Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"Wu Sangui is despicable! In battle, life and death are commonplace, yet he has desecrated corpses, cutting off the heads of those who died in battle, such as Danba Darijie, and others. The heads of those already captured, such as Ren Zhuan, Long Anfan, and Long Jizhao, have also been sent around in all directions. Is this an insult to me? It's truly infuriating!" Upon hearing the news that Wu Sangui had ordered the heads of Danba Darijie, Ren Zhuan, Long Anfan, and Long Jizhao to be cut off and sent around, the Great Khan of Lotus was enraged.

"Since ancient times, killing prisoners of war has been considered an omen of misfortune, and desecrating corpses is even less benevolent. Wu Sangui's brutality will inevitably cause him to lose the hearts of the people. The Great Khan is benevolent and tolerant, and is the true master of the land," Grand Secretary Bo Bei declared passionately.

"This servant believes that since Wu Sangui has committed atrocities, Your Majesty should do the opposite and implement benevolent policies to win the hearts of the people. We should posthumously honor and provide relief to our fallen soldiers, and collect and offer sacrifices to the bodies of the fallen soldiers from both sides," suggested Grand Secretary Liu Haogu.

The Great Khan immediately responded, "Granted! Posthumously confer the titles of Second-Class Marquis of Zhenning upon Danba Darjee, Second-Class Marquis of Yongning upon Ren Zhuan, First-Class Earl of Langdai upon Long'an Fan, and First-Class Earl of Pu'an upon Long Jizhao. The Ministry of War shall verify the list of fallen soldiers and provide them with proper compensation. The bodies of those who died on both sides shall be collected and an altar shall be set up to commemorate them!"

"Wu's army has lost four provinces—Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huguang—and in Jiangxi, it can only control Ganzhou and Nan'an prefectures. I believe that Wu Sangui's cutting off the heads of our generals and displaying them in all directions is not out of inherent cruelty or a desire for revenge, but rather because his morale is low after repeated defeats, and he wants to publicize the minor victory in Guizhou to boost morale. Based on this, I judge that Wu's army, though still seemingly brave, is actually at its last gasp. We should immediately move south to Yunnan and Guizhou, giving them no chance to regroup," suggested Hu Lianqi, Minister of Revenue.

After hearing this, the Great Khan of Lotus made up his mind and said to his ministers, "Minister Hu is absolutely right. This is the time when Wu Sangui is at his weakest. We should take advantage of his recent defeat and destroy Zhou in one fell swoop! I intend to march south from Huguang to Guangxi. What do you think?"

"Great Khan is wise!" "Your Majesty is insightful!" The Great Khan's words were immediately met with a torrent of flattery. The reason so many people agreed was not because the Wei Kingdom's court was filled with sycophants, but because of a personality cult. For decades, they had followed the Great Khan of Lotus, transforming the small Khoshut tribe of Western Mongolia into a vast empire. The belief that following the Great Khan guaranteed victory had become a widespread conviction. This belief was so strong that many assumed whatever the Great Khan decided was absolutely right. Flattery flowed like a tide, and hymns of praise filled the air!

"Does the Great Khan think that Wu Sangui is your only enemy? If our army marches south to Guangxi, what if the two princes Shang and Geng attack our flanks and rear?" Minister of War Halahuri suddenly spoke up.

"I will leave more than 200,000 troops in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Huguang to monitor the two princes Shang and Geng, and only take 300,000 troops south," Suletan said confidently.

"Guangxi is full of towering mountains and steep ridges. If Wu Zhou were to mobilize all his troops, he would have hundreds of thousands of men. If he were to gather a large force and rely on the terrain to hold his ground without fighting, thus exhausting our army, does the Great Khan think he can definitely win?" Harahuli asked again.

"I think that Geng Jimao in Fujian is restrained by Zheng Jing in Taiwan. Zheng Jing has been thinking about taking back the eight Fujian regions every day, so there is no need to worry too much about Fujian. It would be better to leave tens of thousands of elite troops to keep an eye on Shang Kexi in Guangdong," Hu Lianqi suggested.

Harahuli smiled. "Are you sure you can trust the Khan to rely on Zheng Jing to deal with Geng Jimao, leaving only tens of thousands of elite troops in the rear?"

Sultan shook his head. "The southern provinces, especially Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Hubei, are fertile lands. I finally managed to conquer them and resolve the financial crisis. If I leave only tens of thousands of elite troops to guard the rear, and they are seized by the Geng and Shang vassals, I will be devastated. But if I leave more than 200,000 elite troops to guard the rear, I fear my forces will not be sufficient to capture Guangxi. What should I do?" After shaking his head, he suddenly realized something and looked at Halahuli with a smile. "Since you have thought of this, you must have a solution. Speak up, don't beat around the bush." ​​"This servant thinks Minister Hu's words are reasonable. Leaving tens of thousands of elite troops in the rear is sufficient. However, these tens of thousands of elite troops must guard the vital passes that threaten both Fujian and Guangdong provinces." Having been seen through by the Great Khan, Halahuli no longer concealed his thoughts and directly stated his idea. "Ganzhou is the gateway to Guangdong, and to the east it connects to Fujian. If tens of thousands of elite troops are stationed here, it will surely make the Shang and Geng vassals wary and dare not cross the line!"

"Ganzhou?" Upon hearing this, Sultan looked at the map and suddenly pointed his horsewhip heavily at Ganxian County. "You're right, this is a strategic location that military strategists must contend for!"

"Has Your Majesty ever heard of the saying 'Pouring molten iron into Ganzhou'? Taking Ganzhou will probably not be easy," Grand Secretary Liu Haogu suddenly spoke up.

"Pouring molten iron into Ganzhou? I've never heard of that before. Master Liu, please tell me," the Great Khan asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Ganzhou is surrounded by water on three sides. In summer, there is a lot of rain, which can easily cause the river to overflow. As a result, the earthen city walls have a short lifespan and need to be rebuilt very often. During the Song Dynasty, in order to make the city resistant to flooding, when building the foundation, hard mountain stones were first used as the base stones of the city walls, and then molten iron was poured into the stones. The city walls built in this way were not only resistant to the river overflowing, but also extremely strong and difficult to be damaged by cannon fire. Therefore, there is a saying among the people that 'Ganzhou is impregnable,'" Liu Haogu said with a smile.

The Great Khan thought for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter, “This must be a rumor. If Ganzhou City were truly made of molten iron and impervious to river water, what would happen on rainy days? The water in the city wouldn’t be able to drain out, wouldn’t the whole city become a giant pond? Absurd! Absurd! Hahaha!”

"This is thanks to Liu Yi of the Northern Song Dynasty. He dug the Fushou Ditch, which is more than 25 li long, under the city wall, reinforced the drainage channel, and reorganized it into district-level drainage systems. The water flowing out of the streets and alleys flows into the Fushou Ditch and then into the rivers. So it is not only sturdy but also not afraid of flooding," Liu Haogu explained patiently.

The Great Khan's expression turned serious. "So it seems that Ganzhou City is indeed an iron walnut."

"Indeed, a few years ago Li Chengdong led more than 100,000 troops to attack Ganzhou, but not only did he fail to capture it, he also suffered a defeat and died," Hu Lianqi also cited Li Chengdong's example as a reminder.

"Bang!" Sultan roared in fury, slamming his riding whip down on the table. The emperor's wrath was like a thunderbolt! "How dare Li Chengdong compare himself to me? Just because he couldn't take it doesn't mean I can't. Hmph! So what if Ganzhou is an iron walnut? If you can't bite it, smash it with a sledgehammer. Smash it again and again until it's smashed to pieces! Issue my order: march on Ganzhou in three days. I want to see if the 'unbreakable iron Ganzhou' can withstand my 500,000-strong army!"

On December 19th, 1670 (the 27th year of the Qianyuan era), the Oirat war god led an army of 500,000 from Changsha to Ganzhou. To guard against unforeseen circumstances, he ordered Hu Maozhen, the Governor-General of Huguang, to move his headquarters from Wuchang to Changsha; Xi Rimo, the Governor-General of Jiangnan and Jiangxi, to station himself in Nanchang; and Su He, the Governor-General of Zhejiang and Fujian, to station himself in Hangzhou. (End of Chapter)