Fu Shanhe

Chapter 334: Forced Decisive Battle
When the unrest broke out in Guanzhong, the Chu army, which was moving south along the river, also reached Poyang Lake.

"Master Duan, we are counting on you to recapture Ganzhou Prefecture this time."

Wei Jialiang said politely.

Being away from Li Mu doesn't mean the war will be easier.

If the government troops dared to invade Jiangxi, they must have something to rely on.

"My Lord, I am a humble official with limited knowledge and talent, and it is really difficult for me to take on such a great responsibility!"

Duan Shengde replied nervously.

Just because people outside call him a poisonous scholar doesn't mean he really has the ability of a poisonous scholar.

Times have changed.

The lower limit that can be broken through has already been broken through repeatedly by our predecessors in the past years.

Today's war has developed to the point where every possible means will be used to achieve victory.

He was just a civil servant, not an expert in military affairs.

It's okay to give some advice occasionally, but asking him to shoulder the important task of recovering Ganzhou is just asking him to take the blame.

If the mission is not completed, Wei Jialiang is the brother of the King of Chu, so nothing serious will happen.

He, a lone minister, is in trouble.

Because of his vicious methods, he was not accepted by the civil service group and no one in the court spoke up for him.

"That's it!"

“Recovering Ganzhou Prefecture is already fraught with difficulties, so you don’t need to feel too much pressure.

However, the food and grass supply of the army on the front line must be guaranteed.

The prince asked me to be in charge of Jiangxi affairs. In addition to resisting the invasion of government troops, the most important thing is to ensure the logistical supply of the army.

When Ganzhou City was besieged, the food and grass in the city were cut off. It was only thanks to Lord Duan's coordination that the city was saved.

This matter is left to you to take responsibility!"

Wei Jialiang said without allowing any refusal.

Troubled times can accelerate people's growth.

The previous proposal to recapture Ganzhou was just a bluff. The real purpose was to let Duan Shengde take on the important task of raising grain.

This is not an easy life.

With so many troops on the front line, the amount of supplies consumed every day is not a small amount.

It is not an easy task to raise funds from the rear and then send people to the front line.

The people of Jiangxi, who had just experienced the war, had to send people to join the army, provide food, and perform corvee labor.

Such a heavy burden has long exceeded everyone's endurance limit.

No matter who is in charge of the grain-raising work, he will inevitably bear the blame.

A big part of the reason Duan Shengde became notorious was that he used people as military rations when he was defending Ganzhou.

Wei Jialiang's intention was clearly to tell him implicitly that he could do it again if necessary.

There were many cases of cannibalism among the White Lotus rebels during their rebellion.

Some psychopathic generals even specialize in...

However, as the rebel army grew stronger and showed hope of conquering the world, it gradually restrained itself.

All kinds of atrocities in the past were expressly prohibited.

No matter how much convergence there is, the kernel will not change.

When a crisis comes, the evil hidden deep in people's hearts will still be awakened.

"Master Hou, this..."

Before Duan Shengde could refuse, Wei Jialiang interrupted him forcefully.

"Ganzhou Prefecture has been lost, and the food and fodder that was stored in the Ganzhou area in preparation for the Guangdong campaign has naturally also been lost.

Hundreds of thousands of troops are fighting on the front line, and a large amount of food and fodder is consumed every day.

The government troops also continued to attack our grain storage bases and grain transport teams. The losses seemed small each time, but the losses were frequent.

The Battle of Wuchang has reached a stalemate and it will be difficult to win in the short term. Most of the supplies we prepared before are not enough.

In order to stabilize the military morale, only a few people knew the news.

The reason I came back this time is to raise food.

Lord Duan, the future of Chu is now in your hands!"

Using the land of one province to supply hundreds of thousands of troops fighting on the front line is bound to lead to heavy taxation.

Even heavy taxes and extortion may not accomplish the task.

At times like this, the benefits of being familiar with the Three Kingdoms are evident.

The State of Chu could naturally follow the example of how Cao Cao solved the food shortage crisis back then.

But most people can't do this kind of job.

Duan Shengde, who was known as the "poisonous scholar", suddenly came into Wei Jialiang's sight.

"My Lord, urgent news from the front!

The government troops captured Ji'an Prefecture five days ago, and then the enemy troops divided into three routes and launched attacks on Yuanzhou, Linjiang and Fuzhou prefectures at the same time.

The three places were in a state of emergency at the same time, and the situation in Jiangxi deteriorated comprehensively..."

After receiving this bad news, the first person to collapse was not Wei Jialiang, but Duan Shengde.

The grain-raising task was of hellish difficulty before today, but now it has been upgraded to the point where it cannot be completed.

In the blink of an eye, half of Jiangxi was gone.

He relied on the remaining half of Jiangxi to raise food supplies for the army on the front line, and estimated that all the people under his rule would starve to death.

With such a huge gap, I wonder how many lives will have to be lost to fill it.

Even if he could ignore his reputation during his lifetime and after his death, he still had to consider the political impact.

Once the news leaks out, the military and civilians in Jiangxi will probably become alienated from the State of Chu.

What happened in Ganzhou Prefecture can happen once and it can happen a second time.

With the people's support turning against us, the destruction of the Chu State was inevitable.

Those who participated in this incident will be forever nailed to the pillar of shame in history.

"My Lord, the government troops are coming with a force beyond our expectations.

The only solution now is to explain the situation to the prince and speed up the decisive battle!"

Duan Shengde suggested nervously.

Deep down, he was well aware of the potential risks of rushing to a decisive battle on the front line.

But the State of Chu now has no choice, as its logistics are unable to support the army to continue fighting.

If the State of Chu wants to win, it has to fight quickly and decisively.

"impossible!"

"This is impossible!"

"The Pseudo-Dynasty only has one town in Guangdong that recruits soldiers, and the rest are garrison soldiers. It's difficult to send them out as cannon fodder.

How could they attack from three directions at the same time after conquering Ganzhou and Ji'an?"

Wei Jialiang, who realized it later, roared immediately.

It's really a deception.

Originally, he chose to return to Jiangxi to provide assistance in order to avoid the main force of the government army.

However, after returning, I found that the government troops attacking Jiangxi were still as fierce as ever.

The garrison soldiers have the combat effectiveness of recruited soldiers. Isn't this pure bullying?

The miscalculation of strength made all the strategic plans of the Chu State go to waste.

……

Nanjing City.

"Your Majesty, the government troops from Shandong and Henan set out at the same time and launched an attack on us.

The Xuzhou front is in danger, General Feng sent an urgent letter for help! "

Minister of War Fan Xiuwen said with a serious expression.

Since the Battle of Wuchang broke out, the attention of the people of Wu State has been attracted to it.

If the State of Wu wanted to seize the world, it not only had to deal with Dayu, but also had to annex the State of Chu.

Watching the Chu and Yu armies fighting hard on the front line, the Wu leaders, as spectators, had very high expectations for the two armies.

It would be best if they could die together so that they could inherit the estate and sweep across the South.

Unfortunately, the allies were not strong enough and no matter how they attacked, they could not break through the government army's Wuchang defense line.

Although they had superior military forces, they often suffered losses on the battle front that was hundreds of miles long.

But they were just spectators, so they just complained a few words and that was it. Even though the allies suffered losses, their military advantage was still obvious.

At worst, we can sacrifice human lives and slowly kill the enemies.

Since they are not their own people, they can accept any heavy casualties among their allies.

However, the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop. They want to be fishermen, but the court does not agree.

First, the government troops entrenched in Songjiang Prefecture often sent troops to harass the surrounding prefectures, forcing them to mobilize heavy troops to encircle and suppress them.

After a series of hard battles, the enemy was finally suppressed in Songjiang Prefecture.

The enemy has reinforcements in the rear, and it will not be accomplished overnight to completely annihilate the enemy.

However, as long as we have the upper hand, victory is only a matter of time.

Unexpectedly, the government troops in the north also started to move, forcing Xuzhou to seek help from the rear.

"Feng Bangyan, what does he do for a living?
Nearly 50,000 troops were deployed in the Xuzhou area, and the government troops in Henan and Shandong combined could only mobilize this number at most.

With equal forces, can't he even defend the city?"

Fu Haoxuan asked coldly.

He accepted the failure of the Northern Expedition because he had no cavalry!
Now we are the side defending the city, and we cannot use the enemy's cavalry advantage to attack the city. It would be unacceptable for us to suffer losses again.

“Your Majesty, the cavalry of the Pseudo-Dynasty is rampant, directly cutting off the connection between the various prefectures in Xuzhou.

Every time the enemy launched an attack, they concentrated their superior forces and attacked the weak points.

As a result, there were gaps in some areas of the Xuzhou defense line.”

Fan Xiuwen explained tactfully.

It seemed that the government cavalry played a role, but in fact the essence of the problem was that the combat effectiveness of the Wu army could not catch up with that of the government army.

This gap does not exist only for them.

The peasant uprising armies in every dynasty were never as powerful as the government troops.

This is amateurs versus professionals.

It takes a long time to gain the upper hand.

Even if we count from the day the army was launched, the Wu army was only three years old, and it took less than a year for it to be regularized.

However, the elite border cavalry soldiers received training for more than three years.

During this period, they had experienced countless battles, and no one could compare to them in terms of tactical application or coordination on the battlefield.

"waste!"

After cursing angrily, Fu Haoxuan quickly regained his rationality.

He knew Feng Bangyan well. If he wasn't forced into a desperate situation, he wouldn't ask for help.

Xuzhou is of great strategic significance and cannot be lost by the State of Wu.

Rescue is necessary, the question now is how to carry out the rescue.

It is possible that the current situation was deliberately created by the government troops with the aim of encircling the enemy and attacking its reinforcements.

With the advantage of cavalry, it was like a piece of cake to penetrate the battlefield a hundred or eighty miles deep.

If they were not careful, the reinforcements would be ambushed by the enemy on the way.

"My dear ministers, is there anyone willing to lead the troops and help me break the siege of Xuzhou?"

Fu Haoxuan asked slowly.

There are risks and rescue is necessary.

If Xuzhou Prefecture was lost, the war would soon spread to Luzhou, Fengyang, Huai'an, Yangzhou and other places.

These states are all prosperous places.

It was able to provide food and taxes to the State of Wu, especially the Lianghuai salt industry, which earned huge profits for the State of Wu.

"Your Majesty, the general is willing to go!"

Seeing that no one had stepped forward, Wudu Hou Xie Yifei stepped forward and said.

Confidants enjoy preferential treatment, but they must also step up at critical moments.

The government cavalry had too obvious an advantage, and rescuing Xuzhou this time was destined to be a difficult task.

There is no hope of defeating the enemy and achieving great success.

Instead, we should be careful about enemy surprise attacks and give them a severe blow halfway.

Be careful and cautious when marching to avoid being taken advantage of by the enemy.

If everything goes well, it will help the defenders to keep Xuzhou, and the hard work will outweigh the merit.

Risks and returns are not proportional.

"it is good!"

"Marquis Wudu, listen to my orders!"

"The general is here!"

"I order you to lead an army of 50,000 and rush to Xuzhou immediately for reinforcement.

We don't seek to annihilate the enemy in this battle, as long as we can save Xuzhou Prefecture, it will be a great achievement!"

……

Under the city of Wuchang.

After receiving a series of bad news, Wei Jiarui suddenly realized that he was too hasty in launching the Battle of Wuchang.

“The situation in Jiangxi continues to deteriorate, and the war on the northern front of Wu State has started. The situation is very unfavorable to us.

My dear ministers, do you have any good advice for me?"

Wei Jiarui asked expectantly.

From the moment he proclaimed himself king and established his system, he had been constantly looking for famous people under his rule, hoping to gain talents who could assist him in conquering the world.

His efforts were not in vain. Although most of them were fake, he did acquire a lot of talents during this period.

However, many people were forced to join and did not have a strong sense of belonging to the State of Chu.

The assigned work was completed, but there was always a sense that these people were holding back.

In this situation, Wei Jiarui had no other choice but to slowly win back the hearts of the people over time.

“Your Majesty, the government troops have launched a counterattack, proving that the enemy is not sure of victory in the Battle of Wuchang.

In order to increase their chances of winning, the enemy uses these despicable means in an attempt to make us lose our composure.

It's times like this that we need to stay calm.

When the government troops from Henan and Shandong march south, the Wu State will naturally be able to deal with it.

Even if the war goes badly, it won't affect us for a while.

What is really tricky is that the situation in Jiangxi has deteriorated across the board, and the situation in Zhejiang has also fallen into turmoil.

However, the problems encountered in these two places can be solved.

As long as we win the Battle of Wuchang decisively, all the problems we are facing now will no longer be problems.

The land that was lost can be taken back later.

You don’t need to take the gains and losses of the nine provinces and thousands of miles of mountains and rivers, or the cities and places we are fighting for to heart.”

Prime Minister Chang Junyi spoke to comfort him.

Solving the problem is really difficult.

In contrast, providing emotional value to the monarch is much simpler.

However, while providing emotional value, he also included some practical information.

The situation had developed to this point and the State of Chu had no choice.

It was their decision to launch the Battle of Wuchang, but it was no longer up to them to decide how to end it!

Even if they stop now, the government troops will not let them withdraw their troops safely.

Given the Chu army's organizational capabilities, a sudden order to withdraw would inevitably cause chaos.

Once exploited by the enemy, it could turn into a major defeat.

Sending troops back to rescue Jiangxi and Zhejiang would also be a way to die.

The Battle of Wuchang was already difficult to fight, and dispersing the strength at hand would only make subsequent battles even more difficult.

“This king can bear some setbacks.

That villain Li Mu actually chose to use such despicable means to force me to fight him, so I will oblige him!
Pass the order down, let all units prepare to attack the city with all their strength starting tomorrow.

Tell the generals below not to worry about casualties in the troops.

No matter how great their losses are, I will replenish them. Now all I want is victory!

Tell the civilians who have just arrived not to go back.

After a little training, they will be used as replacement soldiers to make up for the losses suffered by everyone."

……

(End of this chapter)