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After the Southern Tang wars against Min and Chu, Emperor Yuanzong of Tang Li Jing did not bother to change his past mistakes and continued to use a group of evil gangsters, and the domestic situation deteriorated day by day.
1. Zhou Shizong Chai Rong marched to the Southern Tang Dynasty
The boundary between Houzhou and Southern Tang is mainly divided by the Huai River (the Huai River originates from the Tongbai Mountain District of Henan, flows from west to east, passes through Xi County in Henan, Shou County in Anhui, Bengbu and Xuyi in Jiangsu, enters Hongze Lake, and flows into the sea in the east).
Therefore, the post-week operational deployment:
First of all, the army set out to forcibly cross the Huai River and attack the prefectures along the southern bank of the Huai River, especially Shouzhou, which has an important strategic position;
Secondly, while attacking the town along Huai, he sent troops to take the initiative to attack and annihilate a large number of Southern Tang reinforcements from water and land;
Third, cut off the connection between the Southern Tang states, forcing the Southern Tang army to be trapped in the city and isolated;
Fourth, resolutely hold the pontoon bridge built on the Huai River in Houzhou, ensure the smooth connection between the hinterland of the Central Plains and the Huainan front in Houzhou, and facilitate the timely transportation of military supplies and troops to the front line.
When Later Zhou realized the above-mentioned strategy of using troops, he then attacked the Yangtze River, forcing the Southern Tang to cede the 14 states north of Jiangbei.
From the very beginning, the Southern Tang adopted a defensive deployment of defensive operations.
The Southern Tang used the Huai River as a barrier to build fortifications in Shou, Hao, Si, and Chu prefectures along the Huai River, defended the cities with Liu Renzhao, Guo Tingshi, and Zhang Yanqing, and constantly sent water and land armies north to reinforce and prevent the Later Zhou army from entering Huainan.
(1) Zhengyang Dajie
On November 1 of the second year of Xiande (the thirteenth year of the Southern Tang Dynasty, 955), Emperor Shizong of Zhou ordered Li Gu to deploy the former military camp of Huainan Province and the prefectures of Zhilu and Shou, Zhongwu Jiedu made Wang Yanchao the deputy capital, and the superintendent of the guards Ma Jundu commanded Han Lingkun and other 12 generals to go to the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang, Li Jing, hurriedly transferred Liu Yanzhen, the Shenwu unified army, to deploy the northern camp, leading 20,000 troops to reinforce Shouzhou; Fenghua Jiedu made Huangfuhui as a support envoy, and Changzhou regiment trained Yao Feng as the capital supervisor, and 30,000 troops were stationed in Dingyuan (present-day southeast of Dingyuan, Anhui), ready to support Shouzhou at any time.
In November, Later Zhou Li Gu and others erected pontoon bridges in the area of Zhengyang (present-day Zhengyang Town, southwest of Shou County, Anhui), crossed the Huai River, and immediately attacked Shouzhou City in an eastward direction.
On December 8, Sejong Chai Rong went south from Daliang. Li Gu led the Later Zhou army to attack Shouzhou, and although some battles in the periphery won partial victories, the attack on Shouzhou was stubbornly defended by the famous Southern Tang general Liu Renzhao and failed to capture the city of Shouzhou. The Southern Tang general Liu Yanzhen rushed to Shouzhou, and had reached Laiyuan Town, about 200 miles away from Shouzhou, and marched towards Zhengyang with hundreds of warships, preparing to destroy the pontoon bridge built in Zhengyang by Later Zhou.
In view of the fact that the Later Zhou army was not accustomed to water warfare, if the Southern Tang army destroyed the Zhengyang pontoon bridge, it would be under the enemy's back, and "it would be better to retreat to the floating beam" and wait for the arrival of Zhou Shizong.
Due to the lack of naval forces in Later Zhou, Southern Tang warships could trace the Huai River straight up Zhengyang, and it was possible to destroy or even occupy the Zhengyang Pontoon Bridge, blocking Zhou Shizong and Li Chongjin on the north bank of the Huai River.
The Shouzhou Festival, Liu Renzheng and the northern camps of the Southern Tang who had reached the front line of Shouzhou deployed Liu Yanzhen and Huangfuhui to cooperate with each other, and the tens of thousands of troops of the Southern Tang could calmly surround and annihilate the Li Gu army in Zhengyang.
The war situation was very favorable for the Southern Tang side.
This is a passive situation that Li Gu has repeatedly feared. However, Liu Yanzhen, the military commander of the Southern Tang Dynasty, stole military power by bribing powerful people in the DPRK and China, and when he had not fought a war for many years, he lacked the strategy of using troops, and refused to listen to the correct opinions of others. Rigid and self-serving, shouting that military power is in hand, and those who violate orders are beheaded.
Later, Zhou Li Chongjin saw that the Southern Tang army was demoralized, and hastily turned to the defense, so he defeated the Tang army with a bang, killed Liu Yanzhen and more than 10,000 Southern Tang soldiers, captured the Tang general Xian Shilang and others, and collected more than 300,000 pieces of military equipment.
(2) Chuzhou Dajie
Southern Tang responded to the aid and sent Huangfuhui and Yao Feng, the capital supervisor, to retreat to Qingliu Pass, 20 miles southwest of Qingliu County (滁流县, Chuzhou (present-day Chu County, Anhui). Through this operation, Houzhou controlled Zhengyang, the position on the front line of the Huai River, and the north-south passage of the Huai River was unimpeded; And the Southern Tang "Jiang and Huai Jiu'an, the people are not accustomed to war, Yanzhen is defeated, and the Tang people are terrified", and the situation is very passive.
On the 18th of the first month, Sejong arrived in Ruyin County, Yingzhou (present-day Yongning Town, Fuyang, Anhui), and arrived in Zhengyang on the 20th.
Sejong Chai Rong immediately made two major decisions:
In view of Li Gu's ineffective fighting, Li Chongjin replaced Li Gu as the envoy of the camp of Huainan Province, and Li Gu sentenced Shouzhou to carry out government affairs; Organize a large army to continue the siege of Shouzhou.
On the 22nd, Sejong personally came to the city of Shouzhou, urged the army to besiege, and ordered the Zhengyang Pontoon Bridge to be moved to Xiacai Town (present-day Fengtai County, Anhui). On the 23rd, hundreds of thousands of Dingfu from Song, Bo (present-day Anhui), Chen, Ying, Xu, Su (present-day Suxian, Anhui), Xu, Cai (present-day Runan, Henan) and other prefectures attacked day and night.
At this time, in Tushan (present-day Huaiyuandong, Anhui) northeast of Shouzhou, more than 10,000 people of the Southern Tang Navy could directly take warships to trace the Huai River up, approaching the pontoon bridge and Shouzhou City erected in Xiacai in Later Zhou.
On the 26th of the first month, Sejong ordered Zhao Kuangyin to attack Tushan. Zhao Kuangyin sent more than 100 cavalry to flee in disguise after approaching the Southern Tang position, setting up an ambush to invite the enemy to attack. On the 28th, he defeated more than 10,000 Tang soldiers at the mouth of the whirlpool (that is, the mouth of the vortex water into Huai, 15 li northeast of Huaiyuan County, Anhui), killed the capital supervisor He Yanxi, and captured more than 50 warships.
In February, the Cai Pontoon Bridge under the Zhou Army was completed. On the 5th, Later Zhoulu, Shou, Guang, and Huangzhou inspectors Si Chao (also known as He Chao) reported that more than 3,000 Southern Tang troops had been defeated in Shengtang (present-day Lu'an, Anhui), captured Gao Bi, the governor of Southern Tang, and captured more than 40 warships.
In order to expand his victory, Sejong annihilated a large number of enemy troops to cooperate with the Battle of Shouzhou, and ordered Zhao Kuangyin to lead his troops to advance and attack Qingliu Pass in Chuzhou. The Southern Tang army arrayed Huangfuhui and Yao Feng at the foot of Qingliu Mountain, and Zhao Kuangyin led troops to outflank the mountain, and Huangfuhui fled into the city of Chuzhou (滁州, in present-day Chu County, Anhui) in an attempt to defend the city.
Zhao Kuangyin arrived outside Chuzhou and forced Huangfuhui to fight. On the ninth day, when Huangfuhui came out in full force, Zhao Kuangyin immediately rode into the enemy position, captured Huangfuhui and Yao Feng alive, conquered Chuzhou, and annihilated 15,000 enemies.
This was another major victory for the Later Zhou army after the Battle of Zhengyang.
At the same time, the king of Chu Kui and the king of Wuyue, Qian Hongjiao, at the request of Later Zhou, attacked the border of Southern Tang.
On 20 February, Wu Yue's prime minister Wu Cheng commanded Luo Sheng to march towards Changzhou in Southern Tang. In March, he attacked the outer city of Changzhou and captured Zhao Renze alive the Southern Tang Changzhou regiment.
After nearly three months of fighting, more than 50,000 people of the Southern Tang army were annihilated, hundreds of warships were lost, and many generals were killed.
Concentrate:
Houzhou annihilated 20,000 enemies in the Battle of Zhengyang, 15,000 enemies in the Battle of Qingliu Pass in Chuzhou, and more than 10,000 enemies in the Battle of Whirlpool, in addition to 5,000 enemies outside Shouzhou City, Shankou Town, and Shangyao, and more than 3,000 enemies in Hubei Governor's cottage, totaling about 50,000 people.
The people of the Southern Tang monarchs were panicked and fearful. In February of the third year of Xiande (956), Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang, Li Jing, sent Wang Zhilang of Sizhou to Xuzhou to request a truce and strike the army in Later Zhou, willing to serve the Emperor of the Great Zhou as a brother and pay tribute to goods every year.
Emperor Shizong of Zhou ignored it, and on 15 February, he ordered Hou Zhang and others to attack Shouzhou Water Village. The Southern Tang also sent Zhong Mo, a bachelor of Hanlin, and Li Deming, a bachelor of the Academy of Arts and Sciences, to Zhou Shizong to serve as ministers, sending 500 head of cattle, 2,000 hu of wine, gold and silver, and thousands of Luo Qi.
Zhou Shizong detained Zhong Mo and Li Deming, asked the Southern Tang emperor Li Jing to come and confess, and at the same time intensified planning for the war to attack the Jiangbei states.
(3) Between the war
The southern Tang River and northern prefectures were the most important strategic position in Yangzhou (present-day Jiangsu). Yangzhou was the eastern capital and important economic and trade center of the Southern Tang Dynasty, and was only separated from Runzhou (present-day Zhenjiang, Jiangsu) by a river, and very close to Jinling, the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Since the Southern Tang forces were mainly deployed on the Shouzhou and Haozhou fronts, and some reserve troops remained south of the Yangtze River, the defense of Yangzhou City was empty.
On February 16, the third year of Xiande (956), Chai Rong, Emperor Shizong of Zhou, ordered Han Lingkun to lead an army to lightly attack Yangzhou, asking him to pacify the local people and win the hearts and minds of the people. On the 22nd, Han Lingkun sent the vanguard Bai Yanyu to ride into the city at dawn, and the Southern Tang defenders did not realize it. Feng Yanlu, one of the "Five Ghosts", the deputy left-behind guard of the Eastern Capital, hid in the Buddhist temple and was captured alive by the Later Zhou soldiers.
Han Lingkun then took advantage of the victory to advance east from Yangzhou and capture Taizhou (present-day Jiangsu), and Fangne fled to Jinling, and later Zhou gave the high defense power to know Taizhou.
Subsequently, within half a month, the prefectures of Guang, Tai, Yang, He, Shu, and Xiao (present-day Shechun, Hubei) on the north bank of the Yangtze River were occupied by Later Zhou troops, Huangzhou was also besieged, and Southern Tang only occupied Luzhou (present-day Hefei, Anhui), becoming an important passage between Jinling and Shouzhou and Haozhou on the south bank of the Huai River.
If the Zhou army attacked from Yangzhou and Shuzhou at the same time, and Luzhou was lost, the communication between the Southern Tang and the southern bank of the Huai River would be seriously blocked.
Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang, Li Jing, deeply felt the seriousness of the situation, and for the third time sent his right servant Sun Sheng and Shangshu Wang Chongqing of the Ministry of Rites to ask Later Zhou for peace, saying that he would follow the practice of Wuyue and Hunan, adopt the year name of the Zhou Dynasty, and serve Later Zhou, and also offer 1,000 taels of gold, 100,000 taels of silver, and 2,000 horses of Luo Qi.
Soon after, Sun Sheng and Li Deming, who had previously been detained by Later Zhou, told Zhou Shizong that the Southern Tang would cancel the imperial title, cede the six prefectures of Shou, Hao, Chu, Si, Guang, and Hai (southwest of present-day Lianyungang, Jiangsu), pay 1 million yuan a year, and request a strike. Zhou Shizong refused and demanded the capture of all 14 prefectures in Jiangbei.
Li Deming did not dare to be the master, and asked Zhou Shizong to wait for five days, and he returned to Jinling to persuade Emperor Yuanzong of Tang to sacrifice Li Jing to the north of the Jiangbei.
When Li Deming arrived at Jinling, Song Qiqiu thought that it was useless to cede the land, and the privy envoy Chen Jue and the deputy envoy Li Zhenggu accused Li Deming of selling the country for glory, and Emperor Yuanzong of Tang Li Jing was furious and killed Li Deming. Later Zhou and Southern Tang failed to reach peace talks, and resorted to force.
(4) Chai Rong returned north
In March and April, in order to resist the Later Zhou army going south and defending the capital Jinling, the Southern Tang ordered Li Jingda, the marshal of the Zhudao army and the king of Qi, to command 20,000 troops from Guabu (present-day southeast of Liuhe County, Jiangsu) to cross the river north, but Li Jingda was afraid and hesitated, and set up camp more than 20 miles away from Liuhe.
Later, the Zhou people would ask Zhao Kuangyin to attack, and Zhao replied:
"He set up a fence to strengthen himself, and he feared me. Now my multitudes are less than two thousand, and if they strike at them, they will see that they are outnumbered; It's better to hit it when it comes, and it will be broken! ”
A few days later, Li Jingda marched into Liuhe, and Zhao Kuangyin met the attack, killing nearly 5,000 Southern Tang troops and leaving more than 10,000 people to flee to Jiangnan, where many drowned in the river because of the scramble for ferries. The elite division of the Southern Tang once again suffered heavy losses.
Later Zhou attacked the Jiangbei prefectures, and successes were frequent, but the long-term siege of Shouzhou from the first year of the third year of Xiande (the fourteenth year of the Southern Tang Baoda, 956) to April did not make progress.
Later, the Zhou army encountered heavy rain, and the water level of the Huai River and the Huai River (also known as the Xihui River, which originated in the northwest of Luyi County, Henan, flowed from north to south, and entered the Huai River in Fengtai County, Anhui) soared, and the siege weapons of the Later Zhou city were all drifted to the south bank and burned by the Southern Tang soldiers. Zhou Bing died a lot. After that, Fang Fang had difficulty supplying food, and began to discuss the class teachers the following week.
On April 24, the Zhou Jun Vortex Bridge was completed. On May 1, Sejong set up the Huai army at the mouth of the vortex. The whirlpool was located between Shouzhou and Haozhou, and Houzhou sent heavy troops to defend it, which could not only protect the newly built pontoon bridge, but also prevent the connection between the defenders of Southern Tang Shouzhou and Haozhou, or send troops from the vortex to support the attack on Shouzhou and Haozhou.
On the 7th, Sejong Chai Rong left his guards and troops to command Li Chongjin to continue the siege of Shouzhou, and he returned north from Wokou, and returned to Daliang on the 24th.
2, Zhou Shizong Chai Rong second expedition to the Southern Tang
After Jianghuai returned to Daliang in May of the third year of Xiande, Later Zhou quickly lost the Jiangbei prefectures he had captured, and the Shouzhou battlefield also faced a grim situation. In June, Southern Tang Shouzhou Jiedu caused Liu Renzhao to organize a counteroffensive, attacking the Later Zhou general Li Jixun's troops south of the city, killing hundreds of Later Zhou troops and burning a large number of siege equipment of the Zhou army. Southern Tang "reinforcement camp at Purple Mountain (present-day southern Shou County, Anhui), corresponding to the beacon fire in Shouchun City".
Later Zhou adjusted its military strategy in time, changing from scattered operations to concentrating forces to attack Shouzhou, and the Battle of Shouzhou took a major turn.
In the first month of the fourth year of Xiande (the fifteenth year of the Southern Tang Dynasty, 957), Li Jingda, the commander of the Southern Tang army, continued to stay in Haozhou, sending Xu Wenshu and the capital army envoy Bian Ho, and the north to recruit Zhu Yuan to lead tens of thousands of troops along the Huai River to the west, south of Tunjun Shouzhou.
After Sejong Chai Rong returned to Daliang on his first southern expedition, he felt that the lack of water troops in Later Zhou was very unfavorable to the Southern Tang campaign. Therefore, hundreds of warships were built on the side of Bianshui west of Daliang City, and the Southern Tang was ordered to teach the Zhou army to practice water warfare.
A few months later, the Later Zhou Water Division appeared and almost defeated the Southern Tang Water Army. This water army soon arrived at the front line of Shouzhou, and the situation of the battle immediately changed.
On the night of March 2, Zhou Shizong arrived at the city of Shouzhou. The next morning, he stationed in the south of the Purple Mountain, ordered Zhao Kuangyin to uproot the Southern Tang Pioneer Village and a military village in the north of Shanbei, killing more than 3,000 enemies and cutting off their roads, so that the Southern Tang army could not save each other. After Sejong divided his troops to guard the villages, he returned to Xia Cai himself.
At this time, the internal supervision of the Southern Tang army, Chen Juezhao, was at odds with Zhu Yuan, and repeatedly expressed Li Jing to Tang Yuanzong, stating that Zhu Yuan was a general who defected to the Southern Tang after Han and could not be trusted.
Emperor Yuanzong of Tang credulously believed the rumors, revoked Zhu Yuan's military post, and ordered Wuchang Jiedu to make Yang Shouzhong replace Zhu Yuan. On the night of the fourth day, Zhu Yuan and the pioneer trench caused Zhu Renyu to lead more than 10,000 people to surrender Zhou Zhou.
Taking advantage of the chaos within the enemy, Zhou Shizong decided to attack the reinforcements of the Southern Tang Zijin Cottage in a big way, and ordered Hujie Zuoxian to command Zhao Chao to send thousands of water troops east along the Huai River to pursue the Southern Tang army that might flee east from the Huai River.
On the 5th, Hou Zhou captured the Purple Mountain south of Shouzhou City, annihilated more than 10,000 enemies, captured the Southern Tang generals Xu Wenshu, Bian Hao, and Yang Shouzhong, and the rest of the Tang army fled east from the Huai River.
Sejong immediately divided his troops into three ways:
All the way along the south bank of the Huai River to the east, the left side of Hujie commanded Zhao Chao to lead thousands of people to the east in warships, and Sejong led hundreds of cavalry to pursue along the north bank of the Huai River.
The Southern Tang army drowned, captured, and surrendered a total of about 40,000 people, and also lost a large number of ships, food, and weapons.
In order to prevent the Southern Tang army from escaping, Sejong desperately pursued forward, set out from Zhao Bu in the morning of the 5th, and rushed to Jingshan Hong in the afternoon, traveling more than 200 miles in one day, and stayed at the Zhenhuai army (placed in the whirlpool, northeast of present-day Huaiyuan County, Anhui) that night. On the 7th, Later Zhou requisitioned Dingfu to build two cities in the north and south at the Huai River at the mouth of the whirlpool, and moved the Xiacai pontoon bridge to the whirlpool, further cutting off the connection between Southern Tang Haozhou and Shouzhou.
On 13 March, Emperor Shizong of Zhou sent an edict to Liu Renzhao of Southern Tang Shou Prefecture to persuade him to surrender.
The Southern Tang Qinghuai Dynasty made Liu Renzhao hold out in Shouzhou for a year and a half, repeatedly repelling the attacks of the Later Zhou army, and asked to go out of the city to fight a decisive battle with the Later Zhou army, but did not obtain the approval of Li Jingda, the marshal of the Zhudao army and horses. The defenders of Southern Tang Shouzhou were isolated from the outside world for a long time, and there was a shortage of food in the city, and the casualties of the army increased.
When Zhou Shizong's troops came to the city of Shouzhou, Liu Renzhao became seriously ill and unconscious. On 19 March, Shouzhou overseer Zhou Tingshu and Yingtian's deputy envoy Sun Yu sent envoys in the name of Liu Renzhao to surrender. On the 21st, Zhou Shizong was surrendered to the north of Shouzhou City, and Liu Renzhao was made an envoy of the Tianping Army, and died of illness immediately.
Later, the Zhou army entered the city of Shouzhou, moved the Qinghuai Jiedu envoy from Shouzhou to Xiacai, and opened a warehouse to relieve the starving people, pardon prisoners who were not worthy of the death penalty, appease the fugitive people to return home to engage in agricultural production, stabilize the social order of Shouzhou, and heal the wounds of war.
On 12 April, Zhou Shizong returned to Daliang with the joy of victory.
3, Zhou Shizong Chai Rong three expeditions to the Southern Tang
Less than two months after Sejong Chai Rong left Huainan, trouble arose again on the Huainan front.
(1) Battle of Haozhou
In the fourth year of Xiande (the fifteenth year of Southern Tang Baoda, 957), Guo Tingshu, the overseer of Southern Tang Haozhou, and the prefecture general Huang Renqian (also known as Renjin) were determined to defend the city of Haozhou. Haozhou is close to the south bank of the Huai River, relying on mountains and waters, adjacent to Chu and Si prefectures in the east, and Shouzhou in the west, and is a military town of Southern Tang control of the Huai River.
In May, Guo Tingyu led a light boat up the Huai River, went straight to the mouth of the whirlpool, and set fire to the pontoon bridge. Later Zhou soldiers suffered many casualties, and all the stored military food was burned. Later Zhou Southern Expedition, which had built pontoon bridges in Zhengyang and Xiacai, had never been destroyed by Southern Tang, and played an important role in transporting troops and munitions to the Later Zhou Dynasty to the Huainan front. The destruction of the vortex pontoon bridge greatly shook the Later Zhou imperial court.
However, the Southern Tang court did not increase its troops, and Guo Ting fought alone, and it was difficult to further expand the results of the battle, so he had to return to the city of Haozhou.
In July, Emperor Shizong of Zhou, in order to severely punish the generals who had failed in the Ding Yuan campaign, demoted Wuning Jiedu to the rank of general of Zuo Wei. On October 19, Sejong left Daliang for the third personal expedition, left Daliang and headed south, arrived at Wakou on November 4, and reached the west of Haozhou City on 5 November.
On the night of the 14th, Guo Tingzhi said to Zhou Shizong:
The courtier's family is in Jiangnan, if he surrenders immediately, I am afraid that the life of the whole family will not be saved, please allow me to report to Lord Tang, and I will surrender immediately after approval.
Zhou Shizong agreed to suspend the attack on Haozhou while closely watching the movements of the enemy in the vicinity. On the 19th, Sejong learned that hundreds of Southern Tang warships were east of Huaishui (flowing into Huaishui in Wuhe County, Anhui), intending to rescue Haozhou, but he sent troops by land and water that night and defeated the Southern Tang army at Dongkou (northeast of present-day Fengyang, Anhui), killing more than 5,000 Tang troops, dropping more than 2,000 people, and capturing 300 warships.
The Zhou army then marched east, day and night, along the city fence near the Huai River. In early December, when envoys from Southern Tang Haozhou returned from Jinling, Guo Tingsheng learned that the imperial court could not send troops to come to the rescue, but he surrendered after leading 10,000 troops and tens of thousands of grain.
(2) The Zhou army captured the prefectures along the Huaishui route
When the decisive victory in the Haozhou campaign was not yet over, Zhou Shizong did not allow the enemy any respite, and in time he swung his army eastward to capture the prefectures along the Huai River and further expand the victory.
On November 23, Sejong came to the city of Siju and forbade soldiers who cut firewood and grass to trample on the people's fields, and the local people enthusiastically supported and offered food and grass. Zhao Kuangyin took the lead in attacking the south of Sizhou City, burning the city gates, and breaking the Sizhou Water Village and Yuecheng. Sejong personally climbed the Moon Castle Tower and urged the soldiers to attack the city. On December 3, the defender of Southern Tang Sizhou Fan again met Kaesong and surrendered.
At this time, hundreds of Southern Tang warships retreated to the mouth of the Qing River (present-day Surabaya in Huaiyin County, Jiangsu). On the 6th, Zhou Shizong led his pro-army along the north bank of the Huai River, Zhao Kuangyin rode from the south bank of the Huai River, and the generals led the water army to the east along the Huai River, and the three routes of soldiers and horses pursued the Southern Tang army at the same time. There were no pedestrians near the banks of the Huai River for a long time, the reeds were like weaving, the mud was deep in the ditch, and the soldiers bravely fought bravely regardless of fatigue.
On the 8th, he chased the Southern Tang army and attacked with victory. On the 9th, the Southern Tang army was defeated in the northwest of Chuzhou. At this time, some of the Southern Tang naval divisions fled east along the Huai River, and Sejong took advantage of the victory to pursue, with Zhao Kuangyin as the forward, and captured Chen Chengzhao alive in response to the reinforcements of Southern Tang Hao, Si, Chu, and Haizhou, and captured more than 300 warships in addition to burning and sinking, and captured more than 7,000 enemies.
Southern Tang's warships on the Huai River have been completely lost. Sejong Chai Rong crossed the Huai River, camped northwest of the city of Chuzhou, and launched a battle to capture Chuzhou.
While attacking Chuzhou, Chai Rong of Zhou Shizong prepared to sail Later Zhou's warships on the Huai River into the Yangtze River, forcing Southern Tang to submit as soon as possible, but due to the high water level of Beishenyan north of Chuzhou City, it was impassable. Sejong inspected the stork water in the northwest of Chuzhou, personally taught the planning, recruited migrant workers to dig it, and hundreds of warships entered the Yangtze River south through the Grand Canal. The Southern Tang soldiers and civilians saw the Houzhou warships cruising on the river for the first time, and they were amazed, and they were even more afraid that the Houzhou warships would directly attack Jinling.
The Battle of Chuzhou was the final act of fighting along the Huai River. Although Yuecheng in Chuzhou had fallen and the surrounding areas were also occupied by Later Zhou, the defense of Southern Tang Chuzhou allowed Zhang Yanqing (Zhang Yanneng) and the capital supervisor Zheng Zhaoye to hold the city, and the battle was quite fierce.
Later, the Zhou army rushed to the city with "ladders, chiseled the city as a cave, burned it with real pay, and the city was destroyed." Yanqing was in the city, sworn to the death, and called the street fight; At dusk, he moved to the prefecture, and the long and short soldiers were exhausted, and Yanqing took the rope bed to fight." Zhang Yanqing resisted tenaciously for 40 days, and more than 1,000 officers and soldiers in the city were all killed. The Later Zhou army also suffered heavy casualties.
On the 23rd day of the first month, the generals of Sejong launched a fierce attack. On the 25th, the Later Zhou army invaded the city, killing residents indiscriminately, burning houses, and the whole city was in ruins.
This was the most brutal and barbaric slaughter of the city during Sejong's three trips south to Huainan.
By February of the fifth year of Xiande, Guang, Shou, Hao, Si, Chu, and Haizhou north of Chuzhou along the southern Tanghuai River had all been owned by Houzhou. The north and south of the Huai River began to unify, and further capture of the Jiangbei prefectures by the Later Zhou army was imminent.
After several months of conquest, Houzhou basically controlled the Yangtze River channel below Shuzhou, and Houzhou's warships roamed day and night on the river, and Jinling, the capital of Southern Tang, was completely exposed to the Later Zhou army.
Zhou Shizong used the deterrent means of troops under the city to win the surrender of Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang, and took the initiative to sacrifice Lu, Hu, Huang and other prefectures controlled by Southern Tang.
(3) The Southern Tang was forced to cede land and annex
Under the grim situation of Hou Zhou's approach, the Southern Tang monarchs were terrified.
Jing Sui, the third brother of Emperor Yuanzong of Tang, Li Jing, had long been made the crown prince and was the legitimate heir of Emperor Yuanzong of Tang. Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Jingsui resigned the title of imperial brother ten times, asked to go out to the domain, and pleaded with Emperor Yuanzong of Tang's eldest son Hongji as the crown prince. Li Jingda, the fourth brother of Emperor Yuanzong of Tang, also requested his resignation from his military post as a marshal of the Zhudao Province on the pretext of the defeat in the Battle of Purple Mountain in the third year of Xiande (the fourteenth year of Southern Tang Baoda, 956).
This confirmed that important members of the Southern Tang ruling clique had completely lost confidence, and they had no way out except to cede their land and surrender.
The Wuyue State and the Jingnan regimes on the east and west sides of the Southern Tang Dynasty, seeing that the Southern Tang was in danger, took the opportunity to send troops to participate in the war.
The Southern Tang not only failed one after another in the Jiangbei battlefield, but was also robbed by neighboring countries and fell into a situation of being embattled on all sides.
On 18 March, Li Jing, Emperor Yuanzong of Southern Tang, in his capacity as the head of the state, formally ceded the four prefectures of Jiangbei to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, and again requested that the Yangtze River be demarcated.
Seeing that the strategic purpose of sending troops to Jiangbei had been fully achieved, Emperor Shizong of Zhou immediately instructed the withdrawal of the armies along the Zhou River and the armies of Wuyue, Jingnan, and Chu states, stop the attack on Lu, Hu, and Huang prefectures, reduce the autumn and summer taxes owed by Xiande in the fourth year (957) of the Huainan prefectures, repatriate the captured Jiangnan soldiers, and give 300,000 hu of salt every year.
The Three Campaigns of the Southern Tang Dynasty were declared over. In April, Sejong returned to Daliang from Yangzhou.
Later Zhou fought against the Southern Tang Dynasty, starting in December of the second year of Xiande (the thirteenth year of Southern Tang Baoda, 955) and ending in March of the fifth year (the first year of Southern Tang Zhongxing, 958), after two years and four months, capturing 14 prefectures and 60 counties in the north of the Southern Tang River, achieving the predetermined strategic goal.
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