Fu Shanhe

Chapter 235 Attack
Anqing Prefecture.

"That's enough. I don't want to hear you quarrel!"

Looking at the generals who were engaged in a quarrel, King Ning could not help but scold them angrily.

Dayu has lost its power since it was passed down from generation to generation as a vassal king.

In order to avoid suspicion, he rarely interacts with local officials.

But it’s not possible now. The rebels are about to besiege the city. If we continue to wait, we will become a dead fish.

Since the outbreak of the White Lotus Rebellion, the number of princes and dukes who have died is approaching double digits.

Unfortunately, scolding could not solve any problems. The quarrel that broke out in the room was mainly due to the fact that the generals were not subordinate to each other.

To Anqing Prefecture, the reinforcements from Zhejiang and Nanzhili were all foreign troops, but the imperial court had not appointed a commander-in-chief.

It wasn't the Ministry of War's mistake; it was simply these guys who exercised their subjective initiative when executing orders.

The original imperial court order was for them to rush to Jiujiang for assistance and obey the orders of the governor of Jiangxi.

After a long time of delay in reaching Anqing, Jiujiang Prefecture was lost, and the Battle of Jiujiang turned into the Battle of Anqing.

Anqing Prefecture is not under the jurisdiction of Jiangxi, so the governor of Jiangxi, who is in charge of commanding the allied forces, naturally would not come over to command the battle.

According to the tradition of using civil officials to control military power, when this incident occurred, the Anqing prefect, as the highest civil official in the local area, should have taken over command.

Unfortunately, the current Anqing prefect is incompetent. Upon hearing the news that the rebels were attacking, he was frightened and fainted, and has been bedridden ever since.

Without a civilian commander of sufficient weight, the foreign military commanders refused to give in to each other and a dispute broke out over the command of the coalition forces.

If there had not been a precedent of Li Mu serving as the commander-in-chief of the three-province coalition army, it is estimated that everyone would not have fought so fiercely.

Now that there are successful cases, no one is willing to be lonely.

For the generals and commanders present, the opportunity to go further is too rare.

Not only did the army commanders participate in the battle, but even the navy commanders were unwilling to be left out.

Everyone knows that whoever gets the position of commander-in-chief of the coalition forces will have a better chance of moving forward.

Simply getting a promotion is not enough for them to work so hard, but after taking this step, they may be able to obtain a title.

Emperor Yongning once privately expressed his intention to reward those who made great contributions to the suppression of the White Lotus rebels.

The Dayu Dynasty was so poor, the huge reward the emperor mentioned definitely could not be money.

If it's not money, then the only thing left is official position.

Official positions are at most honorary titles, and all permanent military positions above them are in the hands of nobles.

The emperor would not ask someone to give up his position for no reason.

The only thing that can be worthy of the word "heavy reward" is the title of nobility.

This is not the early years of the founding of the country, and the court is very stingy with titles.

If I miss this opportunity, the next time I will probably have to pacify Liaodong before I can get the title.

There is no doubt that for a group of southern generals, Liaodong is a copy of hell.

The climate alone is enough to torment people to death. No one would jump into the pit, nor did they believe that the court could pacify Liaodong.

At least during the Yongning period, there was no hope of pacifying Liaodong.

"Your Majesty, we are all arguing, how about you take charge of the coalition forces?"

Hangzhou General Zeng Zhiyuan responded unhappily.

It is true that the status of the vassal kings is noble, but their voice in politics is negligible.

In terms of influence in the court, the Prince Ning in front of them could not catch up with these generals.

Just to give face to the royal family, Prince Ning was allowed to sit on the main seat, but that doesn't mean everyone has to obey Prince Ning's orders.

“Stop talking nonsense!
How could this king be a person who goes beyond the limit!

Why don’t you come up with a plan to defend the city? If the rebels break into the city, you…”

After a burst of cursing, Prince Ning, who was ashamed of himself, just walked away in anger.

Anyone can be the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, except the princes of the royal family.

The imperial court was even more wary of the princes than of the military generals.

The princes and dukes nowadays dare not recruit any more soldiers except the servants and guards in their mansions.

Generally speaking, the princes of the Dayu Dynasty could bully men and women, and could seize power by trickery, but they were not allowed to have big ambitions.

Even small ambitions are of no use. Their fate has been arranged since they were born. They just eat, drink, have fun, and wait for death.

Any slight violation would immediately lead to impeachment by the censor.

“Your Highness, since you’ve left, let’s stop here today!
As for the question of the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, I think the Ministry of War has its own considerations.

The capital is far away and there is not enough time, but the Nanjing Military Headquarters is right next to us."

Qin Xingchang said with a gloomy face.

As the host, he, the general of Anqing, had the best chance of becoming the commander-in-chief.

However, there are too many empty salaries during normal times, and not only is there a serious shortage of soldiers, but the combat effectiveness of the troops under his command is also worrying.

Nominally he was the general of a town, but the actual number of his combat troops was less than that of a guard.

Without sufficient strength, they naturally cannot suppress the various armies.

In previous quarrels, he had been ridiculed a lot.

Knowing that he has no chance, he might as well overturn the table and hand over the decision-making power to those above him.

Whoever wins in the end will depend on their own ability.

However, in Qin Xingchang's opinion, the probability of everyone getting promoted is very low.

Putting aside the national policy of controlling the military with civil power, the generals gathered here lack military achievements, and their prestige in the army cannot suppress the cobbled-together coalition forces.

It is better to send a civilian official to take command than to appoint a general who cannot command the people. This can at least reduce many internal conflicts.

……

Under the city of Yongzhou, Li Mu was holding a telescope and looking at the city wall in the distance.

"Pass the order down and have the engineers find a suitable area for excavation and dig a tunnel under the city wall."

Li Mu gave the order calmly.

The rebels could dig tunnels and blow up city walls, so naturally he could do the same.

I don’t know whether we can capture the enemy city, but we must make full preparations for the siege.

The more realistic the feint attack is, the higher the success rate of the sneak attack on Hengyang.

In addition to fighting wits and courage with the rebels, it also depends on whether God will give us face.

Looking at the water level of the Xiangjiang River, we can see that we are now in the flood season and sudden heavy rain is possible.

The one who dared to push for this action was an official from the Imperial Observatory, who assured him that there would be no heavy rain in the near future.

Without scientific and technological means, observing celestial phenomena is too mysterious and Li Mu has no idea how accurate it is.

He dared to take the risk of attacking Hengyang because he had confidence in the soldiers under his command.

After such a long training period, the soldiers' endurance exceeds that of other armies of the same period.

Even if you can't defeat the enemy, you can at least outrun them.

This was demonstrated in the previous actions when they were compared with their colleagues in the government army. During the forced march, none of the troops in Fujian and Guangdong could keep up.

"As you command!"

Having said that, the guards immediately took action.

……

“Sir, based on the intelligence we have gathered so far, the rebels did not turn around to besiege Nanchang, but instead headed straight for Anqing.

If Anqing is lost, Nanjing will be in danger.

Once the rebels reach the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Yangzhou Prefecture may not be safe either.

The number of troops left in Yangzhou is too small, and they are afraid that they are unable to stop the rebels.

The prefect of Yangzhou and local gentry have written to us, hoping that you can send an army back to Yangzhou to provide assistance.

We have a large number of industries in Yangzhou, but because the property rights are leased, they cannot be converted into cash.

Besides, your wife is also there, do you think you should agree to their request?"

Lan Linjie stepped forward and asked.

Ever since Li Mu was transferred to Guangxi, the industries left in Yangzhou have become the target of covetousness from all sides.

In addition to the remaining troops, the most important thing for preserving those properties was the presence of his wife there.

With the reputations of the Zhenyuan Marquis Mansion and the Chengguo Duke Mansion around, no one dared to be the first to stand out.

However, the small actions in private have never stopped.

Everyone wished that Li Mu would get out of here right away.

Without any surprise, all the claws that were stretched out were chopped off by the remaining troops.

In total, hundreds of heads were chopped off before these jackals, tigers and leopards were frightened.

Because the killing was so brutal, there was a period of time when the relationship with Yangzhou Prefecture became very tense.

Feng Shui turns.

As the rebels approached, the gentry and officials in Yangzhou suddenly remembered the kindness of Mr. Li.

It is true that they have gained a lot of benefits, but they cannot resist the sense of security.

After the Yangzhou camp moved south, the results it achieved shocked the Dayu Dynasty.

"We'll just deal with it perfunctorily for now and arrange for people to transport the supplies we have stored in Yangzhou as soon as possible.

Fields and minerals, things that cannot be moved, can be abandoned when necessary.

Once Anqing fell, all the remaining troops and the soldiers' families would be transferred to Guangxi.

I will write a letter personally to Madam.

I will discuss with her whether to go south with the fleet to Guangxi or return to the capital for a while.

Mr. Lan, if you have no other plans, you can also take your clansmen to Guangdong and Guangxi for temporary shelter."

Li Mu made arrangements immediately.

The performance of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom was too unexpected.

Under normal circumstances, a makeshift group like the rebels would have no strategic vision.

All they can see is the three-acre land in front of their house, and they have no sense of the overall situation at all.

Either they were chased and beaten by government troops, or they fought on their own.

Once the imperial court reacts, they can be easily wiped out.

The White Lotus rebels were different. These rebellious guys had a clear goal from the beginning.

After the successful rebellion in Guangxi, he did not rest on his laurels, but continued to expand outward.

For strategic needs, they may even abandon their own home base.

The Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, which were conquered with great difficulty, were abandoned just like that. This kind of courage is not something that ordinary people can possess.

If officials in the Jiangnan region continue to be busy scheming against each other, something serious might happen.

……

"Captain Zhou, are you sure we have people in Hengyang City?"

Zhu Jingyu asked with concern.

In order to hide their tracks, the army not only hid during the day and moved at night, but also took off their military uniforms.

If you don't pay attention, you might think it's a rebel army that appeared from some corner.

This is not the first time such a team has appeared under the rule of the White Lotus Sect.

Usually when encountering such rebel forces, the White Lotus Sect would adopt the measure of recruiting them.

"Master Zhu, how dare I make up such a life-threatening matter.

But our people do not have a high status in the city.

It is almost impossible to expect them to capture the city gate from the inside!"

Captain Zhou answered immediately.

In fact, the people who sneaked into Hengyang City were not the spies he planted, but former members of the Jinyiwei.

The imperial court disbanded the Jinyiwei, leaving these people without a livelihood and facing retaliation from civil servants.

Living in fear all day long, after the White Lotus Holy Kingdom attacked, some people simply defected to the rebels.

However, after joining the rebel ranks, their lives were still difficult.

There is no way, the reputation of the Jinyiwei is too bad.

Not to mention that they were given important positions, they were considered lucky not to have been treated as spies and beheaded.

It was not that the rebels turned against their leaders, but mainly because Emperor Yongning changed his orders every day and restored the system of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Many Jinyiwei who escaped the revenge of the civil officials put on the Feilong uniform again and continued to serve the Dayu Dynasty.

It is not surprising that he returned to the court after his life was not going well and he encountered an old friend who instigated him to rebel.

“This is a simple matter. They just need to provide cover. We will arrange a team of people to sneak into the city disguised as caravan guards.

When dusk comes, we will join forces from inside and outside to capture the city directly!"

Zhu Jingyu said, patting his thigh.

The reason why we dare not act rashly is because we lack intelligence support.

If there is inside cooperation in the city, it will be different.

As long as he could capture Hengyang, he didn't care where the spies came from.

"Can!
To ensure that everything goes well, I led the team myself this time.

But since it is a caravan, we cannot have spearmen. You should arrange some soldiers who can use swords to follow me.

I asked someone to collect some darts and crossbow arrows to make the play more realistic."

Captain Zhou thought for a moment and said.

……

(End of this chapter)