Chapter 64 Seventeen, Zhou Qi decisive battle

In July of the fourth year of Jiande (the sixth year of Wuping in the Northern Qi Dynasty, 575 A.D.), Emperor Wu of Zhou, who was ready for everything, finally issued an edict to attack the Northern Qi Dynasty on a large scale. Starting from Chang'an and attacking the Northern Qi from the east, there are roughly two roads to take: one is along the north bank of the Wei River, crossing the Yellow River at Pujin, and then going out of Fenqu (now in Xinjiang, Shanxi) through Yubi City, and directly attacking the western part of the Northern Qi Dynasty. Pingyang, an important place and the seat of Jinzhou, this route is relatively long, but once Pingyang is captured, the Zhou army can go up the Fen River and surround Jinyang, the ruling base of the Gao family; , the route is relatively short, and the three battles between Yuwentai and Yuwenhu took this route, but Luoyang is easy to attack and difficult to defend, and it is far away from Jinyang and Yecheng, and there is a Yellow River in the middle, so the formation of The military threat is not great.Many ministers persuaded Emperor Wu to take the north route, but Emperor Wu did not obey, and still chose the relatively safe south route.

The Zhou army dispatched a total of 180,000, which can be called the "princeling army" (the last "Six Pillar Kingdom" Yu Jin died of illness in the third year of Tianhe (568 AD), and the new generation took over in full; The powerful factions in the army are basically dominated by the Yuwen clan and the descendants of the twelve generals of the Six Pillars Kingdom): the former chief of the three armies, Chen Wang Yuwenchun, is the younger brother of Emperor Wu, Zheng Guogong Daxi Zhen is the son of Daxiwu , Ma Xiaonan of Xingyang Company was the son of Gao Huan's important minister Sima Ziru (the one who used to have an affair with his concubine), who defected to the Northern Zhou Dynasty because of Gao Yang's suspicion, and he was considered a half-princeling; Yue Wang Yu Wensheng and Zhao Wang Yu Wenzhao are also the younger brothers of Emperor Wu, and Zhou Changgong Hou Mo Chenqiong is the younger brother of Hou Mo Chen Chong.

The main force of the army was divided into six groups: King Yu Wenxian of Qi led 20,000 troops to attack Liyang (now northeast of Junxian County, Henan); Yu Jin's son Changshan Gong Yuyi led 20,000 troops to attack Chenjun (now Huaiyang, Henan), Runan and other places; Hou Mo and Chen Chong’s son Liang Guogong Hou Mo Chen Rui led 20,000 troops to guard the Taihang Road; Li Yuan’s younger brother Shen Guogong Li Mu led 30,000 troops to guard the Heyang Road; the navy army was 30,000, and the son of Yang Zhong accompanied the Duke Yang Jian and Guangning Under the leadership of Gong Xuejiong, they flowed from the Weihe River to the Yellow River, and fought together; Emperor Wu led the battle, leading 60,000 troops, and the goal was Heyin in the northeast of Luoyang City.

When Zhou's army first entered Qi territory, they were invincible. Yu Wenxian, Yu Yi, and Li Mu's armies went to more than 30 cities in Northern Qi, but then they struggled.Emperor Wu of Zhou and Emperor Yu Wenxian captured the outer cities of Heyin and Luocheng in the lower reaches of the Yellow River respectively, but they could not help but get rid of the inner city.Fu Fu, the defender of the Northern Qi Dynasty, insisted on defending Zhongli City in the middle of the Yellow River, preventing the Zhou army from entering Hebei.Emperor Wu of Zhou continued to attack for more than 20 days, and then turned to attack Jinyong City in the southeast of Luoyang, but was still blocked. At this time, the Northern Qi reinforcements from Jinyang, led by Gao Anagong, the right prime minister of Gaowei, arrived at Heyang on the north bank of the Yellow River. .Zhou's army was in a critical situation, just as Emperor Wu was suffering from illness, so he had to give up his achievements and retreat westward to return to the court.

Although this campaign failed to form a strategic decisive battle, Northern Zhou captured more than half of Henan at one time and achieved the best record in the history of the two countries' war.After a year of rest, in October of the following year, Emperor Wu once again conquered the Northern Qi Dynasty. This time he learned his lesson and changed the focus of firepower to the North Road, targeting Pingyang. Emperor Wu of Zhou adopted a strategy of fighting steadily and step by step. After entering the Northern Qi Dynasty, he assigned various generals to guard the passes and block the reinforcements from the Northern Qi Dynasty.

Wei Xianggui, the king of Haichang who was in charge of defending the city in the Northern Qi Dynasty, tried his best to stand by and wait for help, but the soldiers under him had already left their morality.Hou Ziqin, Zuocheng of Xingtai, and Cui Jingsong, the governor of Jinzhou, respectively asked Zhou Jun to surrender, and Zhou General Wang Gui led his troops to respond in the middle of the night.Before dawn, Wang Gui's subordinate Duan Wenzhen and others had already boarded the North City of Pingyang, joined Cui Jingsong, entered the city and captured Wei Xianggui.Qi Bing, who hadn't figured out what was going on, suddenly saw Zhou Bing appearing in the city, causing chaos immediately, and Pingyang City was captured from the inside.

When Pingyang City was about to fall, Gao Wei, the "Son of Worry-free Emperor", was busy with his concubine Feng Xiaolian on a carefree vacation and hunting in Tianchi (now Guancen Mountain, southwest of Ningwu, Shanxi) with his concubine Feng Xiaolian.From morning to noon, three urgent documents were sent, all of which were blocked by Gao Anagong: "The emperor is entertaining, and fighting at the border is a common thing, why are you in such a hurry to report?" In the evening, the fourth document was delivered quickly ——"Pingyang has fallen", so Gao Anagong was allowed to report.Gao Wei was startled when he heard the news, and turned around to go back. Xiao Lian just played with his head, grabbed him, and said coquettishly, "Your Majesty, please hunt around again!" After that, he accompanied Xiao Lian to hunt around the prey again. (This is the scene in "Jinyang has fallen to look back, please ask the king to hunt around", unfortunately Li Shangyin is well versed in the allusions of the previous dynasty, but he made a mistake, it should be "Pingyang has fallen to look back, let the king hunt "Yiwei" is right. If we talk about flatness, "Pingyang" is more neat, but Pingyang is far less famous than Jinyang.)

Gao Wei returned to Jinyang and mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to help Pingyang.Feng Xiaolian heard somewhere that fighting is more fun than hunting, and he insisted on going to the front to play, so Gao Wei took her along.Emperor Wu of Zhou didn't want to confront the main force of the Qi army head-on, so he decided to retreat temporarily to avoid its edge.General Yu Wenxin and others tried to persuade him, but Emperor Wu refused to listen. General Liang Shiyan was left as governor of Jinzhou. He led 10,000 elite soldiers to guard Pingyang. When Gao Wei arrived at Pingyang City, he immediately ordered a day and night storm, intending to show his concubine the invincible and mighty army he commanded.Liang Shiyan in the city did not show weakness. He mobilized men, women and children in the city to build the city wall day and night.

Seeing that the strong attack was unsuccessful, the Qi army dug tunnels instead. The soil layer sank and the city wall collapsed.The Qi army was about to take advantage of the momentum to enter the city, Gao Wei ordered: Suspend the attack!Let Concubine Feng Shu personally watch the glorious moment of the city fall! The soldiers of the Qi army were all stunned. Such an absurd military order was probably the first in the ages.But Feng Xiaolian wanted to make up carefully, and when the beauty was ready to appear on the stage, Liang Shiyan ordered his men to block the gap in the city wall with wooden fences, so that the Qi army could not attack.

Feng Xiaolian was very disappointed, Gao Wei took her to visit the scenery near Pingyang in order to make her happy. The two armies spent a few days in Pingyang City, and the army of Emperor Wu of Zhou arrived again. Emperor Wu only stayed in Chang'an for four days. After receiving the news of Pingyang's siege, he issued an edict to send troops again, and ordered Yu Wenxian to lead an urgent march to rescue Pingyang first. He assembled an army of 80,000 and arrived from Chang'an in just ten days. Binh Duong.The Zhou army approached the besieging Qi army with a long snake formation, which stretched for more than 20 miles from east to west.

In order to prevent the unexpected arrival of reinforcements from the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Qi army who surrounded Pingyang first dug a ditch from the Fen River in the south of the city, and the Zhou army and the Qi army faced off on the south and north sides of the ditch.If the Zhou army wanted to enter the city, it had to cross the ditch. The Qi army resisted with the ditch. Gao Wei asked Gao Anak: "Will we fight or not?" Gao Anagong replied: "Although we have many soldiers, we don't have enough combat power. It's better to stick to it." Disappointed, Gao Wei asked his eunuchs for advice.The eunuchs all said: "They have emperors, and we also have emperors. They can come to fight from afar, so why don't we show weakness?" Gao Wei felt that this was justified, so he ordered the Qi army to fill in the ditch and march south.Emperor Wu of Zhou was exactly what he wanted, so he personally led all the troops to fight. Gao Wei happily watched the battle with Feng Xiaolian on horseback. He planned to give credit to Xiao Lian if he won this battle, and made her the left queen.As soon as the two armies clashed, the left wing of the Qi army retreated slightly.Feng Xiaolian looked at the thief and screamed in fright: "I'm defeated, I'm defeated!" Mu Dipo also shouted beside him: "Everyone, run, everyone, run!" Gao Wei wanted to run with Xiao Lian without looking back.The generals persuaded: "Half-advance and half-retreat is a common thing in war. Our army is intact and not damaged. I hope that your Majesty will be safe and not move, so as to prevent the army's morale from being chaotic." With his arm, he said: "The words of these people cannot be trusted!" Gao Wei was used to Mutipo's words, so he galloped wildly.As soon as Gao Wei ran away, the Qi army lost its backbone and lost its armor and armor. It was defeated and tens of thousands of people died in battle.Only Gao Wei's cousin, Gao Cheng's son Gao Yanzong, king of Ande, retreated with his entire army. Thanks to the "cooperation" of Gao Wei and Feng Xiaolian, Emperor Wu of Zhou won an unexpected victory and joined forces with Liang Shiyan in Pingyang City.Encouraged by Liang Shiyan, Emperor Wu felt that the opportunity was not to be missed, that the time would never come again, and that it was a once-in-a-lifetime situation, so he rushed to Jinyang without stopping to take advantage of the victory. Gao Wei fled to Jinyang in despair all the way, and all the ministers advised him to appease the people and fight with his back to defend Jinyang.Gao Wei had no intention of guarding the city, so he named Ande Wang Gao Yanzong as Xiangguo and governor of Bingzhou, guarding Jinyang, and prepared to take Feng Xiaolian and Baiguan to continue running. Gao Yanzong tried hard to persuade: "Your Majesty, don't move lightly. I am willing to fight for Your Majesty with all my strength. I will surely defeat the Zhou army." Mutipo, who was doing bad things again, responded in a strange way: "The emperor's plan has been decided, and the prince should stop crying!" Gao Wei went out of the city that night, and originally wanted to go north to the Turks, but most of his officials were unwilling to go, and he went less and less.Gao Wei was afraid that he would be alone, so he turned his horse around and fled to Yecheng.Accompanying him were only dozens of ministers including Gao Anagong and Guangning Wang Gao Xiaoheng.Knowing that the situation was over, Mu Dipo turned west and threw herself into the Zhou army, while Lu Lingxuan, who had been in power for a while, committed suicide in despair. Zhou Jun surrounded Jinyang tightly, like black clouds pressing down on the city.The soldiers of the Qi army in the city jointly requested Gao Yanzong to proclaim himself emperor, otherwise they would not be able to fight to the death.As a last resort, Gao Yanzong took the throne of emperor in Jinyang City and changed it to Yuan Dechang.At this time, the obese prince became the spiritual core of the morale of the Northern Qi Dynasty. He ordered all the gold and silver in the treasury to be rewarded to the lieutenants, and the morale of the Qi army greatly increased.Gao Yanzong was quite heroic, holding a large spear, and went to the city to supervise the battle. At dusk, Emperor Wu of Zhou led his army to break through the east gate and rushed into the city. He couldn't tell the direction for a while and lost his way.Gao Yanzong and his general Mo Duolou Jingxian killed from the north and south of the city respectively, sandwiching the Zhou army.The Zhou army had nowhere to go, trampled on each other, and was hacked and killed by the Qi army. More than 2,000 people died in battle.Emperor Wu of Zhou was in a panic, escorted by two attendants, he rode out of the city alone, and took his life in a very dangerous way. The Qi army had been defeated for several months, and they were proud of this battle. The soldiers only thought that the war was suspended and they could take a good rest. Emperor Wu of Zhou, who was hungry and thirsty, had no desire to fight and wanted to escape. Yu Wenxin, Yu Wenxian and others thought: "You can't give up halfway; the Zhou army just underestimated the enemy and failed. As long as you regroup, you will be able to survive from death and win from defeat." Emperor Wu of Zhou suddenly realized that he withdrew his troops and returned to attack the east gate. In one fell swoop, he took down Jinyang, which was full of drunk soldiers and no one could fight, and captured the "three-day emperor" Gao Yanzong. When Emperor Wu of Zhou entered Jinyang, he immediately implemented amnesty, abolished the bad system of the Northern Qi Dynasty, and treated Gao Yanzong and other ministers with courtesy. Gao Wei was separated from Feng Xiaolian on the way to Yecheng, and was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. Later, when he heard that Xiaolian had returned to Yecheng, he was overjoyed and went out of the city ten miles to meet him. Even in such an impoverished field, Gaowei still has no sense of crisis.Gao Xiaoheng asked Gao Wei to reward the soldiers with court ladies and treasures, but Gao Wei refused to listen.Shizhong Hulu Xiaoqing asked Gao Wei to personally work in the army to boost morale, and wrote a speech for him in advance, exhorting: "Be sure to shed your tears generously to inspire people." Anyone who still has a heart should be able to cry .But when Gao Wei started the lecture, he couldn't remember the content of the speech. He wanted to cry but couldn't cry. In the end, he thought it was ridiculous, so he just laughed out loud, laughing and laughing.The soldiers were filled with righteous indignation: "If he is like this himself, why should we sacrifice our lives for him?" The last army in the Northern Qi Dynasty completely collapsed amidst the roar of laughter. A fortune teller in Yecheng predicted that the dynasty would change.Gao Wei followed his advice, followed his father's example, passed on the throne to the eight-year-old prince Gao Heng, changed his name to Yuan Chengguang, and called himself the Supreme Emperor. In the first month of the first year of Chengguang (the sixth year of Jiande in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, AD 577), the army of Emperor Wu of Zhou besieged Yecheng, and the Qi army collapsed at the first touch.Gao Wei hurriedly ordered Murong Shaozong's son Murong Sanzang to guard Ye Palace, and led a group of wives and children to flee south, intending to join Nanchen.The Zhou army invaded Yecheng, Murong Sanzang was captured, and all the princes and ministers of the Northern Qi Dynasty surrendered.Soon, General Wei Chiqin of the Northern Zhou Dynasty captured Gao Wei and his son in Nandeng Village, Qingzhou, and sent them to Yecheng.Empress Dowager Hu, Mu Huanghua, Feng Xiaolian, these women from the Northern Qi Dynasty were all captives of the Northern Qi Dynasty. (Many emperors in ancient and modern times loved beauties more than Jiangshan, but have they ever thought: How can beauties survive alone when Jiangshan is gone?) The Northern Qi Foundation established by Gao Huan with his whole life's painstaking efforts was declared dead.