The Sixteen Kingdoms of the Eastern Jin Dynasty: The Competition in the Central Plains

"Thank you, General!"Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo stood up and said. Shi Hu laughed loudly. He picked up the wine bottle and said,"Everyone, the Lord is currently in Pingyang. Our mission in garrisoning Yanci is to guard against Zu Ti in Yuzhou and to capture Shao Xu in Fuping. I hope that all generals will obey orders, fight hard, make more military exploits, make wives and children, and honor their ancestors! After Shi

Hu finished speaking, he picked up the wine bottle and drank it all in one gulp. The people below also finished their first glass of wine. Chen Chuan stood up and said,"We each toast the general with a glass of wine!""

After Chen Chuan finished speaking, he drank a glass first. Shi Hu also finished the drink, and Wei Shuo also picked up the wine bottle and drank it all in one gulp. Shi Hu did not hesitate and drank another glass. Putting down the wine bottle, Shi Hu said:"Everyone General, Liu Yuan's Han Kingdom has actually been destroyed. When Liu Yao ascended the throne, he was no longer the emperor of Han, but his own dynasty. Jin Zhun's reign as King of Han and Zhao will not last long, so the Lord and Liu Yao will definitely compete for the world in the future. I hope everyone will serve the Lord more!"

"must! must!"The generals below said in unison:"Only the general's orders are obeyed!"

"good very good! Shi Hu said happily:"Generals, let's have a drink together!"

The big tent was full of people and very lively. After three rounds of wine, five flavors of food. Chen Chuan stood up and said:"General, Wei Shuo and I are very grateful to the general for taking us in. The two of us are willing to lead two thousand troops to Pengpi to attack Zu Ti's defenders!"

"good! What a great idea!"Shi Hu said:"I will give you two three thousand soldiers to go to Pengpi in three days and destroy the Zuti garrison stationed in Pengpi!"

Three days later, Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo led three thousand Shihu soldiers to Pengpi to fight with Zu Ti's defenders. A scout came over and reported to Chen Chuan:"General, Zu Ti's defenders are at Pengpi Dongtai. , the ones responsible for guarding are Zu Ti’s general Han Qian and Zu Ti’s son Zu Huan!"

"Okay, let’s check back again!"Chen Chuan said, and went down to inspect the horse.

Han Qian had already seen Chen Chuan's soldiers and horses on the Dongtai city wall. He smiled slightly and said to Zu Huan:"Chen Chuan leads Shi Hu's soldiers, they will not know the soldiers, and they will not know the soldiers. Recognize the general. If there was a real fight, these soldiers would be disorganized and running around!"

Zu Huan nodded and said nothing. The two people came down from the city wall, and Han Qian said:"Brothers, Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo have already been defeated by us. Now he leads Shi Hu's soldiers to take revenge. Everyone must work together to eliminate these rabble!"

"good! Please rest assured, two generals!"The soldiers who lined up neatly made a loud voice. Han Qian and Zu Huan went up to the city wall again, and saw that Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo had arrived within a stone's throw to the east of Dongtai. The two men came down from the city wall again. They came to At the Dongtai City Gate, Han Qian ordered:"Brothers, open the city gate immediately, rush to the enemy, and capture Chen Chuan!"

Han Qian took the lead and led more than a thousand cavalry to charge forward. Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo were caught off guard. Many of his soldiers were shot to death or wounded and fell to the ground. Seeing the defeat, Chen Chuan had no choice but to shout:"Brother Guys, retreat quickly! Escape!"

When Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo led the remaining soldiers back along the original route, Zu Huan suddenly led more than a thousand soldiers to block the way of these people and launched an attack. Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo fought hard again, leaving behind hundreds of soldiers. Corpses and dozens of wounded soldiers fled back to Yanci without stopping.

Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo fled back to Shihu's camp and came to Shihu's tent. Entering the tent, the two men knelt down to Shihu and apologized:"Mo The general is incompetent and returns in defeat. Please ask the general to punish him!"

Shi Hu was about to get angry, but after thinking about the two people's new arrival, he suppressed the anger in his heart. Shi Hu smiled slightly and said:"The two generals are newly arrived, so what's the crime? Zu Ti has always been cunning, scheming, and unpredictable. You two go down and rest first!"

Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo looked at each other, and Wei Shuo said:"Zu Huan, Zu Ti's son, cooperated with Han Qian to attack us. Han Qian, the general of Zu Ti, has always been arrogant. When we escaped back, Han Qian shouted,"These are Shi Jilong's men, look at how bad these people are!""

Wei Shuo's provocation method worked on Shi Hu. Shi Hu slapped several cases hard, stood up and roared:"You Han Qian, you don't know how high the sky is! It seems you don’t know that I, Prince Shi Jilongma, have three eyes! I don’t know how powerful I am! Peach Leopard obeys the order! Three days later, follow me and lead an army of 50,000 to attack Han Qian and Zu Huan stationed in Pengpi!"

"The general will obey the order!" Taobao stood up and bowed his hands in agreement.

After the victory, Han Qian sent Zu Huan back to the governor's office of Chen County to report the battle to Zu Ti. When they arrived at the government office, Zu Huan saluted Zu Ti and said,"My son, see your father.!"

"Get up, sit down and talk. Zu Ti said with concern. Zu Huan sat down and said to Zu Ti:"Father, in this battle at Pengpi, General Han Qian showed his might and killed Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo's soldiers so much that they dropped their armor." They abandoned nearly a thousand corpses and fled back to Yanci.

Zu Ti pondered for a moment and said,"Chen Chuan and Wei Shuo must be eager to make meritorious deeds when they first joined Shi Hu. When Shi Hu's soldiers were defeated, he would definitely be very angry, but he would not be angry with the two surrendered generals. I estimate that Shi Hu will definitely lead an army to take revenge!"

"Father, is it so serious?"Zu Huan didn't quite believe it and asked. Zu Ti smiled and said:"Shi Hu is Shi Le's most trusted general. Now Shi Le is in Pingyang and cannot be separated. The arrogant Shi Hu could not tolerate the failure of his generals. Shi Hu punished generals who lost troops and generals very severely. But for generals who have just surrendered and failed, sometimes they don't just kill them in anger. Maybe Shi Hu will personally lead the army to take revenge!"

"What should we do if it is what our father said? Zu Huan asked. Zu Ti said:"The soldiers will block it, and the water will cover it with earth." Although Shi Hu was the bravest of all three armies, he was a fool of himself. Although he had several generals under his command, he had no decent counselors. Now Zhang Bin follows Shi Le and confronts Jin Zhun and Liu Yao in Pingyang. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us. If Zhang Bin is in Shihu's army, then we will be in danger! Zu

Ti wanted to test his son, so he asked:"Huan'er, when the two armies are fighting, they are evenly matched, and the outcome is often unpredictable." What can ultimately determine the outcome of the war?"

"Is it the number of troops?" Zu Huan said. Zu Ti shook his head and said:"No."

"That is the general's command. Zu Huan said again, but Zu Ti still shook his head. Zu Huan thought carefully and said:"That must be the weapon in his hand!""

"Everything you said is correct. Generals, troops, and weapons are all indispensable. But when these conditions are equal or roughly equivalent, the most important thing that affects the battle situation, besides the right time, location, and people, is the military rations that the soldiers cannot do without every day! Zu Ti said earnestly. After hearing this, Zu Huan suddenly realized and said:"My father's words made the child enlightened!" Is your father planning to make a big fuss about military rations?"