Battle of Youzhou
| Battle of Youzhou | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||
| Belligerents | |||||
| Former Zhao | Jin dynasty | ||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||
| Shi Le | Wang Jun | ||||
The Battle of Youzhou, in 314 (the fourth year of Jiaping in Han Zhao and the second year in the Jianxing period of the Western Jin Dynasty), saw Shi Le, the general of the Han Zhao Zhengdong, lead an army to capture Youzhou (now southwest of Beijing), capturing and killing the Great Sima of the Western Jin Dynasty and the Shepherd of Youzhou, Wang Jun, in battle.
Shi Le used Xiangguo (now Xingtai, Hebei) as his base, and Wang Jun sent 50,000 troops to attack Xiangguo. Shi Le's army failed in many battles. He adopted Zhang Bin's suggestion, held onto the city, attacked from the north city gate, and thwarted Wang Jun's attack. In November 313, Shi Le adopted Zhang Bin's strategy and presented a gift to Wang Jun, expressing his hope to support Wang Jun as emperor, and bribed Wang Jun's son-in-law, Zaosong. Fan Yang, a subordinate of Wang Jun, defended General You Tong, and secretly sent someone to surrender to Shi Le. Shi Le killed the envoy and sent him back to Wang Jun.[1]In the first month of 314, Emperor Min of Jin appointed Wang Jun as Da Kema, governor of Youzhou, and Jizhou military forces, and Liu Kun as general and governor of Bingzhou military forces. Wang Jun sent an envoy to Xiangguo, and Shi Le wrote to Wang Jun, pretending that he had gone to Youzhou to persuade him to advance in mid-March, and wrote a letter to Zao Song, asking him to be granted the title of Bingzhou Mu and Guangping Gong. Wang Jun's emissary reported back, saying that Shi Le's army was weak and had no other plans. So Wang Jun was even more arrogant and unprepared. In February, Shi Le led troops to attack Youzhou day and night. When they arrived in Bairen County, taking advantage of the conflict between Liu Kun and Wang Jun, they sent a letter to Liu Kun to send hostages, expressing their willingness to conquer Wang Jun and atone for their crimes, in order to stabilize Liu Kun. In March, Shi Le arrived in Yishui. Before Wang Jun noticed, Shi Le's army arrived in Jicheng (now Beijing). Fearing that there would be an ambush, Shi Le first drove thousands of cattle and sheep into the city, filled the streets, and made offerings to the city, so that the Youzhou soldiers could not go out to fight. Xiangguo beheaded and burned Wang Jun's palace before returning to the army.[2]
References
- ↑ 《Zizhi Tongjian》卷88 晋纪10
- ↑ 《Zizhi Tongjian》卷89 晋纪11
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