Chapter 460: Chest Like Thunder and Face Like a Calm Lake

Under the cover of night, the gate of East Gate opened and dozens of small boats came out one after another.

On the first boat, there stood a man who looked short and strong. In fact, he was not short at all, he was over seven feet tall.

But because it looks too solid, it doesn't appear tall.

This man was called Yu Pinghai, and he was a trusted general of the Admiral of the Navy, Lü Qin. His real name was Yu Tongyuan, but because this name offended the Tang Emperor Li Yuan, he changed his name to Yu Pinghai.

He had many military achievements and was personally commended by Li Yuanhui, who gave him a refined sword.

This time, under the order of Lu Qin, Yu Pinghai led 300 soldiers on more than 20 small boats out of the Dongguan Water Fort and landed after sailing for about several miles.

At this time, except for the night patrol and guard soldiers, everyone in Zhu Jun's camp was fast asleep. Yu Pinghai ordered his men to move the deer horns in front of the camp gate, then lit a torch and rushed into the Wei army camp with a knife in one hand and a torch in the other.

While setting the Wei army's tents on fire, he hacked and killed the Wei soldiers with a knife.

The sudden attack by the Tang army caused panic in the Wei army camp. In addition, due to the lack of effective organization at night, Yu Pinghai led his elite troops to set fire and kill people, causing the Wei army soldiers to trample on each other.

After the Wei army's commander, the Right General Zhu Jun, woke up, he quickly put on his armor and led his personal guards to suppress the rebellion everywhere until order was restored by the will of heaven.

But by this time the Tang army had long disappeared.

Only a hundred Wei soldiers were killed, but nearly a thousand were trampled to death or injured.

Zhu Jun immediately ordered his men to execute dozens of captains and soldiers on duty at night. Then, seeing that the morale of the army was low, he had no choice but to ask King Cao Cheng of Chu for permission to withdraw.

Cao Cheng was also very anxious when he saw Ruxuwu. After Zhu Jun sent someone to ask for orders, he also gathered all the generals. Seeing that no one had the will to fight, he could only helplessly say, "Forget it."

The Wei troops outside Ruxu City retreated one after another. Lu Qin took advantage of the situation and led the navy to pursue them. He fought a naval battle with the Wei army at Ruxukou and captured dozens of their warships.

However, the right general Zhu Jun led the fleet back to fight and repelled the pursuing Tang army, which allowed the Wei army to retreat intact.

More than ten thousand people were killed or wounded at Ruxukou, and the battle ended in failure, with a large amount of military supplies abandoned.

In Liyang, the Wei army suffered greater losses in attacking the city, but Miao Xianyun still insisted on continuing the siege. Lu Gongren advised him to use the baggage vehicles to form a formation to the north of Liyang to block the Tang army reinforcements.

Miao Xianyun once again ignored the correct advice, and when the Tang cavalry rushed in, the Wei army was still organizing its troops to attack the city.

Fu Weixue led a thousand cavalrymen and marched for more than twenty days in order to give the Wei army a surprise.

Although there were only one thousand cavalrymen, the momentum they created on the battlefield was enough to scare the 100,000 Wei troops under the city of Liyang.

The old soldier recalled the thunderous momentum of the northern cavalry at Ruxukou and outside Dongguan.

The recruits were shocked by the sweeping black wave. The rhythmic sound of thousands of horse hooves hitting the ground was so rhythmic that it almost made people's hearts stop beating.

Fu Weixue held a spear and led the way. The one thousand cavalrymen belonging to his personal army, the Xiaoguo Army, the Shenwu Army and the Zuowei Guard were all elite soldiers who had participated in major wars. This time they followed Fu Weixue south. They were not convinced by this unfamiliar commander at first, but along the way, they were all impressed by Fu Weixue's superb martial arts and archery on horseback. At this moment, they formed a tight cavalry charge formation and rode behind the commander.

The Tang cavalry drew a curve in front of Liyang City, directly passing through the neatly-arrayed Wei army troops, and instead found the gaps and directly attacked the Wei army that was originally attacking the city.

The cavalry charged straight forward. The cavalry from the north slashed with swords, stabbed with spears, or trampled on horseback. The galloping war horses hit the human body, and the sound of broken bones was heard. The swords and spears were swung and stabbed, causing terrible casualties to the Wei army's scattered troops. In an instant, blood and flesh splattered, and screams were heard.

The Wei army had no way to deal with this and could only watch the Tang cavalry wreak havoc. Miao Xianyun could only order a large group of Yan troops to retreat into the camp as soon as possible.

Because the Tang army was completely bullying the Wei army because they had no cavalry. Even if the infantry formation was tight in preparation for the surprise attack, they did not dare to move rashly to stop it. Because if the infantry formation collapsed, they would be lambs to be slaughtered in front of the cavalry.

The siege soldiers did not form a battle formation, so they collapsed at the first blow to the Tang cavalry, unable to organize any resistance, and had no formation to speak of, so they could only flee in all directions. The Tang cavalry wantonly charged and trampled on the Wei army, and also drove the Wei soldiers to attack their own camp, causing great trouble to the Wei army and causing heavy casualties.

Upon seeing this, the Left General Lu Gongren promptly ordered the camp gates to be closed and shot arrows at the fleeing soldiers, thus preventing their own camp from being breached by their own fleeing soldiers.

There were still tens of thousands of Wei soldiers outside the camp, some of whom were killed or captured. A lot of weapons were abandoned, and many soldiers took off their armor in panic and waded into the warships.

Many Wei troops were even driven directly into the river by the Tang army.

The Tang army commander Fu Weixue was like a god of war on the battlefield, with the spear in his hand shaking, and he was almost invincible.

The enemy's reinforcements arrived in the form of a cavalry raid, which was enough to make the already low morale plummet to the bottom.

When the news of the retreat from Ruxukou came, there were no more doubts.

Miao Xianyun, who was full of ambition when he set out, was now completely discouraged. All the dignity he had when he first arrived at Liyang City a month ago was gone, as if he had aged ten years in an instant.

In the end, Miao Xianyun reluctantly but helplessly made the decision to withdraw his troops, and appointed Left General Lu Gongren and Rear General Liu Changgong to temporarily serve as the commander-in-chief.

Of the 100,000 troops that set out, only 70,000 returned to Jiangnan.

This was after the main force of the Tang army moved north!
After the Wei army retreated, the Tang army in Jiangbei celebrated with great fanfare and immediately sent the victory news to Luoyang.

In April, the Tang army of thirty Zhechoufu of the Left and Right Wuwei and more than ten thousand powerful troops, totaling more than 40,000 people, arrived in Luoyang.

The arrival of the elite troops made Li Yuanhui feel relieved.

Now he can assemble an army of at least 80,000 people in a short period of time, greatly reducing the pressure on the northern front.

But now the Jianghuai River on the southern line has become the demolished east wall and has begun to become his main concern.

It was already early May when the battle report was delivered to Li Yuanhui's desk. After reading the victory report, Li Yuanhui smiled lightly and then motioned for everyone to pass it around.

I felt relieved in my heart. That's what he said, and it's true, but in a war, victory or defeat is often just a fine line, and luck plays a role.

Fortunately, he was really lucky, and what he predicted was right. Isn't this what it means to "predict things like a god" and "have the foresight without doubt"?

A number of staff members and generals also praised His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi for his wisdom, bravery, and ability to judge people.

Li Yuanhui accepted it calmly and was worried for more than two months. During this period, even if he had doubts in his heart, he did not dare to express them.

I am just pretending to be calm. Now, I can really rest easy.

Why is it said that a person with a chest as calm as thunder and a face as peaceful as a lake can be promoted to general? Emotions can be transmitted, and the higher the position, the more attention people pay to emotional management.

This is very important.

Now, Li Yuanhui is not only a general, but also the person in charge of the six states in Guandong.

Every word and action would cause a huge response. This was a turbulent time, and the Central Plains where he was located was surrounded by wars, with powerful enemies in the north and south.

In order to keep people at peace, he must remain calm.

I have to pretend.

(End of this chapter)