Chapter 464: The Battle of Shu

November 19 of the second year of the Great Song Dynasty (964).

Zhao Kuangyin announced to the world, sent 50,000 troops, and attacked Shu in two ways: ordered Wang Quanbin and Cui Yanjin to deploy for Xichuan to manage Fengzhou Road and the deputy capital, and Wang Renzhen was the capital supervisor, leading 30,000 people to ride out of Fengzhou (now northeast of Fengxian County, Shaanxi) on the North Road, and go south along the Jialing River; Liu Guangyi was deployed as the deputy capital of Guizhou Road, and Cao Bin was the capital supervisor, and led 20,000 people to ride out of Guizhou (now Zigui, Hubei) on the East Road, and traced the river. The two roads are divided into joint attacks, pointing directly to ~ all.

In fact, in the first year of Qiande (963), after Zhao Kuangyin eliminated Nanping and Wuping, he controlled the strategic places in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, so that the northeast of Houshu was under the control of the Great Song Dynasty, and obtained favorable conditions for tracing the river into Shu.

So he actively planned to attack Shu. Later Shu was built by Meng Zhixiang, the envoy of Xichuan (now Chengdu, Sichuan) at the end of the Later Tang Dynasty. According to Sichuan, Han and 45 states of the Communist Party of China, the capital was built into ~ capital. Later, Meng Chang succeeded him, the monarch and ministers were extravagant, and the politics were corrupt.

In April of the first year of Qiande (963), Zhao Kuangyin appointed Zhang Hui as the envoy of the Fengzhou regiment and the envoy of the western camp to inspect the trenches, and ordered him to survey the terrain of Sichuan and Shaanxi in detail in preparation for the attack on Shu by land; Intensify the digging of a pond outside the Zhuming Gate in the south of Kaifeng City to divert Cai Shui, build 100 ships, and train the Navy "Water Tiger Jie" to prepare for tracing the river into Shu by waterway; ordered the states to build light vehicles for mountain transportation; Set up a transfer envoy in the southwest to prepare materials for the attack.

At this time, Meng Chang, the lord of Later Shu, heard that Song wanted to rejuvenate the division and felt the threat of the Song army. Prime Minister Li Hao suggested that Meng Chang pay tribute to the Great Song Dynasty in order to protect himself. However, Wang Zhaoyuan, a member of the Privy Council who held the military and political power, advised Meng Chang to strike first and not sit and wait for death.

Meng Chang decided to refuse to defend the Song army. At that time, the Great Song Dynasty was adjacent to the Three Gorges in the east, and the Longyou and Qinling Mountains were controlled in the north, but the important places that could be relied on in front of Houshu still included the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River and Micang Mountain. Therefore, on the one hand, Houshu sent troops to Dongtun Three Gorges, and expanded the naval army in Fu (now Fuling, Sichuan), Lu (now Luzhou City, Sichuan), Rong (now East of Yibin City, Sichuan) and other prefectures as a backup.

On the other hand, he sent people to raise troops at the same time as the Northern Han Dynasty, preparing to jointly attack the Song Dynasty. In October of the second year of Qiande (964), Meng Chang sent Sun Yu, a Dacheng official, and Zhao Yantao, a military colonel, to the Northern Han Dynasty, and asked them to go south to jointly attack the Song Dynasty, and scheduled the Shu army to go out of Huanghua (now northeast of Fengxian County, Shaanxi) and Meridian Valley (now Xi'an, Shaanxi), and the Northern Han to attack the Song army and capture Guanzhong. However, Zhao Yantao defected to Shu and surrendered to the Song Dynasty halfway, and secretly reported the truth of Houshu to Zhao Kuangyin, and drew a map of the mountains and rivers of Houshu and the distribution of troops. Zhao Kuangyin was waiting for an opportunity to attack Shu, and after getting the secret book of Hou Shu's appointment with the Northern Han to attack the Song Dynasty, he said happily: "I am famous!"

Meng Chang learned that the Song division was coming to attack, and ordered Wang Zhaoyuan to be the commander of the camp and Zhao Chongtao to be the capital supervisor; Han Baozheng and Li Jin are the main and deputy envoys. Wang and Zhao led about 30,000 troops from Chengdu to the north, guarding Lizhou (now Guangyuan, Sichuan) and Jianmen (now northeast of Jiange); Han and Li led tens of thousands of troops to garrison Xingyuan (now Hanzhong, Shaanxi) to strengthen the defense in the north; In the east, Gao Yan and others were still guarded by Zhaowu Jiedu and others to hold Kuizhou (now Fengjie, Sichuan).

In the middle of December of the second year of Qiande (964), the Song army of the North Road invaded the Shu realm, and all directions were successful, connecting the key points on the periphery of Xingzhou (now Luoyang, Shaanxi).

On December 19, he defeated 2,000 Shu troops and entered Kexing Prefecture, obtaining more than 40 thousand yuan of military rations. Shuxing Prefecture Thorn Shi Lan Siwan retired to Baoxi County (now west of Mianxian County, Shaanxi); The Shu army recruited Han Baozheng to hear that Xingzhou was lost, gave up Xingyuan, and moved to Xixian (now the west of Mianxian County).

The Song and Ma armies commanded Shi Yande to lead the vanguard army to attack Xixian, Han Baozheng was cowardly and did not dare to face the battle, sent tens of thousands of troops to the back of the city, formed a formation and consolidated himself, was repelled by Shi Yande, and the Song army received more than 30 thousand grains. Therefore, Cui Yanjin, Shi Yande, and Kang Yanze, the superintendent of the Ma army, led their troops to pursue the victory, captured Han Baozheng and Li Jin, crossed Sanquan (about 100 miles southwest of present-day Mian, Shaanxi), and reached Jiachuan (50 miles northeast of present-day Guangyuan, Sichuan), and killed many people.

In order to block the southward advance of the Song army, Han and Li Yu burned the plank road and retired to Jiameng (now northwest of Guangyuan, Sichuan). Shi Shu generals Wang Zhaoyuan and Zhao Chongtao led the army to garrison Lizhou (now Guangyuan, Sichuan) and the big and small Mantianzhai (25 miles and 40 miles north of Lizhou City respectively) to the north.

Lizhou is on the east bank of the Jialing River, surrounded by mountains, the situation is precipitous, and it is the key road to the throat of Shu. Because the plank road was cut off, the Song army was blocked, and it was difficult to advance straight. Wang Quanbin then led the main force to detour south from the Luochuan road in the southeast of Xichuan, and deployed Cui Yanjin to lead an army by the deputy capital, rushed to repair the plank road, entered the small mantianzhai, and then attacked Lizhou.

The Song army acted as planned, breaking the small Mantian Village, and the Shu army retired to the Damantian Village. Within a few days, Wang and Cui joined forces at Shendu (the Jialing River ferry between the big and small Mantianzhai) and seized the bridge. Xuan and divided the troops into 3 divisions to attack the big mantianzhai. The Shu army concentrated its elite and struggled to resist, but was routed by the Song army. The Song army took advantage of the victory to pull out the villages of the Shu army, and captured the assassin of Yizhou, Wang Xianchao, etc.

Wang Zhaoyuan and Zhao Chongtao led troops to intercept the Song army, and they were defeated in three battles, and the Song army pursued to the north of Lizhou. Wang Zhaoyuan and others abandoned the city and crossed the river to retreat to Jianmen (now northeast of Jiange, Sichuan), and burned the floating beam when retreating. The Song army occupied Lizhou on December 30 and received 800,000 soldiers. The Song army received a large amount of grain to avoid long-distance turnaround, and it was quite advantageous to the enemy because of the grain.

The progress of the Song army on the East Road was also smooth. In late December, Liu Guangyi and others invaded Wuxia, broke several villages, annihilated more than 12,000 Shushui and infantry troops, killed his general Nanguanghai, captured his commander Yuan Dehong, and captured more than 200 warships. Take advantage of the victory and rush to Kuizhou.

Kuizhou is the throat of Badong, the Shu army set up a lock river pontoon bridge in the east of the city, and placed three layers of wooden fences on it, clamping the river columns, and the defense is very strict. Liu Guangyi's army arrived at 30 miles of Fuliang on the Suojiang River in Kuizhou, and according to Zhao Kuangyin's predetermined plan of "not fighting with boat divisions, but being the advance infantry and cavalry to sneak attack" the Shu army on both sides of the strait, he left the boat and landed ashore, defeated the defenders on both sides of the strait, and captured Fuliang. Then lead the boat and go seven, and march to the west of the White Emperor City (that is, Kuizhou Prefecture).

Gao Yanyu, the envoy of the Shuning River (Zhikuizhou) Festival, believed: "The Northern Army (referring to the Song Army) came from afar in danger, and it was advantageous to fight quickly, and it should be treated as a strong wall." However, Wu Shouqian, the prison army, believed that the enemy could not avoid the battle when he came to the city, and he must attack. On December 26, Wu Shouqian acted alone and led more than 1,000 people to fight, but returned defeated. The Song army pursued and broke into the city, Gao Yanyu was invincible and committed suicide in anger. After the Song army occupied Kuizhou, it went up along the Jiangxi and conquered Wan, Kai, Zhong, Sui (now Wanxian City, Kaixian, Zhongxian, Suining, Sichuan) and other prefectures, opening the door to Shu from the Yangtze River.

In the first month of the third year of Qiande (965), Meng Chang, the lord of Shu, heard that Wang Zhaoyuan was defeated, and was frightened, so he ordered the prince Xuanzhe, who had never practiced martial arts, to be the marshal, and led more than 10,000 troops to reinforce the important barrier of Houshu. At that time, the Song Army's North Route Army went straight to Jianmen from Lizhou and occupied Yiguang (now Zhaohua, Sichuan).

The Song army saw that Jianmen was precipitous, and some people proposed to march with a large army from the Laisu road in the southeast of Jianmen, go around to the south of Jianmen, and cut off its back road. Kang Yanze analyzed the situation at that time and believed that the Shu army had been defeated in several battles and its morale was low, so it could be attacked in a hurry, and the commander should not lead the army to make such a detour attack.

Therefore, Wang Quanbin knew that Jianmen was dangerous and not easy to attack, so he ordered Shi Yande to lead a group of troops to Su through the southeast of the city, and the trail detoured to the south of Jianmen, and led the elite to attack Jianmen from the front. The first part of the Shu garrison saw that the Song army was coming and going to Su by small road, and abandoned the village and fled; Wang Zhaoyuan also mishandled it, only defended Jianmen with a partial general, and led his army to retreat to Hanyuanpo (now Jianmen East).

The Song army took advantage of the momentum to attack back and forth, quickly conquered the sword gate, and approached the Hanyuan slope. The Shu general Zhao Chongtao set up a formation to meet the battle, but Wang Zhaoyuan was frightened and had no way to defend it, so he "couldn't get up according to the Hu bed (a foldable light seat)". Without a fierce battle, the Song army defeated the Shu army, remnants more than 10,000 people, captured the capital commander Wang Zhaoyuan, and took advantage of the victory to occupy Jianzhou (now Jiange, Sichuan).

Yuan Zhe, the prince of Shu, entered Mianzhou (now Mianyangdong, Sichuan), heard that the sword gate had been lost, and fled back to Chengdu ~ capital in a hurry. At the beginning of the first month, the Song army on the north road approached the city of Chengdu, and then the east road also continued. On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Meng Chang saw that the general trend had gone, and the city was surrendered, and Hou Shu died.

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The 14th day of the first month of the third year of Qiande (965 AD)

The Wende Hall of the Great Song Dynasty Palace was jubilant, this morning, the military report from Shu went straight to the palace, Meng Chang surrendered, and the army of the Great Song Dynasty entered the Chengdu ~ capital, and the Hou Shu perished.

Zhao Kuangyin happily accepted the congratulations of the civil and military officials, and issued an edict to reward the meritorious soldiers.

After the dispersal of the dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin left Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi.

Zhao Kuangyin's swarthy face was full of joy, he picked up a document from the table, and then handed it to Zhao Pu on the left.

"Zeping, there is a secret report here, you and Guangyi both take a look."

Zhao Pu took it and finished reading it quickly. He handed the paperwork to Zhao Guangyi with an expressionless face.

After Zhao Guangyi saw it, he looked at Zhao Kuangyin carefully, and then said:

"Your Majesty, Cao Bin's secret report said that this time the destruction of Shu went so smoothly, in addition to the proper strategy and the use of the lives of the officers and men of the three armies, the ordnance of the Seven Seas Company also played a great role.

He said that the Divine Arm Bow and War Sword were unparalleled weapons in the battle array, and the soldiers of Hou Shu could not resist it at all. The armor of the Seven Seas Company was also very good, and many of the soldiers were able to save their lives. It seems that this Nanami Company really can't be underestimated. ”

Zhao Kuangyin stroked his thick beard and said, "Guangyi, you may not know. As early as a few months ago, the Seven Seas Company sent a warship to Salmon Island and kidnapped Du Dalei and Li Jilong. ”

"Huh? Is there such a thing? Zhao Guangyi was shocked, "They actually have such strength?" Will their boat be able to reach Salmon Island? Can you still rob people secretly? ”

Zhao Kuangyin nodded: "Not only that, but these people have also done an even more amazing thing. Zeping, come on. ”

Zhao Pu said slowly: "Guangyi, after these people went back, they somehow clashed with Wu Yueguo's sailors. They began to suffer some small losses because of the lack of ships.

Then the warships of the Seven Seas Company poured out of the nest and attacked the city of Hangzhou along the Qiantang River, burning the camp of Wu Yueguo's sailors outside the city of Hangzhou. ”