Liu Shouguang
Li Cunxu quickly saw through this attempt to undermine Jin's alliance with Chengde and Yi Ding. At this time, the Jin army faced two fronts in Hebei: Youzhou Liu Shouguang and Wei Bo Luo Zhouhan . Wei Bo has attached himself to Zhu Huang, Hou Liang has sent troops to assist in the defense, and the army of Hou Liang can cross the Yellow River to the north at any time to cooperate in the battle. Liu Shouguang lacked foreign aid and was relatively isolated.
The Jin generals proposed a combat strategy of taking Youzhou first and then moving south to Weizhou, which was approved by Li Cunxu. Li Cunxu then withdrew the troops who entered Weibo states after the war in Baixiang to Zhaozhou , and returned to Taiyuan himself, paying close attention to Liu Shouguang's activities.
In order to make Liu Shouguang proud and arrogant, and to relax his guard against the Jin army, Jin King Li Cunxu deliberately united with Chengde, Yiwu, Zhaoyi, Zhenwu, Tiande and other factions to promote Liu Shouguang as Shangshu Ling. Liang Taizu Zhu Huang also appointed Liu Shouguang as the governor of Hebei. Liu Shouguang became even more arrogant and arrogant, shouting that Lulong Town has a territory of 2,000 miles and 300,000 soldiers. Who can stop me from becoming the emperor!
In August of the first year of Qianhua (911), Liu Shouguang became emperor and located in Youzhou, with the country name Dayan. In November, Liu Shouguang sent 20,000 troops to attack Rongcheng County in Yizhou, thus kicking off the campaign of Jin to destroy Yan.
Defending from the south and attacking from the north, Youzhou is an important city in northern my country since the Warring States Period. It has a majestic terrain, with the Yanshan Mountains to the north, the North China Plain to the south, and important passes such as Gubeikou and Juyongguan, all of which are dangerously connected. Tang Dynasty An Lushan and Shi Siming based on Youzhou, launched the eight-year Anshi Rebellion , which brought the Tang Dynasty to a standstill.
In the late Tang Dynasty, Lulong (who governed Youzhou) had a long-term separatist regime and was in conflict with the Chang'an court. The city defense of Youzhou has been painstakingly managed by rulers of all dynasties. The city is high and solid, easy to defend and difficult to attack. The Jin army's attack on Youzhou was more difficult than the two battles of , Luzhou, and Baixiang.
In December of the first year of Qianhua in Houliang Dynasty (911), Jin King Li Cunxu sent Fanhan Mabu General Manager Zhou Dewei to lead troops to attack Youzhou. In the first month of the following year, Zhou Dewei, Chengde and Yi Dingjun met at Yishui . On the seventh day of the first lunar month, the coalition forces of the three towns captured Yanqigou Pass (now south of Zhuozhou, Hebei). On the 9th, Liu Zhiwen, the governor of Yan Zhuozhou, surrendered. Zhou Dewei soon arrived at Youzhou City, and Liu Shouguang hurriedly asked for help from Houliang.
Due to the failure of the two battles in Luzhou and Baixiang, Liang Taizu Zhu Huang was determined to avenge his humiliation. He was ordered to recruit the envoy Yang Shihou to besiege Zaoqiang, and to recruit the supporting envoy He Delun to attack Quan County. Zhu Huang personally led the army day and night and arrived at Xia Bonan on March 2. Liang Jun encountered a small group of Chengde cavalry and falsely reported that the Jin army had arrived. He hurriedly retreated south and joined Yang Shihou to attack Zaoqiang. Thousands of Chengde soldiers fought tenaciously in Zaoqiang City, and Liang soldiers suffered tens of thousands of casualties. Liang Jun later invaded Zaoqiang and killed many people in the city, regardless of age or age.
Zhu Huang led 50,000 Liang troops and He Delun to attack Quan County. Jin general Li Cunshen stationed his army in Zhaozhou, but he did not have many troops. Some generals were afraid of Liang Jun's attack and asked to retreat to Tumen (i.e. Jingxingguan), preparing to flee back to Taiyuan. Li Cunshen refused, and discussed with Shi Jiantang and Li Sigou, saying: "The king of Jin, Li Cunxu, is concentrating his army to attack Youzhou. We cannot send the army south to Gan County. We can only devise a clever plan to defeat Liang Jun."
So it was decided to divide the troops into two groups. Li Cunshen led the troops to guard Xiabo Bridge (now the bridge over Beizhang River in Hengshui County, Hebei Province) to prevent Liang Jun from moving north. Shi Jiantang and Li Sigou led 600 cavalrymen to disguise themselves as Liang Jun. They sneaked into Liang Jun's He Delun camp at night and launched a sudden attack, setting fires and making loud noises, and firing bows and arrows.
Liang Jun did not distinguish between true and false, panicked, burned the camp and escaped at night, lost his way, and encountered local people in Hebei who rose up to pursue him. Liang Jun killed 20,000 people and discarded a large amount of food and military supplies. After Zhu Quanzhong was defeated, he returned to Bianzhou seriously ill. The Battle of Gan County is a typical example of Jin general Li Cun's surprise attack during the Five Dynasties period, in which he defeated many with fewer troops.
Liang Emperor Zhu Huang returned from Bianzhou to Luoyang, where his condition worsened.The second son, King Ying Zhu Yougui, took the opportunity to kill him and established himself on his own. He also sent the enshrined official Ding Zhaopu to the eastern capital (Bianzhou), ordering him to King Jun Zhu Youzhen killed Liang Taizu's favorite pretender Zhu Youwen who stayed in Dongdu. He also sent out more gold and silk from the treasury and gave it to the army and officials to win over the people. However, people at home and abroad were still in distress, and Liang Liang was too overwhelmed to take care of himself and could no longer go north to rescue Liu Shouguang.
Due to the defeat of the Liang army in the battle, the military alliance attempt of Liu Shouguang (Yan) and Zhu Huang (Liang) was completely bankrupt. Jin general Zhou Dewei besieged Liu Shouguang more tightly, but instead of attacking, he used most of his troops to capture the prefectures and counties of Yan Kingdom . In March, Jin general Li Cunhui captured Nanwaqiao Pass in Zhuozhou. In April, Li Siyuan captured Yingzhou. In May, Yan Lord Liu Shouguang ordered the general Shan Tinggui to lead 10,000 elite soldiers to fight, but was captured alive by Zhou Dewei in the southeast of Youzhou City, and 3,000 Youzhou soldiers were killed. In the first month of the third year of Qianhua's reign (913), Zhou Dewei captured Shunzhou (now Shunyi, Beijing) and defeated Anyuan's army. In February, Jin general Li Cunhui occupied Tanzhou. In March, Jin general Liu Guangjun captured Gubeikou, and Yan Juyongguan general Hu Linggui surrendered without a fight. Liu Shouguang lost troops and lost ground one after another, and the situation was critical, so he sent General Yuan Xingqin to lead 7,000 cavalry troops to recruit troops in Shanbei (referring to the northern end of the Taihang Mountains and the military capital mountain in Hebei Province today). He appointed the cavalry general Gao Xinggui as the governor of Wuzhou to prepare for the Khitan army to counterattack the Jin army.
Jin general Li Siyuan captured the Eighth Army behind the mountain. Gao Xinggui and Yuan Xingqin were defeated and surrendered one after another. In April, Jin general Liu Guangrong occupied Pingzhou (now Lulong, Hebei) and Yingzhou (now Chaoyang, Liaoning). The prefectures and counties belonging to the Yan region fell one after another, and the Khitan refused to send troops to rescue them. The internal turmoil in the Houliang Dynasty was so unsettled that there was no time to look north. Liu Shouguang was trapped in Youzhou City for two years, and he was lonely and exhausted.
In September and December of the third year of Qianhua (913), Liu Shouguang broke out and captured Shunzhou. He fled back to Youzhou because he could not get any support. Liu Shouguang led his soldiers out again at night to attack Tanzhou. Zhou Dewei led his troops to attack and defeated the Yan army. Liu Shouguang led more than a hundred cavalry and fled back to Youzhou.
In November, Jin King Li Cunxu launched an attack on Youzhou, quickly entered the city, captured Liu Rengong, Liu Shouguang and his son, and were executed soon after.
The Battle of Youzhou lasted for more than two years. The Jin army faced two powerful forces, Liang and Yan, and was seriously lacking in strength. However, Li Cunxu and Zhou Dewei insisted on the strategy of besieging the city for reinforcements and waiting for opportunities to attack. They divided their troops into two groups from the beginning of the battle. Zhou Dewei led the troops specifically to deal with Liu Shouguang in Youzhou. Li Cunxu led some Jin troops to garrison in Zhaozhou to attack the Liang army heading north and cut off the connection between Yan and Liang.
Liu Shouguang's hope of relying on Zhu Huang's reinforcements came to naught due to Li Cunshen's surprise attack on Zhu Huang. At the same time, Zhou Dewei basically surrounded and refused to fight outside Youzhou City, and concentrated his military power to defeat the defenders of Dayan's prefectures and counties respectively, forcing Liu Shouguang to be trapped in the city without any assistance from outside Youzhou City, and finally surrendered and captured.
The correctness of the combat strategy guided by Li Cunxu and Zhou Dewei was the main reason for the victory in the Battle of Youzhou.
Jin King Li Cunxu annexed Youzhou and formed an alliance with Chengde and Yiwu. The Jin side has controlled most of the northern and central areas of Hebei and continues to advance south. It is imminent to compete with Houliang for Weibo Town.
