Chapter 347: The Fate of Heaven
The way Cao Yuanjing and the Wei army addressed Li Yuanhui changed several times.

At the beginning, he called him "Li's little boy" and "boy" with contempt.

Then came "Li Si" and "Li Yuanhui", calling him by his name.

Later it became "Li Yangzhou", and some respect began to appear.

Until now, he has become "King Li Qi", full of respect.

And each change meant that Cao Yuanjing suffered a great loss at the hands of the Jianghuai Army, including the three battles of Ruxu and the Battle of Hukou. The Eastern Wei Army suffered heavy casualties and was defeated each time.

Respect is earned through fighting.

To this day, Cao Yuanjing feels that just taking over Ruxukou is a huge progress.

Lu Gongren, the left general in charge of the military deployment, said, "Your Majesty, General Han and General Wang have already begun attacking the east and west passes. Next, we must focus on guarding against the powerful families in Lujiang and Guangling. They can gather tens of thousands of troops at any time."

Former General Li Xiong said with a smile: "Brother Lu, we have been fighting for more than ten days in Ruxuwu, but Zhang, Zhou and Li have no intention of sending troops. Will they send troops after we capture Ruxuwu? Why is that?"

Lu Gongren pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps, let us advance to the East and West Passes to lure our troops deeper into the city."

Before he finished speaking, the guards reported back.

"Your Majesty, a large army has gathered in Liyang and Wancheng, probably no less than 10,000 people."

On the deck of the Wuya ship, Cao Yuanjing had his back to the crowd and was looking at the East Gate and West Gate, as well as the Ruxu Mountain and the Qibao Mountain not far away.

But after hearing the news, he immediately turned around and asked, "Have you investigated carefully?"

"I dare not deceive your majesty. I have personally asked the scouts and I believe they are correct."

Lu Gongren never expected that his guess would come true, and it came true so quickly.

Right General Zhu Jun said, "We have an army of 100,000 men. General Miao and His Royal Highness the King of Wu also have tens of thousands of troops in Caishiji, and they can provide support at any time. Even if we are attacked from both sides, what can they do to us? We can send two armies to block the river. I don't think they will come in time. Maybe they want to gather troops and come to see the situation and help me fight."

This statement was very optimistic about the current situation, but Cao Yuanjing did not dare to be so optimistic. Because Li Yuanhui had occupied Jianghuai for seven or eight years, during such a long period of time, Jianghuai, whether it was the common people or the big families, had already won the support of the people.

The navy from Chaohu Lake was not even deployed. They only fought at Ruxu Fort. This was the result of the Tang army withdrawing their troops on their own initiative when they saw that the Wei army had more troops and more power. Do they think that Li Yuanhui is unpopular and these powerful people are going to rebel?

They are underestimating the King of Qi of the Tang Dynasty who has caused them so much trouble.

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that what Lu Gongren said made sense. The gathering of troops on both sides must mean that the Tang army in Chaohu and Hefei should be taking action, and the powerful troops on both sides should be cooperating in the battle.

In fact, it was almost as he thought. The Grand Admiral of the Navy, Lu Qin, led an army of 30,000 and hundreds of warships out of Chaohu Lake and Rushu River, heading straight for the East and West Passes.

After the navy arrived, the Tang army guarding the pass immediately opened the gate of the water fort. The Tang army's warships went downstream, and the 5,000 vanguard troops, led by Lu Qin's nephew Lu Jinmian, rushed straight towards the Wei army. For a while, arrows fell like rain on the water, and the surface of the Rushu River was not as wide as the Yangtze River. Therefore, both sides had no room for adjustment and maneuver. They could only fight with all their might and the brave would win.

Wearing a uniform and holding a broadsword, Lu Jinmian jumped onto the enemy's ship with dozens of elite soldiers who were also unarmored and engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

The morale of the Tang navy's front officers and men was greatly boosted when they saw this, and each unit followed the example of their leader and took the boats for close combat.

The Wei army was unable to resist and had to retreat while fighting.

Then, Zhang Gonglie led his army from Liyang, Zhou Qiu and Zhou Ao, Li Su, and Qiao Xiaojie led their troops from Wancheng and began to move towards the Wei army. Even a fool could see what they were doing, it was definitely not a birthday celebration.

The private soldiers of the powerful Guangling and Lujiang in the east and west also showed extremely strong fighting ability. They cooperated with the Chaohu navy to attack from three sides. The Wei army was defeated and fled.

The collapse of the Wei army at this point in time can be considered a blessing in disguise, because the Poyang Lake navy led by the deputy navy commander Liang Yun also quietly came over from Yuzhang County and headed straight for Ruxukou along the Yangtze River.

The Wei army was almost surrounded.

However, the Tang army pursued the Wei army all the way and made great gains, capturing more than 20,000 Wei soldiers and seizing 200 large and small warships. Wuhu, an important stronghold of the Wei army on the south bank of the Yangtze River, was also captured by the Tang army.

Fortunately, the Wei army in Cai Shi attacked in time and supported the main force of the Wei army, which stopped the pursuit of the Tang navy. After this battle, Cao Yuanjing vomited three liters of blood and fell ill.

Unexpectedly, he suffered another major defeat in this Northern Expedition. The main force suffered heavy losses, countless military supplies, equipment and food, and even Wuhu was lost.

In this great battle, even when the main force of the Jianghuai army moved north and only the navy was left, the Wei army still failed to win. Is this destiny?
Cao Yuanjing fell ill again, and what made him even more sad was that Zhang Fangping, whom he called "the living Marquis of Wu", the first meritorious official who made great contributions to the founding of the Eastern Wei Dynasty, died of illness before him.

Cao Yuanjing was so grief-stricken that after forcing himself to preside over the funeral of the Minister of Works Zhang Fangping, he ordered Crown Prince Cao Yan to govern the country while he himself lived in the palace to recuperate.

The fourth Battle of Ruxu between the Eastern Wei regime and the Jianghuai Group of the Tang Dynasty had just come to an end, and the result was no different from the previous three.

The Eastern Wei attacked with great momentum, but then retreated in a whimpering manner.

The difference is that this time, almost all the capable generals in Jianghuai followed Li Yuanhui north to participate in the great battle.

At this moment, Bingzhou, which had gathered the three kings and most of the famous generals of the Tang Dynasty and mobilized more than 200,000 troops, was still in a stalemate in the Battle of Jinyang.

At the same time, the newly established Tang Dynasty regime also demonstrated its strong resilience.

Powerful enemies were defeated on three fronts in Jingzhou, Jianghuai and Central Plains, and the wars went very smoothly. Not even a single battle turned into a fierce battle, and all were ended within two months.

This undoubtedly made many people sigh and wonder, is the Tang Dynasty really destined to be the emperor?

Everyone rushed in and no one could win? What was going on?
In the Battle of Xingyang, Li Yuan, as the emperor, led the army in person and won with a smaller force.

In the Battle of Ruxu, the Jianghuai side took the enemy into a trap, defended and counterattacked, and won.

In the Battle of Xinye, Li Daliang burned the enemy's food and fodder, and the Western Wei army retreated.

All these things make people sigh that the fortune of the Tang Dynasty is truly unstoppable and there are talented people everywhere.

All these things boosted the morale of the Jinyang front.

During the confrontation, the weather was getting colder for the Tang army, but the morale was rising with the news of two great victories.

By November, the weather started to get colder.

The cold-resistant clothing and heating facilities that Li Yuanhui personally supervised were gradually put in place, and a large number of soldiers in Jianghuai wore cotton armor.

Li Er and Li San were both curious about this, but when they saw the protective capabilities of the cotton armor, they were shocked.

"This cotton armor is so tough that it can only be broken by a strong bow or crossbow. How did you figure it out, Shilang?"

The so-called cotton armor is lined with iron sheets and fixed with copper nails on the outside. Cotton armor is easy to make and cheap. Unlike traditional heavy armor, it does not need to be tailor-made. It is convenient for mass production and light in weight.

This is much more comfortable than wearing armor in the winter, and it also has the effect of keeping out the cold.

However, in terms of protective capabilities, judging from the current battlefield situation, it is still not as good as iron armor.

Li Si smiled and said, "This is the result of collective efforts, not just my own efforts."

Li San said: "How many sets of cotton armor do you have? Can you..."

Li Si said directly: "Don't even think about it, Third Brother. I don't even have any guards now. The only ones I made are 10,000 sets, which were all distributed to the left and right guards."

Li San sighed and said, "Why didn't you take it out earlier? I could have the craftsmen in Guanzhong make a copy."

Li Er smiled and said, "We can use this thing sooner or later."

(End of this chapter)