Sweep Yuan

Chapter 41 Where is the Way Out?

When the army is fighting in the field, if they do not collect grain from nearby areas, they have to transport it all the way from Xuzhou City, which is more than a hundred miles away.

Although Xuzhou had no shortage of grain, it could not withstand such consumption.

Moreover, if we don't take this opportunity to use up the "surplus" manpower and resources of each village and community, are we just going to sit and wait for the government troops to come back and requisition them?
Compared to Shishan's initial "voluntary donation," the Peng-Zhao alliance had far fewer concerns. If any villager objected, they could simply kill them and divide their property.

Ishiyama was well aware of his position and simply kept his men in check, refraining from offering any inappropriate suggestions.

In fact, Peng and Zhao never summoned Shishan again. Even if he wanted to offer his opinions, he couldn't get a meeting with them.

The allied forces numbered only 6,000 when they left Xuzhou, but by the time they joined forces, they had exceeded 10,000, and continued to expand rapidly every day thereafter.

Shi Shan, who was in the rear guard, felt most deeply that the marching column was getting longer and longer. The distance between his troops and the central army was initially only three miles, but after two days it had increased to ten miles.

As the army marched south, it grew like a snowball, with the soldiers' pockets bulging and their morale soaring. However, the journey was marked by blood and fire.

Besides the panic caused by the requisitioning of grain by Latins, the army itself also encountered many problems.

The army numbered over ten thousand, stretching to the horizon.

A long-distance march of tens of thousands of troops involves route reconnaissance, perimeter patrols, communication, food supplies, and campsite allocation, and must take into account complex factors such as weather, wind direction, and water sources.

Although Peng Erlang and Zhao Junyong were outstanding heroes, it was their first time organizing a military operation of such a scale, and they inevitably made many mistakes.

Firstly, as the number of civilians brought along increased, the marching speed decreased rapidly.

On the day the army joined forces, it had traveled 34 li, but two days later it had only traveled 25 li.

Shishan, who had intended to observe the camp-setting techniques, did not learn them. Due to a shortage of mules, horses, and carts, the army had limited supplies, especially tents, and the camps of each unit were basically without any regulations, resulting in great chaos.

Some people forcibly occupied private houses, some slept in ancestral halls, some demolished private houses to build campsites, and some took advantage of the fact that winter had not yet arrived to sleep on straw. In short, everyone used their own unique methods.

Most campsites were also extremely poorly managed. For example, when they first set up the stoves, they didn't pay attention to the wind direction and the stoves were scattered in different places. Once cooking started, the whole campsite would be filled with smoke and fire.

Another issue is hygiene; every time we break camp, human and horse excrement is everywhere.

Fortunately, Liu Futong's uprising preceded the main force of the Yuan army, which was thus tied down.

Otherwise, the Battle of Changshe at the end of the Han Dynasty might have been repeated.

The logistical support also deteriorated rapidly. The shortage of vegetables and meat was not a big deal, as the lower-ranking soldiers often went hungry before joining the army, and now that they could at least eat their fill, they had nothing to complain about.

However, the lack of firewood and clean drinking water needed for cooking is quite a headache.

The Huaibei Plain is crisscrossed by waterways, and even with the alternating floods and droughts in recent years, there is still no shortage of drinking water.

No matter how much water there is, it can't withstand the intense consumption and pollution from tens of thousands of people. He can tolerate dirty clothes, smelly clothes, and rocky mountains, but he really doesn't dare to drink muddy water that is filled with human excrement, donkey urine, and horse dung.

Medical care was very limited in this era, and various epidemics broke out repeatedly. Even a minor case of typhoid fever could kill countless people.

During military campaigns, troops and soldiers are highly concentrated, resulting in poor sanitation. It is strictly forbidden to eat undercooked food or drink unclean water. Improper handling of filth in the camp can also lead to outbreaks of disease.

Every day, camping and searching for drinking water and firewood took up a lot of time.

After this stop-and-go march, by the time the "Red Heart Battalion" arrived at the walls of Suzhou, the Peng and Zhao armies, who had arrived earlier, had already set up camp and launched an offensive against the city. Zhao Junyong's troops were responsible for the main attack, deployed on the east and north sides of Suzhou, while Peng Erlang's troops were stationed at the western camp of Suzhou, primarily tasked with supporting the attack and intercepting imperial reinforcements from the Guide direction.

The army, along with the conscripted laborers, numbered over 20,000, stretching for miles, creating a truly magnificent sight.

Peng and Zhao assigned Shishan the task of going south of Suzhou to guard against the Yuan army from Anfeng Road that might come to the rescue from the south bank of the Huan River (downstream is called the Hui River), and to intercept any fleeing enemy that might appear after the fall of Suzhou.

However, it was a tradition for the various prefectures of the Great Yuan to beg for each other's attention. Without the presence of high-ranking officials from the imperial court or provinces, and with the Huai River and Huan River acting as barriers, and with internal instability within Anfeng Circuit, the possibility of sending troops across the border was extremely low.

Before the Yuan army besieged Suzhou, they did not run away. They knew that the enemy's three-sided encirclement and one-left escape route was a dead end. To abandon the city and run away would be to be a fool who would hand his back to the enemy to be chased and killed at will.

Even if a small number of defenders flee in panic after the city falls, hoping for a chance to survive, their fighting strength will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, the mission in Shishan was not very dangerous, and was even quite leisurely. However, this was not due to any special consideration given to the Shishan unit by Peng and Zhao; the actual situation was quite the opposite.

Clearly, backstabbing and infighting are one thing, but when it comes to the real battles of killing the enemy and capturing the city, neither Peng Erlang nor Zhao Junyong trust the "Red Heart Battalion," which is all show and no substance, or perhaps they are unwilling to let them share the credit and spoils of war.

In this way, Shishan would not have to bear the risk of his main force being weakened by swarming attacks, but he would also lose the valuable opportunity to observe the attack and defense battles up close.

Suzhou was not a heavily fortified city, and the Red Turban Army of Xuzhou was not a strong army known for its ability to fight tough battles. It was unlikely that they could breach the city in a short period of time.

With nothing else to do, Shishan conducted ambush and interception tactics training on the north bank of the Huan River, while also sending out scouts to gather intelligence on the surrounding enemy situation and to correct errors in the maps on-site.

Throughout history, any ambitious military commander has never overlooked information such as astronomy and geography.

Shishan knew the geography of the Xuhuai area, but going back several hundred years was enough time for mulberry fields to turn back into the sea.

For example, the Yellow River, which changed its course from Kaifeng to Xuzhou and then rushed southeast, was very unfamiliar to Shishan, who was used to the "几"-shaped Yellow River of later generations.

For example, he knew that south of Suzhou, on Anfeng Road, there was a city called Haozhou, and later "history" proved that taking it could lead to great achievements.

The journey from Suzhou to Haozhou is over 200 li (the actual marching distance), but starting from Chulan Station, it is another 100 li or so, and it requires crossing three major rivers (including the Huai River) along the way.

The question is how to persuade his soldiers to abandon their homeland and follow him, an outsider, to abandon their families and travel hundreds of miles to risk their unknown fate?
Shishan spent a lot of effort collecting surrounding geographical information, not only for military campaigns, but also in the hope of finding a feasible way to escape Xuzhou.

This is not a simple question of "going north" or "going south".

Circumstances create heroes, but they can also trap them.

Even without the intrusion of time travelers, the world situation would still be constantly changing amidst rapid upheaval, and there is never a "path to success" that is guaranteed to be followed.

If one lacks solid skills and resources, even if one knows the general trend of the world and the details of history, one is powerless in the face of such rapidly changing circumstances.

After Sesame Li and others started their uprising, although the Yuan court was preoccupied with the military campaign to suppress Liu Futong and had not been able to send a large army to counterattack Xuzhou, the local garrisons were not just for show.

If Shi Shan only brought Li Wu with him, he could go anywhere in the world.

However, if one wants to lead troops and a larger number of elderly and weak people to break through the layers of obstruction from both sides and go to the "enemy's rear" where there is no immediate threat to establish a foothold, one cannot underestimate the heroes of the world.

However, the rapidly changing situation will not stop for anyone. In the grand scheme of things, Shishan, who is not even a piece yet, will certainly not be able to wait for the day when things will fall into place.

On the ninth day of the Red Turban Army's defense of the north bank of the Huan River, after a bloody battle, the Red Turban Army finally stormed into Suzhou City.

(End of this chapter)