gnovel Chapter 72 Swift as the Wind
Chapter 72 Swift as the Wind
With books, the journey is long; without books, it is short. In the blink of an eye, it was April. The news of Li Jun's uprising still reached Kaifeng. For a time, there was a lot of panic in Kaifeng. The vision of a peaceful founding and a perfect handover was finally shattered after only four months.
However, there was only some anxiety among the people. Thanks to the butterfly effect of Wang Jun and Wang Lu's time travel, the people of Kaifeng were generally still relatively stable.
Grain prices did not rise uncontrollably, and no one left Kaifeng. Most people still had great confidence in the newly established Song Dynasty.
In essence, the war between Li Jun and Zhao Kuangyin was not a true military struggle, but a battle for popular support. Li Jun was essentially betting that Zhao Kuangyin would lose popular support and would not have the same level of military morale as he did.
At this point, it was clear to everyone in Kaifeng that Li Jun had lost.
The officials in the court saw things more clearly: Li Jun's Zhaoyi Army totaled 30,000 men, and he left 10,000 men to garrison Luzhou for Li Shoujie.
He personally led 20,000 troops to attack Zezhou, killed the governor of Zezhou, cut off the imperial canal transport line, and occupied the entire Shangdang Basin. He intended to rely on the strategic terrain to hold the position and wait for other Grand Commandants in the country to join him in raising troops.
At the same time, he sought help from three reinforcements: one was from the Northern Han, where Emperor Liu Jun of the Northern Han personally led 15,000 Taiyuan Tiger Cavalry south to provide support, and Li Jun was also granted the title of King of Xiping.
However, Liu Jun had already witnessed Zhao Kuangyin's prowess in the Battle of Gaoping and was terrified. Therefore, he only sent 3,000 Northern Han troops to Li Jun, while he himself hid at Taiping Post Station with the remaining 12,000 troops to observe the situation and wait for an opportunity.
The other group sent trusted messengers to request troops from Later Shu. However, both of his trusted men were based in Shanzhou, meaning they were the ones who made the most noise and talked big.
Yuan Yan, who was even more arrogant than Li Yun and was preparing for war, had his entire territory captured, and the letter and messenger were sent to Zhao Kuangyin.
The Later Shu side received absolutely no news.
The last group sent someone to contact Li Chongjin, who was far away in Yangzhou, and agreed to join forces to rebel against the Song Dynasty.
The secret envoy sent to Li Chongjin went smoothly, and Li Chongjin agreed, sending his trusted confidant Zhai Shouxun to secretly contact Li Jun and discuss the details of a joint uprising.
However, when Zhai Shouxun passed through Kaifeng, he immediately recognized that Zhao Kuangyin's army was already united and showed signs of becoming a powerful ruler. So he betrayed Li Chongjin and became Zhao Kuangyin's spy. Instead of seeking an alliance with Li Jun, he returned to Yangzhou and tricked Li Chongjin, telling him not to raise an army.
This is why Zhao Kuangyin called Li Shoujie "Crown Prince" before, and was certain that Li Jun was going to rebel. Li Jun thought he was invincible and contacted this person and that person, but in the end, all these messengers were already in Zhao Kuangyin's hands.
At this point, among the remaining regional military governors in the land, only the Tianxiong Army and the five towns of Hebei posed a certain threat to Zhao Kuangyin.
However, Zhao Kuangyin had already dispatched his trusted general Murong Yanzhao with 50,000 troops. They didn't fight, but simply led the army to wander around their respective defense zones.
Finally, they settled outside Zhenzhou City, where Guo Chong, the most outspoken of them all, dared to bring out Guo Wei's portrait and cry, and simply refused to leave.
If Guo Chong made the slightest move, he would immediately attack the city.
One man kept a close watch on five border towns in Hebei, while Fu Yanqing of the Tianxiong Army, the backbone of the various Hebei warlords, had been actively providing Murong Yanzhao with provisions.
That's not all. As soon as Li Jun raised his army, Wang Quanbin, the garrison commander of Xiangzhou next door, almost immediately followed suit. Without Zhao Kuangyin needing to make any promises to him, he began to march towards the Zhaoyi Army like a mad dog and attack Huguan.
The scenario that Li Jun had hoped for—that he would lead the rebellion and have heroes from all over the land rally in response—did not occur. Instead, it attracted Wang Quanbin, who took the initiative to attack him in order to curry favor with Zhao Kuangyin.
The term "retaining the heir" actually meant a probationary period for the military governor. Chai Rong had already decided to appoint Wang Quanbin as military governor, but Wang died before he could be officially appointed, and Zhao Kuangyin succeeded him.
Wang Quanbin wasn't familiar with Zhao Kuangyin either, and he was worried about how he could show his loyalty and how he could remind Zhao Kuangyin to promote him to a higher position.
What a coincidence! Li Jun raised an army, and his location was right next door. The Zhaoyi Army and his Zhangde Army were adjacent. What else was there to say? Let's take them down!
It should be noted that Wang Quanbin has far more seniority than Li Jun. He and Fu Yanqing were the ones who collected Li Cunxu's body when he died. There are few people in the world with more seniority than him.
This proactive campaign to quell the rebellion for the Song Dynasty silenced all the older, more experienced officials who had criticized Zhao Kuangyin for being too young and lacking experience.
This war, nominally an uprising, was in reality a struggle for the hearts and minds of the people. From the very beginning, Zhao Kuangyin had already achieved a great victory.
Among the various choices made by Yuan Yan, Li Chongjin, Fu Yanqing, and Wang Quanbin, Li Jun was already in a precarious situation when he first made his move.
In just four months, Zhao Kuangyin had already stabilized the people's hearts by making the market less volatile.
To avoid any unforeseen complications, Zhao Kuangyin decided to launch a swift campaign against Li Jun. He first ordered Shi Shouxin and Gao Huaide to lead the vanguard in a rapid march to seize Tianjing Pass from Li Jun, while he himself would personally lead the expedition from behind.
Because he brought only his trusted confidants, Li Chuyun also went along. Since Li Chuyun was with the army, Li Jilong also went with the army. Because of Li Jilong's presence with the army, Wang Lu volunteered to also go with the army.
When Zhao Guangmei saw that her second and third brothers had joined the army, she also asked to go to the battlefield. Zhao Kuangyin, that unreliable man, actually agreed.
Just as the imperial army crossed the Yellow River, they received intelligence from the front that Shi Shouxin and Gao Huaide's vanguard had decisively defeated Li Jun at Changping, killing three thousand Zhaoyi soldiers. Li Jun, unable to withstand the attack, had retreated to Zezhou.
Wang Quanbin had already occupied Huguan, completely blocking the Zhaoyi Army's escape route to the east. The Zhaoyi Army was now trapped and at their mercy.
In a word, it was fast! So fast that it was almost devastating.
This was Zhao Kuangyin's personal style of warfare: thorough preparation before battle and swift as the wind when attacking.
Li Jun raised an army on April 14th. When the news reached Kaifeng, Zhao Kuangyin arranged for troops to be dispatched. On May 3rd, Shi Shouxin defeated Li Jun at Changping.
In a panic, Li Jun ordered the destruction of the narrow, winding paths of the Taihang Pass, hoping to hinder Zhao Kuangyin's army and buy himself time.
Zhao Kuangyin personally took off his dragon robe and led the way in moving stones from the path. He repaired the road in just one day and one night, and then quickly advanced his army to join forces with Shi Shouxin, besieging Li Jun under the walls of Zezhou City.
Li Jun did not expect Zhao Kuangyin to move so quickly. He hastily formed his troops south of the city to meet the enemy, but was defeated in one battle. He fled back to Zezhou City to defend it. Zhao Kuangyin besieged the city and formed his troops. All that was left was to fight a siege.
From the first day of the fifth lunar month when Zhao Kuangyin personally led his army out of Kaifeng, until the day he met Shi Shouxin at the gates of Zezhou, when the outcome of the battle was decided, it was exactly the first day of the sixth lunar month. The time was just right, taking only one month.
Wang Lu, Zhao Guangmei, and Li Jilong were all accompanying the army for the first time. They originally thought it would be very exciting and nerve-wracking, but in reality, they didn't even have a chance to go into battle.
They all followed Zhao Kuangyin as his personal guards. The Song army was so devastating that the vanguard had already finished the battle before they even got there.
All that's left is the siege.
Of course, Zezhou City was not easy to attack. Although small, it was well-fortified, protected by two moats, and the city walls were lined with hundreds of ballistae. Because the city was small, the density of ballistae was high, making it impossible for the Song army to break through.
Even Zhao Kuangyin, the emperor, looked at this small town of Zezhou with a worried expression.
"Your Majesty, are you worried that attacking the city will take too long?" Wang Lu, who was serving as a personal guard beside Zhao Kuangyin, asked proactively.
"Indeed, Zezhou is a small city, and it is not difficult to take it. However, my army does not have much food. All the feudal lords in the country are watching us closely, and the Khitan are eyeing us covetously. If we delay for too long, there may be trouble again. Therefore, we have no choice but to launch a quick attack."
As he spoke, Zhao Kuangyin took off his dragon robe again, rolled up his sleeves, and seemed to be planning to personally lead the attack on the city, regardless of casualties.
"Your Majesty! I dare to be so bold as to request that you refrain from attacking the city."
"Oh? This campaign is all about seizing the time. If we don't attack the city, what do you intend to do?"
"As early as when Li Shoujie was in Kaifeng, he had already resolved to submit to the Emperor after being persuaded of the greater good. He had already made this agreement with me before he left the capital."
He was willing to surrender Luzhou first, and even try to bury the Northern Han alive. He pleaded with the Emperor not to attack the city for the time being, as this would only increase casualties among the soldiers. He suggested that the Emperor allow him to go to Luzhou first and try to persuade Li Shoujie to surrender.
Zhao Kuangyin frowned and said, "Li Shoujie and Li Jun are father and son. At that time, they were in Kaifeng. They were under someone else's roof. How can we believe everything they say?"
What if he changes his mind? Wouldn't you be walking into a trap? It would be safer to take Zezhou first, then persuade Luzhou to surrender.
Wang Lu thought for a moment, then firmly said, "I beg Your Majesty to give me three hundred soldiers and five days to give me a chance. I believe Li Shoujie is trustworthy, and I am willing to trust him."
Historically, Luzhou was surrendered rather than attacked, which also testifies to Wang Lu's point of view. Although he did not have much contact with Li Shoujie, he felt that Li was at least a smart man who knew how to adapt to the times.
Seeing this, Zhao Guangmei stepped forward and said, "Big brother, let second brother give it a try."
"You also believe in Li Shoujie?"
Zhao Guangmei shook her head: "I'm not familiar with Li Shoujie, but I trust my second brother. If he says it's possible, then it will definitely be possible."