Fu Shanhe

Chapter 160 Contradictions
“Of course it’s true!

This kind of thing can't be faked.

Brother Meng can verify this immediately by sending someone to Yongzhou to investigate."

Zhou Zekai immediately assured.

When he set out from Guangxi, the army began to move.

In order to avoid being hunted down by officers and soldiers, he hid in the countryside for a few days, thinking that the fighting would start someday.

"Brother Zhou, this is a serious matter.

I must consult with the brothers before I can give you an answer."

Meng Zeyang stated his position tactfully.

You can follow along, but you must see tangible benefits.

It is impossible to expect everyone to risk their lives for you just by promising you wealth and prosperity.

“Brother Meng, these blank appointment documents were given by His Majesty the Holy Emperor.

Just fill in your name and you will be an official of our Holy Kingdom of Taiping.

Now it's up to you.

As long as you can help the Holy Kingdom take over Hengzhou Prefecture, you will be the new prefect of Hengzhou.

If you can help the Holy Nation take Changsha, you will definitely get a third-class marquis!"

As he spoke, Zhou Zekai directly handed over the blank document.

When it comes to winning people’s hearts, the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus plays it so generously.

Not to mention the prefect or the marquis, even if it was the prime minister or the prince, Zhou Zekai would still dare to promise it.

As long as you are willing to join the rebellion, there is no official that the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus dare not appoint.

“I am grateful to the Holy Emperor for his high regard for me. If I refuse again, I will be ignorant of what is good for me.

Brother Zhou, just wait for good news from me!"

……

Similar scenes are constantly happening in various places.

As long as one has some influence in the White Lotus Sect, no matter how strong or small, he will be won over.

While the armies for the Northern Expedition and the Western Expedition were still on the way, the local White Lotus Sect followers had already prepared their support in advance.

……

Lianzhou Prefecture.

The turbulent external situation did not affect Li Mu's strategic deployment.

After stabilizing Lianzhou, his attention was once again turned to the map of Guangxi.

If you want to take over Guangxi, Nanning and Xunzhou are both battlegrounds that cannot be avoided.

“Nanning is located at the intersection of three rivers. If we take over Nanning, we can control southern Guangxi by water.

What needs attention is Kunlun Pass, which connects central Guangxi and southwestern Guangxi and has a very dangerous terrain.

Xunzhou is located at the junction of Lingnan and the outside world, and also has very strong strategic value.

Especially the Datang Gorge located between Daming Mountain and Dayao Mountain.

As long as this gap is controlled, the road from central Guangxi to southeastern Guangxi will be cut off.

Should we take Nanning first or Xunzhou first? Let's discuss it together!"

Li Mu spoke slowly.

After realizing that the world was about to fall into chaos, he deliberately cultivated his subordinates' military command ability and strategic vision.

In the past, such strategic decisions were all made by him alone, but now he is bringing them up for discussion by everyone.

In order to reduce the difficulty, he even deliberately pointed out the strategic importance of the two places.

"General, in my opinion, it is better to take Nanning first.

It’s not that Xunzhou is not important, it’s mainly because Datongxia is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The rebels have a large number of troops stationed there, so it will be difficult to take it down in a short time."

Yun Yufeng said with a little trepidation.

"Captain Yun, Da Teng Gorge is not easy to attack, but is Kunlun Pass easy to attack?
In terms of danger, it is probably even more dangerous than Datong Gorge.

Neither Nanning nor Xunzhou is easy to take.

Instead of taking Nanning, which is further back, it is better to first take Xunzhou, which has a higher strategic position.

Once we take over Xunzhou Prefecture, we can threaten Wuzhou Prefecture.

If necessary, we can send troops to cut off the connection between Guangdong and Guangxi, so that the rebels can't take care of each other!"

Su Zhiyong said excitedly.

Taking Xunzhou and seizing Wuzhou will completely change the current strategic situation.

The first great achievement in suppressing the rebellion is a sure thing.

"Captain Su, we know that Xunzhou Prefecture is important, and the rebels naturally know that too.

If we really reach Wuzhou, believe it or not, the main force of the rebels besieging Guangzhou will turn around and deal with us first.

No matter how powerful the Yangzhou Camp is, it only has this many troops.

If we really encounter the main force of the rebels, even if the enemy stands there for us to kill, we will be too busy to handle it.

When we sent troops to Lianzhou, we offended the Governor of Guangdong.

It is almost impossible to expect them to send troops to share the military pressure.

In comparison, the risk of capturing Nanning is much smaller.

It would be best if we could capture Kunlun Pass.

Even if we fail to conquer them, it will still be a great achievement if we recover some prefectures and counties in southern Guangxi.

The rebels were busy expanding outward and could not take care of the barren southern Guangxi region for the time being.

The military pressure our army needs to bear is relatively more controllable."

Yun Yufeng immediately retorted.

Although military merit is great, one must be alive to enjoy it.

If you meet a teammate like the Governor of Guangdong, you will be killed sooner or later if you don’t learn to conserve your strength.

"This is a simple matter. After we capture Xunzhou, we can stop the attack.

As long as we don't attack Wuzhou and touch the rebels' bottom line, it will be fine.

When the imperial army arrives to suppress the rebellion, we can seize Wuzhou and get the credit for suppressing the rebellion."

Xie Zhiyuan on the side spoke up.

"Captain Xie, the power to decide who gets the first credit is held by the civilian officials, not by actual merit on the battlefield.

The imperial court has sent an imperial envoy to serve as the governor-general of five provinces. What if, after we capture Xunzhou, the governor-general orders us to capture Wuzhou?
The imperial court in Guangdong suffered continuous defeats, and Guangzhou Prefecture was already in danger.

In order to save Guangdong, they may choose to sacrifice us. It is entirely possible! " Captain Wei's words directly broke the last layer of window paper.

War is a continuation of politics.

The predecessor of Yangzhou Camp was the Wucheng Bingmasi, and most of their main generals came from the Wucheng Bingmasi.

The political label on him determines that people's trust in Lord Xu cannot be very high.

Compared with making great achievements, how to protect oneself in war is the first priority.

Li Mu was happy to see these changes.

If you are a military general in the Dayu Dynasty and don't watch out for the civil officials, you may end up dying without knowing it.

"Okay, there are some things that everyone just needs to know.

Guangdong is unreliable, and the imperial envoy cannot be relied upon either.

To recover lost territory, we can only rely on ourselves.

So next, our movements must be as small as possible.

Every ten days or half a month, we would recapture a county town, and that would be almost enough.

The imperial envoy must be made aware of the difficulty of recovering the lost territory.

The imperial army is losing cities and territory, so if we show off our abilities, it won’t be a good thing.”

Li Mu said expressionlessly.

Both Nanning and Xunzhou must be taken, but we have to wait for the right time.

At least before the money and grain requested from the court arrives, it is not appropriate to be too proactive.

……

"Lord, something terrible is happening!"

"I just received news that Yongzhou Prefecture has been lost!"

Upon receiving this sad news, Xu Wenyue's body began to tremble.

He had just arrived in Wuchang Prefecture and had not had time to familiarize himself with the front-line military affairs when the rebels gave him a big gift.

"Lv Jingxuan, didn't you say that Yongzhou's defense line was unbreakable? How did the rebels succeed?"

Xu Wenyue asked the Huguang Governor in a stern voice.

Yongzhou Prefecture is a transportation hub connecting Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi and other places, and has a very important strategic position.

After losing this place, the imperial court’s strategic plan to blockade the rebels was declared bankrupt.

The worst thing is that Yongzhou was lost at the wrong time.

If the city had fallen a few days earlier, and he, as the governor of five provinces, was still on the way, he would not have to bear any responsibility at all.

Now that he has arrived at the right time, he has no choice but to shoulder this responsibility.

"Sir, it's all because the White Lotus rebels are too despicable.

They launched a rebellion in Yongzhou and Hengzhou, attracting a large number of troops from the imperial court and causing loopholes in the defense line.

Then they pretended to be government soldiers and tricked the city gates into opening..."

Before Lu Jingxuan could finish his words, Xu Wenyue threw out his teacup, splashing water everywhere.

"waste!"

"They are all a bunch of trash!"

"What kind of idiot is the Yongzhou garrison commander who was tricked into opening the city gate? I'm going to chop off his head!"

Xu Wenyue thought of all kinds of possibilities, but he never expected that the ultimate reason for the loss of Yongzhou was that the enemy tricked the city gate into opening.

"Sir, the loss of Yongzhou cannot be blamed entirely on General Han. It was the magistrate of Dong'an County who followed the rebels in calling for the city gates to be opened.

The soldiers guarding the city knew him, but no one could have imagined that he, as a county magistrate, would join the rebels in rebellion! "

Lu Jingxuan spoke up to defend his subordinate.

It's not that he is capable of taking on many responsibilities, but the current crisis in Huguang requires the help of the generals below.

General Han Song not only has a town of soldiers under his command, but also eight hundred servants.

Among all the generals in Huguang, he was considered the most capable one.

If we kill this man, subsequent battles will be even more difficult.

"What? A county magistrate actually participated in the rebellion?"

Xu Wenyue asked in disbelief.

Since the rebellion in Guangxi, countless officials from Dayu have died for their country, and even more have fled.

But he was the first one to join the rebel army.

The military impact is not significant, but the political impact is extremely bad.

Once this bad precedent is set, more and more officials will surrender to the rebels.

"Lord, many people saw this, so it can't be fake.

However, considering that the rebels are always despicable, it is possible that they found someone with a similar appearance to impersonate them. I dare not make any judgment on my own."

Lu Jingxuan said with an embarrassed look.

Deep down, he didn't want to admit it.

But the loss of Yongzhou required a reasonable explanation to the court.

“Forget it, let’s put this matter aside first.

After verifying the authenticity, report it to the court.

As for the generals stationed in Yongzhou, let them make up for their crimes and make meritorious contributions!"

Xu Wenyue said with a little hesitation.

It has already happened, and all we can do now is clean up the mess.

As for the matter of the Dong'an County Magistrate, there will be plenty of opportunities to settle the score later.

"Send a message to the governors of Guangdong, Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, ordering them to launch an immediate attack on the rebels!
By the way, the government troops in Lianzhou Prefecture should also follow suit."

Xu Wenyue then added.

Ever since he suffered a loss in Yangzhou, he has been cramming a series of military knowledge.

I don’t know his specific level yet, but I know some basic military knowledge.

The war situation in Huguang is tense, so let the other anti-rebellion armies increase their offensive strength and disperse the rebel forces.

“Sir, you may not know the situation while on the road.

In recent days, the situation between the government troops in Lianzhou and those in Guangdong has become very tense, and the governor of Guangdong has withheld the money and food allocated to them by the court.

It is said that Guangdong is also in a state of uproar over this matter.”

Lu Jingxuan put on the eye drops without any hesitation.

The last time, the four provinces agreed to send troops together to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion, but they were tricked by the Governor of Guangdong, resulting in the loss of 30,000 troops in Huguang.

(End of this chapter)