Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 230, Borrowing a Head

Jiaxing.

After Fang Yong went north, Xu Shaobao started an uprising in Hangzhou and was very successful. He used the White Lotus Sect as his base, recruited 50,000 to 60,000 believers, established his own territory, and proclaimed himself the King of Yue.

After occupying Hangzhou, Xu Shaobao took advantage of the fact that the news of the uprising had not yet spread, forged a letter from Fang Yong, lured out the prefects of Huzhou and Jiaxing, and threatened the two to help him take over Huzhou and Jiaxing.

Huzhou fell as a result.

But Jiaxing has been preserved.

Because Jiaxing's defender Ji Quan was meticulous, he noticed that the Jiaxing prefect's demeanor was different from before, and thus saw through Xu Shaobao's conspiracy.

The matter was quickly reported. After Gan Ba received the news, he personally led his troops to set up a defense line in the waters of Taihu Lake and joined forces with Ji Quan of Jiaxing to stop Xu Shaobao.

Xu Shaobao's plan failed and he became angry and humiliated, so he decided to attack Jiaxing by force and break through the defense line formed by Ganba.

Ji Quan led his troops to garrison and fought against Xu Shaobao.

Ji Quan fought very cautiously. He knew that he was not a famous general and had only a vague understanding of offensive and defensive tactics. Only by giving it his all could he keep the city.

But Xu Shaobao did not take Ji Quan seriously.

He heard that Ji Quan was originally a general of Daxi, responsible for garrisoning Yangzhou, but was later defeated by Fang Yong and surrendered to the Huaiyin Army.

It is not expected that its ability would be that strong.

It was just a coincidence that the previous plan was discovered by the other party. Now that his army is approaching, shouldn’t it be easy to break into the city?

When he first arrived at the city of Jiaxing, Xu Shaobao boosted morale and ordered his soldiers to attack with all their might.

Ji Quan also encouraged his soldiers to defend the city walls to the death.

The Huaiyin Army had sufficient manpower, excellent equipment, and strong combat power. Xu Shaobao's army could not gain any advantage in a short period of time.

After the attack lasted for a few days, the morale of Xu Shaobao's side quickly began to decline.

Seeing this, Ji Quan ordered his soldiers to launch a verbal offensive according to the methods in ancient military books to further undermine the enemy's morale.

He ordered people to compose a simple ballad, telling the story of Xu Shaobao's shameless behavior of borrowing money and food from the Huaiyin Army to attack the Huaiyin Army, and ordered the soldiers to sing it.

As the rumor spread, Xu Shaobao's prestige was greatly lost.

Ji Quan then ordered people to write a large number of letters of persuasion and sent them to Xu Shaobao's military camp, elaborating on the benefits of surrendering to the Huaiyin army and persuading the enemy officers and soldiers to surrender.

At the same time, he ordered people to write a large number of threatening letters to those who stubbornly resisted, saying that when the general's heavenly soldiers came in the future, all of them would be turned into dust...

Ji Quan's tactics were a bit crude, but surprisingly effective.

The morale of Xu Shaobao's army dropped sharply, and believers escaped from time to time.

Xu Shaobao could only resort to bloody suppression, using the blood sacrifice method of the White Lotus Sect as punishment to intimidate those soldiers who wanted to escape, and at the same time promised huge rewards, which barely boosted morale.

The two sides continued to fight.

Xu Shaobao sent people to dig a tunnel, but the tunnel was discovered by Ji Quan, who fumigated a large number of soldiers to death.

Xu Shaobao sent people to pretend to be a grain transport team, but Ji Quan even guarded his own people and searched very carefully. He quickly found the swords hidden in the grain, and the team sent by Xu Shaobao was completely wiped out.

Xu Shaobao sent a master from his sect to sneak in through the river, but he was shot dead by Ji Quan with a crossbow, and his body was hung on the city wall and exposed for several days.

Xu Shaobao ordered his men to use the method of beating gongs and drums outside the city day and night to disturb the rest of the soldiers in the city.

Ji Quan ordered his men to gather suona musicians from nearby villages and towns, and have them take turns playing the suona, which not only blocked the noise but also made it difficult for Xu Shaobao's army to sleep.

Gradually Xu Shaobao was at his wit's end and had no choice but to select the fanatics in the sect, draw talismans on their bodies with the blood of crows, pray to the gods to possess them, and tell them not to be afraid of death as the gods would guide their souls.

Then these people rushed to the city wall with explosives on their backs and detonated themselves in a suicide attempt.

A large number of Huaiyin soldiers were killed or injured in the explosion, and even some gaps were blown in the city walls.

Ji Quan ordered his people to build more city walls and extend an additional defense facility outside the walls, which was made up of sharp wooden spikes, blades, and spear tips. In simple terms, it was a layer of barricades added to the city.

If the White Lotus Sect's death warriors wanted to go over and self-destruct, they would have to cross this layer of barricades. This was very difficult, as the number of death warriors was limited and they could not afford to be consumed.

Therefore, gradually, the tactic of self-destruction was also blocked by Ji Quan.

The two sides are tied again.

After several battles, more than a month passed slowly.

Xu Shaobao's offensive was completely blocked by Ji Quan, resulting in the loss of a large number of soldiers without any effect.

Xu Shaobao was completely at his wit's end, and could only send people outside the city to curse and challenge, calling Ji Quan a coward, calling Fang Yong a thief, and also cursing Daiyu...

The White Lotus Sect is good at intelligence and is one of the few forces that knows the situation of Fang Yong and Daiyu, so they specifically insult them for this reason.

This kind of insult is intolerable. Who can’t?

Not far away, Lin Lin, who was stationed in Songjiang, was so angry when he heard the news that he asked Gan Ba directly for orders, asking him to lead his troops to the front line to attack and kill Xu Shaobao, and not to return until he had taken his head.

However, Fang Yong had previously instructed Gan Ba to focus on defense and not to start a war on two fronts unless absolutely necessary.

Therefore, Gan Ba rejected Lin Lin's request.

Ji Quan had no intention of leaving the city to fight from beginning to end.

Ji Quan learned from military books that in a situation like Xu Shaobao's, there was no other way to provoke the enemy. All it took was a few more days for the enemy to collapse without a fight.

Sure enough, under Ji Quan's continuous defense, Xu Shaobao had no chance of breaking into the city. As the battle lasted longer, the army's morale was low and they were already considering retreating.

Upon seeing this, the generals in the city requested Ji Quan to go out of the city to fight. The enemy's morale was low and they could be defeated in one battle.

Ji Quan was also somewhat tempted.

But after thinking for a long time, he gave up the idea of leaving the city.

Ji Quan thought, how could a not-so-outstanding general like him force the enemy to this point so easily?

There must be a conspiracy!
He can't be fooled.

A few days later, news came from the north that Fang Yong had won.

The morale of the Huaiyin army was greatly boosted.

Xu Shaobao was extremely frightened.

Fang Yong ended the war in the north, and it can be predicted that the Huaiyin army will arrive soon.

It is so difficult for him to defeat a small Ji Quan now. If he waits for the main force of the Huaiyin Army to arrive, won’t he be dead for sure?
Soon after, a mutiny broke out in the army.

A high-ranking member of the White Lotus Sect named Zhao Youcan led people to attack and kill Xu Shaobao.

Zhao Youcan was born a beggar and was Xu Shaobao's sworn brother. The two shared joys and sorrows and had a life-long friendship. Therefore, Xu Shaobao trusted Zhao Youcan very much and gave one-third of the army to Zhao Youcan to manage.

But what is most lacking in this world is betrayal.

The four words "share weal and woe".

It is easy to share hardships, but difficult to share happiness; it is even more difficult to share hardships after sharing happiness.

In the past, whenever Xu Shaobao begged for a steamed bun, he would give half of it to Zhao Youcan.

But after the success, Xu Shaobao had no choice but to accept giving one-third of the army to Zhao Youcan.

In the past, Zhao Youcan could give his life for Xu Shaobao without hesitation.

Now that Zhao Youcan has power, it would be extremely difficult to ask him to sacrifice his life.

Zhao Youcan went from being a beggar to being above everyone else, and he went through so much hardship during that time. How could he be willing to go down the same dead end as Xu Shaobao?
and so……

"Brother, please lend me your head!"

(End of this chapter)