Speaking of the surprise attack on the ancient battlefield, you may think of the domineering "ambush on ten sides" of Liu Bang, the ancestor of the Han Dynasty, or Yue Fei's "ambush on all sides" battle. But did you know that the Tang Dynasty had a night raid that was almost sealed in the dust of history? That is Li Yu's surprise attack on Caizhou on a snowy night. On a cold winter night in 814, Li Yu led the army to carry out an adventurous and wonderful operation, which not only succeeded, but also greatly enhanced the prestige of the Tang Dynasty and made great contributions to the unification of the country.
In the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the contradictions between the central and local governments became increasingly acute, and the situation of separating feudal towns was a headache for the central government. In 814, Wu Yuanji refused to obey the dispatch of the imperial court, established himself as the king, arrogantly and domineeringly, and even sent troops to plunder everywhere, making the people of the entire Kwantung region panic.
Faced with this situation, Tang Xianzong decided to take action and vowed to pacify Huaixi. The campaign for three consecutive years was repeatedly frustrated, the front-line generals were defeated and retreated, the DPRK and China were unavailable, and the war reached a stalemate. Just when the whole country was in an uproar, a young and promising general stood up, and he was Li Yu.
Li Yu, the son of Li Sheng, was born in a family of famous generals, although he was young, he had extraordinary military talent. In the winter of that year, he asked himself to go to war in the court, vowing to be ashamed. Although many people were suspicious of the young general, Tang Xianzong took a fancy to his courage and talent, and finally decided to appoint him as the envoy of Tang and Deng Jiedu to go to the front line in Caizhou.
At this time, Caizhou was the base camp of Wu Yuanji and the heartland of the Huaixi rebels. After Li Yu took office, he was faced with a group of soldiers with low morale and low fighting spirit. He did not rush to war, but first stabilized the morale of the army and adjusted his strategy. He knew that in order to break the deadlock, he had to take it by surprise and hit a "sudden" that they didn't expect.
Finally, the opportunity came. On that snowy night, Li Yu led his cronies and elite soldiers, taking advantage of the heavy snow to cover their whereabouts, and quietly approached Caizhou City. The rebels in the city were basking in the joy of victory, who would have thought that in such weather, there would be enemy troops who would dare to attack?
Li Yu's army was like a bolt of lightning, piercing the night sky and hitting the heart of Caizhou City. This night, they swept away Wu Yuanji and his core forces with lightning speed, and captured the rebel general alive. The victory in this battle was not only a great demonstration of Li Yu's military talent, but also a major consolidation of the centralized power of the Tang Dynasty.
The success of the Snowy Night Surprise Attack was a great shock to the other feudal towns on the other side of the separatist side. After the incident, many feudal towns that had been waiting on the sidelines began to reconsider their relationship with the central government, and expressed their willingness to submit to the Tang Dynasty. This battle was not only a military victory, but also a major political and psychological victory, which greatly strengthened the authority of the central government and played a key role in the further consolidation of the centralized power of the later Tang Dynasty.
Returning to Li Yu's tactical application, his action can be called a model of dual grasp of "situation" and "psychology". Not only did he choose an extreme weather as a cover, but he also accurately grasped the enemy's psychological defense, choosing to attack when the enemy was least likely to fortify. The subtlety of this tactic lies in the fact that it completely subverts the traditional mode of warfare and applies the psychological factors of war to the extreme.
Li Yu's surprise attack was not only a destruction of the enemy's military strength, but also a precise attack on the enemy's psychology. In military history, although such a war is not unprecedented, it is rare to be able to achieve such precision and success. This is also why later generations of generals will always think of learning from Li Yu's snowy night surprise attack when facing difficulties.
The aura of history is always easy to overlook the details and difficulty. Li Yu's success did not happen overnight. Before that, he studied the enemy situation in depth, planned carefully, and carefully arranged every detail. His success is the perfect combination of strategy and courage, the crystallization of thoughtfulness and improvisation.
Here, we can't help but ask, if it weren't for this surprise attack by Li Yu, how would the situation in Huaixi develop? What kind of chapter will be written in the history of the Tang Dynasty? These questions, although unanswerable, are enough to make us pay infinite respect to the young general's determination and courage, as well as his astonishing military talents.
Li Yu's surprise attack on a snowy night was not only a victory in a battle, but also a demonstration of strategic thinking and military wisdom. War is not only a confrontation of forces, but also a contest of wisdom and courage. In the long river of history, Li Yu's name may not be as loud as some imperial generals, but his surprise attack undoubtedly won him a unique position in China's military history.