Fu Shanhe

Chapter 208: Guilin Attack and Defense

Late at night, choked sobs were heard in the refugee camp.

Being driven out of Guilin, they not only lost all their property but also their livelihood.

The relief provided by the imperial court was limited to keeping them alive, and their living standards were far from what they had been before.

Thinking of the lost homes and the uncertain future, countless people couldn't help but shed tears.

"Brother, the situation is not good!
Now the people in the camp only know how to cry and are not capable of doing anything great.

In addition, the government troops were on high alert and had separated all the refugee camps. Even if we mobilized, it would be difficult for us to form a joint force in a short period of time.

We can’t gather enough manpower, and I’m afraid it’s impossible to attack the government army camp with the help of refugees.”

Zheng Laoliu said worriedly.

From the moment he took on this tragic task, he became confused about his future.

If night raids on enemy camps were so easy to pull off, they would not be highly regarded in military circles.

Even the main forces of the army could not do it. Expecting these marginal figures in the religion to lead a group of refugees to attack the government army camp unarmed was clearly using them as cannon fodder.

"It's natural!
We have been promised the title of Marquis. If it were easy to achieve, how could we possibly get this great achievement?

However difficult it is, we must complete the task.

The families of those who participated in this operation have been detained by those bastards. If you don't follow the order, neither you nor my wife and children will survive."

Boss Zheng said helplessly.

He is already in his fifties and has many children and grandchildren, which is considered a very long life in Dayu.

If he lives a few more years, when he reaches the age of sixty, he will be eligible to enjoy the preferential treatment of the court.

However, a White Lotus Rebellion ruined all of this.

Deep down, he was filled with regret. If he had known how miserable it would be to join the White Lotus Sect, he would not have dared to believe in the Mother of No Birth.

One careless move and you lose everything.

At this point, he no longer had a choice. Even if he could be so cruel as to abandon his wife and children, it didn't mean that others could do the same.

As long as someone takes action, the government troops can follow the clues and find them one by one.

Boss Zheng does not believe that all believers are loyal and can face death calmly under the torture of the enemy.

"Brother, it's not that I'm afraid of death. I was simply forced to die, and it was too aggrieved.

What's more, even if we carry out the mission as agreed, I'm afraid those masters of the Holy Country will not let you and my family go.

They are able to hold high positions because they are ruthless and will never leave any hidden dangers for themselves."

Zheng Laoliu said indignantly.

He knew nothing about military and national affairs, but little people also have their own wisdom.

They were forced to come here to die. Once they died here, how could their descendants not resent the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus?

The resentment of a small person is worthless. Even if you are unhappy, you have to hold it in.

But the top leaders of the Holy Kingdom don’t think so. In order to solve the problem once and for all, they will choose to cut the roots.

“Old Six, sometimes knowing too much is not a good thing.

I died without knowing anything, but at least I still have something to rely on in my heart."

Boss Zheng said bitterly.

Having lived for most of his life, he has witnessed too much blood and gore.

The Holy Land of White Lotus has never been a land of peace and prosperity. The internal strife is even worse than that of the officialdom of Dayu.

In the eyes of the big guys above, these little people are chess pieces that can be discarded at any time.

"kill……"

Hearing the shouts and screams, the two men, whose resolve was shaken, suddenly became hesitant.

Do you want to join the suicide mission?

This is a tangled and difficult problem.

Just as Boss Zheng made up his mind, the shouting and screaming in his ears suddenly stopped.

"Everyone, rest at your own positions. Anyone who moves without permission - kill!"

The murderous order ended the chaos.

Apart from a string of human heads on the camp's flagpole, it seemed as if nothing had happened.

The Zheng brothers, who were a step slow to react, suddenly lost the courage they had finally mustered.

The defeat was so swift that the patrolling government soldiers suppressed the chaos effortlessly.

Even if we add the two of them, the ending won't change at all.

"Big brother..."

"Don't say anything, let's go to bed!"

Before Zheng Laoliu could finish speaking, Zheng Laoda spoke first.

He has not traveled all over the country for half his life in vain.

He felt that something was wrong with this mission from the beginning, as if they were being rushed here to die. Now he understood everything.

It is impossible for the government troops to accept so many refugees without screening them. It would be very difficult for them to sneak in successfully.

Rather than arousing suspicion and concern from the enemy, it is better to arrange a wave of cannon fodder to die first to divert the attention of the government troops.

The chaos that just broke out, apart from the participation of a few insiders, was mostly caused by ordinary people who were fooled.

No matter what the reason, as long as they participated in the riot, the court would definitely launch an investigation into them.

The power of the government is not infinite. The more time spent on these people, the safer the others who are secretly lurking will be.

As a professional rebel organization, the White Lotus Sect was able to be passed down because it put a lot of effort into hiding its identity.

……

The next day, early morning.

Upon learning of what happened in the refugee camp last night, everyone was shocked and angry.

The rebels have no bottom line at all and are willing to do anything for their own interests.

The original sympathy for the refugees has now turned into suspicion and doubt.

A few random thieves were able to incite thousands of people to participate in the riot. This was enough to prove that after these people had been brainwashed by the rebels, their sense of belonging to the imperial court had been greatly reduced.

Under normal circumstances, if someone instigated a rebellion, the people around him would have already taken him to the government to receive a reward.

"Rebellious officials and traitors!
It’s really unbelievable, I’ll wait…”

Zhang Sihan was the first to curse.

He worked hard to provide relief to the refugees, but what he got in return was not gratitude, but a riot.

If possible, he would have wanted to leave the mess behind and get away.

But reason finally prevailed.

All the chaos was planned by the rebels. If we really do this, we will be fulfilling the enemy's wishes.

"Governor, calm down!
The fact that the rebels did this just proves that they have run out of tricks.

History books will give a fair evaluation, and the traitors who instigated refugees to riot will be ridiculed by the world forever.

We should remain unchanged in the face of all changes and wait for the enemy army to make a mistake."

Li Mu began to persuade.

Whether a history book is fair or not depends entirely on who holds the pen.

Now the world belongs to Dayu. When recording this period of history, the historians will naturally give a fair and objective evaluation.

If nothing unexpected happens, the White Lotus rebels, as villains, will be charged with all kinds of heinous crimes. "Thank you, Commander Li, for your reminder. I know what to do.

There will be no changes to the disaster relief operations and everything will proceed as planned.

However, we must find a way to catch the rebels who have sneaked into the refugee camp. If we don't get rid of them, I will not be able to sleep or eat well!"

Zhang Sihan pretended to be calm and spoke as if he was not the one who lost his composure just now.

The skilled face-changing skills showed Li Mu what professionalism was. He couldn't tell whether it was a spontaneous performance or a deliberate show.

Fortunately, he is a military commander, and is not the same as a civil official. Otherwise, just learning how to change his face would be enough to make people collapse.

"Don't waste time on these trivial matters. Judging from the time, the rebels' Western Expedition Army should have entered Guilin by now.

But the scouts we sent out did not receive any news of any enemy traces.

There must be a conspiracy behind this!"

Jia Bo then changed the subject.

In his opinion, the little trouble in the refugee camp was not worth mentioning at all.

Not to mention a riot of thousands of people, even if the refugees rioted en masse, it wouldn't be a big deal.

If all of them were traitors, it would be much easier to deal with them.

Since ancient times, there has never been a lack of killing in suppressing rebellions.

They are considered restrained.

From the time we sent troops to Guangxi to the present, we have fought countless battles, big and small. No matter what happened during this period, there was no massacre.

If someone else had come here, Guangxi would have been flooded with blood.

The imperial court was already short of money, and it spent a large amount of money and grain on refugee relief. In the eyes of many officials, this was a complete waste of the court's resources.

To these officials, rebels must be ruthlessly suppressed. The more ruthlessly they are killed, the more they will be feared.

"From the moment we laid siege to Guilin, the enemy had few options.

They either had to return to Guilin immediately to provide support, or take a detour to Huguang and join up with the Northern Expedition Army there.

Since the enemy troops did not come, they must have gone to Huguang to join forces.

The battlefield on the Huguang front is too far away from us and is out of reach now.

Send someone to tell the elders to increase their vigilance in Huguang, and we will continue to attack Guilin."

Jing Yifeng replied calmly.

These are all common sense questions and there is no need to think about them at all.

The larger the scale of the military operation, the more difficult it is to conceal. Once the rebels' Western Route Army moves, they can only play their cards openly.

It was impossible to quietly carry out the operation of an army of more than 200,000 in the era of cold weapons.

Even if only tens of thousands of troops were mobilized, it would be difficult to keep it secret. In general, the maximum number of people in a surprise attack would be a few thousand at most.

Everyone looked at the map of Dayu hanging on the wall, and for a moment the command center was eerily quiet.

The rebel army's westward expedition army did not come to Guilin, but instead ran to the Huguang battlefield. As a result, Huguang had to bear great military pressure.

Even if the enemy army is filled with a large number of rabble, it is still an army of more than 200,000.

Even if it does nothing, it can still scare people just by standing there.

If we are not careful, the good situation in Huguang will be ruined.

There are no eggs left in the nest.

If it really comes to that, life will not be easy for everyone.

Once Huguang was reduced to ruins, the direction of the court's resource investment changed. Guangxi's mess could only be solved by themselves.

"Commander Li, can we capture Guilin as soon as possible?"

Jabo asked with concern.

If the Huguang front collapsed, Xu Wenyue, as the person in charge of suppressing the rebellion, would definitely be held responsible.

Given his status and position, although he would not lose his head, it was inevitable for him to resign from his post and return home in disgrace.

If you want to get into the officialdom of Dayu and your backers in the court fall, subsequent development will become difficult.

Whether from an overall perspective or from a personal standpoint, he must find a way to stabilize the Huguang front.

The most promising thing to do in the short term, and the one that would most boost military morale, is to capture the rebel capital, Guilin.

“The rebels built Guilin as their capital, and after occupying the city, they repaired and reinforced the city walls.

There are still tens of thousands of troops stationed in the city, which is filled with a large number of fanatics, and their fighting will is much stronger than that of ordinary troops.

We can try to attack, but no one knows when we can break into the city."

Li Mu answered steadily.

The battlefield is not a place to show off. As the commander-in-chief, you need to be responsible for every word you say.

It would be tragic if we rashly promised to capture the city quickly, only to fail to complete the task on time.

Throughout history, there are countless generals who were killed by their own arrogance.

“Do your best!
For the sake of the overall situation, we must quickly recapture Guilin and pacify Guangxi, and then send troops to Huguang to inflict heavy damage on the rebels!"

Jabo said firmly.

This is his bottom line.

Regardless of whether we can quickly capture Guilin, we must try.

When it comes to maintaining Dayu's rule, everyone is united in their stance and naturally will not object.

……

"Rumble..."

The roar of artillery fire marked the beginning of the battle for Guilin. A large number of shells poured down on the rebels like heavy rain.

The heavy artillery that had just been transported from the rear became the main force on the battlefield. Solid bullets were fired from the barrels and hit the city walls heavily.

The violent shaking caused by the impact made the city walls tremble.

"Artillery counterattack!"

Gui Hou Shi Qichuan, who was in charge of defending the city, hurriedly issued an order to counterattack.

Deep down, he was already panicking. The government troops' attack mode was completely different from what he had expected.

The enemy launched a massive bombardment as soon as they attacked, and the usual city defense equipment was completely useless.

With a loud "bang", a cannon suddenly exploded, taking away several artillerymen in charge of operating it.

"what happened?"

Shi Qichuan asked angrily.

Unlike other troops, the daily artillery training of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom is mainly based on simulation, and there are very few opportunities for live-fire test firing.

The cannons on the city walls were mostly antiques. Some of the old cannons were left over from the previous dynasty and were older than his eighteen generations of ancestors.

"My Lord, the artillerymen were too nervous just now and loaded a little too much ammunition, causing a cannon to explode."

Hearing this answer, Shi Qichuan's already ugly face became even gloomier.

"Tell the artillerymen to strictly follow the regulations and there will be no accidents with the artillery."

Shi Qichuan spoke to comfort her.

The artillery of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom mainly comes from the incorporated artillery of the guards. These troops usually have difficulty filling their stomachs, so you can imagine how difficult it is to train them.

Even after the addition of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom, everyone's situation has improved, but the bad habits that the old soldiers had developed before are not so easy to correct.

(End of this chapter)