Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"The sound of drums outside the city is cold"

The sound of drums outside the city is cold.
Autumn is waning.

They fought countless battles, both north and south.

Take life and death lightly.
Picturesque landscape.

Gray hair has appeared for no reason.
Once again, we've arrived in Jiangnan.

The blood on the sword at his waist was still wet.

It's laughable that the cicada can't live long.
The soul perished at the city gate.

This poem was written by the Great Khan of Lotus during his attack on Nanchang. In it, this war god displays his ambition to unify the world and his lament for the passing of time. As for his enemies, he doesn't seem to care, comparing them to cicadas that can't sing for long in autumn. Indeed, the city only has about 40,000 defenders who have been holding out for two months and are already exhausted, while he has a full 500,000 troops—enough to overwhelm them with sheer numbers!
With the Great Khan personally overseeing the battle, the morale of the Imperial Guards was high, and wave after wave charged towards the walls of Nanchang. They stormed the walls on their first attack, but thanks to the bravery and skill of Zhao Yingkui, the deputy general of Wu Yuanzhou, they fought desperately to drive the soldiers back down. However, by the third day of the battle, this valiant general and his two sons, Zhao Yanqing and Zhao Yanxiang, had all perished on the city walls.

The air in Nanchang was thick with the scent of death. On the third night, the exhausted Governor of Jiangxi, Dong Weiguo, was preparing to rest when he suddenly heard a commotion erupting inside the yamen. Zhao Dengju, the military commander of the governor's yamen, stumbled in, shouting, "Governor, come with me quickly! That scoundrel Hilgen has defected!" Before he finished speaking, General Hilgen and his deputy, Gent, led their troops in, surrounding Governor Dong. Both men were Manchus, and after the fall of the Qing Dynasty, they were rootless and unwilling to die for Wu Zhou. Instead, they surrounded the governor's yamen, intending to bind Governor Dong and surrender the city.

As a provincial governor who had weathered many storms, Dong Weiguo was not afraid and asked with a smile, "I have treated you two well. Do you intend to use my head as a pledge of loyalty?"

Having been his superior for many years, Hilgen and Ghent were momentarily embarrassed. After a while, Hilgen said, "The city is about to fall, and the soldiers are all looking for a way to survive. If Governor is willing to surrender, we are still willing to obey your orders; if not, we can only apologize!"

"Alas~ Now that things have come to this, what is there to say whether I'm willing or not? I only regret not surrendering sooner, for causing the deaths of countless soldiers~", Dong Weiguo sighed leisurely and burst into tears. His tears immediately made the two generals even more reluctant to kill him, and they escorted Governor Dong to open the city gates and surrender to Wei.

Sultan was initially furious with Dong Weiguo for his stubbornness, which had caused Weiguo to suffer over 20,000 casualties at the Battle of Nanchang, and wanted to kill the villain to vent his anger. However, he reconsidered. There were still 20,000 surrendered troops in Nanchang, and killing him might destabilize their morale. Furthermore, if officials in other regions heard that he had killed surrendered soldiers to vent his anger, they might be hesitant to surrender. After some deliberation, he gritted his teeth and granted Dong Weiguo a sinecure to retire comfortably, while retaining the other generals in their original positions. Then, he ordered the army to march from Nanchang through Ruizhou and Yuanzhou towards Changsha.

"I am certain that I will conquer Changsha and destroy Wu in one fell swoop!" Looking at the endless army marching forward, the Great Khan raised his whip and said triumphantly to his trusted ministers.

"Great Khan, you are mighty! The unification of the nine provinces is today!" Grand Secretary Bobe immediately began to sing a hymn of praise. As soon as he said this, a flood of flattering words followed.

“Wu Sangui is a talented general. Previously, our army and Wu’s army were locked in a stalemate at the Miluo River for several months without being able to cross. Why is Your Majesty so confident?” Grand Secretary Liu Haogu asked, puzzled.

"Of all things under heaven, none is more important than the hearts of the people. Now that the hearts of the people are with me, I will surely be unstoppable! Look, all of you, what is this?" The Great Khan chuckled and ordered his men to bring over a basket of letters.

Upon closer inspection, everyone realized that the letters of surrender were written by Wu and Zhou officials, and they couldn't help but gasp in shock.

"Look, this was written by Lang Tingdong, the self-proclaimed Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Huguang. He is Lang Tingzuo's cousin. After Lang Tingzuo surrendered, I ordered him to write a letter to persuade Lang Tingdong to surrender, and today it has finally worked." Sultan proudly opened the attached page of the letter. "Look, this is Lang Tingdong's drawing of the Huguang Wu army's deployment map. The Wu army's strengths and weaknesses are all in his grasp. How could we not win this battle?" "Great Khan is wise!" "God bless David!" "Your servant congratulates Great Khan on destroying Wu in one fell swoop!" The ministers all offered their congratulations upon hearing this.

"It's not that I'm wise, it's that people's hearts have changed!" Sultan waved his hand. "A few days ago, Wu Sangui and I were evenly matched, and the situation was unclear, so many people were watching and waiting. Now our army has won one battle after another and captured several provinces, giving us a clear advantage. Those who were previously watching have all chosen to come to me. What does this show? People's hearts have changed; they are with Wei, not Zhou!"

Seeing that everyone was listening attentively, the Great Khan smiled and picked out two more letters. "Look, not only are there civil officials delivering military intelligence, but also governors and generals leading their troops to surrender. These two letters are from Zhou Zhaonan, the governor of Pianyuan, and Cui Shilu, the general of Yuanzhou. They have promised that as soon as my army arrives, they will immediately lead 15,000 troops to surrender the entire Chenzhou prefecture."

“No wonder Your Majesty is so confident; you have already made up your mind!” Liu Haogu suggested admiringly, “Your Majesty can order Zhou Zhaonan and Cui Shilu to immediately change their flags to disrupt the morale of the Wu army.”

“Master Liu and I have the same idea,” the Great Khan smiled. “I have ordered Zhou and Cui to immediately launch an uprising and lead their troops to seize Baoqing Prefecture, threatening the flank of Changsha.”

“Zhou and Cui only have a little over ten thousand soldiers. I don’t think they would dare to snatch the tiger’s teeth,” said Minister of War Halahuli, raising an objection.

"It's alright! There's a saying among the Han people, 'Whether there are dates or not, let's shoot first and see.' If these two have the guts, that's fine. If not, I'll lead my troops and kill them myself. The people's hearts are with me, so what is there to fear? Hahaha~" After saying that, the Great Khan laughed heartily.

"Hahaha~" Everyone laughed along, and the belief in victory unconsciously spread throughout the army.

"I believe that Your Majesty's conquest of Changsha will be easy, but the complete annihilation of Wu will be difficult!" Suddenly, a bold and arrogant man poured cold water on the jubilant emperor and his ministers.

Sultan looked in the direction of the voice and saw that it was Hu Lianqi, the Minister of Revenue. He frowned and asked unhappily, "Minister Hu, what makes you say such a thing?"

“Wu Sangui is a cunning old fox! If you can see the changing situation, how could he not? Since Changsha is no longer defensible, how could the old fox sit idly by and wait for his doom?” Hu Lianqi explained to himself, regardless of whether the Great Khan was pleased or not.

The Great Khan of Lotus, who was sitting astride his divine steed, Chasing the Wind, looking down upon the world, was suddenly shocked upon hearing this. "You mean Wu Sangui wants to run away?"

"Exactly. I believe that after Wu Sangui learns of our army's capture of Nanchang, he will surely lead his troops back to Yunnan, attempting to use the strategic terrain of Yunnan and Guizhou to block our army," Hu Lianqi analyzed confidently.

"Even if Wu Sangui wanted to escape, how easy would it be for his more than 200,000 troops to retreat? And how could their food and supplies be guaranteed?" the Great Khan said after thinking for a moment.

"Since he's an old fox, how could he not have made arrangements in advance? If I'm not mistaken, Wu Sangui must have already stockpiled supplies for his army at the passes along the way back to Yunnan."

"Oh dear!" Sultan slapped his thigh suddenly. "Issue my military order: men must not remove their armor, horses must not leave their saddles, and they must march day and night to Changsha!" (End of Chapter)