Chapter 243 The wind is blowing hard
On the Zhongli front, Li Yuanhui assembled tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry.

The Huainan Right Camp, Lujiang Right Camp, Jiangdu Camp, Guangling Camp, Zhonglei Camp, Zhongjun Camp, Hubu Camp, Wuwei Camp, plus the cavalry and Huainan County soldiers, totaled more than 40,000 people.

Chang Yanheng was named Yingyang Langjiang because of his outstanding achievements in the night attack on Xiang County.

His deputy general Wang Bi was also appointed as Sima of a separate department because of his military achievements, and he still served as the deputy general of Huaiyuan Camp.

During this battle, Chang Yanheng's performance as the vanguard when marching and the rear guard when entering impressed the cavalry and generals of various camps, and the army called him a "strange man."

Li Yuanhui also ordered Chang Yanheng and Liu Ju to gather troops and cross the Huai River to the north, and to transfer several teams of cavalry from the other two camps to make up for the shortfalls in the two divisions, so that the two divisions would reach a full strength of 1,500 cavalry.

The requirement for them was to wait for an opportunity to harass the Wagang Army and attack the grain routes.

At present, the two sides have not yet reached the time of a decisive battle. The Wagang Army is a rare force that has the advantages of both cavalry and navy.

Whether they wanted to use cavalry to attack them during the uncivilized winter, or wait until spring to use the navy to conduct amphibious joint operations, it might not necessarily create an advantage.

Therefore, after discussing with the staff, they finally decided to fight with the Wagang Army and look for opportunities to fight.

Liu Yuanqing of Xiang County can still hold on for the time being. When the ice and snow melt in March and April, Jianghuai can still use the navy to enter Sishui from the Huaihe River to harass the rear of the Wagang Army and Xia Pi and Pengcheng which are under their actual control.

However, we also need to be wary of the Wagang attacking the Huaihe River from Sishui. The advantage of transporting troops by water is shared by both sides.

After Chang Yanheng led his army northward, he traveled all the way to a place several dozen miles away from Xiang County, where he rested and replenished supplies in Zhuyi. He then said to everyone, "We are all born as bandits, but the governor has treated us with great kindness and courtesy, so we should die for him. However, this time he ordered us to go north, but he wants us to follow the old method of looting Wagang and harassing their food supply. This is a way to tire out the enemy. We have 3,000 cavalrymen, which can be divided into ten teams of 300 cavalrymen each. Remember not to fight the Wagang army head-on, but to scout out the terrain first and leave a good retreat and hiding place. Remember these four words."

Liu Ju smiled and said, "But the wind is strong?"

"Hahahaha"

"Hahaha"

Chang Yanheng and everyone else burst into laughter when they heard this.

Because these four words are what they say most when they are thieves. They mean there is danger, run away quickly.

Both the Huaishang Camp and the Huaiyuan Camp were originally horse thieves. Even if you are not as good as the elite troops in Guanzhong, but you can escape at the sight of the enemy, no one is worse than them at this kind of thing.

This trip is equivalent to letting them go back to their old business and re-enter the field they are most familiar with.

"Brothers, let's divide our forces here. If the idea is too difficult, remember it."

"The wind is blowing hard."

Everyone laughed in unison.

Afterwards, they each led their troops away.

Li Yuanhui naturally wouldn't care how they fought. After all, he was not a master of micro-control, nor did he like drawing battle formations.

He always put forward his own demands and goals, and he did not like to interfere with how the generals below achieved their goals.

After all, there are too many negative examples in this regard.

After sending out the tough guy Chang Yanheng, Li Yuanhui immediately led hundreds of personal guards south and inspected the riverside defenses in Guangling, Jiangdu, Liyang and other places. After all, he still had to be on guard against Cao Yuanjing from Jiangdong who might stab him in the back.

After going around for a while and arriving at Ruxuwu, more than half a month had passed.

Xiahou Yuanhong, who was stationed in Ruxuwu, accompanied Li Yuanhui to walk around the city for most of the day, including the storage of arrows, food, and weapons in the city, whether the soldiers' barracks were clean, and even asked how much meat the soldiers had eaten during the New Year.
When Xiahou Yuanhong saw this, he couldn't help but feel a little panicked even though he felt that he had done nothing wrong.

"General Xiahou has been stationed at an important location and has made great contributions."

"The commander-in-chief's words are too serious. Since the commander-in-chief has appointed me as the commander of Ruxu and entrusted such an important task to a remnant of the previous dynasty, how dare I slack off?" Xiahou Yuanhong immediately bowed.

Li Yuanhui said with a smile: "Don't talk about the remnants of the previous dynasty. Didn't my ancestors also serve as officials in Wei? But at that time, the Longxi Li family was far less famous than the Xiahou family in Qiao County."

"General, you are overrated."

The Xiahou clan in Wei was like a royal family. Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and Xiahou Shang were recorded in the same biography as Cao Ren, Cao Hong and others in the "Records of the Three Kingdoms", and were collectively referred to as "the Xiahou and Caos".

Xiahou Yuanhong was a descendant of Xiahou Yuan. During the Wei Dynasty, he inherited a high title and served as a minister for generations.

And now Cao Yuanjing of Jiangdong is under the banner of reviving the Wei Dynasty. At this time, Li Yuanhui still dares to give him the important position of Ruxuwu to guard.

This is undoubtedly trustworthy.

Of course, Cao Yuanjing of the Eastern Wei Dynasty and even Cao Xuan of the Western Wei Dynasty also sent people to persuade them to surrender, but they were all "tied up" and "sent to Hefei" by him.

In his opinion, the Wei Dynasty had already perished.

Xiahou Yuanhong's father and brother also died in the service of the king when Luoyang fell, which can be considered as doing good to the Great Wei.

He fled south with his maternal grandfather, the late Wei Guo Situ, and his uncle Guo Fenghe, and took refuge in the mountains with a group of former Wei survivors, only thinking about preserving their lives in the chaotic times.

Later, when the Southern Wei was destroyed, there was no thought of restoring the country.

We have lost the support of the people and the people, how can we restore our country?
Without peerless heroes like Emperor Wu and Emperor Xuan, how could we restore the country?
Later, he went down the mountain and joined Li Yuanhui, which was equivalent to working for the Li family. Li Yuanhui, as a young man, was very kind to these old people from the previous dynasty.

In this case, what is the point of thinking about restoring the country?
Even if Cao Xuan and Cao Yuanjing each occupied one side, one in Jiangdong and the other in Jingzhou, could they defeat the heroes in the north?

Xiahou Yuanhong also understood the general situation of military struggle. If you occupy Jingzhou and Jiangdong, you will at most be a Liu Bei or Sun Quan. To unify the world, you have to be a force that occupies the densely populated areas in the north.

Now the Li family has opened up the situation in Guanzhong, and also occupied Yizhou and Liangzhou, thus establishing a potential foundation.

At this time, Xiahou Yuanhong felt that he was out of his mind to pursue the cause of restoring the country.

Over the past few years, tens of thousands of people from Tianzhu Mountain have been fully integrated into the Jianghuai Group and have been appointed by Li Yuanhui as his direct subordinates.

Guo Fenghe was acting as governor of a county, and Xiahou Yuanhong and Guo Xing were both commanders of a battalion.

Many of them also served in Li Yuanhui's court.

Under such circumstances, Xiahou Yuanhong's interests are actually highly tied to the Jianghuai Group, so it is naturally impossible for him to follow Cao Yuanjing and Cao Xuan.

The illusory cause of restoring the country could not attract him. High position and generous salary? How much value could a general or governor of a separatist power have?

Li Yuanhui also understood this. If you can provide your subordinates with enough benefits, they will work hard for you and will not betray you as soon as they are tempted.

But if you can provide them with enough emotional value besides benefits, such as "trust in people", "gratitude for recognition", "extra courtesy", "affection like father and son", "love like brothers".
In this era, perhaps all we can get is "devote all our efforts", "never stop until our death", "die for the cause", and "follow our cause with our life".

Therefore, Li Yuanhui has always been very kind to his subordinates.

After all, if you want people to work hard for you, you have to put in some effort, right?
Of course, there is another very important thing, that is prospects.

In addition to letting your subordinates eat the pie, you also have to let them see the bigger pie you have drawn.

Even if you can't eat it now, you have to draw it and make the promises you should make.

(End of this chapter)