1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3861

Jiujiang City is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River. The city wall on the north side extends in a straight line along the river, with the closest point only about ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) from the riverbank. However, the difference in elevation between the city and the riverbank is three or four zhang (approximately 13-20 meters). Combined with the height of the city wall, it looks quite imposing, thus making the Yangtze River a natural moat.

The city is surrounded by Gantang Lake and Nanhu Lake to the west and south, with only the eastern side of the city having a moat built along a natural waterway. The entire city is surrounded by waterways, with only the area outside the eastern moat providing space for the attacking side to deploy their battle formations, making it somewhat easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Before arriving here, Shi Chengwu had already seen the city defense map drawn by his scouts, but the scene he saw with his own eyes still made him sigh, "If we hadn't persuaded the prefect of Jiujiang to surrender, it would have been quite a challenge to attack the city in this situation!"

Ning Zijing asked curiously, "If the local government chooses to hold out, and there are sufficient troops and supplies in the city, how long will it take us to take this place?"

After pondering for a moment, Shi Chengwu replied, "It would be difficult to capture this city in one day. If we want to reduce our casualties, I think it will take at least two or three days!"

Ning Zijing said in surprise, "Two or three days, that's quite fast!"

Shi Chengwu said, "Speed ​​is of the essence in war. When it comes to actual fighting, a difference of just one day is enough for our army to advance the battle line by dozens of miles."

When discussing battle strategy, Ha Jianyi naturally had to offer his opinion: "The weapons and equipment we brought on this expedition were mainly for controlling the Yangtze River waterway, and we did not make any special preparations for attacking cities, especially for attacking fortified cities. It would indeed be a bit difficult to bombard the city walls with the ship's cannons, but if we brought our army's most powerful siege cannons, I think Jiujiang City would have a hard time holding out for even a day."

Shi Chengwu nodded and said, "Jianyi is right. However, it is inconvenient to transport siege cannons. We have to transport those big things by boat to Jiujiang, set up positions outside the city, and then unload the cannons on the shore and assemble them. It will take a lot of time."

Shi Chengwu spoke eloquently, clearly having already considered the battle plan proposed by Ha Jianyi and was well aware of its advantages and disadvantages.

His estimated siege time was not conservative. Although Jiujiang City was not large, it had been regarded as an important military town by the court since the Hongwu period of the early Ming Dynasty and was built to the standards of a garrison city. Therefore, its city defense facilities were far superior to those of ordinary cities.

According to the "Jiujiang Prefecture Annals", in the 22nd year of Hongwu, troops from the capital were transferred here to establish the Jiujiang Guard, which was directly under the jurisdiction of Nanjing. The city wall built at that time had a circumference of more than 12 li and a height of 22 chi. The passage on the city wall was wide enough to allow for horse archery. The city gate was covered with iron sheet and four watchtowers were built.

Over the next two hundred years, the city defenses of Jiujiang continued to be improved, forming a structure of five gates, eight streets, and twenty-eight alleys. There was a garrison at Yingchun Gate in the south and Fuxing Gate in the north.

However, with Jiujiang's defenses now in disarray and high-ranking officials providing inside assistance, the Haihan army won't have to go through too much trouble to enter the city.

As agreed, the two sides would meet at Wangjing Gate, which is located in the center of the north of the city, to complete the handover ceremony. When the fleet arrived at the riverbank outside the city, it was indeed seen that the Wangjing Gate was open and a group of officials were already lined up outside the gate waiting.

Shi Chengwu even picked up his binoculars to confirm, and sure enough, it was Prefect Lu Congshan leading the way, so there probably wouldn't be any tricks up his sleeve.

However, to be on the safe side, he decided to proceed according to the established plan. He first dispatched two troop transport ships to the shore to take over the defense of Wangjing Gate and the surrounding area within a one-mile radius. After confirming safety, they would disembark and meet with local officials. Although this process took some time, it was a relatively prudent approach, and neither Ning Zijing nor Ha Jianyi raised any objections.

Having already experienced the surrender ceremony in Pengze County, Ning Zijing and Ha Jianyi appeared much more composed. When Shi Chengwu introduced them to Lu Congshan, both of them received Lu Congshan's greetings and the official seals he presented, as superiors.

Lu Congshan had already learned about Haihan's arrangements from Shi Chengwu. After hearing the introduction, he knew that the two young officials in front of him were the local officials appointed by the new court, and he couldn't help but offer some compliments.

Next, he met with local officials, gentry, and elders who had followed Lu Congshan to join Haihan, and there were as many as several dozen of them.

Most of these people have considerable influence in the local area, and they will likely be needed to maintain local stability in the future. The young Haihan officials did not dare to neglect them and listened to Lu Congshan's introduction while secretly memorizing the identities and backgrounds of these people.

However, Shi Chengwu soon noticed a detail: very few military officers were present. Only one commander, one assistant prefect, two vice commissioners, and two deputy commanders were there. Clearly, not all of the senior officers of Jiujiang Guard were present.

This made Shi Chengwu wary. After everyone finished introducing themselves, Shi Chengwu called Lu Congshan aside and asked him why many local military officers had not yet appeared.

Seeing that he could not hide it any longer, Lu Congshan had no choice but to confess that the local military officers were not in agreement on whether to surrender to Haihan, and many of them were unwilling to end their military careers in this way of surrendering without a fight.

Although Lu Congshan tried every means to persuade them, he could only convince a portion of them. However, even those military officers who were unwilling to surrender knew that they could not hold out alone and would not receive any support from the local authorities. Therefore, they did not intend to stay in Jiujiang to defend it to the death, but instead led their troops to Nanchang City, more than 200 miles to the south.

After listening, Shi Chengwu half-jokingly said, "It would be fine to retreat to Nanchang, but what if someone leads troops to hide in the city and wait for an opportunity to assassinate us?"

Lu Congshan was shocked and said, "General, what do you mean by that? My whole family is in Nanjing right now. I would never use myself as bait and play such a joke with my life and fortune!"

Shi Chengwu said, "Since you have already revealed your intention to surrender the city, Nanchang should have heard about it. Haven't you made any response to this?"

Lu Congshan said, "As far as I know, the Provincial Administration Commission seems to have intended to suppress this news and has not taken any measures, so the news has not spread widely in Nanchang."

This situation was somewhat unexpected for Shi Chengwu. He had thought that even if Nanchang did not send troops to reinforce Jiujiang, it would at least issue a statement reprimanding Lu Congshan and try to prevent him from creating an uncontrollable situation in Jiujiang.

Who would have thought that Nanchang would deliberately suppress the news, presumably to avoid unrest and wider chaos. But this self-deceptive approach was clearly ineffective. Once the news of Jiujiang's surrender without a fight spread, the three judicial offices in Nanchang would likely be held accountable for their oversight.