Chapter 222: Distant water cannot save nearby fire

After the messenger left, Li Yuanhui shook his head and sighed: "Xuzhou will fall into the hands of Wagang."

He then ordered his personal soldiers to summon Li Qinglian, Xie Xun and Guo Fenghe, three aides, to discuss the matter.

Li Yuanhui put the letter asking for help on the table and told a few people about the situation. Li Qinglian immediately bowed and said, "General, send troops to Xuzhou immediately. Do not let Wagang occupy Xuzhou alone."

Li Qinglian was quick-witted and he knew exactly what Li Yuanhui was worried about.

Even if Wagang was recruited, it was only a temporary measure. They were definitely not on the same page with the Luoyang court.

Military interest groups had also initially formed in Yangzhou and Jianghuai, becoming de facto vassal states and warlords.

The two sides are next to each other now, but they will definitely be rivals who will clash in the future.

Everyone present could see this clearly. If a potential rival occupied a strategic location like Xuzhou, it would definitely be a potential threat to Jianghuai.

Don't forget that Xu Maogong is still leading more than 30,000 elite troops in the heart of Yuzhou.

But it is difficult to send troops at the moment.

In addition to defending along the Jianghuai River, the Jianghuai area also had to be on guard against the Western Wei army in Jingzhou.

All that could be mobilized were the escort navy from Hongze Lake and Gaoyou Lake, as well as the four battalions of cavalry that remained in Hefei to provide support and be on standby at any time.

Although Li Yuanhui's defense focus was on the riverside line, the cavalry, as a highly mobile combat force, was all left in Hefei this time so that they could support the key points along the river as soon as possible if the situation changed.

It is considered the current general reserve team.

So from a strategic point of view, there was nothing wrong with Li Qinglian's proposal, but there were no troops to send at the moment.

In other words, soldiers cannot be moved around at will.

If we send too few troops, we may not be able to solve any problems.

Sending too many troops affected the defense line along the river, which was not worth the cost.

Guo Fenghe said: "If the governor is worried that Wagang's occupation of Xuzhou will be detrimental to Jianghuai, and I have no troops available, it is better to send Guangling County soldiers to Huaiyin when the opportunity arises, and Huainan County soldiers to Pei County in the name of assisting in defense. In this way, even if Xuzhou falls into the hands of Wagang, at least Pei County and Huaiyin will serve as a buffer."

After hearing this, Li Yuanhui thought about it for a while and nodded: "The words of the military advisor and the chief secretary are very much to my liking. Now we have no choice but to send the county troops."

The county troops were not directly commanded by the Military Governor's Office, but were usually under the control of the county governors.

But now, in the three counties of Jianghuai, Li Yuanhui is concurrently the prefect of Guangling, and the other two counties are also quite cooperative with Li Yuanhui's military orders.

After all, there is no stupid person who can be a prefect, and they can see the situation clearly.

After the agreement was reached, Li Yuanhui immediately issued a letter ordering the governor of Huainan, Zheng Shandao, to send 3,000 county soldiers to station in Qiao County, and the governor of Guangling to send 2,000 county soldiers to station in Huaiyin.

After the military order was issued, Li Yuanhui still felt that it was not safe enough. Xunyang was hundreds of miles away from Hefei and thousands of miles away from Xuzhou.

If anything happens, there is no time to react.

But right now the war in Chaisang is still in a stalemate stage, and it is not convenient for him as the commander-in-chief to withdraw now.

However, after thinking about it, he decided to return to Hefei first and hand over the military affairs to the naval commander, General Lu Qin.

Lu Qin is steady and has the title of general. He also defeated the enemy navy in this naval battle. Taking all factors into consideration, he is a very suitable candidate.

Moreover, his departure now would not have much impact on the morale of the army, after all, the Yan army had just won a victory.

He could just give secret instructions to the generals and leave quietly.

From another perspective, the commander-in-chief should indeed delegate power appropriately and let his generals take charge.

After Lu Qin was summoned into the big tent, Li Yuanhui gave him some instructions, which included that he could abandon Chaisang if necessary, but he must pull out and rescue Zhou Qiu, Li Yigong and their troops stationed in Chaisang.

Lu Qin naturally agreed.

Li Yuanhui left even the infantry of the Wuwei Camp in Xunyang, and took 500 cavalry led by Luo Shixiang, and returned to Hefei by land in five days.

As soon as I entered Hefei, I received a series of messages.

The second brother defeated the 200,000 Turkish cavalry with more than 10,000 cavalry and forced them to retreat. The third brother set an ambush on the banks of the Wei River, beheaded thousands of enemies and captured nearly 10,000.

The Li family has already seized most of Guanzhong.

These are the good news, and what follows is a bunch of news that doesn't sound so good.

First of all, Wagang sent troops to Xuzhou.

On the third day after the Xuzhou messenger arrived in Qi County, Zhai Rang personally led an army of 50,000 and marched out from the southern foot of Mount Yi. He successively occupied Langya and Donghai counties, and defeated the Xuzhou rebel army led by Liu Yuanqing outside Pengcheng.

After Liu Yuanqing's defeat, he led the Xuzhou rebel army to continue advancing eastward, and took advantage of the weak defense of Pei County to occupy Xiang County.

Zheng Shandao did send county soldiers to Pei County, but it was obvious that he was a step too slow.

The Luoyang court remained silent on the matter of the Wagang troops dispatching troops to Xuzhou.

After all, there is really nothing much to say.

You can't blame the Wagang Army for rescuing Xuzhou, right?

After the Wagang Army relieved Pengcheng, they needed to rest and regroup. Isn't that reasonable?

As for the defense of each city, your Xuzhou army is useless, so it makes sense for us to take over, right?

Besides, the Xuzhou rebels are in Pei County not far away. If we withdraw, can you defeat them?

However, after basically occupying the three counties of Langya, Donghai and Xia Pi, the Wagang Army stopped and did not continue to advance westward to attack the Xuzhou rebel army.

Most of them were stationed in Xiapi and Luxian. Even Zhai Rang did not expect that most of Xuzhou was captured by the Wagang Army so easily.

Although Xuzhou Governor Cui Wei sent messengers all day long to urge Zhai Rang to attack and destroy the Xuzhou rebel army as soon as possible, Zhai Rang had many reasons to shirk his responsibilities.

Cui Wei knew very well that it was easier to invite gods than to send them away.

As long as Liu Yuanqing's troops were not completely wiped out, the Wagang Army would have reason to occupy most of Xuzhou. As for when and how long they would fight, no one knew.

"Father, if the Wagang Army refuses to leave, Xuzhou will belong to the Zhai family!"

Pei Xingyan finally lost his patience and came to Pei Minzhi's hall to remind him.

Pei Minzhi looked up at him and said, "Why are you in such a hurry? If it's from his Zhai family, then it's from the Zhai family. Even if it's not from his family, could it be yours?"

After hearing this, Pei Xingyan was immediately speechless. He didn't quite understand what his father meant.

"Aye, what do you mean by that?"

Pei Minzhi said: "This Xuzhou is neither yours nor mine. The Wagang Army can take it. It can be regarded as a good relationship between my father and me and the Wagang Army. In this chaotic world, it will be useful sooner or later."

Pei Xingyan was even more confused after hearing this. In troubled times, shouldn't he hold on to the army and territory? Why did he let Wagang stay here?
Pei Minzhi looked at his son's expression and smiled helplessly. This eldest son had been practicing martial arts since he was young. He was extremely strong and brave, and he often charged into the enemy's formation to kill them. He was a famous warrior in the army.

He is also well versed in military strategy, but when it comes to political affairs, his mind is not so sharp.

Pei Minzhi could only explain in depth: "Wagang sent out troops more than a month ago, and the court did not make any decree on this matter. Just ignore it. Do you know what this means?"

Pei Xingyan finally understood what he had heard. "Father, what do you mean by that? The imperial court is no longer able to control Wagang?"

Pei Minzhi smiled and nodded, thinking to himself that it was good that you didn't naively think that the court had complete trust in Wagang and therefore didn't ask about it.
"The imperial army is now stuck in front of Tongguan and Yuzhou, and even the Wagang Army has been transferred to Yuzhou. This shows that the imperial court has no spare strength. The Li family father and son have occupied most of Guanzhong. Neither the Luoyang court nor the King of Liang in Chang'an will last long."

"Father, are you optimistic about Wagang?" Pei Xingyan asked tentatively.

Pei Minzhi waved his hand and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the ones who will gain the most power should be the Li family father and son."

"Then why do you want to give Xuzhou to Wagang?" Pei Xingyan became even more confused when he heard this. Aren't you optimistic about the Li family? Why are you trying to make friendly terms with Wagang?

Pei Minzhi sighed and said, "Even if I am optimistic about the Li family, will the Li family send troops to rescue Pengcheng now? Even if they can, can they defeat Zhai Rang? Distant water cannot quench a nearby fire. Even if Zhai Rang occupies Pengcheng, he will not embarrass us. But if the rebel army breaks in, will my father and I still be alive?"

　Today is the 23rd day of the lunar calendar, which is the Little New Year in the northern lunar calendar. I wish you all a happy Little New Year.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)