Fu Shanhe

Chapter 352 The war begins

“It’s his business to be arrogant, we just need to follow the Governor’s orders and attack Anqing together.

In the days to come, send out more scouts to keep a close eye on the rebels' movements.

I have a feeling that this battle in Anqing will not go smoothly.

Qin Tianrui is the son of a noble family and has someone to back him up, so he can ignore the rebels, but we can't.

It’s not easy to build this team, and once we lose some, it will be hard to replenish them.”

Bai Yifeng said indignantly.

They were all soldiers of the Dayu Dynasty, but they belonged to the third class of people.

After Marquis Zhenyuan took office, the money and food for the nobles' direct troops were basically paid in full.

Other government troops could also get 60% of their wages, but they had never seen what the money and food looked like.

The question is: The imperial court has ordered that the troops must raise their own food and wages.

Except for him, the Minister of Militia who has a formal position, the rest are temporary workers.

They didn’t even have an official number, let alone food and wages.

When they were in Huguang, even the low-ranking officers and soldiers in the garrisons looked down on them.

It is impossible to suffer unequal treatment without any complaints.

In order to obtain formal organization, the regiment must be broken up and placed into other regular armies.

Asking for help from former classmates and teachers was of no use.

Within the civil service group, there is also a preference for splitting and reorganizing the regiments, or even disbanding them on the spot.

In the eyes of most officials in the court, these uncontrolled armed forces are considered unstable elements.

Except for them, most of the regiments in other places are strictly controlled within one thousand people.

In order to avoid policy risks, local aristocratic families would rather use more aliases than not keep the number of people within the range set by the court.

The Huguang Tuanjun was essentially a militia alliance, and it was only thanks to Bai Yifeng's iron-blooded tactics that everyone was brought together.

Once the split occurs, it won't be long before the team is out of control.

He had offended too many people in the past in order to raise military pay. If he didn't have a large army, not only would he be doomed, but the entire Bai clan would be in trouble.

The two sides failed to agree on the terms, so the reorganization was shelved and no one paid for the regiment's food and money.

As Huguang was recovered by the imperial court, it became difficult for them to recruit soldiers.

It's okay to recruit some people secretly, but once the flag of recruiting soldiers is raised, the local officials will immediately come to stop it.

Their reasons were very sufficient. They wanted to recruit soldiers locally and produced official documents from the imperial court.

As a specially appointed minister in charge of militia training, he did not have the power to recruit soldiers independently.

There was a strict set of standards for expanding the army in the Dayu Dynasty.

First, apply for approval from the Governor's Office, then the Governor's Office will report to the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office for approval, and finally report to the emperor for approval.

If any link gets stuck, it will be considered illegal conscription and the person will lose his head if investigated.

Li Mu was able to successfully expand his army because he was doing so within the court's existing organization and was making up for war losses.

The subsequent training and recruitment of soldiers were carried out through formal channels, and the organization was requested by Marquis Wuyang from the court.

Other provinces also recruited soldiers and began to train them one after another after the court gave them numbers.

According to the court's regulations, there were only 1,000 legal militiamen in the Huguang Army, and the remaining personnel exceeding the standard were all illegal residents.

The main reason was that he believed the lies of the two previous governors and underestimated the difficulty of obtaining a position in Dayu.

They mistakenly believed that as long as they fought a few battles, they could be officially recruited by the imperial court.

But they are just empty promises. They give all kinds of privileges but don’t allow us to apply for formal establishment.

A single misstep will lead to eternal regret.

The previous actions were not taken in a timely manner, and the successor governor did not add insult to injury because he was considering the overall situation. He would not take the risk of cleaning up the mess for his predecessor.

The local officials who had supported them in the past were either killed or convicted in the war, and the newly appointed officials avoided them.

"Brother, you are just too easy to talk to.

Learn to be more domineering like those generals, they will never dare to do this to you.

Back then, the Marquis of Hanshui often pretended to obey but actually disobeyed, yet he still rose through the ranks."

Bai Yihao's complaints were simply ignored by everyone.

Being arrogant and domineering requires capital, which they don't have.

The reason why Li Mu was able to pretend to obey but actually disobey was not only because he had a strong backing, but also because he was far enough away from the imperial envoy.

The country was blocked by rebels and it took nearly a month for the two sides to pass on a message.

Remote control command is simply unrealistic. As long as victory can be achieved, Xu Wenyue can turn a blind eye to other things.

Governor Zhu behind was even worse. He gave confused and blind commands, which directly led to the collapse of the battle line.

Before he had time to argue with Li Mu, he had already gotten himself into trouble.

When the general is out, military orders are not obeyed.

Since the commander-in-chief did not find any fault with it, the court naturally would not pursue the matter and only the most capable general under him could fight.

If they dared to follow suit, they would have been captured as rebels long ago.

Even though Bai Yifeng has high prestige in the army, if he really chooses to go against the court, few people below will support him.

As soon as he showed signs of disloyalty, someone might go to the government to inform on him and exchange his head for an official position.

In essence, the landlord armed forces such as the Tuanjun joined the rebellion just to get into the officialdom, not to rebel against the Emperor of Dayu.

"Stop talking nonsense, you idiot!"

Bai Yifeng scolded immediately.

If you can't enter the officialdom through legal means, you can still pay donations.

Based on historical experience, once the imperial court started the practice of donating money to become an official, it would be difficult to stop.

Generally, they start by selling honorary titles, followed by remote and marginal positions, and then ordinary official positions.

After climbing up the ladder, there will always be a day when you have to sell the good job.

Although Emperor Yongning opened up the system of donating money to become an official, there was a lot of criticism from the public. In fact, many people were quietly raising money in an effort to get a good job.

The sons of gentry in the regiment were sharpening their knives, hoping to make a fortune in the war to quell the rebellion.

By then, you will have military merits and money in your pocket, and it will be much easier to maneuver for an official position.

Because he knows his subordinates' thoughts clearly, Bai Yifeng continues to strengthen his image as a loyal minister.

Even if they complained privately, they would only direct their complaints at individual officials and would not direct their criticisms at the court or the emperor.

……

The roar of artillery fire broke the tranquility of Anqing City.

Qin Tianrui, who arrived in Anqing first, launched a tentative attack without any hesitation.

As expected, the rebels had reinforced the city's defenses in advance, and the siege was not smooth.

"Regimental Army, how far are we from here?"

Qin Tianrui asked with concern.

He had no hope for the regiment's combat effectiveness.

But to recapture a military stronghold like Anqing, human lives would inevitably be sacrificed.

He had painstakingly built up the number one town in Jiangxi. No matter how much he desired military merit, he could not treat it as a consumable.

"General, the regiment is less than 40 miles away from us. At their marching speed, they are expected to arrive tomorrow afternoon.

Do you think it would be a good idea to send someone to urge them?"

The young officer at the side asked.

When everyone agreed to send troops together, the regiment's army was even closer to Anqing than they were.

As a result, they arrived at the front line, set up camp and rested for a day, then launched an attack on the rebels. The regiment was still dawdling on the road.

Compared with the time agreed by both parties, it was three days late.

“No need!

No matter how much you urge them, they will arrive tomorrow, so a few hours won’t matter.”

Qin Tianrui said calmly.

He never had much hope for the Huguang Army.

As long as your expectations are low enough, you won't be disappointed.

Although he is higher in official rank than Bai Yifeng, they are not in a subordinate relationship.

In the joint operation, he had no command of the regiment. The other side did not cooperate actively, and the lawsuit was a dispute between the governors of both sides, so it was not his turn to hold them accountable.

He can't even handle such a small matter on his own. If he reports it to higher authorities for resolution, people will only think he is incompetent.

The two armies had already created conflicts before they even joined forces, which made it more difficult to coordinate in subsequent battles.

Considering the overall situation, he now has to forget the previously agreed time to avoid embarrassment for both parties.

……

Wu army camp.

“My Lord, the enemy has taken the bait.

The Jiangxi soldiers who arrived first launched the attack on Anqing.

Ren Tu's troops are still on the march and are expected to arrive at the front line tomorrow.

No unusual movements were found among the rest of the government troops for the time being.

Do you think we should close the net?"

Deputy General Zeng Haochuan said excitedly.

The plan went too smoothly, and the enemy was almost following their preset script.

"In order to avoid any further complications, it is indeed time to close the net.

Since the enemy is divided into two waves, let's defeat them one by one.

Pass the order down, select a thousand elite soldiers, and defeat the enemy tonight.

Notify the main force to arrive at the battlefield within three days and encircle and annihilate the enemy."

Fang Yuxuan said domineeringly.

In order to deal a heavy blow to the enemy, he personally led 10,000 elite soldiers to replace the garrisons in several counties on the south bank of Anqing.

The total number of troops stationed has not changed, and each rotation of troops consists of no more than a thousand people, which is a completely normal adjustment.

The hiding place is on the south bank of the Yangtze River, across the river from Anqing Prefecture, making it even more inconspicuous.

The decision to attack at night was completely learned from Li Mu.

The rebel army suffered many losses in this regard, and Fang Yuxuan wanted to take the opportunity to pay back.

"My Lord, which enemy force should we attack first?"

Zeng Haochuan asked doubtfully.

Raiding the enemy camp at night has always been a high-risk, high-reward undertaking.

There are countless examples of night attacks in history.

Only a few of them successfully defeated the enemy, and most of the night attacks ended in failure.

“Of course, you should pick the softest persimmons!
Although I have never fought with Qin Tianrui, this man was brought out by that villain Li Mu, and he once led his troops to attack the Northern Tartar at night, so I must be on guard against him.

Sending a thousand soldiers to attack his camp would be just sending him to death.

Apart from his notorious reputation, the combat effectiveness of the troops under his command is actually not that good.

Even though he has 40,000 troops, once chaos breaks out, even another 40,000 will be useless.

The probability of a successful attack is at least 80%.

After we get rid of these guys, we can gather our forces to go back and deal with Qin Tianrui's troops."

Fang Yuxuan explained unhappily.

The reason for choosing the regiment army as the target, besides picking on the weak, was mainly because they had a large number of soldiers.

The larger the enemy's forces, the better the victory report will look.

Even if he was unable to retain the number one town in Jiangxi, he could still make a big move in the battle record and create the illusion that he had severely damaged the enemy's main force.

Anyway, they all look similar, and it is difficult to distinguish the difference between the two armies from their heads.

Of course, such words that would undermine morale must not be said directly.

……

At midnight, Zeng Haochuan led his team and quietly sneaked to the outside of the regiment’s camp.

"attack!"

After reconnaissance and confirmation that it was not a trap, Zeng Haochuan immediately issued a combat order.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The arrow took the patrolling soldier's life, and his scream before death also attracted the attention of the defending soldiers.

"Enemy attack!"

Realizing that the situation was not good, the regiment commander on night duty hurriedly ordered an early warning.

"Beat the gongs and drums!"

The communication method is a bit old-fashioned, but it is effective.

In the darkness, flag signals and beacons are barely effective, and only the sound of gongs and drums can convey messages to the camp as quickly as possible.

"How many enemy troops are there outside?"

Bai Yifeng, who was awakened from his sleep, asked hurriedly.

Different drum rhythms represent different messages.

The current knocking pattern indicated that the southern part of the camp had encountered an enemy night attack.

“Sir, there is a lot of chaos outside, and no specific information has been received yet.

Or you can wait a moment, the people below will soon..."

Without waiting for the captain of the personal guards to finish speaking, Bai Yifeng immediately scolded him.

"Stop talking nonsense and send someone over to take a look."

When the personal soldiers took action, the camp was in chaos.

When the regiment soldiers woke up from their sleep, their first reaction was not to take up weapons to fight the enemy, but endless panic.

The soldiers at the front line were stunned by the sudden appearance of the enemy and were already in a rout.

In the panic, many defeated soldiers ran around in the camp, bringing the already fragile order of the camp to the brink of collapse.

"Don't run!"

"Go back to me!"

……

Seeing the soldiers retreating continuously, the regiment commander hurriedly shouted.

Unfortunately, once chaos occurs, it cannot be reversed by human power.

The regiment lacked experience in night combat and encountered such treatment for the first time, and had no idea how to fight back.

"Brother, the situation is not good, there are camp roars in some areas.

Chaos is spreading rapidly, order a retreat immediately!"

Bai Yihao, who came hurriedly, tried to persuade him hurriedly.

As the shouting and screaming grew louder, the chaos in the camp also expanded rapidly.

Not many soldiers died at the hands of the enemy. Instead, the main casualties of the regiment were caused by the trampling of their own people.

In order to maintain the balance of power within the regiment, Bai Yifeng often laid mines for his subordinates.

Many conflicts and contradictions that could have been resolved were deliberately suppressed by him.

The people of Xiangxiang have clear grudges and gratitude, and long-term suppression has not only failed to solve the problem, but has instead caused the internal conflicts to continue to intensify.

There was chaos in the camp at this time, which became the best time to settle the grievances.

Once someone started it, it couldn't be stopped.

"no!"

“The situation outside is unclear. If we order a retreat now, the army will easily suffer a complete defeat.

The enemy won't have too many troops for a night attack, so quickly send someone to organize a large army and launch a counterattack!"

Bai Yifeng said in a firm tone.

As a commander who fought again and again despite repeated defeats, he has always been known as a long-distance runner within Dayu.

If he could have escaped, he would have ordered a retreat long ago.

However, it is pitch dark now. Once the army leaves the camp, it will be difficult to gather the troops again.

……

(End of this chapter)