On the 21st of the first lunar month, the great Sima Huanwen of the Jin Dynasty swore an oath to set off for the expedition. A fleet of 50,000 men sailed to Guangling, then entered Fanliang Lake (today's Gaoyou Lake) from the Yangtze River. The river turned into Pofutang (today's Hongze Lake), and arrived at Huaiyin on the fourth day of the second lunar month. Tian Luo, Cai Guang, and Wei Qian, the generals of the Northern Prefecture, have each led more than 50,000 soldiers from their headquarters to assemble in Huaiyin and are on standby. Xu and Chi Min, the governor of Yanzhou, are jointly awarded the royal title, and the 5,000 infantry and cavalry of the governor's troops will accompany them to participate in the battle. This way , the Jin army, with 120,000 infantry and cavalry, advanced by land and water, passed through the Hongru River and Sishui River, and marched retrograde to Pengcheng, Xuzhou. It was February 15th.
In Pengcheng, Huan Wen received an urgent military message from Gao Rou, the prefect of Yingchuan. It was Murong Chui who came back. Huan Wen was overjoyed and summoned Huan Chong, Chi Min, Huan Xi, Chen Caozhi, Huan Shixiu, Huan Shiqian, Xie Xuan, etc. Eight people from Zhu Xu went to the military tent to discuss the matter, and expressed their eagerness to report: "Murong Chui is coming back, Yan lost an arm, God is helping me, this Northern Expedition will not achieve great achievements, I swear not to return it!"
This time, Huan Wen tried his best to defeat Jiangdong, hoping to win. Now that he had received the news that Murong Chui had joined him, his spirits were greatly boosted, and he swore that he would never return unless he made great achievements.
Chen Caozhi, Xie Xuan, and Zhu Xu congratulated each other, saying that as soon as the army was launched, enemy chiefs came to surrender. This was due to Duke Huan's prestige.
Huan Wen was very happy, looked at Chen Caozhi and said: "This is Chen Yu's strange plan. I originally thought that Murong Chui would flee north to Longcheng, but I never thought that he could not cross the river and had to run south. Haha, I will be generous to this man. This person will be of great use in subduing the Yan people."
Huan Wen looked around at Huan Chong's eight men and said: "Murong Chui rushed to Yingchuan, Yan's army Murong De and Murong Zhu led an army of 20,000 to besiege Yingchuan. Gao Rou, the prefect, is in danger. I will personally lead the army to Yingchuan to rescue him. The governor of Sizhou Huan Xi led the Beifu army to march towards the Yellow River according to the original march route——"
Huan Wen's plan was that he, his fifth brother Huan Chong, Xu, and Xi Min, the governor of Yanzhou, would lead 50,000 troops to Chenliu and Runan via Bianshui River, and join Yuan Zhen's troops to attack Xuchang and Ruyang, and capture Huaibei and Henan. On the ground, Murong De and Murong Zhu, who were besieging Yingchuan, heard that the Jin army was launching a large-scale northern expedition and would break the siege of Yingchuan. They stood firm in their respective cities and waited for reinforcements from Hebei. The 60,000 elite troops of the Beifu Army passed through Jinxiang and Juye and entered from Qingshui. The Yellow River approaches Yecheng, the capital of Yan——
The plan has been decided. Huan Wen, Huan Chong, and Xi Min will lead their troops to the west, with General Tan Xuan of Jianwei as the vanguard, leading 5,000 soldiers. Zhu Xu of the Jingzhou Army will lead 3,000 naval troops upstream along the Bian River. Xie Xuan led the five thousand Jingzhou navy to obey the orders of the Beifu army——
On February 27th, Huan Xi led an army of 60,000 men to leave Pengcheng and pass through Zhaoyang Lake to Jinxiang. This march route was ideally located at the right time and place. If there had been a drought last year, the waterway to Juye would have been cut off. Even if During the dry season in summer and autumn, the water is shallow and it is impossible to sail. But now it is spring in February. After the heavy snow melted at the end of last year, the mountain streams have converged and the spring water is flowing. It is convenient to sail, and there is no need to worry about water transportation. Although it is all the way to the north, because it comes from spring, In summer, the climate is getting warmer, and long-distance marches are not difficult. If it is a northern expedition in summer, the northern soil will be cold early, and the Jin army will have less brown fur. If they cannot succeed in a battle, they will be easily overwhelmed by the severe cold——
Huan Xi, Xie Xuan and others went to Jinxiang by boat by water. Chen Caozhi and Huan Shixiu rode out of Xuzhou with 40,000 infantry. Taking Duan Si and Ran Sheng's 3,000 heavy cavalry as the vanguard, they attacked Peixian. This general It was the first battle of this Northern Expedition.
The governor of Pei County, General Murong Zhong of Yan Dongning, had three thousand infantry and cavalry, and sufficient food and grass. He had received early reports and knew that the Jin army was launching a large-scale Northern Expedition. Knowing that it was outnumbered and outnumbered, he decided to stand firm and wait for reinforcements——
On the first day of March, Chen Caozhi led his army to approach Pei County and stationed troops at the foot of the mountain. Scouts came to report that Murong Zhong moved all the households around the city into the city in order to hold on. Chen Caozhi and Huan Shixiu inspected the city of Pei County on horseback with Huan Shixiu.
The city wall was not very tall and strong. After returning to the military tent, he summoned generals Duan Si, Ran Sheng, Tian Luo and Cai Guang and decided to attack Pei County. At night, he ordered his sergeants to use a large yellow crossbow with a range of 200 steps to block hundreds of people.
Posts urging surrender were fired into the city, encouraging the Han people in the city to rebel, and announcing that Murong Chui of Yan State had surrendered to shake the morale of the Xianbei defenders. Early the next morning, the three gates in the east, south and north launched a fierce attack, flying bridges, ladders, and chariots.
The trebuchets swarmed up, relying on more to win. Murong Zhong saw that the Jin army was powerful, and there were signs of unrest among the large Han households in the city. He knew that Pei County was difficult to defend, so he made a prompt decision and decided to break out and retreat to Huangxu. He fought with Murong Zhong in the Junyi area.
At this time, three of the four gates of Pei County were attacked, and only one side of the west gate was opened. Although Murong Zhu knew that there must be an ambush at the west gate, he had no choice but to rush west and meet Duan Si and Ran Sheng in the Sishui Pavilion area.
When the three thousand heavy cavalry led by the leader met, Murong Zhong looked at the armored cavalry equipment shining with metallic color in the sun, and was greatly surprised. This kind of heavy cavalry with both human and horse armor was unique to his Xianbei army and was a Jin people.
When did such an army exist?
Before Murong Zhong could recover from the shock, the heavy cavalry with tough armor and gleaming cold light from several miles away began to charge, with iron hooves galloping and coming very fast, like a long steel wall and a metal frenzy.
Wherever it passed, the earth trembled, like a thunder god's chariot coming from the sky——
Murong Zhong had 1,000 light cavalry and 2,000 infantry under his command. He knew very well that facing such heavy cavalry in the open plains, the unprotected light cavalry infantry could not resist the charge of the heavy cavalry, so he immediately ordered his troops to march.
The soldiers dispersed, and he led a thousand light cavalry to flee to the southwest, intending to bypass the heavy cavalry. Unexpectedly, there was another Biao army blocking the way ahead, hunting with flags, but it was the subordinate of Jin Longxiang General Tian Luo——
Murong Zhong was attacked from both sides, and a thousand light cavalry were defeated by Duan Si. The three thousand heavy cavalry led by Ran Sheng killed nearly half of them with one charge. Then the heavy cavalry withdrew from the battlefield, leaving Tian Luo's infantry to clean up the mess. Murong Zhong was captured alive, and three thousand heavy cavalry were captured alive.
Nearly half of the riders were killed and injured. The seriously injured were immediately executed by Tian Lianluo's order, and the rest were all prisoners.
It only took the Jin army three days to capture Peixian County, marking a victory in the first battle of the Northern Expedition.
…
The news of Murong Chui's defection reached Yecheng, which shocked both the government and the people of the Yan state. On the same day, the news of Sima's Northern Expedition was rushed to Yecheng for 600 miles. The leader of Yan, Murong Wei, urgently summoned the imperial concubine Murong Ping.
The great Sima Murong Zang was discussing countermeasures. Murong Ping was angry because the recent comments in Yezhong were not favorable to him, and he said bitterly: "Your Majesty, Murong Chui's ambition has been exposed. Could it be that he was forced by his ministers? He had already conspired with Huan Wen.
Otherwise, why did Huan Wen send his troops to the left of the Yangtze River and Murong Chui led his troops to defect? If not for the alertness of my ministers and Chen’s troops to defend Hebei, Murong Chui would have led his troops into Yecheng!"
The sixteen-year-old Lord of Yan, Murong Wei, shook his head and asked: "At this time, there are internal and external troubles, and the Jin army is pressing down on the country, what should the Taifu and the Grand Sima do?"
Murong Zang, the great Sima, was the only one who looked up to the horse's head. Murong commented: "Your Majesty, there is no need to worry. Our country, Yan, spans thousands of miles and has millions of armors. How can it be compared to the humble and barren Wu barbarians in several states in the east of the Yangtze River? Huan Wen leads many people far away."
Come, we will not be able to fight for a long time. Our traitor in Yan has been exposed. The government and the public are solemn. The monarch and his ministers are united. Wait for my elite cavalry to severely defeat Huan Wen's tired soldiers, and then take advantage of the victory to pursue and level Jiangdong in one fell swoop. Let's see how the traitor Murong Chui can meet your majesty.
!”
Murong Wei immediately followed Murong Ping's advice and sent King Murong Li of Pi as the commander-in-chief of the expedition. He crossed the river with 20,000 cavalry and arrived at Junyi on February 23 to join Murong Zhu's army. Murong Li rested in Junyi for two days.
, led the army into Tunhuangxu. On the second day of March, they received a sentinel report from the front. The Jin army was divided into two groups in Huaiyin. One group was led by Huan Wen personally and headed for Runan and Yingchuan. The other group was led by Huan Xi and Chen Cao.
The leader of the army is advancing towards Peixian County, and Peixian County is in danger——
Murong Zhu asked for orders to lead his troops to rescue Murong Zhong in Peixian County. Murong Li refused to conquer the capital. He had already found out that the Jin army had more than 50,000 troops on each side, but he and Murong Zhu only had more than 30,000 troops. Peixian County was isolated.
We might not be able to rescue you in time, so we might as well stick to Junyi and Huangxu, and urgently report to Yedu to ask for more troops——
Zhao Hong, the general of Yan Zhennan, was originally the protector of Nanyang in Jin Dynasty. He later rebelled and returned to Yan State. He was dissatisfied because of the cold reception. Chen Caozhi returned to Jiangdong from Yecheng the year before last. Zhao Hong hinted to Chen Caozhi that he intended to return to Jiangdong. At that time, Chen Caozhi
Tell Zhao Hong that if Zhao Hong cherishes his homeland, he will have his own way to serve the country, and he hopes to do so next year——
Zhao Hong speculated that the Jin army would launch the Northern Expedition the following year. If he could defect and attack, he would be more glorious when he returned. However, the Jin army showed no signs of the Northern Expedition the next year. Unexpectedly, as soon as the New Year was over, Huan Wen's Northern Expedition army would exceed 100,000 people.
They came by land and water, which was obviously planned for a long time. However, because Murong Ke died of illness and Murong Chui defected, the country of Yan was already declining. Therefore, Zhao Hong was secretly happy when he learned that Huan Xi and Chen Caozhi's Beifu army was coming.
, requesting orders from Zuo Zhonglang General Murong Zhu, willing to lead three thousand soldiers under his command to assist Pi King Murong Li to guard Huangxu and block the Jin army——
On March 18th, 3,000 heavy cavalry led by Duan Si and Ran Sheng, the vanguard of the Beifu soldiers, arrived in Qixian and the small town of Qixian first. The defenders were defeated in one battle, but one of the captured sergeants claimed to have been ordered by General Zhao Hong of Yan Zhennan.
, wanted to see Chen Caozhi, saying that he had an urgent military report. Ran Sheng accompanied his elder brother on a mission to the North the year before last, but on the way back he separated from Shen Chiqian and went to Luoyang, so he never saw Zhao Hong in Junyi. At this time, he heard that the sergeant
He said he wanted to see his brother Chen Caozhi, so he asked what was going on. The sergeant only said that General Zhao was an old friend of Chen Sima and had something important to report, but refused to tell Ran Shengming. Ran Sheng sent someone to escort the sergeant to Chen Sima.
Where to fuck——
When Chen Caozhi learned that Zhao Hong had sent someone, he was overjoyed. He immediately led him to see Huan Xi and presented Zhao Hong's secret letter. However, Huan Xi said, "Zhao Hong is a capricious person. At this time, he wants to act as an insider. Is it possible that there is fraud?"
Chen Caozhi patiently explained that when he met Zhao Hong in Junyi the year before last, Zhao Hong had already expressed his intention to repent and make a new start. At this time, the Northern Expedition army arrived, and Zhao Hong was sincere and would never be false. He decided to fight quickly and capture Huangxu.
Junyi, don't wait for the Yan army from Hebei to come for reinforcements. It will be difficult to attack then.
Huan Shixiu and Xie Xuan both agreed with Chen Caozhi's judgment, and Zhao Hong assisted Murong Li in guarding Huangxu. When the Beifu soldiers arrived at Huangxu City, Zhao Hong led his troops to rebel. It would be easy to capture Huangxu City without any bloodshed, which would greatly reduce our number.
Sergeant Fang suffered casualties.
Before Huan Xi went on the expedition, his father Huan Wen had strictly warned him to accept the opinions of Chen Caozhi and others and not to act arbitrarily. Therefore, although Huan Xi was dissatisfied, Huan Shixiu, Xie Xuan and others all said so.
Following Chen Cao's plan, he personally led 30,000 elite soldiers to Huangxu, hoping to defeat Murong Li before the Yan reinforcements arrived.
