The Red Mansion: From a Small Pawn to a Leader

It is mid-September in the lunar calendar, the harvest season with abundant fruits, but looking around, there are rubble and broken walls everywhere, the fields are desolate, the tree barks and grass are all gone, revealing an extreme desolation and barrenness.

On the official road, a large group of government troops were marching quickly, raising dust, with shouts of men and neighs of horses, stretching for more than ten miles.

The deserted fields and roadsides were filled with fallen starving people, as well as groups of disaster victims. Looking at the government troops heading south, some of them had a glimmer of light in their eyes, some had a hint of hatred in their eyes, and more had eyes filled with numbness and indifference!

Looking at these disaster victims who fled with their families, Li Hu sighed deeply. After Shui Rong wiped out the Hubei government troops, he led the people from Shucheng and other places to the north to attack Hefei. Wherever the White Lotus rebels went, they burned, killed and looted, like a swarm of locusts passing through. Wherever they passed, there was a mess, and the people abandoned their homes and fled.

Hefei was known as Luzhou in ancient times. It had high walls and wide moats, was easy to defend but difficult to attack, and was a strategic location, known as the Iron-clad Luzhou. Therefore, it was difficult for Shui Rong to capture Hefei in a short period of time and annihilate the main force of the government troops retreating to Hefei. He could only attack the city while sending troops to plunder the people everywhere. At the same time, he sent troops northward to attack Fengyang Prefecture, which had just been recaptured by the government troops, in order to block the reinforcements of the government troops.

At this time, Wang Yaozu came riding up and reported to Li Hu: "General, the sent-out scouts are back, and a group of government troops under the banner of the Five Army Camps are attacking Dingyuan County!"

Li Hu: "The Fifth Army Camp? Aren't they trapped in Hefei City by Shui Rong?"

Wang Yaozu: “I’m not sure about that.”

Li Hu thought for a moment and said, "Let's go and take a look." Then he squeezed his legs together and rode his horse straight towards Dingyuan County.

When Li Hu arrived, the battle was over and the soldiers from the Fifth Army Camp were cleaning up the battlefield.

After a while, Wang Yaozu came over with an officer dressed in the uniform of a lieutenant general.

Walking closer, the lieutenant saluted Li Hu, "My Lord!"

Li Hu looked at him: "What happened?"

The lieutenant general said: "Hefei was captured by the White Lotus rebels."

Li Hu was shocked: "How is it possible? It's only been less than a month."

The lieutenant general sighed, "Your Excellency, you may not know that the White Lotus rebels have concentrated more than a dozen bronze cannons and bombarded a city wall day and night."

Li Hu: "Bronze cannon?"

The lieutenant general said: "The rebels used the bronze vessels they looted to cast the solid shells fired from the bronze cannons weighing thirty or forty pounds. It was as easy as cutting tofu to demolish the fortifications we built outside the city. In just one day and one night, a large gap was smashed into the city wall. The White Lotus rebels smashed a whole section of the city wall to pieces, leaving several gaps more than a foot long, before they attacked the city."

Li Hu was surprised again. Thirty or forty kilograms? This is a heavy cannon! Does Shui Rong have the ability to make such a siege weapon?

Thinking about it, Li Hu sighed, times have really changed!
The lieutenant general said: "Our commander had been prepared for a long time. He buried gunpowder barrels everywhere in the city. He severely damaged the main force of the White Lotus Sect that rushed into the city, and organized cavalry to attack the White Lotus Sect's army from the front through the gap. While the White Lotus rebels outside the city were in chaos, the main force of the army withdrew from Hefei and broke through the two camps set up by the White Lotus rebels. The army suffered heavy losses. Including the Mongolian cavalry, there were less than 30,000 left."

Hearing this, Li Hu nodded. He was indeed an elite who was good at siege and field warfare. He could turn the tables in this situation. But what should he do next? The emperor's decree was for him to cooperate with the five military camps to attack the White Lotus rebels from inside and outside, lift the siege of Hefei, and then withdraw to Xuzhou when the situation stabilized.

Now that Hefei has fallen, the Five Army Camp has also been severely damaged. Counting the 20,000-plus troops of the Ruishi Camp, they can barely fight against Shui Rong's hundreds of thousands of troops, but he and the general of the Five Army Camp are at the same level in terms of official rank, so who will lead whom? Anyway, he will not hand his life over to others.

Damn Prince Zhongshun. The situation on the Anhui battlefield was originally very good, but he ruined a good game of chess! Well, the third prince's credit accounted for most of it.

Li Hu: "Where is your commander?"

The lieutenant general said: "Our commander led the main force to cover the retreat, gathered the defeated soldiers and ordered me to lead our troops to open up the way for retreat."

At this time, an officer from the Fifth Army Battalion ran over with a bowl of rice and said excitedly: "General, we found food!"

Li Hu looked at the rice in the bowl and asked, "Are you out of food?"

The lieutenant general said, "Brothers, we haven't eaten for almost a day." He then said to the officer, "Send the food to the commander immediately!"

The officer: "But we..."

The lieutenant's face darkened: "Go!"

The officer pouted and walked away with the bowl of rice.

Li Hu said to the soldiers behind him, "Let them bring 500 dan of rice first."

The personal soldier rode away in response.

The lieutenant general was a little excited: "Thank you, my lord!" and bowed deeply to Li Hu.

Li Hu waved his hand and suddenly remembered: "How is King Zhongshun?"

The lieutenant general said, "He's not dead, and his injuries are much better." A trace of hatred flashed in his eyes. Li Hu saw it. Everyone served in the army and ate food to kill the enemy and make merit, to protect the land and the people, not to die in vain. After such a big incident, even if King Zhongshun was not injured, he had to roll back to the capital in disgrace. Well, King Zhongshun and all the officers above the rank of captain-general were packed up and sent away, and all the defeated soldiers were left behind!
At this time, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came over, and everyone looked over.

Huang Jinzhong is here!
"Marshal!" From a distance, Huang Jinzhong pulled the reins, jumped off the horse, and ran towards Li Hufei.

"I heard that the Fifth Army Camp captured Dingyuan County?" Huang Jinzhong stared at the lieutenant general.

Li Hu: "This is the palace's military supervisor, Huang."

The lieutenant bowed and said, "General Huang."

Huang Jinzhong: "Where is Prince Zhongshun? How is he?"

The lieutenant general: "In the main camp, less than thirty miles away from here."

Huang Jinzhong turned his gaze to Li Hu again: "Marshal."

Li Hu understood what he meant. He thought that he would have to meet King Zhongshun sooner or later, so he nodded and said, "Let's go."

More than 20 miles passed in a flash, and in less than half an hour, the group arrived at the main camp of the Fifth Army Camp. It must be said that the main camp of the Fifth Army Camp was very well set up, on a hill with a wide view, with layers of fortifications extending outward in an orderly manner, and there were arrow towers around. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like a remnant of a defeated army.

But when he entered the military camp, Li Hu's heart sank.

A group of soldiers were slaughtering war horses, and horse meat was being cooked in more than a dozen large pots. Soldiers were sitting or lying on the ground everywhere, and these people no longer had the strength to stand up.

There was also a group of soldiers carrying corpses, and they all seemed to be soldiers who had died of their injuries.

The officer on duty who led them in said, "There is not enough food. We can only feed the soldiers who are facing the White Lotus rebels in the front."

Huang Jinzhong sighed and said, "The food is on the way."

The officer on duty was delighted: "That's great!" Then he accompanied Li Hu and Huang Jinzhong towards the central army camp.

"Marshal!" A voice in Mongolian stopped Li Hu's feet, and Li Hu looked in the direction of the voice.

After confirming that it was Li Hu, a group of Mongolians came running over like the wind.

The Mongols knelt down around Li Hu and pointed at the soldiers who were killing horses and started chattering.

Including the time he spent in Hetao, Li Hu had lived on the prairie for more than a year. He could barely understand what they meant, but the Fifth Army Camp killed their horses and only gave them porridge.

This was a bit unfair, but Li Hu couldn't say anything. As the general of the Fifth Army Battalion, he had done nothing wrong.

He thought for a moment and told them that food would arrive soon, and asked them to gather the survivors and let them go with him later.

Amid the cheers of the Mongols, Li Hu and others arrived at the central military tent.

As soon as he stepped into the back tent, Li Hu was stunned.

Prince Zhongshun and the general of the Fifth Military Camp were lying on their sickbeds respectively. The general of the Fifth Military Camp was also injured, and it seemed that his injury was not light.

The general of the Fifth Army Camp spoke: "I feel relieved now that the Marquis is here." Then he started coughing violently.

A military doctor immediately brought a bowl of medicine and helped him drink it.

The general of the Fifth Army Camp said: "News has just come from the front camp that the reinforcements of the White Lotus rebels have arrived, and they will probably launch an attack soon. I hope that My Lord can go to the front camp to take charge of the situation!" He then picked up his general's seal from the sickbed and handed it over.

Li Hu hesitated for a moment, then took the seal with both hands.

The general of the Fifth Army Camp coughed and said, "Don't worry, my Lord. The more than 10,000 soldiers who are confronting the White Lotus rebels have never been hungry. They can fight hard battles."

Li Hu nodded and turned his gaze to King Zhongshun who was obviously pretending to sleep. The old fellow was wrapped in white silk and there were traces of wooden boards on his legs. His legs must have been broken. He was indeed a scourge that had been passed down for thousands of years!
As if he had sensed something, Prince Zhongshun slowly opened his eyes, glanced at Li Hu, and closed his eyes again.

Li Hu smiled and said, if Jia She hadn't kept this old guy around for great use, I would have pulled out your oxygen tube. No, I would have thrown you into the toilet and drowned you!
Huang Jinzhong saw Li Hu's creepy smile and asked tentatively, "Marshal."

Li Hu glanced at him, then walked out holding the general seal. (End of this chapter)