One thousand eighty-ninth chapter comprehensive siege
The Long Army's attack on Lueyang lasted only one day. Although the battle was fierce, the Long Army failed to capture Lueyang in the end.
The next day, the Han army led by Geng Yan and Gai Yan took the lead in approaching Lueyang. After hearing the news, the Long army did not dare to attack Lueyang wantonly. The generals persuaded Wei Xiao to withdraw quickly to avoid his attack.
Now Geng Yan's army and Gai Yan's army are approaching Lueyang. In a few days, Cen Peng's army and even the Zhengxi Army will arrive in Lueyang. By then, we will not be able to leave even if we want to.
Wei Xiao really couldn't swallow this breath. There were obviously only 20,000 Han troops in Lueyang City, but after two or three months of attacking, they still couldn't defeat Lueyang. Wei Xiao felt angry and his condition became more and more serious.
In the end, Wei Xiao was forced to accept the generals' advice and led his troops to retreat to Shanggui.
With the withdrawal of the Long Army, the Battle of Lueyang finally came to an end.
The Battle of Lueyang took a long time. In Liu Xiu's second battle against Long, the Battle of Lueyang was the first to break out.
The 20,000 Han troops were caught by surprise and unprepared to sneak into the hinterland of Hanyang and captured Lueyang in one go. After that, Wei Xiao led his army to attack, and with the support of the Shu army, the Long army and the Shu army joined forces to attack Lueyang.
However, at the beginning, the Long Army and the Shu Army each had their own selfish motives, and their offensive against Lueyang was not violent. This gave the Han Army enough time to gain a firm foothold in Lueyang.
Later, although the Long and Shu armies attacked Lueyang with all their strength, the Han army's city defense had been stabilized, and the joint attack of the two armies failed to make any progress.
After that, the war continued to drag on. Until the Long army was defeated across the board, Lueyang was still firmly occupied by the Han army.
It has to be said that the Han army's sneak attack on Lueyang was a great success. They did not invest many troops, but the rewards were extremely huge. At least they restrained Weixiao and the Shu army supporting Longdi.
To Lueyang.
After Wei Xiao led his troops to Shanggui, he did not stop and took his family to Xi County again.
Xixian County is located to the west of Shanggui and is very close to Shanggui. It is only 30 to 40 miles away. After Weixiao arrived in Xicheng, he couldn't afford to fall ill and became thinner day by day. In just a few days, he was almost losing weight.
Got it.
Thanks to the fact that there was a golden elixir beside Kai Xiao, the elixir refined by the golden elixir was able to temporarily save Kai Xiao's life.
The war has reached this point, and what remains is the final decisive battle.
Liu Xiuye has made up his mind that this battle is to completely eliminate the forces of Kaixiao.
He transferred all the Wu and Han troops who were guarding Chang'an to the front line, and soldiers from all walks of life of the Han army gathered in Shanggui and Xi counties.
It is worth mentioning that most of Niu Han's 150,000 troops were dismissed by Liu Xiu.
Soldiers and horses are more valuable than more. This has always been one of Liu Xiu's core ideas in managing the army.
For example, although the Western Expedition Army only has 100,000 soldiers, when it comes to the battlefield, these 100,000 soldiers can be used as 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers.
Liu Xiu really didn't like the 150,000 troops under Niu Han's command. In addition, and the most critical point, the Luoyang court really couldn't afford to raise so many soldiers and horses.
In order for the people to live a good life, the court could only significantly reduce taxes. However, after the tax reduction, the court's money and food were very limited, and it was impossible to raise so many soldiers and horses. There was no way.
Liu Xiu cut off a total of 100,000 of Niu Han's 150,000 troops, and only 50,000 remained in the end.
Even if he only retained 50,000 people, Liu Xiu still felt that the number was too many. If he laid off more people, he might be dissatisfied with Niu Han and give Niu Han the illusion that the emperor did not trust him, which would lead to him having a grudge.
Therefore, after reducing Niu Han's troops to 50,000, Liu Xiu did not continue to reduce them. Just when Liu Xiu was ready to launch an all-out attack on Shanggui and Xixian, something unexpected happened in the west of Liangzhou.
It turned out that the Qiang people from the northwest suddenly crossed the border and invaded Wuwei County and Jincheng County in Liangzhou, killing and plundering the people and seizing the towns.
In fact, during the heyday of Weixiao, the Qiang people really did not dare to invade the Xiliang border.
There are many generals under Wei Xiao, such as Li Guang, Niu Han and others, who are good at commanding troops and are brave and good at fighting.
Wang Yuan, Wang Jie, Wang Meng, Xingxun, Zhou Zong and others were also famous generals. The Qiang people suffered a lot in the hands of these generals.
Under the suppression of Kui Xiao, the Qiang people behaved very honestly and made good friends with Kui Xiao as expected.
But this time, Wei Xiao suffered successive defeats in the battle against the Han army, losing troops and generals. Even the general Wang Zun and the fierce general Niu Han led their troops to defect to the Han Dynasty. This undoubtedly made things worse for Wei Xiao's forces.
The Qiang people saw the opportunity and knew that for a long time, Weixiao would have nothing to do but take care of themselves. If they didn't take the opportunity to invade Liangzhou at this time, how long would they wait?
The Qiang people, who used to be very honest, suddenly changed their appearance and revealed their ferocious features. They invaded Liangzhou on a large scale, burning, killing, looting and committing all kinds of evil in Wuwei County and Jincheng County.
The Qiang people were right. Now Kaixiao really had too much time to take care of himself. Even if he heard that the Qiang people were causing trouble in Wuwei and Jincheng counties, Kaixiao could not spare the energy and troops to deal with them.
Now, the problem of Qiang rebellion was placed in front of Liu Xiu.
Of course, Liu Xiu could also ignore the Qiang people's misbehavior and let them wreak havoc in Wuwei County and Jincheng County. He would go all out to deal with Wei Xiao.
But Liu Xiu is the emperor after all, and he has always advocated bringing Liangzhou under the control of the imperial court. Now that Liangzhou is being harassed by foreign tribes, how can he, the emperor, sit idly by and ignore it?
Liu Xiu was also furious about what the Qiang people had done. He summoned Feng Yi, Niu Han, and Wang Zun, and asked Feng Yi to lead the Western Expedition. Niu Han and Wang Zun led 50,000 troops, with Feng Yi as the leader.
Niu Han was the chief general, and Wang Zun was the deputy general. They commanded an army of 150,000 troops and entered Wuwei and Jincheng counties to quell the Qiang and Hu rebellions.
Feng Yi, Niu Han, and Wang Zun had no objections. After receiving the order, they immediately led their troops to fight.
Before going to war, Feng Yi specially discussed with Niu Han and Wang Zun. He mainly attacked Jincheng County, which was relatively close to Hanyang, and asked Niu Han and Wang Zun to go to Wuwei County.
Niu Han raised objections to Feng Yi's arrangement and advocated that Wang Zunying accompany Feng Yi in the battle.
After all, Feng Yi was not familiar with Jincheng County, and he had never come into contact with the Qiang people. It would be much easier to have Wang Zun by his side to help. As for the Qiang and Hu people in Wuwei County, he was enough to deal with them by himself.
After listening to Niu Han's suggestion, Feng Yi was very moved, and then asked worriedly: "Will Ruqing be alone?"
Niu Han looked up and smiled, waved his hands nonchalantly and said: "General, don't worry, I have fought dozens of battles with the Qiang and Hu, large and small, and we have never been defeated!" As he spoke, he specifically asked Wang Zun that
Have a look.
Wang Zun smiled, nodded to Feng Yi, and said: "Ruqing is sure to win every battle against the Qiang people. As long as they hear Ruqing's name, all the Qiang people will be frightened!"
When Feng Yi heard this, he laughed loudly and said, "In that case, it will be up to Ruqing to quell the Qiang troubles caused by Wuwei, and I will feel at ease!"
After discussion, the three of them finally decided that Feng Yi and Wang Zun would lead the Western Expedition to fight against the Qiang in Jincheng County, while Niu Han would lead his troops to fight against the Qiang in Wuwei County.
Let’s not talk about the war on their side for now, let’s talk about Liu Xiu.
Liu Xiu divided the Han army under his command into three parts. The Grand Sima Wu Han and the Southern Expedition General Cen Peng led 100,000 troops to attack Xi County where Kaixiao was located; General Jianwei Geng Yan and Huya General Gai Yan,
He led 100,000 troops to attack Shanggui where Tianyan, Li Yu and others were stationed. Liu Xiu himself led more than 30,000 soldiers and stationed between Shanggui and Xixian. He was stationed here, and one of them could command and mobilize at any time.
The soldiers and horses that attacked Shanggui and Xixian were stationed between the two places. If the war was tight or encountered difficulties, he could provide reinforcements as soon as possible.
Shanggui and Xicheng in Xixian County are both large cities with high walls and strong walls, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. Although the Han army now has an absolute advantage in military strength, it is not easy to capture these two cities.
In fact, the strength of the Long Army was not only concentrated in Xicheng and Shanggui. Generals Wang Yuan, Xingxun, Wang Meng, Zhou Zong, and more than 20,000 soldiers and horses were all in Jicheng.
Jicheng is located in Xixian County, to the north of Shanggui. The three cities just form a triangle. However, Liu Xiu did not attach great importance to Jicheng and did not send troops to attack it.
Like Liu Xiu, Wei Xiao didn't value Jicheng. The reason why he arranged Wang Yuan, Xingxun, Wang Meng, Zhou Zong and others to Jicheng was just to keep them out of sight and out of mind.
Look at these generals stationed in Jicheng. Wang Yuan fought against the Han army at Longdi and fled without fighting; Xingxun fought against the Han army at Fanxukou and was completely defeated by the Han army; Wang Meng fought against the Han army at Jitou Valley.
With the Han army, the defeat was even worse. He only brought back less than a thousand of the 60,000 soldiers. As for Zhou Zong, he defeated 100,000 soldiers in the battle of Anding. It was a tragic loss. For such a
Can Wei Xiao not get angry just looking at a group of defeated generals?
Wei Xiao sent all these generals to garrison Jicheng. There were not many generals left with him. The most famous among them were General Li Guang and General Wang Jie.
Next to Xicheng, there is a fortress called Rongqiu. It is the acropolis of Xicheng and an important part of Xicheng's defense line. Wei Xiao sent Wang Jie to Rongqiu and made him the commander-in-chief of Rongqiu.
Wu Han and Cen Peng, who were responsible for the main attack on Xicheng, both noticed Rongqiu. After discussion, the two decided that Wu Han would lead the main army to attack Xicheng, and Cenpeng would lead 20,000 troops to attack Rongqiu.
It's just that after the war started, it didn't go smoothly.
The defenses of Xicheng were very strong. Although the Han army's offensive was fierce, they were all pushed back by the Long army.
Cen Peng's side is not going well either. Rongqiu is built on a hill. Although the city is not big, the terrain is steep. It is already very difficult to attack the hill. If you want to attack the head of Rongqiu,
Harder.
After the war broke out, the Han army fought very awkwardly.
The battle reports from the West City were constantly reaching Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu frowned as he watched. Wei Xiao was at the end of his strength, but it was really difficult to deal with him in a fight with a trapped beast.
After thinking about it, he wrote a letter to Wei Xiao. In this letter, Liu Xiu showed both kindness and power.
He first gave the example of Tian Heng to Kaixiao. In order to appease Tian Heng, Emperor Gaozu (Liu Bang) made a heavy promise. As long as Tian Heng was willing to surrender to the Han Dynasty, the Tian family brothers, the elder brother would be granted the title of king, and the younger brother would be granted the title of marquis.
Tian Heng was the leader of the peasant uprising army at the same time as Chen Sheng and Wu Guang. After Liu Bang conquered the world, the Tian Heng brothers refused to surrender, so they got Liu Bang's promise.
By taking this example, Liu Xiu was making it clear to Kai Xiao that as long as you are willing to surrender now, I will let go of what you did before and you can continue to be your general of Xizhou in the future.
If you insist on refusing to surrender and want to imitate Yingbu, then your fate will be the same as Yingbu. As for whether to surrender or not, it depends on your decision now.
Yingbu was originally a subordinate of Xiang Yu, but later he defected to Liu Bang. Together with Han Xin and Peng Yue, he was known as the three famous generals of the early Han Dynasty. Later, Liu Bang killed Han Xin, Peng Yue and Yingbu one after another. They were frightened and rebelled. In the end, they were defeated because of their defeat.
kill.
This letter from Liu Xiu was shot into the city by the Han army outside the city.
After reading Liu Xiu's letter, Kui Xiao, who was bedridden, was particularly merciful to Liu Xiu. Instead of being grateful, he was so angry that he cursed Liu Xiu.
He said that Liu Xiu was a despicable, insidious and vicious villain, and the purpose of tricking him into surrender was just to kill him.
After Liu Xiu wrote a letter to persuade Wei Xiao to surrender, he did another thing and summoned Wei Xun, the son of Wei Xiao, from Luoyang to Xicheng.
