Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 201 Tongcheng Surrenders
"Commander-in-chief, let me go! If we attack again, we will surely be able to break the city! The main force of the Tongcheng defenders are those armored government troops. They have suffered a lot in the past two days. As long as we attack a few more times, we will surely be able to break the city!"

Jin Chaoxing loudly asked Liao Yongan to fight, but Liao Yongan frowned and said nothing. Yin Congdao, his most elite general, who had served under Zuo Junbi and was captured by them, was now stabbed by two swords and one gun, suffered three injuries, and was thrown off the city wall. He was lying there and could not get up.

Among the remaining two combat battalion commanders, only Jin Chaoxing was capable of fighting. Guo Zixing's brother-in-law Zhang Tianyou performed mediocrely and had nothing outstanding. Therefore, he could not involve Jin Chaoxing, otherwise his Third Regiment would lose its combat effectiveness.

This was the first time that Liao Yongan attacked a small city with a strong defender and a garrison of 5,000 troops. The city was small and strong, and the defenders were relatively elite, so it was indeed difficult to attack. In fact, this was the norm in siege warfare. There were many examples of a city that could not be taken down for several months or even a year or two. It would be abnormal to take it down in one fell swoop every time.

But Tongcheng had to be fought. According to the plan he had made, it was impossible for everyone else to complete the task while he, the main general, was the only one dragging his feet. This was absolutely unacceptable.

So Liao Yongan looked at Zhao Yong next to him. Zhao Yong's 11th Regiment had not seen much action and had been making feint attacks in the past few days, so its condition was slightly better.

Seeing Liao Yongan looking at him, Zhao Yong from the 11th Regiment, as well as Wu Guobao, Lu Ding, and Miao Youzhen, four battalion officers of the combat battalion, volunteered to fight.

"Commander, the brothers of the Third Regiment have worked hard these days. Let our 11th Regiment take over the task of climbing the city wall. We haven't achieved any outstanding achievements since our unit was established, so we must take on the task this time!" Zhao Yong said as the representative.

The other three also looked at Liao Yongan with fiery eyes. The Lu Ding family was the only one in the Dingyuan faction who had not yet reached the position of commander. They were just a battalion commander of a thousand households. This guy was eager to make achievements and get promoted.

Miao Youzhen was wearing the armor bestowed by Lu Jinqin, and his father, Miao Daheng, was a commander, so he couldn't bring shame to his father.

Wu Guoxing and Wu Guobao, a subordinate of Miao Daheng, are brothers. The two brothers are quite pure and have no political ambitions, but they are both very brave in fighting. Together with Zhao Yong, a veteran of Chaohu, the entire 11th Regiment is indeed a capable fighting force.

Liao Yongan glanced at several people, and after analyzing their backgrounds and combat capabilities, he decided to give them the task of breaking the city. However, at this moment, a scout from the south came to report that Lu Jin had sent an order.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, the commander-in-chief has ordered people to come from Shahe and defeat the reinforcements. The commander-in-chief also ordered people to send the flag of the Yuan army in Anqing Road and the head of the commander-in-chief."

Liao Yongan's eyes lit up immediately when he heard this, "Where's the person? Bring him over quickly."

The other people looked at each other in surprise when they heard this. After a while, the messenger sent by Lu Jin arrived here and handed Lu Jin's handwritten letter to Liao Yongan for inspection. The other generals were waiting nervously by the side.

"Commander-in-chief, what did the Marshal say in the letter?" Zhao Yong asked hurriedly.

Liao Yongan read the letter quickly and sighed, then handed it over and said.

"Hey, the Marshal's progress is faster than ours. They used the 8th and 12th Regiments plus a cavalry battalion and artillery, a total of 10,000 troops, to attack when they were halfway across the river. They defeated the 15,000 reinforcements from Anqing, killed nearly 2,000 in battle, and captured 13,000 Yuan soldiers. They told us to quickly capture Tongcheng and go over to join the Marshal.

"The situation in the south has changed again. Taihu and Wangjiang counties are now very empty. The Marshal may have made up his mind to expand the victory, but he is very short of soldiers and is urging us to go there."

The other generals present were overjoyed to hear this. After days of failed sieges, the army was inevitably feeling depressed. The report of the great victory that Lu Jin sent at this time was like a shot in the arm for these generals, but they soon realized the seriousness of the situation.

They had won the battle over there, but they were also urged to take Tongcheng as soon as possible and reunite there, which meant that they had to attack the city desperately next.

However, Zhao Yong was still very happy after reading the letter. "I will gather all the men right away. We must conquer this city before dark today. I also ask Brother Liao's Third Regiment to cooperate with us and make a feint attack."

Liao Yongan raised his hand to stop them and said, "No hurry, the commander-in-chief is here to urge us, so he must have guessed the situation here. Didn't he specially send the Yuan army's banner and the head of the commander-in-chief?

"I heard that Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling also came from Huaining, so they naturally know this commander. Let's try to persuade him to surrender first. If that doesn't work, we can continue to attack the city."

"That's fine too." Zhao Yong nodded.

So, after a while, Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling on the top of the city wall saw a soldier with a red scarf wrapped around his arm, holding a shield, rushing towards the city wall alone.

"Don't shoot, don't shoot, my commander has a letter for you."

"Shoot! Shoot him to death!" Ge Yanling gave the order immediately.

"Hey, wait, let him come over." Shao Yongjian immediately stopped the archer and said.

"Why let this person come here? What the enemy brings is definitely not good news. It is more likely to be a rumor that will disturb our military morale." Ge Yanling asked puzzledly.

Shao Yongjian patiently explained, "In the past few days, our elite troops have suffered many casualties, and the enemy has attacked the city walls many times, but we pushed them back. If we continue to fight like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to hold out for a few more days.

"What's even more strange is that none of the messengers we sent to Huaining for help have returned these days. There's no definite news on whether there will be reinforcements. I feel uneasy. We can defend the city with our lives, but I'm afraid something unexpected will happen in the rear.

"It's okay to see what the enemy general says."

Ge Yanling frowned after listening to this, and after pondering for a while, he sighed, "Okay, let's take a look first." Although he said this, he actually had some guesses in his mind. He also saw the messenger who just ran over from the south.

Sure enough, when the soldier of the Shengwu Army saw that the other side did not shoot arrows, he leaned out from behind the shield, holding a bamboo basket in his hand. In it were folded up Yuan army flags, a head, and a letter of surrender that Liao Yongan had just written. There was a rope tied to the basket.

The soldier ran to the foot of the city wall, put the basket on the ground, and threw the rope to the top of the city wall. The guards on top pulled the rope to lift the basket up, and were shocked to see the head inside. Although they didn't know whose head it was, it was definitely not good news if the enemy army sent a human head on their own initiative.

When the things were placed in front of Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling, their faces suddenly turned ugly. They all knew Molenchi. Seeing the expressions of the two men, the local garrison Zhen Yanlong and his son also came over to watch the fun. When they saw that the enemy general was sending them the head of a Mongolian Tartar, they knew that it was not a good thing.

Zhen Yanlong asked directly, "Whose head is this?"

Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling did not speak, but picked up the letter and read it. The letter said that they were besieging the city and attacking the reinforcements. The attack on Tongcheng was fake, just to force them to ask for help. Another 15,000 troops were sent to the south to ambush the Anqing reinforcements. It really worked. The reinforcements sent by Anqing had been completely annihilated, 2,000 were killed in battle, and 13,000 troops were captured. Now Anqing can't spare a single soldier to come to support. If you know what's good for you, surrender the city quickly. If you don't surrender, wait for the army in the south to come and encircle Tongcheng. Under the siege of more than 20,000 troops, how many days can Tongcheng hold out?

I am sending you the head of General Molenchi, the commander of the Anqing reinforcements, and the banner of the central army, as well as a list of prisoners. If you don't believe me, just wait to be beaten. If you want to surrender, send someone to contact me immediately.

Shao Yongjian was speechless for a long time after reading it. Ge Yanling waved his hand and cursed, "What bad luck! I guessed it was like this. No wonder Liao only brought two regiments here. I was wondering why his two regiments had been hiding all this time."

"What happened? What happened to the two groups with the surname Liao? Is there anything we can't talk about?" Zhen Yanlong asked repeatedly.

Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling looked at each other, and seeing Ge Yanling nodded helplessly, he handed the letter to Zhen Yanlong, "Read it yourself."

Zhen and his son immediately took the letter and read it, and their hearts sank. The reinforcements were gone, but the enemy still had tens of thousands of troops behind them, ready to come and besiege the city at any time. What was the point of fighting? If the Red Turban Soldiers stayed and refused to leave, how long would the fight end?

"What do you two think?" Zhen Yanlong asked Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling directly after reading the letter.

Shao Yongjian did not answer, but asked in return, "What do you think, General? You are from this county, and we are a guest army. We should first ask General Zhen's opinion."

Zhen Yanlong asked again, "Can Anqing send in reinforcements?"

"I'm afraid not." Shao Yongjian shook his head.

"Then surrender, but we have to make it clear to Liao that you can surrender, but you can't disband our troops, and you have to give us official positions." Zhen Yanlong said very bluntly.

Anyway, there is no reinforcement and we can't hold out for long. It doesn't matter who we work for. We might as well sell ourselves for a good price while we still have some capital.

Upon hearing this, Shao Yongjian looked at Ge Yanling again, "Where's Brother Ge?"

Ge Yanling hesitated for a moment before saying, "We seem to have killed and wounded quite a few of their people in the past few days, including a general. We can surrender, but we agreed not to settle scores later."

Shao Yongjian nodded and looked at Zhen Yanlong again, "Then who will go out of the city to discuss? The higher-ups said we should reply in half an hour."

Zhen Yanlong immediately said, "I'll go. Do you two have any other conditions?"

Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling both shook their heads. Upon seeing this, Zhen Yanlong had someone carry him down the city in a bamboo basket, and he went to Liao Yongan to negotiate.

After Liao Yongan heard the other party's request, he said this.

"First, according to our army's previous rules, if you are willing to bring troops to serve, we will definitely give you an official position. You have 3,000 soldiers under your command, so you will at least be given three thousand battalion officers. However, this requires the personal appointment of the commander-in-chief. What I say does not count. Our Shengwu Army has its own laws, and all military appointments are issued by the commander-in-chief's office.

"Second, regarding not disbanding your troops, I can roughly agree to your conditions and try not to disband your troops, but you must accept the reorganization of our army and reorganize according to our army's divisions, regiments, battalions and companies. Otherwise, even if you join our army, you won't be able to fight the same battle.

“Third, as for the subsequent settlement, we are not that mean. Since you know the military system of our Shengwu Army, you should know that there are surrendered generals in our army who hold important positions. Zhu Liangzu, the surrendered general from Lu’an, is no less senior than me and leads more than 20,000 troops alone. Ye Sheng under Zuo Junbi is also the commander of the Marshal’s imperial cavalry. Bai Guangtai, the chief naval commander under Kang Maocai, also serves as the deputy commander of our navy.

"As long as you serve loyally and work hard, why would the Marshal settle old scores with you? Even if you are worried, you can go to the Marshal in person to accept the punishment after seeing him. After you are punished, you will be brothers and no one can say anything."

Zhen Yanlong nodded upon hearing this. He was quite satisfied with Liao Yongan's promise, so he said, "Then I have no objection. Shao Ge and I are both willing to surrender. May I ask how to deal with it later?"

Liao Yongan felt relieved and then asked them about the military strength in the city. He then asked them to go back and open the city gates immediately, gather the defenders, march out of the city, hand over their weapons, and wait for follow-up measures.

Zhen Yanlong was still somewhat dissatisfied with the requirement to leave the city and hand over weapons, but now the Shengwu Army had the upper hand and they were all ready to surrender, so he couldn't say anything.

Liao Yongan was also very tough on this point. The defenders had to leave the city and hand over their weapons. There was no room for negotiation.

Things like persuading people to surrender are not easy to do. Sometimes you have to be tough, otherwise the other party will think they are afraid of you.

Zhen Yanlong had no choice but to go back and discuss with Shao Yongjian and Ge Yanling. After hearing the conditions agreed by the other party, the two agreed unanimously and did not continue to argue about leaving the city and handing over the weapons. As long as they surrendered, they would be at the mercy of others. At this time, they could only gamble whether the other party would keep their promise and whether Lu Jin would keep his reputation.

Fortunately, Liao Yongan was not stupid enough to kill the surrendered soldiers for such a thing. The three of them successfully led the troops out of the city gate and kidnapped Ning Chun, the county magistrate of Tongcheng. Liao Yongan himself did not enter the city, but only let Jin Chaoxing bring a battalion into the city to take over the city defense. He also stayed in the camp outside the city, watching these surrendered soldiers.

After taking over the city defense and keeping an eye on the surrendered soldiers, Liao Yongan immediately ordered Lu Qianhou, who stayed there, to take his battalion of cavalry and go south to Shahe to support Lu Jin. At the same time, he also ordered Zhao Yong to take his 11th Regiment and go south immediately to meet up with Lu Jin.

Liao Yongan stayed here by himself, waiting for Zhang Wen from Lujiang to come and take over Tongcheng. He had to wait until Zhang Wen arrived before he could continue to lead his troops south to meet up with Lu Jin.

At the same time, a little later than in Tongcheng, Zhang Wen and Feng Guoyong, who had just moved to Lujiang, also received the letter from Lu Jin.

The letter to Zhang Wen was to ask him to continue leading his troops south to take over Tongcheng. The letter to Feng Guoyong was to explain the current situation in Anqing. He wanted to continue moving south and push the front line to Taihu Lake and Wangjiang, but he had not made up his mind yet and wanted to ask Feng Guoyong for advice.

In addition, he was asked to immediately take the civilian officials and ammunition supplies south and quickly meet up with him in Shahe.

The two did not dare to hesitate after receiving the order and immediately assembled their troops to march south. Zhang Wen even directly dispatched two combat battalions of Zhang Liang and Qin Zhao to set off first and march quickly to Tongcheng to take over the city defense so that Liao Yongan could free up his hands as soon as possible. He himself took the logistics, Li Jun, and Feng Guoyong to chase after them.

(End of this chapter)