Chapter 263: Same Language and Race
Under the supervision of the commander-in-chief Li Yuanhui, the soldiers of Yan army fought bravely.

The strong soldiers and generals also got angry and killed each other. The Zhongli generals of the Huainan Right Camp were extremely brave. Tang Yun, Hu Kuohai, Hua Gao and other fierce generals rushed to the front and broke the enemy's formation first.

A defeat in one place triggered a chain reaction. The Wei army's will to fight was not firm enough to begin with, and now they kept looking back to see if the ship was still there.

Seeing this, Liu Changyan finally ordered to board the ship, because if he didn't give the order, there would be no chance. From the back to the front, the Wei army began to collapse on a large scale, scrambling to board the ship. Completely ignoring the bone-chilling cold of the winter river, many Wei soldiers fell into the river in the crowd, and Liu Changyan also called for the boats to start heading south.

The sailors on the lower deck of the ship began to paddle desperately, and the soldiers waded through the water to chase their warships.

The Yan army also began to attack on all fronts.

Of the last 10,000 Wei troops in Jiangbei, only less than 4,000 managed to board the ship and flee south successfully.

After the war, the Yan army counted 4,800 beheadings, but captured less than 2,000 people.

Relying on its superior military strength, the Yan army was able to defeat the enemy, but even so, the casualties approached three thousand.

Cao Yuanjing watched the entire battle from a ship on the river, from the beginning of the Yan army's attack to the final embarrassing retreat of the Wei army.

I couldn't help feeling a little desolate.

The Wei army suffered more than 15,000 casualties during the third Battle of Ruxu in the fourth year of Guangping.

Including the previous attack on Ruxuwu and today's Jiangbianyi, as well as the conflicts between the two sides during the half-year confrontation.

They lost more than 15,000 people, but only got a city like Ruxuwu. After the army withdrew, the defenders in Ruxuwu also had to evacuate.

Because such an isolated city in Jiangbei would definitely not be able to be defended.

Such losses were actually nothing for a large-scale battle, but the results achieved after years of attacking the north were really pitiful.

It is true that Cao Yuanjing was the emperor of the Wei Dynasty, and he had earned his reputation on the battlefield by starting his own rebellion. But even so, it was difficult for the Eastern Wei Dynasty to support Cao Yuanjing to continue fighting like this.

Almost every expedition launched in recent years has been on a scale of more than 100,000. Although relying on the convenience of waterways in the south of the Yangtze River, the requisition and transportation of materials are much more economical than the use of manpower and animal power in the north, but after launching wars of this scale for several consecutive years, there has been no result.

This is also fatal to a regime that aspires to be open and enterprising.

In fact, Cao Yuanjing, the emperor of the Wei Dynasty, would have found it difficult to do anything without the support of the Jiangdong nobles such as Gu, Lu, Zhu and Zhang.

However, these powerful families were actually not very enthusiastic about going north.

For them, they are more concerned about their own interests in Jiangdong.

Of course, although the Left General Lu Gongren, the Right General Zhu Jun, and the Prime Minister Zhang Fangping also supported the Northern Expedition, they were more pursuing achievements on a personal level, which was inconsistent with the interests of their entire family.

So even though they still support the Northern Expedition now, it is hard to say whether they will support it next time.

Cao Yuanjing knew this very well.

After all, simply exploiting ordinary people cannot support the materials needed for the Eastern Wei's continuous conquests for several years.

Without the powerful families behind him to provide troops, food and manpower, and offer talents to collect taxes, transport grain and fodder, and manage the local area, how could he, a man of humble origin, become the Son of Heaven?

This is the dilemma of Jiangdong. If the regime with its capital in Jianye is composed of people from the south of the Yangtze River, then this regime is doomed to lack the gene for a northern expedition.

Because the Jiangdong nobles were not keen on conquering the Central Plains.

Even in the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang himself and the main force he relied on for the Northern Expedition were all from Huai and Si.

The pro-war faction of the Eastern Wu was also mainly based in Huai and Si.

Li Yuanhui also understood this clearly. So in his opinion, after this war, Jiangdong might not have the possibility of a large-scale northern expedition within two years.

The last few thousand Wei troops retreated from Ruxuwu, and the Yan army took over the city again.

Li Yuanhui also symbolically entered the city and then returned to the northern city. Although it was due to the advantages of time and location, it was still a great victory anyway. The post-war rewards and compensations would all require the final decision of him as the commander-in-chief.

The first thing to do was to clean up the battlefield. After the war, some people suggested cutting off the heads of the dead Wei soldiers and building several mausoleums to intimidate the Eastern Wei.

However, Li Yuanhui refused sternly and with a very firm attitude.

"Although they belong to Wei, they share the same culture and ethnicity as us. The southerners and northerners are only separated by a river. Today, they are fighting for their respective masters. How can we humiliate each other like brothers?"

At the same time, he ordered the captured soldiers to dig up the graves and bury the Wei soldiers who died in the battle. He also asked his personal guards Wang Fobao and Lao Zhu, two former monks, to chant the mantra of rebirth to pray for the souls of the dead.

Lao Zhu never thought that he would be assigned this task. At least he had his senior brother to guide him, and the two of them recited the scriptures seriously.

So much so that all the surrendered Wei soldiers fell to the ground and kowtowed to him, weeping inconsolably.

He then went to the wounded camp in person to comfort the wounded soldiers.

However, when night fell, on the East Gate city wall, Li Yuanhui, who had been compassionate during the day, was full of joy again. He raised his wine bowl and drank happily with his soldiers.

After the war, Li Yuanhui stayed in Dongguan for several days before he took a boat north to Chaohu Lake and then entered Feishui River and returned to Hefei.

It was already the twelfth lunar month, and after a year of fighting, Li Yuanhui could not help feeling a little tired and exhausted.

So for several days he stayed quiet in the backyard of the general's mansion and did not meet any guests or handle any official business.

Everyone can understand this. After all, the general has two wives and more than a dozen concubines in his backyard who need to be taken care of, so he is bound to be busy day and night.

But Li Yuanhui was not as happy as they imagined.

Li Yuanhui was not very concerned about the affairs in the backyard. After all, he could only stay in Hefei for a short time in a year, and he was fighting outside for at least half a year.

But this time when he came back, Murong Jiayin asked him what he was going to do with those beauties? Were you going to take them into your room, or just keep them like this?

This made Li Yuanhui stunned for a moment, "How to deal with it?"

He knew that the ten beauties Murong Jiayin mentioned were the ones Zhao Er had given him. They had been kept in the backyard and brought to Hefei.

So much so that the people in Hefei felt that the general's happiness was beyond their imagination.

But in fact, with so many people, it is impossible for Li Yuanhui to handle them all by himself. As far as Murong Jiayin knows, only the two named Shuangjiang and Jingzhe had slept with him, and he had not touched the others.

That's why Murong Jiayin asked him how he planned to deal with them. She didn't force him to send them all away, but keeping them like this might cause some problems. For example, a young girl might fall in love with a guard and cause some romantic incident.

In this way, the reputation of all the women in the general's mansion will be damaged.

If she has served in the bed with the emperor, she is at least a concubine. If she has not served in the bed with the emperor, it is not okay to keep her like this. She should be released when she reaches the age.

The same is true in the palace.

So Murong Jiayin directly suggested to him that he could give the wife to a meritorious soldier.

After thinking about it, Li Yuanhui agreed immediately. As expected by Murong Jiayin, Shuangjiang and Jingzhe, who had served in the bed, were both kept.

The other eight, Li Yuanhui gave them as dowries to meritorious soldiers as wives. Of course, this was not the turn of the soldiers, at least a captain or a lieutenant was eligible.

The wedding was very lively.

The fighting in the north was also very lively.

In the cold winter, the governor of Bingzhou, Daiguogong Tuoba Yuqing, who had just taken over the official post in Chang'an, led his army to attack Yecheng, but failed and was defeated by the Jizhou army.

The heroes in the north have come to an end.

(End of this chapter)