Chapter 183 Like Breaking an Arm

Li Erlang's move immediately put tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry in Liangzhou in a dilemma.

Xiao Juan was in a dilemma as to whether to advance or retreat.

The destructive power that the thousands of Qiang and Hu cavalry could cause could never be underestimated. It could even be foreseen that the Didao area would be heavily guarded by the Eastern Yan army.

Wanting to conquer it in a short period of time is nothing but a pipe dream.

Xiao Juan immediately dispatched General Xue Renmei to lead 4,000 Liangzhou cavalrymen and 6,000 vassal cavalrymen, a total of 10,000 cavalrymen, to encircle and block the thousands of Qiang and Hu cavalrymen.

This was also a helpless move, after all, the strength of cavalry was high mobility. Without twice the number of troops, it would be impossible to complete the encirclement and interception.

So he sent out most of the cavalry in his hands to ensure the safety of the rear.

However, the cavalry was of little use in attacking cities and capturing strongholds, and only one thousand cavalrymen from Liangzhou and more than two thousand cavalrymen from the vassal states were left.

Xiao Juan had not expected that the Eastern Yan army would come out of the city to fight him.

On the other side, on the Jianghuai battlefield, the two sides fought for more than ten days, and then they were in a stalemate for more than ten days.

It is October now.

Although Cao Yuanjing knew that this trip would most likely not lead to success, he did not want to retreat in such disgrace and planned to fight on for a while.

An urgent report from Jianye said that a large number of naval forces were gathering in Jiangdu. In fact, the morale of the army was low, and the Yangtze River was no longer safe as a supply transportation line.

The Yan army stationed in Liyang also began to frequently attack with small boats and burned the Wei army's grain ships, forcing the Wei army to send more warships to escort the grain ships.

The large-scale warships of the Yan army navy that have now appeared in the direction of Guangling and Jiangdu are most likely the main force of the Yan army's Chaohu navy.

Cao Yuanjing understood that this was Li Yangzhou from Ruxuwu making a move.

Zhang Hongping, who was in Wuhu and was in charge of transporting grain and fodder, also came to Jiangbei and persuaded Cao Yuanjing to withdraw his troops for the time being.

After some thought, he had no choice but to put aside all his reluctance and prepare to retreat.

However, he still let his second brother Cao Cheng lead tens of thousands of troops to station in Wuhu on the south bank of the river, keeping an eye on the north bank of the river at all times and waiting for an opportunity to act.

The Wei army retreated, and the Yan army began to cheer. Li Yuanhui even ordered a reward for the entire army and held a grand banquet.

In the Battle of Ruxu, the Yan army in Jianghuai suffered less than 500 casualties, while thousands of enemies were captured and nearly 10,000 were beheaded.

Judging from the result, it was definitely a great victory. It successfully blocked the powerful Eastern Wei army.

But the Eastern Wei Dynasty naturally refused to admit defeat. In fact, the losses in the Battle of Ruxu did not cause any serious damage to the Wei army.

It was just that Cao Yuanjing felt a little pained that the elite troops of the central army had lost more than a thousand men, but in order to save some face, he said to the soldiers in the army, "The weather is getting colder, and we will wait until spring to decide the outcome with the Yan army."

Li Yuanhui left Xiahou Yuanhong as the governor of Ruxu, stationed at Ruxu Fort and the east and west passes, and then led his troops back to Hefei.

After returning to Hefei, Li Yuanhui held a grand banquet, which was a celebration of the war and also a farewell banquet for Liu Xuanji.

Three days later, at the ferry.

Li Yuanhui brought Old Zhu and the Zhang brothers to see Liu Xuanji off, in order to preserve their friendship as colleagues.

Old Liu was still grateful to Li Yuanhui. From the time he captured and killed Yang Xun to his subsequent promotions, all of his efforts were supported by the Li family.

He also married a daughter of the Li family, a real relative.

This is the largest network of contacts he has as a frontier soldier.

Even if he returned to his hometown Youzhou to serve as an official in the future, would there be no one in the court? Although war is about to break out, it has not yet reached the point where rituals and music will collapse.

The Luoyang court still has considerable control over most of the world.

After boarding the ship, everyone waved goodbye again and the ship left the shore.

After a long while, Liu Xuanji sighed and said, "It is a great regret in my life that I cannot work with General Li to conquer Jiangdong for him."

Zhao Teng behind him said, "General, if that's the case, then why don't you stay? General Li treats us brothers well, and you have a good relationship with General Li."

Liu Xuanji remained silent, but Zhang Shiwu on the side smiled and said, "You have some truth in what you said. Although General Li is kind and righteous, the area between the Yangtze River and the Huai River is a place where boats are rampant. We, as border county warriors, should of course return to Youzhou. How do you say that if you don't return to your hometown when you are rich and powerful, it's like walking at night in brocade clothes. It seems that this saying was said by the Overlord of Western Chu, right?" Zhao Teng asked with a little doubt, "But our General Liu and General Xue don't have any old friendships."

Zhang Shiwu was dissatisfied and said, "What are you talking about? Our General Liu gained his fame through fighting. Does he have to rely on connections? If he doesn't have any, then we won't fight."

Zhao Teng snorted coldly, "You are really a good person. After a few days, you have forgotten how much military merit Huang Duwei and Li Xiaowei took from our team when we were scouting the cavalry in Youzhou. Do you still remember? You have forgotten everything, right? If we hadn't happened to catch Yang Xun together with Li Dudu, would General Liu have been able to get ahead? I'm afraid that when we return to the Youzhou army in the future, we will still have to fight the hard battles, and we may not be able to receive the merits and rewards."

Zhang Shiwu remained silent after hearing this. After all, he had encountered many troubles in the army before.

If they hadn't intercepted Yang Xun together with Li Yuanhui and let Liu Xuanji's name reach the emperor directly, who would care about you, the captain?
Even if Yang Xun was brought back, the credit would go to the commander and lieutenant. Maybe he would be rewarded with some money, and being promoted to commander would be a blessing.

While the two were hesitating, Liu Xuanji said with a smile, "This is a different time. Although Old Huang took a lot of credit from us back then, he still took good care of us. You are all lieutenants now, so why bring up those old things?"

"Since Commander Xue personally asked the emperor to transfer me to be the governor of Yuyang and the commander of the cavalry, and to give me military and political power, he will naturally not treat me badly. Besides, Liu is now the son-in-law of the Li family. He has General Li in the court, as well as Lord Tang and Li Silang. Anyone who wants to take our credit will have to see if he has a big stomach."

Liu Xuanji was actually a little confused about his choice. After all, with Li Yuanhui's care in Yangzhou, his life was actually quite easy.

But he always felt that if he continued like this, he would lose something.

Somehow, I felt that I should return to Youzhou and build some achievements.

Faintly, he seemed to see a road, but he had no idea where this road led to or where it would end.

But he still decided to go for it.

If you don't make a name for yourself, there's still the Li family.
On the other side, Li Yuanhui, who was a little confused, did not get on the horse but chose to walk.

The brothers Zhang Jian and Zhang Zhen'e followed one body length behind, one on the left and one on the right, and a group of guards from the Wuwei Camp followed behind.

Wang Fobao, who was as tall and strong as a mountain, was holding a brass Vajra Pestle in his hand. It weighed thirty kilograms, but it seemed light in his hand.

"Brother Liu's departure is like breaking an arm of mine."

Li Yuanhui sighed.

Although I said this and felt very sorry, I was actually more anxious and worried in my heart.

But thinking about my current team, it doesn't seem that it will be difficult to fight for the world.
Needless to say, Lao Zhu can barely be considered a general now, but in terms of potential, he is a historical-level commander.

Not to mention his ability in governing the country, his ability in conquering the world was extremely fierce.

Li Qinglian, both tactics and strategy are first-rate, and an excellent strategic plan.

Scholars such as Xie Xun, Zhang Fu, Guo Fenghe, and Cao Ce also have their own strengths and are capable of managing the army and governing the country.

Xiao Shizhi and Chen Zhen were both talented generals with extraordinary military strategies.

Zhang Jian, Zhang Zhen'e, and Chang Yanheng are all brave enough to fight against ten thousand men. Not only are these three men brave, they are also talented generals with great potential.

He Gui, Zhou Ben, Xiahou Yuanhong, Yin Gong... they are all strong people. Not every one of them can handle things on their own, but they all have no problem with execution.

In addition, there is another person named Xu Da in Zhu's camp. If I am not mistaken, he is also a famous general at the level of the Temple of Martial Arts.

Among the three county governors, Huainan Governor Zheng Shandao is both civil and military. Once the situation is formed, he will definitely be a great help.

But how to make him work for your own benefit requires some thought.

When Li Yuanhui thought about this, he suddenly felt that he was able to do it and he seemed to be able to stand up straight.
　Some readers may question that no one knows how powerful Liu Xuanji is, so they think Xue Shixiong may not pay attention to him.

　　But in the battle of Mount Tai in Qingzhou, Liu Xuanji drove away thousands of bandits alone and was named General Huwei for this. This feat is not much different from the second master's killing Yan Liang in the midst of thousands of troops and Wen Yang's seven ins and outs.

　　You can imagine that such a feat would be praised by later generations and it must have been big news at the time.

　　Even if they were busy spreading the news, it's been two years, how could they not know about it?

　　Therefore, Liu Xuanji is now a world-famous general, because he is recognized by Murong Ying as a "tiger minister of the time". That is why Xue Shixiong wanted to transfer him here.

　　On the contrary, talents like Zhu, Chang, Xu, etc. are truly unknown to the public.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)