Lu Prefecture (潞州), roughly in the present-day Changzhi part of Shanxi and The County of Hebei. Because of its important strategic position, it became the object of fierce competition between Zhu Wen's Liang Dynasty and Li Ke in the late Tang Dynasty and the early fifth dynasty.
The Battle of Luzhou between Liang and Jin lasted for ten years from the first year of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang's reign (898) when Li Hanzhi stole Luzhou and rebelled against Liang, to the second year of Liang Kaiping (908). During this period, Liang and Jin both sides won and lost each other, but the overall situation was that Liang was strong and weak, but the final result was that Liang lost and Jin won, firmly controlling Luzhou and reversing the situation of Liang Qiang and Jin.
In the first year of Gwanghwa (898), the Jin general Xue Zhiqin died, and Li Ke of the Jin state did not send a replacement general in time to control the city for some reason, and Li Hanzhi heard the news and led his army to the city overnight. Because the defenders were leaderless, Li Hanzhi was able to take Luzhou without bloodshed, and in order to avoid retaliation from the Jin people, he immediately submitted to the Liang people.
This unexpected loss of Luzhou shocked the Jin people, and the crusade soon followed. After a confrontation, the Jin general Li Sizhao defeated the Zhaoyi army at Zezhou, but Luzhou held out. Not willing to show weakness, the Liang army attacked the town, ding erzhou, and erzhou surrendered. Then, in the fourth year of Gwanghwa (901), Zhu Quanzhong, who had already been crowned king of Liang, ordered the capture of the three regions of Jin, Dai, and Hezhong, and the Jin army could not surrender one after another, and Taiyuan, the heart of the Jin state, was completely exposed to the Liang army's troops.
Zhu Wen
In desperation, Li Keyong had to send someone to send a large amount of gold and silver treasures to Liang, and bowed his knees to seek peace. In the face of the Envoys of the Jin Dynasty, Zhu Quanzhong, the King of Liang, believed that the Jin State at this time had no danger to defend, and that the Several Great Defeats and Surrenders of the Jin Army fully demonstrated the weakness and fragility of the combat effectiveness of his army, and that it was necessary to take advantage of the victorious attack to destroy this henchmen, and just as the so-called desire to add to the crime was beyond words, Zhu Quanzhong quickly gave a dignified reason: Although the Jin people sent envoys to seek peace, the words in the letters were arrogant and insincere, so they were not allowed. At the same time, he ordered the whole army to actively prepare for war, and in April of the same year, shi shuqun, Ge Congzhou and other generals attacked Jin in five major ways.
In the face of the menacing Liang army, the Defenders of Jin liaozhou and Fenzhou surrendered without any fighting spirit and opened the city gate to meet the Liang people. Successive military defeats and successive fall of territory caused a fatal fear to spread within the Jin dynasty. At this critical juncture, it suddenly rained heavily for several days. Due to insufficient preparation for this situation, the occurrence of large-scale diseases in the Liang army seriously affected its combat effectiveness. Liang was forced to retreat.
The Jin general Zhou Dewei and others seized the opportunity to retake Liaofen Prefecture, killed the Fenzhou rebel general Li Yao, and took Ci and Zi Prefectures with a single blow. Unwilling to be defeated, the Liang people launched another attack the following year, and the Jin army could not resist the defeat of the army, and the Liang army marched north like a broken bamboo to encircle the Jin capital Taiyuan.
In the face of the Liang army that was already approaching the city, Li Keyong, the King of Jin, was suddenly panicked like a bird of fright and even decided to abandon the city and leave. The Jin state was in danger, and the destruction of the Jin state by liang seemed to be just around the corner. However, people have bad luck and misfortunes. Just when Li Ke hesitated to flee, a major epidemic once again appeared in Liang Guo's army. This accident made Liang Jun once again lose all his work, and Li Keyong and his Jin state once again picked up a life and gained a precious respite.
Li Ke used
Nevertheless, the terrified Li Ke quickly allied with the Khitan leader Yelü Abaoji in Yunzhou in order to protect himself. The two countries were about brothers, and when Yelü Abaoji left, he left a large amount of warhorses and other supplies for the jin king who was trapped and tired.
In the third year of Tianyou (906), Liang Jun, who had lost two consecutive opportunities due to epidemics in the War against the Jin Dynasty, suddenly decided to turn the muzzle of the gun and point the spearhead at the weaker Yan state of Liu Rengong's father and son. Cangzhou was besieged, and Yan Guoli could not support it, so he asked Li Keyong, the sworn enemy of the Liang people, for help.
After receiving a letter from Liu Rengong requesting troops, Li Keyong did not intend to let the Jin army sell his life because he hated his capricious behavior. At this time, Li Keyong's eldest son, Li Cunxun, stood up, urged his father and earnestly analyzed the current situation and the stakes in it.
In September of that year, Liu Rengong, who was struggling to support, sent Ma Yu and Li Pu to lead 30,000 horses to join forces with Zhou Dewei and Li Sizhao of the Jin State at Jinyang and attack Zezhou and Luzhou with all their might. After three months of holding out, in December Liang Luzhou made Ding Hui outnumbered and surrendered, and Luzhou was retaken from the newly jin state. This is a huge turning point for both Liang and Jin.
In the fourth year of Tianyou (907), Zhu Quanzhong, whose ambitions were clearly revealed, destroyed the Tang Dynasty in name only. This was followed by the need to take Luzhou, an important town of the Jin Dynasty at all costs.
Jeroboam
In May, the Liang general Kang Huaiying led an army of 100,000 men to encircle Luzhou tightly. "Huaiying led a large army to Lu, led the crowd to attack the city day and night, and between half a month, the machine was changeable. Huai Ying was afraid of Taizu's words, and in anticipation of taking, he built a fortress around the city and dug a pond, but he was repeatedly scratched by the Cavalry army of the Jin general Zhou Dewei, and Huai Ying did not dare to fight immediately. Taizu replaced him with Li Si'an and demoted him to the position of The Governor of the Camp. ”
After Li Si'an arrived at his post, he made a meritorious effort to change Kang Huaiying's method of relying on the fortress to besiege Luzhou, leading the army to garrison outside Luzhou, Zhou Dewei seized the opportunity to lead 5,000 elite troops to attack and kill the Liang army, and the Liang army was defeated and more than a thousand people were killed.
Li Si'an, who had suffered a great loss, led his army to retreat to the fort, and together with the construction of the fortress, he tried to continue the policy of besieging Luzhou City, while resisting the reinforcements of the Jin state.
Liang Taizu Zhu Quanzhong mobilized Shandong's minfu to transport grain and grass in order to ensure the supply of supplies for the Liang army on the front line, but was harassed day and night by the light cavalry led by Zhou Dewei, and the Liang army was shaken, and Li Si'an was forced to build an additional passage to ensure the transportation of military salaries. At this point, Liang Jun's original plan to take the initiative was completely disrupted and forced to switch to a comprehensive defense on the spot.
Just when the situation was getting better and better, Li Keyong came to the end of his life and died of illness in the winter of this year. The eldest son, Li Cunxun, who was twenty-four years old at the time, was in front of the ling and took over the still turbulent power of the Jin dynasty in his father's hands.
Li Cunxun
Li Cunxun, who had just ascended the throne, first killed his uncle Li Kening, who was plotting against him, and in view of the political instability at home, he urgently dispatched Zhou Dewei's class to return to the dynasty. Unexpectedly, Zhou Dewei's departure actually brought another unexpected result: Liang Jun, who was nervous, was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
However, this long sigh of relief soon turned into a careless slackness. After settling down the domestic affairs, Li Cunxun decided to take advantage of the opportunity to attack him unexpectedly, and led his army to march to the Supreme Party, approaching the Liang army's barrier under the cover of thick fog. The lax Liang army was unaware, and the Jin army suddenly appeared like a divine soldier descending from heaven, killing the Liang army by surprise, the unprepared Liang army was not a scrappy Opponent of the Jin army at all, and the barrier was quickly broken by the Liang army and lost its armor and fled in a heavy defeat.
In this battle, Li Cunxun relied on his superior courage to severely damage the Liang army, reversing liang's long-term suppression of the Jin state in one fell swoop, laying a solid foundation for the later destruction of Liang.
Looking at the Battle of Luzhou, which lasted for ten years in Liang and Jin, the process can be described as ups and downs, although the two sides came and went, but there is no doubt that the early Liang state was stronger than the Jin state in shanxi in terms of economic strength and military strength. However, under the conditions of taking advantage of the geographical advantages and people, the Liang army's offensive always had some tiger's tail taste, and it was very fierce, but it often did not take any big advantage, but on the contrary, the Jin state, although the small army was weak, was always able to seize the opportunity to turn the danger into a disaster, and finally won a huge victory with less victory and more victory over the weak victory.