Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 903 Yang Yuan's Counterattack

Inside Haozhou City, at the Prefectural Government Office.

Chai Hong, the prefect of Haozhou and military commander, Wang Yu, the military supervisor, Zhang Rong, the left commander of the Huaixi garrison, and Yue Zhanming, the rear commander, read through the military dispatches of Shao Hongyuan, the commander of the Huaixi Imperial Army.

The core idea of ​​the entire military order can be summarized in one sentence: Defend Haozhou City. As long as we live, the city will stand; if we die, the city will perish.

Shao Hongyuan was a ruthless man who had just beheaded a commander and his three hundred personal guards.

Upon receiving this military letter, they had no doubt what they would encounter if they dared to withdraw from Haozhou City.

Even if they fight to the last man and are forced to abandon the city, Shao Hongyuan will find them, chop off their heads, and then use them as chamber pots to urinate.

Although Prefect Chai concurrently held the position of Military Commander, it was merely to control the military through civil means.

The military forces of Haozhou were actually under the command of Wang Yu, the military commander.

Prefect Chai took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, "Supervisor Wang, how many soldiers are currently garrisoning the city?"

Wang Yu readily replied: "Commander Zhang has 5,000 men, Commander Yue has 5,000 men, and there were originally 900 state and county soldiers in the city."

Of these, only two hundred were combat-ready soldiers, and seven hundred were logistics and supply troops.

In addition, 1,200 local militiamen were temporarily conscripted from Zhongli, Dingyuan, and Zhaoxin.

After a slight pause, Wang Yu added, "Only 30% of the garrison troops are armored, and the archers each have forty arrows."

However, a batch of tiger-squatting cannons and thunderbolt shells sent by the imperial court could help defend the city.

Prefect Chai nodded slightly. Although he was a civil official, he was not completely ignorant of military affairs.

Prefect Chai turned to the two Imperial Guard generals who had come to support the defense of the city and said solemnly, "Haozhou City has no natural defenses to rely on, except for a city wall."

Now, the only way to defend this city is to rely on the two generals.

Commander Zhang laughed heartily and said, "Only when the attacking troops exceed my strength by five times can they pose a sufficient threat to my city."

"Our city's garrison currently numbers over 12,000, while the Jin army has fewer than 60,000. For them to breach Haozhou City would be extremely difficult."

Commander Yue said, "But if the besieging army exceeds 60,000, the supply of its food and provisions will be a huge burden."

The longer we hold the city, the harder it will be for them to hold out. Prefect, there's no need to be alarmed; we can defend Haozhou!

Wang Dujian nodded and said, "General Shao's order for us to defend Haozhou City to the death is clearly part of a scheme."

Haozhou is now the foremost city on the front line of our Huaihe River defense, and General Shao will not stand idly by and watch it fall.

Prefect Chai felt somewhat relieved upon hearing this and indeed said, "Very well, I hereby entrust the defense of Haozhou entirely to the three generals."

This office is responsible for logistics, supplies, and all kinds of support.

Commander Yue's expression shifted, and he asked, "How long can the grain reserves in Haozhou City last?"

Prefect Chai had a clear understanding of this matter.

After a moment's thought, he added the 10,000 reinforcements to the list, did a quick mental calculation, and readily replied, "General, rest assured, Haozhou is an important border town. The provincial granary, the Ever-Normal Granary, and the naval granary have a total of 120,000 shi of grain stored. Even with the reinforcements from the two generals, it can last for three months."

Commander Yue felt relieved and said with a smile, "That's excellent! We can now defend the city with peace of mind!"

Shao Hongyuan issued a strict order that no one was allowed to flee even if the city fell. The three generals were in the same boat, so they naturally gave it their all.

The city wall of Haozhou was nine li in circumference, and there were tens of thousands of soldiers in the city. It was more than enough to divide the troops to guard the various parts of the city wall.

The city's crossbows, crossbows, thunderbolts, tiger-squatting cannons, and fire-breathing tanks were all deployed on the vulnerable city walls.

Many horse traps were dug on the roads inside and outside the east, south, and north gates.

As for traditional defensive weapons such as the gate-blocking chariot and the Yaksha ram, they were all transported to their designated locations.

The west gate is a water gate. Ten warships are stationed in the city's waterways, loaded with sand and stones. They are ready to be scuttled as soon as the water gate is breached, thus hindering the Jin army's naval warships.

When the Jin army completely surrounded Haozhou City, the city itself had become like a hedgehog covered in sharp thorns.

On the eve of the Lunar New Year, an incredibly fierce battle for Haozhou City began.

"There are over ten thousand soldiers in Haozhou City. Unless they are a bunch of pigs, they should be able to hold out for two months."

With a dark expression, Shao Hongyuan ordered a group of armored generals in the main tent: "I will not go to relieve the siege of Haozhou. I will personally lead the main force to attack Shouchun!"

Shao Hongyuan said fiercely, "I'm going to lead you to fight the thieves! You all better remember this: whether our Huaixi soldiers are mules or horses will be revealed in this battle."

The generals under his command were all eager to fight.

The Huaidong army fought very well; this is something that's hard to compare.

They suffered a great loss last time, losing Shouchun, and they were all humiliated.

Shao Hongyuan pointed to his son Shao Zhengqing and another young general Xiao Yifei and said, "You two, lead your troops to patrol and fight, and seize opportunities on your own."

If the Jin army returns from Haozhou to reinforce Shouchun, we must take them down, even if we can't!

Shao Zhengqing and Xiao Yifei solemnly accepted the order.

……

Where is Li Dao?

Yang Yuan had just coaxed Xin Qiji, who had volunteered for battle, away when he asked the guards around him for advice.

Right now, he can't let Xin Qiji, this tiger and rhinoceros, escape from his cage; good steel should be used where it's needed most.

However, he was also getting a little anxious.

Li Dao should have received his order to send troops long ago.

Logically, mobilizing troops from the Jinghu North Route for cross-border operations requires an order from the Privy Council.

However, Yang Yuan is now the prime minister, wielding absolute power, and given his relationship with Li Dao, Li Dao has no reason not to obey his orders.

However, he sent Li Dao infiltrated behind enemy lines, which has made it difficult for him to get accurate information from Li Dao's side now.

Father-in-law, couldn't you send a soldier back to report every time you went somewhere?
I'm in a really urgent situation!

Despite his complaints, there was no news, so he could only wait patiently.

By this time, Li Dao had already moved to the Xizhou mountain area without anyone noticing. After receiving Yang Yuan's order, Li Dao indeed dispatched troops without hesitation.

His mission was to launch a surprise attack behind enemy lines, not to divert the main force of the Jinghu North Route Army.

In that case, Jinghu would be vulnerable and dangerous.

Therefore, Li Dao only brought eight thousand men.

Two thousand of them were naval troops, responsible for operating boats and any possible naval combat.

In addition, there were 6,000 elite infantrymen, including 3,000 vanguard soldiers, 500 heavy axemen, 800 crossbowmen, 1,500 Beiwei soldiers, and 200 personal guards.

Li Dao then took twenty fire oil tanks and five hundred projectile thunderbolts and left Ezhou quietly.

If there are more soldiers, it will be harder to hide them.

Li Dao was a very cunning man; he disguised the troop transport ship as a grain transport ship.

Nevertheless, he was still not at ease and chose to sail at night.

When the ship reached Huangzhou, they disembarked and traveled along mountain paths to Guangzhou.

This section is part of the Dabie Mountains. Traveling through the mountains allows one to completely avoid the Jurchen scouts and raiders.

Then, he sneaked off to Xizhou.

Xizhou was a grain and fodder transfer station for the Jin army's Shouchun camp.

Xizhou Granary was the most important supply point for the Jin Dynasty's Huaixi armies.

As a rear city of the Jin army, Xizhou originally did not have many troops stationed there, since there was a large army protecting it from the front.

Therefore, large groups of enemy troops could not penetrate through, and small groups of enemy troops were of no use either.

However, when Wanyan Liang established a series of supply points in preparation for attacking Jiankang, the number of troops stationed there doubled.

After all, this place is extremely important.

However, Shao Hongyuan, wanting to both relieve the siege of Haozhou and avenge the loss of his friend, launched an attack on Shouchun City instead of lifting the siege of Haozhou.

With the Jin emperor residing in Shouchun, the Jin people dared not be careless, so they transferred another portion of their troops from Xizhou.

In this way, the Jin army in Xizhou returned to its original size.

The city walls of Xizhou were low, and the city's circumference was only five li.

There are thirty-six granaries in the city, each capable of storing 2,500 shi of grain, totaling 90,000 shi.

However, given that it is wartime, the grain reserves here have now reached 130,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).

Not only were the main granaries, transfer granaries, charity granaries, and cellars completely filled, but even the grain drying ground was piled high with grain.

The wharf is located outside the grain drying town, where grain can be loaded onto ships and transported directly eastward along the Huai River.

Li Dao stealthily infiltrated the vicinity of Xizhou. If he went any further, the size of such a large army would not be able to hide from the enemy.

He then ordered his army to hide in the mountains and manufacture simple siege weapons.

The army rested until nightfall before quietly continuing its advance.

He dispatched a large number of scouts to sabotage the beacon towers in Xizhou, preventing the Jin army from sending timely warnings to the city.

At dawn, Li Dao personally led six thousand elite soldiers, carrying fire-breathing tanks, and with thunderbolts and archers clearing the way, launched a fierce attack on Xizhou City.

The battle lasted a full hour and a half. The heavy axemen broke through the city walls, and the Beiwei Army was the first to scale the walls, resulting in the fall of Xizhou City.

The oil tanker began to blaze, spewing flames everywhere.

The main warehouse caught fire, the transfer warehouse caught fire, the cellar caught fire...

The fire in the warehouse spread to the grain ships moored at the dock.

Amidst the raging flames, Li Dao led his army away.

He fled as fast as a shot, like a wild rabbit being chased by a hound.

By the time the Jin troops stationed nearby arrived in force to reinforce Xizhou Granary, Li Dao had already fled.

The fire at Xizhou Granary burned for four days before it was extinguished.

Li Dao successfully escaped from Xizhou, then followed the mountain paths of the Dabie Mountains, crossing mountains and valleys to return to the location of his hidden troop transport ship, where he boarded and left.

Only then did Li Dao write a battle report that was clearly a victory report, and send it to his son-in-law Yang Yuan.

Yang Yuan knew the surprise attack had succeeded even before he received his father-in-law's battle report.

Because of the fire in Xizhou, everyone within a radius of dozens of miles could see it clearly.

Scouts and reconnaissance officers didn't even need to get close; based on the sheer size of the fire, their experience was enough to tell them how serious the consequences would be.

The facts were similar to what the Song Dynasty scouts had predicted.

Eighty thousand shi of grain stored in Xizhou were burned.

The remaining 50,000 shi (a unit of dry measure) were salvaged by the Jin soldiers through their best efforts.

However, it still needs to be sifted out from the ash from the burned grains and the sand and gravel used for extinguishing the fire before it can be used.

"Tanf, speed is of the essence in war, you can send out your troops immediately!"

After receiving news of the fire at Xizhou granary from scouts on the same boat and military intelligence, Yang Yuan immediately summoned Xin Qiji and gave him orders.

Xin Qiji's cavalry commander crossed the Yangtze River an hour after receiving the order.

At this moment, Yang Yuan's orders to various parties were also delivered out by the gold medalists.

Wanyan Liang still wanted to attack Jiankang?
Instead of fighting at my doorstep, why don't you go play at your doorstep?

Yang Yuan's counterattack has begun in full force!
"Stay where you are and do not move."

Yang Yuan pinched Jiang Ninghuan's rosy cheek and said with a mischievous grin, "Wait until I return victorious!"

(End of this chapter)