack.
What Huan Wen didn't expect was that this move actually yielded unexpected results. At the end of April, Huan Xu fought with the Shouyang rebels who were robbing grain in the north of Hefei County, and actually captured Yuan Zhen's son Yuan Jin and annihilated thousands of enemies.
When the news came, Huan Wen was overjoyed.
He immediately ordered Huan Xu to escort Yuan Jin to Guangling, and then sent people to the capital to show off. With Yuan Jin as a hostage, the attack on Shouyang had an extra chance of success.
At the end of June, Huan Wen finally had the opportunity to send troops because Qin and Yan were at war.