Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty
Chapter 172: Unstoppable, Conquer Runan Again
Chapter 172: Unstoppable, Conquer Runan Again
In the third year of Tianyuan in the Han Dynasty, Emperor Liu Xiang officially issued an edict, ordering the 200,000 elite Han troops stationed in Dongjun of Yanzhou to march out quickly and launch a full-scale attack on the enemy general Wang Xun’s troops defending there.
The army was divided into two parts, led by Xu Yuan and Xu Zhong respectively. The two supervised and checked each other to ensure that no major strategic mistakes would occur.
The real commander-in-chief Xu Zhong immediately went to Yanzhou to make remote deployments. He did not advance with the army, but stayed in the rear.
In fact, Liu Xiang’s intention was to let the general supervise Xu Yuan, a arrogant and powerful general who had been used to being a local emperor. Although he had a good attitude towards Xu Min and would ask for and refer to his opinions on everything.
But in fact, the commander-in-chief of the Zhenjun Army only gave some face for the sake of his two brothers. In his heart, he was not convinced by anyone.
The emperor was very afraid that the two would have a dispute and no one would mediate, which would only hinder the army’s attack on Chang’an, so he transferred Xu Zhong to supervise the battle, mainly to intimidate those military leaders who were more independent.
Xu Yuan personally led 20,000 elite cavalry as the vanguard and charged straight into the heart of the enemy. The new army general Wang Xun was also well prepared and had prepared a pocket formation.
Planning to catch the turtle in the jar!
He had studied Xu Yuan’s combat style in advance, which was very fierce. He would first use cavalry to crush the enemy’s formation head-on, and then assist with large groups of infantry from behind to reap the rewards.
This tactic was almost always effective, whether against the Central Plains army or the grassland cavalry, almost no one could stop the charge of the Western Liang cavalry.
So Wang Xun made arrangements based on this habit. As long as the central army did not collapse, he could slowly complete the encirclement and separate the vanguard and the subsequent troops.
But unfortunately, he still underestimated the elite level of the Xiliang Army.
Xu Yuan did not panic. He led 5,000 of his own cavalry and charged straight towards the central army command post where Wang Xun was.
The infantry along the way had no power to fight back and were instantly crushed into meat paste by the horses’ hooves. Wherever they went, there were mountains of corpses and seas of blood. The remaining cavalry who had lost their commander did not disband.
Divide into two wings to provide roundabout cover.
“Grand Marshal…the Han army is coming!” the scout hurried to report.
“Mobilize all available soldiers and stop them! Do you still need people?” Wang Xun knew that he had gone too far.
There was definitely nothing wrong with the tactics, but I didn’t expect the opponent to be so fierce and I couldn’t handle it.
As the army was mobilized, a gap appeared in the pocket formation. The more than 10,000 cavalrymen who remained in place and the hundreds of thousands of infantry on the periphery formed a counter-encirclement.
The Xinmang army collapsed at the first blow. In addition, their morale was already low and they usually didn’t have enough food, so they had no will to fight and were defeated by the Han infantry that rushed up.
Xu Yuan took advantage of the situation and directly transferred the pressure to Wang Xun, causing the other party to lose his composure because he was afraid of losing his life, and the original arrangement was in chaos.
“I’m a big man. For your majesty, kill him!”
“kill!”
“kill!”
A murderous atmosphere permeated every Han army infantryman, because the court had promised very generous rewards. Every head taken would receive land and money as rewards.
There will always be brave men when there is a big reward, and the soldiers were greatly motivated by the temptation of wealth.
Among all the troops, the 8,000 Northwestern Army led by Li Yang was the most courageous. He had already gained the trust of the soldiers and the generals of the Liangzhou faction.
The fighting power was fully exerted.
At the same time, Liu Xiu, the captain, also became one of the few “Jingzhou faction” accepted by the Xiliang Army.
Nowadays, the division of camps in the army is also extremely clear. There is the Xiliang faction headed by Xu Yuan, the Hebei faction headed by Xu Min, the Jingyang faction headed by Xu Zhong, and the Shandong faction headed by Wang Qing and others.
There is hatred between them. Although Xu Zhong is the leader of the Jingyang military officers, it also prevents the Liangzhou army from looking down on them. After all, the general is powerful, not you.
It still can’t change the fact that he is a good-for-nothing.
Since Li Yang was dismissed from his post, other factions, except the Shandong faction, no longer considered him a member of the Shandong faction. Instead, he was relatively independent, which is why he was recognized by the Xiliang soldiers.
This clear-cut structure of factions is actually quite bad, making it impossible to achieve unified leadership of the army.
Everyone fought on their own and refused to accept orders even if they held higher positions. For example, the Shandong military officers refused to accept Xu Yuan and Xu Min and only obeyed the orders of their direct superiors.
Xu Zhong’s decision to let Li Yang lead the Liangzhou soldiers was intended to change this situation, and was recognized by both the Shandong and Xiliang factions.
With this example, you can move on to the others.
Liu Xiu was similar. Although he was a student at the Nanyang Military Academy, his first experience in leading troops was the Western Liang Army, so he was automatically classified as the Northwest Army. But what was strange was that the Hebei generals did not dislike him at all.
It is also amazing that many Hebei troops are willing to cooperate with him.
“General… our army has been defeated!” The general on the front line fled back with blood on his face.
“This Xu Yuan has ruined my plan!” Wang Xun was very angry. He also realized that the other party was bluffing. After achieving his goal, he stopped charging.
“Well, whatever, let’s retreat back to the city first! Defend it with all our strength.”
Seeing the situation reversed, he simply stopped staying in the stalemate on the front line and switched to attacking first.
The Han army struck while the iron was hot and captured several counties in succession, and a large part of Shanyang County fell.
Ten days later, the city was broken and the Xinmang army retreated again. In order to preserve its strength, it chose to give up the entire Shanyang County and retreat to Jiyin for defense, but it was still shaky.
The ruling foundation of the Xin Dynasty had been greatly shaken. Neither the soldiers nor the county magistrates and generals along the way were willing to serve it anymore.
They all found the right opportunity to open the gates and surrender the city. It was under such convenient circumstances that the Han army was able to advance like a hot knife through butter.
Now, counting the previous results of the war, five of Yanzhou’s cities, namely Dongjun, Taishan, Jibei, Rencheng and Shanyang, have all returned to the Han Dynasty.
The army was ready to fight for Jiyin, Dongping and other counties.
The situation was quite bad for the Xin Mang Dynasty. The loss of Yanzhou was almost a foregone conclusion. And with the loss of this county, the Xin Dynasty’s influence on the Central Plains would completely disappear.
The next province to directly face the Han army of hundreds of thousands is Henan. Once Luoyang is lost, Guanzhong and even Chang’an will be in danger.
After all, there are still 100,000 Red Eyebrow troops in Sili who have not taken action. When the time comes, they will attack Chenliu from both sides. If Wang Xun has any brains, he will not continue to fight head-on, but will retreat back to Hulao Pass.
In fact, Wang Mang did not expect that the tens of thousands of people in Yanzhou could withstand the offensive of the Han army.
His idea was to take advantage of the enemy’s unpreparedness, wait for the Han army to capture Yanzhou, when their morale was high and they were arrogant, and then he would unleash all his hidden strength and decide the outcome in one battle!
In fact, Wang Xun has been hiding, waiting for that opportunity to come.
Shanyang, the headquarters of the Han army.
Xu Yuan washed the blood off his body, bandaged his wounds, and then came here to discuss matters with Xu Min. This time he was in high spirits. The enemy had come up with a way to deal with his fighting style, but in the end they were still defeated. The Northwest Army was too fierce and unstoppable, and the Xinmang Army along the way did not dare to stop them.
It even threatened Wang Xun in the central army, causing him to make a wrong judgment out of helplessness.
“General Xu is an expert in martial arts, and has the style of the Overlord of Chu.” Seeing the other party coming in, Xu Min did not hesitate to praise him.
In fact, Xu Yuan’s fighting style was indeed very similar to Xiang Yu’s. Both of them led a small group of elite cavalry to defeat the enemy’s center head-on, resulting in an all-round defeat.
The large infantry force behind will follow closely to reap the rewards, which is all violent. It is normal to win with fewer troops, and having too many troops will affect performance.
“Nevertheless, it is thanks to Sima Xu’s good cooperation. If it weren’t for the close pursuit of the army in the rear, I would have died there.” Xu Yuan didn’t say much, but just flattered each other commercially.
“It seems that the process is indeed much smoother than expected. The Xinmang army has not caused too many obstacles and threats. I believe that it will not be long before we return to the old capital.”
Xu Min said with longing that his lifelong dream was to restore his Qinghe Xu to the prosperity and strength it had during the time of General Xu Ning.
Rather than being a vassal of the Nanyang Xu family, ever since Emperor Wu divided the family, the strength of the two families has been almost the same, and they have taken turns in power in the court. But now their family is lagging far behind.
The power of the country is in the hands of Xu Hua, who is the prime minister of the dynasty! He is in a high position and has great power, dominating the court. If he gets angry, even the emperor will be afraid.
Xu Zhong is a military leader. Not only does he have his own Jingyang faction, but he is also highly regarded by Xu Yuan’s Xiliang faction. He controls two of the four strongest military forces in the country!
Not to mention Xu Yuan, the most powerful general of the Han Dynasty, who was comparable to Wang Yi, the “God of War” touted by the Xin Mang Dynasty.
Without exception, these three heavyweights are descendants of the Nanyang Xu family and they firmly control the dominant power.
What about the Qinghe Xu family, which was originally on par with it? Only Xu Min was struggling to support it. The other brothers and uncles were indeed high-ranking officials, but most of them were concentrated in Hebei, that is, Yecheng.
The power of the orthodox court in Nanyang is quite limited. So when will he be able to lead his family to revival?
And this war was an opportunity! He had to make enough military achievements and have enough bargaining chips so that he could compete for an official position in the court in the future.
In fact, there were objective factors for the two Xus to take turns in power. That was the emperor’s deliberate instigation. No monarch wanted one family to be in power all the time.
Even if the other party is absolutely loyal, you still need to be on guard.
Therefore, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Che, instigated the former Xu Ye and Xu Nan to turn against each other, which led to the division of the overall power of the Xu family.
It would be easier for the emperor to control the Xu family. When an emperor came to power, he would appoint another member of the Xu family, which was slightly weaker, to form a check and balance. This was also the consensus of the two heads of the Xu family.
I’m afraid there’s no need for family members to fight each other to the point of bloodshed, so they just keep it a tacit understanding.
But now it is different. The emperor’s power has been greatly reduced and concentrated in the hands of Prime Minister Xu Hua. Of course, this kind of checks and balances has disappeared.
Xu Min is not a fool. He knows that he cannot waste time on internal conflicts at this time, but he still needs to prepare for a rainy day.
He knew that the ancestor had chosen the true dragon emperor, so he had more bargaining chips to fight for. It was almost inevitable that the new emperor would weaken the Nanyang Xu family after he ascended the throne.
And the Qinghe Xu family will also usher in a long-awaited revival! This is also the obsession of his father before his death, and Xu Min’s lifelong wish.
………
On June 5, the third year of Tianyuan in the Han Dynasty, that is, half a month later, the Han army broke through the Jiyin defense line, and the 100,000 Xinmang troops suffered a massive defeat, with more than 20,000 casualties.
The Han army continued to expand its victory. Counties and counties all over the country surrendered and welcomed the royal army. They abandoned the corrupt Xin Dynasty and welcomed the advanced and benevolent Han Dynasty.
Just like before, both the powerful and the common people once again remembered the good things about the Han Dynasty.
Therefore, the attack of Xu Yuan, Xu Min and others did not encounter any setbacks and was almost invincible. Wang Xun, who was frightened, never dared to face Xu Yuan’s Xiliang cavalry head-on again.
The commander’s retreat caused the army’s defeat to become even more serious. Half a month later, 160,000 new troops retreated to Chenliu, and most of Yanzhou had fallen into the hands of the enemy.
Li Yang, who was favored by Xu Hua, also demonstrated extraordinary military talent. Under his leadership, several thousand people often defeated tens of thousands of people, thus gaining the favor of Xu Yuan.
This person led the soldiers from Liangzhou, who were essentially his subordinates. In addition, he was personally recommended and favored by his eldest brother Xu Zhong.
He was promoted a lot.
After Xu Zhong’s approval, Li Yang was promoted to General of the Left Army, commanding an army of 50,000. He was given the task of conquering Yuzhou. Three months later, he joined forces with the main army to attack Luoyang.
This was also an opportunity for the court to give him a chance to make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence! This former famous general used his strength to prove that he was not a waste.
He got up from where he fell. The reason he fell from the altar was because he lost Runan.
Xu Zhong agreed that as long as Yuzhou could be recaptured, he would make amends for his mistakes and be reinstated, and the remaining merits would be counted separately.
This undoubtedly made Li Yang excited. He immediately appointed several confidants, among whom Liu Xiu was the deputy commander-in-chief of the army and vanguard general, responsible for leading 10,000 vanguard troops.
After more than a month of bloody fighting and with the attention of his superiors, Liu Xiu was no longer the fledgling student he used to be, but a general with 10,000 soldiers under his command.
Like his elder brother, he was a vanguard general.
And since Li Yang values him, his career will be smoother. The fate of the two is actually tied together.
tent.
Li Yang stood in the main seat, with seven generals whom he respected on both sides.
Most of them were his former subordinates and family generals. Liu Xiu was the only young man trained at the Military Academy. Deng Yu, Zhu You and others were also very good, but they were still a little bit behind.
Now the status of a mid-level general is quite promising.
“I will avenge my previous defeat in this battle! Remember the last defeat in Ruyin? I lost everything!”
Li Yang made an impassioned pre-war declaration, “As a general, I shouldn’t complain about these things. I am inferior to others in skills, so failure is natural. But I saw it from Wang Yi’s battle against the Red Eyebrow Army.”
“He is not as good as me! That is why I refuse to accept it. As for bad luck, it is just an excuse. If you want to avenge yourself, then defeat him on the battlefield in an upright manner!”
“The general has so much trust in us that he appointed a defeated general. We should have some integrity! We cannot tolerate another humiliation.”
“Must win!”
“Must win!”
Everyone also became eager to fight and said in unison.
Liu Xiu, who was quite inconspicuous in the crowd, was no exception. He raised his arms and shouted loudly. He had no feelings about any reasons such as revenge. After all, he had just joined in not long ago.
But now that everyone has said it, we can’t spoil the fun.
(End of this chapter)