Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 330 Sweeping Huaidong (Part )

On the Jiangnan side, Lu Jin made various decisions that day, and that night a speedboat sent him back to Jiangbei by water.

Yu Tonghai and Zhang Desheng's 40th Army also received news that Lu Jin agreed to let them attack Tongzhou by water, and arranged for them to stay in Tongzhou in Jiangbei for training after the battle. After the Eastern Expedition began, they could directly cross the river from Jiangbei to join the battlefield. This would save them the trouble of moving back and forth between the two sides of the Yangtze River, saving a lot of time.

After receiving the news, the two immediately called Bai Guangtai to discuss the advance plan.

Although Bai Guangtai's navy had many ships, it was unrealistic to transport the main force of six regiments of an army directly by water. If they were attacked by the Yuan army's navy again on the way, the consequences would be unimaginable.

So the three of them decided that the main force would take the land route eastward along the river, and the navy would lead one regiment at a time, first transporting a regiment to a place ten miles west of Tongzhou, letting this regiment set up camp and defend, and then come back to transport the next regiment, until the entire main force was sent to a place ten miles outside the city of Tongzhou, and finally attack Tongzhou by land, and then use this "island-hopping" tactic when attacking Haimen.

The plan is set, and we'll set off tomorrow.

On the other side, in Yangzhou City, the night of the 36th was the last day for the main force of the th Army to rest and recuperate. The army would continue to march northward at dawn the next day. On this night, the reply from the Jiangnan Marshal's Mansion was finally delivered via the canal.

Zhu Liangzu and Gao Yao received the secret letter. Gao Yao translated the key from the front, and Zhu Liangzu found the corresponding code book and translated it into plain text. Liao Yongzhong and Feng Sheng asked hurriedly, "How is it? What did the Marshal say?"

Zhu Liangzu said immediately, "Something unexpected happened with the 108th Division. They recruited more than 40 soldiers than expected. Now, in addition to the three main regiments of the headquarters, they have also organized two more supplementary regiments. There is no shortage of troops to defend the city. So the Marshal asked Bian Yuanheng to take six regiments back to Gaoyou after the battle of Rugao, and let the th Army fight Tongzhou and Haimen."

Everyone looked at each other and said, "Six regiments to Gaoyou? Then we won't be short of soldiers. Can't we take more main forces to attack Baoying and Huai'an?"

Zhu Liangzu shook his head. "The Marshal also said that Bian Yuanheng's six regiments will be transferred in the future and will not stay in Jiangbei to fight. He also said that we should continue to expand the army. Without affecting the main battle, we should try to expand the 36th Army to more than regiments, and then form the North China Front Army.

“But that’s all for the future. In a short period of time, we can indeed transfer more troops to the north.

"In this case, the previous plan to keep two supplementary regiments in Yangzhou can be changed. Now we only need to keep one. Anyway, Bian Yuanheng will go to Gaoyou in a few days, so we can let him look after Yangzhou then."

Everyone nodded, and Gao Yao took the opportunity to say, "In that case, let's keep Zheng Chao's reinforcements to guard Yangzhou for the fifth day, and the other troops will break camp and continue their march northward tomorrow!"

Zheng Chao was stunned when he heard this. He glanced at Gao Yao and immediately realized that it was because he had a conflict with the Tu brothers yesterday. In order to avoid further disputes between the two departments, Gao Yao made such an arrangement. However, since the instructor had spoken, he could only nod and agree, "Then I will stay to guard the city."

Zhu Liangzu glanced at the two of them. Anyway, the reinforcements were all new soldiers, so it didn't matter who stayed. Since Gao Yao had made the decision, he agreed and said, "That's settled. Except for the reinforcements of the Fifth Regiment, the other units should take a good rest and arrange the sentries. Let the cooking teams of each unit start cooking at the beginning of the morning hour tomorrow, and officially move out at the beginning of the morning hour. Everyone go back and have a good rest."

"Yes!" All the generals responded immediately and returned to their respective camps to begin making arrangements.

The next day, early in the morning of the 16th, the main force of the 36th Army, which had been expanded to 13 regiments, left a new regiment of Zheng Chao to guard Yangzhou, and the main regiments once again broke camp and marched quickly to Gaoyou in the north. Since the beginning of the Jiangbei Campaign, Zhu Liangzu led six regiments to the battle. Up to now, not only has the force not decreased, but there is a trend of increasing in number.

On the day they marched north, Bian Yuanheng's 108th Division also began to march eastward to Rugao. The main force of Yu Tonghai's 40th Army also advanced rapidly towards Tongzhou under the transportation of the navy. The second phase of the Jiangbei Campaign officially began, and the scale of the war became increasingly larger.

At this time in Gaoyou City, after two days of rumors fermenting, both the defenders in the city and the senior officials of the Yuan court had begun to panic. Ordinary soldiers were worried about the "300,000 troops" rumored. Some began to plan to surrender, while others planned to escape.

The high-ranking officials headed by the prefect Li Qi and the Minister of Peace Dashi Temur also realized that enemy spies had infiltrated the city, and they became even more worried.

It was obvious that the attack by the Shengwu Army was well prepared, otherwise it would be impossible to send spies in without them noticing. This meant that these spies had sneaked into the city a long time ago, and it would be difficult to capture the "outsiders" in the city even if they wanted to.

"What's the matter? Still no news?" Dashitemure, who was anxiously pacing around in the government office, asked immediately when he saw Li Qi coming in from outside.

Li Qi shook his head silently, which immediately made Dashi Temur discouraged. Li Qi then explained.

"The enemy's cavalry has been besieging the city for two days, and has been killing messengers outside the city. We were able to send out messengers, but none of them have returned, and we don't know if anyone has managed to break through."

"Well, I hope they can send the message out." Dashi Temur sighed, suddenly closed his eyes and sat in the chair.

Since the evening of the 16th, when Zheng Yong led the main force of cavalry to besiege the city, Gaoyou has cut off all external contacts.

There are now 20,000 defenders in Gaoyou City. In addition to the original troops, there are also those that Li Qi had just recruited two days ago to prepare for the counterattack against Yangzhou. They are all trapped in the city now. Gaoyou City is not as big as Yangzhou, so the troops defending the city are sufficient for the time being, but they urgently need to confirm two pieces of news.

First, has Yangzhou been conquered? What is the intention of the cavalry outside the city? If Yangzhou has not been conquered, then could this cavalry be sent by the rebel army to contain Gaoyou and prevent them from sending troops to disrupt the rebel army's attack on Yangzhou?

If this is the case, Li Qi can completely gather the elite troops in Gaoyou City, gather together and forcefully break through the blockade. As long as his infantry formation does not disperse and moves along the bank of the canal, the enemy troops outside the city will probably not be able to break through their formation, and this containment will no longer work.

But it was precisely because Li Qi was not sure about the true situation in Yangzhou that he hesitated to take the risk.

Second, if Yangzhou had been conquered, Liu Ziren who had gone to Dingxi to recruit soldiers, and Li Huafu in Taizhou would have to be notified immediately to tell them not to come over after they had gathered their forces, so as to avoid running into the main force of the enemy army and being defeated outside the city.

If conditions permit, it would be best to let Liu Ziren lead the newly recruited soldiers to Baoying or Huai'an in the north to find more main forces of the Yuan army, and then go south to rescue them.

Li Qi and others still don't know that Li Huafu has started a rebellion in Taizhou, and they are still thinking about informing Li Huafu to prevent him from rushing over.
However, regarding these two matters, they could neither receive any news from Yangzhou nor send anyone to inform Liu Ziren and Li Huafu.

During these two days, Li Qi sent people to break out many times and tried every possible way, but none of them worked. All the soldiers who went out of the city by land were intercepted by the enemy cavalry.

There was even something more outrageous. The soldiers sent out to pass the message may have believed the rumor that those who joined the Shengwu Army would be given land. As soon as they left the city, they surrendered directly to the Shengwu Army cavalry outside the city in full view of the guards on the city wall.
The man probably didn't have any relatives in the city, and Li Qi was so angry that he wanted to kill the soldier's family as punishment but he couldn't do it.

After this incident, the high-ranking officials of the Yuan court in the city completely gave up the idea of ​​sending people to break out by land, and began to think of ways to break out by water.

Gaoyou City is a square city with a gate in the east, south, west and north. Outside the west gate is the canal. Further west of the canal is Xinkai Lake, which is the predecessor of Gaoyou Lake in later generations. However, at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the floods in the Yangtze and Huaihe Rivers had not yet overflowed, and the Gaoyou Lake in later generations had not yet been formed. The area of ​​Hongze Lake was far less than that of later generations.

But in fact, they could have gone out of the city through the west gate and directly contacted each other by water through the canal. This was a good idea, but unfortunately Min Zishun had predicted their prediction. As the chief officer of the Jiangbei Intelligence Station, Min Zishun's main business was in Gaoyou, and he knew the terrain of this area very well. Now that the army was about to attack, he didn't need to hide anymore, so he simply showed up openly, organized some peripheral personnel of the intelligence station, and mobilized the trackers and boatmen on both sides of the canal to block the Gaoyou section of the canal.

Today, outside the west city of Gaoyou, there are boats and trackers patrolling along the canal day and night. If Li Qi sends a large army out of the city, these trackers and boatmen will certainly not be able to stop them. However, if he only sends a few messengers, no one will be able to break out by water.
After three days of this, the high-ranking Yuan army officials in the city had completely given up, as did Gaoyou Wanhu Yilasi.

"There's no need to try to confirm it. Yangzhou is definitely gone."

Dashitemuel frowned, "Why are you so sure?"

Yilasi said immediately, "If they just wanted the cavalry to tie down Gaoyou's forces and prevent us from interfering with their attack on Yangzhou, then there is no need for them to blockade Gaoyou so strictly.

"There are also those spies who have been lurking in the city for a long time. These people were placed in the city with great difficulty and effort. Everyone has a fixed residence and livelihood. They are not "outsiders" at all. After investigating for several days and arresting dozens of "outsiders", they did not find a real spy. It can be seen that these spies are not ordinary. If they just wanted to tie down Gaoyou's troops, there would be no need for them to risk showing up and spreading rumors at this time.

“Since they have decided to spread rumors in Gaoyou and undermine our morale, it means that they have already made plans to completely capture Gaoyou. There is no point in these spies continuing to lurk, right?

"If Yangzhou had not been conquered, how could they be confident that they could attack Gaoyou?"

After hearing this, everyone thought about it and it seemed to be true. Even if they didn't want to admit it, they couldn't find an excuse to refute it.

Gaoyou Prefecture Darughachi Yuxi Timur asked directly, "If Yangzhou has fallen, what should we do here?"

Li Qi opened his mouth and thought about it, but in the end he didn't dare to say it, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Upon seeing this, Dashi Temur immediately asked, "Li Fuyin, it has come to this point, is there anything you cannot say? Just say whatever you want to say, and I won't blame you if I'm wrong."

Li Qi said helplessly.

"Since the enemy army had already prepared to attack the city, and Yangzhou was conquered by them in a day or two, it means that the enemy army must have a lot of main forces. Now there are spies in the city, and the defenders are shaken. I think it will be difficult to defend Gaoyou."

Upon hearing this, Darughachi Yushi Timur and Wanhu Yilasi glared at Li Qi, as if to say, "See if you dare to run away."

But Li Qi still gritted his teeth and said, "Our previous plan was that as long as we firmly defended Gaoyou, the rebel army would retreat on its own when the prime minister led his army south. Now it seems impossible. The rebel army will definitely capture Gaoyou before the prime minister's army arrives.

"As the prefect of Gaoyou appointed by the imperial court, I have the responsibility to defend the territory and live and die with this city. But you, Lord Pingzhang, cannot be trapped in this city. You should find a way to stay useful and retreat to Baoying or Huai'an.

"Gather Liu Ziren's newly recruited troops and Li Huafu of Taizhou, and unite all the troops that can be mobilized in Jiangbei Province to stop the enemy army south of Huai'an. This way, when the prime minister arrives, we can at least leave him a city that is convenient for crossing the river, and it will also be convenient for the court's army to counterattack."

Yilasi and Yushitemur then glanced at him and indicated that they would let him go, while Pingzhang Dashitemur was somewhat tempted, but finally sighed.

"How could I not know what you said? But now even the scouts can't leave the city, how can I safely retreat to Baoying? Isn't this the same as not saying anything? Now there is no need to think about withdrawing troops, but to think about how to defend the city. If this city cannot be defended, I am afraid that you and I in the hall today will have to live and die with Gaoyou."

Li Qi fell silent for a moment after hearing this, and then said nothing more.

In fact, what he wanted to say at first was that since they were sure they could not hold the city now, they might as well find a way to escape together, and then think of a way to counterattack after escaping to Huai'an. Staying in the city now would only lead to death. However, when he saw the unfriendly eyes of Yilasi and Yushitemür, the words on the tip of his tongue turned into that he would live and die with Gaoyou, and let Dashitemür go first.

But what Dashi Temur said is right. I'm afraid no one can leave now, so there is no point in saying those things.

Amid such anxiety, the high-ranking officials of the Yuan court in Gaoyou City welcomed the main force of Zhu Liangzu's 19 regiments in the evening of the 13th.

When the army arrived at Gaoyou City, they immediately surrounded the city. However, the main infantry forces were on the southeast sides. The west side was difficult to surround due to the canal, and the north was left for the enemy to escape. Zheng Yong was left leading the cavalry regiment to cruise in the north of the city, ready to intercept and kill the fleeing enemy.

Thirteen regiments, with a total of nearly 60,000 troops, were deployed outside Gaoyou City. The sky was covered with flags and swords and spears were everywhere. The camp alone spread out for several miles and there was no end as far as the eye could see. Such a powerful force further confirmed the rumor about the "200,000 to 300,000 troops" that had been circulating in the city a few days ago.

Once there are more than ten thousand people, there is no limit. No matter whether it is 60,000 or 260,000, they are all innumerable. What difference does it make to the defenders in the city?
In the evening of the day the army arrived, Min Zishun came to meet up with local intelligence and provided a detailed map of Gaoyou City. Zhu Liangzu was also busy. He immediately ordered the newly formed supplementary regiments to build artillery positions in the southeast and northeast corners outside the city, and to deploy field artillery at the east and south gates. He also asked Min Zishun to help them find enough guides to lead the main attack force.

After the Battle of Yangzhou, the generals of the 36th Army had thoroughly mastered Lu Jin's siege tactics. They had gained experience in suppressing the enemy with artillery, escorting the first troops to seize the gates, sending the main attack force into the city with mountain artillery, following the guides to quickly divide and surround the defenders in the city, and finally ending the battle with street fighting.

Li Qi and others in the city stood on the top of the city wall and couldn't help but gasp when they saw the scale of the Shengwu Army outside the city. They couldn't see how many people were in the army outside the city, but they felt that 100,000 was probably no more than 100,000. What the hell was going on? Everyone had their own ideas in their minds.

At dawn the next day, after breakfast, artillery began to be moved to the artillery positions. The main attacking forces also arranged the attack sequence. At Zhu Liangzu's command, Yang Huan began to test the artillery.

The sound of cannons resounded throughout the city, which further confirmed the outrageous rumor in the city that when heavenly soldiers came down to earth to exorcise demons, there would be thunderous punishment from heaven. Many soldiers who had never seen a cannon immediately believed this statement and began to back off.

After several rounds of artillery test firing, the artillery regiment began to suppress the city walls with all its strength, which immediately caused great casualties to the soldiers defending the city. Seeing the shells flying to the city walls and exploding again, directly blowing people into pieces, the Yuan army defending the city no longer had the courage to continue standing on the city walls. No matter how the Mongolian generals like Yilasi urged them, no one dared to continue to climb the city walls to defend.

Taking advantage of the opportunity when the defenders in the city were suppressed, the main force of the 36th Army once again used the old tactics. Although the tactics were old, they were very effective. This tactic could be used even before the enemy could come up with an effective countermeasure.

Wang Bi from the 10th Regiment had already climbed the city walls first several times, so he could not always take all the credit. So this time the task of climbing the city walls first fell to Li Ruizhong, formerly known as Li Pusheng. Li Ruizhong held a shield in one hand and a knife in the other, a fuse in his mouth, and two grenades on his waist. He led the commando team to climb the city walls smoothly from the east gate. A few rounds of grenades defeated the Yuan army inside the city wall, and soon opened the east gate from the inside, leading the main force into the city from the east gate.

The 36th Army was even more difficult to defeat. Yangzhou, which had a larger defender, had been captured. How could Gaoyou possibly stop them? What's more, the defenders in Gaoyou had been affected by rumors a few days in advance, and their morale was not as good as that of Yangzhou. They were defeated by Zhu Liangzu in one fell swoop on the 20th.

After taking Gaoyou City, Zhu Liangzu once again left a supplementary regiment to defend the city, and the main force continued to move northward without stopping, attacking the next stop, Baoying.

The Shengwu Army's violent offensive in Jiangbei finally attracted the attention of the surrounding neighbors.

Zhima Li from Xuzhou and a salt smuggler from Yancheng almost simultaneously received the news that the Shengwu Army had conquered Yangzhou and Gaoyou.
(End of this chapter)