Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 324: Countermeasures of the Yuan Army in Gaoyou

At the central military tent outside the city of Yangzhou, a group of Shengwu Army generals were discussing Tuotuo and Gaoyou prefect Li Qi. On the other hand, the Gaoyou prefect Li Qi they were talking about was still unaware of the consequences of the letter he had submitted suggesting military farming.

Of course, Li Qi had no time to think about these things, because starting from the 14th, the white-armored cavalry of the Shengwu Army appeared outside Gaoyou City, with a total of nearly one thousand horses. And only one day later, news came that the main force of the Shengwu Army surrounded Yangzhou. This made him unable to sit still.

Li Qi was a top scholar in the first year of Yuantong. Although he had been an official for so many years, he actually had no major political achievements worthy of praise. The thing that made him famous was probably that he learned in advance that Wang Kerou of Taizhou wanted to rebel when Liu Futong had just started the rebellion and there were rebels everywhere in the country. He arrested this man in advance and later successfully recruited Li Huafu who wanted to jailbreak.

This series of actions prevented the emergence of major rebels such as Zhima Li, Lu Jin, and Xu Shouhui in the Yangzhou and Gaoyou areas, and successfully saved the important salt tax area along the Jiangbei coast for the Yuan court, although it only lasted for one more year.
Because in the original history, the next year, that is, in 1353 AD, at the beginning of the th year of Zhizheng, Zhang Shicheng rebelled in this area.

If that is the case, and considering his deeds in the original history of trying to appease Zhang Shicheng, it seems not an exaggeration to label this person as "good at appeasement".

However, even such a number one scholar of the Yuan Dynasty who was "good at appeasing the rebels" also deeply understood that it was absolutely impossible to appease the rebels like Zhima Li, Lu Jin, and Xu Shouhui.

These people were all aiming to change the dynasty, so when it came to Lu Jin's Shengwu Army, he had no choice but to fight to the death, with no possibility of compromise or appeasement.

This is different from Li Huafu, a traitor who only wanted to break into the prison and save his benefactor. In terms of nature, Lu Jin is even worse.

Although the Yuan court did send people to recruit people like Liu Futong, Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhang Shicheng, and Fang Guozhen in history, that was only after Toghto's death, when the Yuan court's central army collapsed and the Yuan court knew clearly that it could not defeat and wipe out the Red Turban Army, so it was forced to compromise with them.

But Tuotuo is not dead yet, and the Yuan court's central army is still there.
At this time in Gaoyou City, when the high-ranking officials of the Yuan court heard that Zhu Liangzu had led his troops to besiege Yangzhou, they could no longer sit still.

The Henan Jiangbei Province Pingzhang Dashi Tiemuer, who was stationed here, immediately said anxiously.

"How many enemy troops are there in Yangzhou? How are the defenders in the city? Can they hold on?
"The Prime Minister has already harvested military rations in Dadu. He will be able to lead his army to arrive in half a month at the latest. We cannot lose Yangzhou and Gaoyou at this time. Otherwise, even if the Prime Minister wipes out Zhima Li, the canal transportation will still be blocked. Do you have any ideas?"

Gaoyou's local Wanhu official Yilasi said immediately, "Sir Pingzhang, Yangzhou City is high and the moat is deep, there are at least 20,000 soldiers in the city, and the population of Yangzhou City is 300,000 to 400,000. Even if we recruit temporarily in the city, we can recruit 20,000 to 30,000 soldiers, which can make up 40,000 to 50,000 defenders.

“In addition, there is an armory in Yangzhou City with no shortage of military equipment, and there is also Zuo Cheng Zhe Du in charge. The number of Luzhou Red Turban bandits who came here this time is no more than 30,000 or 40,000 at most. It may not be so easy for them to capture Yangzhou.

"Sir Pingzhang, there is no need to worry so much. Perhaps once those rebels run out of food and grass, their army will retreat on its own."

"This is impossible!"

Unexpectedly, before Dashi Temur expressed his opinion, Li Qi took the lead in opposing this view.

Yilasi frowned and asked, "Why is it impossible?"

Li Qi immediately explained, "If it was the Luzhou bandits a year ago, what you said would be possible, but now they have occupied the three routes of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Do you think they will still be short of food and grass? In addition, Jiqing and Zhenjiang are only separated from Yangzhou by a river. The rebels have a powerful navy and can transport food from the south of the Yangtze River to supply the army at any time. How can you wait until they have eaten up all the food and grass and retreat on their own?
"I think the ones who should be most worried about food and grass right now are not the Luzhou bandits, but the defenders in Yangzhou. Yangzhou is a strong city, but the hundreds of thousands of people in the city also need to eat.

"Even if the rebels cannot take the city down in a short time, as long as they besiege the city for a long time and send troops to sweep Taizhou and other places to completely cut off Yangzhou's supply, I'm afraid it won't be long before Yangzhou collapses due to lack of food."

"This..." After hearing Li Qi's analysis, Yilasi was unable to refute it.

Pingzhang Dashi Tiemuer became even more worried after hearing this. Seeing that Li Qi's analysis was more reliable, he immediately asked Li Qi again.

"Prefect Li, what do you have in mind? We don't want to completely wipe out the Luzhou bandits, but we want to force them back to Jiangnan or Luzhou Road before the Prime Minister leads his army to arrive, lift the siege of Yangzhou, and ensure the smooth transportation of grain from Yangzhou to Huai'an. Then, when the Prime Minister's army arrives, we can also raise food for the Prime Minister to counterattack."

Li Qi thought for a moment before speaking.

"I have also been keeping an eye on this Luzhou bandit. Although he has not claimed to be a king or an emperor like Han Shantong and Xu Shouhui, his rebellious intentions are obvious. He is more determined than the other two, and his character is more cunning, and his military strategy is better than the other two.

"Han and Xu have no strategy when they send out troops. They fight wherever they can. If they can't win, they will retreat. But these Luzhou bandits plan before they act. If they don't send out troops, they will win. If they do, they will win. They will never give up until they achieve their goal. They are definitely not easy to deal with.

"Since he started the rebellion in Chaohu, he captured Luzhou and Lu'an in the first battle, defeated Kang Maocai in the second battle, and successively seized several prefectures and counties along the river. In the third battle, he captured Dingyuan and Haozhou, touching Anfeng Road. In the fourth battle, he directly annexed the entire Anqing Road.

"After annexing Anqing, his troops did not take any action for half a year. However, they took advantage of the failure of Xu's eastern expedition and the emptiness of Jiangnan to decisively send troops across the river. Within a few months, they captured three routes in Jiangdong. The ferocity of their offensive, the decisiveness of their troops, and their control of the war opportunities were by no means trivial.

"It has only been a few days since we captured Jiankang, and we have already sent troops to attack Yangzhou Road. In just a few days, we have captured four cities in a row. Their offensive is swift and fierce, and their intentions are firm. It may not be easy to force them to retreat, but there is still a chance."

Dashi Temur listened to Li Qi's analysis and introduction, and he became more and more disappointed. When he heard Li Qi say that there was still a chance, he immediately asked again, "What chance?"

Li Qi said immediately, "There are about a thousand bandit cavalrymen outside Gaoyou City. They have been wandering outside the city for two days, but no bandit army has come. Today, the main force of the bandit army suddenly appeared outside Yangzhou City.

“Looking at the current arrangement, it’s obvious that they are planning to keep an eye on one and eat up the other.

"Therefore, I judge that the troops that the Lu bandits brought to attack Jiangbei this time do not seem to be that many. For big cities like Yangzhou and Gaoyou, all their main forces combined can only capture one of them.

“It is precisely because they are unable to deal with two big cities at the same time and are worried that Gaoyou will send troops to rescue, that they sent a thousand armored cavalry to monitor Gaoyou.

“In this way, as long as we can gather 30,000 to 40,000 troops to counterattack, even if we only get close to Yangzhou and pretend to be ready to rescue, we can force them to withdraw the siege of Yangzhou on their own.

"Even if our 30,000 or 40,000 troops do not engage them in battle, but only camp a few miles away and defend the camp, they will not dare to continue besieging Gaoyou. Otherwise, when they are in the middle of attacking the city, we can suddenly attack from behind. The defenders in Yangzhou City also have a lot of troops. If we attack them from both inside and outside, we may be able to wipe out all these bandits."

However, before Dashi Temur could speak, Gaoyou Wanhu Yilasi, who was standing beside him, finally found an angle to refute the allegation and said, "How can you be sure that the enemy army has fewer troops? What if they are deliberately luring Gaoyou to send out troops to rescue them and then besiege the city and attack the reinforcements?

“Yes, they don’t have many troops outside Yangzhou City, but you just said, Li Zhifu, that the Lu bandits can transport food from Jiangnan. Since they can transport food, can’t they transport troops from Jiangnan?
"What if he has transported more bandits across the river to the north, waiting for us to arrive with reinforcements, and the bandits who have crossed the river suddenly attack us from behind and seize Gaoyou City? Then our tens of thousands of troops who went out to rescue Yangzhou would be left helpless and attacked from both sides by the bandits?"

Li Qi was choked by the reason he just put forward. He thought for a long time but couldn't find any reason to refute, but he still insisted.

"Then let's be safe. We just need to pretend to rescue them, bluff them, and hold our camp. At least we can force the enemy soldiers to withdraw from Yangzhou and confront us instead.

"As long as we are in a standoff, we can find a way to mobilize more troops, whether from Huaidong or Jiangnan. As long as we have enough troops, we will definitely be able to push back the Lu thieves' tentacles in Jiangbei. By that time, the Prime Minister's army will be almost here, and we can follow the Prime Minister to fight back to Luzhou and wipe out the Lu thieves' lair."

Yilasi was silent after hearing this. Dashitemuel thought about it and nodded, saying, "This method is safe. Let's first think of a way to force the bandits to retreat. Otherwise, when the prime minister arrives and finds out that we have lost Yangzhou, you and I will both be punished. Before the prime minister arrives, we must at least keep Yangzhou intact so that we can give him an explanation.

"However, we need to defend Gaoyou and send troops to Yangzhou to rescue it. Where can we get 30,000 or 40,000 troops?" Li Qi said immediately. "I have already made plans for this. Now there are 15,000 recruited soldiers and local soldiers in Gaoyou City. We can leave 10,000 people to defend Gaoyou and recruit 5,000 people from outside the city. In this way, we can have 10,000 troops.

"Also, there is a local tyrant in Dingxi named Liu Ziren. He has asked me many times to recruit volunteers to defend his hometown. I have always refused, but now that the enemy army is at the gates of the city and the court is in need of people, why not just appoint him as the Marshal of the Volunteer Army and let him recruit 10,000 young and strong men from the salt fields along the coast."

Dashi Temur nodded repeatedly, "But even if we include this man, there are only 20,000 soldiers."

Li Qi immediately said, "Taizhou can also send troops to support us. The Taizhou judge Li Huafu, whom I recruited last year, is also a man who knows military affairs. We can ask him to recruit 10,000 soldiers in Taizhou and join forces with us to rescue Yangzhou together."

Dashi Temur frowned immediately, "The man who started a rebellion last year and tried to break into the prison, is he reliable?"

Seeing that Dashi didn't quite believe this man, Li Qi immediately laughed and said, "Since Li Huafu was recruited last year, he has tasted the benefits of being an official. He even came to help me make suggestions to the court. The idea of ​​transferring refugees from the Central Plains to Dadu to cultivate land was proposed by him, and I presented it to the prime minister after perfecting it.

"This person has begged me many times before, hoping that I would help him get a promotion based on his advice and suggestions. How can such a person be unreliable?"

Dashi Temur was immediately surprised and said, "Is there such a thing? If this person really has this ability, plus the merits of his previous advice, then it is not impossible to give him a promotion. I will make the decision on this matter and promote him to the position of Tongzhi of Taizhou. Since you have an old relationship with him, you can send someone to tell him in person that as long as he can make new contributions this time, I can also directly ask the Prime Minister for credit for him!"

Li Qi smiled when he heard this and said, "With what Lord Pingzhang said, this matter is settled. We will send 10,000 troops from Gaoyou, 10,000 troops from Liu Ziren, and add Li Huafu's troops from Taizhou, making a total of 30,000 troops. We don't ask to defeat the bandits, but to force them to withdraw from Yangzhou.

"When the enemy army withdraws, the defenders in Yangzhou can also leave the city to join us. With 50,000 to 60,000 troops together, we may be able to drive the enemy back to Chuzhou."

Dashi Temur nodded immediately and said, "That's the best. Send someone to tell those two people that the enemy army is fierce and their attack is swift. Who knows how long Yangzhou can hold out. Send someone back quickly and don't waste time."

"Yes!"

So, on the night when Zhu Liangzu surrounded Yangzhou, Gaoyou had already discussed a countermeasure and sent a fast horse to deliver a message to Liu Ziren and Li Huafu overnight. In the early morning of the 16th, before dawn, Li Huafu was hurriedly awakened and received a message from Gaoyou prefect Li Qi asking him to recruit soldiers.

"What? Promote me to be the Tongzhi of Taizhou? Ask me to recruit soldiers to rescue Yangzhou? Is Li Fuyin crazy? There are at least tens of thousands of bandits outside Yangzhou City. I don't even know if I can defend Taizhou, so how can I rescue Yangzhou?

"If you ask me, Yangzhou City has high walls and deep moats, and there are hundreds of thousands of people in the city. How can the bandits easily capture such a huge city? It is better to let the garrison in the city strictly guard the city. When the bandits run out of food and grass, they will retreat on their own."

Li Huafu was not a fool. He knew very well that the Shengwu Army outside Yangzhou were his own people, so how could he help Li Qi? Moreover, it was already the early morning of the 17th, and there were less than fourteen hours left before Lu Jin's order to start the uprising and seize the city at dawn on the th. He was now arranging manpower for the uprising, so how could he have the time to help Li Qi to rescue Yangzhou?

The person who came to deliver the message on behalf of Li Qi was Li Qi's long-time servant who had followed him from his hometown. He had met Li Huafu several times before, and when he heard what he said, he explained immediately.

"My lord, you said that the bandits from Luzhou now occupy three routes in Jiangdong and have a navy, so how could they be short of food? They can continuously transport food from Jiangnan, so they will never retreat easily. Only by gathering a large army can we force them to retreat.

"And Li Dapan doesn't need to worry. My husband said that we don't need to really fight the Luzhou bandits. We just need to gather 30,000 troops and pretend to rescue Yangzhou. We will camp a few miles away and defend. The bandits will be afraid of being attacked by us and Yangzhou from both inside and outside, so they will naturally not dare to continue attacking the city. The siege of Yangzhou will be lifted. When the siege of Yangzhou is lifted, the defenders in the city can also come out to join us. With 50,000 to 60,000 troops gathered together, how can they be afraid of the bandits?"

Li Huafu was shocked when he heard this. He didn't know the overall arrangement of Lu Jin's battle in Jiangbei this time, but he had heard from Yan Duxian and others who had just returned from internship that this battle in Jiangbei was indeed rather hasty and the number of troops was not large. It was said that there were five divisions of troops, but in fact only the two divisions of Zhu Liangzu's 36th Army were the main attacking force.

Although Bian Yuanheng and his 108th Division are considered the main force, this division now only exists on paper and has not even recruited enough soldiers. The two divisions of the 40th Army have also just been expanded. This time they only help to occupy the land and not to help in the battle.

Therefore, Li Qi's judgment that the Shengwu Army was short of manpower for the attack on Jiangbei was not wrong. If Li Qi really succeeded in doing this, it would probably affect the Shengwu Army's plan to attack Jiangbei this time.

Li Huafu immediately realized the seriousness of the matter. He remained calm on the surface, calmed himself down, and then said with a smile.

"Hahahaha, so it's just a bluff. This is a good plan by Li Fuyin. I understand. Please ask the envoy to go back and report to Li Fuyin and tell him that I know. I will go to recruit soldiers at dawn. But after I recruit 10,000 soldiers, how and where should I meet up with Li Fuyin?"

Li Qi's long-time servant said immediately, "My lord, you said that the bandits in Luzhou are very strong. You don't need to take the new recruits with you to avoid being targeted by the bandits. After recruiting soldiers, you can put them all in Taizhou City. First, you can defend Taizhou, and second, you can train the soldiers in the city. When we need to gather troops, my lord will lead the army to support us."

Upon hearing this, Li Huafu clapped his hands and praised, "This arrangement is even better. Prefect Li is really thoughtful. It is settled then. Please ask the envoy to return quickly and tell the prefect to rest assured that we know what to do."

As Li Huafu spoke, he stuffed a silver ingot into the hand of the long-time servant and then sent him away with a smile. However, as soon as the man left, his expression immediately changed and he hurried back to his residence.

Under the dim oil lamp in the room, a scholar in a Confucian robe was waiting there. His name was Xiao An, and he was specially sent by Min Zishun, the station chief of Taizhou Station, to be the liaison officer for Li Huafu. After Li Huafu officially started the uprising, Xiao An would also stay in the army, and from now on he would be directly transferred to be the training officer of the 19th Regiment.

When Xiao An saw Li Huafu coming back, he hurriedly asked, "What happened? Someone came to see you in the middle of the night. What happened?"

Li Huafu nodded. "Yes, there was an accident, but I don't know if it will have a big impact on us. I would like to ask Coach Xiao to help with some advice."

So Li Huafu immediately told Xiao An about Li Qi's plan. Xiao An frowned and remained silent after hearing it. Xiao An thought about it before speaking.

"Neither you nor I know the exact situation of the war right now, so it's better not to speculate. I suggest that we report this news to General Zhu of the 36th Army. He is the commander-in-chief of this Jiangbei Campaign, so he naturally understands the overall situation better than we do. We just need to follow his orders and don't make unnecessary changes. We might do something bad with good intentions and affect the Marshal's arrangements.

"As for Li Qi asking you to recruit soldiers, that's just right. You can just recruit soldiers directly into the city in the name of the Yuan army. This way, our uprising will be safer. Once we have our soldiers in the city, we can just wait no matter whether Li Qi or General Zhu comes."

Li Huafu nodded and said, "That's fine, but I heard that General Zhu has already surrounded Yangzhou. I'm afraid they will attack the city at dawn tomorrow. If we want to send them a message, we should do it as soon as possible. Should you send someone to deliver it, or should I?"

Xiao An immediately said, "I'll send someone to deliver it through the intelligence station's channels. It will be faster, and the army will be more likely to believe it when they know it's news from the intelligence station."

"Well, Coach Xiao, be careful. I'll send someone to escort you."

"Okay." Xiao An nodded, put on a black cloak, and immediately disappeared into the night. Not long after, from a farm outside the city, a fast horse galloped towards Yangzhou in the west.

Now that Yangzhou has been surrounded, there is almost no Yuan army force around it. Even if you gallop away on horseback, no one will care.

Back in Yangzhou, Zhu Liangzu and Liao Yongan finished explaining the strategy to the generals and discussed the arrangements for tomorrow's siege, then let everyone go back to rest. By the beginning of the morning of the 16th, when the sky was just beginning to turn pale, the Shengwu Army camp outside the city was setting up pots and cooking, preparing for the soldiers to have breakfast.

At this moment, the fast horse coming from Taizhou was suddenly stopped by the cavalry sentry outside. Hearing that the other party was from the Taizhou Intelligence Department and had important military information to report, Zhu Liangzu immediately asked his personal soldiers to bring the person over. After reading the news sent by the other party, Zhu Liangzu did not panic, but smiled disdainfully, and then said to his personal soldiers, "Go and ask the commanders of each regiment to come to the central army for a discussion."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)