Chapter 261: Don’t lose your temper, you will never get it back

Whether it is the military strategists or any other schools of thought, they all seem to agree that the weather is not as important as the location, and the location is not as important as the people.

But for a battle alone, sometimes the weather can determine victory or defeat.

This year's winter came early.

So much so that it started snowing in October.

The temperature dropped so suddenly that even Li Yuanhui, who was roasting by a charcoal fire, began to complain about the cold weather, not to mention the ordinary soldiers.

Fortunately, cotton had already been popularized by that time, so people no longer had to worry about making cotton clothes to keep warm.

But cotton clothes alone are not enough, you also need charcoal fire to keep warm.

In Hefei, Li Baishi, the new chief secretary who was left behind to be in charge of logistics operations, organized a fleet overnight to transport warm clothing and mobilized soldiers and civilians to cut firewood.

It's like finishing the autumn harvest and then immediately starting to get busy.

In Jiangdong, the remaining Sikong Zhang Fangping was also doing the same work, transporting warm clothing and heating supplies to the other side of the river.

However, the impact of heavy snow and severe cold still exceeded everyone's expectations. The sudden drop in temperature caused many soldiers to catch a cold. Even if they did not catch a cold, they were shivering in their tents all day long, and the army could not be said to have any combat effectiveness.

The Western Yan army, fighting at home, was in a better situation, after all, its logistics supply line was relatively short, and Hefei was accessible by several ships a day via the Ruxu waterway.

Although Jiangdong had already prepared warm clothes, making charcoal fire was rather time-consuming and laborious.

Moreover, Wuhu on the other side of the strait did not have much inventory, and needed to raise funds from Wujun, Kuaiji and other places.

This will take time.

But the sudden drop in temperature did not give the Wei army much time to replenish its troops.

Although the Yan army was also in severe cold, its situation was much better than that of the Wei army. At least the soldiers in the city had houses to live in and heating facilities.

The army camps behind the city gate had no shortage of firewood because they were close to Ruxu Mountain and Qibao Mountain.

But the Wei army could not do so because of the current situation. All the wood within reach had already been cut down and used to build fortifications.

There was a forest on the mountain not far away, but that was the area controlled by the Yan army. The Yan army was on the mountain, commanding an upper position. Once the Wei army went out of the camp to cut wood, they would surely be attacked by the Yan army. Therefore, the Wei army could only collect dry grass and miscellaneous wood to burn for warmth.

But after a few days, there was nothing left to burn around the camp of 60,000 people.

Therefore, in terms of casualties, the Wei army suffered more serious losses.

In fact, for the Jiangdong regime, winter is the most unsuitable season for military operations. Now the temperature has dropped sharply, and the snow is really a headache.

"Yesterday, dozens of people in my camp caught a cold, and today I heard that there are hundreds more. This damn weather has never been this cold in previous years, but this year, the north wind blows like a knife shaving your face."

Inside the tent, a group of Wei army generals were sitting around a charcoal brazier, while a middle-aged man in a long coat was talking.

This man was more than eight feet tall, with a sturdy build, and a loud and imposing voice. He was Miao Xianyun, the General of the Northern Expedition and the Grand Admiral of the Navy of the Eastern Wei Dynasty. He was Cao Yuanjing's sworn brother. The two had been smuggling salt together in their early years and had a deep affection for each other.

He is also the father-in-law of Crown Prince Cao Yan.

After the uprising, he was the best in the army with record of military achievements except Cao Yuanjing in the entire Eastern Wei Dynasty.

Listening to his old brother's words, Cao Yuanjing frowned a little, "Is everything in your camp about the same?"

All the generals were silent after hearing this, only his brother, the King of Chu, Cao Cheng, spoke up: "Brother, you know all about this, and you must understand what we are going to say. This war cannot be fought. If we continue, our men will freeze to death in Jiangbei. When the time comes, the Yan army will come out to collect our bodies and that will be it."

General Lu Gongren advised: "Your Majesty, what the King of Chu said is somewhat reasonable. Soldiers are not resistant to cold weather, and we have not yet prepared all the cotton-padded clothes. Someone froze to death in the snow last night. If this continues, the morale of the army will surely collapse."

He was really unwilling to withdraw his troops.

But the current situation did not seem to allow him to make a choice. This sudden drop in temperature was not something that could be resisted by human power. It was the will of heaven.

After a long while, Cao Yuanjing said, "Then let's stop the fighting. However, our army has been in a standoff with the Yan army for a long time, so we must guard against them taking advantage of the situation to pursue us. The King of Chu, General Lu, and General Zhu, please discuss the details of the withdrawal. Don't act too hastily. Lao Miao, walk with me."

Upon hearing this, all the generals stood up respectfully. Miao Xianyun was the last one to stand up and followed Cao Yuanjing out of the tent.

The two of them left the tent, one in front and one behind, and walked side by side in the camp, followed by several guards.

The camp was very muddy as we walked on the half-melted ice and snow.

Walk all the way to the lookout.

This watchtower is built entirely of rammed earth and is more than two meters high. It offers a view of Ruxuwu and the two eastern and western fortresses not far away.

"Lao Miao, we may never be able to defeat Huaihe in this lifetime."

Cao Yuanjing suddenly felt a little discouraged.

Originally, he thought he had made sufficient preparations to fight Li Yuanhui in the Ruxu area.

It depends on resources, consumption, patience, and luck.

But obviously, luck was not on his side, and the sudden drop in temperature might have made others feel a little colder.

But Cao Yuanjing felt it was a bone-chilling cold.

After hearing this kind of dejection, Miao Xianyuan did not offer any comfort or advice, but smiled and said: "Then let's not fight at the Huai River. It's also good to be able to defend Jiangdong. Brother, you have only been emperor for a few years, and you have a lot more white hair than before. You might as well enjoy yourself in Jianye instead of running out here and freezing."

Cao Yuanjing smiled after hearing this, and seemed to have thought about it seriously, then shook his head and said, "No, Mr. Zhang said that if you want to defend the Yangtze River, you must defend the Huai River. If you don't take down Huainan, you can't defend Jiangdong. Whenever the north wants to attack us, they will attack us. Li Yuanhui may attack Jianye at any time. I have never gotten any advantage from him, let alone brothers Cao Yan and Cao Rong. When we were smuggling salt, we didn't have to think so much every day. We just followed the government troops around every day. Now it's not possible."

Miao Xianyun said: "Anyway, big brother, that's what I'll do. I don't have any objections. If the guys below couldn't stand the cold and came to complain to me, I wouldn't be happy to say this in front of the crowd."

Cao Yuanjing said: "With our friendship, why are we still talking about this?"

Miao Xianyun said again: "Brother, there is one more thing I have to say. If we can't do something, we should wait a little longer. It is your ambition to conquer the north and unify the country, but right now, this guy surnamed Li is not easy to deal with in Huainan. If we wait until the north is completely disrupted, it will be easier for us to conquer the north, right?"

Cao Yuanjing did not say anything after hearing these words. He knew that what Miao Xianyun said was not just his own opinion, but also represented many old brothers who had fought with him for many years.

And there is some truth to this statement.

Although the world is in turmoil and warlords are vying for supremacy, several powerful forces in the north have maintained a delicate balance, and are not so chaotic that they can conquer the country with a single blow.

In other words, each of the heroes this time is more patient and able to endure more than the other.

No one wants to be the first to stand out. There is no ruffian spirit of fighting over a disagreement.

Li Yuan of Guanzhong, Tuoba of Bingzhou, Zhao Yi of Jizhou, and Zhai Rang of Qingzhou were all people who would not release their eagles until they saw the rabbit.

This gave Cao Yuanjing a headache because he was restricted by the terrain. There was no fighting in the north, and the Jianghuai area, which was surrounded by four wars, was very stable.

Another aspect is that Jiangdong's trend of fighting every year also shows a certain attitude internally.

That is, we cannot accept being isolated in a corner. We must "not coexist with Wei and the enemy, and the kingdom cannot be isolated in a corner." We must ensure that the entire Eastern Wei regime maintains an enterprising attitude.

Because Cao Yuanjing and Zhang Fangping, the king and his minister, understood that once some anger was released, it could never be tightened again.

This is also the most common problem for a separatist regime.

Once they become lazy, put their weapons into storage and let their horses go to the mountains, then the geographical location and customs of the Jiangdong regime will determine that what follows will inevitably be a life of decadence and dissipation.

What about the Northern Expedition at that time?

(End of this chapter)