Fu Shanhe

Chapter 82: Partial Division
"My Lord, there is news from Yangzhou.

The traitor you arrested was kidnapped by the rebels yesterday.

It is said that when Lord Xu arrived at the scene, he was so angry that he could hardly speak! "

Looking at the butler who was lying with open eyes, Marquis Wuyang nodded with satisfaction.

The generals under his command are very reliable in doing their work.

He could even do a job like jailbreaking so well, he could definitely be recommended to his nephew for important positions.

"These traitors deserve to be put to death. Pass the order down and kill them all if you find any trace of them."

The order of Marquis Wuyang directly determined the fate of a group of convicted officials and salt merchants.

The dirty work was done by the "rebels" and the trouble was caused by Lord Xu, and it had nothing to do with him.

As long as all the people involved are dead, this trip to Yangzhou will be a complete success.

……

Gaoyou City.

"Everyone, our greatest crisis since we raised the army has arrived.

The rebel army in Huai'an was suppressed by the imperial court, and the Beijing troops marched southward in large numbers, heading straight for Baoying County.

The Wucheng Bingmasi, which had just won a great victory in Yangzhou, was also approaching Xinghua County.

Judging from the situation, the imperial court wants to attack us from both the north and the south.

The bad news doesn't end there. It is said that the imperial court intends to transfer the Shandong navy to the Grand Canal, and the waterway will soon become unsafe!"

Wen Feiyang said with a serious expression.

It is not easy to be the leader of a rebel army. Not only does he have to deal with a bunch of messy things, but he also has to face external military pressure.

Although he is only in his thirties, he looks like many people in their fifties.

"Uncle, my Gaoyou Prefecture is located between the Yangtze River and the Yellow River.

The divisions of the feudal lords in all dynasties were based on the Yangtze River and the Huai River. It has never been heard of that anyone monopolized Gaoyou and conquered the world.

The imperial army was advancing in full force, and being trapped in Gaoyou would be tantamount to seeking death.

Whether heading south or north, we must build a bigger foundation so that we can have a foothold."

A young scholar spoke first.

Rebellion is a thrilling thing that is best suited for young people.

The older generation has a rigid mindset and is full of fear of the imperial court, often hesitating before doing anything.

Among the seven major families in Lianghuai, the Wen family is not very prominent.

However, they were the first to delegate power to the younger generation, who developed better after raising their armies and were the only ones who could control the troops under their command.

Compared with rebels in other regions, the rebels in Gaoyou Prefecture do not have the largest number of troops, but their internal organizational structure is the most complete.

"Wen Jianping, shut up!"

"The imperial army is coming, if we abandon our foundation and go on an expedition now, we will become bandits.

I have never heard of any bandits being able to accomplish great things!

Although Gaoyou has inherent deficiencies, it is still a heritage site.

As long as the foundation is there, the military morale will be there.

If our foundation is lost, our entire foundation will be gone.

There is no difference between them and those rebellious peasants.

The foundation of the Dayu Dynasty has not been lost, and now is not a good time to fight for the world.

The most important thing right now is to find a way to defeat the rebel army, and then find someone to work in the court to seek amnesty!"

Wen Feiyun on the side opened his mouth and shouted angrily.

Where there are people, there are disputes. On the issue of rebellion, there are also different opinions within the Wen family.

Some people want to go all the way to overthrow the rule of the Dayu Dynasty and establish a dynasty of their own.

Some people think that now is not the right time, fighting to the death with the court is a precursor to the king, and seeking amnesty is the right way.

Neither side could convince the other, and every time it came to a decision, a dispute over the route would break out.

When things are going well, the war faction often has the upper hand.

Once they encounter setbacks, the appeasement faction will gain greater voice.

"quiet!"

Seeing that the others were about to join the war, Wen Feiyang hurriedly spoke up to stop them.

Both sides have good reasons, and once they start arguing, there is nothing to be done.

“According to the intelligence we have gathered, the Beijing Camp has approximately 30,000 combat troops, including 3,000 cavalry.

The specific combat effectiveness has been verified by the rebels in Huai'an area.

In a head-on battle, we are not an equal to the enemy.

You are all aware of the situation of our army.

The army claimed to be 200,000 strong was a figure that included both men, women, old and young, of which the young and strong accounted for less than a quarter.

If a real fight breaks out, they will definitely not be a match for the Beijing Army.

The Huai'an rebels also tried to hold the city, but they could only hold out for a few more days.

The troops of the Wucheng Bingmasi should not be underestimated either.

The terms "noble and dissolute army" are just labels imposed on them by the outside world.

Huang Renlong organized more than 300,000 volunteers to besiege Yangzhou, but they always found opportunities to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, which was enough to prove that this army was not useless.

It seems that we only have 7,000 combat soldiers, but without several times more troops in the field, it is difficult for us to have a chance of winning.

If we want to escape, we must break the enemy's two-pronged attack to have a chance of survival!"

After Wen Feiyang finished speaking, the room suddenly became quiet.

No matter which strategy is adopted, this battle must be fought first.

Only if you win, you are qualified to talk about the future.

"Uncle, compared to a decisive battle with the enemy, we have another option: to march west to Fengyang Prefecture.

Compared with these troops from the capital, the local garrison troops are much easier to bully.

Capture Fengyang, seize Xuzhou, and march into the Central Plains.

If we sweep all the way forward, as long as we are fast enough, we can gather a million-strong army before the imperial army gathers.

If you can win, then fight. If you can’t win, then dig up the Yellow River and leave Dayu with no time to spare!”

Wen Jianping's plan shocked everyone present.

I have to admit that young people dare to think.

If they really did that, it’s not known whether they could conquer the world, but the imperial court would definitely be in big trouble.

"Jianping, I think it's more reliable to go south and destroy the Wucheng Bingmasi army first than to capture Fengyang.

Siege warfare is no joke. We were able to capture Gaoyou so quickly because we have been operating here for many years.

If we move to another place, we must attack by force. As long as the defenders hold out for a few days, the Beijing camp will be able to catch up.

Don't forget, they have cavalry.

It is possible that the imperial army will arrive before we even reach Fengyang City."

Wen Feiyang refused decisively.

"Taking Fengyang, attacking Xuzhou, and entering the Central Plains" is no less difficult than "attacking Yangzhou, conquering Zhenjiang, and seizing Nanjing."

If it were really that easy, the world would have changed dynasties long ago.

Since ancient times, the most difficult thing has never been to formulate a strategy, but how to implement the plan.

……

The army moved forward slowly all the way, and Li Mu was too lazy to ride a horse.

On the great plains, walking thirty miles a day can certainly be considered an outing.

Looking around, there was no obstruction for miles around, so there was no need to worry about the enemy setting an ambush along the way.

"Captain, enemy forces have been spotted thirty miles ahead!
The formation was somewhat disorganized, and there were so many of them that the spies couldn’t count them all.”

Li Mu was slightly stunned when he received this news.

There is more than one route to approach Gaoyou. The reason why we chose to march towards Xinghua County is that it is located in a remote area.

Although it is a plain terrain, there are vast swamps and lakes in the territory, which is not suitable for a decisive battle between large armies.

According to the original plan, after the Beijing Camp defeated the rebels in Gaoyou Prefecture, the Wucheng Bingmasi would take advantage of the situation to recapture the city of Xinghua County. This would allow them to gain credit without having to risk a decisive battle with the rebels.

"Send more scouts to find out the rebels' direction of advance as soon as possible!

Pass the order down, set up camp on the spot and wait for the arrival of the rear troops."

Li Mu immediately gave the order.

His intuition told him that the rebels were coming for him.

After the strategic plan was changed, several thousand households had their own division of labor.

The East City Thousand Households and the Central Thousand Households were responsible for keeping an eye on Yangzhou City and were ready to go back for rescue at any time.

The West City Thousand Households Unit and the North City Thousand Households Unit were responsible for keeping an eye on the enemy forces in the direction of Taizhou and were ready to turn around and attack at any time.

The Nancheng Qianhu Suo and the Marshal's Camp Headquarters were responsible for the feint attack on Xinghua.

The five thousand households were divided into three parts, with a distance of less than five miles between each other, forming a T-shaped layout.

If the enemy is encountered in any direction, reinforcements can be quickly provided from the other two sides.

Theoretically speaking, the direction of Xinghua, which lacks strategic value, is the least likely to encounter the main force of the enemy.

However, since the opponent is a rebel army, it is completely acceptable that the rebel generals might get carried away and do something beyond common sense.

Unable to figure out the situation, Li Mu decided to play it safe first.

……

Jingying.

“Brother Jing, there’s something wrong with the enemy’s movements in Gaoyou.

Baoying County is located at the junction of Yangzhou and Huai'an. It is the connecting point between central and northern Jiangsu, and its military value is far higher than Xinghua.

It is obviously unreasonable for the enemy to move towards Xinghua instead of sending reinforcements to Baoying."

If the information was not sent by the Jinyiwei, Li Yuan would have suspected that someone was playing a prank.

If he were the rebel leader, he would have abandoned Gaoyou and fled long ago.

When rebelling, you also have to choose a location. The more remote the place, the higher the probability of success.

Even if the rebellion failed, they could hide in the mountains and avoid the imperial court's encirclement and suppression.

Xinghua is relatively remote, but there are no big mountains there and the area is too small, lacking strategic room for maneuver.

"Brother Li, haven't the rebels done enough weird things along the way?
When we first came here, the rebels in Huai'an imitated the ancients and set up the Bagua formation to fight us."

Jing Guoliang said indifferently.

He couldn't help laughing when he thought of the rebels' Bagua formation.

The military formations passed down by our ancestors are indeed effective, but the more complex the formation, the higher the requirements for soldiers and generals.

It is easy to set up a formation but difficult to change it. As long as there are a few idiots running around in it, the army will soon fall into chaos.

After the establishment of Dayu, firearms began to become popular and military formations gradually became ineffective.

Nowadays, these noble families are too lazy to require their children to learn those ancient military formations.

Even if you need to set up an array, you can just arrange some simple square arrays and circular arrays, which are easy to get started and simple to operate.

“Brother Jing is right, the rebels are not the Hu people outside the Great Wall, they are not that cunning.

Even if they have a conspiracy, they don't have enough power to carry it out.

The real concern of the imperial court was the northern barbarians outside the Great Wall.

Since winning the last Liaodong War, this group of guys has grown rapidly in strength and has annexed several grassland tribes.

Given Your Majesty's style, you will certainly not allow them to continue to grow.

Once the court's finances are sufficient, the war will be restarted.

In addition to the Nine Border Garrison Army, the Beijing Army will probably have to go to the battlefield again."

Li Yuan said worriedly.

Only after experiencing it personally did I realize how lucrative the salt industry is.

As long as the rectification is effective, it will not be a problem for the court to get 10 million taels of tax silver from the salt administration every year.

Compared with the previous 1.3 million taels of tax silver, this was a completely earth-shaking change.

If the extra money is not used for military expenditure, it will be squandered by bureaucrats under other pretexts.

From the emperor's point of view, it is definitely the most cost-effective way to solve foreign threats.

"Let's fight. As long as the imperial court has money, there is no need to worry about not being able to pacify Liaodong.

The population of the Northern Hu is so limited that even if they unified the prairie, there would be at most two or three million people.

If we fight a war with them every year, they will be dragged to death in a few years.

Risks and opportunities coexist.

After a long period of peace, the voice of our nobles in the court has declined greatly.

If this continues, it won’t be many years before the situation similar to that of the Song Dynasty will return.

The fight on the border is also an opportunity for us.”

Jing Guoliang said calmly.

As the spokesperson of the noble group in the court, he had long accumulated countless grievances about the current situation of the noble group.

There is no change in the situation ahead, so we can only choose to endure.

Now that I see the opportunity, I will naturally not let it go easily.

War means risk, but it also represents power and wealth.

The best example is right before our eyes.

Under normal circumstances, nobles have no right to interfere in local affairs.

Once the Lianghuai Rebellion broke out, the situation changed completely.

The war led to a reshuffle of interests, and the tentacles of the noble group suddenly extended over.

As for the generals who were eliminated during the turmoil, it can only be considered that they were unlucky.

All the vacant military positions became spoils of the noble group.

After being baptized by the flames of war, even a second-rate garrison army would have the opportunity to become the most valuable garrison in Dayu.

There is no other reason, Juntian is back.

With tangible benefits in front of us, enthusiasm will naturally be mobilized.

……

“Jianping, this is your first time leading troops, so you must be cautious.

Fengyang Prefecture is not so easy to capture. Your goal is only to attract the attention of the Beijing Army. Do not really attack the city.

After we have dealt with the enemies in the Wucheng Bingmasi, we will unite with the rebel forces in Taixing and Nantongzhou, and then turn around and fight a decisive battle with the Beijing Camp!"

Wen Feiyang said earnestly.

The two major factions in the clan were arguing endlessly, and he, as the head coach, had to adopt a compromise strategy when making decisions.

First south then north, first easy then difficult, this is his core strategy.

However, the enemies of the Beijing camp could not be completely ignored, so a small force was sent to feint an attack on Fengyang.

I had no choice but to let my nephew lead the troops.

It was not only Wen Jianping who lacked experience. Even he, the head coach, had never fought the enemy head-on.

Everyone lacked experience in leading troops. At least Wen Jianping led the salt workers to attack the provincial government and killed two yamen runners with his own hands.

"Uncle, don't worry.

There are only 8,000 troops, half of whom are old and weak.

It's OK to make trouble in the countryside, but attacking the capital is simply impossible!"

Wen Jianping immediately assured.

He didn't want to lose the opportunity he had fought so hard for just because of a single sentence.

Whether you want to listen to it later is a matter for the future.

It is said in military books that a general is not necessarily subject to orders from his king when he is away from the battlefield.

When we arrived at Fengyang Prefecture, he had the final say on how to fight.

If it really doesn't work, you can consider going straight to Xuzhou by skipping Fengyang, or taking a detour to Luzhou.

In his opinion, no matter where he went, it was better than staying in Gaoyou and waiting to die.

(End of this chapter)