Fu Shanhe

Chapter 369: Experience Causing Trouble

Nanjing City.

The newly born Wu regime entered its final years before it had a chance to radiate its brilliance.

The Yu army's steady and cautious advances eroded a large amount of Wu's territory.

In order to reverse the situation, Fu Haoxuan organized three strategic counterattacks, all of which ended in failure.

It was not a problem with strategy or tactics, but mainly because the Yu army was too strong and the Wu army was too weak.

Earlier he had mocked the Chu army for its lack of combat effectiveness and for being beaten wantonly by the enemy. When it came to the Wu army, the outcome was not much better.

It is obvious that Wu Jun's training was more rigorous and its internal organization was more tight, but in the face of changes in people's hearts, these efforts became futile.

Not to mention the soldiers below who lacked confidence in the Wu State, even the top leaders were very confused.

The big house of Dayu Dynasty seemed to be crumbling, but it withstood every impact of wind and rain.

On the other hand, the rebel army seemed to be making rapid progress, but every time at a critical moment, they would suffer heavy losses.

The White Lotus Saint Emperor, who was the first to raise the banner of rebellion, died, and the powerful King of Chu was cut into pieces.

In the past years, there were countless famous rebels who died in battle.

After the Eastern King entered Shu, his progress was slowed down.

He almost took over Shu several times, but failed in the end.

The situation on the Wu side was similar. At its peak, it launched a northern expedition to the Central Plains and was about to achieve hegemony over the world, but it ended in failure.

At that time, Fu Haoxuan was busy building the country, and no one cared about the minor setbacks on the front line.

Everyone wanted to integrate the Wu Kingdom, contact various rebel forces, destroy Dayu in one fell swoop, and establish some achievements.

They never expected that their strength peaked when they just captured Nanjing.

From then on, it seemed that there were more troops and the soldiers were trained more rigorously, but the ambition to conquer the world was gone.

After the establishment of the Wu Kingdom, countless short-sighted leaders of the rebel army were blinded by wealth and fame.

In an instant, I fell.

Despite countless flattery, Fu Haoxuan, the emperor, was not aware of the problem at all.

By the time you realize something is wrong, it's already too late.

The subsequent unsatisfactory progress on the battlefield pulled back the last fig leaf and exposed the internal problems of the rebel army.

The theory of "destiny" has once again become a hot topic.

Many people attributed his failure on the battlefield to his lack of destiny.

Even Fu Haoxuan himself began to have doubts.

After all, before he became emperor, the troops he led swept across the country.

Even if you encounter a strong enemy, you can still win after working hard.

After he proclaimed himself emperor, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse.

“Your Majesty, there are rumors spreading throughout the city that this is a suspected conspiracy by the Imperial Guards.

I propose that private gatherings of citizens in the city be prohibited.

Any meeting with more than five people must be reported to the government office and can only proceed after approval!"

Yu Ruiyu suggested with a serious look.

In order to curb the rumors, they took various measures, but the result was that the rumors spread more widely.

The various explosive contents mixed in it made people panic.

The enemy's front line has already approached Yingtian Prefecture, and it won't be long before the Battle to Defend Nanjing begins.

Especially at times like this, the more we need to stabilize people's hearts.

Even though everyone knew that defending Nanjing was not a good option.

But now is not the time to be an rebel army. Wu State established Nanjing as their capital, and no one dares to give up easily.

With Nanjing in hand, it meant that the Wu regime was still strong and those cities that were defending could still hold out.

Giving up Nanjing would be tantamount to admitting defeat politically.

Once this happens, the Wu army scattered across the country to resist the Yu army will collapse at a speed visible to the naked eye.

If you lose a city, you can take it back.

Once you lose people's hearts, you can never get them back.

"My dear ministers, do you have any different opinions?"

Fu Haoxuan asked expectantly.

It is better to defend the mouth of the people than to defend the river.

He had climbed up from the bottom and knew very well that the more rumors were forbidden to spread, the easier it was for people to believe them.

But under the current situation, he had to keep silent.

If rumors are allowed to spread, no one knows how many explosive versions will appear.

All groups hiding in the dark and hostile to the Wu State will add fuel to the flames.

"Why, is there no one left in Wu?"

Seeing no one respond, Fu Haoxuan asked angrily.

“Your Majesty, the rumors are due to the unfavorable war situation.

Our army performed poorly on the battlefield, and nothing the rear did was of any use.

If we can defeat the enemy without the imperial court taking action, the rumors will immediately change to a completely different version."

Yang Jingren answered with gritted teeth.

Although these are all true, the truth is often unpleasant to hear.

It is easy to say that defeating the enemy is easy, but it is not easy to actually do it.

Compared to before, Yu Jun was too cowardly this time.

No matter how they lured them, the enemy always advanced steadily.

Even when launching an attack, they did not choose to bite the hard bones, but instead picked the weak persimmon.

Even if they cannot develop a long-term strategy, the enemy will attack and destroy their local rule.

At the beginning, they laughed at the enemy for not understanding military affairs, but soon reality slapped them in the face.

If we break it down, the enemy's actions lack military value.

But after fighting for several months, they were surprised to find that most of their territory had been lost inadvertently.

With less territory, the resources that can be obtained will naturally decrease.

At this point in the war, it was becoming difficult for the State of Wu to raise money and food from the local area for the war.

"Your Majesty, give the order to break out!"

The words of the Minister of Rites Hu Yuzhe were like a thunderclap, shocking everyone.

The situation was developing unfavorably. The enemy was constantly tightening the encirclement. Staying in Nanjing would undoubtedly be a way to death.

But giving up Nanjing would have too great a political impact.

It is equivalent to giving up everything you have now and going back to being a bandit again.

If there was a choice, Hu Yuzhe wouldn't want to take the risk.

But his situation was different. As a representative of Dayu officials who surrendered to the rebel army, Hu Yuzhe had no way out.

Once the rebel army fails, he will be able to win the Nine Clans Elimination Game.

Neither the Dayu court nor the gentry of Jiangnan would let this traitor go.

"Master Hu, do you know what you are talking about?"

Yan Ruiyu immediately questioned.

Someone suggested giving up Nanjing, which was originally a good thing, but it could not be brought up in the court.

There are no secrets in the Wu court. The topic discussed today will soon become a hot topic in the city.

In order to curb the rumors, he almost turned gray with worry, but he didn't expect that his colleagues would leak more shocking information.

"Prime Minister, since I dare to bring this up, I have certainly given it full consideration.

At this point in the war, the strategic objectives of the Pseudo-Dynasty have all been exposed.

They just want to use their advantage in resources to wear us out on the battlefield.

Compared with the Pseudo Dynasty, the territory we control now is really too small.

If we fail to fight back quickly, once our money and food are exhausted, we won't even have a chance to launch a counterattack.

As far as I know, the grain reserves in the country can only last until next year at most.

It seems to be very sufficient, but don't forget that we are no longer able to collect tax grain from outside Yingtian Prefecture.

Judging from the current situation, neither the East King in Shu nor the Guanzhong rebels who fled to Shanxi have the ability to change the situation in the world.

We originally thought that Annan's invasion would give us a break, but the Pseudo-Dynasty directly sent that villain Li Mu to guard the border.

Most of you present here grew up in Guangxi and know more about the situation there than I do.

With the ability of that villain Li Mu, it would be no problem for him to hold the strategic location in Guangxi and stop the Annan people.

Maybe he could even lead the local garrison troops to launch a counterattack against the Annan people.

If we all work together, we can indeed delay the war until next year, but what will we do next year?"

Hu Yuzhe immediately opened fire and uncovered the true face of the Wu Kingdom.

What about it lasting until next year? That's pure nonsense.

Under normal circumstances, the food is indeed enough to last for that long, and another batch of autumn grain can be harvested, so there is definitely enough food and fodder.

However, this is a time of war, and the rate at which food is consumed is much higher than normal.

Although Wu's million-strong army was greatly weakened, its material consumption did not decrease.

The young and strong men who are temporarily conscripted into the army also need food.

Just because one’s fighting ability is not as good as that of a veteran soldier doesn’t mean one’s appetite is smaller than that of a veteran soldier.

If you want people to fight for their lives, you can't let them go to the battlefield with an empty stomach.

The daily material consumption to support a million-strong army is a huge number.

The Yu army was willing to fight a war of attrition with them, but the army they deployed was only one-fifth of theirs.

The Shangyu Army also had sea transportation for logistics. Although it seemed like a long and arduous expedition, in fact the supplies consumed along the way were not that much.

"Your Majesty, what Lord Hu said makes sense. At this time, we really should make a decision.

The situation in the south has changed, and Jiangnan is not a place to stay for long.

Since ancient times, those who conquered the world mostly went from north to south.

Jump out of the quagmire of Nanzhili, there is still a vast space outside, waiting for us to manage! "

Fan Xiuwen immediately echoed.

It is not easy to be the Minister of War. Due to the continuous defeats on the front line, he, the minister who takes the blame, is impeached by the censors every day.

It was as if the defeat of the front-line troops was all his fault.

But he couldn't explain that all military orders were issued by the emperor and the Ministry of War was just a transit station.

If he didn't take the blame, the responsibility would fall on the emperor.

As a local lord, Fu Haoxuan was quite responsible and did not use his life to quell the public opinion storm.

However, as the situation continues to deteriorate, no one can guarantee whether the emperor can withstand the pressure.

If we fight out at this time, our life or death will be unpredictable.

But compared to waiting to die on the spot, giving it a try still gives you a glimmer of hope.

"crazy!"

"You're all crazy!"

The highly respected Zuodu Yushi was so angry that he fainted.

As a famous scholar in the Jiangnan region, Xiao Yunshu was forced by Fu Haoxuan to be an official in Nanjing on the day he took his eighteenth concubine.

He wanted to commit suicide by jumping into the lake to die for Dayu, but the water was too cold and he didn't dare to jump.

He then looked for a three-foot-long white silk thread to hang himself, but the chair was too slippery to hold his trembling body.

Later he tried to commit suicide by fasting, but unfortunately he was too hungry and could not bear it.

After his failed attempt to die for his loyalty, Xiao Yunshu became the Left Censor-in-Chief of Wu with peace of mind, hoping to help the new king to regain his throne.

Just after pledging allegiance to Fu Haoxuan, the Wu Kingdom rapidly declined.

If Fu Haoxuan ordered a breakout at this time and declared the failure of the Great Wu regime, his previous choice would become a joke.

As for assisting Emperor Wu in fighting back and restoring the legitimacy of the Great Wu, that is purely funny.

When did the Wu Kingdom, which was a short-lived separatist state, ever become legitimate?

It is normal for founding monarchs to encounter setbacks in the process of fighting for the world.

But that was in the early stages. No one had ever been overthrown after founding a country and proclaiming himself emperor and then been able to make a comeback.

“Send Lord Xiao down and let the imperial physician treat him.

The rest of the people continued to discuss the matter. Whether to leave or stay, a result must be reached today!"

Fu Haoxuan said expressionlessly.

Compared with other ministers, he felt even more depressed.

When he was first proclaimed emperor by the crowd, he had doubts about whether he could keep his throne.

Now the worst situation has occurred, as if confirming the original speculation.

Perhaps from the perspective of an observer, the reason for the failure would be attributed to his premature declaration of emperorship, which brought about a full-scale attack from the Dayu Dynasty.

But as the person involved, Fu Haoxuan can say responsibly that he had no choice but to become emperor back then.

The Holy White Lotus Kingdom collapsed, and a new regime was needed to unite the people.

If the younger brothers below want to be promoted to higher positions, they need him to become emperor.

If one wants to forcibly bind the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River and gain the support of these local tyrants, it is necessary to establish a new dynasty and make a separation between them and the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus.

A series of factors combined to lead to the establishment of the Wu State.

As for the issue of attracting hatred, he was destined to not keep a low profile from the moment he occupied Nanjing.

Regardless of whether he proclaims himself emperor or not, he will become Dayu's primary target.

If the King of Chu had not been there to help block the attack, the encirclement and suppression of the State of Wu would have already begun.

……

At Zhennan Pass.

The roar of artillery fire marked the beginning of the Vietnamese army's siege of the city.

Countless Dai Viet soldiers used dismantled door panels as shields and launched an attack on the city under the cover of artillery fire.

Suddenly, intensive firepower attacked the Vietnamese artillery positions from the top of the city.

The dense firepower coverage instantly took away five artillery pieces, along with the artillerymen operating the artillery pieces.

After the first round of attack, the second round of firepower strikes again hit the artillery position.

"Move the artillery position back quickly!"

Seeing this scene, the Vietnamese general on the side hurriedly gave orders.

Unfortunately it was too late.

The biggest mistake they made was to set up artillery positions within the enemy's fire coverage.

The bulky siege artillery is not so easy to move.

Even though the Vietnamese soldiers pushed the wheels hard, the artillery only moved slightly.

Before they could walk a few meters, a new round of firepower attacked them again.

In less than a cup of tea, half of the artillery that the Vietnamese army had painstakingly transported from the rear were destroyed in this artillery battle.

The fall of the artillery position was only the beginning of the tragedy. After losing their fire cover, the Vietnamese soldiers attacking the city became the second victims.

It is true that attacking the city by forming a battle formation against the door panels can block arrows.

However, this multi-person collaborative siege provided the best target for artillery strikes.

Fire at the door panel and take away a lot of people with one shot.

"What does Chen Jingfu do for a living?"

Hu Xinbo, who witnessed the tragic scene from afar, couldn't help but question loudly.

The ministers who followed him were also dumbfounded at this moment.

The war before them was unfolding completely differently from what they had expected.

"Your Majesty, calm down!
It's because the enemy is too cunning and deliberately lured us into a trap.

General Chen was so eager to make achievements that he was not careful for a moment and suffered a great loss.

After we recover, we will definitely give the enemy a hard time!"

Minister of War Chen Chuyang forced an explanation.

It’s all because of empiricism.

The siege methods just mentioned are all experiences summarized by the Vietnamese army in attacking small indigenous countries.

The military industry of these small countries remained in the era of cold weapons, and they could avoid attacks from catapults by placing their artillery three hundred meters away from the city.

At this distance, using artillery to attack enemy walls can exert maximum power.

The soldiers formed a battle formation against the door panels and attacked the city. This was also experience summarized and all of it had been verified in actual combat.

No one expected that these invincible tactics would suffer a heavy blow as soon as they were used.

At a distance of more than 300 meters, the Yu army's artillery can accurately lock onto their artillery positions and launch fire strikes.

The densely packed charging troops were actually giving the enemy a victory.

"Pass the order down, sound the retreat!"

Hu Xinbo gave the order coldly.

It has already happened, and all we can do now is to suspend the attack.

Even if this would dampen the morale of the troops, he had no choice but to accept it.

"Your Majesty, I am guilty!"

After an incense stick of time, Chen Jingfu, with a scar that had just bled, ran into the commander's camp to apologize.

Although it was an empiricist mistake, as a frontline commander he still cannot escape blame.

The last major war with the Central Plains dynasty was two hundred years ago. The generals who participated in that battle have hundreds of stalks of grass growing on their graves.

The Dai Viet Dynasty's knowledge of the Yu Army was limited to fragmentary references in history books and sporadic intelligence collected.

The history books are all bullshit. Dai Viet has a tradition of falsifying history, and they are completely unrelated to the truth.

It was clearly Dayu that gave up Jiaozhi on its own initiative, but in their history books, it became a report that they defeated the Yu army and forced the other side to cede land and pay compensation.

The previous intelligence all came from the previous Guangxi Garrison troops, who were a motley crowd, so naturally their evaluation could not be high.

After Li Mu came to power, the guard post became closed and ordinary people could not enter at all.

The spies were unable to collect any useful intelligence, so in order to report to their superiors, they simply modified the previous information to fool people.

If you look at the intelligence, the cannons on top of Zhen'an Pass are antiques that are more than two hundred years old.

After going through so many vicissitudes of life, no one knows whether it can be used.

But judging from what happened just now, this is obviously nonsense.

The power of Yu’s army’s artillery was much stronger than they had expected, and its hit rate was much higher.

Clearly, enemy artillery technology had improved over the past two hundred years.

"How dare you come back after the battle is like this!"

Hu Xinbo scolded immediately.

That look of disappointment was undoubtedly telling Chen Jingfu to quickly come up with a reasonable excuse to cover up the matter.

This is the treatment for confidants!
"Your Majesty, I deserve death!"

“But if I have to die, I want to die on the way to the battle.

The despicable people of the Yu Dynasty deliberately released false information to deceive us.

This caused heavy casualties in our army. I will use the blood of the Yu people to avenge the dead soldiers!"

Chen Jingfu said passionately.

That ferocious expression seemed as if he was determined to be irreconcilable with Dayu.

……

(End of this chapter)