Liu Xiu won a great victory in Quanshe and severely damaged Sun Mao's tribe. Next, he began to set his sights on Huaicheng in the south of Quanshe. Currently, more than 100,000 Qingdu troops led by Sun Deng are stationed near Huaicheng.
Huaicheng is the county seat of Hanoi. Liu Xiu wants to send troops to attack Sun Deng. His purpose is not only to further eliminate the power of the Qingdu Army. What he wants more is actually Huaicheng and then control the entire Hanoi County.
Hanoi is not only a grain-producing land, but its location is also extremely important. It is bounded by Bingzhou to the north, Jizhou to the northeast, Yanzhou to the east, and Luoyang to the south. It is only separated from Luoyang by the Yellow River.
If you occupy Hanoi, you can cross the Yellow River at any time and send troops to Luoyang. Luoyang has the reputation of being a companion capital, but if Luoyang loses, Chang'an will be directly threatened.
Liu Xiu's ambition has never been in Hebei. Occupying Hanoi is a must and crucial move for Liu Xiu.
Sun Deng was much more decisive than Sun Mao and Sun Li. When he learned that Liu Xiu was leading an army to attack Huaicheng, he simply led more than 100,000 troops under his command and fled westward.
The Qingdu Army led by Sun Deng ran away, and Huaicheng was exposed to the Han army.
Currently stationed in Huaicheng is Han Xin, the prefect of Hanoi. Liu Xiu is not familiar with Han Xin, but he is familiar with one of Han Xin's generals, Cen Peng!
After Liu was killed, Cen Peng, who was originally a subordinate of Liu, was assigned to serve as a lieutenant under Zhu Kun. Cen Peng was outstanding in ability, brave and good at fighting, and was highly valued by Zhu Kun. Recommended by Zhu Kun, he became a military commander in Huaiyang.
Captain.
But I don’t know whether Cen Peng was very lucky or he was very unlucky. Just a few days after he arrived in Huaiyang and took office, Ju Wei suddenly rebelled.
Cen Peng defeated the efforts of nine bulls and two tigers and finally put down Ju Wei's rebellion. Due to his meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion, Cen Peng was promoted from the captaincy of Huaiyang to the prefect of Yingchuan.
But before Cen Peng came to Yingchuan to take office, Liu Mao suddenly rebelled in Yingchuan.
If Cen Peng had soldiers and horses, he could go to Yingchuan to quell the rebellion. The key is that he went to Yingchuan to take office, and he didn't have any soldiers in his hands. He had no way to deal with Liu Mao's rebellion.
Because Yingchuan was occupied by the rebel Liu Mao, he, the governor, was naturally unable to take up his post. However, if he returned to the court like this, he would inevitably be punished. Cen Peng had no choice but to go north to Hanoi and defected to Han Xin, the governor of Hanoi.
.
Han Xin was a famous scholar in Nanyang at that time, and Cen Peng was a general in Nanyang County. The two had a close friendship, and Han Xin had always admired Cen Peng's talents.
After Liu Xuan became emperor, Han Xin was appointed as the prefect of Hanoi. When he learned that Cen Peng had come to join him, Han Xin was very happy and accepted Cen Peng enthusiastically. After that, Cen Peng stayed in Hanoi and stayed with Han Xin.
Do things with your hands.
When Han Xin learned that Liu Xiu and Xie Gong had led an army to Hanoi to suppress the rebellion, he was very happy. You must know that the Qingdu Army and Youlai Army flowing in Hanoi were a serious concern for him.
With the existence of these two thieves, Han Xin, the prefect of Hanoi, had trouble sleeping and eating, and was frightened.
The two bandit armies numbered hundreds of thousands in strength, while the Hanoi prefecture's army only had a few thousand men. How could they defeat the Qingdu Army and the Youlai Army?
Not only could the county government not be able to wipe them out, but if the Qingdu Army and the Youlai Army took the initiative to attack Huaicheng, Huaicheng would not be able to defend it at all.
Fortunately, the Qingdu Army and the Youlai Army were also quite afraid of the Chang'an court. Although they had great power in Hanoi, they did not dare to touch the county easily for fear of provoking the Chang'an court to send troops to suppress it. Because of this, Huaicheng was
It's been safe and sound.
Now Liu Xiu and Xie Gong wanted to remove the thorns in their flesh, the Qingdu Army and the Youlai Army, so how could Han Xin not be happy?
Liu Xiu and Xie Gong severely damaged the Qingdu Army and scared away the You Lai Army, which made Han Xin so happy that he could not close his mouth in Huaicheng.
But the good times did not last long, and soon news came that Xie Gong was defeated in Linlu, and when he led the remaining troops to escape back to Yecheng, Wei County, he was killed by Chen Kang, the prefect of Wei County, and Wu Han, a general under Liu Xiu's command. Now Wei County
The prefect had already defected to Liu Xiu's command.
This news frightened Han Xin. Liu Xiu actually killed Xie Gong?! What on earth did he want to do? What else was he going to do?!
First, he killed Miao Zeng, the shepherd of Youzhou, Wei Shun, the governor of Shanggu, and Cai Chong, the governor of Yuyang. Now he also killed Xie Gong, the minister and the shepherd of Jizhou. His disobedience can no longer be regarded as being revealed, but should be said to be a show-off.
On the bright side.
When Liu Xiu led his army towards Huaicheng, the first thing Han Xin thought of was that Liu Xiu's move was definitely not for Sun Rites, but for his own Huaicheng.
Before Liu Xiujun arrived at Huaicheng, Han Xin ordered the county army to strengthen the city defense and prepared a large number of rolling stones and kerosene on the top of the city, intending to defend Huaicheng and fight Liu Xiujun to the death.
Han Xin didn't understand Liu Xiu, so how could Cen Peng not? Not to mention the confrontation between him and Liu Xiu on the battlefield, just because he had served under Liu Xiu, he knew Liu Xiu very well. wavv
Looking at Liu Xiu's record, he often made unexpected moves. When everyone thought that the battle could no longer continue, he chose to continue fighting, and in the end, he was often able to win.
win.
The Battle of Kunyang is an obvious example. Liu Xiu now has an army of 100,000 people, while the defenders of Huaicheng only have a few thousand people. There is a huge difference in the strength of the two sides. If the enemy army is a bandit army, Cen Peng will still
I am confident that I can rely on the strong defense of Huaicheng and fight with it. The terrible thing is that this is not an army of thieves, but an elite division commanded by Liu Xiu himself. They are tigers and wolves who can crush hundreds of thousands of thieves on the frontal battlefield.
For Huaicheng, how can we fight this battle?
Cen Peng suggested to Han Xin that his side had no chance of winning in this battle, so instead of letting Liu Xiu capture the city, it was better to offer the city and surrender.
What's more, Liu Xuan is mediocre, the government is in chaos, and Chang'an is now in chaos. Compared with Liu Xiu, Liu Xiu is kind and wise. Not only is he deeply loved by the people of the world, but also people with insight are competing to defect to him. It is the best policy for us to take refuge in Liu Xiu.
.
After hearing Cen Peng's opinion, Han Xin sternly rejected it. Han Xin was a well-known celebrity. He had his own principles. He should be loyal to the emperor if he wanted to eat the emperor's salary. How could he surrender to the enemy when he saw that the enemy was coming fiercely?
?
He really couldn't do such a shameless act.
Cen Peng repeatedly persuaded Han Xin to surrender, but Han Xin refused each time. Han Xin organized the county army in Huaicheng City, while recruiting strong men, actively preparing for war, and determined to fight Liu Xiujun to the end.
A few days later, Liu Xiujun arrived in Huaicheng. Liu Xiujun did not come here by smooth sailing, but fought all the way. All the bandit armies he encountered along the way, including the remnants of the Qingdu Army, the remnants of the Youlai Army, etc., were all killed.
One annihilation.
When other people fight, the number of troops decreases as they fight. When Liu Xiu fights, the number of troops increases. When starting from Handan, Liu Xiu commanded 100,000 troops, but now Liu Xiu's troops are almost 15.
Thousands of giants.
If there are more than 10,000 people, the sky is boundless; if there are more than 100,000 people, the sky is the limit.
An army of 150,000 people appeared outside Huaiyang City. Looking around, the Han army's soldiers and horses were scattered all over the mountains and fields. The ground could no longer be seen. Everything as far as the eye could see were people.
The huge crowds of people covered the hollows and hills, as if they wanted to cover everything in the world.
Han Xin, who originally insisted on taking the main battle, saw the Han army's formation, and the high fighting spirit in his heart instantly turned into despair.
There was no way not to despair, as the ocean composed of 150,000 troops seemed to be able to submerge the entire Huai City at once if it surged forward.
Hearing the number of 150,000 and seeing the scene of 150,000 troops were completely different emotions. It was only at this time that Han Xin understood why Cen Peng, who had always been strong-willed, would repeatedly advocate surrender to Liu Xiu.
Yes, this battle is impossible to fight. What can we do if we don’t surrender? If we defend Huaicheng and resist Liu Xiujun, I am afraid that in the end, not only the county soldiers and strong men who defend the city will die, but also the people in the city.
Disaster followed.
Knowing that he was unable to resist, Han Xin ordered the defenders to open the city gate and surrender to Liu Xiujun outside the city.
Liu Xiu was not surprised at all about Huaicheng's surrender. Huaicheng had less than 10,000 troops in total. How could it withstand his own army of more than 100,000? Han Xin's surrender was completely within his expectation.
But what surprised Liu Xiu was that he met his "old acquaintance" Cen Peng in Huaicheng. Speaking of which, when he followed his eldest brother in the uprising in Chung Ling, he had a lot of dealings with Cen Peng, and was in his hands several times.
Suffered a loss.
Later, Cen Peng took refuge with his elder brother, and the two sides turned enemies into friends, which became a good story.
When Liu Xiu learned that Cen Peng was among the officials in Huaicheng, he was surprised and happy, and his thoughts were full of emotions.
He sat in the carriage, raised the curtains, and asked Deng Yu who was standing beside the carriage: "Zhonghua, it's been almost two years since my eldest brother passed away?!"
Deng Yu saw the red circles in Liu Xiu's eyes, and his eyes darkened. He slowly nodded and said, "Yes, it's been almost two years."
Liu Xiu clenched his fists subconsciously and murmured: "The hatred for killing my brother is irreconcilable. Xiu Zhen is useless. I still can't avenge my brother. Yixue is the injustice of my brother!"
Deng Yu sighed softly and said: "Your Majesty..."
Liu Xiu shook his head and smiled bitterly. He raised his head and said, "Bring Cen Peng to see me."
"Yes! Your Majesty!" Deng Yu ordered the guards at the side to bring Cen Peng over quickly.
Cen Peng came over tied up. It was not Liu Xiu's people who tied him up, but him himself. Of course, all the officials in Huaicheng County had this image, and they took it upon themselves to tie the ropes to show their submission.
When he came to the carriage and saw Liu Xiu sitting in the carriage, Cen Peng looked excited. Without saying a word, he knelt down and said, "Cen Peng, the guilty general, pays homage to King Xiao!"
Liu Xiu stood up, walked out of the carriage, turned behind Cen Peng, untied the rope around him with his own hands, then pulled Cen Peng up and asked, "Is Jun Ran okay?"
His words almost made Cen Pengwen cry.
Cen Peng, who had just stood up, knelt down again and said with sobs and sobs: "The general has a kindness to Peng not to kill him. The kindness is as heavy as a mountain and Peng will never forget it! The general was innocent and was wronged. It was Peng who was useless and failed.
Please protect the general's integrity! Please also ask King Xiao to punish the guilty general!"
The general Cen Peng refers to naturally refers to Liu. He does not call Liu Da Situ, but calls Liu General Zhutian, which is equivalent to saying that he only identifies with the Chongling uprising army and not the Gengshi imperial court.
When Liu Xiu saw Cen Peng, he was already in a state of excitement. Now when he heard him address his eldest brother in this way, Liu Xiu couldn't help it any longer and tears flowed down his face. He turned away and covered his face with his sleeves to hide from the people around him.
See him crying.
Seeing this, Long Yuan took a step forward, bowed his hand and saluted Liu Xiu, and said: "Your Majesty, before our army arrived at Huaicheng, General Cen had repeatedly persuaded Han Xin to surrender. It can be seen that General Cen has great feelings for the king and the general."
Friendly."
Long Yuan has always been measured. As a close guard around Liu Xiu, he rarely speaks for others, but now he is in charge of intelligence and needs to tell the truth about the information he has.
In addition, Long Yuan did have a very good impression of Cen Peng, so while telling the information, he also said a few nice words for Cen Peng.
