Chapter 173 Night Attack
The Yan army held Wucheng and defended tightly. After observing the battle during the day, the Eastern Wei army felt that it was difficult to find an opportunity, so a night attack became a very practical option.

When Zhang Hongping asked whether he wanted to emulate Gan Xingba, several people felt it was quite absurd.

When Gan Ning and Gan Xingba led a hundred riders to raid the camp, it shocked the Cao Wei army. Sun Zhongmou even praised them: "Meng De has Zhang Liao, and I have Xingba, who are enough to fight against each other."

Regardless of whether Gan Ning can compare with Zhang Liao, night attacks are indeed a tactic with low investment and high returns.

But the key point is that although they are Jiangdong, they are also the real Cao Wei.

After careful consideration, Cao Yuanjing obviously did not plan to raid the camp with a hundred cavalrymen.

Because he was planning to get the big one.

After returning to the south bank, Cao Yuanjing and his generals began to formulate a night attack strategy. It was agreed that his trusted generals Wang Xiongyan and Han Ling would each select 800 elite warriors, and quietly board small boats after nightfall to land on the shores about two miles east and west of Ruxukou.

These 1,600 men were all selected from the Danyang soldiers where Cao Yuanjing started his career. They were the elite of the Eastern Wei army. They went into battle lightly and carried not only swords and shields but also Flying Tiger Claws, which they intended to use to climb the wall of the East Gate.

After the night attack on the front team, Cao Yuanjing, Miao Xianyun and Cao Cheng each led their own elite troops to support from behind.

As long as the elite troops of the night attack broke into any part of the Ruxu Fort, the support team would immediately go ashore to assist, trying to capture the Ruxukou Fort at the East Gate in one go.

The plan is very good.

But unfortunately, they met Li Yuanhui.

Because I have seen too many cases where battles were failed due to carelessness, and the commanders themselves lost their lives as a result.

Therefore, Li Yuanhui never needed to be reminded of his caution.

Take the fourth Battle of Ruxu as an example. In December of the fourth year of Jiaping in Wei Dynasty, Sima Zhao served as the commander-in-chief and led General Hu Zun and General Zhuge Dan, a total of 70,000 troops, to attack Ruxu in Dongxing. Zhuge Ke led 40,000 reinforcements from Jianye to rescue Ruxu day and night.

After Hu Zun arrived at Ruxu, he immediately joined the battle and ordered his troops to build a pontoon bridge across the lake, line up on the Dongxing Dike, and divide their forces to attack the east and west cities of Ruxu.

However, the castle was built on a steep slope, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack, and the Wei soldiers were defeated several times.

At this time, the 3,000-man vanguard of the Eastern Wu, led by Ding Feng, arrived at Ruxu in just two days. It was snowing heavily at this time, and the generals of the Wei army were drinking in the camp, without any precautions.

Ding Feng ordered his soldiers to take off their heavy armor, discard their spears and halberds, and only carry helmets, short swords and shields, and lightly attack the front camp of the Wei army. The Wei army was defeated at the first touch, and Zhuge Ke's follow-up large forces also arrived one after another.

The Wu soldiers climbed up the Dongxing Dike, beat drums and shouted, and rushed forward bravely. The Wei army was terrified and fled. They scrambled to cross the pontoon bridge, but the bridge was broken due to excessive crowds. Tens of thousands of people fell into the water or trampled to death.

Han Zong, the general of the front, and Huan Jia, the governor of Le'an, were killed in the battle. The Wei army burned down the camp and retreated, and the Wu army seized a large amount of military supplies.

Sima Zhao lost his title of marquis because the armies of Hu Zun and Zhuge Dan, under his command, were defeated.

The fourth and final large-scale Battle of Ruxu between Wei and Wu ended with a complete victory for Eastern Wu.

Among them, the Wei army’s own carelessness was one of the key factors in the failure of the battle.

Li Yuanhui would naturally not make such a mistake. In fact, it was not only to prevent the Wei army from attacking at night, but also because all the camps of the Yan army had made sufficient preparations and training from the beginning.

They even made defending against night attacks an essential and important part of training.

How to assemble and line up at night, how officers at all levels should give orders and take actions, and how to set up night patrols and light and dark sentries.

There was even a military order requiring the commanders of each camp and their lieutenants to take turns on duty to supervise the night patrols and scouts of their camps. Each camp was also required to set up passwords to prevent misjudgment between patrols and scouts due to poor visibility at night. Anyone who broke into the camp without a password at night would be killed.

In addition, Li Yuanhui's personal guard battalion would patrol and inspect the sentries of each camp from time to time to prevent the units from slacking off.

Therefore, the Yan army's ability to respond to night attacks in Jianghuai was completely beyond the comprehension of the Wei army.

Before they could throw their Flying Tiger Claws onto the dock wall and start climbing, the Wei soldiers who were launching a night attack fell into a trap set by the Yan army, causing a huge noise and screams.

It turned out that the Yan army had dug pits outside the fort and barracks.

They were all dug and set by veteran hunters from various tribes, and they contained animal traps and barbed stakes.

All the soldiers of the Yan army knew that they were not allowed to run around outside the camp, but the Wei army, in the dark, had no preparation or signs and fell into the trap set by the Yan army.

There were not many casualties, but the subsequent screams exposed the traces of the Wei army.

So, after a shout of "enemy attack", the sound of drums and gongs to guard against night attacks began to sound, and all units began to gather together and prepare for battle according to the plan.

After the sound of gongs and drums sounded, all the night fires were lit. The Jianghuai Yan army, including Li Yuanhui, were awakened from their sleep, and then, at the urging of officers and even veterans at all levels, they began to dress, put on armor, and prepare for battle.

After the night attack failed, Wang Xiongyan and Han Ling did not intend to attack the fort, but turned around and took the wounded to the riverside, and quickly boarded the ship and left without waiting for the Yan army to respond. Because the night attack is about surprise and concealment, if the enemy finds out, it is not a night attack, it is a forced attack.

Although the Wei army withdrew, the Yan army in Jianghuai continued to take turns to rest according to the response during the night attack.

Li Yuanhui was not wearing armor, only a round-necked robe. He climbed up the wall of the west fort and looked at the river.

After a while, countless lights were seen on the river. Those were the lights that were lit again on the Wei army's warships after the failed night attack.

Before, in order to avoid being discovered by the Yan army, they stopped in the middle of the river and turned off the lights.

Han Quan hurried over after putting on his armor and brought a cloak for Li Yuanhui.

After Li Yuanhui received the cloak, he put it on himself, tied the belt, and then looked at the river and said, "This Cao thief from the Eastern Wei attacked at night on the first day. It seems that he doesn't want us to live a peaceful life."

Han Quan said: "Eastern Wei wants to attack our Jianghuai Army at night, that is wishful thinking."

Li Yuanhui smiled upon hearing this, and then said, "We still cannot be careless. Instruct all troops to take turns to rest. Each battalion must have at least 300 people in armor ready for battle. We must not give Cao the thieves an opportunity to take advantage."

"Okay. I'll send the guards over to pass the message." Han Quan took the order and left.

Li Yuanhui did not stay on the dock wall for too long and returned to his residence.

On the warship on the Dajiang River, Cao Yuanjing also looked solemn after listening to the reports from the two generals.

"I didn't expect that this Li kid would be so cautious and not set traps on the periphery. I just saw on the boat that the Yan army in Jianghuai reacted very quickly. After the drums sounded, the night fires of various units were immediately lit by patrolling soldiers. From this point, we can see that the Yan army has strict military discipline and quick reactions. Even our Danyang veterans may not be able to do this."

Wang Xiongyan was surprised and asked, "Could it be that the Yan army anticipated our night attack and made preparations in advance?"

Cao Yuanjing shook his head and said, "It's impossible. If they expected our army to attack at night, they would ambush a team outside the camp, let you go to the city and then launch a siege. It's a question whether you can come back."

"I really underestimated Li Yangzhou for being able to train his soldiers to this level."

(End of this chapter)