Fu Shanhe

Chapter 331 Turning Point

While the imperial court was busy raising money, new changes also occurred on the battlefield in Huguang.

Defending Wuchang Prefecture does not mean that the entire army must retreat into the city. The area of ​​several hundred miles from Wuchang to Yuezhou is all a battlefield.

The official troops actually stationed in Wuchang City consisted of only two garrisons and tens of thousands of civilian laborers.

More troops were deployed at surrounding strategic locations to block the enemy from advancing into the hinterland of Huguang.

"Admiral, Governor-General, there is a report from the front line that Commander Shu led his troops to successfully launch a surprise attack on Huangzhou.

We defeated 5,000 rebels, killed over a thousand, and burned the food and fodder they had stored at the dock."

After receiving this good news, everyone smiled.

Killing thousands of rebels was nothing. In recent days, the government troops had launched many attacks and had achieved some results most of the time.

The real significance lies in burning the rebels' food supplies.

Although it is just one of the enemy's many granaries, it also has positive significance.

An army of 600,000 was dragged to the front line, consuming tens of thousands of stones of food and fodder every day.

This battle was equivalent to destroying the enemy's food and supplies for half a month.

Soldiers need to eat, and animals need feed.

If a gap appears, we must find a way to fill it.

There are more than 100,000 stones of grain and fodder on the front line, but the amount is not the same in the rear.

“Well done, tell Shu Zhongyi not to stay in one place for a long time.

Don't limit yourself to one city or one place. Strike when you have the opportunity and give up if the conditions are not ripe.

In the next battle, there is no specific target, so he can play freely.

The same order was also conveyed to several other groups of soldiers.

As long as they don’t suffer any loss, they are allowed to send troops on a small scale.”

Li Mu immediately gave the order.

Relying on the war horses seized in Shandong, he successfully expanded his cavalry unit to 5,000 people.

It is nothing in the northern border, but it is the strongest cavalry among the southeastern provinces.

With the high mobility of cavalry, there is no reason not to use it.

The rebels never dreamed that the government troops would cross the Han River, take a detour through Xiangyang and attack Huangzhou.

By taking the enemy by surprise, they successfully destroyed the supplies stored by the rebels at the dock.

If there is a first time, there will be a second time.

Even if the government troops did not attack, the rebels would have to allocate more troops to guard the rear in order to ensure the safety of food and fodder.

It’s a pity that the court’s inland navy was destroyed, otherwise the enemy would be even more panicked if they were attacked by water again.

After the government troops recaptured Huguang, the first thing they did was to resume production at the inland shipyards.

However, they were not producing man-made ships, but warships.

The reason why the government army stopped in Huguang and did not continue to move south was, to a certain extent, because the government navy was unable to seize control of the Yangtze River waterway.

Up to now, the strategic core set by Li Mu has not changed.

Mobilize the enemy, split the enemy, and annihilate the enemy.

The rebels seemed to have an army of 600,000, but their troop utilization rate was very low and many of their troops were tied up.

When it comes to local battlefields, the strength of the troops on both sides is often not much different.

Not surprisingly, with the troops close in strength, the rebels had no power to fight back.

"We have defeated another 5,000 rebels. Including the previous battles, the total number of rebels we have defeated has exceeded 40,000.

The number of heads captured amounted to as many as five or six thousand.

Adding the losses in the enemy's siege, the rebels' manpower losses amounted to at least 20,000.

If we continue to fight like this, I’m afraid the rebels will be unable to bear it in a few months!”

Li Yuan said in a good mood.

Small victories may not seem significant when taken separately, but when added together, the results are considerable.

The rebels arrived at the gates of Wuchang, and in less than half a month, two or three thousand men were killed.

It won't be a serious injury, but it will definitely affect morale.

"Only if we underestimate them, not all the defeated soldiers will return to the enemy camp.

Some rebel soldiers were frightened by our attacks, and quite a few took advantage of the chaos to escape from the enemy camp.

The rebels lacked effective medical treatment and had to rely on the wounded to fight on their own, so there must have been a lot of casualties.

If Wei Ni was good at math, he would probably be scratching his head now.

Compared to before, the rebels have become more cautious, and the enemy did not fall for our several layouts.

Otherwise, the current record can be at least tripled.

It’s a good thing that we didn’t make a big breakthrough.

If the fighting is really fierce, the rebels will be so scared that they will probably just run away.

Once the enemy gives up the attack and concentrates on defending the city, the battle will not be so easy to fight!
News came from the court that His Majesty had ordered the government troops in Henan and Shandong to march south to recover lost territory.

Our troops left behind in Guangdong and Fujian also launched attacks on Zhejiang and Jiangxi respectively, and the war became more and more intense.

Prolonging the war will be beneficial to the overall situation of suppressing the rebellion."

Li Mu pretended to be calm and said.

These words were deliberately said for everyone to hear.

The purpose is to pass on the good news through their mouths to boost the morale of the troops in the city.

If he really could have wiped out the rebels easily, he would have led his troops to kill them long ago. Why would he continue to be in a stalemate with the enemy?

The so-called strategic situation is the strategic situation of the court.

For the commander personally, the most immediate gain is outstanding military achievements.

Even if he himself does not need it, his relatives and direct descendants do need it.

Not to mention the distant ones, at least my uncle’s three sons must not be allowed to return empty-handed.

It is definitely unrealistic to confer a title directly.

If one's virtue does not match his position, he will surely suffer disaster.

But it is always necessary to let him take advantage of the military merits and get a good position in the court after the war.

Not to mention the close associates below, many of them are stuck at the threshold of middle-level and senior generals due to lack of political resources.

If you want to cross the threshold, you need military merits.

These days, Li Mu has been busy with the war, and Li Yuan has been busy too.

However, it was not a military review, but rather a contact among the clan to see which girls in the clan had reached marriageable age but had not yet been betrothed.

The trusted generals that we have worked so hard to train must not be taken away by others.

Although the method of political marriage is old-fashioned, it is effective.

Leaving aside the married generals, the marriages of other young generals still need to be considered.

Once you cross the threshold of becoming a high-ranking general, you become worthy of being won over.

The direct descendants of the Marquis' Mansion are not enough, and there are still distant branches of the clan.

Many distant branches had long fallen into decline, and only thanks to the clan's protection could they live a better life than ordinary people.

The title of the Marquis' Mansion is just for bragging.

It is also a good thing to be able to marry these young generals.

Not to mention the grassroots generals trained by Li Mu, as long as they could make ends meet at home, they would not join the army.

All her connections are in the military, so if she lets her parents take care of things, she will be the daughter of a country scholar at best.

If you meet someone with shallow eyelids, she is most likely the daughter of a merchant.

It’s not that there is discrimination against merchant daughters, but it’s mainly because in an era when the concept of “scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans” was deeply rooted in people’s minds, people with merchant backgrounds were inherently inferior.

Even if he was a famous salt merchant in the world, he might enjoy great glory in his daily life, but his political status was still pitifully low.

Among so many high-ranking officials in the court, none of them married the daughter of a merchant.

It's not that there are no merchants who bet on scholars in advance, but once the two sides get married, they are destined to not be able to climb to a high position. It's useless to be the top scholar in the imperial examination. When you develop to a certain level, you will encounter a threshold.

This is the unspoken rule in official circles.

The same applies to the group of military generals. If they violate the unspoken rules, they will be labeled as "greedy and lustful".

It can be said to be occupational discrimination, but this is the experience and lessons accumulated by our ancestors.

Eliminating the combination of power and money is something that rulers of all dynasties have been striving for.

Unfortunately, although the open combination was eliminated, the secret connection could not be severed.

……

Ganzhou Prefecture.

The roar of artillery fire rang out and the city gate suddenly opened, startling the attacking government troops.

"Stop attacking and see what the enemy is up to first."

Zhang Ning immediately gave the order.

It was really too weird. The battle had just begun and the enemy opened the city and surrendered.

If it happened at the end of a rebellion war, it would be understandable that the soldiers and civilians in the city did not want to risk their lives.

Although Wei Ni has suffered some setbacks now, his strength is still there.

Ganzhou is a strategic location with a large amount of strategic materials stored in it, so there must be a large number of defenders in the city.

"General, we are truly loyal to the court!

If we move, the rebels in the city will react quickly, so we have to be quick.

Even if you are worried about a conspiracy, it would not be wrong to lead people to seize the city gate first!"

After hearing what the middle-aged man said, Zhang Ning felt relieved.

No matter whether it is an enemy conspiracy or not, you must seize the city gate that is offered to you.

"Pass the order down, and the army will take over the city gate immediately.

After finding no problems, we will attack the city again!"

With an order, the army successfully took over the city gate.

The rebel soldiers who were originally defending the city not only did not resist, but instead showed expressions of relief.

After some communication, Zhang Ning quickly figured out the situation.

The soldiers defending Ganzhou City surrendered so readily because of the previous garrison commander and prefect.

In the last defense of Ganzhou, Yu Dadan and Duan Shengde took a series of radical measures to defend the city, which resulted in a blood feud between the military and civilians in the city.

The means were too bloody to be brought to the surface, so the rebel leaders chose to cover it up.

After the war, the two were promoted and left due to their merits, but the military and civilians in Ganzhou became alienated from the rebels.

After suffering a loss, the military and civilians in Ganzhou have learned their lesson.

Under the common trend of hatred and interests, the government troops surrendered the city gates as soon as they attacked the city.

With the help of a group of inside players, the subsequent siege was so smooth that even Zhang Ning felt incredible.

As soon as the rebel generals organized a counterattack, someone took the lead and ran away.

Some generals wanted to stop it, but were shot by their own people.

The siege was only halfway through when someone cut off the head of the rebel commander and ran over to him to claim credit.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the remaining defenders laid down their weapons one after another.

“Don’t worry, my fellow heroes, the court will never forget your contributions.

Everything that happened in the past was done under the coercion of the rebels.

We can all turn from evil to good, and let bygones be bygones.

I will commend you to the Admiral!

You are all the chief contributors to the imperial court’s recovery of Ganzhou.

I will take it upon myself to take out a portion of the spoils in the city as a reward for everyone.

Each person was given three stone of rice, ten taels of silver, half a piece of cloth, and ten catties of salt. Those who did not want grain, cloth, or salt could also receive a discount at market price.

For those who want to return home, I will open a way for you after the war.

For those who are willing to stay, I will go to the Admiral and apply for a position for you.

......"

Zhang Ning immediately made a promise to everyone.

As his position rose, his political acumen also increased.

The political impact of the rebels' defection was far more than just the recapture of the city of Ganzhou.

Everything we do now is to buy bones for a fortune.

According to the previous plan, he pretended to attack Ganzhou Prefecture to attract the enemy's attention, sent troops to attack the enemy's rear, and destroyed the rebels' rule in Jiangxi.

Use the commotion created by the incident to put pressure on Wei Ni, who is thousands of miles away, and influence his decision.

Now that we are able to recapture Ganzhou City and seize the supplies stored by the rebels, the effect will only be better.

The rewards issued at this time are essentially to buy bones with a lot of money.

With the cooperation of these local people, it becomes much easier to stabilize the situation in Ganzhou.

Taking Ganzhou is equivalent to seizing the bridgehead of the Northern Expedition, and Jiangxi will definitely be shaken.

The most important thing is that the supplies for subsequent operations are basically available.

Except for some ammunition that needed to be supplied from the rear, the rebels had prepared all other supplies.

……

The Allied Forces camp outside Wuchang City.

Looking at the battle report in his hand, Wei Jiarui could hardly believe his eyes.

In the last war, the city of Ganzhou, which had kept tens of thousands of government troops out, was lost so quickly.

Although the target of the siege changed from Fujian government troops to Guangdong and Guangxi government troops, and their combat effectiveness was greatly improved, this result was still unacceptable to him.

"waste!"

"They're all trash!"

“During the last defense of Ganzhou, there were only a few thousand defenders in the city, but Yu Dadan was able to save Ganzhou City.

This time there were 30,000 troops and 20,000 civilians in the city, but the enemy captured the city in one day.

Even if 50,000 pigs were placed in the city for the enemy to catch, they would not be able to catch them all in a day!
......"

Wei Jiarui couldn't help but curse.

The one guarding Ganzhou now is his trusted and beloved general, who made great contributions in previous battles and is deeply trusted by him.

But the more trust I had before, the more disgust I have now.

Even if we can't defend Ganzhou, we have to at least hold on for a few months. It's impossible to lose a city on the first day.

Wei Jiarui, who was already worried about the lack of progress in the Huguang war, was now completely unable to hold back.

Forget their imperial majesty. Whoever wants to act can act as himself. He only knew that he was very angry.

If the defending general had not died in Ganzhou, he would have wanted to drag him outside and skin him alive.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

“The most urgent task is not to hold anyone accountable, but to quickly block the news.

The Battle of Wuchang was at a stalemate, which was the time that tested the morale of the army the most.

The news of the fall of Ganzhou must not be spread.

In order to prevent the situation in Jiangxi from getting worse, please ask Your Majesty to immediately select a brave general to go back and take charge of the situation!"

Prime Minister Chang Junyi began to persuade.

It was necessary to block the news, as the Battle of Wuchang was not going well to begin with.

If the soldiers knew that there was also a problem in the Jiangxi base, the consequences would be even more serious.

Once the morale of the army is damaged, the next battle will not be fought.

(End of this chapter)