Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"Alas, a golden opportunity has been missed!" Upon receiving news of the Wei army's landing at Banziji, General Liu Zhiyuan of Zhenhai sighed deeply. Some time ago, he had thwarted the landing attempt of Wei's Deputy General Xirimo on the Yangtze River. He had intended to seize Jiangdu, the capital of Yangzhou, by crossing the river in victory, but considering Xirimo was a renowned general of Wei, he hesitated because failing to quickly capture the city after landing would put him at a disadvantage. However, scouts reported that Wei cavalry had been spotted near Nanjing, carrying Xirimo's banner. This indicated that the Oirat wolves had been transferred away from Guazhou, and the number of Wei troops in Jiangdu was likely not large. Had he crossed the river and marched north in victory, he might have captured the city. Now that the enemy had landed, a further northward advance would inevitably result in being attacked from both sides. The opportunity was gone forever!
"Father, the false king is attacking Nanjing. Should we send troops to its aid?" asked the second son, Liu Bangzhu.

"Nanjing is a fortified city with deep moats, and Governor Lang has tens of thousands of elite troops under his command. It is not difficult for them to hold out for three to five months. The Wei army is powerful, so instead of rushing to reinforce Nanjing, we should attack Jurong first, harass the enemy from the side, and then launch an attack after the enemy's troops are exhausted. The chances of victory are greater," Liu Zhiyuan said after pondering.

This was a chaotic era, with regional warlords increasingly seizing power. Despite Lang Tingzuo's position as Governor-General of Jiangnan and Jiangxi, the Zhenjiang area was practically under General Liu's control. Liu rarely heeded Governor-General Lang's orders; if not for the fear of mutual destruction, he wouldn't have cared about Governor-General Lang's fate at all. Attacking Jurong would both harass the flank of the Imperial Guard and allow them to avoid the main force of the Imperial Guard, allowing them to observe Lang Tingzuo and the Imperial Guard in a fierce battle – a shrewd move.

After discussing the matter, Liu Zhiyuan ordered his third son, Lieutenant General Niyaha, to lead 10,000 troops to garrison Zhenjiang, while he led Liu Bangzhu, General Chen Wenda, and Deputy General Zhou Jixin with 25,000 elite troops towards Jurong County. Halfway there, they received news that the false king had captured Nanjing. Upon receiving this news, General Liu was shocked and could not believe it. Only a few days had passed! Nanjing had already fallen?
"Father, what should we do now?" Liu Bangzhu asked in a panic.

"Back to Zhenjiang! Quickly!" Liu Zhiyuan gave the order decisively.

Wu Jun arrived quietly and returned quietly. Upon returning to Zhenjiang, Liu Zhiyuan received a letter from Lang Tingzuo urging him to surrender. To save his own life, Governor Lang's letter was eloquently written, exaggerating the strength of the Wei army, describing them as having a million armored soldiers and the ability to stop a river with their whips. The generals of Zhenjiang paled upon reading the letter.

"A million is just an exaggeration. In my opinion, the false king's army is at most two hundred thousand," Liu Zhiyuan said, feigning composure to reassure his troops.

"General, even with 200,000 troops, the Imperial Guard's strength far surpasses ours. You must make a decision quickly," General Chen Wenda said anxiously. Nanjing was no ordinary place; it was the capital of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor, Emperor Taizu. Its loss placed immense psychological pressure on these battle-hardened generals.

"It's alright. I've already sent someone to contact Lord Liang, and he's expressed his willingness to stand with us through thick and thin." Lord Liang refers to Liang Huafeng, the Jiangnan Commander who occupies Suzhou, Songjiang, Chongming, and other areas. He has 30,000 to 40,000 elite troops under his command and is quite powerful. Liu Zhiyuan first reassured his subordinates, then chuckled, "As for the surrender conditions offered by Wei Guo, Lord Liang shares our views. He'll accept Wei Guo's official position for now. As long as we still control the areas of Changzhou, Suzhou, Songjiang, and other places, it's not a big deal."

Liu Zhiyuan and Liang Huafeng wanted to surrender to the Wei Kingdom and remain in their original territories as local warlords, but how could the wise and insightful Prince Qin tolerate the existence of separatist forces under his rule? No sooner had the two agreed to surrender than military orders arrived, ordering them to take their troops to Nanjing for further command. Only by remaining in their territories could they maintain their power; once they left, they would lose control of their own affairs. Therefore, both of them feigned illness and refused to go.

King Qin, Zhuosiji, was furious, saying that these two men had no intention of surrendering. He personally led an army of 160,000 to attack Liu Zhiyuan. He also ordered the Prince of Tucheng, Nagate, the General of Anqing, Deng Junbi, and the guerrilla general Zou Junsheng to lead more than 20,000 naval troops along the Yangtze River to harass the Wu naval forces in Suzhou, Songjiang and Zhenjiang.

The Wei army's offensive route was a straight line. 140,000 troops marched from Nanjing along the Yangtze River directly to Dantu in Zhenjiang Prefecture. Remarkably, the vanguard was none other than Baitalazhi, a familiar face to Liu Zhiyuan and the general of Huiningchi. Baitalazhi, a Manchu of the Eight Banners, was originally the general of Huiningchi in the Wu army and had a past relationship with Liu Zhiyuan, who was of the Han Eight Banners. However, now they served different masters. Baitalazhi, eager to establish himself in the Wei Kingdom after surrendering, fought very hard and quickly reached Gaozi Town, the gateway to Dantu. At the same time, Cai Lu, the Wei army's Henan admiral, also arrived at Gaozi Town with 20,000 naval troops.

"Why doesn't Your Highness divide your forces in Changzhou, cut off the connection between Zhenjiang and Suzhou, and defeat Liu Zhiyuan and Liang Huafeng one by one?" The veteran general Xi Rimo didn't quite understand the Prince of Qin's plan.

Chosiji smiled slightly, “Our forces are roughly equal, so we might as well divide our troops to repel the enemy and defeat them one by one. Now that we outnumber the enemy, why bother dividing our forces? Let’s just concentrate our strength and crush them with overwhelming force! It would be even better if Liang Huafeng came to Zhenjiang’s aid; eliminating him on land is much easier than on the river!” Hearing this, Xi Rimo stroked his beard and exclaimed in admiration, “So Your Highness has a well-thought-out plan, intending to lure Liang Huafeng to Zhenjiang and annihilate the two traitors’ main forces in one fell swoop. I was overthinking it! But what if Liang Huafeng doesn’t reinforce Zhenjiang?”

Chosiji snorted coldly, "If Liang doesn't come, I'll eliminate Liu Zhiyuan first, then eliminate him!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The artillery shells of the Weiguo Army poured down on Gaozi Town like they were free. Cai Lu, the Henan Admiral, also led his naval fleet to fire shells at the city walls from his warships. The dense artillery fire quickly blasted the small town to smithereens.

Having commanded troops for many years, Liu Zhiyuan deeply understood the importance of Gaozi Town. He ordered his long-time deputy general, Zhou Jixin, to lead 10,000 elite soldiers to garrison there. Zhou Jixin was extremely brave, and his men were mostly veterans who had fought their way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. However, the Wei army's artillery fire was simply too fierce. Flesh and blood could not withstand the cannon fire, and they fell one by one in the endless barrage. Three consecutive days of bombardment blasted three breaches into the city wall.

"Soldiers, follow me to kill the enemy!" General Baitaraji, the commander of the David Kingdom's emblem Ningchi, drew his sword and commanded his men to surge in through the breach like a tide.

"Brothers, hold on a little longer, the General's reinforcements will be here soon!" Zhou Jixin shouted to his men, trying to drive the guards out of the breach.

Xu Shihua, a newly surrendered military officer from Chizhou, spotted him, took out his longbow from his back, and shot an arrow that struck him squarely in the throat.

Not far away, Baitala saw this scene and clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction, "I didn't expect this kid to do such a great job!"

Gaozi Town, which had garrisoned 10,000 elite troops, was captured in just three days. Liu Zhiyuan was devastated and kept sending people to Chongming to ask Liang Huafeng, the governor of Jiangnan, for reinforcements. He also sent envoys out of the city to probe Zhuo Siji about surrender.

When Chosiji met Liu Zhiyuan's envoy, he didn't waste any words and directly stated his terms: "Go back and tell Liu Zhiyuan that if he surrenders now, he can get a second-rank sinecure. I will give him half a month to consider it, and I will not attack the city during the half month."

The messenger returned to report. Liu Zhiyuan thought that the Wei army's promise not to attack the city within half a month was a trick, but to his surprise, the Wei army really kept its promise and only surrounded Dantu City without attacking.

(End of this chapter)