Sweep Yuan

Chapter 138 Sweeping Chuzhou as if Entering an Empty Room

Meanwhile, while Shishan was preparing for war, Zhou Wendao had already selected the goods and set off south.

Although Shishan promised to entrust Zhou Wendao to recruit craftsmen at three times the cost, the Red Flag Camp's resources were still meager. They could only pay with goods, not cash. So, they gave Zhou Wendao a batch of spoils to choose from that day.

This was the original agreement between the two parties, but in prosperous times, antiques are prized, while in chaotic times, gold is valued. Now, with the situation in Jiangnan in turmoil, the prices of war-sold items such as antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and handicrafts have also fallen.

For the sake of the family's long-term interests, Zhou Wendao only informed Chen Zhishi, the magistrate of the business, of the changes in the market, but did not request a renegotiation.

In addition to Hua Yun and a platoon of soldiers escorting the caravan, Shi Shan also arranged for three people, including Sun Wuben from the Rongjun Society, to accompany them. This man from Hong County had recovered from the tragedy of his family's destruction and remarried, and was doing well in the Rongjun Society.

Shishan assigned Sun Wuben the task of taking advantage of the turmoil in Jiangnan to assist Zhou Wendao in recruiting various craftsmen urgently needed by the Red Flag Camp, to investigate the markets in Dangtu and Jiangning, and to try to establish the Red Flag Camp's own "Haozhou-Jiangning" intelligence network.

Two days later, the caravan arrived in Dingyuan.

So much time has passed since the Battle of Luqian River. Li Shanchang has established a basic administrative system in Dingyuan. Shao Rongneng has devoted himself to military affairs. The troops in the city have been well-trained in terms of flags, drums, commands, and formations. They have all changed into uniforms similar to those of the Red Flag Battalion, and their morale and spirit have greatly improved.

With the initial results of his military training, Shao Rong was no longer satisfied and continued to stay in the city waiting for the Yuan army to invade.

After the New Year, he ordered Guo Xing to lead his cavalry out of the city to investigate the enemy's movements and to wipe out the bandits roaming the countryside.

When Zhou Wendao led his caravan to Haozhou, he was stopped and searched by scouts from the Dingyuan Cavalry outside Dingyuan City. Guo Xing did not recognize Zhou Wendao and was worried that they were spies sent by the government army, so he brought them all into Dingyuan City.

Fortunately, Zhou Wendao's "donation of cloth to the troops" in Hong County was a legendary event that caused quite a stir. Although Shao Rong had never met him, he knew about the incident. After questioning him and piecing together some details, he confirmed that the caravan owner did indeed have some connection with the Red Flag Battalion.

However, Shao Rong was still unsure whether Zhou Wendao was a Yuan spy, so for safety's sake, he sent a small cavalry squad to escort them to Haozhou.

On their return journey, passing through Dingyuan, Zhou Wendao specially led the caravan into the city to rest. Ostensibly, this was to thank Vice Commander Shao for sending troops to escort them, but in reality, he wanted to find out about the changes in the enemy situation over the past few days.

To the south of Dingyuan lies Luzhou Road. After these days of rest and recuperation, Dong Tuanxiao has almost emerged from the shadow of the great defeat at the end of last year and stabilized the battle line. Two days ago, he even sent scouts into Dingyuan territory to investigate, but they were discovered by Dingyuan cavalry.

Guo Xing led his troops in pursuit of Dong's scouts for more than ten miles, killing so many that only two of them managed to escape in a sorry state.

Dong Tuanxiao is fighting on two fronts, north and south, and is in a rather difficult situation. He has suffered another loss this time. It is foreseeable that he will take a defensive stance towards Dingyuan for the time being and will not send anyone to Dingyuan to cause trouble in the short term. This will be beneficial to the Dingyuan army's next military operations.

Shao Rong had already written a report on this matter and the military operations his headquarters was preparing for, and sent it by express horse to Marshal Shi. The Marshal also sent a messenger yesterday with the latest instructions, but such confidential military information could not possibly be revealed to Zhou Wendao, a foreign merchant.

Zhou Wendao certainly didn't dare to inquire about military intelligence in other directions; he was only concerned about whether the road back to Taiping via Chuzhou was clear.

The Yuan army in the Chuzhou direction was on the defensive due to insufficient troops, and no unusual movements were detected for the time being.

However, Shao Rong was not at ease with the numerous villages and fortresses in Chuzhou. He had already planned to organize a campaign to clear out the countryside in the near future, and had already received approval from Marshal Shi. The troops were to set off tomorrow, and he suggested that the caravan set off with the Dingyuan army.

In chaotic times, there is little law and order. Villagers form strongholds to protect themselves when faced with the strong, and they are not afraid to become strongmen when faced with the weak.

When Zhou Wendao came, he spent money to assemble a caravan of nearly thirty people. This was because he was aware of and prepared for various risks along the way. On the return trip, with the support of Marshal Shi, the total number of people reached fifty. With a fierce warrior like Hua Yun in charge, ordinary villages and communities dared not provoke them.

Moreover, he was in a hurry to return to Taiping Road to settle his family and complete the task assigned by Marshal Shi. He couldn't afford to delay and didn't want to travel with the relatively slow-moving army, so he immediately declined Shao Rong's invitation.

Early the next morning, Zhou Wendao led the caravan away from Dingyuan, first heading east, then turning south, and returning to Taiping Road via Chuzhou.

Shao Rong then decisively dispatched troops according to the established plan.

In this military operation, the Dingyuan army left only 600 men, with Shao Rong's deputy Cai Fu (originally named Cai Fu, who changed his name to Cai Fu after vowing to drive out the barbarians and restore the Han dynasty) guarding the city, assisted by Li Shanchang. Shao Rong himself led 1,400 infantry and cavalry into battle. There were actually some small villages scattered throughout Dingyuan County. Due to insufficient manpower, these villages had not previously established local militias and therefore did not participate in the Battle of Luqian River, thus escaping one disaster. However, they could not escape the frequent bandit attacks that followed.

When Guo Xing went out of the city to scout out the enemy's situation, whenever he encountered these villages, he would advise the village chiefs to lead the villagers to move to the relatively safe area north of Dingyuan to settle down and cultivate the land. Some village chiefs listened to his advice and then led their villagers to move. Others, however, remained hesitant and stayed put to observe the situation.

In Chuzhou, which borders Dingyuan County, in order to prevent the Red Flag Camp from expanding eastward, the government has clearly required all villages and communities to establish local militias and has forcibly ordered some small villages to relocate and merge. As a result, fortified villages have sprung up everywhere, and local militias have been trained extensively.

Thus, retreating would delay the Red Flag Battalion's movements; advancing would allow these local militia to bring their own rations and join the Yuan army in besieging Dingyuan and Haozhou.

The situation in Dingyuan is actually quite bad.

After last year's turmoil, large tracts of cultivated land were abandoned, and the local people either fled or died. Although most of those who remained were organized to cultivate the land, this was only a temporary measure and could not ultimately solve the fundamental problems of food shortage and manpower shortage.

Li Shanchang once frankly told Shao Rong that even without the harassment of government troops, it would take Dingyuan at least ten years to recover. At present, relying solely on land reclamation, most of the elderly and weak must tighten their belts to barely sustain the garrison, the military and civilians, and the troops stationed in the city, let alone take out surplus money and grain to expand the army and prepare for war.

Seeking aid from Haozhou was certainly an option, but Haozhou's grain supply couldn't be obtained overnight. Shao Rong understood that Marshal Shi had promoted him to a higher position to resolve the long-standing issues, not to pass the problems on to higher authorities.

If we can't grow much grain in our fields right now, then we'll just steal it from our neighbors who have grain!
Therefore, the purpose of Dingyuan Army's operation was very clear: not to attack cities, but to "weaken neighboring forces and consolidate its own," with three main tactical objectives:
One reason is that it forced scattered villages and communities within Dingyuan to relocate north to cultivate the land, achieving the effect of "merging villages into fortresses";
Both measures destroyed the foundation of the local militia in Chuzhou, cutting off their ability to "respond to the call to arms."
The three forces used war to sustain war, thus relieving Dingyuan from the crisis of "the three armies needing food".

The Dingyuan Army launched a large-scale attack into Chuzhou. The officials of Qingliu (the seat of Chuzhou) and Quanjiao (a county under Chuzhou's jurisdiction) were unaware of the situation and thought that Shao Rong was about to launch a major attack on the city. They quickly closed the city gates and sent messengers to the Huaidong Circuit Pacification Commissioner's Office for help.

Since the government troops remained holed up in the city and refused to come out, it was the turn of the villages and communities that had set up settlements to suffer.

If they honestly handed over the money and grain as Shao Rong demanded, they could buy temporary peace; those who tried to resist would suffer the blows of the Dingyuan Army.

Guo Zixing was nominally a commander of ten thousand men, so it was impossible for him to lead the first battle. Guo Xing was in charge of the cavalry and needed to guard the outer perimeter to prevent the government troops from suddenly launching a counterattack from outside the city. The task of attacking villages and fortified settlements naturally fell to Miao Daheng.

Although Miao Daheng performed poorly in the Battle of Luqian River, his ability to raise 4,000 local militia after Guo Zixing's uprising was proof of his strength and ability. His troops had been tempered and refined in the battle, and had undergone more than half a month of training, making them no longer the rabble they once were.

The troops marched to the fortified village, deployed their forces, first using crossbows to suppress the local militia on the walls, then filling the moat with earth, and finally breaching the village with battering rams.

The local militia were defending their homeland with high morale, but they lacked armor and the ability to suppress the enemy with bows and crossbows. How could they possibly withstand the ferocious Dingyuan army?
After capturing the village, Shao Rong executed those who resisted on the spot, but did not hold a grudge against the rest. After the turmoil subsided, he gathered the villagers, publicized the Red Flag Battalion's policy, and demanded that they pay "capital to the Tartars for redemption" materials, as well as provide able-bodied men, horses, and mules to transport grain and supplies for the Dingyuan Army.

If any oppressed poor people are willing to join the army, Shao Rong will accept them all. If there are any people with deep-seated hatred for the enemy, he will also uphold justice for them.

In this way, they can "use war to sustain war" and continuously expand the size of their forces.

Shao Rong also ordered the newly recruited local militia to form "community-based environmental protection" alliances, with all squad leaders being veterans from Dingyuan.

With the support of these locals, the Dingyuan Army's operations became much more efficient. In just nine days, they captured thirteen strongholds in Chuzhou, and seized more than 14,000 shi of grain, 210 mules and horses, and countless weapons, cloth and other supplies.

Meanwhile, his troops successively recruited and incorporated more than 1,100 villagers from the villages and forts, and villagers from four other villages were willing to move to Dingyuan with the army.

Having achieved his strategic objective, and judging by the time, the Yuan army in Yangzhou should be ready to move out soon. Shao Rong then calmly retreated to Dingyuan with the spoils of war, leaving the mess to the Chuzhou government.

……

P.S.: I just realized that I mistakenly wrote "缪" instead of "缪" before, but the previous chapters were automatically locked after 48 hours, so I can't change it.

(End of this chapter)