Chapter 27 Twenty-six, who is the strong

In the third year of Wuding in the Eastern Wei Dynasty (AD 545), Gao Huan was fifty years old. According to the average life expectancy of Chinese people at that time, he had entered old age.Duan Rong and Cai Jun, his old subordinates who were born and died with him in the early years, and Feng Longzhi and Li Yuanzhong, who supported him in Hebei, have all passed away one after another; Blood struggle. "Peace the world, clarify the universe", what an exciting rhetoric; more than 20 years have passed, these eight words are still bold words.I have calculated everything in my life, and the only thing I missed is my powerful and young enemy, Yuwen Hei Otter.

The old is the old, and we will never spare future generations to harm future generations.Gao Huan wants to devote the rest of his life to making a huge gamble with all the people in the whole country.For this gamble, he is willing to spend any money and use any means.He sent people to Tuyuhun to recruit Tuyuhun Khan Kwalu's cousin into the harem, and Emperor Xiaojing accepted her as Rong Hua's concubine.The alliance between the Eastern Wei Dynasty and Tuyuhun brought another troublemaker to the southwest border of the Western Wei Dynasty. For Rouran, he also continued to strengthen the relationship between the two families, ordering Gao Zhan, the eldest son of the nine sons, to marry Anagui's granddaughter Linhe Princess.He also sent Du Bi as an envoy to Rouran to propose marriage to Gao Cheng. Anagui the lion said, "You can only marry Gao himself!" Gao Huan was greatly troubled.

The sensible Lou Zhaojun advised him: "Don't hesitate any longer for the country's plans." His wife of 30 years offered to give up her position, which made Gao Huan feel guilty and "kneeled and thanked him."Like Emperor Wen of the Western Wei Dynasty, the dignified Prime Minister Gao made a huge concession of changing his wife into a concubine, and went north to meet Anagui's beloved daughter in person, and made him his wife.Princess Rouran has a stubborn temper and never speaks Chinese all her life. She is very demanding. Even if Gao Huan is sick, she has to take a car to fulfill her husband's obligations.

(In order to completely solve the worries of the future, Gao Huan's sacrifice can be said to be the ultimate. In front of the sturdy Princess Rouran, he is no different from his face, and Gao Huan's physical strength is declining. It is not unrelated to this. Gao Huan in the last years Huan is like a person who sold his soul to the devil. For the sake of his career, he can abandon his family, love, and all the good things in the world... I think, such a person will not be able to reap the beauty he needs in the end.) In the fourth year of Wuding, Gao Huan made a gamble. He recruited more than 100,000 troops from Shandong (the troops in Shanxi area, in these years of attrition wars, there are not many left), and joined forces in Jinyang to crusade against the Western Wei Dynasty.The primary goal is the isolated castle in the east of the river - Yubi City.

Yubi City is the masterpiece of Wang Sizheng, a general of the Western Wei Dynasty. It was built on the south bank of the lower reaches of Fenshui River, bordering on the Fenshui Valley in the north, the Yellow River in the west, Sushui River in the east, and loess cliffs on three sides. Only the south side has a road to connect with the outside world.Looking from a distance, the castle stands on the high loess platform formed by the impact of the river. It is no exaggeration to call it a natural danger.The land in Yubi area is fertile and rich in food, which is not a problem for civilian and military needs.As far as the Western Wei Dynasty is concerned, according to Yubi, Chang'an can sit and look at Jinyang without worry; as far as the Eastern Wei Dynasty is concerned, if Yubi is obtained, Jinyang will be worry-free and Chang'an can go down.Both Gao Huan and Yu Wentai knew such an important strategic significance. When Wang Sizheng was transferred, he recommended to Yu Wentai that Wei Xiaokuan guard the jade wall on his behalf.

Wei Xiaokuan's real name was Wei Shuyu, and he lived in the world with characters (it was probably one of the fashions for famous generals in the Eastern and Western Wei Dynasties to use characters to live in the world).The family is a common surname in Guanzhong, and his grandfather and father were two generations of county guards.Wei Xiaokuan dabbled in classics and history since he was a child, he handled things calmly, and made many military exploits at a young age.Wei Xiaokuan went to guard Yubi. Although there were not many guards, Yu Wentai was relieved.Gao Huan made a wishful thinking, stormed Yubi, lured Yu Wentai to send his troops to rescue, and then besieged the city to fight for aid, strangling the main force of the Western Wei Dynasty in Hedong.Unexpectedly, Yu Wentai handled it calmly in Guanzhong and did not send a single soldier, firmly believing that Wei Xiaokuan would fulfill his mission.

Gao Huan learned the lessons of the first battle of Yubi, instead of doing it hard, he resorted to various ingenious siege techniques.A arduous and classic castle attack and defense battle in Chinese history was staged in Yubi. One of the siege tactics is to cut off the water.The water source of Yubi City was drawn from the Fen River in the north. Gao Huan ordered his soldiers to dig another river channel in the upper reaches of the Fen River. The project was completed overnight, and the water supply in the city was interrupted.Wei Xiaokuan did not panic, he ordered wells to be dug in the city to fetch water.The local groundwater is abundant, and the water supply problem was quickly resolved.Wei Xiaokuan easily defeated Gao Huan's first move.

The second method of siege is earth mountain.Gao Huan piled up a hill with loess in the south of Yubi City, and wanted to use the advantage of height to rush into the city from top to bottom.Wei Xiaokuan used wooden boards to heighten the two towers facing the mound. The mound was one foot high and the tower was one foot high, occupying the commanding heights forever.Wei Xiaokuan was even better. The third method of siege is authentic.The earth mountain plan failed, so Gao Huan sent someone to shout into the city: "Even if you build a building to the sky, I will enter the city through the ground!" Rats usually enter from the bottom of the city.Wei Xiaokuan dug trenches along the outer city wall to block the direction of the enemy's tunnel, and sent soldiers to guard the trench. When he saw Eastern Wei soldiers coming out of the tunnel, he grabbed and hacked to death.Not counting that, he ordered the guards to hoard firewood outside the trench, light firewood at the entrance of the dug tunnel, and blow the wind into it with a leather platoon.The poor soldiers of the Eastern Wei Dynasty in the tunnel either burned to death or choked to death. They finally ran to the intersection and became the ghosts of the soldiers of the Western Wei Dynasty.In the tunnel battle, Gao Huan lost a lot and was defeated for a while.

The fourth method of siege is to charge the chariot.Chariots are common tools used in ancient siege warfare. The chariot used by Gao Huan is huge in size and has a special structure. Every place it hits leaves deep marks. Even thick pillars cannot withstand the impact of the chariot. A few hits.The walls and gates of Yubi City are seriously worn out. Once they collapse, the consequences will be disastrous.Wei Xiaokuan's reaction was extremely quick, and he immediately had someone sew a thick and large cloth curtain, hang it from the tower, and move the cloth curtain wherever the car rushed.Softness can overcome rigidity, and the curtain is like a big net, which turns the strong momentum into invisible, and the city wall is preserved.

Gao Huan stared at the curtains on the city and pondered for a long time, then came up with a new idea - to burn.The Eastern Wei army tied rosin and other combustibles in front of the long bamboo poles (very thoughtful to prevent the city from soaking the cloth), poured oil on the fire, and burned the cloth curtains from a distance, and could also directly burn the towers.Wei Xiaokuan was also unambiguous, you use a long pole, I use a long hook.The soldiers stood on the tower with long hooks, and as soon as the burning bamboo pole approached, they stretched it out to cut, and the burning rosin fell with it.Gao Huan looked up and sighed, and the fourth trick was completely broken.

The fifth method of siege is to burn the pillars, that is to say, to burn the pillars authentically, which is very vicious.Gao Huan used this trick to attack Yecheng when he raised his troops (see the previous article for details).The tunnel was re-used, advancing in all directions, a total of 21. The pillars in the tunnel were first topped and then burned, collapsing the city wall.Wei Xiaokuan was not the same Liu Dan back then, who was so easy to bully, he prepared a solid wooden fence behind the city wall, and whenever the city wall collapsed, he erected a wooden fence to block the gap.Gao Huan's successful experience was scrapped again. Gao Huan was so depressed, he used all the prescriptions he could, he killed many people, wasted countless wood and fire tools, and Wei Xiaokuan was still resting on the tower.Ordinary people would probably collapse here, but Gao Huan still had a sixth move - attacking the heart. He ordered Zu Ting, who joined the army, to go to the city and shout: "The two families have fought for many days. You are alone in one city, and the rescuers can't even see a shadow. You won't be able to survive sooner or later. Why don't you surrender!" Wei Xiaokuan sat on the top of the city with a calm face, and replied: "My city is strong, and I have enough supplies for soldiers. Those who attack the city are busy every day, and those who defend the city rest every day. It's only a few dozen days. Why do you need reinforcements? I'm worried about you, what? If it’s not good, I will die here! I, Wei Xiaokuan, a man from Kansai, how can I be a subdued general?” Zu Teng saw that Wei Xiaokuan had eaten the weight, and shouted to the guards in the city: "City Master Wei has received the favor of Yuwen Black Otter, so it is reasonable to stick to it; you soldiers, why follow him to die?" The reward order was shot in the city, and it was written: "Whoever can behead the city lord and surrender, worship him as Taiwei, seal Kaiguogong, ten thousand households in the city, ten thousand pieces of silk and silk." Wei Xiaokuan accepted the reward order, turned it over and wrote: "Whoever can kill Gao Huan will be rewarded according to this." He shot back outside the city.Gao Huan was so angry that he locked Wei Qian, Wei Xiaokuan's nephew in Kanto with an iron chain, put a knife on his neck, and took him to the city. If Wei Xiaokuan didn't surrender, he killed Wei Qian.Wei Xiaokuan was unmoved and didn't even look at it.The soldiers in the city were very moved, and all of them were determined to die. The Eastern Wei Dynasty fought hard for nearly 60 days under Yubi City, resulting in heavy casualties.It was the middle of winter, the army lacked clothing and medicine, and the disease spread. According to historical records, "70,000 people died".Gao Huan's mental and physical strength were exerted to the limit, his old illness relapsed, and he collapsed in the barracks. Thus, the tragic scene at the beginning of this part appeared. Amidst the singing of "Chile Song", Gao Huan thought of the vast sky on the grasslands of Liuzhen, his career as a postman from Huaishuo to Luoyang, the years of fleeing while driving cattle on horseback, and the heroic young man He Liu muddy.I have had a bumpy life and struggled all the way. Today you, do you feel regret, hate, joy, or sorrow? The protracted fight between dragon and tiger gradually came to an end.Fourteen years, by the standards of the Northern Dynasties who married early and had children early, is the time of a generation.At the end, we still couldn't help asking a very vulgar question: Gao Huan or Yu Wentai, who is stronger? In terms of achievements, Gao Huan started as a humble soldier in Huaishuo Town, and made friends with many friends. He successively served Du Luozhou, Ge Rong, and Er Zhurong. Tai was born in the family of a general in Wuchuan Township. He voted for Ge Rong, descended to Erzhu, entered the pass to quell the chaos, took over He Bayue's army, and managed Guanzhong well. Only then was he able to accumulate capital to compete with Gao Huan.The two each won one-third of the world, and the victory and defeat were like plum blossoms and bamboos, and it was difficult to distinguish between high and low. When it comes to employing people, Gao Huan valued righteousness and cherished talents, but for the sake of short-term strategic goals, he ignored the corruption of officials left over from the Northern Wei Dynasty. The hegemony of the Gao family has been lost; what Yuwentai values ​​most is the clear distinction between rewards and punishments, strictly prohibiting his subordinates from being greedy for money and mobs, and domineering, so that every talent in Guanzhong can be properly appointed by him. Most of them are not as capable as Gao Aocao, Hou Jing, Hu Lujin, or even Dou Tai, Peng Le, Duan Shao, Wei Jing, etc., but they can be famous and make great achievements.Wei Xiaokuan's fame is the best example of Yuwentai employing people. In terms of running the army, most of Gao Huan's main forces were town soldiers. After the Six Towns Rebellion, there were mixed fish and dragons, and their quality was uneven.Gao Huan is indeed very good at caring for the soldiers. However, due to his own background, he indulged too much in the army, which led to the long-term confrontation between the Xianbei soldiers and the Han scholars.Yu Wentai was at an absolute disadvantage in terms of the number of troops. However, if you are poor, you will change, and if you change, you will be able.Compared with the two, Yu Wentai won slightly. However, the family business created by Gao Huan is vast and full of talents.After Gao Huan's death, Yu Wentai was powerless to deal with the Eastern Wei Dynasty.For twenty years, Western Wei-Northern Zhou was on the strategic defensive, which explains Gao Huan's strength from another aspect. The question of "who is the strongest" has been debated for 1,500 years, and may be debated for another 1,500 years... On New Year's Day in the fifth year of Wuding, there was a solar eclipse.People naturally thought that a solar eclipse also occurred on New Year's Day the year Gao Aocao died in battle, and it was Gao Huan's turn to pursue his beloved general.Gao Huan mourned on the sickbed: "Is the solar eclipse for me? Why don't you hate death?" He summoned Gao Cheng from Yecheng to Jinyang, and said the last words of his life: "You have a worried look on your face, could it be that you are worried? Will Hou Jing rebel? Hey, Hou Jingfei is domineering and has ruled Henan for more than ten years. I can only support him, so how can you control him? She Digan and Hu Lujin are old officials with a straightforward temperament and will not let you down But Zhu Hun Daoyuan and Liu Fengsheng came to seek refuge from afar, and they must have no different intentions; among relatives, Duan Shao is wise and brave, and can be responsible for major affairs; Peng Le's confidant is rare, so he needs to be careful (later Peng Le was punished for treason). , the only one who can stand against Hou Jing is Murong Shaozong, I deliberately don't use him, I leave it to you, you can entrust him with important tasks, remember not to forget." On the eighth day of the first lunar month, Gao Huan died of illness at the age of fifty-two.Five days later, Hou Jing rebelled, and the world was in chaos.Please see the next part "Hou Jing's Rebellion".