Chapter 85 Turning the Tiger Away from the Mountain

In September 426 AD, the Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao saw that Rouran fled north, the northern border of the country was temporarily calm, and for the conquest of Guanzhong Hu Xia army has been assembled, he gave an order, the troops were divided into three roads, marched into Guanzhong, and ordered the minister Xi Jin to lead the troops to attack Puban (now Yongji, Shanxi), the general Song Bing and others led the army to attack Shaancheng (now Shaanxi County, Henan), and personally led the army to attack the capital of Huxia to unify Wancheng.

In October of the same year, Tuoba Tao led the army to the Yellow River crossing, Hu Xia Emperor Helian Chang because he saw the Yellow River moat, did not fortify, but when Tuoba Tao led the troops to come, the temperature dropped, the river froze, Tuoba Tao was overjoyed to see this, personally led 20,000 light horsemen to cross the river on the ice, and forced to unify the ten thousand cities.

Hu Xia Emperor Helian Chang thought that the Northern Wei army could not cross the river, and was defenseless, just when Tuoba Tao led the army to attack more than 30 miles away from Tongwan City, Helian Chang was feasting the ministers in the palace, and suddenly there was a report from the horse, saying that the Northern Wei army was coming, Hu Xia Qunchen was shocked, Helian Chang calmed down a little, personally led the soldiers and horses in the city to meet the battle, the result was in a hurry, Helian Chang was defeated and returned, fled into the Tongwan City, Tuoba Tao took advantage of the victory to pursue, attacked the west gate, occupied the outer city, Helian Chang retreated into the inner city, closed the city gate, and could not hold out, Tuoba Tao saw that the inner city was strong, could not be conquered for a while, and the weather was cold, and the soldiers led by him were short of food and clothing, so they ordered to withdraw from the army and moved more than 10,000 households of the people in the outer city back to China. Although Tuoba Tao retreated and returned, the other two armies of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Lianke, Puhan, Chang'an and other places, and half of the land in Guanzhong were occupied by the Northern Wei Dynasty.

At the beginning of 427 AD, Hu Xia Emperor Helian Chang was unwilling to fail, so he gathered the soldiers and horses in the country, and ordered his brother Helian Ding to lead 20,000 troops, ready to recover Chang'an, the Northern Wei Dynasty Chang'an guard Xi Jin saw that Hu Xia's army was menacing, so he sent an envoy to Tuoba Tao to report urgency, he stuck to Chang'an, refused to fight, Helian Ding led his troops to confront it, and sent his troops to Di Ziyu back to Tongwancheng, to meet Helian Chang, and offered a plan: "The minister brother attacks Chang'an, Tuoba Tao will lead the troops to attack the capital, the capital wall is high and strong, can hold on for several months, and the minister brother will lead the troops back to help, Attacking inside and outside, Tuoba Tao will be defeated. ”

Helian Chang thought so, and immediately ordered the soldiers to strengthen the capital, just waiting for Tuoba Tao to lead the troops to attack.

In April of the same year, the Northern Wei Emperor Tuoba Tao heard that Helian Ding was attacking Chang'an, thinking that the capital of Hu Xia and Tongwancheng must be empty, so he personally led the army to attack Guanzhong again, and the soldiers pointed directly at Tongwancheng.

In June of the same year, Tuoba Tao led the Northern Wei army to Tongwan City, but Helian Chang had already prepared, Tuoba Tao led the army to attack the city, and did not resist for several days, at this time, Di Ziyu, the general of Helian Ding, wanted to take the opportunity to stand on his own because he was born in the Qiang people, so he escaped from Tongwan City, surrendered to the Northern Wei Dynasty, and told Tuoba Tao all the words of Helian Ding to Helian Chang, Tuoba Tao was shocked, so he ordered to suspend the siege, and he led the army to retreat to the north of the city to station.

Tuoba Tao did not want to return in vain, so he wanted to lure Helian Chang out of the city for a decisive battle, so he sent weak soldiers to attack the city, and secretly ordered the soldiers to enter the city to surrender, Helian Chang saw that the Tuoba Tao siege soldiers were all old and weak, and many soldiers fled into the city to ask for surrender, so he summoned the soldiers who surrendered to the Northern Wei Dynasty, and asked Tuoba Tao about the situation in the army, and the surrendered soldiers told him that the grain and grass in the army were about to run out, and the escort of the heavy army had not yet arrived, Tuoba Tao was eager to attack the city, regardless of the life and death of the soldiers.

Helian Chang heard it, his heart was overjoyed, when Tuoba Tao led the weak soldiers to attack the city again, Helian Chang led the elite in the city out of the city to meet the battle, Tuoba Tao pretended to be invincible, led the army to flee more than once, Helian Chang did not know what the plan was, personally led the army to pursue, chased to a valley, the Northern Wei army ambushed the soldiers, Tuoba Tao reflexively returned to the horse, led the troops to attack, Helian Chang was defeated, the soldiers of the department were scattered and fled, Helian Chang saw that the road back to the city had been blocked, so he had to lead the remnants to flee to Shangqi (now Tianshui, Gansu), Tuoba Tao took advantage of the victory to attack the impregnable Huxia capital city of Wancheng.

Helianding, who wanted to recover Chang'an, heard that Tongwancheng had been lost, and the emperor's brother Helianchang fled to Shangqi.

In February 428 AD, Tuoba Tao took advantage of the victory to march into Shangqi, Helian Chang and Helian Ding brothers led the troops to meet the battle, but the soldiers were defeated in the Northern Wei Dynasty one after another, and the morale was completely lost, as a result, the two brothers were defeated again, Helian Chang was captured, Tuoba Tao led the army to occupy Shangqi, Helian Ding led the remnants of tens of thousands of people to flee to Pingliang, and he saw that the emperor's brother was captured, so he called the emperor in Pingliang and continued the national ancestry. Tuoba Tao saw that Helian Ding led his troops to flee, so he stopped pursuing and returned to the court.

In May of the same year, Emperor Helian of Hu Xia saw that the army of the Northern Wei Dynasty did not pursue, so he reorganized his troops and horses to try to recover the capital of Tongwancheng, when he personally led the army to the halfway, he heard that the lord of the adjacent Western Qin State died of illness, and his son succeeded to the throne at the end of the twilight.

At this time, the Western Qin was like the meat of the board, not only coveted by the dying Hu Xia, but also the national strength of its western neighbor Beiliang. The lord of the Northern Liang country, Fuqu Mengxun, has dominated the land of Liangzhou at this time, full of ambition, but also wants to restore the prosperity of Liangzhou, heard that the begging blazing rock died, Fuqu Mengxun personally led the army to attack the Nanliang homeland occupied by the Western Qin, and besieged Ledu, the lord of the Western Qin who had just succeeded to the throne hurriedly ordered the clan to beg the Yuan Ji to lead the troops to rescue, the begging Yuan Ji rushed to Ledu, took the lead, fought hard, and only then repelled the Northern Liang army, and the frustrated Qu Meng Xun saw that the Western Qin army was in full swing, so he led the troops back to China.

At this time, the northwest land was full of wolf smoke, the lord of the Northern Liang Kingdom was frustrated by Mengxun, and the Huxia Emperor Helianding wanted to occupy the land of Longxi, so they all continued to conquer the Western Qin.

If you know how to deal with the end of the begging twilight and what the fortunes of the Western Qin State are, please see the next chapter.