Chapter 40 Battle of Hulao: The End of the Xia Dynasty

The Battle of Hulao is a famous battle in Chinese history. Li Shimin defeated Dou Jiande's more than 100,000 people with only a few thousand cavalry, which can be called a classic of defeating more with less. Just like every previous battle, Li Shimin had firmly grasped the initiative on the battlefield from the very beginning.This time, Li Shimin used espionage warfare and successfully induced Xia Jun to start the battle at the time and in the way he wanted. Li Shimin asked the spies who had already been placed in the Xia army to spread false information to the top Xia army, saying that the forage for the Tang army's horses had been eaten, and they would graze on the grass on the north bank of the Yellow River in the near future.Dou Jiande believed it was true, so he decided to seize this opportunity to launch a general attack on Hulao.

On May 1, when the spies brought the news back, Li Shimin immediately crossed the Yellow River north, and deliberately put more than a thousand war horses on a small island in the Yellow River near Guangwu (now Xingyang City, Henan Province). Grass.In the evening of the same day, Li Shimin quietly returned to the Tiger Prison, ready for battle. On May 2, Dou Jiande really got the trick, and led all the troops to Niukou (now northwest of Xingyang City, where the Sishui flows into the Yellow River), and began to build a camp.Its formation stretched from the Yellow River in the north, to Sishui in the west, and to Queshan Mountain in the south (southeast of Sishui Town in Xingyang today), stretching for 20 miles, with drums beating and soldiers mighty.The generals of the Tang army couldn't help feeling panic when they saw this.Li Shimin led the generals to the high hills and looked at them, and said to them: "The bandits raised troops in Shandong and never encountered a real strong enemy. Now they are in danger, but they are making noise and have no discipline; they are pressing the city to line up. It is enough to show that they underestimate the enemy. If we stand still, their morale will be exhausted. If the soldiers are exhausted and hungry, they will surely retreat. At that time, we will suddenly attack. There is no reason to be invincible. I bet you that after At noon, we must defeat them!"

Li Shimin ordered people to recall the grazing horses, and planned to launch an attack as soon as the horses came back. The soldiers of the Xia Army began to line up at the time of Chen, and they still stood there stupidly until noon. They had no battle to fight, and they could not light a fire to cook. Competing for drinking water, there was a scene of chaos on the battlefield.Seeing this, Li Shimin secretly rejoiced, so he ordered Yuwen Shi and led 300 light cavalry to carry out a tentative attack.He ordered: "If Xia Jun's formation does not loosen, you will come back; if the formation moves, you will immediately turn a false attack into a real attack."

Yuwen Shiji took the order, and immediately led his troops to quickly approach the Xia army's position, and the Xia army was indeed in a commotion. At the same time, all the war horses grazing on the north bank had returned to camp, and Li Shimin immediately issued an order for a general attack.All the thousands of Tang troops stationed in Hulao attacked.Li Shimin personally led the light cavalry to charge forward, and ordered the main force to follow up.The Tang army came out in full force, swept across the Sishui quickly, and rushed straight to the Xia army's position. At this moment, what is King Xia Dou Jiande doing?

He is in a court meeting. Obviously, Dou Jiande did not take this young opponent seriously.He thought that his strength was dozens of times that of the Tang army, and Li Shimin would never dare to take the initiative to go out and attack. But he was wrong, Li Shimin is a person who does not play cards according to common sense.At the moment when Li Shimin launched a general attack on Dou Jiande, he was still discussing with the courtiers the strategy of besieging Hulao. When the deafening shouts of killing spread into the big tent, all the civil and military officials of the Xia Dynasty were terrified and instantly became chaotic.After Dou Jiande was stunned for a short moment, he immediately ordered the cavalry to fight back, but the cavalry were blocked by the panicked courtiers.

Dou Jiande hurriedly ordered all the officials to retreat, but in an instant the Tang army had already killed a large number of them. Dou Jiande had no choice but to lead some of his own soldiers to retreat to the high slope east of the camp.General Dou Kang of the Tang Army pursued desperately, but Xia Jun resisted desperately and repelled Dou Kang.At the same time, Li Shimin led the cavalry to rush back and forth in the Xia army. Wherever they went, the soldiers of the Xia army were all invincible.Li Daoxuan, the king of Huaiyang in Tang Dynasty, took the lead and charged into the battle. He was hit by several arrows, and the mount under him was shot like a hedgehog.Li Shimin ordered him to ride the spare horse and follow him.

The Tang and Xia armies fell into a fierce battle, and for a while, the sound of killing shook the field and the sky was filled with dust. Although Xia Jun has an absolute advantage in numbers, their formation has long been overwhelmed by Tang Jun, and the command system is almost completely paralyzed, so they can only fight on their own.In order to completely crush the remaining fighting spirit of the Xia army, Li Shimin led Cheng Zhijie, Qin Shubao, Shi Danai, Yu Wenxin and others, rolled up the flag, passed through the still stubborn Xia army's position, protruded from the back of the formation, and then sent the Tang army to attack. The flag was erected high, and when Xia Jun saw this, his fighting spirit was completely lost, and he collapsed in one fell swoop. Li Shimin led his troops to pursue for 30 miles, beheading more than 3,000 people. (Li Shimin's mount in this battle was Qing Jue from the "Six Horses of Zhaoling". In the fierce battle, Qing Zai got one arrow in his chest and four arrows in his buttocks. Li Shimin's inscription for him is: "Azugaru movie , a genius, Zezi flew to practice, and fixed my military uniform.")

During the melee, Dou Jiande was stabbed by a spear and ran westward all the way, while the soldiers around him fled.When Dou Jiande fled to Niukouzhu on the bank of the Yellow River, his wounds were so painful that he suddenly fell off his horse.Tang Cheqi General Bai Shirang and Yang Wuwei chased after him, thinking that he was an ordinary general of the Xia army, and was about to stab him with a spear, when Dou Jiande shouted: "Don't kill me, I am the King of Xia, and I can make you rich. " Xia Wang Dou Jiande?Bai Shirang and Yang Wuwei looked at each other and smiled silently.

The battle of Hulao is over. That's the end of a generation of heroes. In fact, until the moment he was tied up by Tang Jun, Dou Jiande hadn't fully recovered.He really didn't know how he lost. Everything came too suddenly.Everything seemed utterly unreal.This feeling is like a person who suddenly stepped on the ground while walking, and then his soul floated in mid-air, watching his body fall hopelessly towards the abyss.The feeling at this time is not pain, nor fear, but an indescribable confusion and helplessness. At this moment, Dou Jiande seemed to be floating in such mid-air. With such confusion and helplessness, he saw himself being tied up, put on a horse, and then brought in front of a heroic young man.There was a sneering smile on the corner of the young man's mouth, and he said: "I'm just attacking Wang Shichong, what's in the way of you? How dare you cross the border and attack me!"

Dou Jiande heard himself say in an almost flattering tone: "If you don't come by yourself, I'm afraid it will cost you an expedition." At that moment, Dou Jiande, who was floating in the air, couldn't help shouting - no, this is not what I want to say! However, no one paid any attention to him. Dou Jiande, who was tied up in a big way, also ignored him. No one in this world will care about him again. Finally, Dou Jiande finally realized that King Xia was dead. The once kingly dominance has burst in the air like a huge and beautiful bubble, and only Dou Jiande, who has been tied up, is the only real existence at this moment.When he realized this, all the anger, fear, pain, and regret all hit him in an instant.

ten years! Dou Jiande's career as an emperor after ten years of hard work was ruined in one fell swoop!In the Battle of Hulao, more than 100,000 Xia troops were annihilated. In addition to those who were killed and fled, 50,000 people were captured together with Dou Jiande. Li Shimin then dismissed them on the spot and ordered them to return to their hometowns. Dou Jiande's wife, Queen Cao, escaped by chance, and together with Zuo Servant Qi Shanxing, fled back to Mingzhou with hundreds of cavalry. The victory came so quickly, the first reaction of Feng Deyi and others who had strongly opposed the decisive battle between Li Shimin and Dou Jiande was to congratulate Li Shimin.Li Shimin said with a smile: "If you don't listen to the words of the public, you can win today. It can be seen that although the public is a wise man, a wise man is bound to lose if he has a lot of worries!" Feng Deyi and the others smiled awkwardly and were speechless.After hearing the news that Xia Jun was defeated and Dou Jiande was captured, Wang Shichong's last hope was finally shattered. On May 8, Li Shimin loaded Dou Jiande, Wang Wan, Changsun Anshi and others into a prison cart and took them to the city of Luoyang to demonstrate against Wang Shichong and the Luoyang defenders.Standing on the top of the city wall, Wang Shichong talked to Dou Jiande from a distance, and couldn't help crying like rain.In the end, Wang Shichong called the generals to discuss, preparing to break out of the siege and flee south to Xiangyang, but all the generals attending the meeting were unanimously opposed.They said: "Our only hope is the King of Xia, and now that the King of Xia has become a prisoner, even if we break out of the siege, there will be nothing we can do." Wang Shichong was completely desperate. On May 9th, Wang Shichong changed into white clothes, and led Prince Wang Xuanying and more than 2,000 civil and military officials of the Zheng Dynasty to surrender at the gate of the Tang army camp.Li Shimin came out to accept the surrender in person.Wang Shichong was lying on the ground, sweating profusely.Li Shimin said: "You have always treated me like a child, why are you so respectful when you see a child today?" The winner is a prince and the loser is a thief, people are swords and I am flesh!At this moment, Wang Shichong really had nothing to say except sincere repentance and kowtow to apologize. On May 10th, Li Shimin entered the palace city of Luoyang and ordered Fang Xuanling to collect the archives and books of the Sui Dynasty. He ordered Xiao Yu, Dou Gui and others to seal up the treasury, collect their gold and silk, and reward the soldiers.On the same day, Li Shimin ordered Shan Xiongxin, Duan Da, Zhu Can, Yang Gongqing, Guo Shiheng and more than a dozen people who were said to have committed heinous crimes to be taken to the Luoshui River and beheaded. It may not be quite accurate to say that these people are all "heinous sinners".Among them, except for Zhu Can, who is cruel and bloodthirsty, and who is used to using human flesh as military rations, which arouses great public outrage, the others are probably between killing and not killing. But in the end they were killed anyway. We have neither the interest nor the ability to explore the individual reasons why these people lost their heads, but the overall reason is still obvious-Li Shimin needs to kill Liwei to a certain extent. A regime that has been separated for a long time and resisted for a long time has collapsed. How can it be passed without a group of people to accompany it?It is absolutely necessary to kill more than a dozen of them "one in a hundred" among the more than 2,000 people who surrendered.Because this small-scale massacre will have a deterrent effect on the vast majority of the remaining people, making them grateful and devoted to the Li and Tang Dynasty for the rest of their lives. This is called "Enwei". This is the most basic means for any political leader to control his courtiers. Although we don't know the specific reasons why these dozens of heads were included in Li Shimin's circle, the reason for one of them to be selected is very sufficient. That is Shan Xiongxin. We all still remember that in a battle in September last year, this martial artist Shan Xiongxin stabbed a spear into Li Shimin's chest and almost knocked him off the horse. Thanks to the more powerful Yuchi Jingde in time When he arrived, Li Shimin didn't hang up. Based on this alone, Shan Xiongxin was enough to be torn to pieces by Li Shimin. Before Shan Xiongxin was beheaded, Li Shiji, who had worshiped Shan Xiongxin and was more affectionate than his own brother, had repeatedly begged Li Shimin to spare his life in tears, and was even willing to exchange his official title for his life, but Li Shimin refused without hesitation. There is no room for negotiation.We often see this kind of situation in Hong Kong-produced movies. A boss wants to kill someone, and someone next to him begged for mercy, and the boss roared angrily: "He once pointed a gun to my head—pointed a gun to my head ! How could I not kill him?" Although Li Shimin didn't appear to be roaring, his mood was probably not far from it. Of course, Li Shimin's killing of Shan Xiongxin was not only out of revenge and prestige, but also a very important reason, that is, Shan Xiongxin has always had a bad reputation in the arena of being "easy to go".As early as the Wagang Era, Li Mi's chief clerk, Fang Yanzao, used this as an excuse to persuade Li Mi to get rid of Shan Xiongxin.But for Li Shimin at this moment, his subordinates are already full of talents and powerful generals, so why would he bother to accept such a capricious person?What's more, in the upcoming battle to seize the heirloom, it may not be impossible for this kind of person to fall to the side of Prince Li Jiancheng, so there is really no need for Li Shimin to take the risk of taking him in. With such sufficient reasons, Shan Xiongxin must die of course. A few days later, Li Shimin visited the magnificent Luoyang Palace and sighed: "How can the country not perish if you indulge in luxury and exhaust your own desires?" Yangdian destroyed the gates on both sides of Zetian Gate. The towering and magnificent palace was reduced to ruins in a blink of an eye. For this historical detail, Mr. Bo Yang once made such an evaluation: "It was another trilogy of demolition, burning, and destruction. Later, Duanmen was rebuilt; Tianmen. What is wasted is the money and sweat of the people!" Out of his consistent humanistic stance and humanitarian spirit, Mr. Bo Yang sympathizes with the hardships of the people and hates the rulers for wasting people's wealth and material resources, which we can completely understand.But purely on this matter itself, Mr. Bo Yang's evaluation is a bit big and unreasonable. Because this historical detail is the meaning of the topic of dynasty change, basically it has nothing to do with wasting people's property and material resources.Leaving aside that there are countless such things in history, even if it is the only case in history, it is normal for Li Shimin to do so. Because these palaces that were destroyed were symbols of power in the old dynasty. How can the political authority of the new dynasty stand upright if the symbol of power of the old dynasty is not toppled? Therefore, no matter how much people's fat and anointment they have condensed on them, Li Shimin will not feel pity; no matter how brand-new they look, it is their inescapable historical fate to tear them down and start over. During his stay in Luoyang, in addition to the above-mentioned public political moves, Li Shimin also did a very secret thing. The political message conveyed by this incident is definitely a hundred times more important than those public actions! Li Shimin went to visit a man named Wang Yuanzhi, the abbot of Yuqing Temple in Luoyang. What did Li Shimin come to find a Taoist priest for? Wang Yuanzhi is not an ordinary Taoist priest. He possesses an ability that ordinary people do not have—foreseeing the future, just as his name indicates. When Li Shimin and Fang Xuanling went to Weifu for a private visit, Li Shimin did not report his family name, but this expert still saw through Li Shimin's true identity at a glance.He said: "There is a saint here, so it must be the king of Qin?" Li Shimin was taken aback, thinking that this expert really deserved his reputation, so he told the truth and asked Wang Yuanzhi a question sincerely. What Li Shimin asked was of course his own future destiny. To be precise, it is the political destiny of the future. Wang Yuanzhi's next answer was like a bolt of lightning accurately hitting the most sensitive and secret corner of Li Shimin's heart, and shining it like daylight.Wang Yuanzhi said: "Those who are about to be the emperor of Taiping must cherish themselves." Although this was the answer Li Shimin had been looking forward to, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Li Shimin's forehead when he suddenly heard the word "Son of Heaven".You must know that Li Shimin's current status is just a vassal king, coveting the position of the emperor as a vassal king, that is rebellion and treason!Once such things are leaked, even if Li Shimin will not be killed, at least his reputation will be ruined. However, such fear was only fleeting in Li Shimin's heart, and an unparalleled feeling of excitement and joy soon filled his chest. Obviously, the private visit of Wude's micro-service in the summer of the fourth year had a decisive influence on Li Shimin.It turned Li Shimin's subtle and secret desire for power into a huge and firm political ambition, and prompted him to take action step by step.In other words, it was Wang Yuanzhi's words that gave Li Shimin a kind of apocalyptic confidence and strength, and made him embark on the road of seizing the heir without hesitation with the belief that "the destiny is my destiny". This is a road of no return. From the summer of this year, Li Shimin never looked back. Fourteen years later, in the ninth year of Zhenguan (635 A.D.), when Wang Yuanzhi's prophecy had already become a reality and everything was a thing of the past, Li Shimin still couldn't forget Wang Yuanzhi who had given him infinite strength and confidence to win.He publicly issued an imperial edict for this purpose, making no secret of his gratitude to this worldly master.A sentence in the imperial edict fully shows the profound significance of the secret meeting in the summer of the fourth year of Wude to Li Shimin. He said: "I used to be in the feudal dynasty, and I was asked early. I have a good demeanor, and I will never forget my sleep." ("" Old Book of Tang·Wang Yuanzhi Biography") This sentence undoubtedly revealed a major historical secret.It can at least prove that Li Shimin's political ambition to win the throne has a long history.At least since the summer of the fourth year of Wude, a political game that will eventually lead to bloodshed and killing has quietly begun, and the smell of the Xuanwu Gate has also faintly wafted over the new Li Tang Dynasty. However, for the people of the Zhenguan era, when the once ulterior plot to seize the heirloom has become a great move to create history, when the former Tang Dynasty vassal king has become the supreme emperor of the Tang Dynasty, all the secrets—— It's no longer a secret. On May 15th of the fourth year of Wude, the left servant of the Xia Dynasty who fled back to Mingzhou, Qi Shanxing, realized that the leaderless Xia Dynasty was definitely not Li Shimin's opponent. Official, supported Queen Cao, surrendered to the Tang Dynasty with the jade seal of the Sui Dynasty, and at the same time sacrificed Mingzhou, Xiangzhou (now Anyang City, Henan), Weizhou (now Daming County, Hebei) and other cities.Subsequently, Xuzhou, Songzhou (now Shangqiu, Henan), Xiangyang (now Xiangfan, Hubei), which belonged to the Zheng Dynasty, and Bozhou (now Liaocheng, Shandong), which belonged to the Xia Dynasty, all surrendered to the Tang Dynasty. By the beginning of July in the fourth year of Wude, all the territories that Wang Shichong and Dou Jiande had separated were incorporated into the territory of the Tang Dynasty. So far, apart from Liang Shidu in the northwest of the empire and Xiao Xian, Li Zitong, Lin Shihong and other separatist forces in the south, who are still fighting and lingering, Li Yuan and his son have already occupied most of the world. The lost Sui Lu finally found a new owner. There is no suspense about the unification of the Li and Tang Dynasties at home.