Fu Shanhe

Chapter 383 Peace Negotiation
"The encirclement and suppression operation failed, and Xiao Yunfan died in the chaos?"

Looking at the information in his hand, Hu Xinbo's face changed drastically.

The bad news was so shocking that it was completely beyond his expectations.

No matter how many pirates there are, they are just a mob and are no match for the regular army.

A quarter of the troops under Xiao Yunfan's command are elite troops, and their combat effectiveness is definitely among the top main forces in Dai Viet.

Such a powerful army couldn't even defeat a group of pirates. This had a much greater impact than the previous annihilation of the navy.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

“General Xiao was defeated mainly because the enemy was too despicable.

The Yu Dynasty army disguised themselves as White Lotus prisoners of war and ran into our country posing as rebels.

General Xiao was not careful for a moment and fell into the enemy's trap, so..."

Chen Chuyang explained nervously.

It was too shameful to be defeated by the rebels, and it was even more shameful to be defeated by the White Lotus prisoners of war, so we could only put the blame on Yu's army.

In the face of politics, the truth is just a puppet that can be dressed up at will.

"waste!"

"Xiao Yunfan is a waste, and those guys in China are also wastes!"

"My entire court of civil and military officials are all trash!"

Hu Xinbo immediately started cursing.

It's ridiculous to think that Yu's army pretended to be prisoners of war of the White Lotus Sect and ran to Dai Viet to instigate a popular rebellion.

The language problem alone is a thorny problem.

It is impossible for every enemy member to be proficient in both languages. Even if they launch a rebellion, they can only conscript able-bodied men into the army.

Such a big commotion could not be concealed from the local government.

With so many local officials, there are always a few smart ones.

When a problem is detected, it will normally be reported to the higher-ups.

As a veteran in the army, it would be difficult for him to fall into the enemy's trap unless he underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly.

So many people have failed to notice the problem. Either Dai Viet is rotten to the core, or the battle reports have been tampered with.

Based on his previous political experience, Hu Xinbo could be sure that the battle reports sent to him had been modified countless times.

Only God knows how far it is from the original truth.

Knowing is one thing, breaking the window paper is another.

In the political game, the emperor must also abide by the rules.

In order to avoid causing disastrous political consequences, he could only acknowledge the contents of the war report and swearing was just to vent his emotions.

Essentially, these people hide the truth in order to reduce the adverse political impact.

"Your Majesty, calm down!"

“It has already happened, and the most urgent task is to find a way to deal with it.

General Xiao was defeated and killed, and countless of his troops were killed or wounded. I'm afraid they are unable to defeat the invading Yu army.

The only way to stabilize the domestic situation is to return to the capital."

Chen Chuyang hurriedly persuaded.

Being scolded a few times is nothing; the key is to be able to solve the problem.

Regardless of whether the ones causing trouble in Dai Viet were pirates, White Lotus prisoners of war, or Yu’s army, they were all their enemies.

In terms of destructive power, it is much higher than the enemy forces inside Zhennan Pass.

Every day the chaos lasts will consume one point of Daiyue's national strength.

The chaos in the rear could not be controlled, and the logistics of the army would inevitably be affected. The Northern Expedition would be the biggest joke.

"Withdrawal?"

"It sounds easy, but can we retreat now?"

"I bet that as long as the army withdraws from Zhennan Pass, the defenders in the city will definitely rush out to fight us.

The enemy does not need to defeat us, but only to entangle our forces and delay our retreat."

Hu Xinbo said indignantly.

Since he couldn't take Zhennan Pass, he had long wanted to withdraw his troops.

At this point in the battle, the casualty ratio on both sides was nearly 20:1. Such a huge disparity in statistics was enough to make any besieger despair.

Apart from the siege at the beginning, during the following days, each department just went through the motions to get by.

It is impossible to attack the city, and no one wants to give up their lives.

More than 10,000 troops were killed or wounded at Zhennan Pass, almost 10% of the total force.

If we continue to fight to the death, we will be unable to defeat the enemy even if we wipe out all our troops.

Before the Northern Expedition began, Hu Xinbo set a goal of taking over Guangdong and Guangxi.

After the war broke out, expectations were directly lowered to - take over Guangxi and quit while we're ahead.

One month after the war started, the goal was lowered again to withdraw troops after capturing Zhennan Pass.

Later on, the strategic goal became directly - leading the army to retreat safely.

At this point, he only hoped to pay a small price and bring the army back home.

Unfortunately, the smaller the goal, the faster the situation deteriorates.

The critical domestic situation made him lose the capital to fight a protracted war.

It makes me feel aggrieved just thinking about it. The war has been going on for such a long time but I haven't yet faced off against the enemy and had a fair fight.

If he fails in a head-on confrontation, he will just accept it.

But now the defeat was too frustrating, and he was completely played around by the enemy.

"Your Majesty, Dayu is not a monolithic entity. Some people advocate war while others advocate peace.

Judging from the intelligence collected, Dayu has already pacified the rebels in the south of the Yangtze River, and it won't be long before they can recover.

The only troops fighting against us now are from Guangdong and Guangxi.

If the enemy continues to increase its troops, the situation will become increasingly out of control.

Especially in the new territory in southern Xinjiang, the locals do not have a strong sense of belonging to Dai Viet. If the war drags on too long, they are likely to split away.

While the Yu Dynasty is at a low point, we should immediately send an envoy to Beijing to persuade the peace faction of the Yu Dynasty to end the war as soon as possible."

Veteran Shi Yufeng once again proposed ending the war, but unlike previous times, this time he was not criticized.

It is obvious that through this war, the Yue high-level officials realized the gap in strength between the two sides.

The troops from Guangdong and Guangxi alone forced them into a dangerous situation.

If this war continues and the enemy sends more reinforcements, the situation will be even worse.

No one wants to continue a war when they know they will lose.

Hu Xinbo was deeply hurt by the tacit understanding among the ministers.

In the first foreign war after he came to power, he did not do anything to the enemy, but instead messed up the country at home.

It is easy to destroy but difficult to build.

Even if the war with Dayu was over, the domestic mess would not be cleaned up in a short time.

"The envoys we sent out before were killed by the Emperor of the Yu Dynasty. Is it any use to send someone over now?

What's more, the distance from the country to the capital of Dayu is very long.

Even if we send someone over right away, it will take months at the earliest to get results."

Chen Jingfu immediately refuted.

It was not that he wanted to advocate war, but he jumped out to oppose it mainly to save the emperor's face.

In fact, by this point in the war, there were no staunch advocates of war anymore in Dai Viet.

Compromise is the way for small countries to survive, and those who are stubborn have long disappeared in the long river of history.

There is no need to worry about everyone's opinions, the reasons he gave are all practical issues.

Emperor Yongning was not a good-tempered person, and he was deeply offended by the imperial letter case.

Due to the needs of the overall situation, they temporarily endured and did not take any action against the delegation.

When the war between the two countries broke out, the furious Emperor Yongning immediately sent the diplomatic envoys to Caishikou. With a sharp blow, the first batch of diplomatic envoys were killed.

The enemy showed through their actions that they would fight to the death, so Hu Xinbo naturally could not be soft.

Dayu did not send an envoy, so he had no way to get anyone there, but he sent a lot of provocative letters.

As the commander on the front line, Li Mu would naturally not withhold such valuable information.

All of them were sent to the capital. The civil and military officials of Dayu were collectively outraged at their continued provocative behavior.

Even the civil servants who hated war the most turned from being peace advocates to being war advocates.

You just offended someone so much, and now you want to negotiate with them again. How can it be so easy?

Even if there are people in the court who advocate peace, they will still be severely slaughtered.

The taxes from the eight southern provinces gave the Dayu court the confidence to continue the war.

Compared with the losses in the civil war, the military expenditure of the Dayu Dynasty in the Annan War was not that high.

The pirates were lured here by Li Mu's promises, and the White Lotus prisoners of war were just paid for the journey.

Even the weapons in their hands were spoils of war captured during the rebellion.

Up to this point in the war, the total number of Yu troops actually participating in the battle, both by land and sea, was only tens of thousands.

“Whether it works or not, we must demonstrate our sincerity.

People in the Yu Dynasty valued face the most. You have to give enough face first before you can talk later.

The distance is indeed a problem, but it is something that must be faced.

We only have two options for ending the war through negotiations.

Either talk to the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi here, or send someone to the capital to talk.

Judging from the intelligence collected, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi in the Yu Dynasty was a military general who rose to prominence through military achievements and was naturally a proponent of war.

There is basically no hope of ending this war by negotiating with him.

From the perspective of the Marquis of Hanshui, one could imagine that he would wish that this war would last as long as possible.

After all, the enemy has not used its full strength since the war began.

In Guangdong alone, the enemy had three main towns that did not participate in this war.

It is said that the Yu army is divided into two types, namely recruited soldiers and garrison soldiers, among which the recruited soldiers are the ones responsible for the combat power.

The enemy troops currently fighting against us are from the Guangdong and Guangxi regions.

Its combat effectiveness can only be considered as a second-line troop at best, or possibly a third-line troop in the organization of the Yu army. "

Chen Chuyang promoted it vigorously.

In order to end the war as quickly as possible, he no longer cared about his face and directly exposed his weaknesses.

Perhaps it was because they used too much force, the faces of everyone who received this news changed drastically.

"impossible!"

“The Zhennan Pass garrison is definitely Dayu’s most elite force.

Our troops have fought against them before, there is no way they are wrong.

There must be something wrong with the intelligence we collected. Those people in the Tongzhengsi are a bunch of rubbish!"

Chen Jingfu quickly retorted.

Unlike the previous matter of maintaining the emperor's face, this time it involves the face of the military and his personal future.

Having suffered a great loss at the hands of the defenders of Zhennan Pass before, if he wants to reduce his own guilt, he must incite the enemy more severely.

No matter what, he could not accept being defeated by the enemy's second and third line troops.

“My dear minister, you are right. The Zhennan Pass garrison has some strengths. They are definitely not comparable to ordinary Yu troops.

Perhaps the enemy deliberately used elite troops to impersonate garrison soldiers in order to make us let down our guard.

There is no need to delve into this matter, let’s discuss the matter of peace talks!”

Hu Xinbo, realizing the seriousness of the problem, quickly gave a response.

Regardless of other factors, he also has to consider his reputation during his lifetime and after his death.

If he admitted that the garrison troops at Zhennan Pass were a garrison force and it was recorded in future history books, he would become a laughing stock for all eternity.

Similar negative examples have appeared in the history of Dai Viet.

……

Inside Zhennan Pass.

"My Lord, there are unusual movements in the enemy camp. It looks like they are preparing to retreat."

Feng Jingxing said excitedly.

As the garrison commander of Zhennan Pass, being blocked in the city by enemy troops for several months was undoubtedly the greatest humiliation in his opinion.

However, the coach wouldn't let him attack, so no matter how wronged he was, he had to hold it in for the time being.

On the battlefield, everyone is a screw and must serve the overall situation.

"Oh!"

“It seems that Kong Yutang and his men did a good job. Those White Lotus prisoners of war played a role in Annan.

Pass the order down and keep a close eye on the enemy's every move.

When the enemy troops officially withdraw, give them a great gift."

Li Mu gave the order with a smile.

Unable to hold on for long, not only were the officers and soldiers unhappy, but he, the commander-in-chief, was also frustrated.

But war cannot be fought on impulse. If victory can be won at the lowest cost, soldiers cannot be allowed to make unnecessary sacrifices.

Since ancient times, those who are good at fighting have never had great military achievements.

He would not achieve a victory built on the lives of others unless it was absolutely necessary.

"My Lord, since the White Lotus prisoners of war are useful, then recruit another batch.

There is no need for them to participate in the war, they can just clear the way for the army.

I have calculated that it will take a lot of manpower and material resources to eliminate the miasma.

In the future, we can recruit Annan prisoners of war to do this, but in the early stages, a large number of laborers will also be needed.”

Tan Chenfeng suggested immediately.

After eliminating the most vicious ones, most of the remaining prisoners were forced to join the rebels.

If they hadn't learned some bad habits while following the rebels, they would have been just a group of honest farmers.

After a period of transformation, most people returned to their farmer status.

Working in the garrison was more tiring during the busy farming season, and the rest of the time was similar to working as a hired farmer.

Being busy has its benefits. The more land you reclaim, the more food everyone will get.

Li Mu has always attached great importance to stimulating production enthusiasm.

No matter how high or low the return is, as long as it is a little better than before, everyone will be satisfied.

They work from sunrise to sunset and rest from sunset to sunrise, and rarely cause any trouble.

Especially after their families arrived one after another, these people became more honest and obedient.

The biggest dream of these people now is to obtain pardon from the court and be buried in their ancestral tomb after death.

But this is a dream, not so easy to realize.

The imperial court issued a general amnesty, and among the ten unforgivable crimes stipulated, rebellion was ranked first.

Even if they are just accomplices, they are still the main targets of crackdown.

“You can consider it. You can discuss it and come up with a specific plan.

How many people to recruit, what kind of treatment to give them, how to provide logistical support, all of these must be taken into consideration.”

Li Mu agreed immediately.

He always encouraged his generals who were willing to exercise their subjective initiative.

As long as the proposal is feasible, he is willing to give it a chance to try, in order to train a group of independent talents as soon as possible.

After the army enters Annan, the pattern of war will change.

The probability of large-scale military operations happening in the future is very low, and there will be more small and medium-scale resistance.

(End of this chapter)