After Li Qiong captured Chenzhou, while reporting victory to Ma Yin, he followed Ma Yin's instructions and turned his attention to Lianzhou. Lianzhou was also under the jurisdiction of Wu'an Army and the last place that was not captured. Li Qiong and Qin Yanhui discussed

, decided to divide their troops into three groups and attack Lianzhou. It was the end of the year, and they wanted to completely eliminate Lu Jingren before the year and present the best New Year's gift to Ma Yin. Li Qiong, Qin Yanhui and Li Tang divided their troops.

The three groups advanced to attack Lianzhou.

Lianzhou is located at the southern foot of the Mengzhu Mountains among the Nanling Mountains. The territory is dotted with hills and mountains. There are Dadong Mountains to the east, Dalong Mountains to the west, and Dustpan Mountains to the north, forming mountainous areas on three sides: west, north, and east.

The middle part is slightly lower. The mountains in Lianzhou are undulating, dangerous on three sides, and surrounded by water. Therefore, there is a saying that "ten thousand mountains form one mountain, and many rivers form one river." Lianzhou was named because of the mountain and river situation.

The Sui Dynasty pacified the Chen Dynasty in the ninth year of Kaihuang's reign. In the tenth year of Kaihuang's reign, Lianzhou was established, with Guiyang and Guangze counties under its control. In the early years of Emperor Yang's great career in Sui Dynasty, Lianzhou was abolished and Xiping County was established, with Guiyang, Lianshan and Yangshan under his control.

There were nine counties including Xuanle, You'an, Xiping, Wuhua, Guiling and Kaijian. This was the largest period under the jurisdiction of Lianzhou. In the fourth year of Wude in the Tang Dynasty, Lianzhou was restored to govern Guiyang, Lianshan and Yangshan.

county.

At this time, Lianzhou was controlled by Lu Jingren. Lu Jingren, a native of Suzhou, rebelled with Huang Chao in his early years and fought all the way to Guangzhou. When Huang Chao went north, he was ill and could not join the army, so he stayed. Huang Chao treated him well.

More than a thousand people were left specially for him. After Lu Jingren recovered from his illness, he led more than a thousand people to Lianzhou and formed an alliance with Cai Jie of Daozhou. Soon, Lu Jingren expanded his army to 5,000.

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In the first year of Guangming of Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty (880), with the cooperation of Lianzhou garrison general Huang Xingcun, Lu Jingren led 5,000 men to conquer Lianzhou. With this army of 5,000 men and his alliance with Cai Jie of Daozhou

Due to the relationship, Lu Jingren established a firm foothold in Lianzhou and has been the Tu Emperor for nineteen years, longer than his original boss Huang Chao.

Lu Jingren knew that Zhizhou and Chenzhou had been captured by the Wu'an army one after another. Knowing that Ma Yin's next target was him, he couldn't help being extremely nervous and hurriedly expanded his army to prepare for war. However, Lianzhou was too small after all. He worked hard for a year, but to no avail. The troops and horses

There were only more than 6,000 people, and the general only had himself and Huang Xingcun. Lu Jingren called Huang Xingcun for discussion and asked: "Daozhou and Chenzhou are occupied by Ma Yin, and our barrier has been lost. Li Qiong's army will go south at any time, General

Is there any good strategy?"

Huang Xingcun thought for a while and said: "General, with our strength, we may not be able to compete with them if we face them head-on. We must use surprise troops to compete with them. The general believes that they have traveled across mountains and rivers to fight quickly. We are a group of people in this area."

Surrounded by mountains, it will be difficult for them to transport their food and grass. We can use the method of strengthening the wall and clearing the field to hold on. When they run out of food, they will naturally retreat. We will pursue them when the time comes, and we will definitely succeed."

Lu Jingren is also a veteran on the battlefield. He once followed Huang Chao from the Central Plains to Guangzhou and has rich experience. After listening to Huang Xingcun's words, he said: "You are right. This method alone is not enough. Li Qiong and others are also

How could a person who has experienced hundreds of battles not take this into consideration? I want to harass them while strengthening the walls and clearing the country, so that they can besiege us with peace of mind."

Huang Xingcun immediately said: "What the general said is this. The general will lead half of the troops to defend the city. The last will lead half of the troops to hide in the mountains and forests outside the city. When they arrive, I will use harassment tactics. On the one hand, they will rob their food and grass.

Supply, on the one hand, they are looking for opportunities to attack at night. They are not familiar with the terrain, and there are many mountains here, so they cannot fully search the mountains. What does the general think?"

Lu Jingren was overjoyed and said: "Then General Lao! We will immediately send troops to collect the people's food and transport it into the city. You take enough food and half of the troops and hide in the deep mountains and old forests. Wait for them to come.

When attacking the city, you harass them from behind. We should cooperate inside and outside. Although we may not be able to defeat them, we should be able to deplete their food and demoralize them." Huang Xingcun responded and left.

Lu Jingren immediately sent people to plunder all the food of the surrounding people, and drove the people into the mountains. By the time Li Qiong entered Lianzhou, Lu Jingren had not completed much of the clearing of the country. Li Qiong and others were all the way.

As you drive in, you can hardly see any people along the way.

Li Qiong's army soon arrived at the foot of Lianzhou City and set up camp ten miles away from the city. Soon Qin Yanhui and Li Tang also came to join them. Li Qiong asked them to set up camp in the east, west and south of the city respectively. The three route armies combined more than 30,000 troops, and immediately

Lianzhou was surrounded.

Li Qiong convened the generals for discussion and said: "It seems that Lu Jingren wants to use the method of strengthening the wall to clear the country to use up our food. We can't let his conspiracy succeed. I want to win a quick victory. Lianzhou is small and sparsely populated.

Lu Jingren does not have many men. According to spies, the total number of troops under his command is only six thousand."

Qin Yanhui said: "What General Li said is absolutely true. We should not spend too much manpower and material resources on a small area. We can surround the city and attack from all sides. I believe that with the combat power of our army and the current high morale

, we will definitely be able to capture the city in one fell swoop.”

Li Qiong was overjoyed and said: "In that case, Li Tang, you lead 5,000 men to attack the west city, Zhang Tuying, you lead 5,000 men to attack the south city. General Qin, please lead 5,000 men to attack the east city, and Wang Tong leads 5,000 men."

Attack Beicheng. Liu Qing and I led the remaining 10,000 people as support. What do you think?" The generals said in unison: "I obey the general's order." Then the generals said goodbye and went back to camp to prepare.

Early the next morning, soldiers on all sides

The horses lined up in the city. Li Qiong sent people directly to the city tower and shouted to the city head, asking Lu Jingren to open the city and surrender. Lu Jingren ignored him and just urged his soldiers to strengthen defense. Seeing that he was stubbornly resisting, Li Qiong immediately ordered an attack

city.

Immediately, there was a sound of killing both above and below Lianzhou City. The Lianzhou soldiers on the city were flying arrows like rain, mixed with rolling trees and rocks. Below the city, the Wu'an army set up ladders and came up one after another. The two sides fought for a long time, but the Wu'an army failed to attack.

After all, Lu Jingren had occupied Lianzhou for nearly twenty years. He was also a war general. He spent a lot of manpower and material resources to strengthen the city wall many times. Therefore, for a while, the Wu'an army was unable to break through the city.

enter.

While the two sides were fighting fiercely, there were shouts of killing from behind the Wu'an army. Some soldiers came and reported: "Report to the general, there are soldiers and horses from Lianzhou attacking our camp and trying to burn the food and grass. General Liu Qing is fighting with

The enemy is engaged in battle, please ask the general to return to the army for rescue." Li Qiong thought to himself, this Lu Jingren actually had a hand. Fortunately, I was also prepared and asked Liu Qing to stay at the camp.

Seeing that the city could not be breached for a while, Li Qiong ordered the troops to retreat. He led his troops back to the camp to support him. Since Li Qiong left 5,000 troops for Liu Qing to guard the camp, the 3,000 troops led by Huang Xingcun did not have much advantage.

Huang Xingcun launched a fierce attack with his troops, but Liu Qing repelled them. At this time, Li Qiong's army returned.

When Huang Xingcun saw this, although he failed to achieve the purpose of burning Li Qiong's army supplies, it forced him to give up attacking Lianzhou, which was considered as completing the task. Huang Xingcun quickly led his army back to the mountains to preserve his strength and avoid being surrounded by Li Qiong's army.

After Li Qiong returned to the camp, he rewarded Liu Qing heavily. Then he invited the generals to discuss countermeasures. Qin Yanhui said: "Since Lu Jingren has divided his troops and intends to support each other, we might as well use the plan and try to eliminate his use first.

Come and support the army." Li Qiong nodded and asked: "What General Qin said, what do you generals think should be done?"

Li Tang said: "We might as well divide our troops to garrison at the mountain pass and trap these Lianzhou soldiers in the mountains. Soon, they will have trouble even eating. If they don't surrender, they will starve to death." Qin Yanhui said: "General Li Tang

Although this method is good, it requires more time. Moreover, blocking the mountain pass will inevitably scatter our troops and give them an opportunity to take advantage of it."

Li Qiong then said to Qin Yanhui: "What should we do according to General Yiqin's wishes?" Qin Yanhui said: "Lu Jingren originally had few troops, but now he has divided his troops outside the city, and the troops defending the city are even weaker. Tomorrow, one side

We will strengthen the attack on all sides and leave a group of elite troops to ambush outside the camp. If they dare to continue to attack and disturb the camp, we can counter-encircle them and annihilate them."

Li Qiong thought for a while and said, "Well, I will ask General Qin to take unified command of the attack on the city tomorrow. I will personally lead my troops to ambush outside the camp, and Liu Qing will continue to guard the camp." The generals took the order and retreated.

Early the next morning, Qin Yanhui commanded Li Tang, Zhang Tuying, Wang Ting and others to attack the city fiercely. Since they learned that there were not many defenders in the city, four parties tried their best. Soon Lu Jingren could no longer hold on.

, had no choice but to light up the beacon smoke and notify Huang Xingcun outside the city to cooperate as soon as possible.

Huang Xingcun saw the smoke lit up in the city and knew that the city was already unstoppable. Although he knew that after yesterday's attack, the Wu'an army must have been prepared. If he went to attack again, he might be surrounded. However, the situation in Lianzhou City was urgent and he could not be tolerated.

Hesitant, Huang Xingcun had no choice but to take the risk and lead his troops to rush out of the mountains and attack Li Qiong's camp.

When Huang Xingcun arrived at Li Qiong's camp, he saw that the camp was quiet and seemed to be an empty camp. Huang Xingcun was surprised and couldn't care less. He immediately ordered to rush to the camp. When they rushed to the camp gate, there was a sudden sound.

, countless feather arrows flew from it, and immediately shot down the soldiers rushing in front.

Huang Xingcun was shocked, but he still urged the soldiers to come forward and not to retreat. Some soldiers were cowering, and Huang Xingcun immediately killed them with his sword. These soldiers had no choice but to risk their lives and move forward. Suddenly, the two sides started fighting outside the camp. At this time,

Li Qiong gave an order, and the Wu'an army ambushing outside the camp rushed out and surrounded the Lianzhou soldiers. At this time, Liu Qing also opened the gate of the camp and led his army to attack from a flank.

Lianzhou soldiers and horses were in chaos. Seeing that the situation was over, Huang Xingcun had no choice but to flee. But it was too late. Li Qiong urged the horse to block Huang Xingcun's way. Huang Xingcun raised his spear and stabbed, but Li Qiong blocked it with his sword. The two of them fought less than three times.

Huang Xingcun was cut down by Li Qiong. Liu Qing shouted sharply at the Lianzhou soldiers: "Your general is dead, put down your weapons and surrender, and spare your lives!" When the Lianzhou soldiers saw Huang Xingcun lying on the ground, they were so frightened that they dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender.

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Li Qiong cut off Huang Xingcun's head and brought it to Lianzhou City. Li Qiong asked his soldiers to carry Huang Xingcun's head on a long pole and shouted towards the city: "Your Huang Xingcun's head is here, open the city and surrender quickly!"

The defenders were already exhausted, and now they saw Huang Xingcun's head, and they lost their fighting spirit even more.

Soon, the soldiers of Wu'an Army rushed up to the city wall. When Lu Jingren, who was supervising the battle, saw this, he sighed, knowing that there was no way to save his life. Lu Jingren did not want to be captured and humiliated, so he drew his sword and killed himself. The city gate opened wide, and Li

Qiong sent his army into the city and quickly took control of the whole city. After Li Qiong pacified the people, he sent people to report the victory to Ma Yin.

Ma Yinlian received Li Qiong's victory and knew that he had finally become a veritable military commander of the Wu'an Army. He was naturally happy from ear to ear. So far, the seven states under the jurisdiction of the Wu'an Army: Tanzhou, Shaozhou, Hengzhou, Daozhou, and Yongzhou,

Chenzhou and Lianzhou all fell under Ma Yin's rule. In just over a year, Wu'an Army's territory expanded from Tan and Shao to seven states. It was so smooth.

After successfully opening up territory and expanding territory, Ma Yin planned to pursue the victory and expand the fruits of victory again.

Ma Yin set his sights on the Jingjiang Army. The Jingjiang Army was originally called the "Gui Guandu Defense Observation and Disposal Envoy". It governed the five states of Gui, Yi, Yan, Liu, and Xiang. It was connected with the Wu'an Army and was behind the Wu'an Army.

Huge threat. This place is currently controlled by Liu Shizheng and Chen Kefan.

The Guiguan area was originally under the jurisdiction of Zhou Yuanjing, the economic envoy appointed by the imperial court. Due to its remote location and the beautiful scenery of Guilin, it has always been a place where literati and poets of the Tang Dynasty flirted with each other. At that time, Prime Minister Zhang Jun attacked Li Ke

He failed and was demoted to the position of Sihu of Xiuzhou. Going from Chang'an to Xiuzhou, he had to pass through Guizhou. Zhang Jun felt disappointed and composed a seven-character quatrain "Ode to the Azalea". He gave the book to Zhou Yuanjing, saying that he wanted to bid farewell to his official career.

From then on, he retired to the mountains and forests. This poem reads:

There is no time to make plans in the cave, and there is no spring like watching flowers in the cave.

Drinking alone and chanting about the mountains and rivers, the quiet scene at the end belongs to the poet.

After learning about this, Liu Chonggui, the brother of another prime minister Liu Chongwang and then the military governor of Lingnan East Road, composed a poem to comfort Zhang Jun:

The green buildings and the red garden join Hongjun, and in front of the osmanthus forest there is hope of spring.

I don’t like the beautiful scenery during the flower time. I am not a fisherman in Fengxi.

Zhou Yuanjing liked the poems of the two literary predecessors very much, and specially carved them on the cliff at Longyin Cave in Guilin. Unfortunately, only one year after the completion of the Longyin Cave stone carvings, Zhou Yuanjing, who was deeply attached to the mountains and rivers, ran into big trouble.

In December of the second year of Qianning (that is, 895, the second year after Liu Jianfeng became the military governor of Wu'an), Anzhou's defense envoy Jia Sheng had offended Zhu Wen's close confidant Jiang Xuanhui and lived in fear, fearing that he would

He was retaliated by Zhu Wen and Jiang Xuanhui.

Jia Sheng's superior was Du Hong. He was under increasing pressure from Yang Xingmi in the east, so he pinned his hopes on Zhu Wen. Du Hong would not offend the powerful Zhu Wen just because he was stingy with a subordinate's head.

After much deliberation, Wen Jia Sheng decided to adopt the best strategy among the thirty-six strategies. Jia Sheng united with his commanding officer Liu Shizheng and captured Chen Kefan with soldiers and horses to launch a rebellion and then fled.

Jia Sheng, Liu Shizheng, and Chen Kefan, together with their 3,000 men, abandoned Anzhou. The three of them fled south, passing through Hubei, Hunan, and finally to Guilin, where they finally found Zhou Yuanjing, whom he thought was the best to bully. Jia Sheng made a surprise attack.

He captured Guizhou, beheaded Zhou Yuanjing, the strategic envoy, and replaced him himself.

They were good at killing people, but had no ability to govern. Soon after, internal fighting broke out. One day, after Jia Sheng was drunk, he went crazy and insulted Chen Kefan. Chen Kefan was furious, and without saying a word, he covered his ears with lightning speed.
To be continued...