Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 144: Battle of Lai'an
After listening to Feng Guoyong's report, Lu Jin immediately opened the battle report in his hand. Since he already knew it was a victory report, he didn't take it seriously. He just wanted to see the specific process.

But as soon as he opened it, the situation described inside was a little beyond his expectations.

Chuzhou was captured on the first day of December. Lu Jin asked Chang Yuchun to form a new regiment in Chuzhou, to garrison Chuzhou and train the troops at the same time. Then the brothers Yu Tonghai and Yu Tongyuan waited for Zhao Zhongzhong's tenth regiment on the northern line to come and join forces, to gather the main forces of three regiments, and add a part of cavalry to besiege Lai'an together.

Lai'an was just a small town, and Lu Jin had gathered tens of thousands of people to attack it, which was already a great respect for him. But who knew that Lai'an County did not think so.

The magistrate of Lai'an County was named Ran Zhe, who was a clerk. There was also a Mongolian Darughachi named Tao Li, which was not a Chinese name but a transliteration of Mongolian. Tao Li means mirror in Mongolian. He was from the Qiexue Army of Emperor Shundi of Yuan Dynasty and was sent to the local area to serve as the general manager. He was also considered a military general.

Originally, the rebellions in Xuzhou and Luzhou had nothing to do with him, a Darughachi from Yangzhou. But seeing that Zhima Li and Lu Jin were attacking him from the south and the north, Tao Li began to train troops in Lai'an and prepare for war. He recruited a total of 3,000 soldiers in Lai'an, many of whom were salt workers and grain transport soldiers.

At the beginning of the month, seeing Lu Jin's army taking over the neighboring Chuzhou, and Sun Deya leading tens of thousands of people passing through his territory and heading north, Tao Li, who had an army of 3,000 under his command, felt offended. These rebels simply did not take him seriously.

Lu Jin's Luzhou soldiers are powerful, and it's ok that they look down on him, but even Sun Deya doesn't take him seriously. This is intolerable!

However, he could still distinguish the priorities of the threats. Sun Deya was just passing by, but Lu Jin refused to leave Chuzhou. Chuzhou was less than 50 miles away from Lai'an, and it would only take a day to march fast. Since Lu Jin occupied Chuzhou, anyone with a little military knowledge would definitely come to fight him next.

But Tao Li waited in Lai'an for a few days and found that the Luzhou soldiers did not come, so she thought that the Luzhou soldiers were not ready yet or were delayed by something else.

But this guy was right. At that time, Chang Yuchun was forming a new regiment, and his old unit, the 9th Regiment, was also filling in vacancies. In addition, they had to wait for Zhao Zhongzhong from Dingyuan to come. The troops were still being adjusted and assembled, and they were indeed not prepared.

So Tao Li prepared to take the initiative and launch a sneak attack before the Luzhou soldiers were ready.

It is impossible to achieve a complete victory. Tao Li is not a fool. She knows that Lu Jin still has many soldiers. Even if he defeats the tens of thousands of troops in Chuzhou, Lu Jin can still send more soldiers.

Tao Li's idea was very simple. He just wanted to win a few small victories before the enemy arrived. It would be best if he could scare the enemy away from attacking. If not, it would boost morale for his side and allow him to defend longer.

The imperial court was already preparing an army to quell the rebellion. As long as he could hold out for two months, the crisis in Lai'an would naturally be resolved, and he would surely have accomplished a great feat.

I can only say that it was a good idea, but unfortunately he underestimated the strength of the Luzhou Corps.

On the evening of the sixth day, Tao Li led two thousand elite troops for a night attack, leaving behind a thousand soldiers to guard the city.

At that time, Chang Yuchun's 14th Regiment had just completed reorganization and was stationed in the city. Yu Tonghai's th Regiment was also in the city. Only Yu Tongyuan's th Regiment was stationed outside the city. It was the th Regiment that Tao Li attacked that night.

As a result, the Seventh Regiment camped with its back to the city, and there was a moat outside, making it difficult to get close. In addition, the Shengwu Army had strict discipline and the food was much better than that of the government army. At least they could guarantee three meals a day, and there was hot soup to drink during night patrols. Therefore, the soldiers were more responsible when patrolling at night.

The consequences are naturally predictable. Tao Li was discovered by the defenders on the city wall just as she approached and had not yet launched an attack.

The person on duty in the Seventh Regiment that night was Feng Sheng. Although this guy and his brother had made contributions in the capture of Dingyuan, which allowed Feng Guoyong to be appointed as the head of the Military and Political Department of the Wuyuan and concurrently as the secretary of the Marshal's Office, and he himself was also appointed as a battalion commander of a thousand households, he had no real military achievements and had been holding his breath.

Now that the enemy has come to our doorstep, there is no reason not to fight back. Feng Sheng immediately led his own battalion to attack.

After the Seventh Regiment was awakened, Xi Guobao was not idle either. This guy was a cavalry company commander under Zheng You, and he was promoted to the Seventh Regiment as a combat battalion commander for his meritorious service. However, he still attached great importance to the cavalry. After asking Yu Tongyuan for permission, he immediately led the entire regiment of more than 50 cavalry out of the camp to fight. The fighting started outside, so the two regiments in the city naturally couldn't be idle. Yu Tonghai, Lan Chun, and Hua Yunlong of the Ninth Regiment led three combat battalions to fight, and Chang Yuchun also led his old battalion to fight. The Shengwu Army dispatched a total of five battalions and hundreds of cavalry.

This time Tao Li had really poked the nest of a powerful general. When she was caught by Feng Sheng, she was beaten up and stabbed with a spear on the spot. Xi Guobao also shot and killed Tao Li's mount, which scared her so much that she quickly hid among the chaotic soldiers.

Hua Yunlong, Lan Chun and Chang Yuchun also fought and charged fiercely. It was the middle of the night and it was too dark. They didn't know where the enemy's main general was, so they just rushed into the enemy's army.

That night, there was a chaotic battle. Tao Li was wounded and fled. More than half of the 2,000 "elite soldiers" she brought with her were killed. More than 300 were killed by the Shengwu Army, and nearly 1,000 were captured. Tao Li fled back to An with only a few hundred remaining soldiers. Xi Guobao led more than a hundred cavalrymen to chase her for 20 miles. It was a miserable experience.
The next day, when the troops were withdrawn and the results of the battle were cleared, Yu Tonghai was shocked when he interrogated the prisoners. He said, "My goodness! I haven't even gone over to fight you yet, but you only have 3,000 soldiers and you actually came to attack me?"
Just at this time, the cavalry from Dingyuan also arrived. It was a cavalry battalion led by Zheng Yong himself. After Yu Tonghai discussed with the generals, he immediately asked Zheng Yong to lead the cavalry battalion to besiege Lai'an first. They would wait for two days for Zhao Zhongzhong to come and then attack together.

So on the afternoon of the seventh day, Zheng Yong surrounded Lai'an. They did not attack the city, but wandered around outside the city with their cavalry. Anyway, the people in the city had no chance of getting out.

Tao Li ended up losing more than she gained. She had wanted to win a few small victories to boost morale, but she ended up losing the battle in a muddle and lost more than a thousand soldiers. Now there are only more than 1,500 soldiers left to defend the city, and their morale is completely lost. Now the rebel cavalry has hit the door. It goes without saying that the main force is right behind them. How can they fight?
Lai'an County Magistrate Ran Zhe wanted to surrender on the spot and blamed Tao Li for sending troops without authorization. But it was too late to say anything now. Besides, Tao Li, the Darughachi, was the most powerful person in Lai'an County, and he, as a county magistrate, had no say.

Tao Li looked at the cavalry outside and could only bandage her wounds and force the civilians in the city to recruit soldiers to defend the city. However, when the soldiers who escaped back spread the news of the battle that night, the defenders were all in a panic.

After waiting for another five days in Chuzhou, Zhao Zhongzhong's Tenth Regiment finally arrived. The main forces of the three regiments set out immediately and arrived at the city of Lai'an on the 14th.

Lai'an is just a small city, without even a moat. The city wall is made of rammed earth, only four meters high. Even with such a small wall, the defenders are still in a panic, so it would be a miracle if they can hold on.

Yu Tongyuan first ordered his troops to shoot arrows into the city to persuade the people to surrender. The county magistrate Ran Zhe certainly wanted to surrender, but his words were of no use, as Tao Li, the Darughachi, looked like he was determined to defend the city to the death.

But when the people in the city saw the tens of thousands of troops outside and the letters of surrender shot in, they no longer thought so. The Shengwu Army made it very clear that they were only expelling the Tartars and it had nothing to do with the people in the city. Even if they were forced to serve as soldiers for the Yuan court, as long as they laid down their arms and surrendered, they would be spared.

Yu Tongyuan also took nearly a thousand prisoners captured that night to the foot of the city and asked them to tell their fellow villagers on the city wall that they could save their lives as long as they laid down their weapons and surrendered, and there would be a generous reward for killing the Tartar officials.

Tao Li was so angry that she broke down and asked the defenders to shoot arrows, but the defenders would not listen to him. The Shengwu Army kept their word and said they would not kill people. Didn't they see that so many prisoners were alive and well? Now that so many people came from the other side, they couldn't defend anyway, so why offend them at this time?

When Ran Zhe saw that the defenders stopped shooting arrows at the enemy and refused to obey orders, he knew that the city could not be defended. He immediately sneaked back to the county government office and prepared to contact the wealthy families in the city to open the gates and surrender the city.

However, Yu Tongyuan did not give them that opportunity. The reason why they besieged the city for several days without attacking was that they were just cutting down trees to build siege equipment and monitoring the periphery for any enemy reinforcements, especially in the direction of Liuhe County.

On the 24th, after the siege ladders and arrow tower battering rams were built, the generals of each regiment requested to fight. Finally, Feng Sheng, Hu Hai, Li Xin, Hua Yunlong, Li Ruizhong, and Wang Bi, six battalion officers, led the team. They attacked from three sides at the same time without any order. Zheng Yong led the cavalry to guard the east gate, ready to intercept the enemy fleeing soldiers, and surrounded three sides with one left.

As a result, the defenders were demoralized and had no fighting spirit, and were defeated by the Shengwu Army. Darughachi Taoli fled from the east gate but was killed by Zheng Yong on the way. The county magistrate Ran Zhe led his officials to surrender.

Because Feng Sheng decisively went out to fight the enemy on the night of the sixth day of the first lunar month and gained many victories, he defeated the enemy's sneak attack in one fell swoop and laid the foundation for the subsequent siege. In addition, he was the first to capture the gate during the siege, so this battle was regarded as the first merit.

After reading the battle report, Lu Jin finally understood why Feng Guoyong was so excited and even came to deliver the battle report in person. It turned out that his brother had made a great contribution.

However, he did plan to expand another division on the northern front, and he had not yet decided who would be the chief officer. Since Feng Sheng had stepped forward, he would let him be the chief officer of the new regiment.

(End of this chapter)