Fu Shanhe

Chapter 242 Tactical Deception
Once we get to know the truth, things become even more complicated.

If they do nothing, the reinforcements from Hengyang will most likely die. Everyone present did not believe that the troops of Duting Marquis Qi Datou could defeat the enemy.

If Li Mu was so easy to deal with, they wouldn't have been chased all the way from Guangxi to Yongzhou, and also lost Guangdong.

Once Qi Datou was defeated, Yongzhou would become an isolated city. Any reinforcements with less than 100,000 troops would not dare to approach.

The supplies stored in Yongzhou City are enough for the army to use for a year, and the conditions for long-term defense are met.

Unfortunately, Shi Rongxian is not just a military general. As the White Lotus Saint Emperor, he must consider issues more from a political perspective.

The three kings of different surnames in the Holy Kingdom had a tendency to become too powerful to be eliminated. The long-term siege of the central government would only further encourage this arrogance.

Shi Rongxian knew very well that human hearts could not stand the test.

Even if they have no ambitions, after being away from the central government's command for a long time, they will develop thoughts that they shouldn't have.

Being trapped in Yongzhou is definitely a very bad idea.

There are also risks in taking the initiative.

We knew that the puppet army had left, but we had no idea where the enemy was now or how many troops had been withdrawn.

Based on his understanding of Li Mu, it is entirely possible that the other party had set up a trap and deliberately lured them out of the city for a decisive battle.

If the 130,000 troops in the city were all the elite of the Holy Kingdom, then he would have led the army to attack without hesitation.

Unfortunately, the reality is cruel. The Holy White Lotus Kingdom was established too recently and is currently adopting the human wave tactical route.

The army of the Holy Kingdom is composed of partly recruited surrendered soldiers, partly recruited heroes of the outlaws, and partly conscripted young and strong men.

The internal structure can be said to be quite chaotic.

Now they are fighting and purifying their troops at the same time.

"Holy Emperor, give the order to attack immediately!
Get rid of the government troops outside the city and rush to Hengyang as quickly as possible, maybe we can still make it in time!"

Minister of Revenue Mi Yingbo proposed it immediately.

In his opinion, the situation in the Holy Kingdom was too dangerous and it was time to gamble with one's life.

If the judgment is correct, the crisis can be reversed immediately.

If you lose the bet, the worst that can happen is you run away.

The Holy White Lotus Nation is now a large and powerful country. If they fail in the battle, at most they will suffer serious injuries, but not their lives.

If we keep dragging it out and are besieged by government troops for a long time, that would be really fatal.

"Master Mi, this concerns the life and death of hundreds of thousands of troops, so we must be careful.

The Holy Kingdom cannot afford the loss, and we cannot afford it even more.

Holy Emperor, the most urgent task is to find out the enemy's position and the deployment of troops as soon as possible.

Know thyself, ever-victorious.

Only by understanding the enemy's troop distribution and taking targeted measures can we defeat the enemy!"

Prime Minister Wu Zekai immediately objected.

The Holy White Lotus Kingdom lost hundreds of thousands of troops, but it could still continue its rebellion, but the Holy White Lotus Emperor could not.

He lost the last of his own armed forces. Even if the generals scattered across the country were willing to recognize him as the Holy Emperor, the power would inevitably fall into the hands of others.

Throughout history, no monarch who lost power during the stage of conquering the world had a good ending.

The White Lotus Saint Emperor was dead, and they, the direct descendants of the Saint Emperor, could not escape the fate of being purged.

After the window paper was broken, the court was instantly divided into two major camps.

The direct faction supporting the Holy Emperor all chose to be conservative.

The ministers who were attached to the three kings of different surnames supported giving it a try.

Both sides had sufficient reasons, and the court was in chaos for a while.

"enough!"

"The puppet army hasn't come in yet, why do you want to fight among yourselves first?"

"Convey my order and find out the enemy's situation at all costs!"

After weighing the pros and cons, Shi Rongxian finally chose the decision that was most beneficial to him.

Even though they knew that doing so might waste time and cause them to miss the best opportunity.

But in his current position, he is no longer the grassroots leader he used to be and can give it a try.

……

Time flies. Two days have passed since the Hengyang Battle, and the search for the remaining enemies has come to an end.

Looking at the collected battle reports, Li Mu smiled with satisfaction.

"18,000 enemy soldiers were killed and 56,000 enemy soldiers were captured" is just the verified record.

In fact, during the battle, many rebel soldiers fell into the Xiangjiang River and fed the fish.

The remnants of the rebels who had managed to escape had all been disbanded and were no longer a concern.

The only drawback was that we were unable to capture the enemy's main general, but that wasn't a big problem.

According to the captured rebel soldiers, Qi Datou vomited blood and fainted during the battle, and now no one knows whether he is dead or alive.

If this group died, Li Mu would not mind adding a sentence in the battle report that the enemy's main general was killed.

A fake marquis, no matter how famous he is, will not be favored by the officials in the capital.

The gentlemen in the court have no time to pay attention to the internal situation of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom.

In their eyes, the biggest enemy is still the rebel leader, the pseudo-emperor Shi Rongxian.

Next come the three kings below, and the rest of the rebel leaders are just trash.

If you really want to make a contribution, capturing the fake emperor Shi Rongxian alive will be more useful than killing anyone else.

"Wei Haoyu, Zhu Jingyu, you two performed well this time and did not embarrass me.

The merits will be reported truthfully to the court, but the subsequent rewards and promotions will not be decided by me.

In view of the current situation, the imperial court may set up more military towns in Huguang, Jiangxi, Guangdong and other places.

With your achievements, it will be no problem for you to be transferred to be a lieutenant general.

If you want to go further, this is not enough.

There is no need for others to be jealous, as there will be plenty of opportunities to make contributions in the future.

The false emperor Shi Rongxian is still waiting for us in Yongzhou City.

If anyone is lucky enough to capture this traitor alive, I think he will be worthy of being the general of a town!"

Li Mu painted a big picture for the generals.

Things like being granted titles of nobility or appointed as prime minister are too vague and unrealistic, but promotion is something that can be seen.

An ordinary military general wants to make the leap from being a guard commander to being a general.

First he had to be transferred to the position of lieutenant general, then promoted to deputy general, deputy general, and finally general.

Without more than ten years of accumulation, it is almost impossible.

Even if one has made outstanding military achievements, it is difficult to achieve success overnight.

However, for nobles and military families, the process of accumulating seniority can be skipped.

As long as there are outstanding achievements, people can be pushed to positions.

The White Lotus Rebellion was so serious that it caused great trouble to the gentry.

Everyone hated Shi Rongxian so much that they killed him, but now the merit of capturing the fake emperor alive was better than killing 100,000 rebels.

"Thank you for your support, sir!"

All the generals said in unison.

They all understood the hidden meaning of Li Mu's words.

The credit for capturing the false emperor alive belongs to whoever gets it, and the main general will not jump out to fight for it.

It’s not that Li Mu is aloof, it’s just that he has fought all the way here, and his military achievements are enough.

If you want to go further, the best choice is not to continue to make great military achievements, but to support your younger brothers.

There have never been good results for those who are more successful than their master in any dynasty.

Although Li Mu had not reached that level yet, he could not avoid being feared by the emperor as he commanded tens of thousands of troops and won victory after victory.

Now is a time of war, so naturally everyone hopes that he will be as powerful as possible.

Once the war is over, those civil servants and gentry will turn against us.

Rather than letting others split up the team, it is better to take the initiative and push all the younger brothers out. In name, the strength of his subordinates was weakened, but in reality, it was just the opposite.

The children of nobles are trained quickly, but these people are too deeply bound to Dayu and are generally more loyal to the emperor than others.

There is naturally no problem in bringing them together to keep warm and fight against other forces in the DPRK.

But once the situation changes and the opponent becomes an alliance between the emperor and civil servants, the situation will change.

Unless individual conflicts are transformed into conflicts of group interests, it will be difficult for everyone to muster the courage to go against this alliance.

If you don't want to be abandoned after your time has passed, your best choice is to appropriately restrain your edge and give up the opportunity to show yourself.

There are many generals with outstanding performances. Even if the generals continue to be suppressed in the court, there are people to share the firepower.

Theoretically, as long as the noble group can regain its strength, the worst situation will not happen.

After all, Emperor Yongning was not the founding emperor and did not have the capital to massacre his meritorious officials.

“We are all family, there is no need to be so polite.

The Battle of Hengyang is over, and we now have two choices.

Either continue to besiege Yongzhou, or take Changsha.

Do you think it is better to be conservative or radical? "

Li Mu asked with a smile.

"Sir, I think we should take Changsha first and seize the initiative on the Huguang battlefield.

We can deal with the rebels in Yongzhou at any time, but we only have one chance to capture Changsha.

The news of the victory in the Battle of Hengyang was difficult to keep secret for a long time.

It won't be long before the rebels get the message.

The White Lotus Kingdom's foreign kings may not go all out to rescue Yongzhou, but they will definitely not allow Changsha to be lost."

Yun Yufeng was the first to speak and make a suggestion.

In his opinion, the performance of the White Lotus Saint Emperor was just average.

Among the peasant uprising army, he was considered outstanding.

However, compared with the real founding fathers, he is far behind in both personal ability and courage to act.

It is nonsense to be in a hurry to become emperor.

When he was not emperor, he could personally lead the army to fight on the front lines and keep the military power firmly in his own hands.

After becoming an emperor, he must sit at the center of government.

Life became comfortable, but the generals under his command would inevitably become too successful and become a threat to the ruler.

Who made him become emperor when the Holy White Lotus Kingdom was still hiding in a corner? Any of the generals conquered more territory than him, the Holy Emperor.

What’s even more tragic is that this group couldn’t even defend their hometown and were chased all the way by government troops.

The prestige accumulated before has been almost completely lost after a series of failures.

Such a Holy Emperor has higher political value than military value.

After killing this group, it is certainly possible to split the Holy White Lotus Kingdom, and also remove the shackles on the heads of several kings of different surnames.

Without the White Lotus Saint Emperor to cause trouble, the three foreign kings with outstanding military achievements would be even more difficult to deal with.

"Master Yun, this is wrong!

Your Majesty has issued a strict order to capture the fake emperor Shi Rongxian alive.

The gentry all over the world hated the false emperor with gnashing teeth.

Now that the opportunity has come to us, how can we give it up so easily! "

Su Zhiyong immediately objected.

Military correctness does not mean political correctness.

The emperor and all the gentry in the world wanted the fake emperor Shi Rongxian to die.

If we attack Changsha first, the fake emperor will definitely not sit and wait for death.

The 130,000 rebels in Yongzhou area were indeed not enough for them.

But changing the battlefield can create a new world.

Whether it is to manage Yunnan and Guizhou or to enter Sichuan through the pass, it is possible to achieve.

Although we won't be held accountable if we let the leader of the thieves go, our credit will certainly be greatly reduced.

“Is it possible to do both at the same time?
The number of defenders in Changsha is small, so 10,000 troops will be enough.

Even if the rebels counterattack, they can rely on the advantages of the city to delay them for a while.

If we move quickly, our army can completely defeat the rebels in Yongzhou during this period."

Zhu Jingyu suggested slowly.

Having tasted the success of the surprise attack on Hengyang, he developed a strong interest in the surprise attack on Changsha.

Although the Huguang region fell into the hands of the rebels, there were still many people who were loyal to Dayu.

When we launched a surprise attack on Hengyang before, there were people cooperating with us.

At the critical moment of the decisive battle between the two armies, someone jumped out and set fire to the rebels' granary.

This is enough to prove that Dayu still has a certain foundation in Huguang.

"I agree with Commander Zhu's proposal. There is no contradiction between taking Changsha and dealing with the rebels in Yongzhou.

The result of the Battle of Hengyang has been spreading to the outside world as the defeated soldiers fled.

Even if the rebels in Yongzhou are slow to react, they will find out in a few days.

If they can't figure out the location of our main force, they won't dare to leave the city.

These guys are hiding in Yongzhou and not moving, so it is very difficult for us to attack the city by force.

If things go wrong, we can only carry out a long-term siege and slowly wear down the rebels.

Instead of wasting money and food, it is better to take the initiative to spread the news and let the rebels think that our main force is attacking Changsha.

As long as the rebels leave Yongzhou City, no matter where they run, we will have a chance to catch up with them and defeat them in a field battle!"

Wei Haoyu immediately agreed.

It can be seen that he is also very interested in the raid on Changsha.

After all, among all the generals, he and Zhu Jingyu had the most experience in stealing cities.

If they want to launch a surprise attack on Changsha, this task will most likely fall on the two of them.

Immediately afterwards, a group of generals expressed their positions one after another. Everyone had sufficient reasons, and finally the decision-making power returned to Li Mu.

"Rest for a day first, deliver the victory report to Marquis Wuyang, and then divide the troops to attack Changsha.

Wei Haoyu and Zhu Jingyu, I order you to lead your troops and be responsible for a surprise attack on Changsha City.

But this time it was not to capture the city, but a tactical fraud.

Changsha is a big city after all. With the previous experience of the fall of Hengyang, the enemy defenders will definitely learn from the lesson.

It is almost impossible to sneak into the city and open the city gate directly.

So if you can take Changsha City, then attack it. If you can't take it, then feint an attack on the city.

However, when you feint to attack Changsha, you must create a big noise to make the rebels think that our main force is attacking Changsha.

The rest of the generals, follow me back to Yongzhou and capture the fake emperor Shi Rongxuan alive!"

After weighing the pros and cons, Li Mu chose to prioritize politics.

From the time he set out on the expedition to now, he has led the coalition forces of three provinces and recovered many prefectures.

It is enough to give an explanation to the government and the public, and there is no need to continue to prolong the battle.

If he really recovered Changsha, the court would most likely order him to make further efforts and continue to recover Wuchang, Jiujiang and other places.

By then, all the troops of the Holy White Lotus Kingdom will rush over to fight him to the death.

Theoretically, he also has the help of various government troops.

But Li Mu knew too well the nature of his colleagues.

When the battle is going well, it's okay for everyone to cheer along.

Once faced with an unfavorable situation, these colleagues and teammates will become the biggest destabilizing factor.

Maybe there's a river of blood here while people are singing and dancing next door.

(End of this chapter)