Fu Shanhe

Chapter 217 Magical Battle Report

"ignition!"

Looking at the city wall ahead, Li Mu gave the order decisively.

In recent days, there has been a constant stream of bad news from the front lines, either this city has been lost or this or that official has died for his country.

Of course, in a battle of this intensity, there will inevitably be surrenders.

In order to downplay the political impact, everyone tacitly chose to keep this issue secret.

Every day, they preached to the officers and soldiers about loyalty and patriotism. Unfortunately, the actual effect was not very good. Since the rebels captured Changsha, the number of surrenders has continued to increase.

There have even been cases in some local areas where soldiers hacked generals and military supervisors to death and then defected to the rebels.

It’s not that everyone thinks that the Holy White Lotus Kingdom can seize the world and wants to try their luck in following the dragon.

The mutiny and joining of the rebels were mainly caused by corruption.

The officials above enjoy plenty of food and fish, but they themselves "cannot eat enough and cannot wear warm clothes". Anyone would feel unbalanced.

Under the guidance of the White Lotus Sect, all the old grudges accumulated in the past suddenly broke out.

These changes did not have much impact on the Guangxi Army. As a newly formed force, it did not inherit the bad habits of the Dayu Army.

All supplies were never lacking. The Night Guards, who had been transferred from the Imperial Guards, were on duty, so the White Lotus Sect members were caught as soon as they showed up, leaving them no time to cause any trouble.

The rebels who had conquered Changsha were now wreaking havoc in Huguang. The imperial court was powerless to stop them, and Zhu Ge Lao was preparing for the defense of Wuchang.

If the Battle of Wuchang fails again, the central part of the empire will fall into endless chaos.

The rebels could march north to the Central Plains, go east to plunder the south of the Yangtze River, or go west to Bashu.

No matter which direction the rebels attack, it will be a disaster for Dayu.

In order to save the crisis and share the military pressure of the Huguang government troops, Li Mu intensified the offensive against the Guangdong rebels.

The roar of artillery fire announced the beginning of the Guanghaiwei attack and defense battle.

Unlike previous battles, this time it was a pure assault on the city.

The rebels, who had suffered consecutive losses, also learned from their previous failures. No matter how the government troops tried to lure them, they stayed in the city and refused to come out.

Faced with a group of enemies hiding in the city, Li Mu could only order a violent attack on the city.

Various siege weapons were being built, and the roar of artillery continued in order to put pressure on the rebels.

"Rumble..."

After a loud bang, the expected city collapse did not occur. Instead, a large amount of river water poured into the tunnel.

It was obvious at first glance that this was a miscalculation. The gunpowder used to blow up the city wall was buried under the moat, and the explosion caused the river water to backflow.

Li Mu was not surprised that the attack encountered setbacks. No tactic is omnipotent. If it were invincible, the city wall would have been eliminated long ago.

"Pass the order down, sound the retreat!"

Li Mu gave the order decisively.

The tunnel digging tactic failed, and continuing the siege was meaningless except for wasting lives.

……

"Commander Li, the Guanghaiwei defenders are very stubborn and I'm afraid it will be difficult to take them down in a short time.

Why don't we just change our route and join forces with General Jing stationed in Qiongzhou to attack Guangzhou from the sea?"

Zhang Sihan suggested.

In his opinion, it was a sheer waste of time for the army to be entangled in Guanghaiwei.

It would be better to use this time to attack Guangzhou. Anyway, the main force of the rebels has already entered Huguang, and the probability of turning back to settle accounts with them is not high.

"Governor, the rebels have deployed a large number of coastal artillery along the coast. General Jing has landed three times, but all ended in failure.

Even if we join them, it won't change anything. If we want to force a landing, we have to break through the weak areas of the enemy's defense.

The rebels will naturally discover such an obvious problem.

What's more, our military funds have not been allocated yet, and the morale of the troops below is unsettled.

It’s OK to fight a favorable battle, but when faced with a tough battle, the army will easily collapse.”

Li Mu shook his head and said.

Jing Yifeng complained to him about the failure of the landing operation. The two sides also discussed the process of the landing operation in letters.

Generally speaking, the government troops did not make any major mistakes; their failure was simply due to the enemy's good preparation.

Without epoch-making technological advantages, it would be difficult for warships and shore artillery to avoid failure in the battle.

It is now difficult for ships to approach the port, the army cannot complete the landing, and there is no way to attack Guangzhou.

War makes people grow. Compared with their initial immaturity, the White Lotus rebels have now grown up.

Both command capabilities and soldier training have undergone earth-shaking changes.

If the rebels back then were bandits, then the current White Lotus Holy Kingdom is a separatist regime.

Although their foundation was not solid, they still managed to integrate a system by relying on religious deception.

This kind of regime that combines politics and religion has many drawbacks, but it was very effective in the early stages of the rebellion.

Zhang Sihan was not surprised that the proposal was rejected again.

People with different identities and status consider issues from different perspectives.

As the governor of Guangxi, he had to consider issues from a global perspective.

Even though we know there are risks, we still have to do it.

In comparison, military generals consider issues in a much simpler way.

If a military general wants to live a comfortable life in the Dayu Dynasty, he must learn to hide his shortcomings.

Especially for a general like Li Mu who commands a large number of troops, he needs to deliberately reveal his flaws to let the outside world know that he has weaknesses.

It's okay to consider the overall situation once in a while, but if you always consider the overall situation, then you will be screwed!

If money and food are not allocated in place but the troops are still fighting well, the higher-ups will think that they were given too much.

It will be gradually reduced in the future until the situation becomes serious.

"As for the money and grain issue, I have already helped to secure it.

It’s just that the situation up there is in chaos and everyone is paying attention to the Huguang battlefield, so I’m afraid it will take some time until the evening.

The imperial court was in financial difficulties and could not rely entirely on the government.

The military pay share is insufficient, so we have to find a way ourselves.

We have no money or food, but the rebels do..."

Zhang Sihan's words seemed to be asking Li Mu to lead his troops to rob the rebels, but in fact they were implying that he could condone the troops to go out and rob.

He was the governor of Guangxi, not Guangdong, and his responsibility for protecting the country and the people was limited to his own jurisdiction.

The money and food allocated by the imperial court was not enough. In order to ensure the combat effectiveness of the army, someone had to make sacrifices.

However, these shameful things must not be said directly.

Even if it happened, it was the soldiers' own action and had nothing to do with him as the governor.

As long as you can't see it, it's the same as if it didn't happen.

"Then let's wait until after the autumn harvest. The rebels don't have any food right now!"

Li Mu replied expressionlessly.

Deep in his heart, he directly greeted Zhang Sihan's eighteen generations of ancestors.

The governor needs fame, and he wants fame too!
Although a military general should not have a very good reputation, there are many ways to defile oneself, so there is no need to allow the troops to plunder.

Military discipline is difficult to establish but very easy to destroy.

After complaining, Li Mu immediately realized that the situation was not good.

Dayu’s finances were worse than he had expected, or rather, Dayu’s corruption was far beyond expectations.

If there was no other way, Zhang Sihan would not have risked hinting to him that he could allow his troops to plunder.

If nothing unexpected happens, we can no longer rely on the imperial court in the coming days.

Without funding from the imperial court, it would not be difficult to feed the army relying solely on the output of the garrisons, provided that they did not go to war.

Once the fighting starts, money will be spent like water.

Every artillery shell and every bullet fired by the army is paid for with money.

After regaining Guangxi, Li Mu immediately restored the local ammunition production capacity, but it could still only meet half of the army's needs.

The shortfall needs to be allocated by the court. Theoretically it is free, but if you want to get the best quality goods, you still need to make some arrangements.

The food and fodder consumed by the soldiers piled up like a mountain.

Those who don't know the truth think he is slacking off, but those who know the details know that he has no money in his pocket.

Lord Zhu cut funding for Guangxi, and the gap left behind could only be filled by self-raised funds at the local level.

The governor's office was extremely poor and could only express spiritual support, so all the pressure fell on Li Mu.

There was no perfect solution, so Zhang Sihan had to come up with a bad idea as a last resort.

……

Changsha city.

As the winner, Shi Rongxian entered the Changsha Palace surrounded by the crowd.

Although emergency repairs were carried out, the traces of the war are still clearly visible.

"Has the King of Changsha surrendered?"

Shi Rongxian asked with concern.

Since he started the rebellion, any member of the royal family who fell into his hands has always been doomed to death.

But people always change. After conquering Changsha, he realized that there were problems with his previous massacre policy.

There were many vassal kings in the Dayu Dynasty, so it didn't matter if a few of them died.

Apart from the sensation caused by the killing of the first vassal prince, everyone got used to it and it no longer had any deterrent effect.

Compared with brutal execution, surrendering a vassal king would have a greater political impact.

If all the princes and vassal kings could surrender, it would undoubtedly become easier to persuade the government troops to surrender and recruit scholars.

"Holy Emperor, the King of Changsha of the false dynasty was ungrateful and hanged himself in prison.

However, we have recruited several generals who assist the country and serve the country, and the number of lieutenants under them is even greater."

Prime Minister Wu Zekai replied slightly embarrassedly.

He promised that he could persuade the King of Changsha to surrender.

As a result, the main culprit died just as the persuasion work began.

Without the King of Changsha, the remaining group of royal family members were all small-time characters.

Even if they surrender to the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus, they will not be able to achieve their intended goal.

"That's it!
It seems that not all members of the Dayu royal family are useless, there are still some who know propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame.

Give him a straw mat and bury him somewhere."

Shi Rongxian said with a frown.

The Holy White Lotus Kingdom has come to this point. In addition to the military war, the next war will also involve a political battle with the imperial court.

When we started the rebellion, we killed the gentry too harshly. Now that we need their support, things are getting complicated.

Wherever the army arrived at a place, the local gentry would flee in advance, leaving them no chance to even make contact.

Without the support of these people, it would be too difficult for the officials of the White Lotus Holy Kingdom to organize the people to resume production.

These old brothers who followed him to conquer the world are all professionals in destruction, but it would be too difficult for them to carry out construction.

The biggest problem when they were driven out of Guangxi by government troops was that they controlled the land but were unable to resume production in time.

Although they owned a large tract of land, they were unable to provide enough food and fodder for the army.

Even now, property confiscation is still the main source of income for the Holy Kingdom of White Lotus.

He had read history books and knew very well that this was not the right approach, but he could not find a better solution.

Without confiscating the property of the gentry and the wealthy families, it would be impossible to support so many troops with the pitiful local taxes.

“Saint Emperor, the government troops have gathered a large number of troops in Wuchang. I’m afraid it will be difficult to conquer it in a short period of time.

It would be better to send a force to attack Jiangxi, get to the Yangtze River as soon as possible, and then go down the river to capture Nanjing!"

Southern King Fu Haoxuan made a suggestion.

The Battle of Changsha was mainly won by the East King and the West King. He, the Southern King, only arrived at the right time to deal a final blow to the government army.

As a man who cares about his reputation, he is embarrassed to flatter himself.

Since the previous battles were won by others, he felt embarrassed to take credit for the subsequent capture of Wuchang.

As princes of the Holy Kingdom, Fu Haoxuan didn't want to let the other two take all the credit, so he set his sights on the more attractive Nanjing.

"I agree!"

After a little thought, Shi Rongxian immediately agreed.

In order to maintain the stability of the court, he could only strike a balance between the three kings of different surnames.

Since the East King and the West King are temporarily in the lead, we must create opportunities for the South King to perform.

Only when the three kings have equal power, his position as the Holy Emperor will be stable.

……

Wuchang Mansion.

When the news of the rebels' division came, Zhu Jingyi, the governor, immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

A million rebels is really scary. Even if the actual strength is not one million, there must be at least five or six hundred thousand.

He had no idea whether the tens of thousands of government troops in Wuchang could stop hundreds of thousands of rebels.

Knowing that the enemy's division of forces would increase the pressure on Jiangxi, he could not care less.

In order to maintain his power, he signed a military order to the emperor, vowing to live and die with Wuchang.

"What are Fujian and Guangxi doing? Why haven't they conquered Guangdong yet?"

Zhu Jingyi couldn't help but scolded.

The main force of the rebels entered Huguang, and the enemy's troops deployed in Guangdong were greatly reduced. It was the best time to recover the lost territory.

Unfortunately, the performance of the troops from Fujian and Guangxi provinces, which were responsible for carrying out the mission, was not satisfactory at this time.

Relatively speaking, Guangxi fought fairly well. Although it did not make a great advance, it at least recovered two prefectures.

There is nothing to say about Fujian's performance. The two sides have been fighting fiercely on the border.

A piece of good news was delivered every now and then, but there was no movement on the front line.

“Sir, the rebels have deployed heavy troops in Chaozhou, and it will be difficult to capture it in a short period of time.

The Governor..."

Before Yang Yan could finish his explanation, Zhu Jingyi interrupted.

“How many heavy troops have the rebels deployed?
As far as I know, since the outbreak of the war, the Fujian Front Army has wiped out more than 400,000 rebels.

This record is almost the same as that achieved by Guangxi.

But the difference is that in Guangxi, not only did they recover the entire territory of Guangxi, they also recovered two and a half prefectures in Guangdong!"

Everything is afraid of comparison.

Lying about military achievements was nothing new in the Dayu Dynasty.

But the problem is that with the same record, their battle line has not changed much.

Anyone with a little common sense knows that their military exploits are all nonsense.

There is no need to be too serious about it. These achievements have been accumulated over time.

The number of victories reported in each victory report was only around a few thousand, which was not even worth noting.

I never thought that one day it would be used for addition.

"My Lord, this is totally an accident.

us……"

Halfway through his words, Yang Yan couldn't come up with a suitable reason, so he could only give up.

Deep down, he hated those colleagues.

If they are forging something, at least make it look realistic. The numbers are so exaggerated that anyone can see the flaw at a glance.

If you want to emulate Guangxi, you also need to look at your own actual situation.

(End of this chapter)