The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 404 Choice
Although the Datong Army had 55,000 troops, it was divided into five divisions.

Zhang Can led his elite troops to guard the front of the Tao region. There were two first-class battalions with a strength of nearly 10,000 men. However, the territory was too large. Later, the rear Tao region was also added, and the troops were extremely short of manpower and could not be easily mobilized.

Then there's the area around the Yellow River, the Daning area, and the Lingjiquan area.

Next is the eastern part of Datong, defending Xuanfu and the capital region, with only three second-class battalions, and finally the southwestern part of Datong.

This operation.

The two Class A battalions, two Class B battalions, and one personal guard battalion in Datong City totaled 13,000 men. Then there were the three Class B battalions in the southwest of Datong, which were under the command of Lieutenant General Wei Yi and actually numbered over 20,000 men.

Nearly half of the 18th Battalion was mobilized.

"Everyone misjudged the General's gambling nature!"

Liu Zhong guarded Ningwu Pass and stayed with Wu Shigong, a garrison commander who had surrendered. The two stood on the city gate tower and looked out at the distant mountains. It was truly a case of one man holding the pass against ten thousand.

"Yes," Wu Shigong said with a wry smile, "No one expected Wang Jiedu to be so swift."

Liu Zhong nodded, his eyes full of admiration, and said without any politeness, "If it weren't for the Hongyi cannons, and I'm not bragging, with the advantage of this place, we only need four thousand men. Let alone the Datong army of less than ten thousand, even if thirty or fifty thousand came to attack, I could hold them off for a month or two."

Wu Shigong did not refute.

"The victor is king, the loser is villain." Relying on his prestige, Wu Shigong quickly helped the Datong army stabilize Ningwu Pass. In addition, he repeatedly told Wang Xin about the wine he had invited him to, which made him a familiar face. Curious, he asked, "What level does Commander Wang intend to achieve this time?"

Liu Zhong, who was standing next to him, was also very famous.

This junior officer, who had rebelled, killed officials, and called himself "Chuang Tatian," transformed himself into a battalion commander in the Datong Army. Who wouldn't be curious? Wu Shigong knew him. Judging from his own experience, if Wang Xin dared to take in someone like him, then his ambition must be considerable.

Wu Shigong was worried that if Wang Xin rebelled, he would be on a sinking ship.

"I don't know." Liu Zhong shook his head, his expression calm. "It's good that this damned court has rebelled. If I were a military governor, I would have rebelled long ago."

What does this sound like?

Wu Shigong was incredulous at Liu Zhong's disrespectful tone; how could Wang Xin even take in someone like that?

Although the principle is to not use those you doubt and to trust those you use, there is no need to take risks. Given Wang Xin's current status, surely he doesn't lack people to employ? Wu Shigong couldn't understand it.

Liu Zhong couldn't understand it either.

Why hasn't the commander rebelled yet?

Unfortunately, he was only a battalion commander. Above him was a brigade commander, and above that was a general. He had asked the brigade commander Wei Yi, who said that with such a great opportunity, they could have stormed into northern Shaanxi, wreaked havoc, and seized the chance to gain power. However, he was scolded instead.

The situation in Datong is not stable, with both internal and external threats.

Therefore, after the 9,000 Datong troops captured Ningwu Pass, they could only send half of their forces to pursue the enemy. This was not only due to the shortage of food and supplies, but also because they had to ensure the stability of the rear and prevent any unrest in the rear cities caused by the discovery of insufficient troops.

Given the current environment in Datong, many of the large investors who have suffered losses are not lacking in the courage to overturn the table; they just haven't found the opportunity.

Liu Zhong wanted to go back, but Wei Yi knew his troublesome subordinate well and dared not let him go back alone, fearing he would cause chaos in the area. So he left him at Ningwu Pass and sent someone else to lead the army back.

Wei Yi personally led 4,000 troops straight to Yuanping, intending to cut off Yangwuyu.

They had taken in too many prisoners along the way, and they couldn't just ignore them. In the end, they sent out more than a thousand soldiers, leaving them with only about three thousand men.

Ningwu Pass and Yangwu Valley are separated by Juzhu Mountain. There is no direct post road between the two places because there is very little bulk cargo trade between them, so there is no need for it. Only a very small amount of trade is conducted through the mountain road between the two places.

The mountain road is difficult to travel.

Even though the Datong soldiers risked their lives to deliver the message, that was the limit of human strength. On the contrary, Zhou Wen's troops, who occupied the area below Yangwuyu, were able to get the news from Ningwuguan more easily.

Therefore, Wang Xin had no doubt that Zhou Wen must have already found out.

What has Zhou Wenbu done?

"not found."

"Explore again."

Wang Xin did not believe it.

"Report!"

"Unusual activity detected."

Someone arrived breathlessly, suspecting that Zhou Wen's rear guard was evacuating.

The camp stretched for over ten miles, seemingly endless. Zhou Wen was no ordinary man; he would surely use the terrain to his advantage to prevent the Datong army's scouts from getting around to his rear, doing his utmost to limit the Datong army's field of vision.

"Attack."

Wang Xin immediately ordered a force to be sent out to test the waters.

"kill!"

"kill!"

After holding out for two days, the Datong army launched its first counterattack, with more than 300 cavalrymen probing towards the Zhou army's main camp. "Be prepared to retreat at any time," the commander instructed his troops, making sure they didn't lose their composure.

They were just testing the waters; even if they were very confident in themselves, they wouldn't dare to charge straight into a camp of tens of thousands of men with only a few hundred men.

"Swish swish."

The enemy quickly fired arrows.

There weren't many arrows.

The battalion commander hesitated for a moment, but did not retreat. He led his men to continue charging forward.

What happened to Li Biao?

Qi Shan was greatly alarmed.

There must be something wrong with Zhou Jun. The fact that he hasn't launched an attack since this morning is proof of that. So, the commander's guess was right. Zhou Jun must be trying to escape. The problem is how to keep them here.

Their battalion was in charge of the vanguard, and Li Biao was ordered by him to probe the enemy.

"Will the commander be dissatisfied?"

Someone was worried.

Qi Shannian subconsciously turned around and glanced at the central command tent behind him. Because it was too far away, he could only see a few blurry figures on the temporary platform. The one in the middle must be the military commander.

"Never mind." Qi Shannian gritted his teeth. "They've already charged through. If we call a retreat now, it would be a waste of those brothers. Have all units prepare, and then attack on my orders."

Since Li Biao had chosen to do this, Qi Shannian, though worried about failure, trusted Li Biao even more and decided to support him.

They survived the rain of arrows.

The resistance they were forced to endure did not materialize; instead, the archers in the camp scattered, along with the spearmen.

"rush!"

Li Biao was overjoyed and breathed a sigh of relief, almost thinking he was going to die here.

The Taiyuan army was indeed formidable.

At least tactically, there were no loopholes. If his hundreds of cavalry recklessly charged in, they would have no choice but to turn back and leave behind a trail of casualties. He vaguely guessed why the enemy had collapsed. Even though he only had three hundred or so cavalrymen with him, Li Biao decided to take the gamble.

He broke through the gap himself, gambling that reinforcements would arrive soon and he wouldn't be trapped in a desperate situation.

The faster the support arrives, the less we will suffer.

"Attack!"

Qi Shannian watched as Li Biao charged into Zhou Wen's camp. He immediately issued orders and personally led cavalry to meet him, followed by infantry. At the same time, he sent messengers to inform the military commander in the rear of everything that had happened, so that the military commander could make a new decision.

Dark clouds over the city.

In less than 15 minutes, the Datong army launched a general offensive. From the decision to counterattack to the launch of the general offensive, it took less than two hours, whereas Zhou Wen's troops had been attacking for two days.

At this moment, all the generals under Zhou Wen's command knew that their retreat was about to be cut off.

Ningwu Pass has been breached.

More than 10,000 troops were wiped out in one day. Few were able to escape, and even fewer managed to maintain their original formation. Moreover, the disarray and low morale of the troops greatly impacted their own morale.

From the moment the news was received until wave after wave of defeated soldiers collapsed.

The news could not be concealed.

Zhou Wen could neither believe it nor disbelieve it, and had no choice but to order a retreat.

Giving the order to retreat was difficult.

None of the units wanted to fall behind; everyone was thinking of running first.

Although Zhou Wen commanded the Taiyuan army, he could usually keep the troops in check. But in this critical moment, his prestige was no longer enough. The few troops he left behind were unwilling to stand guard, and even the commander secretly ran away with his servants.

Panic gripped the people. Seeing the Datong army attacking, aside from the instinctive order to fight back, the fleeing soldiers quickly realized their mistake and began to scramble to escape for their lives.

No one dared to gamble whether the Datong army would spare their lives.

Anyway, the Datong army was killing people in Datong, that's the truth. Deep down, everyone was afraid, afraid of being captured by the Datong army and losing their heads.

"Can we stop Zhou Wen?"

Yan Zhongzheng pressed for answers, but none of the generals dared to make a guarantee, and everyone looked towards the military commander.

Wang Xin also wanted to stop Zhou Wen, but he knew it was unlikely. The reason why everyone did not answer Yan Zhongzheng's questions, or even Yan Zhongzheng's follow-up questions, was because they wanted psychological comfort, and they knew that in their hearts.

The distance from Ningwu Pass to Yangwuyu is six or seven times the distance Yangwuyu took to escape Yuanping.

Once Zhou Wen's army leaves Yuanping and stabilizes its supply lines, Zhou Wen's forces have not lost their fighting strength. A hasty pursuit could easily lead to defeat, and even if they do not fail, their casualties will increase significantly.

"Pity."

Yan Zhongzheng stopped fantasizing and sighed, "Zhou Wen is not to be underestimated."

"indeed."

Everyone agreed.

Once he confirmed the news and sensed something was wrong, he immediately ran away without hesitation. Although this caused him great losses, it prevented the annihilation of his entire army. Few people could be as decisive as him.

After all, the losses are so great that not everyone is willing to accept them; everyone wants to take a gamble.

Isn't that what gamblers are all about?

"General, what should we do?" everyone asked Wang Xin.

A strange emotion rose in everyone's eyes.

Wang Xin sensed it.

The Datong army was no less powerful than the Taiyuan army, but the Datong army was too scattered and faced more threats, while the Taiyuan army could focus on itself. Therefore, the Taiyuan army could deploy three times more troops than the Datong army in a battle.

Moreover, this doesn't even take into account Taiyuan's population advantage and its endless militia resources.

Although it cannot engage in open-field battles, it can defend the city.

The Datong Army also faced threats from the Hu people behind it, as well as threats from the east and west.

None of these are taken into consideration.

By using the Hongyi cannons to destroy Ningwu Pass, the powerful Taiyuan army was forced to retreat, turning the tide with minimal losses. Wang Xin believed that as long as he launched a strong attack regardless of casualties, he could achieve victory.

But Wang Xin was unwilling to do so.

Since they were all soldiers of the Great Zhou, no matter the reason, the ones who died were all their own people.

Therefore, Wang Xin was unwilling to do many things, and even if it meant fighting each other, he tried his best to end the war with the least possible casualties.

His decision to head south was not due to the traditional treasury grabbing.

Having assessed the situation and received Xue Baoqin's letter, the Xue family business had already inquired in Jiangsu and Zhejiang and heard that there were indeed sweet potatoes in Fujian, so they sent people to collect them.

Many people are unaware of the importance of sweet potatoes, a crop native to the Americas.

Regardless of the facts, they only talk about their own theories.

The fact is that the Russians conquered the Siberian Far East region with sweet potatoes and potatoes. One of their most famous oil paintings depicts farmers eating a pot of stewed potatoes over a campfire.

Sweet potatoes are a lifesaver in mountainous areas.

Even in later generations, the main production areas of sweet potato noodles were in mountainous areas. For example, Shengzhou sweet potato noodles in Zhejiang, which is seven parts mountains, one part water, and two parts farmland, are called "wealth-generating noodles" by the locals; and Jingning Jiulong sweet potato noodles, which are nine parts mountains, half part water, and half part farmland, are promoted by the locals as "income-increasing noodles".
There is only one reason why the land area in the Qing Dynasty was not much different from that in the Ming Dynasty, and why the productivity did not improve, but the population was more than twice as large.

Those are American crops.

Now that he was certain he could obtain sweet potatoes, he did indeed need more land.

Especially in mountainous areas.

Even in the driest mountainous areas, there is still more water and rainfall than in the plains. However, because it is impossible to build irrigation facilities such as ditches, the only option is to build some terraces in suitable places, which leads to food shortages in the mountainous areas.

But things are different with sweet potatoes.

Datong is a mountainous area, northern Shanxi is a mountainous area, and Shaanxi has even more mountainous areas. It can be grown not only in the north, but also in many mountainous areas in the south, including the famous Jinggang Mountains in Jiangxi, where dried sweet potatoes are one of the ten specialties.

The model dominated by Datong, combined with American crops like sweet potatoes in today's climate, is what truly makes life possible.

Now that all the conditions are in place, there's no need to rush some things, like Zhou Wen.

Whether Zhou Wen has received news from the capital or not, it all points to one thing: Zhang Jifu's control over the capital is not secure. How many days can the death of the retired emperor be concealed?

A corpse will eventually stink.

Based on the information he knew, and considering that he was far from the capital, the fate of those in the capital might already be sealed.

If the emperor wins.

Does Zhou Wen still need to be dealt with by himself? He is Zhang Jifu's staunch confidant, and the emperor will definitely take him down. At that time, he will lose his righteousness. Taking advantage of the leaderless situation, he can take over Shanxi at the lowest cost.

Then sweet potatoes were promoted throughout the region, and food reforms were implemented.

If Zhang Jifu wins.

Zhou Wen will definitely not lose, because Zhang Jifu will mobilize national resources for him. This is the situation he least wants to see, so leaving room for maneuver will allow for a possible easing of tensions later.

Northern Shanxi, Datong, and the vast area beyond the Great Wall also offer great potential, allowing for the gathering of even more disaster victims.

You can advance to attack and retreat to defend.

Take it one step at a time.

However, regardless of the method, one must have one's own voice and power in the imperial court; otherwise, without anyone to help one, one can easily become a sitting duck. Therefore, it is necessary to rely on the power of the four major families.

"Take this place."

Wang Xin pointed to a corner of the map.

West of Ningwu Pass and north of Taiyuan, there are hundreds of military forts of varying sizes, as well as a vast mountainous area under their control.

Everyone was amazed.

"General, these places can't support people."

Although Qi Shannian knew that the military commander must have his reasons, he really couldn't understand why this was a dead end.

Everyone was baffled.

(End of this chapter)