Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 203 Abandoning the City and Escape

Unlike Guo Zixing, Zhang Desheng was shocked that Lu Jin had made up his mind to let him capture Taihu County. You know, Lu Jin was still hesitating two days ago.

"The Marshal wants to attack Taihu County. Have you made your decision?"

Lu Jin shook his head. "No, I haven't decided whether to defend or abandon Taihu County, but we have to occupy it first. You can take the captives and try to trick them. If you can't trick them, forget it and return to Qianshan County directly.

"If it's opened, guard it first and be alert to the enemy in Susong in the south. Also search the treasury of Taihu County to see what good things there are, food, weapons and armor, and the money of the county government. If you really want to abandon the city, get these things back for me."

"I understand." Zhang Desheng nodded immediately. Anyway, he just had to occupy it first and defend it if he could. If he couldn't, he had to grab something back. Anyway, the meat was there and it would be a waste not to eat it.

After receiving the order, Guo Zixing and Zhang Desheng immediately prepared to set off. Guo Zixing went to explain the situation to his son before taking his troops on the journey.

Zhang Desheng went to select the surrendered soldiers from Taihu who were familiar with the terrain from the pile of prisoners. Soon this guy called Li Qin from Taihu and ran to report to Lu Jin.

At the same time, Lu Jin also promised Li Jin that if he could swindle his way into opening Taihu County, even if he had made a small contribution, he could immediately be given a position as a battalion officer of a thousand households. Although it was still similar to a military position in the Yuan army, it was already very good to receive such treatment right after joining the army. Li Jin also agreed.

The three of them then set off towards Taihu Lake.

Seeing the Eighth Regiment leaving, Zhao Yong, who stayed behind, asked Lu Jin, "Does the Marshal want to take these tens of thousands of prisoners with him to attack Huaining?"

"No?" Lu Jin looked at him and asked.

Zhao Yong said, "We have the 3rd, 11th, and 12th Regiments. The total number of the three regiments is 13,000, which is almost the same as the number of prisoners. If we march with them, can we keep them under control? What if we attack the city?"

Lu Jin had already thought about it, and immediately said, "Confiscate their weapons and armor, put them under centralized custody, and have the auxiliary soldiers of the three regiments watch over them. Besides, there are two battalions of cavalry. With the cavalry watching over them, they won't be able to run far even if they want to.

"As for your concern about them defecting, Qianshan has been taken by us now. Taihu is not a big surprise. Wangjiang has no soldiers left. Tongcheng has also been occupied by us. Although Susong still has soldiers, they are more than 200 miles away and can hardly protect themselves. They will be thankful if we don't attack Susong.

"Now, in the entire Anqing Road, it can be said that apart from Susong, there is only one isolated city left, Huaining. The Yuan army is at an absolute disadvantage. What else can those surrendered soldiers do?
"Besides, they have no commander now. All officers are under centralized supervision. Without a leader, the soldiers will be like a group of lambs. If you are really worried, you can disrupt their original teams so that they don't know each other and can't do anything."

Zhao Yong scratched his head when he heard this. Since Lu Jin was not worried and he had reminded him of everything he should have, there was nothing more to say. So he asked again, "How many days do we have to stay here? When will we march to Huaining?"

"When Liao Yongan's Third Regiment arrives, we will set out and wait outside Huaining City. When Feng Guoyong delivers the ammunition and supplies, we will attack the city."

Zhao Yong clenched his fists. "That will be quick. According to the distance, Brother Liao can get here in one day at most. It's just that his Third Regiment lost some troops."

"We don't have to worry about losing troops. We have so many prisoners here. We can just replenish them. Besides, we can go to the south bank to recruit some soldiers in a couple of days. We don't have to worry about lack of troops now."

What Lu Jin said about going to the south bank to recruit soldiers was the two villages that were harmed by the Yuan army. He would take the culprits there and avenge the people. By the way, he would recruit a group of soldiers from these young and strong people who had a blood feud with the Yuan army. There must be no problem, right?
So the next day, they waited patiently for Liao Yongan here, and organized the prisoners to cut wood and repair the destroyed wooden bridge.

They were waiting here with peace of mind, but the Tartars in Huaining City could not sit still.

For this campaign to the south, Guo Zixing's 8th Regiment set out on February 21st, and Liao Yongan set out a day later, on the 22nd. The 8th and 12th Regiments arrived at the designated location on the north bank of Shahe River on the 24th. The battle to defeat reinforcements broke out on the 29th, and all the reinforcements from Anqing were wiped out.

In Huaining City, the capital of Anqing, although they did not realize that something was wrong in a short period of time, by the second day of March, when Mr. Miao occupied Congyang Town and crossed the river to the south bank, making a gesture of approaching Huaining, the Tartars in the city, no matter how slow-witted they were, should have known that something was wrong.

The main force of the 12th Regiment of Mr. Miao was stationed in Tongyang at this time, only fifty miles away from Huaining City. Even the scouts sent by Mr. Miao had already arrived at the city of Huaining. The people in Huaining City immediately panicked.

What does the Red Turban Army mean by this? Where are the tens of thousands of troops they sent out? Could it be that the Red Turban Army is planning to attack Wei to save Zhao in order to force the reinforcements they sent out to retreat?
The senior officials of Anqing Road, who were confused about the situation, immediately sent out scouts to scout everywhere. In just two days, they reported back one bad news after another.

"Report to the General, the enemy has several thousand cavalry and has arrived south of Shahe River, stretching for dozens of miles. We cannot go north, and we cannot contact Tongcheng."

Han Jian, the governor of Anqing Road, and Darughachi Alchangpu were all shocked. The officer Yang Heng was so shocked that he stood up. Without waiting for the two officers to ask, he took the lead in grabbing the scout's collar and asked, "What did you say? The enemy has already crossed the Shahe River?"

"That's right." The soldier was frightened by being pulled, but still nodded nervously.

Yang Heng asked again, "Have you seen any traces of our troops?"

The soldier shook his head this time. "There are too many enemy scouts and we are few in number. How can we rush through? Therefore, we were unable to find out the enemy's situation and our army's trace. But some people said..."

"What?" Han Jian asked impatiently.

The scout muttered in a very low voice, "They said they saw our army marching up the Shahe River, looting several villages on the way, and in two villages, the army raped hundreds of women. Later, when the army was crossing the river, they encountered an ambush by the Red Turbans. Some people said that our army was completely wiped out."

"How is this possible?!" Han Jian stood up in shock when he heard this. He could not do anything about the fact that Molunchi and his gang were robbing the people. Even if he wanted to, he could only report them to the emperor. However, if the entire army was wiped out, that would be a serious problem.

"How could the entire army be wiped out? There were 15,000 soldiers and horses. Even if they lost one or two battles, they wouldn't lose so quickly and so cleanly, right?" Han Jian was still muttering in astonishment.

Yang Heng had calmed down by now. He thought for a moment before he speculated, "If what the people said is true, then our army must have encountered an ambush by the enemy army when they were crossing the Shahe River. The enemy army attacked us halfway across the river, separating our army from both sides and unable to take care of each other. It is possible that we could have killed them by surprise." Al Changpu was puzzled when he heard this, "But how did the enemy know where and when we were going to cross the river?"

Yang Heng speculated again, "Perhaps their attack on Tongcheng is fake, and they are really trying to lure our army to come to help. I heard that the Red Turban bandit leader in Luzhou is used to using the strategy of besieging a point and attacking the reinforcements. Zhu Liangzu, the Marshal of the Lu'an Volunteer Army, was captured alive by him in this way. If the enemy army is determined to attack the reinforcements, they can set up an ambush in advance and send more scouts to conduct careful reconnaissance. They may not fail to catch our army's opportunity to cross the river."

"Then why didn't you tell me earlier? It caused the entire army to be wiped out." The frightened recorder Huang Luntai suddenly asked.

Yang Heng glanced at the Tartar and defended himself, "There are more than one place to cross the Shahe River, and the army has to send out scouts along the way. Even if they were ambushed by the enemy, what's the point of saying it? Even if the enemy wants to surround a point and attack the reinforcements, they must be able to determine where our army will cross the river. This is a loss due to the enemy's scouts, what does it have to do with me?"

Han Jian saw the two quarreling, and immediately waved his sleeves and shouted angrily, "Well, what's the point of talking about this now? The key is to find out the truth. Did our army lose? If it did, was it really annihilated? If it didn't, where are the remaining soldiers hiding now?

"As for the enemy's movements and strength, we have no idea at the moment. What's the point of arguing here? The army is already a few days away from setting out. If we keep arguing like this, I'm afraid the enemy will soon be at the gates of the city!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Heng no longer paid attention to Huang Luntai, but continued his analysis to Han Jian.

"If our army is defeated, even if it is only a small defeat, the enemy can take the prisoners and heads to Tongcheng to surrender. The defenders of Tongcheng are cut off from the enemy and do not know the truth. They will most likely believe the bandits' lies. Tongcheng is probably gone. The area north of Shahe to Congyang is under the control of the enemy. There is no point in further investigation."

Al Changpu and Han Jian nodded upon hearing this, agreeing very much with Yang Heng's deduction. Al Changpu even urged, "Yang Zhaomo, continue and help us think about the enemy's next move."

Yang Heng continued his analysis, "Scouts reported earlier that the enemy's 12th Regiment had occupied Congyang and crossed the river to the south. Now the front cavalry scouts are wandering outside the north city, which means that my previous judgment is likely to be true.

"The most important part of Anqing Road is, of course, the capital Huaining County. Since the enemy has already controlled the area north of Shahe River and crossed the Shahe River in both the east and west directions, they will definitely not stop and will certainly continue to raid Qianshan, Huaining, Taihu, Wangjiang and other counties, especially Taihu and Wangjiang. These two counties are now completely destitute of troops, so it would be easy for the enemy to take the two cities.

"Although Qianshan still has 2,000 defenders, they are all newly recruited soldiers. Since the main force has been defeated, how can the new army defend the city? In addition, the enemy army has won a great victory and has the heads and flags of the captured generals in their hands. I am afraid that Qianshan will not dare to resist. In this case, we are the only ones left."

Everyone's face changed when they heard this, because according to Yang Heng's analysis, these were really possible, provided that their army had indeed suffered a crushing defeat.

But before this, there were people who escaped from Tongyang and said that many corpses of Yuan soldiers were floating down from upstream of Tongyang, so what Yang Heng said was probably true.

It's just that this matter was too shocking, so Alchangpu didn't let anyone spread it before, and the news was suppressed by him.

Han Jian was still asking, "If that's the case, four of the six cities in Anqing have been lost, leaving only Huaining and Susong. Susong still has 6,000 soldiers. Can we transfer troops from Susong and join forces with the soldiers of the two cities to defend Huaining, and then find a way to transfer troops from Jiangdong to support us?"

Yang Heng shook his head. "I'm afraid it's too late. Susong is 300 miles away from here. By the time we send the message, even if they set out immediately, it will take seven or eight days to go back and forth. By then, the enemy will have already reached the city."

When the Tartar officials present heard about the situation, they immediately lost their will to fight. All the outer cities had fallen, and there was no reinforcement. There were only 5,000 defenders left in the city, and the city walls were damaged, with only three sides. There was no point in defending, so everyone planned to escape.

Are you kidding me? If we don't leave now, are we going to stay and die? I heard that when the bandit leader Lu Jin just conquered Luzhou, he dared to kill the Tartar prince. Compared with the Tartar prince, what are these Darughachi and the military officers? If they are really caught by Lu Jin, won't they be slaughtered like chickens? I'm afraid they will be chopped off with one knife.
At this moment, another scout came to report from outside.

"Report, sir, we went to Qianshan to investigate and found that the flag on the top of the city wall had been changed to the red flag of the bandits. I wanted to get closer to ask, but as soon as I got within an arrow's reach, I was shot at by the city wall. Qianshan has fallen into the hands of the enemy.

"We also saw several thousand soldiers heading towards Taihu Lake. We were few in number and did not dare to approach."

When everyone heard this, their heads buzzed. It was over, it was really over this time. It seemed that Yang Heng's analysis was correct. The enemy army was indeed sweeping through several surrounding cities. It was feared that within a few days, the enemy army would be at the gates of the city.

Han Jian quickly asked Yang Heng, "Yang Zhaomo, in your opinion, since the two enemy armies have already crossed the Shahe River, why don't they attack Huaining? How many days do we have to prepare?"

Yang Heng thought for a while before saying, "If the enemy really had the strategy of besieging a point and attacking the reinforcements, then they should have used two routes, one to besiege the city and the other to attack the reinforcements. Now that the reinforcements have been destroyed, they must wait for the route that besieged the city to join forces. When the enemy army has gathered tens of thousands of troops, they should march towards Huaining.

"In my opinion, the enemy will surely be at the gates of the city in at least one day, or at most three days."

After hearing this, Han Jian was no longer panicked. The situation had already reached the worst point, how much worse could it get?
He thought for a moment and then spoke to everyone.

"For now, we have no choice but to defend the city with all our might. In addition, please write to Your Majesty, ask for help from the Governor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province, and ask for help from the Governor of Chizhou Road. As long as we can hold on to Huaining, we will be able to recover the lost territory once the reinforcements arrive. What do you think?"

"What Han Zongguan said is correct. For now, we should unite as one and hold the city, waiting for the imperial court to send reinforcements to recover the lost territory. If we can still leave a capital in Anqing Road, we can still forgive him. If even the capital is lost, I am afraid you and I will both be punished. In this time of crisis, please do your best."

Alchangpu stood up and bowed to the people present. Everyone hurriedly returned the greeting and said they dared not. As for what they thought in their hearts, only they themselves knew.

Han Jian immediately began to formulate a plan for defending the city. He dispatched naval warships, rowed them into the moat south of the city, and used the warships to connect bow to stern to serve as the southern city wall. The next day he reviewed the army, opened the treasury, and distributed rewards to the soldiers to motivate the defenders.

Unexpectedly, when he sent people to the treasury, he was so angry that he trembled all over. The gold, silver, and banknotes in the treasury had already been taken away. When he asked who opened the treasury, the treasury soldiers immediately told him that it was several Tartar masters in the city.

Al Changpu said that writing a letter for help would be useless at this time, and only if he went there in person to ask for help would there be a chance of reinforcements, so he left the city and took a boat across the river to Chizhou.

This was at least an excuse for Alchangpu, but the remaining three, Yusufu, Darughachi of Huaining County, Huang Boluntai, the registrar of Anqing Road, and Xieli Jiexi, the registrar and judge, took the gold and silver and ran away without saying a word. Not only did they run away, but even the gold and silver treasures in the city treasury were taken away by these Tartars.

When Han Jian figured out the situation and counted the remaining officials in Huaining City, there were only four Han people left, including him, the Anqing Road General Manager, Yang Heng, the Zhaomo, Hao Rui, the Wanhu Mansion Manager, and Ji Zeyang, the Huaining County Magistrate. All the Mongolian Tartars had fled.
(End of this chapter)