HLnovel Chapter 182 Restoring the Han Dynasty! The Battle Begins!
Chapter 182 Restoring the Han Dynasty! The Battle Begins!
In the third year of the reign of Emperor Di (22 AD), there was a famine in Nanyang. Liu Yan's men went to rob others. To avoid the government troops, Liu Xiu fled to his brother-in-law Deng Chen in Xinye for refuge.
"That autumn, he went to Wancheng to sell grain and met the brothers Li Tong and Li Yi. These people got together and secretly plotted something big."
"So in November of that year, Liu Xiu and Li Yi led the powerful clans and talented men back to their hometown of Chunling to raise an army."
"At this time, Liu Yan was also about to raise an army, and his brother-in-law Deng Chen also came from Xinye to join him. Their slogan was: 'Restore the legacy of Emperor Gaozu and secure a lasting dynasty.'"
"One more thing to say here is that Liu Xiu had quite a lot of charisma. When Liu Yan raised his army, his clansmen were unwilling to follow him, and some even ran away. It wasn't until they saw Liu Xiu wearing a crimson robe and a large crown that they felt at ease."
"After all, Liu Xiu was perceived as timid and cautious at the time. Even someone like him stood in front of his elder brother to express his support for his uprising. So some people would think that Liu Yan had a better chance of winning this!"
A spoiled young master from the Song Dynasty: Is he thinking this round is a sure thing? Hahahaha!
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: Hearing this, they're finally going to cause trouble!
A lazy official in the Ming Dynasty: Don't ask, the answer is I had no choice! Hahahaha!
A young girl from the Song Dynasty, seemingly observing the drama, commented: "His younger brother seems even more reassuring than his older brother! Could he really have the aura of a chosen one?!"
……
"On the other hand, the rebel armies from Xinshi and Pinglin had been in Nanyang for several months. Although things were very chaotic at the time, with various rebel forces, Nanyang was still in Wang Mang's hands."
"Moreover, his elder brother's troops might not even be enough to fight the enemy. Not only were they short of men and equipment, but it is said that even Liu Xiu himself initially rode an ox. As the saying goes, there were few soldiers and generals."
There's a saying: "It's good to have a big tree to lean on." Liu Yan understood this too. His army was too weak and was destined to be beaten. What kind of general rides an ox and cuts people down?
"So he sent Liu Jia, a member of his clan, to contact the Xinshi and Pinglin armies, saying that since they were the same enemy, they might as well fight together!"
"Let me introduce Nanyang. During the Western Han Dynasty, Nanyang was an economic center because of its superior geographical location. Wancheng was a major city that connected the north, south, east, and west. Therefore, the powerful clans here were very powerful, and naturally, they had stronger soldiers than those in other places."
"So the Xinshi and Pinglin armies have failed to open up the northern part of Nanyang. They've been stuck here for months. Imagine if you were in their shoes, and you heard that Liu Yan, the most powerful figure in Nanyang, came to you wanting to join your team, wouldn't you be happy!"
"Therefore, the leaders of Xinshi and Pinglin warmly welcomed Liu Yan's joining. Regardless of who stood in the way of the boss, the common enemy of these three forces was Wang Mang. Subsequently, they reached an agreement to combine the troops of the three forces and concentrate their attacks on the government troops in Wancheng."
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: I'm quite curious, did Liu Xiu ride an ox to the battlefield?!
A storyteller from the Tang Dynasty: If he rides a blue ox, does that mean he'll ascend to heaven? Hahahaha!
A Ming Dynasty official: The next chaotic era will probably be like Cao Cao's time! Why don't you explain in detail how you reached this agreement, hahaha!
Big Han Liu Zhuzhu: ...
A farming whiz from the Ming Dynasty: Restoring the Han Dynasty! Who will be emperor?! He's laughing so hard he's dying from being ridden on a bull! Hahahaha!
……
The people in the capital laughed uncontrollably when they heard that Liu Xiu was riding an ox into battle; his equipment was just too poor!
But given all that, how exactly did he become the ultimate winner?
They were curious, so they listened on.
.........
"The three armies gathered to attack Changju, captured Tangzixiang, and killed the Commandant of Huyang. The first few battles went very smoothly, and Liu Xiu went from riding an ox to riding a horse."
"No one expected that the three rebel leaders, who were just like brothers a moment ago, would start fighting and fighting over the division of spoils."
"The Green Forest faction was not convinced. Why are there so many people with the surname Liu? How come this world no longer belongs to the Liu family? Liu Yan also expressed his dissatisfaction with the Green Forest faction, so the argument got more and more heated, and they even got into a fight."
"In the end, it was Liu Xiu who stepped in to mediate and took back all the property that had been given to the clan. He then distributed it among the group of people, which finally made these people, who were originally bandits, stop."
"After that, they successfully occupied Jiyang. However, the situation on the battlefield is ever-changing. Soon, this coalition, which was not very united, finally met its match."
A bystander in the Song Dynasty: What will these people do without Liu Xiu?
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: The ability comes from selling grain and doing business!
An official from the Tang Dynasty said: "Teams assembled halfway through the process are most prone to problems, but when it comes to important matters, we still have to rely on Liu Xiu!"
……
"After Liu Yan and his men won battle after battle, they felt that taking Wancheng was not a problem. So they immediately led their army to Wancheng. However, they encountered Zhen Fu, a former subordinate of Wang Mang, at Xiao Chang'an."
"This man was a scholar-official from the front ranks of the Xin Dynasty (after Nanyang was renamed), and he's a ruthless character!"
"In fact, it has been proven that Liu Yan suffered heavy losses in this battle. Not only did he lose, but dozens of his brothers from the same clan also died in the melee. To be honest, in history, people who are capable of great things are usually not very fortunate."
“Take Zhu Yuanzhang for example. Before he became a monk, his whole family starved to death. Later, when he became emperor, his son, wife, and eldest grandson all died young. It’s not without reason that he became a bit crazy later.”
Zhu Bajie of the Ming Dynasty: !!!
……
The eighth year of Hongwu reign of the Ming Dynasty
Upon hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang could no longer sit still and immediately ordered the imperial physician to be summoned to the Empress's palace.
Empress Ma was taken aback when she saw him. What was wrong? Why did Chongba have such an expression?
Immediately afterward, Zhu Yuanzhang roared at the group of trembling imperial physicians: "Hurry up and take the Empress's pulse! I'm telling you! If anything happens to my sister, I'll skin you all alive!"
Empress Ma was both amused and exasperated by his solemn expression.
"Chongba, I'm fine! What's the point of seeing a doctor? Don't make things difficult for them!"
However, Zhu Yuanzhang was very stubborn on this matter, and even after Empress Ma talked until her mouth was dry, she still couldn't get Zhu Yuanzhang to give in.
However, the imperial physician's diagnosis was unexpected; Empress Ma was actually quite healthy.
Even after learning the result, Zhu Yuanzhang still frowned, wondering what illness his sister had that caused her to die so young!
And I wonder what the imperial physician sent to the Eastern Palace said!
……
Back to the live broadcast room.
"In this battle, Liu Xiu's second brother, Liu Zhong, also unfortunately died in the melee. Liu Xiu fled alone on horseback, and rescued his sister Liu Boji along the way. However, his sister Liu Yuan was afraid of being a burden to Liu Xiu, so she refused to mount her horse even if it meant death. In the end, Liu Yuan and his three daughters were all killed by the new army."
"After this defeat, Liu Yan also retreated to Jiyang. Perhaps the historical records only mention it briefly, but the Liu siblings must have been extremely saddened at the time."
"As the saying goes, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse. Even though Wang Mang messed around and made the dynasty unrecognizable, the government army was still the old foundation left over from the end of the Han Dynasty. In addition, Wancheng is a special place."
"Firstly, Wancheng's geographical location is quite advantageous; as mentioned before, it's an economically developed region. The previous smooth progress was largely due to the fact that the Nanyang government troops didn't take it seriously."
"Once this group gets involved in important areas, like this time when they hit that waterway that runs from north to south, those people become much more cautious."
"Secondly, Liu Yan's army is practically a ragtag bunch of three forces working together; how can they be compared to a properly trained army?"
"Not to mention that this group's weapons and logistics are not as complete or as powerful as the others."
Frontline officers and soldiers: We're going to die! These people are no ordinary bandits. We must strike hard!
A scion of a prominent family in the Ming Dynasty: This reminds me of Liu Taigong. Looking at it this way, it's true that the relatives of important figures tend to have bad luck!
Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty: ...
A spoiled young master from the Song Dynasty: The Liu family really suffered a crushing defeat in this battle! Was it because their equipment wasn't up to par?
A young woman from the Tang Dynasty, who was just observing the drama, commented: "They are still a bit different from a proper army!"
……
"Zhen Fu's victory boosted the morale of the Xin Mang soldiers. Some who were still observing the situation felt that the rebel forces were nothing but a rabble and could not be compared with the regular government troops. As a result, these officials seemed to have regained their confidence and began to seriously handle government affairs."
"The first thing to do is to conduct a large-scale search and punish relatives and friends who have any connection with the rebel leaders. These opportunists are really something else!"
"Afterwards, seeing that morale was soaring, Zhen Fu wanted to press his advantage and wipe out the unstable forces in Nanyang in one fell swoop, which was called [100,000 people crossing the Huangchun River to the south]."
"He then sent his vanguard to Bishui, where they set up camp between the two rivers. At the same time, he ordered the bridges spanning the Huangchun River to be dismantled. I wonder where he learned this kind of do-or-die courage!"
Xiang Yu, who was passing by: ? ? It definitely wasn't me.
"However, the more desperate the gamble, the more likely it is to fail in the end!"
"Let's talk about Liu Yan's side. The Xinshi and Pinglin armies have started to retreat. They were just bandits who had robbed and looted. They could bluff people in peacetime, but in small-scale wars..."
"But when facing a regular army, we can't compete with them in terms of logistics, weaponry, or even the overall quality of our soldiers."
"So these two allied forces ran away, abandoning their support for Liu Yan's army and saying goodbye! They went to cause trouble elsewhere!"
A scion of a prominent family in the Song Dynasty: We could fight over the division of spoils before, let alone break up the partnership if we can't win!
A farming expert from the Ming Dynasty: Otherwise, why would they be called government troops?!
A spoiled young master from the Tang Dynasty: Then Liu Yan's side only has a small number of people, how can they possibly win?
……