Jinting Han people

Chapter 762 Li Ju Swiftly Conquers Xuchang

Unbeknownst to them, the second round of fighting between the Han and Qi armies had already lasted for nearly four months.

In Yangzhou, the Qi forces launched their three-pronged offensive in mid-July, Wang Mi crossed the Yangtze River to Jingkou in mid-August, Liu Xian decided to personally lead the campaign in late September, and arrived in Jianye in mid-October. The two sides remained deadlocked for nearly half a month, finally reaching a decisive victory in early November. The situation was fraught with twists and turns. Although the Han army ultimately won, the heavy casualties forced the soldiers into a period of hibernation.

In contrast, Li Ju's Han army made relatively smooth progress. After capturing Wancheng in early October, Li Ju officially led his troops into the Central Plains. At this time, he had about 70,000 troops under his command. Although this was not as many as the 120,000 troops that Wang Mi had assembled to conquer the Three Wu regions, half of them were the Anhan Army, which he had carefully cultivated over the past two years, and the other half were veteran soldiers from Hedong who had followed Li Ju in many battles. All of them were elite Han soldiers. With such a force heading north, although the number was only comparable to that of Liu Xian during the decisive battle in Chengdu, the combat power of the two was worlds apart.

Indeed, this was the case. When Li Ju led his troops north to Henan Commandery, the Qi people still occupied cities such as Luyang and Liang County, which were guarded by fierce generals like Liu Xia. Years ago, Zhao King Sima Lun had relied on these strategic locations to force the anti-Zhao coalition to retreat in succession, leaving Sima Jiong hesitant to advance. Therefore, Liu Xia and others attempted to replicate this scenario, hoping to use the terrain to their advantage and put up a stubborn resistance, but they did not anticipate making a grave mistake.

It should be noted that the Han army at this time had fought battles in the north and south and possessed rich experience in siege warfare, which was completely incomparable to the inexperienced Eastern Expeditionary Army of that time. Li Ju ordered Zhang Qi to lead his troops to dig tunnels under Luyang, erect pillars, and then burn them. This procedure, which the Han army was extremely familiar with, took only ten days. The supposedly indestructible city of Luyang collapsed with a crash, and the Qi army's commander-in-chief, Liu Xia, was captured alive.

The other Qi people were horrified by this sight, believing the Han army possessed divine power, and immediately abandoned their cities and fled. This allowed Li Ju to successfully open a passage to Luoyang. He then left most of his troops in Luyang and led 3,000 light soldiers north to join forces with Zu Ti's Henan army, which was stationed there.

This marked the first meeting between the two armies, and Zu Ti and Li Ju were deeply moved upon seeing each other.

From leaving Xuchang to being trapped in Luoyang, Zu Ti struggled to survive in the cracks, surrounded by enemies on all sides, for six long years. The hardships he endured were beyond words. Zu Ti was a tough man who never showed weakness to outsiders, but when he thought about how he had once wanted to establish his own power and compete with the heroes of the world for the Central Plains, only to end up trapped in a single prefecture while Liu Xian had already unified half of the country, he couldn't help but feel ashamed and regretful.

Zu Ti then said to Li Ju with self-deprecation: "I originally wanted to be like the jade snow of Kunlun, shining alone under the sun and moon, but I was unlucky and my ambitions were too great for my talents. I ended up turning into a stream in a valley and accomplished nothing."

Although this was Li Ju's first time meeting Zu Ti, he had long admired him and replied, "High mountains are far removed from the world, while valleys and streams are filled with human affection. Your Majesty's benevolence extends to the people on both banks of the Yi and Luo rivers. How can you say that you have achieved nothing?"

Upon hearing this, Zu Ti stroked his beard and smiled, looking at Li Ju with new respect. The two then discussed military strategy late into the night, feeling as if they had known each other for a long time. Zu Ti praised Li Ju in public, saying, "I have long heard His Majesty say that he made a good brother in Guanzhong, which he said was his good fortune. Now it seems that it is the good fortune of the whole world!"

After the two sides joined forces and discussed the matter briefly, they decided that the next strategy should be to attack Xuchang first.

Geographically, Luoyang is located at the intersection of the Guanzhong Plain, Hebei, Henan, and Nanyang regions. However, in terms of waterways, major rivers run east-west, and tributaries connect north-south, allowing Luoyang to be connected to Guanzhong, Henan, and Hebei by water. Conversely, due to the Xiong'er Mountains and Tongbai Mountains separating Luoyang from Nanyang, there is no direct waterway connecting the two regions.

In an era where water transport was the lifeline for supplies, the connection between Nanyang and Luoyang was arguably the most fragile. During the late Han Dynasty, the Guandong coalition focused its main attack on Suanzao during its campaign against Dong Zhuo precisely because of its convenient water transport. Similarly, Sun Jian's attack on Luoyang from Nanyang, despite achieving successive victories and defeating Hua Xiong and Lü Bu, ultimately failed to expand his gains and continue the pursuit of Dong Zhuo into Guanzhong, also due to the depleted supply lines from Nanyang.

From this perspective, if the Han army truly wanted to bring Luoyang under its control, it had to open up the Qiaoliang waterway to connect Luoyang with the Huai River, ensuring a continuous supply of provisions. To achieve this, it needed to recapture Yuzhou. And the most crucial town to recapture Yuzhou was undoubtedly Xuchang.

After the previous rounds of fierce battles, the original city of Xuchang had been leveled by the Qi and Han armies, and no longer possessed high city walls and a complex defense system. However, it was still the former capital of the Han Dynasty. Although its terrain was not particularly treacherous, its location between the Ru and Ying Rivers, with its highly developed water transport, still gave it significant strategic value.

Because there are four major river systems between the Yellow River and the Huai River—the Ru River, Ying River, Bian River, and Wo River—four important towns—Xuchang, Chen County, Qiao County, and Suiyang (present-day Daxing, the capital of the Qi-Han Kingdom)—emerged to control the water transport of these four tributaries. Among them, Xuchang, which could radiate the water transport of the Ru and Bian Rivers and was closest to Luoyang, undoubtedly became the southern gateway to Luoyang.

If the Han army were to capture Xuchang and then subdue the cities around Ru and Ying, thus opening up communication between Luoyang and Huainan, it would be a good start for the strategy of Henan.

Zu Ti and Li Ju then discussed that the Han army had a clear advantage in numbers and could defeat the few with the many. Moreover, the Qi troops left behind were not in a good mood, and the terrain was flat. They should focus on intimidation and surrender. They should divide their troops into three routes. Zu Ti would lead the northern route from Luoyang through Hulao Pass to capture Xingyang. Li Ju would lead the central route from Luyang to attack Kunyang and Xiangcheng. These were the two main routes. In addition, there was another naval force that would advance eastward from Yiyang along the source of the Huai River to Runan County, surrendering cities and fortresses along the way. It would then advance northward along the Ru River, forming the southern route. The three routes would then converge at the city of Xuchang.

Li Ju largely agreed with Zu Ti's viewpoint, but Zu Ti's forces were insufficient. Aside from the troops defending Luoyang, he could only muster fewer than ten thousand men, which he feared was inadequate. After much deliberation, he decided to allocate seven thousand men from Mao Bao's forces to bolster their morale.

Upon returning to Luyang, Li Ju, recognizing Guo Mo as the highest-ranking officer among his comrades, entrusted him with eight thousand naval troops and over ten thousand halberd soldiers, appointing him as the commander-in-chief of the southern route, with Zhang Guang as his deputy. This marked Guo Mo's first time leading troops independently. Overjoyed upon receiving the appointment, Guo Mo publicly swore an oath to Li Ju, promising to fulfill his mission.

Therefore, in late October, the Han army officially launched an offensive against Yuzhou.

Of the three offensive routes, Zu Ti's northern route was the most successful.

After all, Zu Ti had painstakingly cultivated his power base in Luoyang for many years, not merely to resist the invasions of Liu Yao, Wang Mi, and others. Secretly, he maintained close ties with various refugees in Yan and Yu provinces. Zu Ti understood a crucial principle: the Beggars' Army's true intention was survival, and they were capable of anything for it, but this didn't mean they were inherently ruthless, nor were they completely loyal to Qi Han, Zhao Han, or Shi Le. In fact, in terms of military strategy alone, Zu Ti could only be described as capable, not a genius, but in terms of political maneuvering, he far surpassed Liu Xian. Having discovered this, Zu Ti frequently disregarded societal norms to aid refugees in the surrounding areas. Furthermore, leveraging his special position in the Southern Han, he collaborated with the Beggars' Army to engage in large-scale smuggling in the Southern Han, saving many lives.

For example, Chen Wu, the chieftain of Pengguan Village in southeastern Junyi County, was deeply moved by Zu Ti's help during the locust plague and thus secretly pledged allegiance to the imperial court. At this time, Zu Ti finally left Luoyang and informed the chieftains of the various fortified villages of the news of the Han army's northward advance into the Central Plains. Chen Wu, Liu Duan, Ning Hei, and other members of the Qihuo Army responded enthusiastically, enabling him to advance swiftly and successfully recover the entire Xingyang Commandery with almost no fighting, and then station his troops in the Xinzheng area.

Li Ju's forces in the middle lane encountered some unexpected setbacks, which slightly slowed down their progress.

Because this route was the main force of the Han army, after the successive falls of Wancheng and Luyang, Xu Kan, the governor of Yuzhou of Qi and Han, had become more vigilant. He sent scouts day and night to monitor the movements of Li Ju's troops, but dared not engage the Han army in open battle. Therefore, he devised a plan to implement a scorched-earth policy. In just over ten days, he attempted to relocate all the grain and people in Xiangcheng County and demolish all the houses outside the fortified cities, hoping to slow down the advance of the Han army.

Xu Kan's strategic intent was clear: the Han army, attacking Yuzhou from Luyang, had no waterways for supplies and had to rely on manpower and pack animals to transport provisions. By adopting a scorched-earth policy, the Han army would face greater difficulties in sieges, allowing the Qi army to avoid direct combat with its main force while continuously sending troops to raid supply routes. This would cut off the Han army's food supply and force them to retreat.

However, he clearly overestimated his control over Yuzhou. Shortly after the order was issued, the local fortified village chiefs disobeyed, forcing the prefect of Xiangcheng, Shi Kai, to take forceful action, resulting in direct combat. Although Shi Kai captured two fortified villages, the remaining chiefs panicked, immediately burning their own fortified villages, taking a month's worth of provisions, and fleeing with their families to join Li Ju. Thus, Xu Kan's scorched-earth policy was successful, but with everyone gone, how could he hold Xiangcheng? He had no choice but to retreat to Xuchang.

In this way, Li Ju took over Xiangcheng County without losing a single soldier. However, the problem was that there were as many as 10,000 refugees who came to seek refuge, and Li Ju had to settle them first, which caused him to delay for some time. He did not set off again until early November.

Guo Mo's southern route also made relatively smooth progress, but it was the only one of the three Han armies to have engaged in combat.

This wasn't because the Qi people there were harboring any illusions, but because Guo Mo, in his first time as a military commander, after accepting the surrender of several cities along the way, felt that continuing in this manner wouldn't amount to much merit or demonstrate his abilities. Therefore, upon reaching Xincai, he refused the surrender offer from Zhou Hong, the governor of Xincai under the Qi-Han regime, and planned to breach the city head-on. Zhang Guang should have dissuaded him, but considering the abundance of fortified villages and the wavering loyalty of the displaced troops, he thought that conquering a city to establish authority would be beneficial, and thus agreed to Guo Mo's decision.

A day later, the Han army began their siege. Holding a decisive advantage, and given that Xincai was not a large city, a hail of arrows rained down, forcing the defenders to cower in fear. The Han army seized the opportunity to rush to the city gate, hacking through the wooden doors and inner fences with axes, their advance unstoppable. However, in this desperate situation, the Xincai defenders, now enraged, decided to fight to the death. They suddenly surged to the gate, unleashing a barrage of arrows, which surprisingly repelled the Han army's attack for a time.

At this moment, Zhong Ya, Zhang Guang's secretary, saw this and stepped forward, saying, "Our army is an invincible force; how can we retreat because of these mere bandits?" He then charged ahead, sword in hand, from the gate. Enemy arrows flew, but he parried them, sustaining several wounds without retreating. Instead, he charged forward, killing several men in succession. The Han soldiers behind him, seeing his slender frame yet such courage, were greatly encouraged and pressed forward bravely, quickly capturing Xincai City.

After the war, Guo Mo heard about Zhong Ya's deeds and came to meet him. He thought Zhong Ya was a brave warrior, but he turned out to be a pale-faced scholar. However, Zhong Ya's words and actions suited Guo Mo's temperament. Coincidentally, Guo Mo needed a staff officer, so he asked Zhang Guang to give him to him as a military advisor.

After the fall of Xincai, the southern army marched up the Ru River and reached Yan County, where they joined forces with Li Ju. They then advanced on Xuchang together with Zu Ti's troops. At this time, the number of Han troops had not decreased but increased, from 70,000 to nearly 90,000, while Xu Kan's forces defending Xuchang numbered only 10,000, and the city's defenses were inadequate, with morale low.

Faced with such a disparity in strength, Xu Kan was in turmoil. The main reason he had not yet surrendered was that two of his sons were still being held hostage in Daxing, and he still harbored some illusions about the results of Wang Mi's southward campaign.

Zu Ti was well aware of Xu Kan's mentality, so he suggested to Li Ju that the news of the emperor's personal expedition to Yangzhou should be widely publicized, and that the emperor should be declared to have won a great victory and that Wang Mi had died in the river. It should be known that Wang Mi was the spiritual leader of the entire Qi army. As long as the news of his great defeat spread, Xu Kan would inevitably waver, and with a little inducement, he could be persuaded to defect.

Li Ju readily accepted Zu Ti's suggestion. Although the two places were too far apart for Li Ju to know the specific battle situation in Yangzhou, he had no doubt about the emperor's victory. He immediately followed Zu Ti's instructions and sent a message by arrow into Xuchang. Xu Kan, after reading it, was indeed hesitant and uneasy. He disregarded the hostages and immediately sent an envoy out of the city to discuss with Li Ju, claiming that he could defect, but on the condition that the court recognize his position as the governor of Yuzhou and that his troops be preserved and not reorganized.

Li Ju readily agreed, swearing an oath to heaven in front of everyone that he would retain Xu Kan's position as governor of Yuzhou as long as Xu Kan opened the city gates and surrendered. Seeing this, Xu Kan finally put aside his concerns, dressed in white, went out of the city, carried thorns on his back to apologize, and surrendered to Li Ju.

It was around late November. After Li Ju's troops annihilated the southward-bound Qi army, they had marched north from September to this point, and in just three months, they had successively brought seven prefectures—Nanyang, Henan, Xingyang, Xiangcheng, Runan, Ruyin, and Yingchuan—into their territory.

According to Tao Kan's previous advice to the court, the strategy for dealing with Qi and Han should be one of gradual encroachment. The current results are already quite impressive, and it's time to stop while we're ahead. However, Li Ju learned a startling piece of news from Xu Kan:

Because Wang Mi mobilized a large army to march south, and Qi and Han were also on guard against a surprise attack by Shi Le, most of Qi and Han's forces were currently in Hebei confronting Shi Le. The garrison in Daxing, the capital, numbered only about 20,000, and its interior defenses were extremely weak. Daxing was only about 500 li away from Xuchang, a journey that could be completed in four days by a forced march.

This might be a golden opportunity to destroy a nation in one battle. (End of Chapter)