Fu Shanhe

Chapter 240 Battle of Hengyang
As the battlefields entered a new stage, Li Mu quietly led his troops towards Hengyang.

These days, he seemed to have done nothing, but in fact he had brought the territory from Yongzhou to Hengyang under the control of the court.

The smooth progress was mainly due to the help of local gentry.

The White Lotus Holy Kingdom's strangulation of the gentry was not as thorough as expected.

Compared with Guangxi, the aristocratic families in Huguang, Jiangnan and other places are much more deeply rooted. Even if the blood flowed like a river, many people still escaped.

With people serving as officials in the court and hopes of reviving the family business, these remnants did not disperse directly, but lurked in secret, waiting for an opportunity for revenge.

After the government troops fought back, these people took the initiative to contact them, either to provide intelligence support or to help appease the people.

With these aids, as long as the rebel forces are wiped out, we can quickly gain initial control of the area.

In order to ensure that everything went smoothly, Li Mu arranged for people to throw a large number of stones to block the city gate at the beginning of the siege.

Even if the rebels discovered something was wrong, it would take a lot of time just to clear these obstacles.

It’s a pity that there is no cement, otherwise if some was added in, it would be more difficult for the rebels to demolish it.

The bandit leader was suspicious by nature. Even if he received news of the army's advance, he would verify its authenticity again and again before taking action.

Speed ​​is of the essence on the battlefield. If you slow down one step, all steps will be slow.

Compared with the previous surprise attack on Hengyang, which involved a 300-mile land raid, it would undoubtedly be much easier for the army to set out on an expedition directly by water.

It is now the flood season. Large ships weighing thousands of tons are sailing on the Xiangjiang River. There may be problems in some lanes, but ordinary river boats weighing a hundred or eighty tons are not under any pressure.

In fact, these ships mainly carried artillery and logistics.

The army was too large and there were not enough ships available, so the soldiers mostly traveled on rafts.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers were from the south, and bamboo rafting was a part of life for many of them, so they were able to adapt to it.

The army marched forward, and the beautiful scenery on both sides of the river was in full view. If the occasion was not wrong, it would be even more interesting to make a pot of tea and invite three or five beauties to accompany you.

However, this kind of beautiful thing can only be thought of secretly. The commander must take the lead in abiding by the military rules, otherwise the upper and lower levels will follow suit, and without the rules, the combat effectiveness of the army will be destroyed.

From ancient times to the present, all elite legions of more than 10,000 people have been restrained by discipline.

A disciplined army may not necessarily have strong combat effectiveness, but an undisciplined army will definitely have poor combat effectiveness.

……

Hengyang City.

The roar of artillery fire continued. At this moment, the offensive and defensive battle had entered a white-hot stage, and both sides were making their final efforts.

"It seems that not all the rebels are useless. Our colleagues in Huguang and Jiangxi did not suffer an unjust defeat!"

Zhu Jingyu put down the telescope and said.

Compared with the rebels they had encountered before, the rebels outside the city were much more eager to fight and had better combat skills.

Judging from their performance on the battlefield, this enemy army must have seen blood and had rich combat experience.

What is lacking is systematic training and mutual cooperation and coordination.

Of course, these shortcomings cannot be made up immediately. The rebels rose too fast and it was impossible to train so many qualified generals.

If the generals above don't improve their abilities, it's useless no matter how good the soldiers are. If the combat effectiveness is 100%, it's considered good if they can perform 60% or 70% on the battlefield.

"Brother Zhu is right. The rebels outside are indeed interesting. If they can experience more years on the battlefield, those who survive may be able to grow up.

It's a pity that they were unlucky to run into us so soon. They deserved it!"

The young general standing by lamented.

Both of them are children of nobles. According to the normal growth path, they should enter a regiment in the capital to serve after completing their training in the Five Cities Army.

Then, while socializing and making connections, he continued to gain seniority in the army, waiting for vacancies to arise and then finding ways to fill them.

Lacking the experience of the battlefield, they relied purely on the experience passed down by their fathers. In the peaceful years, their fighting spirit was constantly worn away, and finally they became like everyone else.

They were lucky enough to be tricked by Li Mu when they were forming the Yangzhou Camp.

Relying on his merits on the battlefield, he rose straight to the top. He did not experience the wasted years of hard work to gain experience, and was now full of vigor and vitality.

They not only criticized the rebels, but also their defeated colleagues, who were the objects of their contempt.

If an ordinary general were so arrogant, he would definitely encounter obstacles in his career in the army and end up with a bloody head.

But they are different. Not only do they have the support of their family network, they also serve in the emerging team created by Li Mu.

From top to bottom, they are all young people, and there are no bad habits found in other armies of Dayu. The internal relations are simple and clear, and anyone with ability can get promoted.

The relatively simple environment, coupled with continuous victories on the battlefield, made everyone very arrogant.

"Rebellious ministers and traitors should be punished by everyone.

It was their greatest honor to have the commander-in-chief personally lead the main force to destroy them.

Brother Wei, there is no need to feel sorry for them."

Zhu Jingyu said with a smile.

Now their identities are still commanders, but they are guard commanders. The power of the position is not high, and its main function is to solve the grade and treatment.

The third-rank guard commander certainly sounds better than the fifth-rank captain. With a suitable position in the later period, promotion and transfer are also easier to operate.

To everyone, Guangxi is just a stepping stone. Their future development will be the entire Dayu military.

Thanks to their outstanding performance in Guangxi, their status in their respective families has been rising steadily.

The fathers had already been planning in secret, waiting for the war to be over so that they could take over their family's military legacy.

Once the plan is completed, the noble group that suffered heavy losses in the explosion will not only be able to recover, but its influence in the Dayu army will also reach a new height in the past hundred years.

Although it was not as good as in the early years of the founding of the country, it was already very difficult to achieve this step in the middle and late stages of the dynasty.

They are destined to hold high positions in the future, so they will naturally not take those useless generals who perform poorly on the battlefield seriously.

The only person they can address as "Commander-in-Chief" is Li Mu now.

The commanders-in-chief of other places, even if they were also of the second rank, could not gain their recognition.

In fact, this is also the reason why the Guangxi Army quickly formed combat effectiveness.

In addition to Li Mu's personal efforts, there is also a group of nobles helping behind the scenes. Although it seems to be mainly composed of garrison soldiers, it is actually filled with a large number of military generals and servants.

Li Mu naturally fully supported the plan of the noble group.

The officialdom of Dayu had long entered a mode of forming cliques and factions. If his subordinates were promoted to high positions, his influence in the army and even in the court would also increase.

The most important thing is that when these people are promoted and leave, it is impossible for them to take their soldiers with them to take office, so the soldiers left behind become his direct armed forces.

In a sense, these noble children were just doing odd jobs for him. However, in the process of working, everyone got what they wanted, and both sides got what they needed.

"Brother Zhu, what you said makes sense.

The rebel generals were unaware that death was approaching and they continued to attack the city recklessly, wasting their own military strength.

Well, we will follow the enemy's wishes. We will use the city wall to consume some of their troops."

Wei Haoyu nodded and said.

Although the defenders seem to have few troops, they have an absolute advantage in equipment.

Especially when defending the city, they had the advantage of shooting at the enemy troops from a high position.

Although the rebels also had firearms, unfortunately, the power of both cannons and muskets was far inferior.

From the outbreak of the battle until now, the defenders have been suppressing the rebels with firepower.

Such siege warfare is purely a matter of life and death.

……

"Humph!"

"waste!"

"They're all trash!"

"An army of 100,000 cannot take down a mere city like Hengyang.

If this gets out, will you be able to face people?"

Qi Datou couldn't help but curse.

He chose to attack Hengyang City, but this disobeyed the order of the White Lotus Saint Emperor.

If we capture Hengyang City, it means that we are a general outside the capital and cannot obey the orders of the king.

If we suffer a loss in Hengyang City and fail to recover the lost territory, we will be in big trouble.

If he is held accountable afterwards, he will be punished if he doesn't die.

Those who are unhappy with him will definitely take advantage of this situation. He will definitely not be able to keep his current position.

Compared with the impact on his career, he was more afraid of being laughed at by his colleagues. It was impossible to wash away a lifetime of black history.

"My Lord, don't worry too much.

Now we are the attacking party. Even if we are worried, the defenders in the city should be more panicked.

Being trapped inside and with no sign of reinforcements, the defending soldiers were under much greater pressure than we were.

Moreover, Hengyang City had just been attacked by war, and the food reserves in the city were definitely not much. After a period of delay, the enemy would definitely not be able to withstand it.

We can also announce to the public: This is a deliberate siege of the enemy forces in Hengyang, attracting the pseudo-court officials to send troops to rescue, and waiting for an opportunity to annihilate the enemy's reinforcements! "

The middle-aged aide hurriedly persuaded.

They only said that they wanted to capture Hengyang, but did not guarantee to the outside world when they could capture Hengyang.

If it was delayed a little too long, I could just find an excuse and the matter would be over.

Anyway, there is no such thing as besieging a point and attacking reinforcements. As long as the enemy is unwilling to come, it is doomed to be a useless effort.

There are countless examples of failure in history. Many famous generals in ancient times were forced to cancel their plans of besieging a city and attacking its reinforcements because the enemy was not fooled.

"Sir, you are so talented, you are truly my Sima Yi!"

Qi Datou stroked his beard and said.

The staff who were offering advice were shocked. It's fine if you want to compare yourself to Cao Cao, but you can't compare me to the old thief Sima!
Once this name was attached, even if the person was not dragged out and tortured to death immediately, the whole family would be sent to the guillotine together.

He followed Qi Datou just to take advantage of this platform for speculation, but he was not prepared to risk his life.

Fortunately, the person in front of me had a sincere look on his face when he spoke. He probably didn't know what his words meant.

After seeing this scene, the originally nervous middle-aged man relaxed instantly.

There are many illiterate generals in the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus. Even though they have gained more knowledge after the rebellion, their cultural knowledge level is still not high.

It’s good enough to remember the names of historical figures, who cares about the stories behind them!

However, this also strengthened his determination to escape.

He dared to speak carelessly without knowing anything clearly. This Qi Datou in front of him was definitely not someone who could accomplish great things.

"My Lord, something terrible is happening!"

"A large number of government troops suddenly appeared behind our camp and are charging towards us..."

The news brought by the young general made the atmosphere in the room tense again.

The middle-aged scholar who had just offered the advice was so frightened that he was trembling with fear and wished he could slap himself twice.

Find an excuse to fool around, just pick a random reason to deal with it. He insisted on besieging the point and attacking the reinforcements, and now his words have come true, the enemy reinforcements really came to kill us.

The hat of "crow's mouth" can never be taken off.

"Pass the order down, prepare the army for battle immediately!

I didn't even go looking for them, but the enemies actually came to my door. I might as well do as they wish and send them to hell.

Today I will kill everyone in my way and let the enemy know how powerful I am!"

Duting Hou Qi Datou said carelessly.

The command seems rough, but in fact it is detailed.

The enemy suddenly appeared in the rear, which undoubtedly caught him off guard, and the morale of the army was in turmoil at that time.

Pursuing responsibility at this time will only make the soldiers uneasy. Once morale is lost, it will be useless to have an army of 100,000.

Once the Hengyang defenders rush out, they will be attacked from both front and back, and they will suffer heavy losses.

Rather than preaching to appease the troops, it is better to show some heroism directly, so that the soldiers will think that everything is under the control of the commander.

"As ordered!"

After the young general finished speaking, he hurried out to pass on the message.

"Don't just stand there, the reinforcements from the government army have really arrived. Gentlemen, do you have any strategy to teach me how to defeat the enemy?"

……

(End of this chapter)