Chapter 25 Section 5 Battle of Julu

Let's say that Liu Xiuda feasted on the soldiers and killed the giant deer from Guang'a.There are still more than 20 miles away from Julu City, and the scouts reported that Julu City has been surrounded by the Han army.Liu Xiu was stunned. In this Hebei territory, besides me, where is there any Han army?Ask again, it turned out to be reinforcements sent by the imperial court, led by Minister Xie Gong. Liu Xiu was overjoyed, and the leader met Xie Gong. After exchanging pleasantries, he asked how the battle was going.Xie Gong blushed, and refused to answer directly, but muttered: "Siege or something, I hate it the most."

Xie Gong was born in the Green Forest Army, and has been suppressed by the leaders of the Green Forest Army, unable to get ahead. This time he led the army to Hebei, and finally had the opportunity to be on his own. Also like the major leaders, they are named kings and marquises.Xie Gongbing approached Julu City, and came up with a fierce attack, trying to take this important town in Hebei in one fell swoop. However, Wang Rao, the guard in the city, was not a good guy, he commanded calmly and led the crowd to defend to the death. Many of Xie Gong's subordinates suffered casualties.Xie Gong fought again the next day, with even more casualties.Having suffered two severe blows in a row, the Han army was exhausted and their morale was low. Xie Gong didn't dare to attack again, but just surrounded Julu City, watching and sighing every day.

At this time, Liu Xiu, relying on his large number of soldiers, wanted to show off and asked Xie Gong to withdraw his troops to see how I would attack the city!Sure enough, the coach is different, and the soldiers are also different.Liu Xiu's subordinates have all been baptized by the flames of war, and they fought far more bravely than Xie Gong's subordinates, and the siege of the city was extremely brutal.Even so, at the end of the war, with corpses scattered above and below the city, Julu City still remained motionless. Liu Xiu's siege was frustrated, the happiest thing was not Wang Rao, the defender in the city, but Xie Gong.If Liu Xiu captured Julu City as soon as he came, where would he put his face?This is good, we both failed, even, no one is better than the other.Xie Gong saw Liu Xiu at night, his heart was full of pleasure, but he pretended to comfort him and said: "Don't be discouraged, Da Sima, victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs, at worst, we will fight again tomorrow."

Before Xie Gong came, Liu Xiu was the undisputed leader in the Hebei territory, and he could make decisions alone without looking at anyone's face.Now that Xie Gong has come to Hebei, in terms of status alone, he is on an equal footing with Liu Xiu, and everyone is besieging Julu City, so Liu Xiu is not good at everything, and always has to discuss it with Xie Gong. Liu Xiu knew clearly that Xie Gong was teasing him, but she was not angry. She said seriously: "Since ancient times, attacking a city is always a bad strategy. The giant deer has a high wall and a strong city, so it is especially not suitable to attack by force. I have the intention of underestimating the enemy during the day, so I should be defeated like this. The art of war Said: "The siege of the city is a barrier." For today's plan, it is better to besiege the city on three sides and let one side go. The defenders in the city see that there is a way to escape, and they will take the opportunity to escape outside the city. What does Xie Shangshu think?"

Since Liu Xiu took the initiative to take over the important task of siege, Xie Gong was also happy to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight, and immediately said haha, "Okay, okay, you make up your mind." Liu Xiu then ordered the evacuation of the troops in the south of Julu City, and at the same time put the cavalry of Yuyang and Shanggu counties on standby at any time. If the defenders in the city escaped from the south gate, they would immediately pursue them. One night passed, but the city did not break through. Early the next morning, Wang Rao, the city guard, climbed up the tower and shouted to the Han army, "I wish to see the new commander!"

In yesterday's battle, Liu Xiu did not show up at the front line, but Wang Rao could still see that the Han army had changed commanders. Liu Xiu couldn't help admiring this insight.Liu Xiu rode forward and saluted the city: "Han Grand Sima Liu Xiu is here." Wang Rao changed his face and said, "Could it be Uncle Liu Wen from the Battle of Kunyang?" "Exactly." Wang Rao said with a smile: "General Liu besieged the city on three sides, leaving one side out, intending to lure me to escape, isn't it?" Wang Rao's words have already reached this point, Liu Xiu was embarrassed to admit it or not, so he had to answer honestly: "That's exactly what he meant." Wang Rao smiled again: "In my opinion, General Liu should surround the whole city. Right. I have made up my mind, I will never leave the city, and I swear to live and die with the giant deer."

Liu Xiu persuaded: "Julu is already an isolated city, and there are no reinforcements outside. It will be destroyed sooner or later. Why doesn't General Wang return?" Wang Rao laughed loudly and said, "Who wins the deer is still unknown. May I ask General Liu, in the last battle of Julu, did the siege win or the defender win?" What Wang Rao was referring to was the famous Battle of Julu at the end of Qin Dynasty in history, which was also a key battle that directly led to the collapse of the Qin Empire.In 208 BC, Qin general Wang Li led the main force of the Qin army with 200,000 people to besiege Zhao Wangxie in Julu City. More than ten armies of princes watched from afar, but none dared to rescue him. Nine battles and nine victories, defeating the Qin army.Conclusion: The defenders win in the end.

Between swords, lights and swords, Wang Rao was still interested in fighting with Liu Xiu. The meaning was obvious. He wanted to plant a mine in the hearts of Liu Xiu and the Han army. Hint: Could it be that the feng shui of Julu really dooms the defenders to victory and the attackers to be unlucky? Yes, Liu Xiu attacked the city, and Wang Rao attacked the heart. Since they couldn't reach an agreement, they had to start a fight.If you can't beat it, you have to waste it.Fortunately, Liu Xiu is not a quick-tempered person, so he will be exhausted when he is in a good mood. When he is in a good mood, he will attack the city. to.

The last battle of Julu was a decisive battle. Both sides tried their best, and no one could afford to lose.Not this time, this time it is still a partial campaign with plenty of room for maneuver. Liu Xiu was not in a hurry, but Zhu You, the guard, was in a hurry. He told Liu Xiu, "It's exhausting." Liu Xiu smiled and said, "Why do you say that?" Zhu You said, "There is a shortage of food in the army." The grain has not arrived yet?" Zhu You replied, "According to logic, it should have arrived two days ago, but it didn't." Liu Xiu's tens of thousands of troops mainly rely on Xindu for food and grass supply.Liu Xiu thought for a moment, then sighed: "It seems that Wang Lang has already made a move, and it is difficult to believe."

Sure enough, within a short time, the messenger came to report, and the letter fell.In order to cut off Liu Xiu's food route, Wang Lang sent a general to attack Xindu. Ma Chong, a major surname in Xindu, opened the city gate and surrendered. Li Zhong and Pi Tong's family members were all captured.The envoy also said that Wang Lang had made a condition, as long as Li Zhong and Pi Tong were willing to lead the people to surrender, not only their families would be safe, but they would all be conferred noble titles; if they did not surrender, their clan would be wiped out. Deng Yu said to Liu Xiu: "Li Zhong and Pi Tong are generals in the army. Once they learn that their parents and family members have been captured, there may be chaos. It's better to keep it secret." Liu Xiu shook his head and said, "Everyone has parents, wives and children. Make people disregard their families and be filial!" So they summoned Li Zhong and Pi Tong and told them the truth, and said, "Now our army is complete, and the two generals can return to save their mothers, wives, and sons. You should recruit officials yourself. People who can win family members will give tens of millions of money, and come and take it from me."

The two wept and said: "Those who serve the king should not take care of the family. Minggong fights for state affairs, and we want to serve our lives. We dare not take care of our family members." Liu Xiu tried hard to persuade them, but the two finally refused to obey.Liu Xiu sighed for a long time, ordered Ren Guang to lead the army, and rushed to rescue Xindu. When Li Zhong returned to camp, Ma Chong's younger brother was serving as a lieutenant under Li Zhong, and Li Zhong killed him.The generals were shocked and said: "The family members are in the hands of others. How fierce is it to kill his brother?" Li Zhong said: "If the thief does not punish him, he will have two hearts." Besides, when Ren Guang went to save Xindu, his soldiers were all locals of Xindu. Hearing that Xindu had belonged to Wang Lang, the lives of his parents and brothers were in his hands.Ren Guang returned without success. Liu Xiu was furious, so he wanted to lead the army in person, and went to save Xindu.Li Zhong and Pi Tong desperately persuaded Liu Xiu to give up.Not a few days later, another good news came. Mu Pangmeng of Jizhou had led his troops to recover Xindu, and Li Zhong and Pi Tong's family members were all safe and sound.Liu Xiu was overjoyed and ordered Li Zhong to act as the prefect of Xindu.When Li Zhong returned to Xindu, he took in those who were attached to Handan by the major surnames in the county, and executed hundreds of people, so Xindu was pacified. The food shortage continued, so Liu Xiu had no choice but to borrow food from Xie Gong.Xie Gong faltered, looking at the meaning, but he didn't really want to borrow it.Liu Xiu was not angry either, and said with a smile: "Our army has no food, I'm afraid we can only withdraw to a place with food. I will entrust Shangshu Xie with the important task of crusading the giant deer and Wang Lang." Seeing that Liu Xiu really wanted to When the troops were withdrawn, they also panicked. In desperation, they had to give Liu Xiu ten days of rations first. Liu Xiu sent envoys to Shanggu, Yuyang, and Zhending to urge food, while stepping up the attack on the city.It happened that Liu Xiu's second brother-in-law, Deng Chen, led the crowd to join him. When the capital of Luoyang was established at the beginning of the imperial court, Deng Chen was worshiped as the prefect of Changshan.Not long after Deng Chen arrived in office, Wang Lang rebelled. Counties in the county rebelled. When the two met, they couldn't help sighing.At the beginning, when the two followed Liu Yan to start an army, the situation is still in front of my eyes, but now it has only been more than a year, but it has already changed the world.Deng Chen asked to stay under Liu Xiu's tent. Liu Xiu had no shortage of generals, but food and supplies, so he said, "It's better to follow me with one body than to take a county as the master of my North Road." He still worshiped Deng Chen as the prefect of Changshan, Order it to consolidate the place and raise food and grass. The Julu could not be attacked for a long time, and scouts came to report. Wang Lang dispatched generals Ni Hong and Liu Feng, leading tens of thousands of people, to rescue Julu.Liu Xiu was overjoyed when he heard the news.All the generals were puzzled and asked, "Where does Minggong come from?" Liu Xiu said with a smile: "These tens of thousands of people must be the elite main force of Wang Lang's army. The real decisive battle will only begin now." He ordered Xie Gong to continue to besiege Julu, and he himself used all his troops to go north to counterattack. The two sides encountered each other in the territory of Nanluan. Liu Xiu Shanggu and Yuyang Tuqi were the reserve team, and the infantry fought in advance.The tens of thousands led by Ni Hong and Liu Feng were indeed Wang Lang's most elite troops. When the two armies met, the Han army lost and retreated repeatedly.The cavalry led by Geng Yan, Wu Han, Kou Xun, Jing Dan and others were useless when attacking the city.Thousands of riders galloped wildly, destroying the dead and destroying the dead. Wang Lang's army collapsed in an instant. Geng Yan and others chased for more than ten miles, beheading thousands of people, and the dead and wounded spread all over the ground.Ni Hong and Liu Feng packed up the remnants and retreated into Nanluan City. When Yuyang and Shanggu Tuqi defected to Liu Xiu, they once reported their military exploits. It is said that they killed General Wang Lang, Jiuqing, and more than 400 people under the school lieutenant. Ten thousand level, 22 counties including Zhuojun, Zhongshan, Julu, Qinghe and Hejian.Regarding this, Liu Xiu and all the generals under his command are dubious, bragging about you.Seeing his battle with his own eyes today, his combat power is terrifying and invincible, only then is he convinced and convinced that his words are true.Liu Xiu greeted Geng Yan and others in person, and praised: "I heard that Tuqi rides the world's elite soldiers, and now I see them fighting. Is it fun to say evil?" So he attacked Nanluan City.Liu Xiu's direct descendants were naturally unconvinced when the sudden ride was all the limelight, saying that they couldn't let the newcomers compare to them, and the siege of the city was extraordinarily hard.Yao Qi took the lead and went up to the city to fight. He killed more than fifty people with his hands.In less than an hour, Nanluan City was broken. Liu Xiu returned triumphantly and attacked Julu again.Geng Chunjin remonstrated: "If you can't attack Wang Rao for a long time, the soldiers will be exhausted. It is better to take advantage of the elite soldiers and attack Handan. If Wang Lang has been executed, Wang Rao will submit without fighting." Liu Xiu made a good plan and left General Deng Man to guard Julu. , The army is approaching Handan.