Fu Shanhe

Chapter 582 The Bombardment of Nanjing
The news of the King of Slaughter's defeat greatly shocked the anti-king alliance.

They had long heard of the Marquis of Hanshui's reputation, and from the beginning, they planned to build strongholds and fight a protracted war, relying on their superior numbers to wear down the loyalist army.

To my utter surprise, the enemy forces I encountered in reality were even more terrifying than the rumors suggested.

Despite his infamous reputation, the Killing King's forces were among the most powerful in the anti-king alliance.

He has the confidence to take on the heavy responsibility of being a striker.

Unfortunately, this powerful army within the alliance was utterly powerless to resist the loyalist army.

"The Burning Lamp Sect uprising failed, and the remnants have already gone south to join us, thwarting our plan to enter Sichuan by way of passage."

The vanguard army led by the King of Slaughter had also suffered a defeat in battle against the enemy a day earlier.

The Yu army in Shu could come down the river at any time and join forces with the loyalist army to attack us from both sides. The most dangerous moment for the alliance has arrived.

Brothers, do you have any brilliant ideas to overcome this difficulty?

Gao Yunliang asked with a solemn expression.

He was a frustrated leader in his role.

Originally intending to use the power of the alliance to contend for the world, most of their energy was spent on maintaining stability within the alliance.

They're either mediating conflicts in one family or resolving disputes in another.

The ongoing internal strife caused the anti-king alliance to miss its best opportunity for development.

When faced with a truly powerful army, the coalition forces, united by a sense of brotherhood and loyalty, were immediately exposed for what they truly were.

"Leader, when soldiers come, we will block them; when water comes, we will dam it."

Putting aside the enemy forces in Shu, the loyalist army marched north in a large force, also aiming to take our lives.

Between the Northern Barbarians and us, the Marquis of Hanshui chose to attack us, clearly treating the alliance as an easy target.

With the situation having developed to this point, there's no way to avoid fighting desperately.

Brothers, let's all show our true skills and fight a good battle against the loyalist army.

We've won! From now on, the sea is wide enough for fish to leap freely, and the sky is high enough for birds to fly freely.

"If I lose, so be it, I'll just die in the wilderness. Eighteen years later, I'll be a hero again!"

The King of Jin was the first to speak.

Despite his boastful words, he was anything but happy inside.

He abandoned his northern base and headed south, hoping to make a name for himself in the chaotic world, but unfortunately the anti-king alliance was too unhelpful.

Before the northern barbarians marched south, they couldn't even break through the Yangtze River defense line.

If it weren't for the chaotic actions of the Great Yu court, their graves would have been overgrown with weeds a year ago.

Taking advantage of the northward advance of the northern barbarians and exploiting the lapses in the Yu Dynasty's Yangtze River defenses, they successfully crossed the natural barrier of the Yangtze River.

Just when they thought their great undertaking was about to succeed, they never expected that they had overestimated their own strength and underestimated the strength of Yu's army.

The government troops of just one town held the city of Wuchang.

After their plan to capture Wuchang failed, they opened up a new battlefield, intending to capture Nanchang to pave the way for taking over Jiangxi.

Tragedy struck again as hundreds of thousands of rebels met with another setback at the gates of Nanchang.

After suffering repeated setbacks on the battlefield, before they could readjust their strategy, the loyalist army arrived.

The two sides had just clashed when they wiped out over 100,000 rebel soldiers.

With the situation deteriorating to this point, continuing to keep a low profile could mean waking up one day to find yourself a prisoner.

As a notorious rebel king, once he fell into the hands of the government troops, he would definitely face certain death.

"That damned Marquis of Hanshui, we didn't dig up his ancestral graves, why is he tearing us apart and refusing to let go!"
Instead of fighting the northern barbarians, they just bully us...

Seeing the displeasure on everyone's faces, King Weiwu swallowed the rest of his words.

He didn't desecrate the Li family's ancestral graves, but it's hard to say about the other rebel armies in Guanzhong.

The Li family was a prominent clan in Guanzhong, so it was inevitable that they would be targeted by the rebel army.

Arson, murder, and looting were just routine operations; digging up graves and causing the extinction of families for personal gain was also a common occurrence.

Who knows if any of these excavated graves are the ancestral graves of the Marquis of Hanshui?

In the moral system of Dayu, digging up someone's ancestral graves is considered an irreconcilable feud.

In an instant, everyone snapped to reality; they had to fight with their lives on the line.

The Marquis of Hanshui would never accept anyone's surrender.

Even if the Marquis of Hanshui doesn't pursue the matter, the Li clan will not let them off the hook.

……

Nanjing City.

After the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven, Hugjil finally "legally" obtained the throne from the puppet emperor through abdication.

Unfortunately, the empire established by the Tatars was not recognized by the outside world.

Since the Marquis of Hanshui raised the banner of revenge, the southern provinces of Dayu have joined him, ending the chaotic situation of each province acting independently.

While the grassland coalition swept across the land, Li Mu's fame was even more deeply ingrained in the hearts of the people in the southern regions.

Because the methods used to raise funds and supplies were somewhat excessive, it has become difficult to even make empty promises now.

The gentry of the southeast were terrified and developed serious doubts about their credibility.

No matter how big the pie is drawn, it's meaningless if you can't have it.

"Great Chanyu, I have just received news that Li Ze's troops have launched a fierce attack on the anti-king alliance."

The two sides fought three major battles, all of which ended in defeat for the anti-king alliance.

Due to the defeat, the sphere of influence of the anti-king alliance has been compressed to Jiujiang Prefecture and Wuchang Prefecture.

Judging from the current situation, the anti-king alliance probably won't last much longer.

The Fujian and Guangdong naval forces under Li Zicheng's command have recently entered the Yangtze River basin, and judging from their movements, they seem to be trying to blockade the river.

Furthermore, the Yu army, entrenched in Shandong, has recently become more active, seemingly intending to attack Xuzhou.

The news brought by Erdős caused a drastic change in the expressions of the Tatar high-ranking officials.

The speed of the anti-king alliance's defeat far exceeded their expectations.

It was thought that these guys could use their numerical superiority to hold back the left flank of the loyalist army for a year or two, buying them time for the decisive battle.

As it turned out, these allies were far more useless than expected.

The war had only been going on for a few days when they were utterly defeated and routed on the battlefield.

If this situation continues, it's estimated that within half a month, the anti-Wang alliance will be nowhere to be seen on the south bank of the Yangtze River.

Losing one incompetent ally is not a big deal; the problem is that the collapse of the anti-king alliance freed up the left flank of the loyalist army.

With the enemy navy that had just entered the Yangtze River basin, they would soon be attacked from all sides.

"Great Chanyu, the situation has changed. We can't wait until the autumn for the final battle!"

Nichileg was the first to express his opinion.

The reason for choosing to fight a decisive battle in the autumn was that the Jiangnan region was too hot, and the grassland allied forces were not used to the climate and water.

I thought that if they couldn't withstand the scorching sun, neither could the enemy, so we could tacitly postpone the decisive battle.

Unfortunately, the army that came to the aid of the emperor was from the tropics and was already used to the sweltering weather in Jiangnan.

The more they resisted the decisive battle in the summer, the more the enemy forced them into it.

If this drags on any longer, the anti-king alliance will collapse, and the loyalist army will have completed its strategic encirclement of them.

At that point, it won't be a question of when the final battle will take place, but rather that there will be no going back.

"Ok!"

"That scoundrel Li Mu is extremely cunning in his military tactics; we absolutely cannot allow his schemes to succeed. Send orders to the garrisons in Yangzhou, Xuzhou, and the Beijing-Tianjin area, instructing them to be on high alert and not to give the enemy any opportunity to take advantage."

We should also be more vigilant back home. If necessary, we can abandon our family business and seek temporary refuge in the grasslands.

Regarding the decisive battle with the loyalist army, do any of you have suggestions?

After making the necessary arrangements, Hugjil turned to the crowd and asked them a question.

They had fought Li Mu more than once or twice.

Every time he thought about it, he secretly regretted it.

If I had known earlier that Li Mu would rise to power so quickly, I should have taken Jinan at any cost back in Shandong and nipped the danger in the bud.

Of course, this is just wishful thinking. Even if he could do it all over again, he would still order a withdrawal when he was in Shandong.

The premise of "at any cost" is that the strategic goal can be achieved after paying a heavy price.

Back then, Jinan was garrisoned by tens of thousands of elite Yu troops, and was commanded by renowned generals such as the Marquis of Wuyang and the Marquis of Hanshui. It was not something that could be taken down in a short time.

If we fail to capture the city and our hometown is taken by the Guifang people, then we will have lost both our wife and our army.

He made ample preparations for this trip south as well.

Before the army marched south, the Tatar Kingdom relaxed the age limit for military service and temporarily established four 10,000-household units.

For the safety of his base, he specifically replaced the three elite commanders with three temporary commanders.

Theoretically speaking, as long as they are not besieged by more than 100,000 elite Yu troops, self-preservation should not be a problem.

"Great Chanyu, the battle on land is easy to deal with. At worst, we can send troops to support the anti-king alliance."

But there's not much we can do about the battle on the river.

The hastily assembled navy was mostly no match for the enemy.

Even though coastal artillery could provide some assistance, our limited gunpowder production capacity made it difficult to even supply the front-line troops.

Arutan said slowly.

He was the most radical advocate of war among the Tatars, but radicalism does not mean being brainless.

When it comes to land battles, they are all experts; but when it comes to naval warfare, everyone present is a complete novice.

Even without relevant knowledge, everyone understands the simplest way to judge ability.

In terms of both the number and quality of warships, their makeshift force was no match for the enemy.

If no miracle occurs, defeat in the naval battle is only a matter of time.

Having lost control of the Yangtze River waterway, they were geographically divided in two by the enemy.

If we can quickly gain an advantage in land warfare, that would be fine. The worst thing is if land warfare falls short of expectations, then we're doomed.

If the enemy blocks the Yangtze River shipping route, it will be difficult for them to retreat north.

"Does anyone else have a better idea?"

"Hugjil asked expectantly."

Naval warfare has always been a weakness for the Tatars, and even after capturing Nanjing and inheriting much of the legacy of the Great Yu Dynasty, little change has occurred.

It's not just the naval training that's lagging behind, but also the gap in the industrial system.

The shipbuilding industry of Dayu had its essence emptied by Li Mu during the White Lotus Rebellion.

Most of the remaining government-run shipyards are just empty shells.

Most privately-owned shipyards house fishing boats that operate on inland waterways.

The manufacturing of large ships and warships was monopolized by shipyards in Fujian, Guangdong, and Annam Protectorate.

These areas happen to be within Li Mu's control zone.

After capturing Nanjing, Hugjil also prepared to invest heavily in building a naval fleet.

As a result, the plan was defeated by reality as soon as it was put forward.

Building merchant ships of a few hundred tons is something Nanjing's shipyards can barely manage, but producing warships is simply asking too much of them.

Since the White Lotus Sect entered Jiangnan, they have never received any orders for warships.

After the Dayu court moved south, it invested heavily in building the Jiangnan navy, which was also purchased from government-run shipyards in Fujian and Guangdong.

Decades ago, if the quality wasn't good, you could just focus on quantity.

If there are enough ships, even civilian vessels, they can defeat warships.

Unfortunately, after learning about the ironclad ships equipped by the navies of Guangdong and Guangxi, they all gave up the idea.

Traditional naval tactics are simply suicide missions when facing this monster.

Compared to wooden warships, ironclad warships were far superior in both defense and impact resistance.

Especially after being equipped with the improved large-caliber cannons of the Annam Protectorate, they could sink ordinary ships with a single shot.

The pirates along the southeastern coast are the most qualified to speak on this issue.

They were used as practice subjects for every naval technological innovation.

No matter how powerful a pirate is, once he's targeted, there's only one path forward: destruction.

If it weren't for the constant internal strife in the Great Yu Dynasty, which led to a continuous influx of new recruits, the profession of piracy might have disappeared from the coast.

Ironclad warships equipped with steam engines were invincible throughout Southeast Asia.

Even Westerners would give these iron lumps a wide berth.

"Great Chanyu, if we want to compete with the enemy for control of the Yangtze River basin, we have almost no chance of winning."

Instead, we should play to our strengths and avoid our weaknesses, and seek a breakthrough in land warfare.

That scoundrel Li Mu, though he remotely commands the front lines from Hangzhou, still has areas he can't oversee.

Let's concentrate our forces and launch a fierce attack on Suzhou Prefecture, Songjiang Prefecture, and other areas.

Once we capture these two locations, both banks of the Yangtze River will be in our hands, allowing us to deploy a large number of shore artillery pieces at the mouth of the Yangtze.

"As long as there are enough shore-based artillery pieces, enemy warships won't dare to approach!"

Sarina spoke up.

This approach is indeed a bit cowardly, but its advantage lies in its feasibility.

Compared to defeating the enemy navy on water, it is clearly more likely to succeed in defeating the enemy on land.

"Alright, then let's concentrate our forces and do everything we can to capture Suzhou Prefecture and Songjiang Prefecture!"

Seeing that no one else objected, Hugjil immediately made the decision.

……

Rumble…

As the first rays of sunlight shone upon the earth, Nanjing, which had just awakened from its slumber, was greeted by a wave of artillery fire.

The grassland allied forces, who were encamped along the river, became the first wave of victims.

Accompanied by bursts of cannon fire, shells were fired from the warships at the military camp, instantly causing chaos and destruction.

"What's going on? Where did that cannon fire come from?"

Borta, who had just woken up from his sleep, asked in a flustered manner.

The entertainment in the city last night lasted quite a while, and we didn't get back to the barracks until late at night.

In fact, if it weren't for the strict discipline of the Tatar army, which forbade their commanders from spending the night outside, he wouldn't have wanted to come back.

I hadn't slept well all night and was catching up on sleep when I heard the intense sound of artillery fire again.

"Wanhu, the shells came from the river; they were most likely fired by the enemy navy!"

……

(End of this chapter)