Fu Shanhe

Chapter 195 Conquering Nanning
In the early morning, the first ray of sunshine shines on the earth.

"Commander Li, what happened last night?"

Zhang Sihan asked with a frown.

Since taking office as the Governor of Guangxi, he has believed that he has performed his duties conscientiously and has given full support to the military.

Even though it was such a big thing as attacking Nanning, they launched the combat plan without consulting them, which clearly showed that they did not take him seriously.

“Governor, last night the rebel troops at the ferry tried to retreat into the city, but were discovered by our army.

The general took advantage of the enemy's strategy and sent troops to intercept the enemy while at the same time arranging people to pretend to be rebel soldiers to trick the city gate open.

Up to now, we have captured half of Nanning city.

If everything goes well, we can wipe out the remaining enemies and capture Nanning Prefecture within three days."

Li Mu explained calmly.

War is a very special thing. If you lose, it is called acting on your own, and if you win, it is called improvisation.

The attack and defense of Nanning was undoubtedly a success.

As soon as the rebels received the news, they sent troops to reinforce them.

It was seven days later that the nearest reinforcements arrived in Nanning.

Such a long time is enough to wipe out the rebels in Nanning area twice.

"Commander Li is indeed the pillar of the country.

Nanning was captured so quickly, Guangxi’s predicament was solved, and the rebellion was put down…”

Jia Bo, who was standing aside, began to flatter him without hesitation.

If he is not in his position, he will not seek his government.

It is the governor's job to limit the power of military generals.

As a military supervisor, he only needs victory.

As for the generals under his command, whether they will become arrogant and domineering in the future has little to do with him.

It's a temporary cooperation, not a long-term team, so there's no need to go to great lengths to overwhelm the other party.

Of course, he could think positively.

Apart from the fact that the position of governor that he had been eyeing was taken by Zhang Sihan first, the main reason was that he had tried it before and was sure that he could not suppress Li Mu.

Rather than bringing humiliation upon ourselves, it is better for us to work together and gain military merit first.

Subsequent matters will be determined after the war is over and new appointments are made.

But this made Zhang Sihan feel embarrassed.

If he continued to raise an army to punish the culprit, it would make him appear to have no magnanimity and would easily arouse the jealousy of the officers and soldiers below.

He immediately changed his expression and praised his achievement, but the military supervisor had already taken the lead.

If he follows the crowd, it will make him appear as a governor without his own opinions, which will further reduce his voice.

"Master Jia, thank you for your compliment!

The victory was entirely due to your Majesty's great fortune, the elders' strategic planning, and the soldiers' bravery in killing the enemy."

Li Mu responded with a smile.

All parties were mentioned, except for these three.

To be precise, the one who was missed was the Guangxi Governor Zhang Sihan.

As the commander-in-chief of the army, as long as we can win the battle, I will not lose my share of credit.

The same goes for military supervisors. Victory is enough; the higher-ups won't care about the specific actions.

It is Zhang Sihan who needs to show off, otherwise his contribution cannot be highlighted.

However, he had exposed his hostility in advance, which made Li Mu alert and he would not give him another chance to establish his prestige.

From Li Mu's point of view, a weak governor would be more in line with his interests.

"Commander Li, don't forget that we don't have much time left.

The cabinet minister has ordered that the two prefectures must be recovered before September.

Now it is late August, we must speed up the progress! ”

Zhang Sihan immediately changed the subject.

Li Mu's change in position was too obvious.

Obviously, he was neutral before, but in recent days, he suddenly showed signs of moving closer to Jia Bo.

According to the news received from the court, after the war, Jia Bo is likely to serve as the governor of Guangxi, or the provincial judge of Guangxi.

In a region where war has just ended, collusion between the military and the second or third in command will pose a serious threat to the position of the boss.

Maybe in name only, I can't compete with him.

But secretly, others were able to prevent him from accomplishing anything he was doing.

If one has good political skills, it is possible to sideline him as governor to a certain extent.

“Governor, we have actually completed our mission.

After the rebels in Nanning were dealt with, a gap appeared in the enemy's defense line.

The probability of General Jing conquering Liuzhou has greatly increased.

If the rebels are not stupid, they will choose to retreat strategically and hold on to a few strategic locations.

If everything goes well, we will be able to recover most areas including Zhen'an Prefecture, Qingyuan Prefecture, Liuzhou Prefecture, Xunzhou Prefecture, etc. before the end of the year.

The rebels will retreat to Guilin Prefecture, Wuzhou Prefecture, Pingle Prefecture and other areas to hold their ground.

There is a 50% chance that the enemy will abandon the westward expedition strategy and directly concentrate its forces on the Huguang and Jiangxi battlefields.

Li Mu analyzed rationally.

In fact, the White Lotus Sect's strategy of expanding in all directions has now come to an end.

If he were the White Lotus Saint Emperor, he would abandon the plan to advance westward and concentrate his forces to march north as soon as his strategy suffered a setback.

If necessary, the Guangdong and Guangxi regions can also be abandoned.

Since ancient times, the first stage of a rebellion was not to capture cities and territories, but to strike at the prestige of the imperial court and weaken its national strength.

Even if they could not capture Nanjing, as long as they moved around the three important financial and taxation centers of Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Nanzhili, the fragile finances of the Dayu Dynasty would be in trouble.

Without sufficient financial support, the empire could only delegate power to those below it if it wanted to maintain its rule.

The feudal lords were in power and the end of the dynasty reappeared.

After completing this step, the next step will be for the heroes to compete for this vast land.

This was undoubtedly extremely painful for the forces that first launched the uprising.

They had to endure the frenzied counterattacks before the empire's collapse, and it was difficult for them to gain a stable base.

In history, the forces that first launched uprisings basically became pioneers of becoming kings.

Even if he managed to hold on to the end, he had lost the possibility of conquering the world because of the heavy killing in the early stages and the fact that he had offended too many people.

But this is an indispensable part of the change of dynasties.

Except for a few ambitious people, most of the rebels were forced to revolt.

Including the White Lotus Rebellion, it would have been difficult for them to strengthen their determination to rebel without external support.

"Commander Li, it's good that you have a plan in mind!"

Zhang Sihan said with a red face.

Strategic analysis is really difficult.

It is almost impossible to get him to think from the rebels' perspective.

Officials who come from scholarly families simply cannot understand the hardships of the lower classes of society, and have never treated them as their own kind.

Many cases of rebellion in history have been embellished in history books.

All conclusions are subjective interpretations based on class standpoints.

The education we received since childhood was like wearing tinted glasses, which directly affected our conscious judgment in adulthood.

Zhang Sihan simply couldn't understand Li Mu's strategic analysis.

But he was too proud of his status to lower himself to ask for advice.

This is a common problem among most officials. When encountering problems, they like to interpret them based on their own subjective cognition.

If you don't understand, then find a way to confuse it.

If you humble yourself and ask a general for advice on military strategy, you will be ridiculed by your colleagues for the rest of your life.

……

While the few people were talking, the attack and defense of Nanning entered its most brutal stage.

The two sides fought fiercely over every street and every building.

In order to defend against the firearms of the government troops, the guards fixed wet quilts on door panels and tables to serve as simple shields. At a distance of thirty steps, it had a good defensive effect.

Once the distance is shortened, it depends on luck.

Sometimes it can block bullets, and sometimes it will be shot into a sieve.

The specific principles are not something that can be understood by soldiers who cannot read or write.

Since the veterans are doing it, everyone should follow suit.

"Rumble..."

The roar of artillery broke the stalemate between the two armies.

Even the smallest caliber artillery cannot be blocked by a simple shield.

The wooden buildings and shelters on both sides also could not withstand the destruction of artillery fire.

"My Lord, the situation is not good!

There were a large number of small-caliber artillery in the pseudo-Dynasty army. Although they were not very powerful, they were quite flexible in movement.

It's probably impossible to hold back the enemy in street fighting."

The deputy general hurried over to report.

In fact, the small-caliber artillery was only the smallest of the troubles.

What is truly difficult to restore is the morale of the troops.

The supervision team is not omnipotent.

Ever since the west gate was lost, rumors have spread throughout the city.

The soldiers had no hope of winning the war.

"nothing is impossible!

Tell the people below that they must stop the attack of the pseudo-dynasty army at all costs.

We only need to hold off the enemy for a month and our reinforcements will arrive!

wrong!

Go tell the soldiers that as long as they can hold off the enemy for ten days, reinforcements will arrive and they will be able to wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop.

Forget it, let’s just hold on for three days, and reinforcements will arrive.”

The orders to repeatedly lower the standards completely killed the deputy general's anxiety.

As the head coach, Huang Yuheng was also very helpless at this moment.

We can't count on any reinforcements at all.

After the enemy stole the city gate last night, he knew that Nanning could not be defended.

However, there are some battles that must be fought even though we know we will lose.

Even if it is the same defeat, different ways of losing will result in different treatments.

If he loses Nanning in one day and returns with such a record, his head will most likely have to move.

If we can hold on for a few more days, there will be room for maneuver.

If we work it out in retrospect and give the Holy Emperor a chance to be lenient with his sentence, we will have the opportunity to redeem ourselves from our crimes.

"I will obey..."

Before he could finish his words, a stray bullet flew in from a distance and landed on the roof.

The falling beam hit the deputy general directly on the head.

Huang Yuheng, who managed to escape the disaster, was also hit on the head by the falling tiles, causing a bloody mess.

A true human tragedy.

This place is more than one kilometer away from the battlefield.

Under normal circumstances, the enemy's small-caliber artillery shells should not fly so far.

Without bothering to figure out the reason, the soldiers who noticed that something was wrong with the command center rushed over to rescue Huang Yuheng from the rubble.

Under the stimulation of severe pain, Huang Yuheng soon fainted.

"Third brother, go find a doctor right away!"

The captain of the personal guards gave the order hurriedly.

As the commander-in-chief's personal soldiers, any accident that happened on the battlefield would be considered dereliction of duty.

If Huang Yuheng died, they would also be beheaded when they returned.

“Too late, brother!
There was chaos and disorder outside, and the only three medical clinics in the city were all concentrated in the west of the city.

Now that they have fallen into the hands of the enemy, those doctors have probably fled for their lives long ago, and now I have no idea where to find them.

The remaining local doctors have such poor medical skills that they are almost like swindlers.

Bandage the marquis first, and find someone to treat him after we leave Nanning City!"

The man called Lao San explained in a deep voice.

After a short pause, the shouting and killing sounds became closer.

Countless fleeing soldiers passed through their bodies and no one stopped to pay attention to Huang Yuheng who was lying down.

"withdraw!"

The captain of the personal guards gave the order decisively.

The speed of the government troops' attack far exceeded their expectations.

We must run away. If we delay any longer, we will be captured by the enemy.

……

Without the command of their chief commander, the White Lotus army in the city could only fight on their own, and the situation became increasingly chaotic.

Many rebel soldiers fled in panic when they heard the sound of artillery fire.

Even the most elite troops among the defenders would quickly be defeated after fighting with the government troops.

The supervisory team, which played an important role in the battle to defend the city, also lost their fighting spirit and joined the escape team.

Unfortunately, their luck was not very good.

There was one missing in the front three walls, and the one that was opened happened to be the west city gate.

Now the government troops were charging forward from the west gate, and the rebel soldiers who had fled out of the city from the other three gates fell directly into the encirclement.

Although this network is very fragile at the moment, the number of government troops left outside is limited, and the rebels with lost morale cannot break through it.

"Those who surrender will not be killed!"

Hearing the shouts for surrender, many exhausted rebel soldiers simply threw away their weapons.

After leaving the main force, he chose a random location and sat down on the ground to rest, waiting for the government troops to come and capture prisoners.

Since you can't run away anyway, you might as well save your energy.

Someone took the lead and started to play badly, and soon countless rebel soldiers followed suit.

Wealth and honor belong to the masters, but life belongs to oneself.

Except for a few White Lotus believers who still took up arms to resist, most of the rebel soldiers chose to surrender.

The prisoner-capturing operation lasted until the third day, when the city of Nanning finally returned to peace.

Stepping into the ruined city, Li Mu couldn't help but sigh.

The destructive power of war is really too great.

Especially in Xicheng District where the war was most intense, the once prosperous streets have now all been reduced to ruins.

Li Mu could vaguely hear the people crying.

"Governor, Nanning City is now in your hands!"

After hearing Li Mu's words, the smile on Zhang Sihan's face disappeared without a trace.

The city was recovered, but the damage caused by the war was irreversible.

At this moment, the prefect of Nanning had not yet taken office, and the mess left behind by the rebels fell entirely on the shoulders of this governor.

You can't refuse even if you want to. This is the responsibility that a provincial governor must bear.

"Commander Li, Nanning has just been hit by a war, and the territory is filled with a large number of remnant rebels.

First, we will impose military control on the Nanning area, and once we have eliminated the remnants of the rebels, we can then transfer it to the local government."

Zhang Sihan said helplessly.

He doesn't even dare to accept the power that is delivered to his door.

Without sufficient manpower, taking over Nanning Prefecture rashly would only bring trouble to oneself.

……

(End of this chapter)