Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 426 Crossing the River
Back in his barracks, Chen Qingzhi's smile vanished.

Ren Yuan and the others hurriedly asked what was going on, and Chen Qingzhi said with a wry smile, "The good days are over."

He then told everyone about how Yuan Shu had been replaced by Cao Zhongzong.

"Damn it..." Hu Longya cursed as soon as he heard this: "If I had known, I wouldn't have been so careful. I should have just taken all the credit. Even if I had given it to others, it would have only made me a target."

"If we hadn't been allowed to leave back then, we would have been kicked out along with Prince Ye." Gongsun Lu sneered, "It's because Commander Chen has been so sensible and useful that they've kept him around."

"Actually, it's not me who's being targeted; we're not that important," Chen Qingzhi sighed softly. "It's Prince Ye who's being targeted."

"Indeed." Gongsun Lu nodded and said, "Such a great achievement as taking Shouyang was actually given to a surrendered general. The generals in the court are losing face. Otherwise, they wouldn't have suddenly come back to life and started attacking one after another."

"But after all that effort, we only managed to take down three checkpoints, which only highlights how formidable we were along the way," Gongsun Lu continued. "So they simply wanted to drive Yuan Shu away and replace him. Coincidentally, Yuan Shu himself didn't want to continue, so the Emperor did him a favor."

His words were so certain that they were clearly not mere speculation. In fact, Zhu Yi had already informed Chen Lingzhi, who then relayed the news to Chen Qingzhi. However, Chen Qingzhi, being a meticulous person, had never revealed it until now, when he used Gongsun Lu to tell everyone the truth.

"But this means that Commander Chen can no longer play as freely as before," the generals sighed.

"Now we can only hope that General Cao is getting old and will step down as a hands-off manager," Ji Buli said softly.

“A hands-off manager is still a manager, but he’s a completely different person from someone like Prince Ye who’s just a figurehead,” Cheng Jingjun muttered.

"Alright, we've been lucky enough to serve under Prince Ye for the past few months. We can't ask for more." Chen Qingzhi waved his hand, signaling everyone to stop complaining.

"The purpose of what I'm telling you is to be more restrained in your words and actions in the future, and to act in accordance with regulations. Don't be as arrogant and disrespectful as you were before."

"Yes," the generals hurriedly replied in deep voices.

~~
Fortunately, Cao Zhongzong was mature and prudent. After taking over, he did not overturn his predecessor's arrangements and still decided to cross the Huai River after the autumn chill set in and try to capture Woyang.

So the army rested in Nanyu Prefecture until August. When the autumn winds rose, they set off across the river and marched straight towards Woyang.

Woyang is only about 700 li away from Luoyang. After the loss of Shouyang, it became the new gateway for the Northern Dynasties. This time, the Northern Dynasties could not afford to be negligent. They not only replenished their troops but also reinstated Xiao Baoyin to guard Woyang.

Xiao Baoyin was no pushover like Li Xian. He had commanded the Wei army against Daliang for many years and was extremely experienced. Although his military tactics were not outstanding, he rarely made mistakes. He might not be capable of attacking Daliang, but he was more than qualified to defend against them.

As expected, Liang Jun could not repeat the miracle in Shouyang and could only obediently set up a siege.

Xiao Baoyin defended the city flawlessly, and after a month, the Liang army suffered heavy losses but still failed to capture Woyang.

To make matters worse, the Northern Wei Dynasty dispatched General Yuan Zhao, Prince of Changshan, to lead a large army south to reinforce Woyang, boasting 150,000 cavalry and infantry...

"Report! The vanguard of the Wei army has reached Tuojian, forty li away from us, due north." The scout rushed to report to the main camp outside Woyang City.

Inside the command tent, the white-haired Cao Zhongzong led his generals to a long table, on which was a scaled-down sand table depicting the terrain of the Woyang area, modeled by Ren Yuan.

"Should we take the initiative and strike him?" Cao Zhongzong asked, his hands behind his back. He looked at Wei Fang first.

"General Cao, you are wise. The Wei army's vanguard must be a lightly armed elite force. Even if we win against them, it cannot be considered a victory. If we are defeated, it will damage our army's morale. As the art of war says, 'Wait for the enemy to tire themselves out.' Therefore, it is better not to attack and wait for the enemy to attack," Wei Fang said cautiously. "Ziyun, what do you think?" Cao Zhongzong then asked Chen Qingzhi.

Chen Qingzhi then said in a deep voice, "In my humble opinion, the morale of the garrison in the city will surely be greatly boosted when they learn that reinforcements have arrived. With this shift in morale, the determination of our soldiers to attack the city will definitely be greatly affected. Therefore, we should take the initiative to strike and dampen their arrogance, so that the morale of our army will not be affected."

"Moreover, the Wei army has come from afar and must be exhausted. They are also quite far from us and will certainly not be wary of us. If we take advantage of their march and their lack of preparation, we can launch a surprise attack and catch them off guard. There is no way the enemy can escape defeat."

After a pause, he emphasized again: "Moreover, the enemy is camping in Tuojian tonight. The area is densely wooded, so the enemy will definitely not come out at night. We can withdraw calmly after we finish fighting, without worrying about being attacked and counterattacked."

Seeing that none of the generals echoed his sentiments, Chen Qingzhi raised his voice and said, "If you all have any doubts, I request to lead the troops to attack alone!"

~~
As a result, Cao Zhongzong indeed ordered Chen Qingzhi to lead his two thousand elite cavalry to raid the Wei army camp...

"Damn it, where did those guys' fighting spirit go? Why did they all back down this time?" After setting off, Hu Longya muttered vehemently in frustration.

"They shouldn't have withheld all our troops!" the generals said angrily.

"This is to let Commander Chen know who's in charge now," Gongsun Lu sneered. "I'd heard that Cao Cao was no good at fighting, but I didn't expect him to be so good at political maneuvering."

"It was my own request, so I can't blame them." Chen Qingzhi said nonchalantly, "Besides, I haven't said a single lie. This battle is a sure win. If they don't want it, we will."

"Yes." Chen Qingzhi's simple words extinguished the soldiers' negative emotions and rekindled their fighting spirit.

So he led his troops to Tuojian overnight and met up with Ren Yuan, who had come to scout ahead of him.

"How is it?" Chen Qingzhi asked softly.

"Just as Commander Chen predicted, the enemy is stationed at Tuojian tonight." Ren Yuan unfolded a map, on which was drawn the enemy's defensive deployment that he had scouted.

"Due to the terrain, we set up a long, single-line formation..."

After listening to Ren Yuan's explanation, Chen Qingzhi immediately made the decision: "Let the soldiers rest for an hour, set off at midnight, and raid their camp at dawn! Strike at their vital point!"

"Yes." The generals responded softly and hurried off to relay the order.

~~
That night, Liang Jun, led by Chen Qingzhi, launched a surprise attack on the Wei army camp.

The Wei army was exhausted from days of marching and convinced that the Liang army would not attack. They slept soundly, their snores filling the camp.

Caught completely off guard, the White-Robed Army's iron cavalry swept through their camp, causing a complete rout. The vanguard commander was killed on the spot...

Liang Jun pursued the fleeing troops, wiping out most of the Wei army's 20,000-strong vanguard. Only then did the main camp, several miles away, send cavalry to reinforce them.

The white-robed army pursued the enemy until they could see reinforcements, then turned their horses around and retreated calmly.

Upon seeing this, the Wei army indeed suspected a trap. In addition, the surrounding woods were dense, making them easily suspicious of even the smallest things. They dared not pursue and could only watch helplessly as the white-robed army disappeared into the distance...

(End of this chapter)