Fu Shanhe

Chapter 193 Feint Attack on Nanning
"Rumble..."

The sound of artillery fire rang out in Nanning City, opening a new chapter in the battle of Guangxi.

"Where did the enemy land? Why didn't we receive any news?"

Huang Yuheng, Marquis of Loyalty, asked in confusion.

In order to defend Nanning, he patrolled the defense line every day. It was impossible for him not to notice the government troops crossing the river.

However, when they woke up, the enemy was already at the gate of the city.

“My Lord, the Pseudo-Dynasty army seems to be coming from Zhen’an Prefecture.

They bypassed our defenses at the ferry and marched directly to the city of Nanning."

Upon hearing the answer given by the deputy general, Huang Yuheng immediately cursed.

"Fu Sanqi, I'll fuck your ancestors!

......"

No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't stop the enemy from taking a detour.

No matter how much I planned, I didn't expect my friendly forces to betray me.

However, Fu Sanqi would definitely not admit such an accusation. Now that the water level has receded, the river surface in the direction of Zhen'an Prefecture has narrowed.

In some shallow water areas, the enemy can cross without even boats.

At this time of year, it wouldn't have much of an impact to just wade across the river.

If he wanted to carry out a comprehensive defense, even if he deployed all the garrison troops of Zhen'an Prefecture, it would still not be enough.

Moreover, the situation in Zhen'an Prefecture was different from that in Nanning. The city was not on the river bank, so the focus of defense was not on the river.

Cursing can't solve the problem, but it can relieve the mood. After greeting Fu Sanqi's ancestors for eighteen generations, the loyal and righteous Marquis Huang Yuheng slowly regained his rationality.

What happened before is not important now. The enemy is approaching the city, which is the most urgent matter.

Given the failures of the previous two Guangxi battles, few people are not afraid when talking about the Guangxi government troops now.

"Pass the order and have the troops along the Yu River withdraw as soon as possible.

He told his men that if they found the puppet army pursuing them, they should scatter gold, silver, cloth, grain, salt and other supplies along the way.

At the critical moment, don’t be stingy! "

These are all experiences of escaping.

In the past, when the enemy was being chased by government troops, after leaving their belongings behind, the soldiers would rush to grab the spoils first.

If you are lucky, you may be able to fight back and turn defeat into victory.

The Guangxi Front Army is very famous. Huang Yuheng does not expect to turn defeat into victory, he just hopes to keep the army.

Defeating the enemy was an unrealistic fantasy. He knew the quality of the troops under his command very well.

The Holy Kingdom had assembled an army of 200,000, but they were still chased and beaten by the enemy. The small number of troops under his command would definitely not be a match for the enemy.

"My Lord, the puppet government's army has cavalry.

If we withdraw our troops now, our losses will be very great!"

The deputy general persuaded tactfully.

It is easy to evacuate, but it is difficult to withdraw the troops back to Nanning City.

The government troops are not fools and will definitely not let them into the city.

"Withdrawing would result in heavy losses, and not withdrawing would lead to total annihilation.

The defense line we built can only defend against the enemy troops on the other side of the river, but the enemy has already crossed the river.

Let the army evacuate under cover of darkness at night, and remember to have the people below blow up the artillery, so that the enemy cannot use it as a siege weapon!"

Huang Yuheng said indifferently.

A general should avoid being too soft-hearted.

War is bound to result in casualties, and what generals can do is to minimize the casualties.

……

"General Jing, we have attracted the rebels' attention. It's up to you now!"

Under the city of Nanning, Li Mu said calmly.

As the commander-in-chief of a large army, the troops under his command have entered the semi-firearms era and are highly dependent on logistics.

Jing Yifeng's subordinates mainly use cold weapons.

If you want to infiltrate behind enemy lines, cold weapon troops with relatively low dependence on logistics are undoubtedly more suitable.

"Don't worry, as long as the enemy doesn't make advance preparations, we will be able to capture Liuzhou within ten days!"

Jing Yifeng said in high spirits.

The famous general's demeanor was gained through fighting. He participated in two battles in Guangxi, and in his eyes, the rebels were military achievements.

At this moment, he was even more fearless in launching a surprise attack on the enemy's rear where their troops were depleted.

Rather than taking Liuzhou, he wanted to take Guilin, where the rebel leader was located.

However, as the capital of the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus, even if the rear is very short of troops, Guilin is guarded by tens of thousands of troops.

If the forces are equal, it will not be an easy task to capture Guilin.

The attack on Guilin was merely a gesture, a strategic feint as a deterrent to force the rebels to return for rescue.

“If we can capture Liuzhou within ten days, General Jing will be credited with the main achievement.

After the war is over, I will personally celebrate your success in Guilin!"

Governor Zhang Sihan's words did not resonate.

It is too early to talk about recovering Guilin now.

This kind of pie that can be seen but not touched is hard to be attractive.

Including the planner of the battle, Li Mu had no idea how far the battle would go.

If they were to give external support, they could send troops to disrupt the rebels' strategic deployment, take the opportunity to defeat the rebels on the front line, and it would be possible to wipe out the White Lotus rebels in one fell swoop.

If progress is not smooth, withdrawing directly and attacking Nanning, Xunzhou and other areas is also an option.

"Thank you for your kind words, Governor!"

"Let's go!"

After a simple polite remark, Jing Yifeng mounted his horse and gave the order to march out.

After watching the army leave, Li Mu withdrew his gaze.

Due to the rainy season, the outbreak of the war was delayed by three months, which was not entirely without benefits.

With an extra three months of buffer time, he added two more guards to his troop strength.

The newly recruited troops do not have much combat effectiveness for the time being, but the garrisons that recovered first have reached the level of second- and third-line troops after more than half a year of intensive training.

The backbone of the group was naturally the servants of Commander Li.

Compared with the period before the war broke out, the number of servants under his command has gradually expanded from more than 800 in Yangzhou to more than 2,000.

If the expansion continues at this rate, it will not be a problem for the number of servants to exceed three thousand before the end of the rebellion.

With such a powerful private army, he is already ranked very high as a "military leader" among all the generals of Dayu.

Facts have proved that once civil and military power loses its checks and balances, it will develop in an uncontrollable direction.

It was obvious that Li Mu had no intention of doing anything, but he still instinctively expanded his private army.

With 2,000 private troops, he directly controlled the Yangzhou Camp and more than 30,000 Guangxi Garrison troops. After adding the expanded navy, the total force under his command directly exceeded 40,000.

It did not cause any waves. In addition to the fact that there were stronger "military leaders" outside, the special circumstances in Guangxi and his identity as the son of a noble family played an important role.

Once the war was over, these good days were over.

Especially since he took advantage of the war to occupy a large amount of land for military use, it was a taboo for civil officials. Even though Governor Zhang Sihan tried his best to remain restrained, Li Mu still keenly sensed a hint of malice from him.

If nothing unexpected happened, the previous deception should have been exposed, making the governor of Guangxi realize that the land in Guangxi was not as barren as he had previously seen.

I want to go back on my word, but I'm also worried that something unpredictable might happen after we fall out.

Not to mention Li Mu's influence in the court, the military force he currently has makes him, the governor, feel uneasy.

But now it is a time of war, and rebuilding the various guards in Guangxi is the general trend. Not only can he not stop Li Mu from expanding his military power, but he has to do his best to help Li Mu expand his army.

It is so frustrating that it is inevitable to feel resentment in one's heart.

At the farewell ceremony just now, what Zhang Sihan said actually had the intention of alienating the relationship between the two.

Unfortunately, he did not expect that Li Mu was not so concerned about the first achievement, and Jing Yifeng also had no interest in the bait he threw out.

The careers of both of them have basically reached their peak.

If you want to make progress in the short term, unless you have made great contributions to expanding the territory and are directly awarded a title by the court, you can only slowly accumulate experience.

It was not until ten or twenty years later, when the left and right governors of the court retired, that they had the opportunity to take their place and become the representatives of the interests of the noble group.

There are too many variables in such a long waiting period.

The leaders of both the Jing and Li families have sons. If their next generation grows up during this period, they will become the legitimate heirs to the family.

As long as they demonstrate convincing abilities, under the patriarchal system, Li Mu and Jing Yifeng would have no chance of rising to power.

Not to mention actively participating in the competition, even if there are no competitors and the family wants to push him to the top, Li Mu will actively refuse.

The capital city is prosperous, but behind the prosperity it is also filled with swords and sabers.

Guangxi is indeed a bit remote, but it is precisely because of its remoteness that it can stay away from the disputes in the court.

To put it bluntly, we are here to exercise our power.

Even if he was impeached, the emperor would suspect the impeacher and wonder whether he had a personal grudge against him.

In the traditional perception, Lingnan is a haunted place filled with miasma. Exile to Lingnan is equivalent to losing half of one's life, and the mortality rate is higher than that of Liaodong in peacetime.

Officials were busy seeking transfers when they had the chance. It was difficult to feed a large army, let alone to maintain it.

"Commander Li, are you worried about General Jing's trip?"

Jia Bo on the side asked.

Going deep behind enemy lines alone is inherently fraught with danger. If Li Mu, the planner, is not confident, then there will be big trouble.

On the issue of suppressing the rebellion, the few people had the same stance and all wanted to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion as soon as possible.

"no!"

"When we arrived at the gates of Nanning, the enemy's deployment along the Yu River became a mere decoration.

If nothing unexpected happens, it won't be long before the rebels withdraw their forces and focus on defending Nanning.

If we can consume the enemy's troops outside the city, it should be of great help to the subsequent war."

Li Mu said casually.

Just when the situation showed signs of improvement, the governor of Guangxi began to think about internal fighting. If the plan really goes well, who knows what will happen next.

However, these concerns cannot be expressed out loud.

Thoughts are thoughts, actions are actions.

There are too many people in the world with bad ideas. If we judge enemies and friends according to this standard, then the whole world will be full of enemies.

Suppressing military generals was a consensus among the civil officials. Whoever served as the governor of Guangxi would have his power restricted after the war.

The little actions done in private are nothing.

What he feared most was that the bigwigs in the court would think that he was too powerful in Guangxi and that the governor of Guangxi would be unable to check and balance him, so they would simply cut off his support and transfer him from Guangxi, and then all his work would be in vain.

……

The night was dim, but the rebel camp on the Yu River was still brightly lit.

"The Marquis gave orders for us to withdraw under the cover of darkness and to blow up all the artillery.

As soon as the explosion sounded, all our actions were exposed.

As long as the enemy generals are not stupid, they will know what we are doing. I am afraid there is not much hope for a safe retreat.

Boss Su, you have the most ideas, come up with one quickly!"

The scar-faced general urged anxiously.

The government troops were just approaching the city, so they couldn't take care of them for the time being. If they didn't evacuate quickly tonight, the chances of evacuating later would become increasingly slim.

However, evacuation is not as simple as it sounds. If you are not careful, retreating will turn into a rout. Especially at night, it is more likely to cause chaos.

"The enemy has crossed the river and is approaching the city. There is no point in continuing to defend the Yujiang River defense line. We must evacuate.

However, the evacuation time must be grasped. Let the soldiers have a good rest first, and then when it is Yinshi, tell everyone to get up and leave.

Remember, you cannot make a fire on the road, you can only use the faint starlight to travel.

Prepare more ropes for the soldiers to use as they march, so as to avoid falling behind.

As for the artillery along the river, leave a few brave men behind to blow them up two hours after we evacuate."

Boss Su said slowly.

The evacuation plan was very crude, almost non-existent.

But this is the best strategy he can come up with. There may be better solutions, but they are beyond his ability.

Boss Su had no confidence at all whether he could hide from the enemy and successfully withdraw his troops intact.

"Row!"

“You have a lot of experience, we all listen to you!

......"

Faced with the compliments from a group of generals, Boss Su simply chose to ignore them.

"Experienced" is not a good word here.

His rich experience in escaping meant that he often suffered defeat. Generally speaking, such generals did not have good luck.

No coach likes to have such an unlucky guy under his command.

Others were promoted to higher and higher positions, but he remained in the same position. If he were not a senior member of the church, he would not even have his current position.

Deep down in his heart, Boss Su even suspected that he was cursed and was not favored by the White Lotus Mother.

Time passed by minute by minute, and soon it was the second half of the night. The generals who decided to follow the order and evacuate overnight were having trouble falling asleep.

"General, the Yin hour is coming soon!"

The reminder from the personal soldier woke Boss Su from his thoughts.

"Ok!"

“Send the order down, notify all units to lose all unnecessary supplies and prepare to retreat.

Also ask the generals who is willing to stay behind to cover the rear and blow up all the artillery.

Tell them, no matter who completes the task, they will be promoted three levels and rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"

Boss Su decisively started to make a big promise.

Getting promoted and getting rich are exclusive to the living.

If a person dies, then everything is over.

This kind of mission that is almost like sending oneself to death can only be done by volunteers. Otherwise, as soon as they leave, they will join the government army.

"As ordered!"

With the departure of the guards, the originally quiet camp soon became noisy.

(End of this chapter)