Chapter 434: The Marquis of Dongchu, in name only but in reality
The defection of Dr. Zheng and his soldiers turned the already discordant situation among the coalition forces into open disunity. People were even more frightened, especially when Xia You launched continuous attacks by the river, killing the coalition forces and causing heavy losses.
Zihan, a senior official in the Song Dynasty, was inspired by Gongsun Gao and thought of the favor he had sold to the Han army, so he did not hesitate. Zihan imitated Gongsun Gao and assassinated Song Jinggong. It's just that Zihan is not stupid, and Song Jinggong is not stupid either. With the unlucky guy Zheng Shenggong in front, how could Song Jinggong not beware of his men?
Zihan stabbed him with his sword. Song Jinggong turned sideways, and the bronze sword pierced Song Jinggong's arm. Song Jinggong jumped out of his chariot to escape, and immediately ordered his soldiers to besiege Zihan. If Zihan hadn't been prepared in advance and had private soldiers ambushed nearby, and Zihan usually bought people's hearts, there would have been a severe drought in the Song Dynasty two years ago. Song Jinggong didn't even open a granary to release grain, so Zihan opened a granary to release grain. Many of Song Jinggong's soldiers received favors from Zihan.
They were unwilling to kill Zihan. Not only did they show mercy, but they also intentionally or unintentionally prevented other soldiers from killing Zihan. This made Zihan support his own private soldiers to come to the rescue. Zihan's troops were not as many as Song Jinggong's, so Zihan was depressed and led his troops to surrender to the Han army.
First, the Zheng Kingdom, and then the Song Kingdom, civil strife broke out one after another, making Han Hu really afraid. He immediately retreated with his soldiers. Han Hu had many soldiers, some of them were his private soldiers of the Han family, and other private soldiers of the Wei, Zhao, and Zhi families who had lost their commanders. After all, although the four ministers are fighting openly and secretly at the moment, in the end they are all Jin people. It doesn't matter how they fight internally, but when it comes to external affairs, the four ministers all make wise choices.
Han Hu¡¯s retreat took away a total of 60,000 to 70,000 soldiers, accounting for almost one-third of the remaining coalition forces. Seeing that there was a leader, the other coalition forces all followed the crowd and followed Han Hu.
In the past, when we were not retreating, everyone would hide inside, but now that we are retreating, everyone would squeeze outside. This immediately caused chaos in the formation. If Yang Tugou didn't take action at this time, he would be a fool.
Yang Tugou immediately led his cavalry to cover up the enemy from behind. Now instead of being squeezed, the coalition forces spread their legs and ran wildly. The gang behind them are killers! How to fight?
People all follow the herd. When one runs away, he immediately leads two others, and two leads four others. It¡¯s like a snowball, getting bigger and faster.
The coalition soldiers didn¡¯t know where they were going to flee, they just ran instinctively. Yang Tugou was behind the attack, and in the end, more than 200 coalition soldiers died of exhaustion. Facts have proved that human potential is unlimited.
More than 40,000 coalition soldiers surrendered, but the remaining soldiers did not fare well. Because they were not familiar with the terrain, they were all scattered in the wild. In the end, only about 65,000 people escaped from Dongchu. The four ministers of the Jin Kingdom accounted for more than 44,000 people. The Chu State was familiar with the terrain, and Shen Baoxu preserved most of the Chu army's strength and escaped with more than 15,000 troops. There was also the prince Cheng of Qin who escaped with 5,000 Xirong Huqi on his four legs.
However, except for the Xirong Huqi, all the 30,000 Qin troops he brought this time were completely lost. But at this point, who is still in the mood to care about this?
The battle in Xiaohe had frightened them all. After leaving the border of Dongchu, they immediately went their separate ways. When they returned to their own country, they immediately prepared for war desperately.
Speaking of Dong Chu, because they were defeated so miserably, Shi Qi sighed midway and said, "I really don't have the face to see my father and fellow villagers!"
After Shi Qi said this, he covered his face with his sleeves and committed suicide.
After Shi Qi died, the supreme commander of the Eastern Chu Army was the resourceful Dou Shuao. After Dou Shuao returned to Xincai, he immediately ordered the four gates to be closed. Not only that, they also demolished the houses near the city gate and sealed the city gate with stones and beams.
Dou Shu Ao was in panic all day long. In fact, Dou Shu Ao never thought about surrendering. Dou Shuao is a typical treacherous character, resourceful and resourceful, but without a trace of character. When Xiong Yiliao was contacted, it was Dou Shu Ao who went to assassinate Yang Zilu, and Dou Shu Ao also provided advice. Mentioning that point was enough to kill Dou Shu Ao a hundred times.
In ancient times, punishments were very inhumane. When Qin Shihuang was traveling, Zhang Liang recruited a strongman to throw a hammer and hit Qin Shihuang. But it missed and hit Qin Shihuang's passenger car. In this way, Qin Shihuang ordered that all the people in a radius of ten miles should be killed centered on the place where he was assassinated. From here we can see how cruel the ancient criminal law was.
Dou Shuao didn¡¯t dare to take risks, but the situation was overwhelming at this moment, and Dou Shuao didn¡¯t dare to surrender. But someone wants to surrender. Who is this person? It was none other than the eldest son of Lord Bai, who was supported by Shi Qi, and his concubine Wu Xu.Wu Xu was only in his early sixteen years, although his mind was not as mature as Dou Shu Ao's. But he also knew that if he didn't surrender, he would definitely die, but if he surrendered, he wouldn't necessarily die. Besides, Dong Chu's superiors and subordinates all knew that Dong Chu was just a puppet, and Shi Qi was the biggest one. Even after Shi Qi died, Dou Shuao would be in power. His son Wu Xu only controls more than a hundred palace guards, so his power is pitiful.
Prince Wu Xu began to test Dou Shu Ao. Dou Shu Ao first despised Prince Wu Xu, and secondly was troubled by the Han army. He did not notice this and stubbornly rejected Prince Wu Xu's surrender proposal. The more Prince Wuxu thought about it, the more he felt that it couldn't be like this. He didn't want to die with Dou Shuao. He was only sixteen years old and had not yet enjoyed enough of his great glory and wealth.
Young Master Wu Xu decided to assassinate Dou Shu Ao. Dou Shu Ao never thought that Young Master Wu Xu would dare to do this. As a result, Dou Shu Ao was disappointed. When he was summoned by Prince Wu Xu, he was unprepared and was ambushed by five dead men who were stabbed to death with random swords. The death of Dou Shu Ao was so aggrieved. He never imagined that he would die in the hands of the young master Wu Xu who he always looked down upon.
After Prince Wuxu killed Dou Shuao, he immediately sent people to surrender to the Han army. Yang Zilu is not a murderous person, and Young Master Wuxu is not a capable person at first glance. Yang Zilu let Prince Wu Xu go, but in order to appease people's hearts, Yang Zilu named him the Marquis of Dong Chu, and his territory was Xincai and Shenyi. These places are the core areas of Dongchu, which can play a role in calming people's hearts.
Naturally, it was impossible for Prince Wu Xu to really manage the Eastern Chu Kingdom. Prince Wu Xu was 'escorted' all the way to Guangling City by the Han army. Tang Jiguang appointed Chen, the former governor of Lujiang County, as the prime minister of the Eastern Chu State to manage the Eastern Chu State on his behalf. In fact, this Eastern Chu Kingdom has been annexed by Yang Zilu in name only!