Nine hundred and ninetieth chapters fish in troubled waters
Dong Xizhi served as the governor of Jingxiang, mainly governing Xiangzhou, Dengzhou, Tangzhou, Junzhou, Fangzhou, Suizhou, Yingzhou and the northern part of Jingzhou. He had an army of 30,000 people, of which 20,000 were imperial troops, and the other
The 10,000 men were troops he recruited privately under the pretext of recruiting local militia groups.
Dong Xizhi had already learned about the situation. General Li Hongxin led an army of 50,000 people from Luoyang southward and attacked Dengzhou. Dong Xizhi was shocked, especially because the commander in chief was his old enemy Li Hongxin. He knew that Zhu Si was going to kill him.
He and Li Hongxin had a feud for killing their wives and children. Twenty years ago, Dong Xizhi, who was the military envoy of Longyou at the time, got drunk at a banquet and molested a woman in the back garden. The woman scolded her severely, and Dong Xizhi became angry and angry.
The woman kicked down the pond. The woman was pregnant and the child was miscarried. The woman also died soon after.
But he didn't expect that this woman was Li Hongxin's wife. When Li Hongxin came back from the front line and learned that his wife had died of illness and the children were gone, one dead and two dead, he was furious and drew his sword to fight against Dong Xizhi. The then Longyou Jiedushi Zhu
Si repeatedly intervened, ordered Dong Xizhi to apologize, and gave one of his concubines to Li Hongxin as his wife, and the matter was finally settled.
However, there was a deep hatred between Li Hongxin and Dong Xizhi from then on. Zhu Si also knew that there was a grudge between them and always avoided contact between the two. For so many years, the two basically had no intersection.
But this time, Zhu Si actually sent Li Hongxin to lead his army to attack him. This shows that Zhu Si has left no room for himself.
Dong Xizhi ordered his eldest son Dong Zhu to lead an army of five thousand to guard Xiangyang. He personally led an army of twenty-five thousand to Dengzhou to fight against Li Hongxin's army coming from the north.
In Shangzhou, a 30,000-strong Tang army has arrived at Wuguan. This army is led by Pei Xin. This is the first time that Pei Xin is on his own. His deputy is still his old partner Yang Xuanying, and Guo Song gives them two
His mission was obvious, to take advantage of the internal strife between Zhu Si and Dong Xizhi to seize Xiangyang and surrounding areas.
To the north of Wuguan, there are large tents distributed, and 30,000 cavalry are stationed here. In the largest military tent, Wang You pointed at the map and said: "The latest information is that Dong Xizhi personally led 25,000 troops north, leaving only
His son Dong Zhu led an army of five thousand to guard Xiangyang. This is our opportunity."
Yang Xuanying asked from the side: "How big does the military advisor think Dong Xizhi's chances of winning are?"
This time Wang You served as military advisor, nominally as an assistant, but in fact Guo Song had given instructions in advance, and Wang You took the lead in making major decisions.
It's just that Wang You is more modest and low-key, and still mainly discusses things with the two of them.
Wang You smiled lightly and said: "Dong Xizhi will definitely lose in this battle!"
Pei Xin said in disbelief: "The military advisor does not understand the 50,000 troops sent by Zhu Si. Why are you so sure?"
Wang You smiled and explained: "I'm not saying that there is a disparity in strength between the two sides. Of course, this is also an important reason, but more importantly, Dong Xizhi's army has no name, so why should he compete with Wang's army? How many people are willing to sacrifice their lives for him? If
He recruited and trained his own army. If his generals were trained by himself, he could have fought Zhu Si's army. But he had nothing, and he would have suffered a moral loss first. He had hope of winning this battle.
Win?"
Pei Xin and Yang Xuanying nodded at the same time, "I see, we have learned a lesson!"
Pei Xin was sincerely convinced, and he asked again: "Then when will we set off?"
Wang You thought for a moment and said: "If there are deserters in Dong Xizhi's army, it is very likely that he will withdraw his troops and return to Xiangyang. Without further delay, I suggest setting off overnight tonight!"
Thirty thousand cavalry immediately got up. They prepared seven days of dry food and fodder for their horses. The army left Wuguan and rushed towards Xiangyang City...
Dong Xizhi led the army and did not stop in Nanyang County, but continued northward and reached Luyang Pass in Fangcheng County.
Luyang Pass is a strategic location in Dengzhou. It happens to be the key point of a passage going south. There is Funiu Mountain on the left and Fangcheng Mountain on the right. The two mountains lie across it. Between the two mountains, there is a road about a hundred miles wide.
There is a large north-south passage, but this passage is like an inverted gourd, wide in the north and slowly narrowing to the south. Luyang Pass is right at the mouth of the gourd. It is a passage about five or six miles wide, and a
pass.
However, Dong Xizhi arrived a step too late. A 2,000-man Zhu Si army cavalry had already captured Luyang Pass first. The leader of this cavalry team was the Southern Tang general Deng Weigong. He had led 2,000 cavalrymen to protect the eunuchs on the shore.
When he saw that the situation was over, he led his cavalry to surrender to Zhu Si.
Originally, Dong Xizhi also took a fancy to this cavalry and hoped that they could stay in Xiangyang. However, Zhu Si knew this and strictly ordered the cavalry to go north to Luoyang. At that time, Dong Xizhi did not dare to confront Zhu Si, so he had to let Deng Weigong and two thousand cavalry go.
The cavalry marched north.
Deng Weigong was immediately made a county official, rewarded with 10,000 taels of silver, and given a beautiful house. He was also appointed as General Hu Benlang of Wanqi Camp, with an official rank of General Yunhui of the third rank. It can be said that he was held in high esteem.
This time, Deng Weigong's two thousand cavalry also acted as a surprise force and occupied Luyang Pass before Dong Xizhi, thus opening the door to march into Jingzhou.
Dong Xizhi was helpless. He did not bring siege weapons and had to temporarily retreat to Fangcheng County. At this moment, Li Hongxin's 50,000-strong army also arrived at Luyang Pass. The army did not stop at Luyang Pass, but continued southward in a mighty manner.
Come to Fangcheng County to kill.
Fangcheng County is just a medium-sized county. The city walls are not high, the city gates are dilapidated, and the county seat is not big. The circumference is only fifteen miles. But the terrible thing is that Fangcheng County does not have much food, and it can only support 25,000 people at most.
After twenty days of fighting, it was too late for Dong Xizhi to retreat to Nanyang County. The main force of the enemy army had appeared thirty miles north of Fangcheng County.
But at this time, it was no longer a problem of insufficient food, but what was more terrible was the fact that there were deserters in Dong Xizhi's army.
This was something Dong Xizhi did not expect. After his army arrived at Luyang Pass, the morale of his army suddenly became low, and the soldiers were very war-weary. Especially when there were rumors in the army that the emperor sent 50,000 elite troops to suppress the rebellion, the morale of the army began to be seriously shaken.
Most of the soldiers thought that the army was going north to resist the invasion of the Tang army, but they did not expect that they were going to fight against the imperial army. The soldiers who felt that they had been deceived began to be seriously dissatisfied, especially when the news that Li Hongxin led an elite army of 50,000 to go south spread throughout the army.
, morale showed signs of collapse, and deserters appeared.
"Your Majesty, if we delay any longer, it will be seriously detrimental to us. I suggest that we attack the enemy's camp at night tonight. There is still a chance of defeating the enemy."
The general who offered the advice was Lieutenant General Xiang Zuo Hui. His strategy was approved by Dong Xizhi. Their morale was low and they were definitely no match for the enemy in a head-on confrontation. So they could only use surprise troops. A night attack on the enemy's camp was indeed a better way.
Dong Xizhi nodded, "General Xiang's plan is good, let me consider the details!"
...........
At night, Dong Xizhi's troops divided into two groups. He ordered Xiang Zuohui to lead 10,000 troops to defend Fangcheng County, while he himself led a more elite 15,000 troops out of the county. With the cover of night, the army attacked the enemy twenty miles away.
The army camp sneaked away.
Soon the army arrived to the west of the camp. Dong Xizhi's army hid in a forest and looked towards the enemy camp two miles away. The camp was Muzha Camp. It was very quiet. There were two lights in front of the gate of the military camp.
Two sentries were pacing back and forth in front of the gate, and the figures of the sentries on the sentry tower could still be vaguely seen.
It is impossible not to be discovered by the enemy. The only way is to seize the time and catch the enemy's main force by surprise before they can react.
Dong Xizhi ordered in a low voice: "Attack!"
A thousand cavalrymen were the first to charge out, and the army behind them rushed out, rushing out of the woods like a river bursting its banks, and swept towards the camp two miles away.
The soldiers on the guard tower were the first to discover the enemy's situation and immediately sounded the alarm bell, "Dang! Dang! Dang!" The piercing sound of the alarm bell pierced the night sky.
The sentry at the door turned around and ran towards the camp, shouting: "The enemy is coming! The enemy is coming!"
Dong Xizhi was even more convinced that he would succeed in the sneak attack tonight.
The army broke open the gate and rushed directly into the enemy camp...
But soon, they discovered something was wrong. All the big tents were empty, and there was not even a single soldier inside.
"Your Majesty, the enemy's tents are all empty!" the soldiers reported one after another.
"Fell into a trap!"
A thought came to his mind, and his face turned pale. Dong Xizhi shouted with a trembling voice: "Retreat...Retreat! Retreat quickly!"
But it was too late to retreat. There were cries of killing like landslides and earth shattering all around, and countless enemy troops came from all directions to kill.