What is the significance of the battle of Suiyang?

The Significance of the Battle of Emperor Yangdi —— The bloodiest war in the history of the Tang Dynasty

The significance of the battle of Suiyang: The battle of Suiyang was a famous battle in the Anshi Rebellion. The decision-making group headed by Zhang Xun, led thousands of guards, desperately held off ten times their enemies, and finally won time for recovering Chang 'an, which played an extremely important role in pacifying the Anshi Rebellion!

The location of Suiyang Canal is very important. In the second year of Zhide (757), after the death of An Lushan, his son An Qingxu sent Yin to lead the elite troops of Luo, Turkic and other tribes to join forces with Yang Chaozong, and hundreds of thousands of people attacked Suiyang. In the face of powerful enemies, Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan encouraged them to persevere. From morning till noon, they fought more than 20 times and their morale remained unchanged. Xu Yuan, who was less talented than Zhang Xun, promoted Zhang Xun as commander in chief and managed to raise rations and war materials himself. After Zhang Xun became the commander in chief, he first destroyed Tian Xiurong, an internal rebel, and then led the army out of the city to attack the rebels actively, and fled in a crushing defeat, and seized a large number of chariots, horses, cattle and sheep. Zhang Xun gave all these trophies to the soldiers, and he didn't want them. After this victory, the court worshipped Zhang Xun as an imperial advisor; Xu is waiting for advice; Yao Shu is a doctor in the official department.

In May, when the wheat was ripe, the rebels collected wheat outside the city as food for the army. When Zhang Xun saw it in the city, he gathered his troops and beat drums to show his desire to fight. Seeing this, the rebels immediately stopped harvesting wheat for war. At this time, Zhang Xun stopped beating drums and let the sergeant have a rest. Seeing this, the rebels relaxed their vigilance. Zhang Xun seized the opportunity and ordered Nanji Jun to lead the army to open the city gate, suddenly rushed out, took the Yin camp straight, and cut the flag. At the same time, a nominal army general led more than one thousand cavalry, forcing Zhang Xun to surrender at the gate. While answering the enemy generals in the city, Zhang Xun secretly ordered dozens of warriors to hang down from the city with hooks, knives and strong crossbows and dive into the waterless moat. When the rebels outside the city were unguarded by their numbers, the warriors fought bravely, and the rebels were caught off guard, injuring many people. In July of that year, the rebels attacked the city again. At this time, soldiers can only get a spoonful of rice every day. When they are hungry, they have to eat bark and paper.

There are only 1000 defenders left, too thin to draw a bow, and there are no reinforcements outside. After knowing the situation, the rebels decided to storm Suiyang. They first climbed up the city with a ladder. Zhang Xun ordered the soldiers to overturn the ladder with hooks, and then threw fire from the city to burn the ladder. In this way, the rebels failed to capture the city with the ladder. After that, the rebels did some rectification and attacked the city with hooks and wooden horses, but they were smashed by stones thrown from the city when they were near the wall. Seeing this, the rebels stopped attacking the city, dug trenches around the city, built fences outside the trenches and laid siege for a long time. At this time, many defenders in the city died of hunger, and most of them were disabled and tired. At this time, Zhang Xun killed his concubine and cooked it to reward the soldiers. Xu Yuan was also a slave boy who gave food to soldiers. The sparrows and mice in the city and the leather on the bow and arrow of the armor all came to eat, but in this case, Zhang Xun also showed loyalty to the rebel generals near the city wall and advised them to get things done. Many people, such as Li Huaizhong, who was rebelled by Zhang Xun, can be dead set to help Zhang Xun defend the city.

In order to strengthen the guards in Suiyang, Zhang Xun sent Nan Jiyun out of the east gate to ask for reinforcements. However, Helan, surrounded by troops, and Xu and Shang Heng, who were stationed in Pengcheng, were waiting and refused to send troops. Only Li Ben stationed in Zhenyuan helped 100 horses; Ningling Shoujiang assisted 3,000 soldiers, but these soldiers, led by Nan Jiyun, opened the encirclement of the enemy and entered Suiyang City, leaving only over 1,000 people. The rebels learned that Zhang Xun had no hope for help and stepped up their siege, making it difficult to defend the city. Guarding city soldiers to discuss the breakthrough, Zhang Xun, thought Suiyang is the Jianghuai barrier. If it falls, the rebels will go south in a big way and ravage the Huaihe River. Besides, the soldiers guarding the city were so hungry that they abandoned the city and fled, and finally decided to stick to it.

Until that year 10, the rebels attacked the city again, and the soldiers guarding the city had no fighting capacity. Suiyang City was finally breached by the rebels, and Zhang Xun, Xu Yuan and their generals were all captured by the rebels. Zhang Xun is fearless and very calm. Yin, the commander of the rebel army, advised to surrender. He is honest and would rather die than surrender. So Yin also killed 36 people including Nan Jiyun, Yao Shu and Lei Wanchun. Zhang Xun is 49 years old. Xu Yuan was also killed on the way to Luoyang.

At that time, the court only supported by taxes in the Yangtze River and Huaihe River basins. Suiyang, located in the middle section of the Grand Canal, is an important town in the Jianghuai Valley. If it falls, the canal will be blocked and the consequences will be unimaginable. Zhang Xun and Xu Yuan were guarding Suiyang, with less than 7,000 troops at most. After more than 400 battles, the rebels1.20,000 people were annihilated. Suiyang persisted for 10 months, during which the court continued to accept financial aid from Jianghuai, completing the process of recovery, preparation and counterattack. One month ago, Xijing Chang 'an was recovered, and after Suiyang fell 10 day, Luoyang in Tokyo was recovered, and the rebels could no longer go south. The world was preserved in the Tang Dynasty, and the whole Suiyang War lasted 10 months.