The Yan army stationed in Xuzhou was like locusts passing through the border, plundering the entire population of the surrounding states and counties.
As the war progressed, the Yan army generals began to realize that the number of slaves captured every day was getting smaller and smaller.
The people of the Southern Tang Dynasty either hid in the fortified city or sought refuge further south.
Finally, Yan Jun went out several times, but came back empty-handed every time.
Upon seeing this, He Tanchong, a slave trader of the Kang family, planned to start consolidating the slave market and transport all the captured Southern Tang people in the camp to the north.
After hearing the news, the generals of the Yan army gathered in the slave market one after another and persuaded He Tanchong with kind words, hoping that the latter could stay longer. On the other hand, they took the initiative to find An Shouzhong, hoping to capture Xuzhou City as soon as possible.
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An Shouzhong wanted to capture Xuzhou City, but the defender was Zhang Xun, and Xuzhou City was extremely strong. The Yan army tried several times and found that they couldn't get it. If they attacked by force, they would be like the Battle of Suiyang, with casualties.
heavy.
In this way, the two armies remained in a stalemate on the battlefield for several days.
On this day, Xie Guiwen's men received news from the scouts that a group of fleeing people, numbering nearly a thousand people, were migrating toward the Huaihe River in the south.
When Xie Guiwen heard this, he immediately became interested.
After all, around Xuzhou, no matter whether it is village markets or deep mountains and old forests, not even a single person can be seen.
The slave-catching team of the Yan Army has not been "open" for many days. From the generals to the soldiers, they have money but cannot make it. Everyone is feeling aggrieved.
Xie Guiwen immediately ordered five hundred elite soldiers from the army, one person and two horses, prepared enough dry food, and announced to the outside world that he was going to inspect the enemy's situation.
Early in the morning, Xie Guiwen's men quietly left the camp and galloped toward the southeast.
After traveling for a day and a night, Xie Guiwen finally found the group of "common people" who were migrating south in the Luliang Mountain area.
I saw the group of people dragging carts and carrying packages, walking along in a mighty manner.
At this moment, Xie Guiwen had no time to think about it. It was clear that there was no one in the surrounding prefectures and counties, so where did this group of people come from?
Xie Guiwen, who was riding on the horse, drew his sword and shouted to the sergeants under his command: "Young men, you have all remembered that all craftsmen, young ladies and young men, are all high-priced slaves, so you should be gentler. If
If the quality is damaged, you won’t be able to sell it for the price!”
The soldiers of Yan Army looked down the mountain, and they were all excited and praised Xie Guiwen's instructions.
Following the order, five hundred Yan army elite cavalry, like hungry wolves, rushed down the hillside with all their strength and pounced on the official road.
When the "common people" who were originally on their way saw the approaching Yan army, they not only did not flee, but instead took their weapons from their vehicles and began to form formations on the spot.
The general responsible for commanding this decoy force of the Southern Tang Army was General Nan Jiyun under Zhang Xun.
He took off the linen robe used to hide his identity, took out a powerful bow from behind, and fired three loud arrows into the sky.
When Xie Guiwen saw this, he immediately felt bad.
The crossbowmen of the Southern Tang Dynasty, who had already formed a formation, stood behind the shield bearers and began to attack the Yan army with their crossbows.
A round of crossbow arrows passed by, killing and wounding more than thirty of the Yan army's elite cavalry.
Nan Jiyun thought that this volley could break up the enemy's charge, but unexpectedly, the Yan army was not only not confused at all, but was aroused with ferocity.
I saw these Yan Army cavalry who have been hanging out on the border all year round. They first used whips to drive their other horses to run forward to resist the crossbow arrows of the Southern Tang Army. The riders themselves lowered their bodies and followed the horses.
After that, accelerate and rush forward.
In this way, the Yan army used their horses as shields to resist crossbow arrows and took advantage of the situation to directly charge into the Southern Tang army's array.
Suddenly, the cavalry and infantry collided, and the whole scene was in chaos.
Under the impact of the Yan army's cavalry, the Southern Tang army's front line collapsed to varying degrees.
Nan Jiyun had previously followed Zhang Xun to fight against the Yan army in Suiyang, but the enemies at that time were mostly miscellaneous troops recruited by Linghu Chao.
But the group of Yan troops in front of them were actually elite soldiers from Hebei. Their combat prowess was simply incomparable.
Nan Jiyun misjudged the enemy's strength, and the advantage originally brought by the ambush was about to be turned into a disadvantage.
In desperation, Nan Jiyun simply raised Ma Shan, led his soldiers, and took the risk to directly rush into the front line.
When the Southern Tang army saw their general enter the scene, their morale was greatly boosted, and they gradually stabilized their position. The two sides began to fight back and forth.
At this moment, there was a rapid sound of horse hooves coming from the distance of the official road.
Nan Jiyun sat on the horse and looked around. He saw a flag with the word "Tang" written on it. He was overjoyed and shouted: "The reinforcements are coming! They are our people!"
When the Southern Tang army heard this, they cheered loudly, while the Yan army began to panic.
Just when Xie Guiwen was about to give the order to retreat as soon as possible, a group of black shadows suddenly appeared on the top of the mountain in the north.
Someone with sharp eyes in the Yan army looked towards the mountain and immediately shouted to Xie Guiwen: "General, look!"
After Xie Guiwen heard this, he looked towards the mountain and saw someone among the black shadows holding a large flag with the word "Yan" written on it.
Xie Guiwen was stunned: "It's a friendly army? But how could it appear here?"
What Xie Guiwen didn't know was that not only did he know the news that people were migrating south, but many people in the Yan army also learned the news.
In order to catch the slaves, everyone tacitly kept it a secret, and each led his own troops to catch the slaves alone to receive the reward.
As a result, a large number of Yan army generals, with their respective subordinates, came to Luliang Mountain to join in the fun.
Soon, the Southern Tang army and the Yan army came to support and joined the war.
The fight didn't take long.
The second Southern Tang reinforcements joined the battle.
After a moment of burning incense, another Yan army sneaking up to catch slaves also arrived on the battlefield.
In this way, the Yan Army and the Southern Tang Army came alternately, the war became more and more intense, and the number of combatants increased.
An hour later, a total of 6,000 Yan troops and 10,000 Tang troops arrived on the battlefield one after another.
And as time goes by, the number of people on both sides of the battle continues to rise.
The Battle of Luliang Mountain... What was originally a simple ambush battle turned into a battle of fuel.
One day later, when An Shouzhong, who was far away in the camp in Xiao County, learned that a war broke out in Luliang Mountain, his expression was completely confused.
An Shouzhong didn't understand why thousands of troops under his command went to Luliang Mountain?
He also didn't understand why the Southern Tang Dynasty had to go to Luliang Mountain when the city of Xuzhou was not defended.
He didn't understand even more, how could the Yan army win this battle and capture nearly 7,000 Tang soldiers?
What he didn't understand the most was that the biggest contributor to this battle was actually his distant nephew Xie Guiwen who had no ability at all...
After the Battle of Luliang Mountain, the Southern Tang army failed to recover.
The eunuchs in the Jiankang court took the opportunity to slander Li Hengjin, saying that Zhang Xun's command was ineffective, which led to the loss of troops and generals in the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Li Heng listened to the eunuch's advice and replaced Zhang Xun with Gan Deqing. The latter was dismissed from his post, had his rank reduced, and was escorted back to Jiankang.
Xuzhou City did not have the veteran general Zhang Xun in command, and An Shouzhong commanded the army. It only took one month to capture Xuzhou City.
At this point, the Huaihe River Front in the Southern Tang Dynasty no longer restricted the Yan army.
An Shouzhong led the army and marched straight in and attacked Fengyang City, which was only one step away from Jiankang, the capital of the Southern Tang Dynasty.