(PS: This chapter describes the process of the Battle of Fei River. Those who don't like it or understand it can skip it.)
Why was Fu Jian so anxious about the Battle of Fei River that he didn't wait for the army to gather in one place before setting off to launch a thunderous attack on East Jin and win the battle?
It wasn't that Fu Jian didn't want to but that he couldn't do it.
What was the concept of gathering a million soldiers in one place under the conditions of ancient technology?!
If they walked on a broad road, even if the road was wide enough for twenty people to walk side by side, the entire troop would have to drag for more than fifty kilometers.
This was a terrifying situation that couldn't be controlled.
Also, it was impossible to supply a million soldiers when they marched together.
The only way was to divide the army. Fu Jian's strategy was to divide the millions of soldiers into several echelons. If the first echelon collapsed, the second echelon would take over. They would be able to overwhelm the East Jin Kingdom's army with numbers.
Fu Jian once said, "With my troops, we will throw our whips into the river to break its flow." In the end, the war ended before the second echelon had a chance to go up.
…
Compared to the hidden dangers of the former Qin, East Jin before the Battle of Fei River was a different story.
The news that Fu Jian was going to march south reached Jiankang and the East Jin court was shocked.
At that time, the main military power of East Jin was divided into two parts. One was the Huan Chong Army stationed in Jingzhou and the other was the North Mansion Army stationed in Huainan, led by Xie Shi and Xie Xuan.
Judging from the direction of Fu Jian's attack, the North Mansion Army would be the main fighting force.
Xie Xuan was very anxious and asked the number one figure of East Jin, Xie An, for orders. Xie An was only a polite Prime Minister and didn't have any good ideas. He could only say vaguely, "The court has other arrangements."
In fact, there was no arrangement at all. Xie Xuan could only rely on himself.
Huan Chong of Jingzhou was also very anxious and sent three thousand elite soldiers to protect Jiankang. In the end, Xie An said to the soldiers, "The arrangements have been made. You should go back and strengthen the defense in the west!"
Huan Chong heard this and sighed in private, "We are doomed!"
The court officials couldn't wait to be captured and went to Xie An to make a decision. Xie An couldn't face these people and simply left. He went on a sightseeing tour and didn't show up in Jiankang during the day.
Some people boasted about Xie An, saying that he had "reclined on the Eastern Mountain for forty years, defeated Fu Jian with a musical instrument", and defeated Fu Jian by playing the zither. In fact, this was completely the boastful words of a scholar. It was miles away from the truth.
Deep down in his heart, Xie An might have resigned himself to fate. Fortunately, even if he became a captive, his life would not be in danger. It was a tradition of Fu Jian to treat captives well. Before the expedition, he had already spread the news that after destroying the East Jin Kingdom, he would give Xie An a position as an attendant.
In Chang 'an, Fu Jian even built a house for Xie An in advance.
Xie An could only pretend to be profound and could not provide any help. Xie Shi and Xie Xuan could only gather all the troops they could use and head out to fight Fu Jian's army.
In the tenth month, Fu Rong's two hundred and fifty thousand men crossed the Huai River, captured the city of Shouyang, and besieged a Jin army at Kip Shek. Fu Rong planned to annihilate the encircled Eastern Jin army, so he sent an army of 50,000 soldiers to the Luo River in the east to stop the Eastern Jin's reinforcements.
At that time, Fu Jian's main force was still moving out. Fu Jian himself led a part of the army to Xiang City.
The encircled Jin army wrote a letter to Xie Xuan asking for help. Unexpectedly, the letter was intercepted by Fu Rong. Fu Rong happily thought that the end of the Jin army was near and immediately sent news of victory to Fu Jian.
Fu Jian was delighted to hear this and immediately led eight thousand cavalrymen to Shouyang to meet with Fu Rong. The rest of the main force was still advancing slowly on the road.
Xie Xuan and the seventy thousand soldiers of the North Mansion Army entered the Luo River, intending to rescue the trapped Jin army.
However, with the fifty thousand Qin soldiers between them, the North Mansion Army had no choice but to attack. One of Xie Xuan's generals, Liu Laozhi, led five thousand elite soldiers to attack the Qin army at night. The Qin army was unprepared and collapsed.
Just like all battlefield collapses, the soldiers could not determine the number of enemies and could not organize an effective resistance. They could only run for their lives. Panicked, the soldiers rushed to the Huai River.
The former Qin generals could not stop the collapse and were either killed or captured. As a result, fifteen thousand Qin soldiers were killed and their weapons and rations fell into the hands of the Jin army. The fifty thousand Qin soldiers were completely destroyed by the sudden attack of five thousand enemies. This seemed to be a preview of a bigger collapse in the future.
This failure shocked Fu Jian. This was the first time he had felt fear since he had set out on this expedition.
After the victory at the Luo River, the main force of the Jin army continued to advance and met with the encircled Jin army. At this point, the eighty thousand Jin soldiers on land and water were gathered and stationed at the east of the Fei River.
At this moment, a person who decided the turning point of the battle at the Fei River appeared. He was Zhu Xu, the Provincial Governor of Yongzhou of Eastern Jin who was captured by Fu Jian. After Zhu Xu was captured, Fu Jian gave him preferential treatment according to tradition.
Zhu Xu was appointed by Fu Jian as an envoy to persuade the Qin army to surrender. Unfortunately, not only did Zhu Xu not persuade the Qin army to surrender, but he also said to Xie Shi, "Although the Qin army has a million soldiers, they are still marching. If they concentrate their forces, the Jin army will not be able to resist. Now the situation is different. We should attack quickly while the Qin army is not fully here. As long as we can defeat their vanguard and weaken their morale, we can defeat the million Qin army. "
Xie Shi originally wanted to defend and exhaust Fu Jian, but under Zhu Xu's persuasion, he decided to attack.
The Fei River was chosen as the battleground for the two armies.
Fu Jian's army gathered at the west bank of the Fei River and faced the Jin army across the river. At that time, Fu Jian's army had a total of two hundred and fifty thousand soldiers. Fu Jian brought eight thousand cavalry from Xiang City.
However, Fu Rong sent thirty thousand soldiers to Jingzhou and lost some soldiers at the Luo River. He also left some soldiers to guard Shouchun. Therefore, there were only one hundred and fifty thousand Qin soldiers at the Fei River.
The elite of the Qin army were the Di people and were concentrated in the central army under Fu Rong's command. In addition, there were many Han, Xianbei, Qiang, and Wuhuan people in the army. They were not loyal to the Qin founded by the Di people and came out of fear.
The diversity of races increased the complexity of the formation and made it more difficult to command. Language alone was a problem. Each race spoke different languages and Fu Rong's orders had to be translated into different languages before they could be given.
One hundred and fifty thousand people came from different races and were not formally trained. Now that they were crowded together at the west bank of the Fei River, even if an immortal was their commander, it would be difficult to command them.
Both sides waited along the Fei River and did not make any moves for a while.
At that time, Fu Jian and Fu Rong ascended the Shouyang city wall and saw that the Jin army was organized and their soldiers were elite. They also looked north at the plants on Bagong Mountain and saw that they were all shaped like humans.
Fu Jian said to Fu Rong, "This is a strong enemy, how can there be few!" He looked worried and afraid.
This was the origin of the idiom 'Every tree is an enemy'. It meant that after the defeat at the Luo River, Fu Jian had gone from underestimating the enemy to being afraid of the enemy and had lost confidence.
At this time, Fu Jian received a letter from Xie Xuan. The letter said, "Jun Xuan's army has penetrated deep and is forcing the water back. This is a long term plan, how can one want to fight? If I withdraw from the army and order the officers and soldiers to deal with them, then your servant and Duke Jungong can watch the battle unhurriedly, won't that be wonderful? "
Xie Xuan's plan was to fight as soon as possible. According to the plan, he would lead eight thousand elite soldiers to cross the river. If the situation went smoothly, the main force would cross the river and launch a large scale attack. If they failed, they would have the main force to support them.
There were many differences in the Qin army regarding Xie Xuan's request. Most people thought that there was a problem here and they should refuse and retreat. But Fu Jian and Fu Rong thought, "When the Jin army is halfway across the river, we can have the cavalry charge at them. How can we not win?"
Therefore, Fu Jian ordered the army to retreat.
Fu Jian's idea seemed to be right. The Qin army was waiting for the Jin army to cross the river and had a great tactical advantage.
But Fu Jian neglected one point. Did he have the ability to order his army to retreat in an orderly manner? Fu Jian only considered the enemy on the other side of the river and did not realize that the one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers around him could be a more dangerous enemy.
The order to retreat was given and chaos broke out.
Let's imagine how an ordinary Qin soldier would feel during this retreat.
He was among the one hundred and fifty thousand soldiers. Looking around, there was a sea of people in all directions. He had always lived in the north and never dreamed that he would come to this place called the Fei River.
He knew that a bloody battle was about to break out and he could die in this strange place. He was not sure how powerful the Jin army on the other side of the river was.
But he heard that many of his men died in the battle of Luo River not long ago.
Thinking of this, he was very nervous. But the population density around him was so high that it would not relieve his pressure. Instead, it would make him more nervous.
Fear can be transmitted between people and reinforce each other.
He might not understand some of the officers' words. Even if he and his captain spoke the same language, it would be hard for him to understand them. The officer said, "We should retreat five hundred meters to let the Jin army cross the river. Then we can come back and fight them, driving them into the river."
This was too complicated for him. Besides, the officer might not have given him such a detailed explanation. All he knew was that the officer wanted him to retreat. But he did not know why they should retreat.
Okay, everyone should turn back and walk.
They knew that the Jin army was behind them and could charge at them at any time. This thought naturally made them feel dangerous. It was easy to imagine that some of them would speed up.
The more they thought about the Jin army behind them, the faster they would walk.
He still had a wife and a child. He did not dare to die. As soon as they walked fast, the people around them could not help walking fast. Seeing that the people around them walked faster and faster, they naturally became more and more afraid.
This was a terrible positive feedback. If it was allowed to develop, the ending would be that everyone would run together. Logically, there should be an external force to interrupt this positive feedback. This external force was the commander of the army.
But facing such a complicated organization and such a large number of people, it was difficult for the commander to deal with them. At that time, there were no decent communication measures. Except for military flags and bugle drums, they could only rely on shouting.
It was difficult for junior officers and senior generals to contact each other. Plus the language barrier, it was even more difficult.
The junior officers probably did not understand the development of the situation. Was the Jin army attacking? Had he already defeated his opponent? Should they retreat or retreat?
He was likely to be involved in the torrent and was running with all his might.
By the time the chaos had spread, even the military officers were powerless to stop it. The power of fear was boundless. They watched as 150,000 people changed from marching to walking, and from walking to running.
At this critical moment, Xie Xuan's troops had already started to cross the river.
Fu Rong saw that the situation was out of control and wanted to restore order. Unfortunately, Fu Rong ran too hastily and was hit by the chaotic army. As a result, his warhorse fell down and Fu Rong, who had lost his mount, was killed by the Jin army.
After the Jin army crossed the river, they did not encounter any resistance. What appeared in front of them was the delightful scene of the Qin army running around and trampling on each other.
Xie Xuan did not hesitate and immediately gave the order to chase.
The Qin army ran all the way to Qing Gang in one breath. They were very determined to escape. No power could stop them. Those who fell were trampled to death, and those who were trampled to death were hidden in the wilderness.
These defeated troops ran until night and still could not bear to rest. They ran forward day and night. When they heard the sound of the wind and cranes, they all thought that it was the pursuers of the Jin army. Fear had already penetrated into their bones.
At this point, the 150,000 Qin army suddenly disintegrated.
Fu Jian was also shot by a stray arrow. At that time, it was extremely chaotic. No one cared about the life and death of the emperor. Fu Jian rode alone to Huaibei.
The Jin army obtained 10,000 pieces of brocade and 100,000 cows, sheep, donkeys and mules.
Fu Jian's army collapsed without even fighting. The direct reason was that the army retreated for such a short distance. This ending would be inconceivable to a modern commander.
But under the conditions at that time, it was the truth.
When the sun rose in the east, there were still 150,000 Qin soldiers on the west bank of the Fei River. When the sun set, there were no more Qin soldiers on the west bank of the Fei River. Under the light of the setting sun, there were only trampled corpses that were beyond recognition.
The fate of the Qin Empire sank with the setting sun.
The soldiers who had not reached the Fei River immediately scattered when they heard the news of the Fei River's defeat. The 800,000 soldiers that Fu Jian had painstakingly sent out were not of any use and were all disintegrated.
Fu Jian's conscription caused the entire empire to be in an uproar, but he did not gain anything from it. Instead, many defeated soldiers joined the rebellion against him.
The giant beast that was swallowed by the snake was not digested. Now, it tore open the snake's stomach and stood up in a pool of blood. The Xianbei rebel army established the Later Yan Empire, and the Qiang rebel army established the Later Qin Empire.
Fu Jian, who had never been suspicious of others, was betrayed by someone he trusted. He had to give up Guanzhong and flee to Gansu.
Not long after, Fu Jian was strangled to death by Yao Chang, the leader of the Later Qin. Twenty years ago, Yao Chi was about to be executed. At that time, Fu Jian, who was still the King of Dong Hai, saved Yao Chi from the execution ground.
It was like a trick of fate.
At that time, only two years had passed since Fu Jian's ambitious conquest of the Eastern Jin Empire and his dream of uniting the world.
Before Fu Jian died, did the farce on the west bank of the Fei River flash through his mind? At his most glorious moment, he suddenly lost the favor of fate.
All of this was like a dream.
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