(PS: This chapter tells the story of the battle of Feishui. Those who don’t like or know about can skip it directly.)

In the Battle of Feishui, why was Fu Jian so anxious that he would not wait for the recruited army to gather in one place, and then set out in unification to launch a thunderous attack on the Eastern Jin Dynasty and win in one battle?

It’s not that Fu Jian doesn’t want to do this, but that he can’t do it at all.

Under the ancient technical conditions, what is the concept of concentrating millions of troops in one place?!

If you walk on a big road, even if the road is very wide and can accommodate twenty people, and the queue is densely arranged, the entire team will have to be dragged for more than fifty kilometers.

This is a terrible state that cannot be controlled.

Moreover, if millions of troops are marching together, it is impossible to supply supplies.

The only way is to divide the troops into advance. Fu Jian’s tactic was to divide the millions of troops into several echelons. The first echelon fell down, and the second echelon continued to use the human sea tactics to kill the Eastern Jin army.

Fu Jian once said: "With my voyage, we will whip the river to cut off the current." As a result, the war was completely over before the second echelon could go.

…………

Compared with the many hidden dangers of the Former Qin Dynasty, the Eastern Jin Dynasty before the Battle of Feishui was another situation.

The news that Fu Jian was about to go south was spread to Jiankang, and the Eastern Jin court was shocked.

At that time, the main military forces of the Eastern Jin Dynasty were divided into two large pieces, one was the Huan Chong army stationed in Jingzhou, and the other was the Beifu army stationed in Huainan, led by Xie Shi and Xie Xuan.

Judging from Fu Jian's attack direction, the Northern Prefecture Army will undertake the main combat mission.

Xie Xuan was very anxious and asked Xie An, the number one figure in the Eastern Jin Dynasty at that time, for orders. Xie An was just a gentle prime minister and had no good idea. He could only say vaguely: "The court has made other arrangements."

In fact, there was no arrangement at all, Xie Xuan could only rely on himself.

Huan Chong from Jingzhou was also very anxious and sent three thousand elite soldiers to escort Jiankang. As a result, Xie An said to the soldiers sent: "This place has been arranged, so you should go back and strengthen the defense in the west!"

After hearing this, Huan Chong sighed privately and said, "We're done!"

The officials of the court were eager to be captives in groups, so they all went to Xie An to make an idea. Xie An could not face these people, so they simply left and ran out to travel around and avoid showing up in Jiankang during the day.

Some people brag about Xie An, saying that he "lived high in the East Mountain for forty years, defeated Fu Jian with one stone and bamboo." He defeated Fu Jian by playing the piano. In fact, this is completely the literati's bold words, which is no different from the facts.

Deep down in Xie An's heart, he might have left his fate. Fortunately, even if he became a prisoner, he would not have any danger of life. It was a tradition for Fu Jian to treat prisoners preferentially. He had already released the wind before going to war, saying that after the Eastern Jin Dynasty was destroyed, he would give Xie An a servant.

In Chang'an City, Fu Jian also built a house for Xie An in advance.

Xie An could only pretend to be deep and could not provide any help. Xie Shi and Xie Xuan could only gather all the available troops in his hands to go to a decisive battle with Fu Jian's army.

In October, Fu Rong's vanguard troops crossed the Huai River, captured Shouyang City, and besieged a Jin Dynasty army in Jiushi. Fu Rong planned to wipe out the besieged Jin army, so he sent another 50,000 troops to station in Luojian in the east to stop the reinforcements of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.

At that time, Fu Jian's main troops were still in full swing, and Fu Jian himself led a part of his army to station in Xiangcheng.

The besieged Jin army wrote a letter to Xie Xuan for help, but did not expect the letter to be intercepted by Fu Rong. Fu Rong was happy to think that the end of the Jin army had arrived and immediately sent a message to Fu Jian for victory.

When Fu Jian heard this, Long Yan was very happy and immediately led 8,000 cavalry to Shouyang to meet with Fu Rong. The remaining main force was still moving slowly on the road.

Xie Xuan and other main troops of the Northern Prefecture Army entered Luojian, intending to rescue the trapped Jin army.

However, 50,000 Qin troops were separated by them, and the Northern Prefecture Army had no choice but to launch an attack. Liu Laozhi, a general under Xie Xuan, led 5,000 elite troops to attack the Qin army at night, but the Qin army was not prepared and a great collapse occurred.

Just like all battlefield collapses, soldiers cannot judge the number of enemy troops, and cannot organize effective resistance. They just flee blindly, and panicked soldiers rushed to the Huai River.

The Former Qin generals could not stop this collapse. They were either killed or captured. As a result, 15,000 Qin troops were killed and their weapons and food fell into the hands of the Jin army. The 50,000 army completely disintegrated in the sudden attack of 5,000 enemy troops, which seemed to be a preview of a greater collapse in the future.

This failure surprised Fu Jian. For the first time since he went to war, he felt fear.

After the Luojian Victory, the main force of the Jin army continued to advance and joined the besieged Jin army. At this point, 80,000 Jin naval and land troops completed the assembly and stationed in the east of the Feishui River.

At this moment, a person who decided the key turning point of the Battle of Feishui appeared. He was Zhu Xu, the governor of Yongzhou of the Eastern Jin Dynasty who was previously captured by Fu Jian. After Zhu Xu was captured, Fu Jian gave preferential treatment according to tradition.

Zhu Xu was appointed as an envoy by Fu Jian this time and went to persuade him to surrender. Unfortunately, Zhu Xu not only did not persuade him to surrender, but instead said to Xie Shi: "Although the Qin army has a million people, they are still advancing. If the troops are concentrated, the Jin army will be unable to resist. The situation is different now. We should take advantage of the opportunity when the Qin army was unable to arrive at all and launch a quick attack. As long as we can defeat its vanguard troops and destroy its spirit, we can defeat the millions of Qin army."

Xie Shi originally planned to stick to it and waste Fu Jian away. Under Zhu Xu's persuasion, he decided to take the initiative.

Feishui was chosen as the decisive place for two armies.

Fu Jian's army gathered on the west bank of the Feishui River and fought against the Jin army across the river. At that time, Fu Jian had a total of 250,000 troops in Fu Jian's army, and Fu Jian brought 8,000 cavalry from Xiangcheng.

However, Fu Rong sent another 30,000 troops to Jingzhou, and in addition, some troops were lost in Luojian and some troops were left to guard Shouchun. Therefore, the Former Qin army on the Feishui River shore was only 150,000.

The elite Qin army was a soldier from Di, concentrated in the central army commanded by Fu Rong. In addition, there were many Han people, Xianbei people, Qiang people and Wuhuan people in the army. They were not loyal to the Former Qin established by the Di people, but came because they were afraid of power.

The complexity of race increases the complexity of organization and makes command more difficult. Language alone is a problem. Different ethnic groups have different languages, and Fu Rong's orders must be translated into different languages ​​before they can be issued.

Fifty thousand people come from a variety of races and have not received formal training. They are now crowded together on the west bank of the Feishui River. Even if the gods are their commanders, it is afraid that it will be difficult to dispatch them freely.

Both sides were ready to go along the Feishui River, but they did nothing for a moment.

At that time, Fu Jian and Fu Rong climbed the Shouyang City Tower and saw the Jin army opposite in a uniform formation, the elite soldiers, and the grass and trees on Bagong Mountain were all human-shaped.

Fu Jian said to Fu Rong, "This is also a strong enemy, what is the least!" He was worried and fearful.

This is the source of the idiom "Essence and Trees are all soldiers", which shows that after Luojian's defeat, Fu Jian had changed from underestimating the enemy to fearing the enemy, and became lack of confidence.

At this moment, Fu Jian received a letter written by Xie Xuan, which said: "Your army went deep and set up a formation to force water. Is this a lasting strategy? If you retreat to the army and ask the soldiers to deal with each other, the servants and the Lord will slow down and look at it, isn't it beautiful?"

Xie Xuan planned to fight as soon as possible. According to the plan, he will lead 8,000 elite troops to cross the river to fight. If the situation goes well, the main force will cross the river and launch a large-scale attack in the future. If it fails, there may be a main force to support it.

There were great differences among the Former Qin army regarding Xie Xuan’s request. Most of us thought there was a problem here and we should refuse to retreat. However, Fu Jian and Fu Rong believed that: “When the Jin army crossed the river halfway and let the cavalry charge at them, how could there be no great victory?”

Therefore, Fu Jian ordered the army to retreat.

Fu Jian's idea seemed to be correct. The Qin army was waiting for work and used cavalry to deal with the Jin army crossing the river, which had a great advantage in tactics.

But Fu Jian ignored one thing, was he capable of ordering his army and then retreating? Fu Jian only considered the enemy on the other side, but did not realize that the 150,000 people around him might be more dangerous enemies.

The withdrawal order was issued, and a big chaos broke out.

Let’s imagine how an ordinary Qin army soldier would feel during this retreat.

He was between 150,000 people, and looking around, there was a dense sea of ​​people everywhere. He had always lived in the north, and he never dreamed of coming to this place called Feishui.

He knew that a bloody battle was about to break out, and he would probably die in this unfamiliar place. He was not sure how powerful the Jin army on the other side was.

However, in the battle of Luojian that happened not long ago, I heard that many people died here.

Thinking of these will of course make him extremely nervous, and the surrounding population density is so large that it will not only not relieve his pressure, but will only make him even more nervous.

Fear can be transmitted and strengthened between people.

Some officers may not understand the words, and even if the captain speaks the same language as him, he can understand it, but it is difficult to understand. The officer said: "Everyone should retreat five hundred meters so that the Jin army can cross the river, and then return to fight against the Jin army and drive them into the river."

This statement is too complicated for him. Besides, the officer may not really tell him so detailed. All he knows is that the superior asked him to retreat, but he doesn't know why he retreated.

OK, everyone turns around and walk.

They knew that the Jin army was behind and could charge at any time, so this idea would naturally make them feel dangerous. It is conceivable that some of them could easily speed up their pace.

The more you think about the better Jin army behind you, the faster you may leave.

He also has his wife and children, but he dare not die casually. As soon as they left quickly, the people around him could not help but follow him. When they saw the people around him walking faster and faster, everyone naturally became more and more frightened.

This is a bad positive feedback. If it is allowed to develop, the ending will definitely be that everyone will run together. Logically speaking, there should be external forces to interrupt this positive feedback, and this external force is the commander of the general.

However, in the face of such a complex organization and such a large number of personnel, it was difficult for the generals in the army to deal with it. There were no decent communication measures at that time. Apart from military flags and horns, they were shouting from the voices.

It is difficult for junior officers and senior generals to contact each other, and it is even more difficult to connect with language barriers.

The grassroots officers may not understand the development of the situation. Did the Jin army fight? Have they already defeated it? Are they retreating or retreating now?

He himself may also be dragged into this torrent and is running hard.

When the chaos had spread, even the officers were powerless. The power of fear was endless. Seeing that 150,000 people changed from marching to race, from race to race.

At this critical moment, Xie Xuan's troops had already begun to cross the river.

Fu Rong saw that the situation was out of control and wanted to restore order. Unfortunately, Fu Rong ran too eagerly and was hit by the rioters. As a result, the war horse fell over and Fu Rong, who had lost his mount, was killed by the Jin army.

After crossing the river, the Jin army encountered no resistance. What was shown in front of them was the gratifying scene of the Qin army running around and trampling on each other.

Xie Xuan did not hesitate and immediately ordered a pursuit.

The Qin army ran wildly and ran to Qinggang in one breath. They ran very firmly and had no strength to stop them. All those who fell were trampled to death, and those who were trampled to death were blocked by Ye Saichuan.

These defeated troops were still reluctant to rest until night, and they worked hard to move forward day and night. When they heard the sound of the wind and shudder, they all thought they were pursuers of the Jin Dynasty, and their fear had penetrated into their bones.

At this point, the 150,000 troops of the Former Qin Dynasty disintegrated.

Fu Jian was also shot by a trampled arrow. At that time, the chaos was extremely chaotic and no one cared about the emperor's life or death. Fu Jian himself rode a horse to Huaibei.

The Jin army obtained ten thousand pieces of brocade and ten thousand cows, sheep, donkeys and mules.

Fu Jian's army collapsed without fighting. The direct reason was that the army retreated for a short period of time. This ending made modern commanders feel incredible when they saw it.

But under the conditions at that time, this was the case.

When the rising sun rose, there were 150,000 Former Qin soldiers on the west bank of Feishui. When the sun set, there were no Former Qin soldiers on the banks of Feishui. The only trampled corpses that were trampled beyond recognition.

The national destiny of the Former Qin Empire sank with the setting sun.

The soldiers who had not yet arrived in Feishui immediately dispersed after hearing the news of Feishui's defeat. The 800,000 troops that Fu Jian had worked hard to conquer were all disintegrated without any use.

Fu Jian's conscription stirred the entire empire, but he did not gain any benefits from it. Many defeated troops joined the rebellion against him.

The giant beast swallowed by the snake was not digested. Now it tore through the snake's belly and stood up in a pool of blood. The Xianbei rebels established the Later Yan Empire, and the Qiang rebels established the Later Qin Empire.

Fu Jian, who never suspected others, was betrayed by someone he trusted, and had to give up Guanzhong and flee to Gansu.

Soon, Fu Jian was strangled to death by Yao Chang, the leader of the Later Qin Dynasty. Just twenty years ago, Yao Chang was about to be executed. Fu Jian, who was still the King of East China Sea, rescued Yao Chang from the execution ground.

This is really like a trick of fate.

At that time, it was only two years before Fu Jian's ambitious conquest of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and dreaming of unification of the world.

When Fu Jian was dying, he wondered if the farce on the shore of the Feishui River flashed in his mind? At his most glorious moment, he suddenly lost his destiny's favor.
Chapter completed!