The twenty-fifth day of July in the first year of God’s blessing was sunny.
The main force of Wuwei and Tujiang's two armies rested for a day in Handan, and then continued northward, heading straight to Mingzhou.
There were more than 30,000 people heading north, both on foot and on horseback. They were mighty and full of fighting spirit.
An Jinquan rode a horse and followed behind Lu Huaizhong.
Yes, he was deceived. Mingzhou is still there and has not surrendered at all. Now he is asked to persuade him to surrender.
Why did you believe it at that time? In fact, it was very simple, because An Jinquan believed that the possibility of Mingzhou surrender was quite high.
First of all, it has been attacked by the army for many days, and the casualties on both sides are not small. But the Xia army is the attacker, and they have won successive victories in various battlefields, and their morale is high. As for the defenders, the coach An Jin is not here, and there are more than 3,000 soldiers. The combat effectiveness of the state soldiers is also much lower than that of the Yamen army, and they may not be able to withstand it.
Secondly, with the news that the King of Jin fled to Hedong, the Mingzhou defenders would think that they had been abandoned and that the battle could not be won. Frustrated, as time went by, the possibility of surrender gradually increased. .
Failure is certain, the only suspense is how long we can persist.
Therefore, An Jinquan did not feel the humiliation of being deceived. This time he was asked to go north with the army to persuade Mingzhou to surrender, and he agreed.
On the 27th, the army arrived in Linming, and then divided one part to march eastward to Mingzhou. The other part crossed the Ming River and arrived at Shahe River on the 28th. The river bridge has been destroyed, and there are banditry activities on the other side. There seemed to be enemy camps there, so we set up camp and found a location to build a bridge in preparation for crossing north.
On the same day and night, An Jinquan arrived outside Mingzhou City.
An Jinquan volunteered to enter the city, and Lu Huaizhong agreed.
One more An Jinquan and one less An Jinquan actually had no impact. He even took the time to study the route of march.
Starting from Mingzhou, we go straight to Nanhe County, fifty miles to the northwest. In the north of the county, there is the Lishui Stone Bridge built by Emperor Kaihuang of the Sui Dynasty. It is similar in shape to the Zhaozhou Big Stone Bridge, but it was built slightly earlier. Crossing this stone bridge, It's another forty miles to Xingzhou. This is the eastern front.
The western route starts from Linming and crosses Shahe. Five miles to the north is Shahe County. Thirty-five miles further north is Xingzhou Lisuo Longgang County (southwest of today's Xingtai).
In fact, it's not far. And there aren't many soldiers left. If nothing happens, the thieves are very likely to surrender, provided they don't have reinforcements.
After Lu Huaizhong completed the research, he discussed the details with several generals. The main reason was to be prepared for surprise attacks by enemies during the march, such as Wei Bowufu, Chengde soldiers, or Hedong soldiers who suddenly came back. Ma. In other aspects, there is nothing to worry about. The rebel army has nothing to fear. If they don't surrender, they will just be killed.
At three o'clock in the morning, just when some people were already guessing that An Jinquan was gone and never coming back, the south gate of Mingzhou opened in the middle of the night.
An Jinquan took the main officials of Mingzhou out of the city.
"The sin will come later, please atone for it." An Jinquan said first.
Lu Huaizhong returned the greeting and then said: "General An can order the sergeants to live in the camp with peace of mind. They are not allowed to make any noise or move around at will. After dawn, someone will go to deliver the order."
"I respectfully follow General Lu's orders," An Jinquan replied.
Generally speaking, in terms of military principles, we should try to avoid surrendering at night. After all, we must guard against such things as false surrender. If there is a wave of counterattacks, the organization is in chaos, and the officers cannot summon the manpower in a hurry, what will happen?
It's a big joke.
Lu Huaizhong was also a veteran in the army, so naturally he would not give the Jin people this opportunity.
They waited until sunrise the next day. Under Lu Huaizhong's order, the remaining defenders left the city in batches and surrendered.
Xia's army was facing a formidable enemy.
The sergeants who were sitting on the ground got up one after another and lined up in formation. The officers shouted commands, and the cavalry gathered in the rear, ready to charge at any time.
However, nothing unexpected happened.
Six thousand Jin soldiers dropped their weapons and armor in the designated open space, and then ran to the opposite side to form formation.
After a while, an officer from the Xia Army walked over and counted the number of people.
Lu Huaizhong, accompanied by everyone, walked into the second state city he had captured since moving north.
******
On the banks of the Shah River, the Xia army divided into groups, successfully crossed the river and advanced to the north bank.
The Jin soldiers fought in formation, but were defeated with one blow. Then the army marched non-stop to the foot of Shahe County and defeated them in half a day.
There is nothing much to say about these two victories. In total, only 500 Xingzhou County soldiers were wiped out. The rest were Tutuan countrymen and they dispersed in a hurry.
What really surprised Han Xun, who was leading the left wing of the Wuwei Army, was that the Jin Army actually dared to resist.
Don’t you know that Li Keyong has run away? Why would you sacrifice your life for him?
On the first day of August, Han Xun led nearly 10,000 horsemen and arrived two miles south of Xingzhou City and set up camp.
On the third day of August, Lu Huaizhong led more than 20,000 people to the east of Xingzhou City.
At this time, the siege equipment was almost ready, so Han Xun sent people to attack the city. There was no hope at first, but the result was that the attack was defeated with very few casualties.
After questioning the prisoners, it turned out that An Jinjun, the training commander of Xingming's Cidu regiment, had already plundered the horses and mules in the city and fled at night with two thousand people in an unknown direction. There were less than a thousand guards left in the city, and their morale was low.
, with no intention to fight.
"When you enter the realm of thieves, you have to find out the enemy's situation. For two whole days, you didn't understand the actual situation in Xingzhou. How did you become the vanguard?" Lu Huaizhong taught Han Xun a lesson mercilessly, only to hear him say
: "Just knowing how to fight and kill is not enough. That would be a reckless person and it won't accomplish anything."
Lu Huaizhong, the famous "reckless man" twenty years ago, taught Han Xun a lesson, and Han Xun could only nod his head.
"Xingzhou was captured so easily." After letting Han Xun go, Lu Huaizhong sighed and said, "When we crossed the Fu River north last month, we didn't expect the battle to go so smoothly."
The generals laughed after hearing this.
In this battle, the guards Jin Qianzhi were wiped out, and most of the Fifth Academy Army was wiped out. More than 10,000 soldiers from Xing Ming Ci's three prefectures and counties died, surrendered or fled. Li Keyong's Zhaoyi East Three Prefectures, which he had held for many years, changed hands.
.
Of course, it is a bit exaggerated to say that it has changed hands now. Because of the rapid advance, we have only captured key nodes on the transportation line. Of the land of three states and eighteen counties, only four counties in Cizhou and six counties in Mingzhou have been clearly captured so far.
The counties include Yongnian and Linming, and the eight counties of Xingzhou include Shahe, Longgang, and Nanhe, and nine counties.
The remaining nine counties have to be sent to receive troops one by one. At least you have to go around and let people know that Xing Mingci has changed its owner.
In addition, there are still some defeated soldiers and people with ulterior motives in the countryside, and they need to be suppressed one by one.
As for the appointment of officials, this was not under the control of Lu Huaizhong, but was decided by the King of Xia.
The three states of Xingmingci were not taken over peacefully, but were captured by force. Naturally, they need to be cleaned from top to bottom. It is impossible without replacing people. Moreover, these three states are also important bases for attacking Hedong, at least
It can contain many troops in Hedong, so it is of great importance and must be managed well.
"Ming and Xingzhou counties sent envoys to receive them. Each envoy sent five hundred soldiers to escort them." Lu Huaizhong ordered.
"Send troops to search and advance at each pass in the Taihang Mountains. Envoy Kang, I will handle this matter. When you encounter the enemy, don't force yourself, just retreat. It's not time to deal with them yet."
"Send an order to Li Yixian and lead his troops north to Yaoshan to set up defenses."
"Also, send an envoy to report the victory to King Xia."
It can be seen from this series of commands that Lao Lu has not let go yet.
It can be seen from the map that the three states of Xingmingci are actually surrounded by enemies. To the west are Luzhou and Liaozhou in Hedong, to the east are Weizhou and Beizhou in Weibo, and to the north are Chengde
The towns of Zhaozhou and Jizhou.
Don't take it lightly!
******
Shao Shude is inspecting Ye County.
Yecheng, Yedu, a famous city since the Northern Dynasties.
In fact, it was not just the Northern Dynasties. Even earlier, Duke Cao made Yecheng his home base. To put it bluntly, Yecheng has been the capital of hegemonic regimes many times, which shows its heritage.
However, since the Sui Dynasty, although Hebei's population and economy have experienced tremendous development, ranking first in the country, the famous cities in Hebei that were once famous have slowly declined.
Handan has become a small county town, and Ye County is not as good as before, and is only limitedly stronger than the county town.
"Yecheng is a thousand-mile plain, with canals and canals flowing in all directions. Guests come and go. It is very close to Henan and Hedong. If the Northern Dynasties were to establish the regime, it would indeed be a good choice for the capital." Shao Shude looked at the flat, fertile and prosperous land.
Hebei Great Plains, I admire it from the bottom of my heart.
Crossing Taihang Xingdao leads to Hedong, and not far south is the Yellow River. It is located in the most prosperous area of Hebei, where many post roads and canals intersect, giving it a unique advantage.
Shao Shude believes that this is the Hebei version of Bianliang. Historically, if there was no threat from the Khitan, it would actually be a good choice to make Yecheng the capital of the Northern Song Dynasty.
It's a pity that others can make Yecheng the capital, but he can't, because it has something to do with one's origin and roots. Moreover, with Luoyang, Yecheng cannot even be one of the capitals. There will be a northern capital in Hebei, but it won't be Yecheng.
"If Your Highness wants to win over the hearts of Hebei people..." Xie Tong said.
"It's not that simple." Shao Shude waved his hand, but did not continue to explain.
"Lu Huaizhong fought very well. Xing Mingci has basically won the three states, and the rest is to clean up." Shao Shude turned to another matter: "The war in Hebei, how to fight next? Do you have a strategy?"
"Your Highness, you can hit and pull." Xie Tong suggested.
"What's the explanation?" Shao Shude asked.
"King Rong of Zhenzhou must be in a state of panic at this time. If His Highness can grant him the position of vassal town..." Xie Tong said.
"No! This is absolutely impossible." Shao Shude scolded: "Envoy Xie has been here for a long time, why are you still so confused?"
Xie Tong repeatedly complained.
Shao Shude's expression remained unchanged, but he was thinking in his heart, does Xie Tong represent someone and is testing him again? Why are all of them obsessed with being governors? They haven't given up yet?
"Your Highness, since we can't appease Wang Rong, we have to send troops to take precautions." Xie Tong said: "Although Hebei warriors are mostly household dogs, the attack has now reached the door of the house. We must be careful to prevent the dog from jumping over the wall."
"Well, I will consider this matter." Shao Shude said.
"You also need to be more careful on all roads in the Taihang Mountains. The bandit army is located high up, with dangerous mountains and rivers, as well as cities, and supplies of food and grass suddenly protruding, which is also a troublesome thing." Xie Tong said again.
Shao Shude nodded and motioned for him to continue.
To a certain extent, Xingmingci is very similar to the Shanxi and Jiangzhou states in the river. They are both overlooking the Shanxi Plateau and have narrow roads leading to the east of the river.
"After taking care of these things, it's time for Your Highness to send troops to Weibo." Xie Tong said: "It's best to gather food and grass and a large army to prepare for a long-term siege."
"Wei Bo, then attack Cangjing, regain Chengde, and Youzhou, then the world will be settled." Xie Tong said: "During this process, Li Keyong will definitely not sit back and watch, and will probably send troops. And this,
It is also a good opportunity to weaken Hedong. With the current military morale of the Jin people, His Highness can use the strategy of fighting and pulling. King Li Keyong of Jin has a high self-esteem and is aloof. In the past, when a certain person was in the tent of King Liang, he knew
This person has a natural temperament. The King of Liang has a grudge against Ke Yong, and they will fight to the death. Your Highness and Ke Yong are both enemies and friends, and they are brothers. Some things are not as difficult as they seem."
"Invite An Jinquan to Yecheng." Shao Shude ordered.
