Chapter 232 Purge
Hukou fell and the commander Li Bao was captured alive.

Of the three thousand Wei soldiers, more than eight hundred were killed in the battle, more than a thousand fled, and more than a thousand were captured.

Even Cao Yuanjing, who was stationed in Pengze, did not have time to react and mobilize the navy and land forces for support.

Li Xiong and Liu Changyan, who were stationed between Mufu Mountain and Chaisang, mobilized a large army to prepare for rescue. But before their reinforcements could bypass the northern foot of Lushan Mountain, the battle was over.

The Yan army captured the Wei army's camp and drove all the captives onto ships and transported them to Jiangbei.

Afterwards, Li Yuanhui entered Chaisang with several generals, accompanied by two hundred sheep, a large amount of wine, and a lot of supplies.

The commander-in-chief appeared in Chaisang, bringing with him a large amount of rewards and supplies, and held a grand banquet for his soldiers in the city.

When the Yan army saw Li Yuanhui coming in person, the whole city cheered and shouted "Grand Commander" and "Grand Commander".

Li Yuanhui stood on the city wall, looking at the soldiers on and off the city walls, and laughed: "Soldiers, you have worked hard. You have held on in Chaisang for half a year. Although I cannot fight with you, I know your hardships. Today, I will drink this bowl of wine with you! Cheers!"

"Do it! Do it! Do it!"

The six thousand soldiers responded with a roar like thunder and waves.

The defending general Zhou Qiu said loudly: "The Grand Commander has never forgotten us. We will never fail the Commander's trust. We will not disobey his orders."

The generals also responded: "As long as you give us an order, we will obey you!"

Although Chaisang was not besieged, it was isolated on the south bank of the river, which was not only a thorn in the side of the Wei army, but also put the Wei army in danger.

If the Wei army could control the river, they could trap these 6,000 soldiers.

Previously, Chaisang had enough food and grass, enough to supply seven or eight months. So Li Yuanhui could safely and boldly fight with the Eastern Wei. However, the biggest reason for choosing this time to seize Hukou, in addition to focusing on the north, was that the food of the Chaisang defenders was running out.

More than seven months have passed.

By capturing Hukou Dazhai, they can form a cornerstone with the defenders in Chaisang City. In addition, with the control of the Yangtze River, they can ensure that the transportation routes between Chaisang and Jiangbei are unobstructed.

It was equivalent to driving a nail into the Wei army's retreat route.

More than 50,000 Wei troops were stationed to the west of Chaisang. After the Wei army lost control of the Yangtze River section, it could only transport food and grass through the valley between Lushan Mountain and Mufu Mountain.

But now that Hukou on the northern foot of Mount Lu has been occupied by the Yan army, they can send troops at any time to attack the passage between the two mountains.

Once the passage between the two mountains was cut off, the Wei army would face the situation of running out of food.

So Cao Yuanjing immediately ordered Li Xiong and Liu Changyan to lead their troops to retreat to Haihun by land to avoid being trapped north of Mufu Mountain.

After all, they have now lost control of the river and are unable to obtain support from waterways. Hukou has also been captured by the Yan army. Li Xiong and Liu Changyan are in a very dangerous situation.

Li Yuanhui did not engage in a life-and-death battle with the Wei army at this time, but instead ordered Chaisang and Hukou to closely monitor the movements of the Wei army, but not to act rashly.

There was absolutely no intention of sending troops, and they just watched the Wei army retreat to Haihun through the Liangshan Passage.

"Commander-in-chief, if we send troops to guard the area between Mount Lu and Mount Mufu, and set up camp on the road, it will be enough to block the Wei army's path and cut off their food supply. If our army follows and attacks them, we may be able to complete the mission."

On the city wall of Chaisang, Li Su, the accompanying Yingyang Langjiang, made a suggestion.

The Wei army camp was already making preparations for a large-scale relocation, which could be seen clearly from the top of the city wall.

The Yan army's generals all looked eager to try, and it sounded like the chances of success were very high. They could use the geographical advantage to trap the Wei army between two mountains and cut off their food supply.

However, Li Yuanhui shook his head and said with a smile: "The Art of War says: Don't press a desperate enemy, and don't block a retreating army. The Wei army now has more than 50,000 soldiers, and they still have the strength to fight. If their way back is blocked by me, they will fight like trapped beasts. In addition, Cao Yuanjing is still leading a large army in Pengze, which is very close. If we attack from both sides, I am afraid that the army will be overthrown."

After hearing these words, everyone felt that they made a lot of sense and were no longer in a hurry to ask for a fight.

After Li Yuanhui left the city first, Li Su sighed and said, "General Li is cautious and steady in his use of troops. Although there is nothing wrong with that, it is easy for him to miss good opportunities."

Qiao Xiaojie, a fellow countyman, said, "Brother Li, don't you think that the governor didn't agree to your proposal because he felt the chances of winning were low?"

Li Su was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then asked, "What do you think, Brother Qiao?"

Qiao Xiaojie said, "Brother Li, even I can see that your plan is slightly flawed, but it is generally feasible. Even if we don't use your strategy, as long as we make good use of the terrain, we will definitely have a 70% chance of winning against the Wei army. However, the governor directly rejected the idea of ​​continuing to use troops against the Wei army. Do you think it's because the governor is cautious?"

Li Su said: "The governor has always been cautious in deploying troops and rarely takes risks."

Qiao Xiaojie nodded: "Brother Li is right, but this time is different. After our army captured Hukou, there was no further action, which was actually forcing the Wei army to retreat. The governor probably didn't want to continue fighting for fear that something big would happen." Li Su said with a frown: "What do you mean, Brother Qiao?"

"Maybe, something is happening in the north."

Qiao Xiaojie spoke in a somewhat mysterious tone. Li Su was somewhat puzzled. Then, after thinking of a number of possibilities, he revealed a look of astonishment.

Qiao Xiaojie said nothing, just nodded slightly.

The end of the Hukou War also meant the end of the competition and struggle for Chaisang.

The two sides confronted each other across the river for more than half a year, but the Yan army had the last laugh.

After losing the right to control the water along the river, the Wei army has been in a passive situation. The Yan army marched step by step, and almost left no loopholes for the Wei army.

After the Wei army withdrew from between the two mountains, they left behind an army of about 10,000 people and set up camps along the road to prevent the Yan army from attacking Haihun. They wanted to guard this strategic passage.

The Yan army watched coldly and built fortifications on the road.

After the Wei army withdrew, Li Yuanhui returned to Jiangbei and took most of the troops back to Hefei.

Three thousand men under Zhou Qiu were left to garrison at Chaisang, while Lieutenant Li Yigong led two thousand men at Hukou.

Xunyang and Xinchun also left 3,000 men to garrison respectively.

More than 10,000 troops from the 20,000-odd troops originally here were directly transferred north to Hefei.

On the way back, Li Yuanhui was discussing the next military reorganization plan with Li Qinglian.

The powerful men from the three counties successively defected to the Jianghuai Group, which greatly increased its strength, but the internal forces also became more complicated.

The 18 battalions initially established had a total of more than 50,000 infantry and cavalry.

He is Li Yuanhui's direct descendant.

The Guide Army, which was composed of surrendered soldiers and commanded by Guard General Xiao Shizhi, already had 8,000 men, as well as the troops of the three prefectures and the governor's army, which numbered from 7,000 to 3,000.

Then came the powerful men of Lujiang, including Li Su, Zhou Qiu, Qiao Xiaojie and others, who had more than 20,000 soldiers and appointed Lujiang prefect Lu Xiang as their guard commander.

The second is the powerful people of Guangling.

Rather than saying that they are the powerful people of Guangling, it is better to say that they are the Zhang faction.

The Jiangdu Zhang Family is now the most powerful family in the Jianghuai Group except for the Li Family. Zhang Wu commands more than 10,000 soldiers, and the Guangling Camp and Jiangdu Camp under the command of Zhang Jian and Zhang Zhen'e have a total of 8,000 people.

Most of these troops are members of the Zhang family.

Including the Lujiang tyrants, they all led their own troops.

This means that they all have very strong independence.

Therefore, Li Yuanhui must reorganize the army. Otherwise, the longer the Jianghuai Group develops, the more fragmented and opposed the various forces will be, and the more difficult it will be to integrate them.

The lesson from the past is the Eastern Wu.

There are many powerful families, and no matter what you want to do, there will always be someone to hinder you.

However, we cannot simply seize the troops of the powerful and send them to the 18th Battalion of our own lineage.

This will chill people's hearts.

Moreover, they might be facing a war soon, so some actions must be carried out under the premise of ensuring stability. Li Yuanhui discussed with Li Qinglian and Xie Xun for a long time, and finally decided not to split up the powerful troops on a large scale, but to impose certain restrictions and rectification.

All departments submitted their rosters in a unified manner, clarified their departmental ranks, and then formally appointed officers at all levels to rectify and establish a regular military command system.

In this regard, Li Yuanhui planned to learn from that army, although he could not implement the dual-chief system or establish branches at the grassroots level.

However, the guards and military supervisors could go deep into each camp.

(End of this chapter)