Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 323: Taking the World as a Game (Part )

Outside the city of Yangzhou, in the central military tent of the 36th Army, Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongzhong have already started the account reconciliation mode. The two are introducing their experiences of the past few days to each other.

Zhu Liangzu was the first to speak, "Yu Shiliang is not good at fighting, so I asked Zheng Yong to lead three cavalry battalions to attack his camp at night and also recruited more than 5,000 soldiers from Shiliangzhai.

"In Tianchang County, after being surrounded by Zheng Yong's cavalry, Sun Deya knew he was no match for us, so he wanted to surrender to the Yuan army and ask the Yuan troops in Gaoyou and Yangzhou to send troops to help. As a result, all the messengers sent out of the city were intercepted by Zheng Yong.

"When I led the main force to the city, I frightened Sun Deya again. He went crazy and suspected that his generals had rebelled. He wanted to kill Liu Minhua, who was in charge of the army for him. However, he was counterattacked by his personal soldiers Tu Hai and Liu Minhua. The two of them seized his military power and surrendered the city with 10,000 soldiers. I temporarily organized them into two independent regiments for my use. Hey, this is Liu Minhua, you should know that the one next to him is Tu Hai."

Liu Minhua and Tu Hai immediately stood up and saluted Liao Yongzhong, "I am Liu Minhua and Tu Hai, paying my respects to Commander Liao!"

Liao Yongzhong sat there without getting up, but just nodded, "You two are quite sensible and didn't follow Sun Deya to the end. To be honest, with a villain like Sun Deya, what good will you end up with if you follow him?

"He couldn't tolerate Lu Ding and Guo Zixing in Dingyuan back then. Now that he's powerful, how can he tolerate you? It's only a matter of time before he becomes suspicious of you and even kills you.

"If you had not fought against Lu Ding in Dingyuan, but had joined my Shengwu Army earlier, you two would not be in this situation today. My Shengwu Army started the uprising in Chaohu last year, and in just one year, you have already created such a great empire.

"But it's not too late for you to wake up now. This is a good time to catch up with the Jiangbei Campaign. The army must be expanded after the war, and rewards will be given according to merit. As long as the two of you perform well, it may not be impossible for you to become a commander-in-chief.

"Since you have joined my Shengwu Army, just follow and work hard. With the current trend of our development, it will probably take only a few years to drive the Tartars back to their hometown to eat grass. When we follow the Marshal to establish a new dynasty, we may also be able to follow the nobles for generations. By then, everyone will be honored."

Liu Minhua and Tu Hai looked at each other and immediately bowed again, "Thank you for your teachings, Commander!"

"Well, sit down. There's no need for courtesy in the military."

Seeing the two newly surrendered generals greeting Liao Yongzhong, Zhu Liangzu asked curiously.

"Old Liao, I thought it would take at least a day for your 106th Division to reach Yangzhou. How did you manage to fight so quickly?"

Liao Yongzhong immediately explained, "My 106th Division was stationed in Chuzhou and Lai'an before the war. Liuhe is our enemy, so I have been prepared. Once the war starts, Liuhe will be the first nail to be removed.

“So I already had my spies in Liuhe City, plus the Imperial Guards Artillery Regiment that was supported by the Marshal, and the prisoners that Dong Tuanxiao had left behind when he attacked Lai’an. I sent the prisoners to persuade the city to surrender, and I sent the artillery regiment to attack the city fiercely. I also had spies in the city to coordinate, so I took Liuhe in one fell swoop.

“After taking Liuhe, I did not enter the city at all. I left soldiers to defend the city and rushed to Zhenzhou without stopping. I arrived at Zhenzhou the next day. In the evening of the day when I arrived in Zhenzhou, I captured the city. Then, without any rest, I moved my camp to Yangzi, ten miles away.

"When the Yangzi garrison commander saw that Zhenzhou had not been able to hold out for half a day, I had his men surround three of the city and leave one, make noise and feint, and light many torches and flags to bluff. This frightened the garrison commander so much that he abandoned the city in the middle of the night and tried to escape to Yangzhou from the north of the city. However, he was defeated by my ambushes outside the north gate, and he himself was killed on the spot by Wang Bi of the Tenth Regiment.

"The remaining 2,000 Yangzi defenders found themselves abandoned by their commander, who had also been killed in battle. When I persuaded them to surrender, they simply tied up the county magistrate and opened the gates to surrender the city.

"I captured Yangzi at dawn on the 15th, and today I marched another 50 miles during the day, and only then did I arrive at the gates of Yangzhou at the same time as you."

Zhu Liangzu clicked his tongue when he heard this, "You hit it really fast then."

"It's very fast. How can fifty miles a day not be fast? But after five consecutive days of rapid marching, my soldiers are too tired to run. We must rest in Yangzhou for two days, otherwise they will not be able to rest." Liao Yongzhong said immediately.

Zhu Liangzu nodded, and immediately pinched his fingers and muttered to himself when he heard it.

"That's fine. Today is the night of the 15th. We will formally attack the city tomorrow, the 16th. The 106th and th, two days should be enough to capture Yangzhou, right? It's just right for your th Division to rest in Yangzhou for two days."

As a result, after Zhu Liangzu finished speaking, the generals of the 102nd and 106th divisions did not react at all. Instead, Liu Minhua and Tu Hai were stunned. Not to mention the bold statement of taking over Yangzhou in two days, after all, with the current speed of conquering cities and territories they were showing, they might really be able to do it.

But when did siege a city become considered a rest period?

However, what they both didn't understand was that the soldiers of the Shengwu Army were really not afraid of fighting the Yuan Army, especially those local troops of the Yuan Army. In their eyes, they were all vulnerable. As long as they were not forced to march too fast, even if they were attacking a city, it would be considered a rest. After all, attacking a city doesn't mean you have to keep fighting.
No one reacted, and Zhu Liangzu continued to calculate on his own.

"We will take Yangzhou on the 17th, and then march towards Gaoyou on the 18th. Yangzhou and Gaoyou are 90 miles apart, and we will arrive at Gaoyou in two days. We will be at Gaoyou on the evening of the 18th and 19th, and start the siege on the 20th. After we take Gaoyou, the battle will be halfway done. The rest depends on when Tuotuo will come."

After hearing Zhu Liangzu's arrangement, Liu Minhua, who had been silent, finally couldn't help asking, "General Manager, after taking Yangzhou, we will go directly to Gaoyou, but didn't we say before that we would take the entire Yangzhou Road? Then don't we have to attack the five counties east of Yangzhou, namely Taizhou, Taixing, Rugao, Tongzhou, and Haimen?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Liangzu glanced at him and then smiled mysteriously.

“Before you two arrived, there were some things that were inconvenient to tell you, but now that you have arrived at the city of Yangzhou, it’s okay to tell you now.

"First of all, we don't have to worry about the five counties east of Yangzhou. We have the 108th Division to fight. Secondly, the judge of Taizhou, Li Dapan, Li Huafu, is the deputy commander of the 108th Division of our Shengwu Army. Zhang Si, the thousand-householder guarding Taizhou City, is also the thousand-householder battalion commander of the 108th Division of our Shengwu Army. Although Taizhou still flies the flag of the Yuan court, the officials and soldiers in the city are all ours. When to conquer the city is just a matter of our word."

"what?!"

"This"

Liu Minhua and Tu Hai were both stunned.

Seeing their surprised expressions, Zhu Liangzu couldn't help but laugh again, "What do you think our Shengwu Army relies on to win battle after battle without a single defeat and to capture cities so swiftly? The soldiers are elite, the weapons are sophisticated, and the military discipline is strict. Needless to say, it is more due to the Marshal's strategy and the magical power of the Military Command Department."

Tu Hai immediately asked curiously, "What is the Military Command Department?"

Liao Yongzhong next to him immediately interrupted and introduced, "Our Shengwu Army has a Grand Marshal's Office, which is divided into two academies, the Civil and Military. You can think of the Military Academy as the Privy Council, which is responsible for military affairs, and the Civil Academy is equivalent to the Shangshu Province, which is in charge of the six ministries. Above the two academies, there is a Secretariat, which is equivalent to the Zhongshu Province, with a clerk and a secretary, comparable to the left and right prime ministers, assisting the Marshal in leading all military and political affairs of the entire army.

"This Military Command Department is one of the departments under the Military Academy. There is the Military and Political Department, which is in charge of military registration and the appointment of military generals. When you two are reorganized and promoted to regular positions in the future, you will also need the Military and Political Department to issue your appointments. There is also the Military Command Department, which is responsible for the overall planning of the entire army, the issuance of military orders, and assisting the commander-in-chief in formulating military strategies.

"In addition, the Military Command Department also has an Intelligence Bureau, which is in charge of spies in all directions. The Intelligence Bureau also has Intelligence Stations, which are distributed throughout the country, just like the imperial post stations. Every state and every county has our spies. If the intelligence station chief who commands spies in one area, his position can be comparable to that of a fourth-rank prefect.

"It is precisely because of these intelligence spies spread all over the prefectures and counties that we can see through the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, seize the initiative everywhere, and naturally be invincible in the battle!"

Zhu Liangzu also promptly sent out the Yangzhou city defense map drawn by the intelligence station. When it was sent to Liu Minhua and Tu Hai, they were both stunned.

Zhu Liangzu added, "You see, although we have never been to Yangzhou, the intelligence station has already explored Yangzhou thoroughly. Not to mention every brick and tile, every blade of grass and every tree, at least every street, alley, house, government office and warehouse in the city are clearly drawn on this map. How many soldiers are there in the city, what kind of weapons and armor are there, who the general is, how many wives and concubines he has, and whose lover's house he stays at night, our intelligence station knows everything clearly. With such detailed intelligence, is there any city in the world that we can't conquer?"

Liu Minhua and Tu Hai immediately thought of a possibility when they heard this. Liu Minhua even asked directly, "What is that day?"

"Of course we have our spies too." Zhu Liangzu asked someone to bring the city defense map of Tianchang to the two of them. The two of them took it and found that several houses were circled in red. Two of them were where they had lived in Tianchang before.

Zhu Liangzu immediately said, "See those circled houses? Fortunately, you knew the situation and opened the city gates that day. Otherwise, when we really started fighting, the spies in the city would have burned your wives and children to death in your homes before I could even break through the city gates."

The two men broke out in cold sweats upon hearing this, and felt a surge of fear in their hearts. It was really a close call. It seemed that even if they had not surrendered at the beginning, they would not have been able to hold on. Not only that, but they might even have implicated their wives and children.

So Liu Minhua asked again, "So that means Judge Li in Taizhou is also from the Military Command Intelligence Bureau?"

Zhu Liangzu immediately shook his head and said, "Of course not Li Huafu. This man's origin is a long story. To be honest, it has something to do with Tuotuo's southward march this time. Since last August, Zhima Li occupied Xuzhou and cut off the grain transport, the Marshal judged that Tuotuo would send troops sooner or later.

"Because Dadu's grain is mainly supplied by the south, 6 million shi per year, half of which is transported to Dadu by sea and water. Now the sea transport has been cut off by Fang Guozhen in the East China Sea, and the water transport has been cut off by Zhima Li in Xuzhou. Dadu has no food supply. I heard that at the beginning of this year, people in Dadu were already cannibalizing each other because of starvation."

"So serious?!" Tu Hai and Liu Minhua were stunned when they heard it.

Liao Yongzhong also said, "Indeed, the Marshal only heard about the cannibalism in Dadu in May and June. At that time, he judged that Tuotuo would definitely go south this year, because if he didn't go south to open up the canal transportation, the Tartar nobles in Dadu would starve to death without waiting for the Red Turbans from all over the country to march north.

"In addition, the Tartars always like to send troops in the autumn when the horses are fat. In addition, we heard from the north that Toghto had been recruiting soldiers in Hebei and Shandong in the first half of the year to prepare for war. Therefore, the Marshal judged that Toghto would definitely lead his troops south and reach Jianghuai by September this year at the latest. But now it is mid-October. Do you know why Toghto has not come yet?"

"Why?" Liu Minhua and Tu Hai were immediately curious. Liao Yongzhong also smiled mysteriously, and then said, "Because in May and June of this year, the Marshal asked Li Qi, the prefect of Gaoyou, to submit a memorial to Tuotuo.

"Tell Tuotuo that the Red Turbans are now powerful and bandits are everywhere in Jianghuai. Even if he goes south to wipe out Zhima Li, as soon as he withdraws his troops, Zhima Zhang, Zhima Wang and their ilk will pop up again to block the grain transport in Jianghuai. The interruption of the grain transport in Jianghuai will definitely be long-term. We cannot wipe out the bandits with one or two encirclement and suppression operations. We must be prepared to not get food from Jiangnan for a long time.

“In addition, the reason why the Red Turbans in Henan and Jiangbei expanded so rapidly is that the Yellow River burst its dike a few years ago, and the imperial court ignored it, resulting in disaster victims and refugees everywhere. Therefore, wherever the Red Turbans go, as long as they make a call, a large number of disaster victims and refugees will immediately join them, causing the Red Turbans to expand rapidly.

“So if you want to control the Red Turbans and have enough food and grass, it is better to directly recruit refugees from Henan and Jiangbei and settle them all in the vicinity of Dadu to cultivate the land. This will not only prevent more refugees from joining the Red Turbans, but also help Dadu solve its urgent needs. Even if the canal transportation is blocked for three to five years, Dadu can still be self-sufficient and will not starve to death.

"When this letter suggesting the establishment of military farms was sent to him, Tuotuo actually believed it and ordered that refugees from all over Henan and Jiangbei be sent to Dadu for military farms. Tuotuo started the military farms in June and July, and this year he will be able to harvest at least one crop of autumn grain.

"So although he was supposed to lead his troops south in September, the autumn grain in Dadu was only ripe in September, and Tuotuo was busy collecting grain from various places, and had to wait for the autumn grain to be gathered together as military rations for the march south. That's why he has been delayed until now."

Liu Minhua and Tu Hai were both stunned. It was okay for a rebel to submit suggestions and advice to the court, but the most outrageous thing was that Tuotuo, the prime minister of a country, actually believed it!

Tu Hai frowned and thought for a long time, still a little confused, "But I hear, these are all good ideas. Wouldn't it be like helping the Tartars fight us?"

This time, without waiting for Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongzhong to explain, Liu Minhua, who had roughly guessed what was going on, explained first, "Brother Tu, you are still too narrow-minded."

"How am I narrow-minded?" Tu Hai frowned and retorted.

Liu Minhua immediately asked back, "Why did you suggest that Tuotuo cultivate land in Dadu?"

"So that he can go south a few months later?"

"Yes, then what was Tuotuo's purpose in going south?" Liu Minhua continued to ask.

"In order to open up the canal transportation, we need to transport grain from Jiangnan to Dadu?"

Liu Minhua nodded and explained immediately, "Yes, but if Tuotuo could have gone south a few months later, I'm afraid that by then the whole of Jiangnan would have been occupied by the Marshal. By then, even if Tuotuo really went south and opened up the canal transportation, he would have lost Jiangnan and he would not be able to eat a grain of rice in Jiangnan.

"Not only that, the Shengwu Army can also take advantage of this opportunity to occupy the most prosperous granary in the world, Jiangnan. With the Jiangnan granary guarded, it will be no problem to supply hundreds of thousands of elite troops. Even if Tuotuo really comes, what will happen? What will happen if he harvests more grain this season? Anyway, he will never be able to eat even a grain of Jiangnan grain again in the future.

"This delaying tactic of the Marshal really astonishes me!"

After Liu Minhua bluntly pointed out the core logic of this strategy, Tu Hai was immediately dumbfounded. "This, this, this, this, why didn't I think of this? I am really narrow-minded. But, hey, that's not right. Didn't they say that this memorial was submitted in May or June? Is the Marshal preparing to cross the river and capture the entire Jiangnan so early?"

"It was earlier than that. In fact, they should have been preparing last year. If we count from the time when this idea came up, I'm afraid the Marshal had this idea when he just captured Luzhou." Liao Yongzhong said immediately.

Seeing that even Liu Minhua showed a surprised expression this time, Liao Yongzhong immediately explained again.

"This is nothing strange. The new generals in the army only know that the Marshal has amazing physical strength, and the ordinary generals can't even get close to him. But in fact, what the Marshal is most famous for is not his martial arts, but his strategy. The Marshal often says, 'Those who don't plan for the overall situation are not qualified to plan for a region, and those who don't plan for eternity are not qualified to plan for the moment.' His broad vision and profound strategy are simply incomparable to ordinary people.

"Last year, the Marshal brought Zhang Wen and Zhu Shou to join the army. At that time, they could only plan to capture Luzhou. It's not that the Marshal only has this talent, but the Chaohu Navy was too weak at that time and could only do this. In the words of our instructor Gao, the lack of national strength has limited our Marshal's performance.

"Look at this year. The Marshal's arrangements can be described as taking the whole world as his plan. In fact, when it was determined in May that Tuotuo would definitely go south in September this year, in order to delay Tuotuo's going south, the Marshal not only used the letter of military farming to successfully delay the Yuan army in Dadu, but also sent an envoy to Xuzhou to remind Zhima Li that Tuotuo was about to go south, and asked him to quickly strengthen the city defense, train a large army, and clear the fields. He also sold him 10,000 sets of iron armor to enhance the strength of the Red Turbans in Xuzhou.

"With this two-pronged approach, even if Tuotuo doesn't adopt the delaying tactic of military farming, Zhima Li can at least hold out for us for another month.

"It's even better now. Both preparations have worked wonders. The farming strategy can at least hold back Tuotuo for two or three months, and Zhima Li can at least hold him back for a month. With these three or four months, no, even if we are given another month, we can reach the Yellow River on Huai'an Road."

"What the hell? Selling 10,000 sets of armor to Zhima Li?! This..." Tu Hai exclaimed in surprise again when he heard it, but before he could finish, he was interrupted by Liu Minhua.

"Brother Tu, you are being too narrow-minded. Ten thousand sets of armor can buy at least one month of time, and more than a dozen cities in Yangzhou Road, Gaoyou Prefecture, and Huai'an Road. There are also dozens of salt fields along the coast that are rich in fish and salt. Isn't this business worth it?"

"It's definitely worth it, but I don't know if this Sesame Li will be a friend or an enemy in the future."

Tu Hai spoke more and more quietly. Liu Minhua pulled him just now, which made him react immediately. Since this was Lu Jin's decision, if he criticized this decision, wouldn't he be criticizing the Marshal? Thinking of this, he dared not say anything more.

Liu Minhua took the opportunity to speak up to defend him, "The Marshal's two moves are brilliant. It's easy to send an envoy to Xuzhou, but the prefect of Gaoyou, Li Qi, shouldn't be one of ours. How did the Marshal get this person to help submit a petition to Tuotuo?"

Before Zhu Liangzu went to the battlefield, he obviously made up a lot of information about Jiangbei officials. He immediately said, "Li Qi is not only the prefect of Gaoyou, but also the top scholar in the right list in the first year of Yuantong. The Tartars personally selected him as the top scholar. He has not even had time to repay the Tartars. How could he be one of ours? It is not an exaggeration to say that he is a die-hard traitor.

"That's why we want him to help us submit a petition to Tuotuo to complete this delaying tactic. First, he needs to have connections and be able to talk to Li Qi. Second, this tactic must be beneficial to the Yuan court. Otherwise, Tuotuo and Li Qi, a prime minister and a top scholar, are not fools. How can we deceive them and prevent them from realizing that this is to delay their march south? That's why we finally used the strategy of farming.

"Perhaps it was precisely because Li Qi was the top scholar that Tuotuo trusted him even more. After receiving the memorial, he immediately ordered the matter to be handled, which had an unexpected effect.

"As for how to get through to Li Qi, it all depends on the deputy commander of our 108th Division, Li Dapan of Taizhou."

Liu Minhua suddenly understood and thought to himself that it was indeed the case, and then he listened to Zhu Liangzu continue to speak.

"When Liu Futong started the rebellion last year, heroes from all over the country responded. In fact, in addition to Xuzhou's Zhima Li, our Luzhou Shengwu Army, Qizhou's Xu Shouhui, and Taizhou's Wang, a righteous man, were also preparing to start a rebellion. However, before they could start, the plan was exposed in advance and Gaoyou prefect Li Qi learned about it in advance, so he was arrested and imprisoned.

"However, this righteous man surnamed Wang usually likes to make friends with heroes. When a hero who had benefited from him heard that he was arrested and imprisoned, he immediately raised an army to forcefully break the prison and rescue his benefactor. The man who led the army to break the prison was Li Huafu!"

Liu Minhua and Tu Hai were both stunned. They didn't expect things to be so tortuous.

Tu Hai immediately asked, "Then what? How did he become the judge of Taizhou?"

Zhu Liangzu added, "When Li Qi heard that someone had raised an army to rob the prison, he secretly transferred the righteous man surnamed Wang to Yangzhou overnight, saying that the righteous man surnamed Wang was dead. He also personally came forward to recruit Li Huafu. When Li Huafu learned of the death of his benefactor, he was unwilling to continue the rebellion, so he accepted the amnesty and was appointed as the judge of Taizhou by Li Qi. His brother Zhang Si, who joined him in the uprising, was also appointed as the captain of Taizhou."

Tu Hai suddenly realized, "It turns out that the two of them are in a relationship of appeasement."

"That's right. So in May and June, the Marshal said he wanted to submit a petition to Tuotuo, asking him to farm in Dadu. When he asked who had the connections, Bao Zhangsi of the Military Order Department, who was in charge of intelligence from all directions, heard about this and sent someone to contact Li Huafu privately. Li Huafu was a man who valued friendship and loyalty and was willing to rebel to save his former benefactor. Since he could rebel once, why couldn't he rebel a second time?
"So he was asked to go to Li Qi and present the plan of farming to him in person, saying that he had tasted the sweetness of being an official after being recruited and wanted to continue to be promoted. Li Qi was overjoyed when he heard it, and he quickly wrote it down and reported it to Tuotuo. This is how Tuotuo succeeded in falling for this delaying tactic that seemed like a good medicine.

"The commander-in-chief originally promised that as long as Li Huafu could accomplish this, it would be a great achievement and he would be given a fourth-rank official position. If he was a civil official, he could start as a prefect, and if he was a military official, he could start as a commander of 10,000 generals. After the task was accomplished, he was rewarded and became the commander-in-chief of our Shengwu Army."

Liu Minhua was immediately puzzled and asked, "That's not right. Didn't he just say that he was the deputy commander?"

"That's right, he was originally appointed as the commander-in-chief, but Li Huafu is not only loyal and righteous, but also a wise and brave man.

"Li Huafu is a hero of the Jianghu. He is not good at writing. The commander-in-chief promised him the post of prefect, but he did not dare to accept. He wanted to lead troops and become a general, but he knew that he did not understand military strategy. He was not afraid to lead a few thousand people into battle, but he was worried that he did not have the ability to lead ten thousand people alone and would harm the lives of his brothers.

"So this person recommended to the commander-in-chief a famous talent in Yancheng named Bian Yuanheng, who was good at writing poems and essays, well-versed in military tactics, and could kill a tiger with his bare hands. Bian Yuanheng was made a general and said that if the commander-in-chief could appoint this person as a general, he would be willing to be demoted to the deputy commander-in-chief to assist him. That's how he became the deputy commander-in-chief."

Tu Hai was stunned when he heard this. "A commander-in-chief position was given up just like that?"

Liu Minhua said with emotion, "This man is truly loyal, wise, and brave. He is truly a hero!"

"That's right." Zhu Liangzu also admired Li Huafu's character and felt that he was a loyal man, so he said.

"Now Bian Yuanheng is the commander-in-chief of the 108th Division, and Li Huafu is the deputy commander-in-chief. With these two local bosses from Yangzhou Road and Gaoyou Prefecture, we can let them fight in the five counties east of Yangzhou. The most important task of our 36th Army is to advance northward as quickly as possible. It would be best if we can reach the Yellow River before Tuotuo arrives."

(End of this chapter)