Chapter 250 Rotten Wood
The current situation facing the Western Wei Dynasty cannot be said to be prosperous.

It can only be said that we are surrounded by enemies on all sides.

Wancheng was under siege, and Huang Niujiao and tens of thousands of people were trapped in the city and were isolated.

At the same time, Li Sanlang's Yizhou Army set out from Hanzhong, joined forces with Sima Xiuye ​​of the three eastern counties, and marched out from Fangling Shangyong to attack Xiangfan along the Han River.

It blocked the Western Wei’s reinforcements heading north to rescue Wancheng.

After conquering Yiling, the eldest lady of the Li family threatened Jiangling. But Cao Xuan knew that most of the troops in Shuzhong had been taken to Guanzhong by the Li father and son. It had been less than half a year since Guanzhong was pacified. Moreover, the Li army coming out of Wuguan in the north was said to have 300,000 troops, and Hanzhong and the three eastern counties were also said to have 200,000 troops. Naturally, there was a lot of water in it.

The two armies are said to have 500,000 troops, but the actual strength is not that much, and it must be more than 200,000. So the number of troops in the Yong'an direction of Yizhou is at most 10,000 or 20,000, and they dare not attack deeply, otherwise problems will easily arise in Chengdu.

Therefore, Cao Xuan assembled a large army on the Han River line, mainly to guard Xiangfan. At the same time, he ordered the navy to be a mobile force, ready to support Jiangxia and Jiangling along the river at any time.

Among them, Jiangxia is the focus of defense. After all, Li Yuanhui in Jianghuai has well-trained soldiers and sufficient food. His military strength is definitely much stronger than that of Shuzhong, which has been drained.

The troops advancing towards the Jianghuai direction must be from the north and south of the Dabie Mountains, and divided into two routes, because the terrain is there.

Cao Xuan actually understood that this was the biggest crisis since the founding of the country. Apart from surrendering to Dayan and asking for help, the only person he could turn to was Cao Yuanjing of Eastern Wei in Jiangdong.

So Cao Xuan wrote to Cao Yuanjing of Eastern Wei, explaining that he had given up the title of emperor and was in imminent danger. He hoped that Cao Yuanjing would send troops to help him because they were both descendants of Taizu.

Moreover, Cao Xuan also implicitly stated that the orthodox Wei Dynasty is in Jiangdong, so I will not argue with you.

Cao Xuan has basically lost all his dignity. At this stage, nothing is more important than staying alive.

Cao Yuanjing actually understood that Cao Xuan was showing weakness to him, and once he recovered, he would definitely go his own way. But even if Cao Xuan did not bow his head, he had to send troops.

Because if he wants to go further, he has to plan for Jiangbei.

Unless you are complacent and want to live on this small piece of land in Jiangdong.

But historical experience has made it very clear that after the unification of the north, the national strength can be quickly restored, and then the powerful national strength can be used to crush the Jiangdong regime to complete the unification.

History has proven many times that the so-called natural barriers are not that unbreakable.

Whether it is a narrow pass or a big river, sooner or later it will be conquered by famous generals and become a stepping stone and their achievements.

Cao Yuanjing, who still had ambition, sent troops to Ruxukou for the third time.

A hundred thousand troops were mobilized, including two great generals from Jiangdong, Cao Cheng and Miao Xianyun, four generals in front, back, left and right, Li Xiong, Lu Gongren, Zhu Jun, Liu Changyan, as well as the leading general Wang Xiongyan and the guard general Han Ling.

It can be said that there are many generals and elite troops.

Xiahou Yuanhong defended Wucheng with all his might, while at the same time quickly seeking help from the garrisons at Dongguan, Ruxu Mountain, Qibao Mountain, and Hefei.

This time, Jiang Dongfang made full preparations for the siege.

A large number of siege engines were built on the south bank and transported to the north bank by large ships. Some of them could not be transported in their entirety, so they were disassembled and assembled on the north bank.

These included dozens of catapults and siege ladders.

There were only more than 5,000 people in Ruxuwu. Although they only needed to defend one side, it was still a bit difficult facing the continuous offensive of the Wei army.

As for the Wei army, Cao Yuanjing, believing that a big reward would bring forth brave men, offered a very large reward, trying to seize Ruxuwu while Li Yuanhui was heading north and the navy was heading west.

The Wei army's attack was fierce, and Xiahou Yuanhong struggled to hold on.

Fortunately, the city had sufficient food and defense equipment, with a reserve of 100,000 arrows alone. After the establishment of the artillery defense network, casualties were greatly reduced, while the Wei army had to face the defenders' volley of arrows when attacking the city.

After withstanding the initial ten days of fierce attack, the defenders gradually regained their breath.

Cao Yuanjing was determined to fight with the defenders in the city and the reinforcements that had not yet arrived, so he directly built thirty camps, all the way to the foot of Ruxu Mountain.

The main general stationed at Ruxu Mountain was Yin Gong, the main general of the Huainan Left Camp. His jurisdiction included Ruxu Mountain and Qibao Mountain on both sides of the Ruxu River, as well as the two east and west pass cities, all of which were under the control of Yin Gong.

Seeing that the Wei army had been building camps right under his nose, Yin Gong organized elite troops several times to support the Wei army and catch them off guard while they were building camps, but they were blocked by the guards of the Wei army. If it weren't for the brothers on the mountain shooting arrows to support them, the Wei army might have taken the opportunity to disrupt and seize the mountain. However, although the Wei army built a large camp on the east bank of the Ruxu River, because Ruxu Fort was not captured, the warships of all sizes were still parked in the river and could not enter the Ruxu River.

The Jianghuai area still controls the Ruxu River waterway and is able to carry out water transportation.

This also allowed the soldiers in the city to maintain their morale and confidence and not panic, because with the Ruxu River, they still had a way to retreat.

Xiahou Yuanhong was defending Wucheng, and Li Yuanhui was already blocked by Ding Jingzhen and Lou Jushi. He had to face attacks from both sides when he went west or north. After more than a month of stalemate, emergency news came that Cao Yuanjing had attacked Ruxukou for the third time.

All the generals advised Li Yuanhui to withdraw his troops. After all, the situation in Runan had reached a stalemate and could not be broken in the short term.

If the stalemate continues, it would be more trouble than gain if something goes wrong with JAC.

Li Yuanhui, who was always willing to accept advice, rarely insisted on his own opinion. This time was no exception. He immediately decided to withdraw his troops and ordered the troops left behind in Hefei to rush to Ruxu for support first.

After receiving the military order, Xiao Shizhi, the commander-in-chief of the Guide Army, left 2,000 troops to guard Hefei with his deputy commander Chen Qiong, and led 6,000 soldiers to Chaohu Lake and boarded the remaining navy ships to quickly head south to provide support to Ruxuwu.

After 6,000 fresh troops arrived at the East and West Gates, Xiao Shizhi personally led 2,000 elite troops into Ruxuwu at night. When the defenders in the city saw friendly troops coming to their rescue, they cheered so loudly that even the Wei army besieging the city knew about it.

The arrival of Xiao Shizhi's reinforcements greatly boosted the morale of the defenders in Ruxuwu, and the Wei army naturally could not break into the city in a short period of time.

However, Li Yuanhui, who made the decision to withdraw his troops from the north, failed to withdraw from the battlefield immediately.

When Mr. Lou saw the unusual movements of the Jianghuai Army, he immediately judged that it must be Cao Yuanjing who made the move, otherwise Li Yuanhui would not have withdrawn his troops so easily.

As for whether Li Yuanhui wanted to create the illusion of retreat in order to induce the Yan Army and the Western Wei Army to take action and wait for an opportunity to strike, we would know the answer by testing the waters.

So all the scouts of the Yan army were sent out, and after many investigations and inquiries, Mr. Lou quickly confirmed his judgment that the Yan army was going to retreat.

Mr. Lou, who had been engaged in military operations for a long time, would naturally not let Li Yuanhui get his way and retreat easily.

The Yan army's cavalry attacked on all fronts, harassing the Jianghuai army in turns.

Li Yuanhui was so frustrated by the tactics of Master Lou that he could only let the troops take turns to cover each other and retreat slowly. At the same time, he asked Chang Yanheng to lead the light cavalry to escort and guard the rear. He would rather sacrifice the marching speed than give the Yan army a chance to take advantage.

When Mr. Lou saw how steady Li Yuanhui was, he couldn't help but sigh that heroes emerge from youth.

In the eyes of this old veteran, an opponent as cautious and steady as Li Yuanhui is very difficult to deal with.

Because it is usually difficult for you to find his weaknesses.

Generally speaking, this is not the character and ability that a young man should have.

On the contrary, the night attack on the old city of Nandun, that kind of risky attack, seemed to be the decisiveness and sharpness that a young man should have.

Thinking of this, Mr. Lou, who was leading the team personally, couldn't help but feel a headache.

Back then, he followed Emperor Taizu Wu all the way south, but he had never encountered such an opponent.

He was still very young at that time, and he was surrounded by young and brave Xianbei warriors and fierce and warlike Han warriors. Facing the Wei army, it was common for him to defeat ten thousand with a hundred.

The Wei army, from top to bottom, was somewhat decadent and corrupt, even though they had sophisticated armor and sharp swords and spears.

The generals of the Wei army were all old guys, so-called celebrities.

And now, he suddenly felt that he seemed to have become the incompetent old guy, like a rotten wood.

And Dayan went from prosperity to decline in just a few decades.

　The New Year is over, and I am on my way back to the city. I wrote these two chapters on my phone on the train. My fingers are numb and my eyes are blurry.

　　Everyone returned to work safely.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)