Stirring for 400 years: Tuoba Tao used his military wisdom and courage to complete both, and planned to take the unification of Wan Helian Chang and flee

This article is the 309th in a long series, Four Hundred Years of Turmoil

On the eleventh day of the first month of the fourth year of Yuan Jia (427 AD), Tuoba Tao returned to Pingcheng. Families forcibly relocated from Tongwan died in large numbers on the way, and only two-thirds of them could reach Pingcheng.

Taking advantage of the retreat of the Northern Wei army, Helian Chang sent Helian Ding,000 (the fifth son of Helian Bobo) to lead an army of 20,000 people to prepare to retake Chang'an. After Tuoba Tao received the news, he ordered the cutting down of the Yin Mountain forest, the large-scale construction of siege equipment, and prepared for the second attack on the Xia Kingdom, completely destroying it.

On the third day of the first month of March, Tuoba Tao guarded Chang'an with the town of Tuoba Li, the king of Gaoliang, and at the same time issued an edict ordering Jin Wuhuan to build a bridge in Junzijin.

On the fourth day of the first month of April, Tuoba Tao's special dispatchers visited Liu Song on horseback and others to create a good international environment for attacking the Xia kingdom.

At this time, Northern Wei Sikong Xijin and Helian Ding confronted each other in Chang'an, and Tuoba Tao planned to take advantage of the emptiness in the rear of the Xia Kingdom to directly attack their capital city of Tongwan.

Therefore, Tuoba Tao led 30,000 cavalry led by Situ Changsun Han and others as the forward, followed by 30,000 infantry led by Tuoba Su, the king of Changshan, Tuoba Fuzhen, led 30,000 infantry to transport siege equipment, and the general He Duoluo led 3,000 cavalry to be responsible for search and reconnaissance.

In May, Tuoba Tao personally set out from Pingcheng, and before leaving, he ordered the Longjun general Lu Qian to lead all the northern soldiers and horses to guard the moraine and guard against Rouran's false attack.

On the ninth day of May, Tuoba Tao and his party crossed the Yellow River west from Junzijin. After arriving at The Neighbor Mountain, Tuoba Tao built a castle there, leaving a heavy weight, and then led a light horse 30,000 times the road ahead.

The civil and military officials accompanying him all dissuaded: "The City of Tongwan is very strong, and it cannot be conquered in a few days." You lead the light horse to attack the city, I am afraid that you will not be able to break through it for a while, and then if you want to retreat and have no food and military resources, it is better to attack Tongwan with the infantry and carry siege equipment. ”

Tuoba Tao said: "In the way of using soldiers, attacking the city is the lowest strategy, and it is not possible to attack the city until it is a last resort." If we march together with infantry carrying siege equipment, the enemy will definitely hold the city when he sees the situation. If we can't take it on time, the food is eaten, the soldiers are tired, and there is nothing to grab outside the city, then we are really in a dilemma. It is better to use cavalry first, because the enemy must not care much when he sees that our infantry has not come. We then deliberately pretend to be weak and tempt them to fight, thirty thousand light horses to attack the city is naturally not enough, but it is more than enough for a decisive battle. "The multitudes realized.

On the first day of June, Tuoba Tao arrived in Tongwan and ambushed the army in a deep valley, sending only a few troops to the city.

The Xia general Di Ziyu surrendered to Northern Wei and reported to Tuoba Tao: "When Helian Chang heard that the Northern Wei army was coming, he sent someone to recruit Helian Ding to return to the army, and Helian Ding said: 'The city of Tongwan is strong and dangerous, and it is not easy to break through, so when I have captured Xi Jin, I will rush to Tongwan and attack the Northern Wei army inside and outside. So Helian Chang concentrated on defending the city and waited for Helian Ding. ”

Tuoba Tao was deeply worried, so he ordered the army to retreat, showing cowardice, and sent Eqing and Tuoba Jian, the king of Yongchang, to lead 5,000 cavalry to the west to plunder the residents.

It just so happened that some people in the Northern Wei army escaped due to crimes, surrendered to the Xia army, and reported to the Xia state that the Northern Wei army had run out of grain and grass, the army only ate vegetables every day, and the heavy supplies were still in the rear, and the infantry had not yet arrived, so they should take the opportunity to attack them. In fact, I suspect that this was deliberately arranged by Tuoba Tao.

On the second day of the first month of June, the young and vigorous Helian Chang could not hold his breath and personally led 30,000 people out of the city to meet the battle. Changsun Han and others said: "The infantry position of the Xia Kingdom is difficult to break, and we should avoid its sharp edge." ”

Tuoba Tao said angrily, "We have come from afar to lure them out of the city." Now, since they are out of the city, we have avoided fighting, and we can only make the enemy's morale strong, which is not the way to use soldiers! So he ordered his troops to pretend to flee and lure Helian Chang in pursuit.

Helian Chang's soldiers were indeed divided into two roads, chasing the package left and right, and the drums shook the sky, and chased for five or six miles. At this time, the storm suddenly came from the southeast, spreading dust and sand, covering the sky and the sun.

Eunuch Zhao Ni, who was well versed in Shinto spells, said to Tuoba Tao, "The wind and rain are coming from the enemy's side, we are headwinding, and the enemy is going downwind, indicating that the heavens will not help me." What's more, our soldiers are hungry and thirsty, and may His Majesty avoid the front for a while, and then choose the opportunity to fight later. ”

Tai Chang Cui Hao screamed, "What are these words!" We have come thousands of miles and have our own way to win, how can we say that change will change? The enemy covets victory, will not stop pursuing, and there is no follow-up at all. We should hide the elite and launch a surprise attack. Wind and rain, it depends on how to use, how can we rigidly set the routine and determine that it is not good for us! ”

Tuoba Tao said to Cui Hao, "You are absolutely right! "Divide the cavalry into two teams to contain the enemy.

When the two armies were fighting, Tuoba Tao's mount suddenly lost its hoof and fell off its horse, almost being captured. At the critical moment, Tuoba Qi protected him with his body and fought desperately to repel the Xia army.

Tuoba Tao took this opportunity to turn over and jump on horseback, directly stabbed Xia Guo Shangshu Hu Liwen, killed on the spot, and then killed more than a dozen enemy soldiers, and he was also shot by stray arrows, but he still struggled to kill the enemy and fought bitterly. Under the strong counterattack of Northern Wei, the Xia army finally collapsed completely.

After the situation was reversed, the Northern Wei army took advantage of the victory to chase the remnants of the Xia state to the north of TongwanCheng, killing Helian Chang's younger brother Helian Man of Anan Gong and his nephew Helian Mengxun, as well as more than 10,000 soldiers.

Helian Chang did not have time to run into TongwanCheng, so he fled to Shanghao, and Tuoba Tao changed into the clothes of soldiers to pursue, and entered Tongwancheng. Tuoba Qi tried to dissuade him, but Tuoba Tao did not listen.

Later, the Xia people discovered Tuoba Tao and closed the city gates, hoping to catch turtles in the urn. Tuoba Tao and Tuoba Qi and others mixed into the inner palace, got a few skirts worn by women, and used them as ropes to tie to the iron mallet, so that Tuoba Tao could climb the city wall and escape from the city to avoid being captured.

At dusk, Xia Guo Shangshu's servant asked zhi to protect Helian Chang's mother to escape from Tongwan. Changsun Han led eight hundred cavalry to pursue Helian Chang, all the way to Gaoping, but did not catch up.

The loss of Tongwan meant a decisive victory for the Western Expedition to the Xia Kingdom. In this battle, Tuoba Tao won the greatest victory at the lowest cost, and his bravery and strategy were also vividly displayed.

On the third day of the first month of June, Tuoba Tao entered the city of Tongwan and captured tens of thousands of kings, princes, secretaries, generals, schools, and helian Chang's mothers, concubines, sisters, and palace people of the Xia Kingdom, captured more than 300,000 horses, tens of millions of cattle and sheep, and countless treasures, vehicles, flags, and other exquisite artifacts in the treasury.

The wall of Tongwan city is ten thousand feet high, the base of the wall is thirty steps thick, the upper wall is ten steps wide, the palace wall is about five feet high, hard enough to be used to sharpen swords and axes, and the pavilions and pavilions and water pavilions are also majestic and magnificent.

After Tuoba Tao saw this, he turned back to his attendants and said, "How can a small country enslave the people to such a point that it can not destroy the country?" ”

However, helian Bo did his best to repair the TongwanCheng to a solid foundation, and Helian Chang not only did not come in handy, but also gave it to Northern Wei. If Izumi knew, he would probably be able to spew out a mouthful of old blood.