During the great chaos in the Central Plains, a major event also occurred in Chu State. In August of the fourth year of Tianfu (939), a large-scale rebellion broke out in Xizhou, located in the west of Chu State.

Peng Shichou, the governor of Xizhou (today's Yongshun area in Hunan), led more than 10,000 barbarian soldiers to attack cities and villages, burn and plunder villages and towns, and launch attacks on Chen and Li states of Chu.

The barbarian problem in Chu State has been existing since the Ma and Yin Dynasties. From the western part of Chu State to the eastern part of Qianzhou, there are a large number of barbarian tribes living in these high mountains. The living areas of these barbarian tribes cover thousands of miles.

, there are high mountains and ridges everywhere, the mountains and rivers are dangerous, the transportation is inconvenient, and cars and boats cannot pass.

The Tang Dynasty implemented a restraint-style management of these barbarians, giving them certain rights and interests. As long as these barbarian tribes surrendered on the surface and paid appropriate taxes and tributes, the court would not interfere in their internal affairs. Therefore, the barbarians still had the say of those tribal chiefs.

Forget it. With the decline of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial court could not even control the feudal towns, let alone manage these barbarians.

After the Huangchao Uprising, the barbarian tribes in the western part of Chu State got rid of the control and management of the imperial court and became an independent area. The affairs of each tribe were decided by the tribal chiefs. There were many tribes in this area, large and small.

There are hundreds of chiefs. Most of them are rebellious and fight on their own. In terms of military strength, they naturally cannot pose a threat to the imperial court.

After Ma Yin occupied Hunan, he inevitably had military conflicts with these barbarians. As early as November of the second year of Qianning (895 AD), Jiang Xun had colluded with the barbarian rebellions in Feishan and Meishan to attack Hengzhou and Xiangzhou.

Township. In the following thirty years, Ma Yin's Chu State fought several wars with dozens of barbarian tribes within its territory.

In December of the fourth year of Kaiping (910), Song Ye of Chenzhou and Pan Jinsheng of Xuzhou led barbarian troops to invade the border of Chu State. Lu Shizhou, a famous general of Chu State, led his troops to attack, defeated Pan Jinsheng, severely attacked Song Ye, and finally forced Chen

, the barbarian tribes in the two regions surrendered to Chu.

In August of the fourth year of Zhengming (918), the barbarian tribes from Meishan led their troops to harass Shaozhou, but were repulsed by the guard Fan Xu. In July of the first year of Longde (921), the barbarians from Chen and Qizhou rebelled again.

He led his troops to attack the prefectures and counties of Chu State, but was defeated and suppressed by Yao Yanzhang.

In March of the fourth year of Tiancheng (929), the Hengshan barbarians harassed Shaozhou. In this battle, Ma Yin's general Wang Tong died in the battle. Ma Yin's Chu State often had military conflicts with these barbarian tribes, but the scale of these conflicts was not large. At the same time, every

Each time, the barbarians were the first to provoke trouble, and the Chu State launched a counterattack. In several wars, the Chu State won with an overwhelming advantage, and almost every battle was guaranteed to win.

These barbarian tribes nominally belong to the Chu State, but they can only be managed in a loosely controlled manner. If they want to truly control these barbarians in the deep mountains and old forests, the Chu State does not seem to have the ability, and of course Ma Yin does not have this idea. As long as these barbarians

Expressing surrender, paying taxes, and living in peace, Ma Xifan continued Ma Yin's management style.

Ma Chu didn't want to cause trouble, but the barbarians felt uncomfortable even with this loose management. Peng Shichou, the governor of Xizhou, was the most powerful among them. Peng Shichou was the son of Peng Yao, the younger brother of Peng Gan, the former governor of Jizhou.

In the third year of Kaiping (909), Peng Gan defected to Ma Yin and was appointed governor of Chenzhou by Ma Yin.

In June of the fourth year of Kaiping (910), Ao Pian, the commander of Yang Wu's navy, besieged Peng Yao in Chishi. Ma Yin sent troops to defeat Ao Pian and rescued Peng Yao and his son Peng Shichou. Then Ma Yin appointed Peng Yao as the governor of Xizhou.

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After Peng Yao's death, Peng Shichou succeeded him as the governor of Xizhou. Peng Shichou was brave and good at fighting, and was good at gathering people and winning over people's hearts. His business in Xizhou was very successful, and even the nearby barbarians were willing to obey Peng Shichou.

Jurisdiction. During the Tianfu period, after more than 20 years of management, Peng Shichou gradually became stronger. At its peak, it actually had tens of thousands of barbarian soldiers, making it the most powerful barbarian tribe in western Hunan at that time.

As he became stronger, Peng Shichou naturally had ideas and began to plan actions to break away from the control of the Chu State. When Ma Yin was in power, although various barbarians from various places continued to send troops to harass the Chu State, most of them were beaten up by the Chu army.

, basically it was a loss of troops and generals, and the gain was not worth the loss. The barbarians at this time were far from the opponent of the Chu army, so Peng Shichou was honest during this period and rarely sent troops to harass the Chu state.

Peng Shichou was very shrewd. Firstly, he was not strong enough. Secondly, Ma Yin was strong. Thirdly, Ma Yin had a life-saving grace for him. Therefore, Peng Shichou did not dare to have any different intentions. He was waiting for a suitable opportunity.

Ma Yin's death made Peng Shichou feel that the time was ripe to launch a military war to get rid of Chu State's control! In August of the fourth year of Tianfu (939), Peng Shichou gathered tens of thousands of barbarian soldiers and launched a barbarian tribe attack on Chu State.

The largest war. Peng Shichou's slogan for launching the war was very high-sounding: resist the tyranny of the Chu State and resist the heavy taxes and levies of the Chu State.

Ma Xifan ostensibly ruled the barbarians in Xizhou, and naturally levied certain taxes from these tribes. Although Ma Xifan's rule in Chu was somewhat brutal, it also happened after the death of Peng Shichou's cousin, Mrs. Peng. Peng was still alive.

At that time, Ma Xifan performed quite well. The internal affairs of the barbarian tribes in Xizhou were basically decided by the tribal chiefs.

The Chu State was beyond the reach of these areas, so it had to manage them. The Xizhou area was in the deep mountains and lofty mountains, and the living standards of the barbarian people were quite low. The barbarian people lived a very low life.

It is a farming life. In deep mountainous areas, there is not much arable farmland, which means that there is not much food production.

As soon as there was less food, the barbarians would naturally not have enough to eat. So the barbarians had to find a way to eat enough, so going to Chu State to rob and plunder became a simple and effective way. The way of life of many barbarian tribes is to cultivate in spring and autumn, and to cultivate in summer and winter.

Loot.

In the past, barbarians from various places sent troops to harass them. They were nominally to resist the rule of the Chu State, but in fact they were just to fill their bellies and plunder resources. As the leader of the barbarians, Ma Xifan did not provide financial assistance, but instead collected taxes. It was really abominable.

So Peng Shichou encouraged the barbarians to send troops to attack Chu.

On the one hand, Peng Shichou hoped to get rid of the rule of Chu State quickly and become the emperor of the barbarians. On the other hand, he wanted to plunder some of Chu State's material resources and expand his own territory through war. In order to ensure the victory of the war,

Peng Shichou also sent envoys to Shu to ask Meng Chang, the leader of Shu, to jointly send troops to attack Chu.

After Wang Jian's Shu Kingdom was destroyed by Li Cunxu, the Tang court did not exercise effective control over Shu. First, Guo Chongtao, the hero of the annihilation of Shu, was unjustly killed by Li Cunxu, which caused chaos in Shu. The murder of Guo Chongtao triggered various rebellions in Tang Dynasty, and Weizhou

The soldiers took the lead in the rebellion, and the founding minister Li Siyuan soon joined the rebellion. Soon, Li Cunxu was killed by the rebels during the rebellion, and Li Siyuan naturally became the new emperor of the Tang Dynasty.

But Li Siyuan also failed to solve the situation in Shu. After Guo Chongtao's death, Meng Zhixiang served as the military governor of Xichuan, and Dong Zhang served as the military governor of Dongchuan, becoming the two major vassal towns in both Sichuan. Meng Zhixiang always had great ambitions and planned not to obey the new governor.

Under the management of Emperor Li Siyuan, he secretly had the idea of ​​​​separating himself as king and breaking away from the Later Tang Dynasty. After several years of war, after he annexed the territory of Dong Zhang, the governor of Dongchuan, Meng Zhixiang occupied the entire two rivers and began to compete with Li Siyuan.

After annexing Dong Zhang, Meng Zhixiang officially announced his rebellion against the Tang Dynasty, and defeated Li Siyuan's attacks on Shu many times, and finally succeeded in gaining a foothold in both Sichuan and Shu. In the first month of the first year of Yingshun (934), Meng Zhixiang founded the country in Chengdu

Proclaimed emperor, known as Hou Shu in history. Meng Zhixiang died of illness in the year he proclaimed himself emperor, and his son Meng Chang succeeded to the throne.

Hou Shu and Chu were not bordering each other. What separated them were the barbarian tribes in the western Hunan region. Whoever could control these barbarians would have a military advantage. But Meng Chang did not have a long-term strategic vision and seemed to have no intention of jointly sending troops.

He was not interested, so he made an excuse of a long journey and rejected Peng Shichou's request.

Although Hou Shu did not agree to send troops, it did not shake Peng Shichou's determination to attack Chu! Facing a large-scale attack by tens of thousands of barbarian soldiers, Ma Xifan did not panic and immediately arranged military deployment. The gang who followed Ma Yin in the past to conquer the world

The founding fathers of the country had all passed away, so Ma Xifan promoted the younger generals of Chu State.

In September of the fourth year of Tianfu (939), Liu Qing, the commander of Zuo Jingjiang, and Liao Kuangqi, the commander of the decisive victory army, were appointed as commander-in-chief by Ma Xifan. They led 5,000 Hengshan troops on an expedition to quell Peng Shichou's rebellion. Liao Kuangqi was the son of Liao Shuang, and Liao Kuangtu

His younger brother, his bravery in battle has been demonstrated in the previous war in Jingnan, which made Ma Xifan very relieved.

However, Liao Kuangqi fought bravely, but he also had many shortcomings. He had a straightforward personality and a fondness for drinking. He actually beat up his colleagues because of the drinking order at a banquet, and was demoted to Shaozhou coach. Of course, Ma Xifan will not forget this.

He was a fierce general who had replaced him in a single challenge against Gao Congsi. So Ma Xifan issued an edict, and Liao Kuangqi was reinstated as the commander of the decisive army, responsible for leading the troops to attack Peng Shichou.

Liao Kuangqi was deeply moved by Ma Xifan's reuse and decided to die in repayment of Ma Xifan's kindness. Another expedition commander, Liu Qing, had followed Li Qiong and Lu Shizhou on several expeditions to Lingnan. Liu Qing was an insignificant figure among Chu generals.

The generals of Shanlushui cannot be compared with Liao Kuangqi in terms of popularity.

There are many unknown factors in using an unknown general to lead an army on an expedition. It may result in a complete victory, or it may result in a disastrous defeat. Ma Xifan seems to be engaging in a war gamble. He hopes that Liu Qing will not let him down.

The number of troops that Ma Xifan leads seems to be a little less, with only 5,000 Hengshan soldiers. It seems a bit wrong to use this small number of troops to deal with the menacing tens of thousands of barbarian soldiers. However, Ma Xifan is full of confidence.

This group of Hengshan soldiers is an elite division of the Chu State, fighting in the mountains all year round. More than 20 years ago, they followed Lu Shizhou to defeat two barbarian armies, Pan Jinsheng and Song Ye. They have very rich experience in actual combat with barbarian armies.

Therefore, in Ma Xifan's opinion, five thousand people is enough!

One day, in the Xizhou area, which had always been peaceful and quiet, suddenly war drums were roaring, flags were flying, and drums were beating loudly. The Xizhou barbarian army and the Chu army launched a fierce frontal battle. Although the barbarian army was numerically superior, Peng Shichou obviously overestimated

His own strength underestimated the Chu army's combat power.

Although the barbarian army looks fierce, they are usually busy farming and lack actual combat experience. In frontal field battles, the barbarian soldiers are no match for the battle-hardened Hengshan soldiers. Liu Qing and Liao Kuangqi defeated the barbarian army near Xizhou.

Peng Shichou suffered heavy losses and had to lead his troops to retreat into the mountains. Under the pressure of Liu Qing and Liao Kuangqi's army, Peng Shichou did not surrender to the Chu State like Song Ye did before. After failing in the first battle, Peng Shichou

Undeterred. Since he was no match for the field battle in the plains, he decided to lead his troops deep into the hinterland of Xizhou to prepare for a guerrilla war with the Chu army.

The barbarian troops who have lived in the deep mountains and ridges of Xizhou all year round are naturally very familiar with the geographical terrain of Xizhou. This is their natural advantage. Peng Shichou believed that the Chu army would be unable to move forward in the deep mountains of Xizhou.

In November of the fourth year of Tianfu (939), Peng Shichou led his troops to retreat to a cottage in the mountains of Xizhou. The cottage was built on a very steep mountainous terrain and was surrounded by almost insurmountable cliffs. As long as the

The road up the mountain was blocked, and even if the enemy had thousands of troops, there was nothing he could do! Peng Shichou planned to defend the mountain stronghold, leaving the Chu army with nothing to do and retreat when they saw the difficulty!

When Liu Qing and Liao Kuangqi led their troops deep into the mountains and forests to the mountain stronghold where Peng Shichou was retreating, the terrain was so steep and steep that Liu Qing and Liao Kuangqi were helpless. If the mountain stronghold was besieged without attacking, the effect would not be great. Since Peng Shichou

If you choose this cottage, you must have prepared sufficient supplies. If you can persist for a year and a half, there will be no big problem.

However, the Chu army went deep alone. It was impossible for them to carry a large amount of supplies and waste time with Peng Shichou. The Chu army was naturally unwilling to do so. However, if they gave up and withdrew their troops and returned to Chu, the difficulty of explaining to Ma Xifan would be very great and would not be possible.

Task, Ma Xifan will probably be severely punished! For the two generals Liu Qing and Liao Kuangqi, there is no way out, they can only move forward bravely and break through the stronghold.

At the critical moment, Liu Qing and Liao Kuangqi lived up to Ma Xifan's trust and high hopes. They made a unified plan and decided to storm the stronghold. As for the tactics, Liu Qing decided to use local materials and weave climbable rattan ladders from trees and vines in the mountains.

After climbing the cliffs and weaving the rattan ladders, Liu Qing and Liao Kuangqi immediately ordered the Hengshan soldiers to use these rattan ladders as climbing tools to climb up the cliffs to the top of the mountain with great difficulty.

These Hengshan soldiers of the Chu State were all very elite soldiers, and they had been fighting in the mountains for many years, so they climbed up the vine ladder without fear. It is naturally very dangerous to climb the cliffs to fight, and they must not only guard against attacks on the top of the mountain, but also

The soldiers of the Chu army who rushed to the front line almost narrowly escaped death because they had to control their steps.

As the commander-in-chief, Liao Kuangqi did not need to be at the forefront of the battlefield. However, he not only fought bravely, but also liked to lead the way and rush to the forefront of the battlefield with his soldiers. This time when climbing the cliff to fight, Liao Kuangqi once again took the lead.

Habitually marching to the top of the mountain along the vine ladder with the soldiers.

Liu Qing and Liao Kuangqi made such a big noise, which would of course alarm Peng Shichou. Facing the Chu army's frantic attack climbing up the cliff, Peng Shichou had to guard and defend. He mobilized all barbarian soldiers to defend and monitor day and night, and used arrows on the top of the mountain.

, rolling logs, stones and other weapons launched an attack on the Chu army climbing up the rock. For a time, all kinds of screams and shouts of killing were deafening, and gunpowder smoke filled the entire battlefield.

Liao Kuangqi rushed to the front with ordinary soldiers. Although he was brave and exemplary, he was unlucky and died on the battlefield. Liao Kuangqi was a well-known general in the Chu army. His death in battle greatly reduced the morale of the Chu army.

The attack on the cottage could only be stopped. As Liao Kuangqi's partner, Liu Qing was naturally very sad at this time.

The general died in battle, and the morale of the entire army was low. At the same time, Liu Qing was hesitant when he encountered a mountain stronghold that was extremely difficult to attack. As a general who was not well-known in Chu, he chose to withdraw his troops and return to Chu. Perhaps it was Liu Qing's wise choice.

Otherwise, he might even die in Xizhou! At this critical moment, Liu Qing must make his choice!

Liu Qing decided not to withdraw his troops and continue to attack the mountain stronghold! If Liu Qing chose to withdraw his troops at this moment, he would be bowing his head to Peng Shichou and betraying the trust of Chu King Ma Xifan in him. Liao Kuangqi's sacrifice would be worthless.

He will also be ruined by losing this war.

So Liu Qing turned his grief into strength and mobilized the entire army again, asking everyone to cheer up and continue the offensive against the mountain stronghold! But Liu Qing learned the lesson from the failure of the first attack! After investigating the mountain stronghold, Liu Qing decided to use a strategy to capture the mountain stronghold.

Cottage. He thought to himself, you can’t come out of the cottage hiding on the top of the mountain, but you must drink water! The water that the cottage drinks daily comes from the streams in the mountains and forests of Xizhou.

In the first month of the fifth year of Tianfu (940), Liu Qing secretly sent people to find the stream flowing through the village, and then poisoned the water in the upper reaches of the stream. The poisoning strategy was poisonous and harmful to people. However, on the battlefield, the poisoning strategy was often used.

Use. In order to conquer the copycat, Liu Qing could only resort to this vicious trick.

Of course, the poisoning was carried out in secret. Peng Shichou and the barbarian soldiers in the village had no idea that the river water had been poisoned. As a result, a large number of people died or vomited and fell ill after drinking the water, and their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced.

Liu Qing immediately seized this opportunity and launched a second round of offensive, attacking the cottage with rockets. Most of Peng Shichou's cottages were made of vegetation and were not fireproof at all. Liu Qing had already noticed this. After the stream was poisoned, Liu Qing

Qing has been waiting for the wind direction to change.

One night, the wind direction turned southerly in favor of the Chu army. Liu Qing immediately ordered his crossbowmen to attack the cottage with rockets. In an instant, the entire cottage was in a sea of ​​fire. The fire was driven by the wind, burning houses and pavilions everywhere.

, countless barbarian soldiers were burned to death. They were poisoned and burned by fire. The village was in chaos and had no defense ability at all. Liu Qing would never let go of this excellent opportunity. He gave an order, and Chu

The soldiers bravely climbed up the rock ladder again.
Chapter completed!