War in the classical period often followed this pattern: preparations took a long time, and preparations for a war took months or even years. But when the war actually started, the rise and fall of the regime often took half a day to decide.
And this half day is also the longest half day, no matter who we are facing, the enemy or the other.
At this time, the battle of Xingyang is no different. This decisive battle that determines the trend of the world will be decided in a short time, but we don't know who will be the loser.
On September 10, the sixth year of Guanghe reign, when the Han army's powerful coalition forces from various counties in the capital and the Youzhou cavalry regiment advanced to five miles east of Xingyang, the sentinels from the front directly engaged in a sentinel battle with the sentry cavalry of the Taishan Army.
A ten-man cavalry of the Han Army happened to bump into the Taishan Army's sentinel cavalry who was about to spy on the Han Army's march. Seeing that there were only six cavalry on the other side, the Han Army's cavalry thought it had an advantage and took the lead in attacking. But who
I know that in the dark, there is still a six-man cavalry hiding, and then this Han cavalry was surrounded and killed by the Taishan Army. If not a Youzhou cavalry arrived, the ambushed Han cavalry would have to explain where it was.
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This small encounter between the two sides ended with the Taishan Army leaving four corpses. However, neither the Han Cavalry nor the Youzhou Cavalry had any intention of looking down on the Taishan Cavalry, because six of them died.
The battle report of this encounter was quickly sent to the Han army commander Huang Wan. Huang Wan immediately wrote a eloquent victory report based on the results of the battle and sent it to Liu Hong in Kyoto. It was not that Huang Wan was a person who was happy with great achievements, but
It was he who needed to give Liu Hong constant good news to inspire the country to have the confidence to eradicate the moth thieves.
But Huang Wan wrote a victory report and wrote a victory report, but he did not dare to be careless at all. He realized that the Taishan Army on the opposite side had also chosen to send troops today. Now the two armies happened to be on the large plain east of Xingyang.
Huang Wan's original plan was to take the initiative to seize the lead and trap the Taishan army in Yanshi's fortress with numerical superiority. At that time, there were 10,000 powerful coalition troops under the east camp, 3,000 Youzhou sudden cavalry, and 3 coalition troops from Hedong counties.
Thousands, 2,000 Yanzhou troops, and 2,000 remaining troops in Xingyang. The total strength is 20,000, which seems to be about the same number as the Taishan army opposite. But Huang Wan also has brave men and official and temple disciples recruited from various places. Although these can only be used for logistics
, but there were more than 20,000 people in total. Now, the camp in the east had jurisdiction over 50,000 people, known as the 100,000 people.
In order to maintain such a large-scale manpower, Liu Hong directly moved to Taicang, Kyoto. The millet, wheat and rice transferred from the most blessed place in the world were once again continuously transported to the Xingyang front line along the Luoshui River.
But now that the Taishan Army on the opposite side has also been dispatched, Huang Wan shrank back. It's not that he is a coward, but that he has fought with the Taishan Army and he doesn't dare to look down on it. Moreover, he also knows that the country has sacrificed a lot to build this east camp.
No matter how much it costs, he doesn't dare to fight in vain.
Therefore, as soon as he learned that the Taishan Army was also dispatched, Huang Wan urgently ordered all armies not to advance further, and all camped in place to build fortifications to establish themselves in an invincible position.
Not bad. After all, Huang Wan is a first-rate person. He was originally just a famous person who talked his heart out. But after having the experience of fighting with a large army, he became familiar with some common sense of military warfare and knew that he could not give orders at this time.
retreat.
If the whole army retreated at that time, even though the distance was less than five miles, tens of thousands of troops were lined up, and there was a sea of people. They couldn't see the front and back, and people's hearts were different. As soon as they saw the front army retreating, it would be natural to think that the front army was defeated.
When the time came, they scrambled to retreat first. After a rout, the camp on the east side collapsed.
Huang Wan was also miserable. It was the first time he led troops in Yanzhou. He had a patchwork of troops under his command, and he was still feeling haggard even though he managed to maintain it. But this time as the commander of the east camp, his troops were still peaceful.
The ingredients are more complex this time, and the soldiers of each system are more difficult to treat.
His subordinates can be divided into three systems, ranked according to the level of combat power. The first class is naturally the Youzhou Cavalry, the second class is the Hedong and Yanzhou soldiers, and the third class is the Gyeonggi powerful troops.
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But whether intentionally or unintentionally, Liu Hong did not move the Youzhou Cavalry Regiment of the clan members to the east camp sequence. Instead, it was still under the command of Lu Zhi, the original Beizhonglang general.
This made Huang Wan embarrassed. In other words, the most powerful military force in Xingyang at this time was only a friendly force, not his own army. The difference was huge.
But despite this, Huang Wan still didn't dare to ask more questions, because he was worried that this was what the country did deliberately, and he was not sure that all the troops in the capital would be given to him. Huang Wan did not think that the country could not trust him, either.
These are just the emperor's instincts.
Since there is no command authority over Youzhou's sudden cavalry, many things need to be discussed with the opponent, so Huang Wan can rely on the core Yanzhou soldiers and the county soldiers transferred from Hedong.
For a long time, especially the general Lu Qian he took, he was even more brave than ten thousand men, and was a core force. And the Hedong soldiers, they were indeed from the most prosperous places in the world, they were elites, many counties and counties
The soldiers even prepared their own armor and horses. After a little training, the Hedong soldiers became combat effective.
In fact, this is why Huang Wan got the shadow of his predecessors. The land of Hedong has always been the same as the six counties of Beiland, with good families. But the difference from Beiland is that the economy of Hedong land is far stronger than that of the six counties of Beiland.
There are many. Therefore, the Hedong warriors here are even more proficient in bows and horses. They often bring their own vests when they join the army, which became one of the core weapons of the Han Dynasty.
The land east of Hedong has been a place of great prosperity since ancient times. In the past, the people of Tang Dynasty were all in Hedong, the people of Yin were all in Hanoi, and the people of Zhou were all in Henan. Therefore, the three rivers area was the place of royal industry in ancient times.
One of the reasons why Hedong is rich is that there are Fenshui and Sushui in the territory, which nourish agriculture. But the more important point is that Hedong has the benefits of salt and iron. Hedong has the world's best iron office and the world's best two pools of salt.
, it can be said that they have taken over all the wealth in the world. What is even more exaggerated is that the benefits of salt and iron are controlled by local private individuals in Hedong, and the state only collects salt and iron taxes.
It is precisely because of the wealth of local salt and iron that the Hedong area has rich people and people with inheritance. Every year, the samurai who retire and return to their hometowns train their nephews and fellow villagers, so that the Sanhe Knights can be passed down from generation to generation.
Before the rise of the Yellow Turbans, Hedong had already contributed a number of high-quality soldiers to the Han Dynasty. Now the country called again, and these long-trained warrior men once again took up the armor and went to war for the country. Therefore, Huang Wan also received the shadow of his predecessors, and it was
The hundreds of years of peace and stability in the Hedong region have allowed the warriors in the Hedong region to have a sufficient environment for growth. Of course, human resources will also be exhausted. With the advent of troubled times, no one knows whether these high-quality Hedong warriors will be left.
How many.
But it is a pity that there are too few soldiers from Hedong. Together with the Yanzhou soldiers in Huang Wan's hands, the total is only six thousand, which is far from being able to suppress another group under his command, namely the powerful soldiers from the capital. Even though the latter are not many.
Elite, but can't stand up to the crowd.
In fact, at the beginning, Liu Hong planned to send 10,000 Hedong soldiers to go south. Don't be surprised that a county can muster 10,000 soldiers, because Hedong County does have it. He has a special regiment under his rule, namely the Wubi soldiers.
During the period of Emperor An, because the Qiang invaded Hedong and even reached Hanoi along Hedong, the Han Dynasty set up thirty-three dock walls in Tonggu Chong within Hedong, with fifty soldiers on each wall and drums.
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Therefore, Liu Hong initially wanted to mobilize these troops to go south. However, Liu Hong's suggestion was directly blocked by the officials from Hedong in Chaoyang. Of course, they also had reasons.
They said that before the Yellow Turbans rose up, there were moth thieves in the Hedong area. Later, Bian Zhang led the Qiang bandits to harass Hedong again. The reason why the thirty-three dock walls originally arranged in Hedong were originally established
That is to build a defensive belt in the north of Kyoto, along Hedong, Hanoi's Yanyuan County, Pingyin, Jixian, Biyang, and Wushe. If all these troops are mobilized, in case the Qiang people drive straight down,
When the time comes, the story of the Western Zhou Dynasty being destroyed by the Xirong will probably happen again.
Liu Hong was very angry by these words. After thinking about it for a while, he guessed that these people only used these as reasons. The more important reason was that they, the wealthy people in Hedong, did not want all the troops in Hedong to be exhausted.
When the Qiang people entered Hedong, they were the first to suffer.
But what could Liu Hong do after he understood this? He had already compromised once with the wealthy family, and this time was no less important. So in the end, only 3,000 Hedong soldiers went south.
Originally, Liu Hong planned to ask Dong Zhuo, the governor of Hedong, to lead his troops south, but he had already led his troops to the battlefield in Hebei, so he gave up.
At this time, Dong Zhuo was still a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty. He came from a good family in the six counties and joined the Yulin Lang. Later, he fought for the country in the western Xinjiang and made military exploits. He was a rising star of the Han Dynasty and was expected to succeed Liang Liang.
Zhou Sanming became the new benchmark for the martial arts of the entire Han Dynasty.
Because of this trust, Liu Hongcai appointed Dong Zhuo as the governor of Hedong. You must know that Hedong, as the head of the Three Rivers, because of its geographical location and economic advantages, the position of governor has always been held by the emperor's most trusted minister.
The Han Dynasty relied on the administration of local officials. That is to say: "If the people are peaceful and have no complaints, the government is peaceful and the officials are good. Those who share this with me are only as good as two thousand stones."
Therefore, Dong Zhuo's ability to serve as the governor of Hedong is a reflection of this trust. But this is also related to Dong Zhuo's good luck. He happened to catch up with the transition period when the Han Dynasty promoted a new batch of military officers as civil officials.
From the beginning, it was the headquarters of Legalist civil servants, but because of this, in order to check and balance, all the governors of Hedong in the past were all Confucian officials. For example, Li Wen, Shi Bi, Kong Biao, and Wang Yi were all Confucian officials.
If it weren't for the turmoil in the country and the local area becoming more and more difficult to govern, and Liu Hong needed more military attachés with military experience to govern the local area for him, Dong Zhuo would have had no chance.
Therefore, Dong Zhuo's current status was all promoted by Liu Hong, but I don't know how Liu Hong would feel if he knew that the big man was buried in Dong Zhuo's hands.
Returning to Huang Wan again, although Huang Wan has many difficulties, one of his strengths is that he can know people and make good use of them. He made such arrangements based on the situation of each soldier under his command.
First of all, it is the Youzhou Assault Cavalry that is the most difficult to mobilize. After negotiation, it was placed in the northeast of this plain battlefield, guarding the traffic lines in the Aocang area behind. The reason why the clan members agreed to be placed here is because of the distance from here.
Aocang is close and is more convenient for supplies.
After that, the Yanzhou soldiers and Hedong soldiers, who Huang Wan relied on the most, were deployed at more than a dozen slopes on the east side of Xingyang. These camps were either on the edge of the river or at the head of the road. In short, they were to act as horns to each other to block the Taishan army.
Movement westward and northward.
As for the largest number of remaining powerful soldiers from Gyeonggi, this is what Huang Wan is most worried about.
One of these soldiers has unclear discipline, because they are all tribes of wealthy families. They are usually under the command of Yi Qi. They are in Weiling Township. Now they are out in the Xingyang area, just like those foreign soldiers from Youzhou, in Yurou Township.
The second is that these soldiers are not capable of giving orders. Because they are private soldiers of wealthy families, especially the heads of each family are big shots in the court, these people also think that they are figures and do not take the commander Huang Wan seriously.
Don't worry, most of these powerful tribes will not come and respond.
It is precisely based on these factors that Huang Wan is worried that if there is a real fight with the Taishan Army, these wealthy tribes will wait and see and delay. Then there will be dozens of battalions and dozens of ideas. Whenever something happens, you will look at me and I will only want others to come forward.
Pick up the bargain yourself.
How can these soldiers and horses be used on the edge of the sword? Having experienced the defeat of Fengqiu, he no longer wants to put success or failure on these bastards.
Therefore, Huang Wan arranged these more than 10,000 powerful tribes behind the lines of Yanzhou soldiers and Hedong soldiers. His idea was that he, the commander, would personally take the lead, let his direct descendants go in front of them, and lead by example to inspire these powerful people.
He has a good nature and works for the country.
As for whether it will be effective, Huang Wan is not too confident, but this is no longer a solution. If he dares to arrange these more than 10,000 wealthy tribes on the front line, these wealthy tribes may wonder whether it is him Huang Wan
Wan wants to eliminate dissidents and dye Huang Wan's ribbon with the blood of their wealthy clans. When the time comes, Huang Wan is really afraid that these wealthy tribes will give him a "camp roar".
In this way, Huang Wan worked hard amidst all the difficulties, and Zhang Chong on the other side didn't feel very well either.
Zhang Chong, who had not long left camp on September 10th, learned that the Han army on the opposite side was stationed and dug deep trenches and built camps. He also decided to stop the army and set up camp five miles away from the Han army's camp.
In fact, Zhang Chong led the Taishan Army to take the initiative to attack, which puzzled everyone. According to the intelligence obtained in recent days, the strength of the Han army on the opposite side is about 50,000, while our own side has less than 30,000.
According to general military common sense, if the Taishan Army takes the initiative to attack or even attack a fortress, if it wants to form a deep encirclement against the enemy, it must have an advantage in military strength.
But what now? The Taishan Army is at a numerical disadvantage, has no internal response in Xingyang City, and has lost the opportunity to attack. To a certain extent, it has made a very aggressive decision.
But Zhang Chong understood all this, and he also knew that the reasonable tactic should be to hold on to the Yanshi barrier first, and then wait for the Han soldiers to be unable to attack for a long time and their morale deteriorated, and then look for an opportunity to go out for a decisive battle.
Originally, Zhang Chong had planned this, but two military reports received from the south and north in the past two days disrupted all plans, and Zhang Chong had to take huge risks to lead his army to fight with the opposite Han army. The main decisive battle.