The Battle of Luliang——The Origin of the Prosperous Age of Sui and Tang Dynasties
PS: I will post some articles related to this book (mainly related to the background) for my self-media, and I will post them in the works related *** for your reference. From Penguin: Manga
If you look for the source of everything, you can find it very far away, and it can be attributed to one thing that may not be too eye-catching. In the words of foreigners, it is "a bird in the Amazon rainforest" "A butterfly flapping its wings may cause a tornado in the Gulf of Mexico"; in my country, it is generally described as "a gray line of grass, a snake, and a pulse thousands of miles away."
Today I will tell you about a war that is unfamiliar to many people - the Battle of Luliang that broke out between the Northern Zhou Dynasty and the Southern Chen Dynasty in the last years of the Southern and Northern Dynasties. The prosperous age of the Sui and Tang Dynasties is something that many people yearn for and admire, which is rare in Chinese history.
The heyday of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and if we trace the roots of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, we probably have to trace it back to this great war that ultimately determined the winner of the centuries-old confrontation between the Northern and Southern Dynasties and the birth of the Sui Dynasty.
The Luliang we are talking about here is definitely not Luliang in Shanxi. If the Nanchen capital had already reached Shanxi, then even if all the comrades from Yang Jian onwards in the Northern Zhou Dynasty had extraordinary abilities, they would be powerless. The Luliang here has been lost in history.
A place name in the long river. Its approximate location is on the north bank of today's Huaihe River. It should be across the river from Shouxian County. It was named Luliang because the Luliang River passed through it. It was an important place on the Huaihe River at that time and a battleground for military strategists.
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In 577 AD (the ninth year of Taijian), the veteran general Wu Mingche, known as Nan Chen Dongliang, led the Nan Chen army to the north and started a battle with the Northern Qi army in Luliang. This was the first stage of the Battle of Luliang. At this time, there were troops in the south of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
Only twenty years after the founding of the country, the Southern Chen Dynasty with strong troops and horses was eyeing it, and the Northern Zhou Dynasty to the west was ready to swallow it up at any time. It can be said that the national power has been weakened to the extreme, so there is no suspense in the first stage of the Battle of Luliang. The veteran Wu Mingche used Xiao
Maha was the vanguard, and he was unstoppable all the way. Xiao Maha, who would be the future No. 1 general of Nan Chen, lived up to his trust and led a mere seven cavalrymen into the Northern Qi military camp, beheading the generals and seizing the flag. The bravery of the Nan Chen army impressed the Northern Qi
The situation was completely messed up, and a huge defeat ensued. Luliang, the springboard for attacking the Central Plains from Huai River, also fell into the hands of Nan Chen.
At this time, Nanchen could be said to have reached its peak in history. Generals such as Wu Mingche and Xiao Mohe were all able to take charge of their own affairs. In addition, they had been rectifying the national affairs for many years and had strong troops and horses. The Northern Dynasties fell into complete chaos. In the same year, the Northern Zhou Dynasty
Northern Qi took action, swallowed up Northern Qi, and unified the north. However, because the country was still in chaos, it did not have enough energy to mobilize a large army, and Nanchen took advantage.
However, the Northern Zhou Dynasty was not a freeloader after all. Luliang fell into the hands of Nanchen, and it was like someone holding a knife to its weak point. Therefore, as soon as the Northern Zhou Dynasty stabilized, they attacked Luliang with General Yu Wenxin as their commander. Yu Wenxin’s subordinates were actually
Thousands of elites, and the rest are just some miscellaneous soldiers. For such a group of opponents who could not be said to be a mob or an elite army, Nan Chen could be said to be able to deal with it with ease. Xiao Mohe repeated his old tricks and led twelve brave and capable guards to directly break through.
Entering the Central Army of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Yu Wenxin was frightened so much that the army was defeated.
The Northern Zhou Dynasty did not dare to underestimate these "island barbarians" anymore, and immediately led Wang Gui, who was prudent and steady in using troops, to advance with a large army. Wang Gui analyzed the first two battles of Luliang and found out that Xiao Moha was there in Nanchen
This brave general is charging forward, and Wu Mingche, an experienced veteran, is strategizing at the back. It is definitely difficult to deal with, especially Xiao Mohe's light soldier charging style, which is a completely fearless tactic. For temporary deployment,
The army formed has great destructive power.
Once the Chinese army collapses, naturally we cannot expect these temporarily transferred army officers to still charge and work hard.
Therefore, Wang Gui simply chose to bypass Nanchen's deadly weapon and directly led the army to turn around. While Xiao Mohe and Wu Mingche focused their attention on the front, they cut off the lower reaches of the Luliang River, causing Nanchen's main army to become trapped.
The lone army on the north bank of the Huai River. The Nanchen army was suddenly in chaos, but Wu Mingche felt that there was still an opportunity to take advantage of, and temporarily rejected Xiao Mohe's request to retreat.
However, as the subsequent armies of the Northern Zhou Dynasty continued to arrive, Wu Mingche realized that something was wrong, but it was too late. The Nanchen army was trapped in Luliang and was about to fall into a tight siege. Xiao Mohe then asked for a break, but this time Wu Mingche resolutely refused.
Knowing that he had made a big mistake, the old general asked Xiao Mohe to lead the cavalry to break out first, while he led the infantry to break up the rear.
In the end, Xiao Mohe rushed to Huainan before the encirclement closed, but Wu Mingche's army was completely wiped out, and Wu Mingche was captured. Soon after, he became depressed and fell ill, and died of illness in Chang'an.
The Battle of Luliang can be said to be the last evenly matched battle between the two sides in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the result ended in Nanchen winning first and then losing. Nanchen, who lost his elite army, retreated from the Huai River to the Yangtze River under the pressure of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. Even if
Even with a great general like Xiao Mohe, there is no way he can save the situation.
After the Battle of Luliang, Emperor Yuwen Yong of the Northern Zhou Dynasty died. The world he had worked so hard to conquer naturally became a wedding dress for Yang Jian. After that, Yang Jian coordinated his strength and established the Sui Dynasty. He experienced many civil strife in the process, but due to the Battle of Luliang
Nanchen, who had been hollowed out, could no longer participate in it and could only wait for the Sui Dynasty's army to move south.
From this point of view, this great war in the late Southern and Northern Dynasties can be called the beginning of the Sui and Tang Dynasties in the next six hundred years.