Fu Shanhe

Chapter 376 Poisoner
Unlike the tense atmosphere outside the city, the scenery inside Zhennan Pass is completely different.

In the eyes of the officers and soldiers of the Yu army who were rich in combat experience, the feint attack launched by the Annan people was pure child's play.

The long-term confrontation with the enemy and the boring life are almost making them sick.

He would ask Li Mu for a fight every now and then, clamoring to charge out and give the enemy a good beating.

At one point, Li Mu wanted to launch a decisive battle in advance, but considering the long-term stability in the Annan region, he finally gave up the idea of ​​a quick victory.

The Annan region has been separated from the Central Plains dynasty for hundreds of years, and its identification with the Central Plains dynasty has long since dropped to a freezing point.

It is easy to destroy the Kingdom of Annan, but the difficult part is how to rule the place for a long time.

If it is suppressed purely by force, even if it is suppressed now, it will erupt at some point in the future.

The best option is to use war to continuously consume Annan’s national strength and people’s power and undermine their will to resist.

Not to mention the influence of the Dayu court must be considered.

If the enemy is defeated in one fell swoop, they will immediately kneel down. Once the surrender letter is received, Emperor Yongning will most likely order a ceasefire.

At present, it is difficult for the Dayu Dynasty to come up with the idea of ​​running the Jiaozhi Provincial Administration.

If that's the case, this battle will be fought in vain.

In order to make the plan successful, the emperor and officials had to see that Annan was dangerous, and at the same time, everyone had to believe that Annan was a quagmire.

"My Lord, I just received news that the enemy has divided their forces!"

As he spoke, Wu Da handed the information to Li Mu.

"My Lord, a fighter plane has appeared!"

Li Sanqi, the commander of the Guilin Left Guard, said excitedly.

Today, Zhennan Pass is a war fortress.

The residents had been evacuated to the rear long before the war broke out, and business no longer existed.

Li Mu's military discipline was strict, and no one dared to cause trouble under his nose.

Apart from daily training, the group of generals only have tactical simulations to do every day.

Dozens of versions of the counterattack plan were drawn up, and everyone held their breath.

"Why panic!"

"The enemy has only withdrawn 20,000 troops, and there are still 180,000 troops outside the city.

If you have the ability to annihilate the enemy, I will immediately authorize you to command the entire army.

If you can't do that, just go back to your seat and sit down without getting startled."

Hearing Li Mu's scolding, Li Sanqi instantly wilted.

It is easy to defeat the enemy, but difficult to annihilate it completely.

In order to conquer Annan, we must consume the enemy's manpower.

"My Lord, the monk may escape, but the temple cannot.

The country of Annan is so small, I don't believe they can reach the sky.

At Zhennan Pass, I will annihilate all the enemy forces by myself.

But if we fight our way into the enemy's territory and force them into a desperate situation, that would be a different story.

It's a war anyway, it doesn't matter where we fight!"

After hesitating for a moment, Li Sanqi said indignantly.

Although his academic performance was not very good, he had followed Li Mu for a long time and learned a lot of military tactics.

I am not used to this kind of restricted playing style.

"You are such a fool, all you think about is fighting.

How will the imperial court explain why the Annamites were defeated so quickly?

Don't forget how this war broke out.

No matter how secretive we are, there are still a lot of loopholes.

If the Annan people are pushed into a corner, they will directly submit to the imperial court. How can this war continue?"

Li Mu scolded in pretended anger.

Instead of being angry, he was happy when his subordinates had their own ideas.

Being able to express different opinions means starting to use your brain.

Although this is not a comprehensive consideration, it is still a great progress.

As long as you are willing to study hard, your vision and personal abilities can be developed slowly.

"My Lord, if the Annan people want to surrender, it depends on whether we agree.

As a belligerent, we have no obligation to guarantee the safety of their mission members.

As long as the envoys from Annan cannot enter the capital, there will be no peace talks."

Guangxi Guard Commander Tan Chenfeng made a suggestion.

Dayu is not the Song Dynasty. From the emperor to the officials, everyone is proud.

When they had the upper hand on the battlefield, it was impossible for them to take the initiative to send people to Annan to seek peace.

In this context, the only way to keep the war going was to cut off the communication between the Annamites and the imperial court.

With Li Mu's power, it wouldn't take much effort to intercept the Annan delegation on the way.

“This is an idea, but it’s not perfect.

It is easy to intercept the Annan delegation, but the difficult part is to leave no traces.

There are many routes to choose from from Annan to the capital.

The war broke out so suddenly that the country was able to get away with it, but the Annanites must have had some suspicions.

Even if they sent an envoy, it would not come to Beijing from Guangdong and Guangxi.

There are so many local officials along the way, and no one can guarantee that no one will leak the news to the court.

Although these problems can be suppressed in Beijing, there is a price to pay for this.

To manage Annan, we need the support of the imperial court, so we should use as few political resources as possible now."

Li Mu shook his head and said.

In fact, he was bragging to his subordinates.

The power of the noble group is mainly concentrated in the camp of military generals.

Although some civil servants were won over, most of them held non-powerful positions and had limited influence in the court.

In normal times, these things are not so difficult to deal with.

No one would care if a few Annamites died.

If it happens to happen to be a dispute between civil officials and military officials, it will be a knife given to the civil service group.

As long as the imperial court wants to investigate, many hidden problems will be exposed.

It won't kill him, but it can make his plan fail.

"My Lord, to conquer Annan, we must first break the enemy's backbone.

It is difficult to achieve strategic goals without causing rivers of bloodshed.

If the pirates cannot complete the task, then let the rebels take over, and it would be best if the enemies were to kill each other.

I suggest that we select some prisoners of war who have rich experience in rebellion and send them to Annan.

All the Annan prisoners captured in this battle, along with their families, were exiled to Liaodong.

Kong Yutang, the commander of Guilin Right Guard, stood up and said.

Compared with the Dayu Dynasty, Annan was just a small country.

But for Li Mu Group, it is not an easy task to annex Annan.

The local population is five to six million, which is larger than the population of Guangxi.

If we are not careful, we will be caught in the vast ocean of people's war.

If we want to maintain long-term stability, in addition to sending immigrants to the local area, we must also reduce the population.

“It’s a good idea, but unfortunately the court is too poor.

It would cost a lot to send millions of Annan people to the Liaodong front, and the Ministry of Revenue would not pay for it.

However, sending some young and strong people there to perform labor service is not a big problem.

Do you have the confidence to take on this important task of bringing chaos to Annan?"

Li Mu asked with a smile.

Frankly speaking, both strategies proposed by Kong Yutang are extremely vicious.

Once adopted, Annan will be flooded with blood.

However, identity determines stance.

From Dayu's point of view, in order to recover Jiaozhi Provincial Administration, they must defeat the Kingdom of Annan.

"The general is willing!"

Kong Yutang expressed his opinion immediately.

From the very beginning of the Annan War, Li Mu was in strategic control.

According to the current fighting style, by the time of the decisive battle, the Annan army will only have half of its combat effectiveness left.

Winning victory at the lowest cost is in the interests of the group, but it is difficult to reflect personal military achievement.

Seeing the six towns in Guangdong and Guangxi making great achievements on the front line, they had long been jealous. After waiting for a long time for the opportunity, everyone wanted to show off.

If they don't look for opportunities themselves and only rely on the coach to assign tasks, the little credit they have will hardly support them to go further.

After all, they were all grassroots generals, and their only connection in the court was with Li Mu.

The competitors are all our own people, and we have to rely on the best to win. "Well, go to the prisoner-of-war camp and select 30,000 people, divide them into 10 batches and send them to Annan.

Tell these prisoners of war that I will not let them fight in vain.

The looted wealth was divided equally among everyone.

Beheading an Annan soldier would pardon one person's crime.

As long as enough enemies are killed, their family members implicated can all be pardoned by the court.

If the number of people pardoned exceeds the limit, each head can be exchanged for one mu of tax-free land, or five taels of silver."

Li Mu immediately made a promise.

Frankly speaking, the reward he offered was not very high.

Different from the regular army.

After these prisoners of war were sent out, they had to rely on themselves to solve logistical problems and did not require him to spend money to support them.

While they are harming the Annan people, there is no need to worry about these people becoming more powerful.

Rebellions in one's own country have never been successful, and it will be even more difficult in a foreign country.

Li Mu would be even happier if someone could raise an uprising army in Annan and become a self-proclaimed king.

Only by experiencing it can you know how destructive the rebels are.

……

Chengdu Prefecture.

“The court intends to summon me back to the capital and let the Marquis of Zhenyuan come to take charge of the situation, and I have agreed.

Once you get through this period, you won’t have to live in fear anymore!”

Xu Wenyue said with a slightly disappointed look.

After working so hard for so long, he still had to ask the nobles to come and clean up the mess, which was a big blow to him.

But there was no way out. The patience of the emperor and his officials had been exhausted by the rebels.

Everyone now has only one idea, which is to suppress the rebellion as soon as possible.

According to his plan, the rebels could be wiped out, but it would require a huge investment of financial and material resources.

With a ready-made army available, it was obviously impossible for the imperial court to spend a huge amount of money to allow him to train another elite force in Shu.

To be exact, the emperor and his officials did not think that he could train elite troops.

Including the younger brothers of the Qingliu faction, no one wants to waste time on the battlefield.

Now he has been summoned back to the capital. Although he has no outstanding military achievements, he has not caused any big trouble either.

If the front line suffered a major defeat, he, the leader of the Qingliu faction, would be doomed.

"Lord, the situation in Shu cannot be separated from you!"

Lu Junliang said excitedly.

For him, Xu Wenyue's departure was undoubtedly like the sky falling.

In order to suppress the rebellion, they promised the chieftains a lot of benefits.

Xu Wenyue served as governor, so even if the court held him accountable, there was always this regent to take the lead.

Once Xu Wenyue left, he, as the governor, would become the person primarily responsible.

If Marquis Zhenyuan is willing to acknowledge his previous promise and fulfill the conditions set by Lord Xu, the imperial court will most likely acquiesce.

If Marquis Zhenyuan is unwilling to take responsibility and refuses to fulfill the conditions they promised before, it will be a big trouble.

The chieftain sent troops to fight for Dayu and shed blood. If he doesn't get what he wants after the war, he will definitely not give up.

"There's nothing we can't live without!"

“I was in charge of suppressing the rebellion, but not only did I fail to extinguish the rebels, I made them even stronger.

Marquis Zhenyuan was a military genius, and in just a few months he recovered Huguang for the imperial court.

He is here to take charge of suppressing the rebellion. The Shu rebels won't be able to hold out for long."

Although he said nice things, Xu Wenyue was actually furious deep down.

On the surface, the court spent a huge amount of money and grain during the period when he was in charge of suppressing the rebellion; but when the nobles were in charge of suppressing the rebellion, most of the money and grain were raised by themselves.

It seems that he has gained a great advantage, but he has no direct army!

When the noble family took over the overall situation, a large group of noble children brought their private armies and joined the team to suppress the rebellion.

Without any effort, more than a dozen towns were pulled up.

If he were in his position, it would be impossible for him to get the support of the noble group.

Not to mention expanding the new army, it is extremely difficult to gain the support of the old troops.

When deploying troops, you need to pay the departure expenses first.

Even though he knew that the generals under him were incompetent, he had no way to replace them, and even had to coax them to work.

Who can fight and who cannot fight can only be tested through war.

Li Mu trained a large number of generals for the noble system. Others could select the best from the best, but he could only make do with the original generals.

The unequal military resources meant that no matter how hard he tried, he could not catch up with others on the battlefield.

"Sir, you can't say that.

Although Marquis Zhenyuan is a capable fighter, it is also due to your previous efforts, otherwise Huguang would definitely not have been recovered so quickly.

The situation in Shu is actually similar.

Thanks to your efforts, we reorganized the military affairs in Shu and persuaded the chieftains to join the war, thus stabilizing the war situation.

We really can’t live without you!”

Governor Li Yongliang followed suit and persuaded.

The hole in Shu is too big to be filled by just one governor.

If the imperial court holds him accountable, he, the governor, will not be able to escape.

For their own interests, they also want to keep Xu Wenyue.

At least stay until Marquis Zhenyuan arrives to complete the handover.

Only with Lord Xu in front of them are they qualified to negotiate terms with the nobles. Otherwise, these unlucky guys with stains on their bodies will be meat on the chopping board.

"Don't worry, I'm not an irresponsible person.

As for Marquis Zhenyuan, it is estimated that he had just received the imperial edict a few days ago.

It is expected that the war in Jiangnan will end in another month or two, and then troops will be sent to Shu.

I will wait for him to come and complete the transfer of power before I leave Shu."

Xu Wenyue said indifferently.

He knew exactly what these people were thinking.

The reason he chose to stay was not because he wanted to clean up the mess, but mainly because he couldn't leave now.

Of the three major gates in Shu, only the North Gate was under the control of the imperial court.

This journey was not peaceful.

Many places in the middle are the focus of contention between the two sides.

Based on his understanding of these colleagues, if he left the mess to them to take the blame, these people would dare to leak his whereabouts to the rebels.

In the process of suppressing the rebellion, he killed so many members of the White Lotus Sect that people had long regarded him as a thorn in their side.

"The elder is wise!"

"The elder cabinet is brave enough to take on responsibilities, which is a blessing for the country!"

……

To Xu Wenyue's ears, the flattery from the crowd sounded like endless sadness.

I don’t know when the bureaucracy of the Dayu Dynasty degenerated into this state.

Instead of considering how to suppress the rebellion as quickly as possible, they were thinking about how to avoid being held accountable by the court.

"enough!"

“I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense.

Marquis Zhenyuan is going to bring troops to support us, and we must continue to fight hard to quell the rebellion.

Although the time for the main decisive battle has not yet arrived, the rebels cannot be left idle.

Send out orders to all the tribes, waiting for opportunities to harass the rebels and create as much trouble for them as possible.

General Zhong, you will be personally responsible for this matter.

If there were no military achievements, Zhenyuan Hou would not be as easy to talk to as I am!"

Xu Wenyue warned immediately.

When Zhong Chenliang heard this, it was like the sky falling.

In the battles with the rebels, he had been defeated repeatedly and had long lost confidence in his military level.

Asking him to send troops to look for trouble with the rebels is totally unreasonable.

He had to take action, as he was directly responsible for the defeat of the government troops ahead.

Xu Wenyue did not deal with him because the army needed stability.

If you chop off his head and replace him with someone else, his ability may not be better than his.

If it was Marquis Zhenyuan who came, there wouldn't be so many concerns.

They brought their own troops here, and the war would still be fought even without him, the general.

……

(End of this chapter)