One

Zhu Wen, the world's first warlord, has always been in love with the fertile land of Huainan, and after sweeping the Central Plains, Zhu Wen finally freed up his hands to target Huainan. After years of conquest, Yang Xingmi finally gained a foothold in Huainan, and it was impossible for Zhu Wen to get involved, so Yang Xingmi actively made military deployments and prepared to resist Zhu Wen's attack. However, there is a big gap between Yang Xingmi and Zhu Wen in terms of strength, and after careful consideration, Yang Xingmi decided to focus on Shouzhou.

Yang Xingmi made such a deployment mainly for two reasons. First, Shouzhou has always been a battleground for soldiers, and the famous Battle of Weishui took place here. Shouzhou north chokes the Huai River, south of the Huainan Plain, Shouzhou city wall is tall and solid, four gates and internal and external cloud ladders are connected with the castle, the city wall has no hole to drill, such as the foreign enemy attack can only take the frontal attack, so the defense ability of Shouzhou is extremely strong, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Second, the previous general Zhu Yanshou led his troops to take Shouzhou after a desperate fight, and their morale is now high, and Zhu Yanshou's soldiers are extremely combative, which is a sharp sword against Zhu Wen. Therefore, holding Shouzhou is the key to this war, and Shouzhou will be safe if it keeps the rear.

During that time, Xu Zhihe often saw Xu Wen with sorrow on his face, looking tired, and from time to time he heard the names of the emperor, Zhu Wen, Zhu Yanshou and others, as well as the names of Shouzhou, Guangling and other places. Xu Zhihe didn't dare to ask more, so every time Xu Wen arrived home, he immediately served a cup of tea, Xu Wen looked at Xu Zhihe while tasting tea and asked:

"He'er, are you afraid of war?"

"I'm afraid, my father and mother died because of the war." After Xu Zhihe finished speaking, Xu Wen's heart was sour, and he felt that his pain had been aroused.

"But what if a robber comes to the house and robs something?" Xu Wen asked.

"The boy is desperate to get them away." Xu Zhihe replied dryly.

"Well, yes, now there is a man named Zhu Wen who is coming to Huainan to grab things, and we have to get rid of him."

Two

In September of the fourth year of Qianning (897 AD), Zhu Wen officially sent troops to Huainan. Zhu Wen sent a total of two groups of men, led by his henchman Pang Shigu to garrison the main force in Qingkou (now Huaiyin), preparing to cross the Huaishui and approach Guangling. On the other hand, the general Ge Congzhou led 10,000 troops to be stationed in Anfeng (now Shou County) as Pang Shigu's response, and Zhu Wen sat in the rear as the commander-in-chief. Judging from Zhu Wen's troop deployment and offensive path, Zhu Wen wanted to solve Yang Xingmi at one time through this battle, and then occupy the entire Huainan.

Zhu Wen's army was menacing, which made Yang Xingmi feel pressured. But history is always unwilling to be too bland, and will always deduce a wave in major events, as if only in this way can the rich meaning and value of history be more reflected, at this time it is more appropriate to use "God helps me" to describe Yang Xingmi. Due to the long-term war in the Central Plains and the north, Zhu Wen's soldiers were mostly northerners, and he lacked experience in fighting in the Jianghuai waters, so Zhu Wen was not as experienced as Yang Xingmi in the deployment and use of naval forces. Moreover, Yang Xingmi continued to attack and harass along the way, causing Pang Shigu and Ge Congzhou's armies to move very slowly, and also made the northern soldiers suffer, and Zhu Wen's strategy of fantasizing about giving Yang Xingmi a thunderous blow was completely shattered. Yang Xingmi keenly seized this favorable opportunity to gather troops and prepare to reinforce the front. Yang Xingmi originally wanted to reinforce Shouzhou, join up with Zhu Yanshou to attack Ge Congzhou, and then turn back to deal with Pang Shigu. But Li Chengsi, the deputy envoy of the march, did not see it that way, he told Yang Xingmi: "Zhu Yanshou's troops are very strong in combat, and relying on the fortress of Shouzhou, Ge Congzhou's troops cannot eat him; And Pang Shigu's army has 70,000 people, once the Qingkou is lost, Pang Shigu can rush to Guangling City in one go, and the general trend of Huainan will go. If the additional troops clear the direction, as long as Pang Shigu is defeated, then Ge Congzhou will collapse without a fight. Although this plan is a bit risky, it is a draw from the bottom of the kettle, once it succeeds, the blow to Zhu Wen will be huge, Yang Xingmi accepted his suggestion humbly after weighing the pros and cons.

In November, Yang Xingmi personally led 30,000 people to reinforce Qingkou, and at this point, Yang Xingmi and Pang Shigu confronted each other across the river. Due to the colder weather and the superiority of troops, Pang Shigu was full of confidence and relaxed his intelligence reconnaissance of Yang Xingmi. But Yang Xingmi is just the opposite, always keeping an eye on the other side of the river, strengthening intelligence gathering, hoping to find Pang Shigu's flaws. The hard work paid off, and after many reconnaissances, Yang Xingmi found a favorable condition, the place where Pang Shigu's army was stationed was low, and it was a taboo for soldiers to fight near the river. So Yang Xingmi consulted with Xu Wen, Zhang Hao, Li Chengsi and others, and decided to attack Pang Shigu by water. Water attack, a classic tactic that has been used by soldiers many times in history, once again showed its brilliance.

Yang Xingmi sent people to quietly build embankments upstream to intercept the river water and facilitate water attack. Such an obvious action on the other side, as the commander-in-chief, Pang Shigu was unaware of it. A few days later, when Pang Shigu's scouts found that the other bank was dammed and immediately came back to report it, Pang Shigu reminded him to be careful of the opponent's water attack. I don't know if it was too much self-confidence or too lacking in the ability to command, Pang Shigu actually killed this scout on the grounds of disturbing the morale of the army, and then played chess with others as if nothing had happened, in order to show his determination as a commander. When the embankment was built, the water level was high, and the conditions for water attack had been formed, Yang Xingmi decided to choose a favorable time to strike first. Within two days, the arrival of a heavy rain created an excellent fighter for Yang Xingmi.

Yang Xingmi decided to take advantage of the heavy rain to raid Pang Shigu and catch him off guard, just as Yang Xingmi was thinking about the pioneer candidate, a young general with sharp eyes and a burly figure stood up. "My lord, in Huainan, I have been treated well by adults, but so far I have not achieved the size of the work, I am deeply ashamed, this battle is willing to be a pioneer." The person who spoke was called Zhu Jin, in his twenties, and he was originally a figure who dominated one side, he and his brother Zhu Xuan had fought side by side with Zhu Wen, and he was also kind to Zhu Wen. Later, he turned against Zhu Wen, the two brothers were defeated by Zhu Wen, his brother Zhu Xuan was killed, his wife was snatched away by Zhu Wen, and Zhu Jin was desperate and took refuge with Yang Xingmi. Yang Xingmi was at the time of employing people, and the cavalry under Zhu Jin was extremely powerful, Yang Xingmi appreciated it very much, so he treated Zhu Jin with courtesy, and Zhu Jin was also very moved. Now that he was going to fight with Zhu Wen, Zhu Jin volunteered to be a pioneer to repay Yang Xingmi's courtesy. Yang Xingmi was very happy in his heart, because Zhu Jin fought bravely, and he was a very suitable candidate to serve as a striker, so he said:

"General Zhu, you are willing to be a pioneer, I feel much more relieved, but Pang Shigu has 70,000 people, and the enemy is outnumbered, your task is arduous!"

"My lord," Zhu Jin said, "Zhu Wen and I have a grudge against my brother and wife, and this feud is not shared, if it is not successful, I am willing to come to see you." ”

"Okay," Yang Xingmi said happily and solemnly, "General Zhu, you need to enter the enemy camp with lightning speed after the water attack, break down Pang Shigu's defense line, and open the way for the main force, there must be no mistake." ”

"No!" Zhu Jin replied in a loud and firm tone, and his voice resounded through the military tent.

Three

A war with Qingkou as the main battlefield and determining the historical pattern began. Zhu Jin took advantage of the heavy rain as a cover to lead 5,000 cavalry to quietly approach Pang Shigu, when Yang Xingmi ordered the water attack, the fierce river went straight to the Pang Shigu military camp, Pang Shigu's army was instantly washed away by the sudden flood, some fell into the quagmire and could not move, some were directly washed away by the water, some were smashed to death by the stones washed down by the water, and the camp tent and baggage were washed into chaos. At this time, Zhu Jin killed him, and Pang Shigu woke up like a dream. Zhu Jin had hatred for Zhu Wen, and his fighting spirit was the strongest, swinging his knife like crazy, and Pang Shigu's defense line soon collapsed. After a while, Yang Xingmi led the main force to kill, the so-called defeat was like a mountain, and the Qingkou battlefield shook the sky for a while, wailing all over the field, and it was miserable. At this time, Pang Shigu had neither the strength to resist, nor the heart to resist, it was originally a fight between the two sides, but now it has become a massacre of one side, as a result, Pang Shigu was killed, his subordinates were killed and captured countless people, and the remaining remnants fled to Ge Congzhou.

Ge Congzhou's life was not easy, originally according to the plan, he should take Shouzhou and then rush to the aid of Pang Shigu, but Zhu Yanshou of Shouzhou is a fierce general, Ge Congzhou did not get any cheap, and Zhu Yanshou was defeated by several attacks. When he learned the news of Pang Shigu's defeat, Ge Congzhou realized that the situation was very unfavorable for him and prepared to retreat. But Yang Xingmi was willing to let go of this excellent opportunity, he quickly led the army to join Zhu Yanshou and chase Ge Congzhou together, Ge Congzhou was finally caught up by Zhu Jin's cavalry, at this time Ge Congzhou had no slightest will to fight, just fled, the whole army was almost killed and drowned, and finally only some remnants of the horses fled.

Zhu Wen, who was sitting in the rear, was terrified when he heard the news of the crushing defeat of the two armies on the front line. Think about how aggressive you were when you came, but now you're embarrassed. But no matter how unwilling he was, he had no skills to return to the sky, the main force was lost, and his vitality was greatly damaged, at this time Zhu Wen no longer had the ability to go to Yang Xingmi for revenge, so he could only return to the court. Afterwards, Yang Xingmi also deliberately wrote a letter to sarcastically mock Zhu Wen: "Pang Shigu and Ge Congzhou are not enemies, and it is appropriate for the public to come to Huaishang for a decisive battle." The angry Zhu Wen scolded. So far, the battle of Qingkou ended with Zhu Wen being defeated and Yang Xingmi being completely victorious. Zhu Wen paid a heavy price for his serious mistake in employing people, not only losing his troops, but also completely losing the opportunity to seize Jianghuai.

Yang Xingmi won the decisive battle because of his favorable time, place, and people, as well as his correct judgment of form and excellent command ability. As soon as the battle was over, Yang Xingmi was rewarded for his merits and deeds, and integrated internal unity, so that Yang Xingmi had a firm foothold in the Jianghuai area, and his reputation has spread far and wide. The Jianghuai region also escaped the catastrophe of being ravaged by Zhu Wen's army, laying the foundation for future prosperity and stability, and Yang Xingmi made great contributions.