In history, most of the emperors with the title of Wu were Xiongjun Ming lords, among whom the famous ones were Liu Che the Han Wu Emperor, Liu Xiu the Han Guangwu Emperor, and Liu Yu the Song Wu Emperor. Today we look at the story of Liu Yu, emperor of the Song Dynasty. Liu Yu is worthy of the word "Wu" in his nickname, with one enemy and one hundred, bravely championing the three armies, can be called "God of War Monarch", the first emperor of the Southern Dynasty?
Below, let's look at Liu Yu's classic battle of fame - the Northern Expedition.
Since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it has always faced Chengwei from the north, and although Zu Ti, Yu Liang, Ban Hao, huan Wen, etc. have all led the Northern Expedition, they all ended in failure. In 404, Liu Yu defeated Huan Xuan, who had usurped the title of Emperor of Jin, and later supported the restoration of Emperor An of Jin, and since then controlled the administration of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
In 409, the Southern Yan lord Murong De died, and his nephew Murong Chao counterattacked the throne, and then he sent troops to the north and took the Jin two counties to taishou to drive more than a thousand people.
Liu Yu saw that the opportunity was coming, and immediately went to the Northern Expedition, and in March of that year, he commanded the Jin army to conquer Southern Yan.
The Southern Yan general Gongsun (公孙) saw the Jin forces on the fifth floor and proposed that Murong Chao take da da (大岘; present-day Yishui County, Shandong), but was refused. So Liu Yu ventured over the Da Da Shan Pass and conquered Linqu (present-day Ye County, Shandong) in one fell swoop, all the way to the point of breaking bamboo.
After that, Murong Chao fled on a single horse to the camp of the left general Duan Hui in the south of the city. Liu Yu immediately ordered a pursuit and defeated the Yan army, and many generals, including Duan Hui, were executed by the Jin army. Murong Chao then fled to Guanggu, and Liu Yu took advantage of the victory to pursue the north and capture the outer city of Guanggu. Murong Chao turned to retreat to the inner city. Murong Chao, who was trapped in the inner city of Guanggu, successively sent Shangshu Lang Zhang Gang and Shang Shu Ling Han Fan to ask Later Qin for help. In July of that year, the Later Qin lord Yao Xing sent the Wei general Yao Qiang to lead 10,000 infantry and cavalry, together with the Luoyang garrison Yao Shao, to aid Southern Yan. At the same time, the reinforcements sent emissaries to Liu Yu to declare that Later Qin had accumulated 100,000 troops in Luoyang, and if the Jin army withdrew, they would drive straight people and capture Luoyang.
However, Liu Yu was not intimidated by Yao Xing's bluff and continued to besiege the inner city of Guanggu. Shortly thereafter, Yao Xing was defeated by liu Bobo, the lord of Xia. Murong Chao saw that the Qin reinforcements were delayed and wanted to cede the land south of Da Da Shan to the Eastern Jin Dynasty for peace, but Liu Yu refused. After that, the Southern Yan ministers Zhang Hua, Feng Kai, Feng Rong, and Shangshu Zhang Jun were successively demoted.
In September of that year, Liu Yu intercepted Han Fan, who had gone to Later Qin to borrow troops, and immediately escorted him around the city to walk around the city of the Southern Yan defenders to see that the Hou Qin reinforcements were hopeless and terrified. In February of the following year, Southern Yan's Helai Lu Gongsun Fifth Floor and other troops dug tunnels to sneak up on the Jin army, only to be beaten back to the inner city. After that, Liu Yu launched a fierce attack on the inner city, southern Yan Shangshu Yueshou opened the city gate to meet the surrender, and Murong Chao led dozens of horsemen to break through and escape, but was eventually pursued by the Jin army and sent to Jiankang to be beheaded. At this point, Southern Yan declared its demise.
In 400 AD, Later Qin defeated Western Qin, and then defeated Houliang in the fifth year of Long'an, becoming the most powerful state in northwest China at that time. In 416, Liu Yu led an army from Jiankang and sounded the clarion call to send troops to destroy Qin.
In September of that year, Liu Yu led his army into Pengcheng, marching all the way to victory and winning successive battles. The Later Qin general Yao Huan (姚洸), who was guarding Luoyang, saw that the Jin army was moving at a tight pace, and immediately sent people to Chang'an for help.
As a result, the Later Qin lord Yao Hong ordered Yan Sheng, a lieutenant of the Yue Cavalry School, to lead 3,000 cavalry and the Wuwei general Yao Yinan to lead 10,000 infantry to reinforce Luoyang. As a result, Yan Sheng and the Wuwei general Yao Yinan were still on their way to Luoyang, when they heard the news that Yao Huan had left the city and surrendered to Jin, luoyang had fallen, so the army did not dare to advance again.
Liu Yu originally ordered the forward commander Wang Zhen to attack Luoyang viciously, and then march west together when the follow-up main force arrived. However, Wang Zhen evil and others saw that after the internal turmoil in Qin, the Tongguan defenders were weak, and decisively ordered that without waiting for Liu Yu's army to arrive, he would divide his troops into two roads and continue to advance westward. After that, Wang Zhen's evil army entered The Pond and captured Hongnong Taishou Yinya at Liwu City, and quickly arrived at Tongguan Castle. The other road, Tan Daoji and Shen Linzi crossed the Yellow River from northern Shaanxi and attacked in the direction of Pusaka. Later, the Jin army fought many battles with the Former Qin army, and gradually formed a confrontation situation.
A year later, Liu Yuqin led a large army to leave Pengcheng and enter the Qinghe River from Zhuanshui and Surabaya. Wang Zhenxian requested to lead a water army from the Yellow River into Weishui and into Chang'an, which was adopted by Liu Yu. After that, Liu Yu's army got closer and closer. Later Qin lord Yao Wen saw that Chang'an was in a hurry, and felt that he still had tens of thousands of troops and should be able to resist the Jin army, so he ordered Yao Pi's army to defend Weiqiao (north of Chang'an City), Hu Yidu's army to defend Shiji (northeast of Chang'an City), Yao Zan's army to defend Badong (the east bank of Bashui), and Yao Hong to lead an army to guard Daoyaoyuan (west of Chang'an City).
On August 23, Wang Zhen evil entered Weiqiao on a small ship and abandoned the ship to land. At that time, due to the rapid flow of water, many ships were swept away by the current. Wang Zhenxi immediately took the lead and led an army to attack Yao Pi. As a result, Yao Pi was defeated, and Yao Hong immediately led his troops to rescue him, and as a result, he and Yao Pi's defeated soldiers trampled on each other, chaotically, and collapsed without a fight. After this battle, Yao Pi was killed in battle, and Yao Hong fled back to the palace alone. Then, Wang Zhen's evil army attacked Chang'an City from Pingmingmen (Chang'an North Gate), and Yao Hong led his subjects to surrender to Wang Zhen's evil camp.
At this point, Later Qin declared its demise.
Liu Yu's two Northern Expeditions not only resisted the intrusion of the minority regimes in the north into the south, but also protected the lives and property of the people in the south. At the same time, it also achieved the purpose of expanding the territory, making Liu Song the largest political power in the territory of the Southern Dynasty.