Fu Shanhe

Chapter 277 Smoke filled the air
Under the city of Jinan.

"Wan Hu, you see in front of us is the city of Jinan, the capital of Shandong.

If we can conquer it, the tribesmen will surely make a fortune and won’t have to worry for the next few years!

......"

Qianhu Wanqi Yao said with a beaming smile.

Along the way, they reaped a lot of benefits from looting.

It’s just that they followed the main army in the front, and each time the spoils were picked up first by the Great Khan, followed by the top few Wanhu.

Their Wanhu was established relatively late, so their strength is relatively weak, their voice in the clan is limited, and they can get less spoils of war.

Erdun volunteered to lead the expedition to Shandong. In addition to wanting to establish his own merits, he also wanted to take the opportunity to make a fortune.

In recent years, the Tatars have been constantly conquering the east and the west, and although they seem to be enjoying a prosperous life, their people are not having an easy time.

The Tatars have limited productivity and are unable to be self-sufficient.

Economically, it is heavily dependent on Dayu.

Because of the war with Dayu, both sides closed the trade routes and they could only buy smuggled goods at high prices.

The wealth looted in the past was only temporarily in their hands, and it would not be long before it fell into the hands of unscrupulous businessmen.

Including the Tatar high-ranking officials, they actually did not have much cash. Their wealth mainly consisted of slaves, livestock, land and pastures.

From the rise of the Tatars to the present, all their efforts have, in a sense, been working for the Shanxi merchants.

In other words, they work for the bureaucratic interest groups behind these businessmen.

But there is no way around it. If the Tatars want to rise, they must pay a price.

If the benefits were not great enough, these people would not betray Dayu and risk their lives to engage in smuggling business.

Even though they have nothing in their hands now and seem to have gained nothing, in fact much of the wealth they looted had already been sold to Shanxi merchants.

After all, robbing is easy but transporting is difficult.

It is definitely not an easy task to transport a large amount of spoils from Dayu back to Liaodong.

In particular, many antiques, calligraphy and paintings can only be sold at a high price in Dayu, and they are worthless after returning to the grassland.

It doesn’t matter if the price is suppressed, because they just snatched it away and they don’t know the real price.

If someone helps you deal with the mess, that's a lot of money.

"Stop daydreaming, kid!
Along the way, we encountered countless cities, but few were stronger than Jinan.

Which one have you seen that we have conquered?

What’s more, the enemy’s reinforcements are just dozens of miles away.

If you want to attack the city, you must first get rid of Dayu Wuyang Hou, the stumbling block.

This Wanhu made a big promise in front of the Great Chanyu that he would chop off the head of Marquis Wuyang as a sacrifice, so a fierce battle is bound to follow.

You guys, don't hold me back!"

Erdun couldn't help but laugh and curse.

He came here to rob, so naturally he could not turn a blind eye to the wealth in Jinan city.

Although 30% of the looted wealth had to be handed over to the Great Chanyu, the bulk of it was retained by the headquarters.

However, compared to wealth, he was more concerned about how to annihilate the army led by Marquis Wuyang.

Although he showed disdain in words, in his heart he was still full of fear towards the elite troops of Yu Army.

According to past experience, every soldier in the elite army of the Dayu Dynasty wore armor.

If you set up the battle formation, you can fight against the cavalry without losing the upper hand.

In the eyes of outsiders, the Tatars are famous for their cavalry, but in fact they also have infantry among them.

One hundred thousand cavalrymen, that's just bragging.

If they were really allowed to maintain 100,000 cavalry, the Tatars would definitely be worn down to death.

According to historical experience, as long as the Central Plains dynasty has enough war horses, it can easily defeat the grassland cavalry every time.

It was not the Central Plains dynasties that were good at riding and shooting. It was mainly grassland cavalry, which were basically part-time.

In times of war they are soldiers, in times of peace they are herdsmen.

It’s okay to bully ordinary infantry, but when they meet professional cavalry, their true colors are immediately exposed.

Other grassland nations could not afford to maintain a professional army, and the Tatars could not afford it either.

The ability to fight well was gained through fighting.

With a little training, an ordinary herdsman can pick up a spear, mount a horse, fight a few battles on the battlefield and survive, and he can become a qualified soldier.

For the Tatars, it is impossible to complete full-time training.

Even if the entire clan were to provide support, the ratio of cavalry to infantry in their 100,000-strong army was only 4:6.

Unlike ordinary infantry, they would also ride horses when entering the pass to plunder.

Because of their living environment, all Tatars can ride horses.

In the eyes of outsiders, those who ride horses are naturally cavalry.

As to whether they were riding war horses or inferior horses used to transport spoils of war, no one has conducted in-depth research on this.

Generally speaking, few people can escape unscathed when encountering the Northern Tartar cavalry.

Either you are captured and enslaved, or you die.

"Don't worry, Wan Hu, we will live up to your expectations and chop off the head of Marquis Wuyang!"

All the Tatar generals answered in unison.

They had encountered many official armies of Dayu. Apart from the Liaozhen, which made them wary, the only other trouble they had encountered was the Jingying they had encountered before.

But it's just a nuisance.

With the mobility of their cavalry, they always have the initiative in the war.

Taking advantage of the enemy's desire to return to the capital, he deliberately set traps on the road, which resulted in the enemy being defeated.

The only problem is that they suffered heavy losses during the battle.

In their eyes, the army led by Marquis Wuyang was nothing more than a replica of the Beijing Army.

Under normal circumstances, it might be a bit troublesome.

However, they were lucky enough. Most of Wuyang Hou's troops were from the south, and they could not adapt to the climate and environment in the north.

Before the battle even started, a large number of non-combat casualties occurred.

Now is the time when the enemy is at its weakest. If we fail to seize the opportunity, once the enemy has adapted, it will become difficult to defeat them.

"it is good!"

"I feel relieved that everyone has this ambition.

However, Marquis Wuyang is no ordinary man, and we must not take him lightly.

The Guifang cavalry is still on the way. It will probably take considerable losses for our own troops to capture the enemy.

Pass the order down, the army will set up camp nearby to rest for the night, and defeat the enemy tomorrow!"

Erdun gave the order immediately.

You can despise the enemy strategically, but you must take the enemy seriously tactically.

Unlike other armies of Dayu, which were commanded by civilian officials who gave blind orders, Marquis Wuyang himself was the commander-in-chief of the army.

Although the enemy's 100,000-strong army was a fictitious number, they still had 50,000 to 60,000 troops.

It is not a wise move to use the headquarters' 10,000 troops to attack the enemy's 50,000 or 60,000 troops.

The last thing Dayu lacks is people. Even if 10,000 or 20,000 people die, they can be quickly replenished.

But the Tatars can't do that.

There are only a few young and strong people in the tribe. Let alone the loss of tens of thousands, even the loss of a few thousand would hurt him.

If he loses two or three thousand, he will be seriously injured.

The hard work must be left to the younger brothers, and the direct troops only need to establish victory at the critical moment.

……

The northern barbarians were approaching the city, and the governor's office was in chaos. Everyone had been prepared for the northern barbarians' invasion, but when the day finally came, everyone was still unsure.

"Governor, since the enemy is here, quickly notify Marquis Wuyang's troops to enter the city!"

Jinan prefect Cheng Junfeng urged hurriedly.

The enemy was at their doorstep before they realized the news, which clearly showed that the local officials were derelict in their duty.

It is not appropriate to pursue responsibility at this time, we can only suppress the problem temporarily.

However, it is urgent to let reinforcements into the city.

Once the enemy army besieges the city, reinforcements will not be able to enter the city.

“Don’t count on it!

Marquis Wuyang was a warrior who fought on the battlefield and has much more military experience than you and me.

The camp of the army supporting the king is less than thirty miles away from us, and the enemy is at the gates of the city. It is impossible that he did not receive the news.

If the army hasn't arrived yet, it means they are not prepared to come.

Before, you were dissatisfied with the rampant malaria in their army and worried about infection, so you refused to let them enter the city.

Now that we need them, we want them to come right away. There is no such good thing in the world!"

Jia Xiaochen said angrily.

In order to keep the army to support the king, he took a great risk.

Unless he makes great contributions in the next war, he will take the initiative to apologize after the war even if the court does not punish him.

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that the actions of Prince Lu and Duke Yansheng were his doing.

The emperor couldn't hold these two people accountable, but it was very easy to deal with him as the governor.

You won’t lose your head, but you certainly can’t expect to make any further progress in your career.

The painstaking planning was done to save Jinan Prefecture.

I never expected that at the critical moment, my own people would cause trouble.

As early as five days ago, the army that came to support the king landed on the banks of the Yellow River.

They should have entered the city long ago, but the gentry in the city were worried that malaria would infect them and strongly opposed the army's entry into the city.

The officials in the government office also joined in the commotion. Seeing that the opposition from below was too strong, Jia Xiaochen could only adopt a compromise strategy.

A piece of open space was cleared thirty miles away from Jinan City for the army to set up camp.

In order to appease the other party, he even sent people to deliver supplies to the troops, which prevented any trouble from happening.

At this time, the enemy troops were at the gates of the city, and everyone suddenly fell into panic.

Many of Marquis Wuyang's troops fell ill, but no one was heard of dead.

The Northern Barbarians' butcher knives are much more terrible than malaria. They massacre the city as if it were a piece of cake.

“Governor, now is not the time to be angry.

We still have a chance to send reinforcements into the city before the enemy troops surround Jinan. It will be too late if we delay any further.

In order to reinforce Qufu and Yanzhou a few days ago, we dispatched a lot of elite troops there. Now there are less than 10,000 defenders in the city.

Even if we recruited the militia immediately, we could only gather 30,000 men at most.

If the Northern Tartars attack the city with all their might, it will be very difficult for us to stop them!"

The governor Min Kaifeng began to persuade.

It was common for the Dayu army to collect empty soldiers. The army of 10,000 in name was only able to gather 6,000 soldiers, all thanks to the capable generals.

After deducting the old and weak who are there to make up the numbers, if there are three or four thousand combat-ready soldiers, they can be considered an elite division.

Not to mention the fighting capacity of the militiamen, these people were mainly used to guard the city and do hard labor.

If we really have to fight with the enemy, I estimate that our team will be defeated in the first encounter.

As for Marquis Wuyang, it is nothing more than a matter of interests.

In the officialdom, face is worthless.

When you need to bow your head, you must bow your head.

Otherwise, if the enemy army breaks in, all these officials will be finished.

“Master Min, you make it sound easy.

The problem is that Marquis Wuyang is not our general. He is a high-ranking official who serves as the governor-general of two major regions.

Do you think it is possible to want something to come and go at will?
In the past few days, I have put a lot of effort into appeasing the other party.

Nowadays, if you want people to work for you for a living, it is impossible to achieve without sufficient benefits.

Don't forget that Marquis Wuyang, who is in charge of the four provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian and Zhejiang, is not one of those poor military generals who can be dealt with by simply giving away a few tens of thousands of taels.

In terms of financial resources, the resources that the other party can mobilize are far beyond our reach!"

Jia Xiaochen said helplessly.

It is true that the problem can be solved by relying on interests, but the other party has seen the world and handles millions of silver dollars every year.

It is indeed possible to deal with Marquis Wuyang by spending money, but they cannot afford the price.

“Governor, it’s already happened, there’s no point in talking about it anymore.

The most urgent task is to quickly let reinforcements into the city. I can organize the gentry in the city to collect some money to apologize to Marquis Wuyang.

As a relative of the emperor, he couldn't just sit back and watch Jinan fall!"

Cheng Junfeng said with gritted teeth.

At this point, we can only use "righteousness" as an excuse.

Relying on the gentry in the city to raise funds is just a drop in the bucket.

To be able to raise tens of thousands of taels was a generous donation that required a lot of effort and pain for a long time.

Raising more money, that is, more is impossible.

The corrupt bureaucratic system determined that it was impossible for the government offices to have large amounts of deposits.

No matter how much income there was, officials would use various means to empty the treasury in the shortest possible time.

"Humph!"

"It is precisely because he is a royal relative that he has nothing to fear.

If we lose Jinan Prefecture, both you and I will lose our heads, but others will only be scolded.

......"

Halfway through his words, Jia Xiaochen realized that he had said something wrong and decisively chose to shut up.

In the current situation, there are not many people the emperor can trust, and even fewer who are capable of commanding thousands of troops.

During the defense of the capital, Duke Chengguo and Marquis Zhenyuan were forced to be deployed, and the situation in the south could only rely on Marquis Wuyang.

Forced by the situation, the civil servants had no choice but to accept it.

Even if you have an idea, you can only wait until the war is over before taking action.

The foreign relatives and nobles have joined forces and have gained considerable say in the court.

Even if Jinan was lost, the blame would still be borne by these unlucky guys, and would not fall on Marquis Wuyang.

Neither the emperor nor the nobles would allow Marquis Wuyang to fall now.

……

The sky gradually darkened, but the lights in the camp of the army were bright.

"My Lord, tonight is a godsend opportunity.

The Northern Barbarians were sweeping across, and they were in high spirits and at the same time were most likely to reveal their weaknesses.

The fact that the enemy had only 10,000 men dared to advance deep into the enemy's territory and approach the city of Jinan was enough to prove that they had become arrogant.

We only need to select two thousand soldiers and launch a surprise attack in the second half of the night, and we will be able to inflict heavy damage on the enemy.

If the government troops in the city could send out troops in time to support us, we might be able to annihilate the enemy completely!"

After getting Li Mu's signal, Qin Tianrui stepped forward and proposed.

(End of this chapter)