Chapter 407 Remembering the Past

Liu Xuanji's influence on the Jianghuai cavalry was indeed great. When Li Yuanhui established the Jianghuai Army, he was the first cavalry commander.

However, saying this during the military meeting was obviously an attempt to flatter oneself.

But a group of Northern Yan generals agreed very much, because they felt that if it was the work of Han King Liu Taiwei, then this combat effectiveness would be understandable.

In fact, the current Jianghuai cavalry team is no longer the one it was ten years ago. After many changes and countless personnel iterations and updates, it has basically deviated from its previous appearance.

But he was the first Cavalry Commander after all. If we trace back to the origin, there seems to be nothing wrong with this statement.

However, when talking about the past, Liu Xuanji couldn't stop talking and began to reminisce about the glorious past.

"Back then, I killed Yang Xun with Li Silang. At that time, I was still a captain, but Li Si, a descendant of a noble family, treated me with courtesy. Later, I was favored by our Great Yan Emperor Zhaowu and joined the Xiaoguo Army. Li Si also took me to the Li family and met the then Duke of Longxi County, Li Yuan, the Junior Secretary of the Imperial Guard."

Inside the big tent, Liu Xuanji was in high spirits when he talked about old times. He chatted with a group of generals and when he got excited, he even asked someone to bring him some wine.

"I was at the Li family at the time, so I was a VIP."

"Oh, there is one more thing you don't know. During the Lantern Festival that year, I and a few of them..."

"We killed all of the dozen guards of Liang Wang Murongzhan. Otherwise, how can we say that Li Er is so courageous?"

When everyone heard this, they all looked sideways. They knew that Han Wang Liu Taiwei and the Li brothers were old acquaintances and had a special relationship, but they didn't expect that they had such a deep relationship and had done such a thing together that was worthy of being written into a story.

Although they are still Great Yan now, they are no longer the same as they were in the past. If this happened in the past Great Yan, the Li brothers and Liu Taiwei would have committed a serious crime.

Then Liu Xuanji said with a sigh: "The people who worked with me back then are all in Tangying now. The monk Rujing is Zhu Deyu, the current General of the Left Guard of the Tang Dynasty. You should all know Zhang Jian, he is Li Si's brother-in-law. When I was in Guangling, I went to his house to drink. His family is really rich."

"There are also a few who joined Wagang later. Now it seems that more than ten years have passed since they are working under Li Er."

Liu Xuanji talked about a lot of old stories, and everyone listened with great interest and were dumbfounded.

These experiences were truly beyond their imagination, and knowing these old stories made Liu Xuanji's image even more elusive.

Perhaps such a person has a destiny, right? Several people who heard the story thought to themselves.

Afterwards, Liu Xuanji returned to the topic and talked about the generals of the Tang army in Jianghuai.

"Although General Zhu Deyu of the Left Guard is a monk, he is a man of strategy, extremely talented, and quite skilled in martial arts. His style of using troops was greatly influenced by Li Si, and he is always steady, but when it comes to risking his life, he is never vague."

"The other general of the Left Guard, Xiao Shizhi, was born in an aristocratic family. He was well versed in military affairs and had good military strategies. He and his brother Xiao Wangzhi had previously served as secret agents for Emperor Zhaowu. When Li Si attacked Shouchun at night, it was he who supported him in the city."

Later, when talking about cavalry, Liu Xuanji paused, because among the current cavalry of the Jianghuai Army, if one were to choose a cavalry general, the first choice would undoubtedly be General Chang Yanheng of the Right Guard.

He was the vanguard when he went out and the rear guard when he entered. He was the first to break into the enemy's ranks and was brave and fierce. Although he was from Huainan, he was proficient in horseback archery and cavalry tactics, which was extremely rare. However, there was a problem that Liu Xuanji had never worked with Chang Yanheng.

So he could only talk about what he knew. That is, like Chang Yanheng, another person who commanded the Jianghuai cavalry was relatively unknown, the Prince of Linhuai, Li Xuandao.

"Chang Yanheng is a man of extraordinary bravery and superb martial arts. He joined Li Yuanhui's army after I left Jianghuai and returned to Youzhou. However, Li Xuandao is a man I have worked with before. He is very good at using troops. Li Yuanhui has always used him to guard the rear. This is because he is a member of the Li Tang royal family and is trustworthy, not because he has no talent for using troops. Be careful when you fight him in the future."

Even among the Li Tang royal family, Li Xuandao's reputation and achievements were not as good as those of Li Huaizhen, Li Xiaojie, Li Xiaocha, Li Cang, and others. Li Xuandao, who had only a few battle records, did not know that Liu Xuanji valued him so much. At this time, Li Xuandao had just led his army from the Lianghuai area to the battlefield. The troops he led were Jianghuai soldiers from Li Yuanhui's core left and right military guards.

Previously, they were rotated back to Huainan for garrisoning. On the one hand, it allowed the soldiers to take turns going home, and on the other hand, long-distance marches were also a form of training.

After learning that there was a war in the north, Li Xuandao began to prepare his soldiers to set out and make preparations for the march. Sure enough, Li Yuanhui's order to mobilize troops came down a few days later.

Li Xuandao set out immediately and marched quickly all the way, finally arriving at the battlefield before October.

At this time, the two sides were in a stalemate on the battlefield in Hanoi. The battlefield of the cavalry scouts was spread all over the area south of Taihang Mountain and north of the Yellow River.

Li Yuanhui ordered Zhu Deyu to lead 10,000 elite soldiers to station in Fangtou, with their backs to the river. This location was right at the confluence of Qingshui and Qishui. He himself led the army to station at the west side of Qishui and built a pontoon bridge across the river.

Liu Xuanji personally led the army to station in Yongyu City to cut off the connection between Fangtou, Chaoge and Liyang.

Xu Qiande, who was stationed in Chaoge, led his troops to attack the Yan army from the flank several times, but failed to achieve any results.

Liu Xuanji was also a little troubled when he saw Li Yuanhui starting his usual tactic of defending his position. He knew Li Yuanhui too well. Only a handful of people could surpass him in terms of prudence.

Regardless of whether you have an advantage or a disadvantage, you can always be evenly matched. This kind of opponent is very troublesome.

It's like Zhuge Liang against Sima Yi. No matter how capable you are, I won't fight you.

But Sima Yi learned his lesson only after he had 3,000 soldiers killed in Lucheng. Otherwise, Sima Yi's military operations would have been as swift as thunder and lightning.

The battles against Meng Da and Liaodong were like sparks and lightning, destroying dry wood and rotten wood in one fell swoop.

But when facing Zhuge Liang, it was like 3,000 soldiers, afraid of Shu like a tiger. In order not to fight, women can wear clothes. When people die, they will say, "What a genius in the world, we will definitely defeat him. What were you doing before?"
What is the core issue? Don't talk about keeping the enemy for your own benefit. Cao Rui was very smart at that time. If you really dare to keep the enemy for your own benefit, would Cao Rui not be able to see it? And he specially sent Xin Pi to help you stabilize the situation? That means you really can't do it.

Therefore, Liu Xuanji had been unable to understand why Sima Yi, a man who learned from his mistakes, had been leading troops in the same way since he was a teenager. From the first time he led troops to the later management of Jianghuai, there was nothing special about him. It seemed that the only thing worth praising was his maturity and prudence.

Until now, it is still like this. No big deal, no shortcomings, no outstanding features.
He had worked with Li Yuanhui for several years, and even learned many skills from him. They knew each other very well. But some things seemed to be untraceable.

He knew Li Yuanhui would do this, but he just couldn't stop him.

Judging from the battlefield situation, the Yan army was actually not afraid of consumption because the pressure of transporting grain was not great.

Yecheng was originally a fortified city with a large amount of grain reserves. Moreover, the battle took place at the border between Hebei and Sizhou, so neither side actually had any food pressure.

So for this battle, it's time to test endurance.

But when it comes to competing in patience, Liu Xuanji, who is already 40 years old, really feels that competing in patience with the person opposite him is one of the most painful things in the world.

Liu Xuanji was worried, but Li Yuanhui didn't feel uncomfortable at all, because this was the fighting method he was best at. In the stalemate stage, the most important thing was military rations and morale. If they kept up the good work, the battle would be invincible.

Cao Yuanjing has already died, who will be the next one?

(End of this chapter)