Sweep Yuan

Chapter 297 The Situation Takes a Sudden Turn

On the Huaihe Plain in winter, the world was a desolate gray-yellow. The biting north wind whipped up frozen earth and grass clippings, lashing the faces and bodies of every fleeing Han soldier like knives.

The team had completely lost its organization; the flags were askew, the armor was disheveled, and every face was filled with exhaustion and deep-seated fear.

Of the seven thousand men who fought their way out from under the walls of Xuzhou, more than half had been reduced to this number. Like a wounded giant python, they were struggling to escape south under the relentless pursuit of the Yuan cavalry.

Yin Congdao's act of setting fire to all the grain and supplies during his breakout thoroughly angered the Yuan army commander, Toqto'a—this was not only a tactical defeat, but also a blatant provocation and mockery of his personal prestige.

"A bunch of turtles in a jar, how dare they be so arrogant!"

With a gloomy face, Tuotuo ordered his fierce general Darba to personally lead three thousand of the most elite Mongol cavalry to completely annihilate this audacious Xuzhou rout army. He wanted to use their heads to build a mound of skulls to deter all rebels who dared to defy his will!
Yin Congdao sat astride his horse, his iron armor covered in slashes from swords and arrows, and congealed blood. The haphazardly bandaged wound on his left arm was still oozing blood. Looking back, he saw a long, disheveled column of soldiers behind him, and the ever-present Yuan cavalry on the horizon.

"Unable to get rid of it...like a maggot clinging to a bone."

He had fought for half his life and seen many battles; he was no ignorant bumpkin. It was precisely because of this that his heart was filled with coldness. Faced with absolute speed and the advantage of the flat terrain, any strategy seemed pale and powerless against these iron cavalry.

The Han army could only fight and retreat, using the flesh and blood of their soldiers to delay the onslaught of the Yuan army's iron hooves time and time again. Each brief engagement meant that dozens or even hundreds of familiar brothers would fall forever.

During today's battle, General Zhou Xian was struck hard on the shoulder by a Yuan soldier's spiked club while trying to save his comrades. He could only lie on his horse, his face ashen.

As he watched the column grow shorter and the Yuan army pursuers drawing ever closer, he suddenly pulled on the reins, turned his horse around, and came to stand before Yin Congdao.

"General!"

Zhou Xian's voice was hoarse from blood loss and exhaustion, but his eyes were unusually firm:
"This can't go on! Someone has to stay behind and stop them! Let me go!"

Yin Congdao looked at his old brother who had followed him since Hefei, and felt as if something was blocking his throat.

"Xianzi, you..."

He knew perfectly well that he needed men to cover the rear, but leaving Zhou Xian, who was already seriously injured, behind would be tantamount to sending him to his death.

"General! There's no time to hesitate!"

Zhou Xian gave a bitter smile, revealing his teeth stained with blood.

"I, Old Zhou, have already sold my life to the King of Han and the General! Today, I can earn a way out for the army, it's worth it! Besides, with my injuries... I can't run anymore, so I might as well stay and kill a few more Tartars to take with me!"

Without waiting for Yin Congdao's order, he suddenly raised his only functional right arm and shouted hoarsely:

"Fearless lads, stay behind with me, Zhou Xian, and cover the rear of the army!"

More than a thousand remaining soldiers responded to him with the same determination.

Most of them were wounded, and most of them had discarded their heavy and cumbersome armor. They only had waist knives, spears and other weapons in their hands. They silently followed behind Zhou Xian's horse and formed a thin but tragic circular formation on a relatively open slope.

However, on the flat Huaihe Plain, this small number of infantrymen, lacking bows, crossbows, large shields, and long spears, were doomed to fail when faced with thousands of Mongol cavalry.

The Yuan army didn't even bother with traditional mounted archery harassment; Darba grinned and gave the order to charge.

"Boom--!"

Iron hooves shattered the frozen earth, like thunder of death.

The black torrent easily crashed into that thin defense line, like a hot knife cutting into butter.

Zhou Xian brandished his spear like a mad tiger, stabbing down two Yuan cavalrymen who charged at him. Then, he was pierced through the body by several spears that came at him at the same time. In his last vision, he saw countless galloping hooves and the sky in the south that represented vitality.

The Sui River is not actually wide, and its current is quite gentle, but at this moment it stands in front of the fleeing people. The turbid river water, mixed with ice crystals, flows slowly, like an insurmountable chasm.

When Yin Congdao led his remaining force of less than two thousand men to the north bank, everyone was exhausted. Many people collapsed to the ground upon seeing the icy river water, too weak to even lift their feet.

Behind them, Darba's iron cavalry, having easily crushed Zhou Xian's rearguard, swept in once more like a pack of wolves drawn by the scent of blood! The sound of hooves grew closer and closer, like a death knell, until the ferocious faces and gleaming scimitars of the Yuan cavalry could be clearly seen.

Yin Congdao had ordered his men to hide ferries in the reeds beforehand, but it was clear that he could not get all the remaining troops to evacuate at this moment. He had done his best in this battle, but he had not anticipated that the Yuan army's reaction speed and determination to pursue far surpassed any enemy army he had ever faced.

It was too late to change anything now. He sighed and said:
“An incompetent general can lead to the death of the entire army. It is Congdao who has harmed all my comrades. I will cover the rear. Let as many brothers as possible escape.”

At the last moment, he still dared not reveal that there was a boat in the reeds.

Even though this might allow more soldiers to escape, the fleeing troops, in their struggle for the ferry, are highly likely to unleash the ugliest side of human nature, causing even greater casualties—something he had witnessed far too often in his lifetime of battles.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

At the critical moment, a deep and powerful war drum suddenly sounded from inside the dike on the north bank of the Sui River!
A bright red banner bearing the character "Xue" was suddenly raised! Immediately afterwards, hundreds of Han soldiers clad in red battle coats seemed to spring up from the ground, unleashing a volley of arrows that flew over the fleeing soldiers like locusts, raining down on the charging Yuan cavalry!
It was Xue Xian, who was stationed in Suzhou. He arrived just in time!
However, this volley of arrows had limited deterrent effect on the cavalry charging head-on.

Darba merely adjusted his formation slightly, raising his round shields to protect his head and face, and his charge barely slowed. His objective was clear: to strike while the Han army was crossing the river and annihilate them all on the north bank of the Sui River!
The Yuan cavalry were about to rush into their firing range and were about to reap lives with their scimitars and spears.

Suddenly, another anomaly occurred!
From the nearly human-high withered reeds and wild grass on the left flank of the Yuan cavalry, countless dark figures suddenly rose up. They were the two thousand elite infantrymen personally led by Xue Xian! They had been lying in ambush here for a long time, and even Yin Congdao and others, who had fled here in panic, had not noticed them.

"kill--!"

Xue Xian charged ahead, wielding a gleaming spear, roaring as he charged toward the nearest Yuan army centurion. The centurion, clearly unprepared for an ambush, hastily raised his spear to parry, only to be struck down from his horse by Xue Xian's powerful blow!
"Hold them back! Don't give them a chance to escape!" Xue Xian's voice boomed like thunder, echoing across the chaotic battlefield.

Last year, Shi Shan personally went to Suzhou to unite the various Red Turban armies and march north to relieve the siege of Xuzhou. In order to break through the Suishui defense line, he sent Xue Xian and Li Xixi to lead their troops to cross the river first and attract the Yuan army to take the initiative to attack.

At that time, also in Suishui, Xue Xian's troops successively broke through three camps, but were ambushed by the Yuan army's Zeng Bocheng's cavalry, and almost the entire army was wiped out. After the battle, he racked his brains for a strategy to defeat the cavalry with infantry.

In this battle, Xue Xian personally led his elite troops to ambush in the wilderness. When the Yuan cavalry were at very close range, he suddenly rose up and attacked their flank, engaging them in fierce combat and not giving the Yuan cavalry a chance to create distance and continue their attack.

The ambushing Han infantrymen, in groups of three, paid no attention to formation and charged like a pack of wolves, fearlessly towards the Yuan cavalry who had just picked up speed.

They would either cut off the horses' legs, stab their bellies, or use ropes to pull the Tatar riders off their horses, and then frantically stab them with long spears!
The battlefield instantly descended into the most brutal and bloody melee. The Yuan cavalry lost their speed advantage and became bogged down in close combat with the infantry. The mournful cries of warhorses, the screams of soldiers, the clang of clashing weapons, and the wails of the dying mingled together.

Xue Xian, as if possessed by a war god, thrust left and right with his spear, his body covered in blood, successively felling three Yuan officers who were trying to regroup. The Yuan army's momentum was abruptly halted by this desperate flanking attack, and their formation was thrown into chaos.

Darba brandished his scimitar, cutting down two Han soldiers who tried to approach. Looking around, he saw that his cavalry had been divided and surrounded, losing the space for a group attack, and their morale was rapidly declining.

Meanwhile, the Han general on the other side, who was like a mad tiger, was leading a squad of elite soldiers and charging straight toward his own banner!
"Waaaaah—!"

A helpless and mournful horn sounded, signaling the Yuan army's retreat.

Darba's face was ashen, and he almost ground his teeth to powder, but he had no choice but to order his remaining troops to disengage, pull back, and adjust their formation. He could only watch helplessly as the Han army launched a large number of rafts and small boats from the reeds and calmly crossed the river.

Although the Han army in Xuzhou escaped danger temporarily in this battle, the cost was extremely high.

Yin Congdao's trusted general Zhou Xian was killed in battle. Of the seven thousand soldiers from Xuzhou, more than half were killed or scattered after the breakout from Xuzhou, the pursuit along the way, and the battle of Suishui. Including the scattered fleeing soldiers who came later, the total strength was less than 1,600 men, which can be described as a great loss of strength.

In contrast, the performance of the garrison troops in Xiaoxian, Yongcheng, Suining and other places was even more dismal.

Some city commanders were cowardly and fled before even seeing the Yuan army, causing the city's limited food and weapons to fall into enemy hands. Others were slow to react and were surrounded by a Yuan detachment, but by then it was too late to break out, and they ended up being wiped out.

After this battle, Yin Congdao realized a stark reality: relying solely on the troops of Xuzhou, it was extremely difficult to confront the Yuan army head-on. He also saw the limits of his own capabilities and dared not undertake such a high-risk long-distance retreat while surrounded by the main force of the Yuan army.

Before Toqto'a led the main force of the Yuan army to Suzhou, Yin Congdao decisively abandoned the place.

To prevent the city's precious food and supplies from falling into enemy hands, before retreating, he ordered Xue Xian to open the official granaries and announce that the remaining civilians could take whatever they wanted. He had only one request:
Those who have taken the government's property must go south to Haozhou with the army; those who do not wish to leave their homeland must immediately flee the city, and no one is allowed to stay in the city.

In an instant, Suzhou City was like the end of the world, with people frantically rushing into the government granaries, looting everything they could eat and use. After this chaotic ransacking, there was practically nothing of value left in the granaries.

But before leaving the city, Yin Congdao still issued the order with a blank expression:
"Set it on fire, burn the city down."

He wanted to implement a scorched-earth policy! Not only should he burn any remaining supplies, but he should also burn all houses and most of the fortifications, leaving the Yuan army, which was already facing a food crisis, with no usable resources, not even a place to shelter from the wind and snow!
This is the most brutal, but also the most effective, scorched-earth strategy.

With the Han army's voluntary withdrawal from Suzhou, the first phase of Toqto'a's southern campaign came to an end.

From the perspective of the Yuan soldiers, the outcome of this battle was undoubtedly brilliant.

Within a few days, the army won one victory after another, "recaptured" five cities including Xuzhou, Xiaoxian, Yongcheng, Suining, and Suzhou, with a total loss of only over three thousand people (as for the thousands of laborers who died filling the trenches, they were not considered "people" to begin with).

Such a stunning victory was an unprecedented triumph for the Yuan army on the main battlefield since Han Shantong and Liu Futong ignited the Red Turban Rebellion! The news of the victory greatly boosted the morale of the Yuan army.

However, after learning that Suzhou had also been burned down and that the Han army had fled again, Toqto'a himself was caught in a dilemma.

Undoubtedly, the Southern Expedition had a perfect start, greatly boosting morale.

However, the strategic goal of annihilating the main force of the Han army in Xuzhou and gaining the initiative in the next stage of the campaign was not achieved in this battle. The two large fires set by Yin Congdao in Xuzhou and Suzhou burned his plan to obtain supplies from the enemy to ashes.

In order to sustain the larger-scale campaigns to come, he had to use even tougher measures to force the already financially depleted and impoverished inland regions and Henan province to urgently prepare and transport more grain and fodder.

At the same time, in order to quickly obtain supplies and maintain the morale of his troops, he could only tacitly approve and condone his soldiers to carry out brutal looting and massacres of the people in the newly "recovered" areas such as Xuzhou, Xiaoxian, Yongcheng, and Suining, in order to plunder the already limited grain reserves of the people.

As a result, the royal army under Toqto'a, which should have been "punishing the guilty and relieving the people," was instantly ruined. The land that had just been recovered lost the hearts of the people due to this brutal act of draining the pond to catch all the fish, and the undercurrent of resistance surged again, quickly plunging the country into a new turmoil.

But there was no turning back for Tuotuo.

The army needs food to keep moving forward, and the soldiers need real military achievements and loot to maintain high morale.

He himself needed bloody "victories" to suppress his political enemies in the court and to intimidate those wavering opportunists in Huaidong and even the entire southeast region, so as to avoid the war from falling into a stalemate of attrition that he least wanted to see.

However, the two major fires in Xuzhou and Suzhou, while exposing the ruthlessness of the Han army, also allowed Tuotuo to keenly observe a fact: the Han army's forces north of the Yangtze River were quite weak, and its strategic focus was clearly on the south of the Yangtze River.

This gave him a greater opportunity—if he could seize the moment when the main force of the Han army was tied down by the Yuan army in Jiangnan, and win a quick victory, it was not impossible to wipe out the remaining forces of the pseudo-Zhou and pseudo-Han in Jiangbei in one fell swoop!

Don't miss out!

Tuotuo immediately submitted a rousing report to the Dadu court, boasting "brilliant" results. He claimed that "more than 19,000 enemy soldiers were killed in battle, the bandit chief Sesame Li was captured, the cities of Xuzhou and Suzhou were massacred as a warning to others, and five counties including Xiaoxian, Yongcheng, and Suining were recovered." He also depicted a harmonious scene where "the elders of Xuzhou and Huaihe River regions, upon hearing of the return of the imperial army, all brought food and drink to welcome the royal army."

He also suggested that the court downgrade Xuzhou Road to "Wu'an Prefecture" to demonstrate to the world that the Yuan Dynasty's military fortune was still prosperous and sufficient to stabilize the four directions.

This timely good news acted like a shot in the arm, temporarily suppressing the opposition from the court and government.

Emperor Toghon Temür of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty was overjoyed. He not only approved Toqto'a's request, but also issued an edict to build a shrine for Toqto'a in Xuzhou and erect a "Monument to the Suppression of Bandits" to commend his unparalleled achievements.

For a time, praises and eulogies for Grand Tutor Toqto'a filled the Mongol court.

Of course, there was an interlude in this "harmony": In his joy, the emperor rewarded his ministers, and Hama, the Xuanzheng Yuan envoy who had gained favor by having beautiful women perform the "Sixteen Heavenly Demon Dance" for him, was also promoted and appointed as the Zhongshu Pingzhang Zhengshi again, returning to the core of power.

This is undoubtedly the way to maintain balance in the imperial court.

However, Tuotuo, who was far away on the front lines, had no time to attend to the subtle personnel changes in the court.

Riding on the momentum of the great victory at Xuzhou, Tuotuo rested briefly before continuing his southward march.

At this moment, he had two routes of attack in front of him:
One option was to take the land route, passing through the ruins of Suzhou to attack Haozhou, with the main focus on annihilating the Jiangbei stronghold of the puppet Han forces.

The other route was to travel by water along the Yellow River and the Grand Canal to attack Taoyuan, Qinghe, Shanyang and other places, with a focus on suppressing the puppet Zhou forces.

The disastrous consequences of Yin Congdao's burning of Suzhou were now becoming apparent.

Within a range of over two hundred li from Xuzhou to Haozhou, there was no longer a stable base that could provide supplies and station troops.

In addition, the route required crossing three major rivers—the Sui River, the Hui River, and the Huai River—making the Yuan army's main force, which carried a large amount of supplies and was primarily composed of infantry, extremely difficult and risky for attacking Haozhou.

Of course, the reverse is also true; it would be equally difficult for the Han army to rely on this route to advance north and threaten the Yuan army's rear.

After assessing the situation, Tuotuo made a decision.

He left a small force in Xuzhou to transport supplies and suppress local rebellions, while he personally led the main army south along the Yellow River. The Han army left to defend Suqian numbered less than a thousand and fled at the first sign of trouble. The Yuan army captured Suqian without bloodshed and then entered the territory of Huai'an Road.

At this time, Zhang Shicheng was concentrating his main force on Huai'an Road, surrounding Shuyang County, and engaging in a difficult tug-of-war with the Yuan army.

When he realized that when Toqto'a led his army south, the main force of the Yuan army had already appeared on his flank and rear as if from the sky, the entire battle situation collapsed instantly!

Zhang Shicheng hastily ordered a retreat, but it was too late.

In the first phase of the campaign, Tuotuo had already established his fearsome reputation by massacring entire cities. Now, facing the panicked people of Huaidong, he timely changed his strategy and adopted a combination of coercion and enticement.

He ordered his soldiers to publicly display the thousands of heads (many of which were innocent civilians) that they had captured in previous battles outside the cities, in order to exert tremendous psychological pressure.

At the same time, he sent envoys to inform the generals of the puppet Zhou forces in various cities in Huaidong that as long as they realized their mistake and surrendered the city, he could not only petition the court to pardon them for their crimes of following the rebels, but also allow them to retain some military power and continue to garrison their original positions.

Previously, in pursuit of rapid expansion, Zhang Shicheng lavishly relinquished power to local powerful clans and gentry when conquering these cities. Many of the garrison commanders were themselves from powerful local families and were not closely bound to Zhang Shicheng.

These are typical "fence-sitters," believing that "even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake," and they follow whoever is stronger.

At this moment, faced with the terrifying threat of "conquering six counties, razing two cities, and beheading tens of thousands within ten days" and the temptation of "forgiving past transgressions and protecting one's family and family," where was there any thought left to be loyal to "King Cheng"?

Thus, a dramatic chain reaction occurred. Within days, Taoyuan, Qinghe, Yancheng and other counties changed sides one after another, and the city walls were adorned with the flags of the Yuan army. Local gentry and elders, trembling, carried food and wine as they went out of the city to "joyfully welcome the royal army's restoration."

They captured half of Huaidong without bloodshed, and the size of Tuotuo's army not only did not decrease but increased, with a large number of surrendered soldiers joining the ranks.

More importantly, thanks to the "devoted contributions" of these powerful local clans (the tolls they paid to save their lives), the food crisis that had plagued the Yuan army for so long was alleviated to some extent.

This finally freed up Toqto'a's forces, allowing him to divide his troops to besiege Shanyang County, the seat of Huai'an Road, while simultaneously dispatching his main force to launch a fierce attack on Zhang Shicheng's stronghold, Gaoyou Prefecture. At the same time, he also divided his forces to attack Sizhou and other places, intending to uproot the pseudo-Zhou regime in one fell swoop.

Just as Tuotuo was advancing triumphantly in Huaidong, the battle situation in Jiangnan presented a dull stalemate.

Just as Shao Rong had predicted, the Yuan army's commander in Jiangnan, Buyan Temur, indeed chose Hangzhou as the focus of his counterattack.

On the eastern front, he ordered some troops to take turns launching feigned attacks on Yuling Pass, a key pass leading to Huizhou, in order to attract the attention of Xu Da, the commander-in-chief of the Han army. At the same time, he secretly mobilized elite troops to enter Jiande Road and Wuzhou Road, attempting to bypass the defense line and launch a surprise attack on Fuyang County and Zhuji Prefecture.

However, Xu Da did not fall for the trap. Li Xixi and Zhao Pusheng, who had divided their troops to guard Hangzhou and Shaoxing, were also prepared and successively defeated the invading Yuan army, killing nearly 10,000 enemies.

In the central region, Dong Tuanxiao, the Vice Minister of the Jiangzhe Province, after receiving reinforcements from Buyan Temur, led his army northward in an attempt to counterattack Xuancheng, the capital of Ningguo Road. However, he was met with a fierce counterattack by the Han army general Mao Gui and suffered a crushing defeat.

However, when Mao Gui attacked Ningguo County, a county under the jurisdiction of Ningguo Road, he was defeated by Dong Tuanxiao's troops who quickly stabilized the front line. The two sides fought back and forth along this line, with each side winning and losing, resulting in a stalemate.

On the western front, the two Yuan armies from Huguang and Jiangzhe provinces, although they had amassed heavy troops in Chizhou Road and presented an aggressive posture of both advancing westward to Luzhou Road and attacking Taiping Prefecture in the east, were actually the most cowardly and the weakest in terms of fighting spirit among all the Yuan armies in Jiangnan.

After Enningpu, the Left Chancellor of Huguang Province, lost more than 10,000 soldiers and died in Wuwei Prefecture, the Yuan army in Chizhou never launched a decent attack again.

In just over a month, the total strength of the Yuan army besieging Shi Han in Jiangnan was nearly 300,000. However, the only notable achievement was that Yu Que, the Left Vice Minister of Huainan Province, led the troops of Anqing Road to capture the Han army's outpost in Qingyuan Road—Tongcheng New City.

In contrast, the situation for the Han army in Jiangnan was slightly better.

On the inner front, Hu Dahai pacified the entire territory of Huzhou Prefecture and Guangde Prefecture, leaving no organized Yuan army forces within the Han army's controlled area, allowing more forces to be deployed to the outer battlefield.

However, on the outer front, apart from Mao Gui capturing Jing County under the jurisdiction of Ningguo Road and Zhang Desheng leading the Yangtze River Navy to defeat the Yuan army's troop transport fleet, no decisive major victories have been achieved recently.

It was actually quite normal for the Han and Yuan armies to be locked in a stalemate in Jiangnan.

Around the core area of ​​Huainan and northern Zhejiang, both sides have deployed a total of nearly 500,000 troops. In northern Zhejiang alone, the opposing forces number no less than 400,000.

Such a large force could be deployed whether it was guarding strategic passes (such as the direction of Hangzhou Prefecture), garrisoning under fortified cities (such as the direction of Chizhou Road), or being restricted by narrow mountain roads (such as the direction of Ningguo Road).

It is extremely difficult for either side to make a breakthrough in any direction, and it requires taking on enormous risks.

Without absolute certainty, no one dares to easily commit their main forces to a particular direction and engage in a decisive battle with an uncertain outcome.

Take Chizhou Road, which is most suitable for large-scale army deployment, for example. Even if Shishan concentrates all his forces and manages to defeat the weakest-willed guest troops from Huguang and Jiangxi, the remaining Yuan army can at worst abandon Chizhou Road and retreat to the more complex Jiangzhou Road.

The Han army was caught in a dilemma: if it did not continue to expand its gains, the significance of the battle would be greatly diminished; if it continued to advance westward, it would not only face a pincer attack from the Yuan army in Anqing and Jiangzhou, but also risk having its long supply line cut off by the Yuan army in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Moreover, the Yuan army had concentrated its forces in the cities of Guichi and Tongling, and it was uncertain whether the Han army could defeat them in one battle.

Large-scale battles are often like this: when both sides have a large number of troops and a vast strategic depth, the battle can easily last for months or even years. The competition is not only about bravery on the battlefield, but also about the patience, national strength, logistics, and ability to find opportunities for battle.

Let's see who can't hold on any longer and reveals their fatal flaw first.

But this process is by no means passive waiting.

Both Shishan and Buyan Temur were actively preparing for the "variable" to break the deadlock, striving to find an opportunity to "control" others in the confrontation, while strictly guarding against and avoiding being "controlled by others".

Militarily, Shishan's hopes for breaking the deadlock rest primarily on two aspects:
On land, after Hu Dahai pacified the inner lines, he transferred a part of the Shanzuo Guard to Hangzhou Prefecture and temporarily placed it under the unified command of Xu Da, intending to strengthen the forces on the eastern front and seek to launch a local counter-offensive against the Yuan army. The key breakthrough point was chosen to be the Ningguo Road, where the fighting was fierce.

On the water, there was the Yangtze River Navy, which had already gained control of the river.

If the Yuan army wants to cut off the Han army's north-south connection, it must find a way to rebuild its navy. Although this force has not yet been seen, as soon as it shows up, the Yangtze River Navy can find an opportunity to annihilate it, thereby gaining greater strategic maneuvering space.

In terms of domestic affairs, apart from the newly acquired Guangde Prefecture, the rest had passed through the initial period of chaos, social order had been initially restored, and they had begun to provide the Han army with supplies such as food, weapons, and clothing.

It is worth mentioning that as early as when Shi Shan led his army to pacify the various routes in northern Zhejiang, the first four prefectures he captured—Taiping, Yingtian, Zhenjiang, and Changzhou—had already completed their first autumn tax payment. This was the foundation that supported the Han Kingdom's continued war.

The Yuan army would not place its hopes of breaking the deadlock on the Han army making mistakes. Its most important "variable" was the southern expeditionary army personally led by Grand Tutor Tuotuo!

Shi Shan knew that the troops in Xuzhou were poorly trained, and that they were lacking in food supplies, provisions, and city defenses, making it difficult for them to directly block Tuotuo's thunderous attack.

Therefore, his initial order was to allow Yin Congdao and his men to rely on the city walls and fortified villages to create layers of obstruction, trading space for time. If things became unfavorable, they could gradually retreat to Haozhou to preserve their strength.

Objectively speaking, Yin Congdao's five-day defense of Xuzhou, despite suffering heavy losses, did effectively delay the enemy. His decision to abandon Suzhou after his main force was severely damaged and unable to continue fighting was in line with the strategic principle of "preserving men while losing territory," and therefore not a major mistake.

However, he should not have set fire to Suzhou again during his retreat.

This fire won tactically but lost strategically. Although it put into practice the strategy of scorched earth against the Yuan, it also clearly exposed the Han army's weakness in Jiangbei and its predicament of having to adopt a defensive posture.

More importantly, it freed the Yuan army from having to divide its forces to guard the key point of Suzhou, allowing them to concentrate all their forces and focus wholeheartedly on suppressing Zhang Shicheng's forces.

Historically, Zhang Shicheng was almost completely wiped out in a very short period of time by the army of Tuotuo, leaving him with only the isolated city of Gaoyou.

In this timeline, thanks to Shi Shan's strong support, Zhang Shicheng's expansion was faster than in history, making his foundation far more fragile. Faced with the full force of Toqto'a's hammer, the Zhang-Zhou regime would likely collapse even faster than in history!

Once Toqto'a completely defeats Zhang Shicheng and then Zhenshuowei, gaining full control of the Grand Canal, the Han army's main force in Jiangnan, already in a stalemate, will immediately find itself in an extremely passive situation, attacked from both the north and south, and besieged on all sides!

However, the mistake had already been made.

Shi Shan was well-versed in political maneuvering and the art of managing subordinates, so he naturally wouldn't openly blame Yin Congdao for not forgetting to "scheme" against rivals and disloyal ministers during the retreat, all for the sake of the King of Han's hegemony.

All he could do was to decisively adjust his plans and do everything in his power to clean up the mess left by the defeat in Jiangbei before the situation deteriorated completely.

On November 16, just as battle reports from Jiangbei were arriving one after another and morale was wavering, Hu Dahai’s troops were ordered to break through Qianqiu Pass in western Zhejiang and enter Ningguo Road to join forces with Mao Gui’s troops to attack the Yuan army in Ningguo County.

After three days of fierce resistance, the Yuan army finally broke through the defenses of Ningguo County, and the defending general Dong Tuanxiao led only a few dozen elite cavalrymen to break out of the encirclement.

In this battle, the Han army finally tore open a significant gap on the long front line south of the Yangtze River!
Without the change of events north of the Yangtze River, the Han army could have launched a pincer attack on the Yuan army's central Huizhou Road from both Ningguo Road and Hangzhou Prefecture, in order to break the stalemate and seize the strategic initiative.

Unfortunately, the situation in Jiangbei is urgent, and Shishan can no longer act rashly.

The day after Ningguo County was captured, Zhang Shicheng sent a messenger urgently:
Tuotuo's army has captured Shanyang County, the seat of Huai'an Road, and the defending general Zhang Shide was captured and sacrificed to the flag! Previously, Baoying and Xinghua counties had also been lost. Tuotuo personally led nearly 200,000 troops south and has completely besieged Gaoyou Prefecture!
The Zhang-Zhou regime is on the verge of collapse!
The situation in Jiangbei is on the verge of collapse!

(End of this chapter)