Fu Shanhe

Chapter 243: The Ruthless General
Guangzhou Prefecture, Governor's Office.

"Ha ha……"

Looking at the good news in his hand, Marquis Wuyang couldn't help but laugh out loud.

It really comes to whatever you want.

He was originally still worried about the war on the front line, but in the blink of an eye, the rebels attacking Hengyang were wiped out.

"Defeated 100,000 rebels, killed 18,000 enemy soldiers, and captured 56,000 enemy soldiers." This is the verifiable record.

By slightly modifying the data and sending it to the emperor, the results of the battle can be further magnified.

The battle took place by the river, and a large number of corpses were washed away by the river. It is normal that some heads were missing.

In fact, since the outbreak of the rebellion-suppression war, the rebel troop strength reported by the government troops was announced by themselves.

The rebels called themselves an army of 100,000, and the official data showed that they had 100,000 troops.

The rebels said they had sent 200,000 troops, and the official data was exactly 200,000.

Verification of authenticity does not exist.

The Jinyiwei had just been restored, and many of its local branches had suffered devastating damage.

Without a professional intelligence agency, they could not even catch up with the White Lotus Sect in terms of intelligence gathering.

They have been subjected to official crackdowns for years, but have not been completely wiped out. This would be impossible without intelligence support.

No matter how many scouts are sent out, they can only make estimates based on the length of the enemy's marching team or the number of tents.

If you don't want to cause trouble, just keep it simple and use the data released by the rebels themselves.

When making strategic deployments, we usually cut the number of troops advertised by the enemy in half, and then formulate a preliminary plan to fight the enemy.

Fortunately, these days everyone likes to brag, so only people inflate their military strength, and no one has ever reported less than that.

If a sixth man appears among the rebels and does the opposite, the government troops will suffer a great loss.

"Congratulations, sir!
With this great victory in hand, we will surely be able to capture the bandit leader alive, capture Changsha, and pacify Huguang..."

An Qingfeng immediately stepped forward and said.

Working in the same city as the governors-general of three provinces, with their offices right next to each other, he felt quite frustrated as the governor of Guangdong.

In theory, there is a check and balance of power between the governor and the governor-general.

Unfortunately, it is a time of war now, and Marquis Wuyang is an imperial commissioner with a bunch of titles behind him.

Can't afford to provoke, but can't avoid.

Whenever he encountered important matters, he had to come over.

Fortunately, Marquis Wuyang was in a good mood after receiving the good news and would not cause trouble for him.

If the war on the front line was going badly and Marquis Wuyang was in a bad mood, he would be miserable.

As a superior, it is too easy to find fault with your subordinates.

“Alright, this duke has no extravagant hopes of crushing the rebellion in one fell swoop.

If we have to do all the work, wouldn't it make our colleagues look incompetent?"

Anyone could tell that this was Elder Xu, the Yin-Yang Master.

However, Marquis Wuyang could say such words, but others did not dare to respond.

As a cabinet minister of the current dynasty, the leader of the Qingliu Party, and the regent appointed by the previous emperor, Xu Wenyue's power is unmatched by ordinary people.

Including Marquis Wuyang himself, in terms of the power in his hands, he is far inferior to Xu Wenyue.

He dared to make fun of Xu Wenyue because of his special status.

It was just a few jokes, not any substantive targeting, and the two of them were at most just engaging in a verbal battle.

If others get involved without knowing their own limitations, they would be being irresponsible with their own careers.

In order to avoid this sensitive topic, An Qingfeng immediately said:
"My Lord, after the great victory in Hengyang, it is a good time to expand the results of the war.

Commander Li only reported the battle record and did not mention the next battle plan, otherwise..."

"okay!
I have my own ideas on how to fight the next battle, you don't need to worry about it.

Instead of wasting time, we should organize the people to resume production and strive to generate more tax revenue for the court."

Before he could finish, Marquis Wuyang interrupted him with a wave of his hand.

Military matters have always been his weakness, so it's okay for him to fool around occasionally.

If we go into further discussion, wouldn't we be exposing our incompetence?

When working in government, you can do anything, but you must not destroy your own image.

Everyone in the court and the country knew that Marquis Wuyang was well versed in military tactics and possessed the talent of a general.

If you want to live comfortably, you must continue this character.

At present, the progress is very smooth. No matter how he commands, the continuous good news from the front line proves his ability.

Whether fighting bravely on the front lines or planning strategies in the rear, all we want is victory.

If things continue to develop at the current pace, maybe in future history books, when people mention the famous generals of Dayu, he will have a place there.

And this evaluation is not too low.

After all, although his military career was short, he had never suffered a defeat.

The governor was met with setbacks, and the other officials present silently withdrew their thoughts on performing.

The main commander on the front line was a direct descendant of the governor, and they, who were supposed to be his confidants, became outsiders instead.

There is nothing they can do except secretly lament that their talents are not appreciated.

……

Ganzhou Prefecture.

Looking at the forwarded good news, Wei Zhiyuan's face turned blue with anger.

He is afraid of comparison in everything. It is obvious that he led more troops than General Li Mu, but his battle record was not even a fraction of his.

Their combat record starts at 100,000, and it feels like the rebels are made of paper.

When it came to him, he couldn't even take over Ganzhou.

In order to complete the task, they were forced to send troops to attack Ji'an, and they were able to barely cope with it.

But the problem is that the rebels attach much more importance to Ji'an than Ganzhou. Since Ganzhou has not been taken, the offensive in Ji'an is naturally not optimistic.

"You've all read the battle report. Even if we don't compare them to the Guangxi soldiers, they should be better than the remnants of Guangdong!
But now?
General Jing has recaptured Shaozhou Prefecture, and the battle to capture and defend Chenzhou has entered a critical stage.

They have announced that they will capture Chenzhou within ten days.

Minus the time taken to transmit information, it is estimated that the recovery of Chenzhou will take place in the next few days.

If we fail to achieve results within a short period of time, we will be blamed by our superiors.

I have been dismissed from my post and your career will also end here!"

Wei Zhiyuan said earnestly.

He also put a lot of thought into boosting the morale of the troops.

However, the subordinates were used to slacking off on the battlefield, and when they suddenly encountered a tough battle, they all couldn't do it.

Anyway, it's just a trick, so he just bears it during normal times.

But the current situation is special. If he doesn't have a good record, he will definitely be liquidated after the war.

Although in recent decades, Dayu has mostly punished powerful military generals by making them drink three cups of wine.

But that was aimed at powerful generals with outstanding military achievements, and the imperial court was afraid of the power they had.

As long as it is not a mistake in principle, it can be handled with care.

The imperial court will not be lenient towards a general like him whose military record is so disastrous.

If you want to have your own army and be independent, you must have enough capital.

If the imperial court took action against him, he would not even have the chance to resist.

Since he, the general, is unlucky, the generals under him will naturally not have a good life either.

As long as you want to check the above, you will never worry about not finding the problem.

There is no need to resort to any tricks, you can kill them legally just within the rules system.

"Sir General, it's really not that we are delaying on purpose.

It's really because the rebels are too powerful, it's hard for us to gain an advantage on the battlefield!"

"General, what Lieutenant General Deng said is correct. The rebels are indeed too powerful!"

……

"boom!"

A group of generals complained, and Wei Zhiyuan was so angry that he slammed the table.

"Do you really think I'm discussing this with you guys?"

“Let me tell you, if we fail to recover Ganzhou and Ji’an as soon as possible, no one will be able to have an easy time if we are held accountable by the higher-ups.

Don't think that your position is a solid piece of land passed down from your ancestors and no one can move from it.

Since the White Lotus Rebellion, many royal relatives and princes have been killed, and countless civil and military officials have died in battle.

If that day ever comes, I would rather die on the battlefield than resign from my post in disgrace.

This is a document requesting war, and the content on it hopes that the Governor can form a military death squad, hoping that it will not be used in the end.

I know you are in a difficult situation, so I have signed you up. You don’t have to thank me!”

After hearing Wei Zhiyuan's words, the generals who had originally not taken it seriously suddenly turned pale.

If looks could kill, Wei Zhiyuan would have been torn into pieces.

This method is really too cruel, it is clearly dragging everyone to death together.

The most important thing is that this kind of document requesting to fight will basically be approved.

However, the generals who did this usually committed serious crimes and had no way to escape.

In order not to implicate his family, he chose this tragic death.

Their current situation is obviously not that bad.

There were so many government troops who failed to attack on the battlefield. If all of them were to be punished, half of the generals in the southeastern provinces would be held accountable.

The law does not punish the masses, and this also applies in times of war.

The court still needs them to quell the rebellion, so they can't be too serious about this.

Of course, as the general of Fujian, Wei Zhiyuan will most likely be killed as a warning to others.

It is obvious that Wei Zhiyuan saw this clearly and came up with a strategy of mutual destruction.

"General, it's not necessary!"

"Yes, Sir General.

Things haven't come to that point yet, there's no need to do this!"

……

After regaining their senses, the generals hurriedly tried to persuade him.

If everyone acts as a suicide squad, the government troops in Fujian will be destroyed.

If all the generals are withdrawn at once, even if the court immediately replenishes them with new generals, it will take a long time to form combat effectiveness.

But the current situation is special.

In the three provinces' coalition forces to quell the rebellion, they could not play much of a role and had to consume a large amount of food and supplies.

The price/performance ratio is too low.

The imperial court's finances are now seriously empty, and the governor's office has to find ways to raise military expenses on its own.

In order to cut expenses, Marquis Wuyang might really go with the flow and send them to the battlefield as cannon fodder.

At worst, we can deal with them and release the tens of thousands of troops in Fujian.

As long as they hear that they can avoid fighting, I guess the soldiers will be so happy that they will not make a fuss for them.

Afterwards, the saved military funds could be spent on a few troops that are capable of winning battles, and perhaps even more impressive results could be achieved.

The imperial court does not care how many troops are involved in suppressing the rebellion; the emperor only wants to see the government troops put down the rebellion.

After sorting out their thoughts, everyone was terrified.

(End of this chapter)