Chapter 435 The world is my business

Without heavy rain, the water level would not surge for no reason. So there is only one possibility: the upstream area first stores water and then releases it. This way, the water level can surge in a short period of time.

It was Wei Xiaoju who stored the water and released it. In fact, Wei Xiaoju, who was stationed at Zixia Pass, had already studied the situation of the Qi River, so he built a dam to store water by taking advantage of the terrain of the upper reaches and Taihang Mountains. He then paid close attention to the movements of the Tang army, which gave him the opportunity to capture this opportunity.

The Tang army camp on the west bank was directly flooded. Wei Xiaoju and Fu Hongzhi led the Yan army to launch an attack on the small boats and rafts that had been collected for a long time. Thousands of Tang soldiers were killed or wounded, and tens of thousands surrendered.

Of the officials and nobles who had managed to escape the Battle of Baigou, few were able to escape this time. They were all trapped in the water and became prisoners of the Yan army.

Chai Rong's trusted generals Ma Sanbao, Yang Xianguo, Zhai Sixun and others fought hard and seized several small boats to help Chai Rong and Li Xiaozheng escape from the siege. Chai Rong also made a prompt decision to turn eastward to Fangtou because he judged that the Yan army might have ambushes on the way westward.

The Tang army led by Xiao Shizhi stationed in Fangtou on the east bank was not greatly affected because Fangtou had a city wall. But in this situation, Xiao Shizhi also knew that his plan to turn westward would be futile. After Chai Rong and others arrived in Fangtou, they discussed the matter and decided to flee eastward to Liyang.

The water in the Yellow River finally receded, and when Xiao Shizhi arrived in Liyang, the water transport on the Yellow River was officially resumed.

When Li Yuanhui learned about the Qishui incident, he couldn't help but lament the impermanence of life. Who would have thought that such a thing could happen? Xiao Shizhi was even more grateful, and he was even embarrassed to complain to Li Yuanhui about the King of Wei's faults.
Of the 100,000 troops that Li Yuan brought from Guanzhong, only Duan Xiong's ten Zhechoufu with less than 10,000 men and less than 2,000 elite left and right lieutenants were left.

Xiao Shizhi's troops had more than 10,000 left and right guards, Xu Qiande's troops had 5,000 men, plus Li Yuanhui's personal troops of more than 8,000 men.

This was the only force left of the Tang army of more than 100,000 who participated in the war, about 30,000 people. A large number of officials were captured and killed.

Originally, he wanted to abandon Liyang immediately, but in the end, Li Yuanhui decided to let Liu Yuanqing, who was guarding Liyang, wait and see, and told him to gather the defeated soldiers and leave a way home for the comrades who had not surrendered. If the Yan army was strong, then he would just abandon Liyang and retreat to Baima.

Later, Li Yuanhui led tens of thousands of defeated soldiers across the Yellow River. While crossing the river, standing on the boat and watching the river flow eastward, Chai Rong sighed: "Ten years of accumulation, lost in one day, we don't know when we can come here again."

Everyone felt somewhat dejected after hearing this.

Li Yuanhui said, "Why are you so discouraged? Emperor Wu of Wei was defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs, and Emperor Gaozu of Han was defeated several times by King Xiang, but why were Han and Wei able to unite the world in the end? Zhuge Wuhou led five northern expeditions, and although he failed at the last moment, he did it despite knowing that it was impossible. Don't lose your ambition!"

At this time, these words still have the effect of inspiring people.

But if you think about it carefully, the forces of King Qi suffered the least damage this time.

The elite troops of the thirty Zhechoufu of the Left and Right Wuwei were transferred back to Lianghuai in advance, and because of Li Yuan's bias, almost no subordinates of the King of Qi who participated in the war were present in the main battlefield.

Xiao Shizhi was ordered to guard Chaoge, Liu Yuanqing to guard Liyang, and the only unit that participated in the battle, Xu Qiande, followed Chai Rong's right army and escaped the defeat at Baigou.

He also followed Duan Xiong to escape the Battle of Qishui.

The biggest losses were suffered by Li Yuanhui's personal troops, who lost nearly 5,000 men in a head-on battle with the Yan army.

At this time, the people on the boat had not yet realized that with the basic destruction of the Guanzhong army, the power of the Prince of Qi's Mansion had become an important and vital part of the Tang Dynasty.

After returning to Bai Ma, Li Yuanhui did not delay. He left a military order to Li Yaoshi to withdraw his troops, and then immediately returned to Luoyang.

At this time, Luoyang City had several thousand soldiers from the Left and Right Jinwu Guards, as well as the Left Weiwei led by Chen Zhen and the Right Weiwei led by Murong Sanzang, totaling less than 20,000 people. It was basically still under the control of the Prince of Qi's Palace.

Li Yuan returned to Luoyang earlier than Li Yuanhui. He was furious when he learned that his army was completely destroyed. However, after Li Yuanhui returned to Luoyang, he could not bring himself to put the blame on Li Si.

He suddenly realized that he no longer had the final say in Luoyang, and it was obviously impossible to ask Li Yuanhui to take responsibility for the problem at this time.

His army of 100,000 was gone.
And this time he led the army in person. As an emperor, there are some things he can't get rid of.

Can you still admit that you handed the battle over to the King of Qi halfway through, so you, the damn King of Qi, should bear the responsibility for the defeat?
Looking at the soldiers who followed the King of Qi to attack, Li Yuan's lips moved, and finally he said: "It's good that you are back. Victory and defeat are common in the military. Silang, you have worked hard."

Li Yuanhui didn't say anything, but nodded and said, "Take care, Aye." Then he turned and left. Li Yuan looked at Li Yuanhui's back, opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He didn't know what to say.

Except for Pei Ji and a few old ministers and nobles who were unable to go to Hebei due to health reasons, the rest of the large number of court officials brought by Li Yuan were all captured in Beiyan.

Li Yuanhui's Shaanxi East Xingtai and Tiance Mansion, a team of civil and military officials, became the institutions that actually controlled the military power of the Tang Dynasty in Luoyang.

Li Yuanhui didn't say anything, and Li Yuan also acknowledged the fact that he had lost control here.

But what he didn't expect was that he was about to lose more than just control of the area east of Hangu Pass.

After Li Yuanhui came out of the palace and met Li Yuan, he immediately returned to the palace and summoned all his subordinates to discuss the matter.

The first thing is how to deal with the next attack from Northern Yan towards Luoyang.

In the general situation, after Liu Xuanji digested the results of the battle, it would be almost time for the autumn harvest. The presence of autumn grain meant that the Yan army might take the initiative to launch an attack in two or three months.

Now, except for Li Yuanhui's trusted troops, the Tang army in the Luoyang area basically has neither the courage nor the ability to engage in a large-scale battle with the Yan army.

Although the Yan army suffered losses in this battle, they were not large and were still within an acceptable range.

There are only 7,000 or 8,000 of his trusted troops left. Can they still withstand the consumption? Obviously not.

Therefore, transferring the troops transferred to Lianghuai back became a very realistic option.

After thinking about it, Li Yuanhui did not agree immediately. Instead, he thought that he should wait and see the situation first. The team had just returned at the beginning of the year, so he had to let them spend the New Year at home first.

After all, Luoyang can still gather 30,000 to 50,000 people, which should be enough for defense. Besides, he has other plans next. Transferring all his core teams here may cause unnecessary misunderstandings.

In addition, it is about repairing the river bridge.

Dugu Ying and Li Qinglian advocated rebuilding the river bridge. One reason was that Hanoi was still in the hands of the Tang army and could not be easily abandoned.

Gao Kan and Yu Zhining, on the other hand, advocated not repairing the river bridge, abandoning Henei, and directly deploying defenses along the Yellow River to resist the Yan army. Both sides held their own opinions, and each had their own reasons.

But Li Yuanhui finally decided to repair it.

Because he felt that if there was a bridge over the river, he had to guard it.

But without a bridge, you don’t even know where to defend. Without a bridge, you only need to defend the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River. The Yan army will not know where to cross the river at that time. It is possible that they will attack Qingzhou first, or send troops to Yanzhou. It is difficult to defend the thousand-mile defense line of the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

But the northerners are not good at riding boats and naval battles, so if there is a pontoon bridge, they will definitely rush for it first.

After the decision was made to rebuild the river bridge, everyone dispersed. Li Yuanhui wrote two personal letters and asked people to deliver them to Hedong and Chang'an respectively with the letters and battle reports.

One was to inform them of the progress and outcome of the war in Hebei, and the other was to invite the two brothers to Luoyang.

The letters were sent urgently to Chang'an in Guanzhong and Anyi in Hedong.

After reading the letter, Li Er and Li San had almost no hesitation. After arranging matters for those left behind, they led their personal troops to Luoyang respectively.

All the affairs of the world depend on Li Si.

(End of this chapter)