Fu Shanhe

Chapter 349: Battle of Nanchang

Chengdu Prefecture.

When the officials in Shu received the news of the rebellion in Guanzhong, their hearts were broken.

After the rebels besieged the city, the psychological pressure on everyone increased day by day.

The reason why they have been able to hold on until now is largely due to their faith and their anticipation for the arrival of reinforcements from the imperial court.

It's all over now.

The plan to steal Chongqing failed, resulting in the inability of reinforcements from Huguang to arrive.

At this time, Guanzhong was in chaos and the reinforcements from the north were gone.

"Governor, we cannot defend Chengdu for long. Let's break out and evacuate to northern Sichuan!
If we cannot defend Shu, we must also defend the court's future counterattack path and must not allow the Sichuan and Shaanxi rebels to join us."

Lu Junliang said with a serious look.

The rebels have occupied the most important areas of Shu, and there are only a few prefectures still in the hands of the imperial court.

"Tell the chieftains in various places that I have agreed to their conditions.

As long as they were willing to send troops to help the imperial court suppress the rebellion, the imperial court would expand their jurisdiction and hand over all the official positions in the chieftain's office to them.

Allow them to tax freely, establish…”

Xu Wenyue said indifferently.

Instead of retreating directly, he chose to quench his thirst with poison.

The power of the chieftains in Shu was originally great. Once the restrictions were relaxed, they became new vassal states.

Compared with the rebels from outside, these local forces will pose a greater threat as they grow stronger.

But there is no choice now.

Only a fool who knows nothing about military affairs would fantasize about retreating to northern Sichuan with his troops after retreating from Chengdu Prefecture.

After several years of military career, Xu Wenyue is no longer the military novice he once was.

He was well aware that under the current situation, if the defenders chose to break out, they would quickly collapse.

Alternating cover and orderly evacuation only exist in an ideal situation.

Even the elite troops of the Nine Frontiers would collapse if faced with such a situation.

Since Shu is no longer safe, there is no point in continuing to restrain the local chieftains.

If the restrictions on them are relaxed, these local tyrants will fight the rebels without the court having to intervene.

In fact, even without his orders, these chieftain forces would not be at peace.

When the chieftains' troops were called upon to join the war, they were rejected, and Dayu's control over these guys became increasingly weak.

"Governor, without the imperial decree of His Majesty, allowing the chieftains to become powerful is a serious crime punishable by death!"

Governor Li Yongliang spoke up to remind them.

Xu Wenyue was the regent minister left by the previous emperor, and he himself had a high prestige among the upright officials.

If he violated taboos on the chieftain issue, the emperor would at most dismiss him from office, and the risk of losing his head would not be great.

But it’s different for these participants.

He was originally the culprit for the worsening situation in Shu, and he had overstepped his bounds on the issue of chieftains. It was easy for him to be singled out by the emperor as a warning to others.

"When the country is in crisis, how can we retreat?

You are afraid of taking responsibility, but I am not.

If your majesty wants to punish me with death, I will accept it!"

Xu Wenyue said righteously.

Everything is afraid of comparison.

When it came to suppressing the rebellion, those guys from the noble faction were very fierce on the battlefield.

With one move, he killed a rebel king and recovered a large amount of lost territory.

Now they are making another effort to attack the biggest traitor in the world.

Judging from the current situation, the probability of the government army winning is very high.

The outstanding achievements of his colleagues in the same task of suppressing rebellion directly highlighted his incompetence.

Everyone is in the same circle, and Xu Wenyue also wants to save face.

If you don't have the ability to defeat the rebels, you should at least find a way to stop them from seizing Shu, otherwise your reputation will be ruined both during your lifetime and after your death.

Compared with these, acting on one's own on the chieftain issue is a trivial matter.

If the emperor wants to hold him accountable, he has to wait until he returns alive.

If he unfortunately died on the battlefield, all the promises he made before would be gone with the wind.

The civil service group that holds the power of discourse has always had a tradition of glorifying their own people.

For empty promises like these that are not fulfilled, people will subconsciously downplay them or even simply not record them.

If it weren't for the powerful writing style of the Spring and Autumn Annals, the group of civil servants who gave up Jiaozhi would not have become famous officials of Dayu.

……

Jiujiang front.

“Jiujiang is easy to defend but difficult to attack. It is difficult to capture it in a short period of time. This governor wants to divide his troops and attack Anqing by land.

My Lords, who is willing to take on this important task?"

Li Yuan asked.

After recovering the entire territory of Wuchang, Jiujiang Prefecture and Anqing Prefecture were within reach.

Judging from the map alone, he could either send troops to Jiujiang or directly attack Anqing Prefecture.

The reason for choosing Jiujiang as the focus of the attack was mainly to take over the Yangtze River shipping route so that the army could go downstream.

In a water war, whoever occupies the upstream has the advantage.

First Jiujiang and then Anqing is a completely orthodox military strategy.

However, focusing on Jiujiang does not mean that we cannot attack Anqing.

As long as the war breaks out, whether Anqing can be captured or not will affect the deployment of the rebels.

"My Lord, we have already taken over all the counties under Jiujiang, and the enemy only has one isolated city left.

As long as we put in a little more effort, we can take Jiujiang Prefecture. There is no need to take the risk of attacking Anqing!"

Governor Feisund immediately objected.

Meeting a powerful governor, he felt frustrated as the governor and his power was severely squeezed.

What's worse is that when he was in the capital, Li Yuan issued Huguang public bonds in the name of the governor's office.

Judging from the results, it was undoubtedly successful.

But he was completely unaware of the situation at the time, so he was blamed and was later impeached by a group of censors.

Although he did not get involved in the subsequent sale of official positions, he also sold them in the name of the governor's office.

A series of offensive reforms were carried out under the banner of him as governor.

All the achievements were taken away by the governor, and all the blame was put on him, which would make anyone feel uncomfortable.

“Master Fei, you don’t know anything about military affairs, so it’s understandable that you don’t know the reason.

We will divide our forces to attack Anqing. Not only will we send troops, but Jiangxi will also send troops.

While they were besieging Nanchang, they sent their troops to march towards Poyang Lake. It wouldn't be long before they could meet together in Anqing.

In addition to Anqing Prefecture, the more distant Huizhou Prefecture and Ningguo Prefecture could also become targets of attack.

With the support of Zhejiang’s government troops, it won’t be a big problem for a lone army to advance deep into the enemy’s territory.”

Li Yuan's explanation hurt Feisongde deeply.

There is no way. The struggle between civil and military officials has been so cruel since ancient times.

As the head of the nobles, it was impossible for Li Yuan to share the credit with him.

Unless things go wrong and someone needs to share the blame, his name will not appear on the battle reports sent to the capital.

As for bypassing Jiujiang and Nanchang and dividing the troops to fight southward, it only exists in theory.

In order to achieve the goal, we must not only keep an eye on the defenders in the city and prevent them from coming out to cause trouble, but also consider the logistical supply of the army.

Friendly forces can only help by temporarily providing logistical support for small units.

The main purpose of doing this now is to disrupt the enemy's troop deployment and find the enemy's weaknesses.

Once the fight starts, it enters a melee mode.

This is exactly what they want.

Whether in terms of the overall quality of officers or the combat effectiveness of the army, the government troops have the advantage.

As long as we lure the rebels out of their turtle shells, the rest of the battle will be easier to fight.

"Governor, I am willing to go!"

Bai Yifeng was the first to speak out.

He has to be proactive. Li Yuan is not like the civilian governors mentioned above. He has his own team in the army.

The degree of reliance on militia forces is so low that it can be ignored.

If it weren't for these troops, which did not need to be paid by the Governor's Office, they would probably have been disbanded.

"Good!" "Mr. Bai is brave enough to take on responsibilities, which is a blessing for the country.

The purpose of sending troops to Anqing was to mobilize the enemy forces.

It would be best if we could capture Anqing Prefecture, but if we can't capture Anqing, we can't let the enemy army feel comfortable.

I will not interfere with how you fight at the front line.

There is only one principle: to disrupt the enemy's rear as much as possible and weaken the rebels' war potential.

Also, please maintain military discipline. We are the imperial army, so don’t act like bandits.”

Seeing Bai Yifeng coming up, Li Yuan made a special reminder.

The imperial court was not responsible for the militia’s military pay, so they could only fend for themselves. It was understandable that they would go out and rob.

However, what Bai Yifeng's troops did was indeed a bit excessive.

They burned, killed, looted and committed almost every kind of evil.

The name "human butcher" is not an exaggeration at all.

If the people he killed were not civilians and the court needed new people, he would have been dismissed long ago.

Not taking action against him now doesn't mean there won't be a revenge in the future.

The regiment's atrocities offended many people.

It is extremely difficult to clean up the mess and get a clean return.

If it weren't for this feint attack on Anqing, there would have been a risk of annihilation of the entire army and Bai Yifeng would not have been involved in this mission.

"Thank you for your advice, my Lord. I will do my best to complete the task!"

Bai Yifeng immediately assured.

At this point, he has no way out.

With tens of thousands of troops under his command, even if everyone dislikes him, they can't do anything about him.

If military discipline is really enforced, logistics will be able to drag down the regiment.

Without an army, all those people he had offended in the past would rush out to kill him.

The reason he chose to take the risk and take on the task was mainly to curry favor with Li Yuan.

The civilian governor lacked a foundation in the army and did not dare to take action against him easily, but the nobles were different.

He is in charge of more than 90% of the elite troops in the southeast. If they turn against him, he can really be killed.

In the officialdom, he, a minister of militia who was not a successful candidate through the regular imperial examination, was also an outlier.

Instead of facing the strange looks from colleagues, it is better to jump out of the cage and seek new breakthroughs.

It doesn't matter how much merit you can achieve. The key is to train an elite force that can fight.

He finally understood that in troubled times, only when you have soldiers in your hands can you speak with confidence.

……

"Rumble..."

Outside the city of Nanchang, the roar of artillery fire marked the beginning of the siege.

"Nanchang is not easy to fight!"

Watching the shells hitting the city wall and only scratching the skin, Marquis Wuyang couldn't help but sigh.

"Ok!"

"The rebel commander had some tricks up his sleeve. He not only cleared the city walls in advance, but also set fire to the houses near the city walls.

It is impossible to use nearby buildings or attack the city walls.

The ruins over there are said to be the famous Tengwang Pavilion, which has now been destroyed in the war.

We sent people to dig a tunnel, but it was discovered by the enemy and we suffered a great loss.

It was estimated that the defenders had buried large urns near the city wall to monitor the excavation movements.

Even the moat was put to use, and those crisscross trenches were naturally the nemesis of the underground. "

Li Mu nodded and said.

The performance of the rebel defenders surpassed that of most contemporary generals.

Without rich combat experience, it is difficult to notice so many details.

He was not surprised that there were talented people among the rebels.

Being able to withstand the pressure of encirclement and suppression by government troops and stand out in troubled times, there must be no shortage of capable military generals.

The previous suppression of the rebellion went smoothly, not because the rebels were incompetent, but because they had no chance to display their abilities.

The Battle of Nanchang was different. The enemy army had been preparing for it for at least half a year.

As long as the enemy general is not stupid, he will prepare for various situations and take targeted measures.

Not only did he strengthen the city, but he also abolished the siege method of digging tunnels.

If the government troops want to capture the city, all they can do now is to gather a large army and launch a violent attack.

But this is exactly what Li Mu doesn't want to see.

It is not easy to train an excellent soldier, and the cost of a strong attack is too high.

He captured Nanchang City at the cost of human lives. Even if the government army won the victory, he would still be a big loser.

"Admiral Li, we cannot passively attack, we must launch a counterattack as soon as possible.

If there is no better way, then conscript civilians and use their lives to fill the void!"

Marquis Wuyang spoke slowly.

One will be a million bones.

As a leader, you should avoid being soft-hearted.

From the overall perspective, as long as we can recapture Nanchang, it is worth paying a certain price.

Since we can’t afford to kill our elite troops, we’ll just use civilians to fill the gap.

The last thing the Dayu Dynasty lacked was people. Even if tens of thousands of people died under the city of Nanchangchen, it would not shake the foundation.

"Wait a little longer!
We are the attacking party, and now the defenders are more anxious.

General Qin has already led his troops south, and Huguang has also sent people to pretend to attack Anqing.

Our rapid capture of Nanchang would certainly deter the enemy, but it would also cut off their plans to leave the city for a decisive battle.

If there is no breakthrough here, then we will change the direction of attack and put the strategic focus on Songjiang Prefecture.

As long as we take Suzhou Prefecture, our war will spread to Yingtian Prefecture, and then we can directly seize Nanjing by force."

After hesitating for a moment, Li Mu revealed his hidden true battle plan.

The Jiujiang attack and defense battle, the Nanchang attack and defense battle, the Hangzhou attack and defense battle, and the Anqing attack and defense battle were all smoke screens.

The real combat target has always been Nanjing.

All these preparations made earlier were just to make the rebels believe that he was going to go south along the river.

The best time to launch the attack will be when the rebels have transferred their main forces here and the rear is left empty.

For the Dayu Dynasty, recapture of Nanjing meant winning the battle.

Once Nanjing was lost, the people of the Wu regime established by the rebels would lose their morale.

"Are you sure you can recapture Nanjing?"

Marquis Wuyang asked in surprise.

According to his expectation, victory would be achieved if they could capture Nanchang, Jiujiang, Hangzhou and other places within the year and recover the entire Jiangxi and Zhejiang provinces.

The subsequent strategy for conquering Nanzhili will be next year’s task.

By suppressing the rebels in a corner and then slowly wearing down the enemy, the rebellion can be put down.

The solution proposed by Li Mu was obviously more radical.

The three main battlefields were all covert operations, intended to create opportunities for the government troops to raid Suzhou and recapture Nanjing.

"The battlefield is changing rapidly, so there is no such thing as 100% certainty.

A battle of this scale is essentially a competition between the two sides to see which side makes fewer mistakes.

We dug a pit for the rebels, and they can still decide for themselves whether to jump in.

If the enemy's top brass knew the truth and took targeted countermeasures, they would be waiting for us to come over and beat them up.

Of course, if the situation develops in our favor, we can also make the current plan a reality."

Li Mu explained seriously.

The most clever trick is to deceive even your own people.

In order to increase his chances of winning, Li Mu did not tell the truth to anyone beforehand.

Even up to now, what I have told Marquis Wuyang is only a part of the plan.

True and false, false and true.

Until the final answer is revealed, no one knows which version of his battle plan is true.

……

(End of this chapter)