Chapter 1011: Sweeping All Before It

Hanyang and Jiangxia, two cities separated by a single river, stood towering and firm on the banks—they should have been the site of a fierce battle, yet the fighting ended in a dramatic fashion. Deep moats and high ramparts, defensive installations—all proved useless, and the cities fell at once. One could imagine Liu Renshan, hearing of this in the underworld, rising from the dead in fury.

On the Yangtze, Han army warships patrolled back and forth; above the two cities flew the war banners of the Great Han. There was no trace of fierce combat—the campaign had gone so smoothly it felt almost unreal.

The surrendered E army soldiers had their weapons and armor confiscated, were moved out of the cities, and were concentrated in the former Han camp. They were all quite docile, not fearing that the Han army would massacre prisoners or anything of the sort. After all, this was the imperial army, a righteous royal host.

After arranging garrisons for the two cities and ensuring security, Cao Bin and Liu Guangyi also left the city to inspect the prisoner camp and reassure the captives.

"How is it—what's the situation with the surrendered troops?" Entering the camp, Cao Bin asked a young officer who came out to greet him.

The officer in charge of settling the surrendered troops was named Gao Qiong. Having encountered the chaos of war in the final years of the Jin dynasty at a young age, he had been fierce and unruly, once taking to banditry. After Liu Chengyou came to power and issued the bandit-suppression decree, most of the realm's bandits had gone into hiding within half a year. Gao Qiong took the opportunity to reform himself and joined the service of Zhao Hui, then Duke of Shan, fighting under his command.

He had once participated in the pacification of Hezhong, but without any notable achievements, and being young, he had remained unknown. Later, Emperor Liu gradually reduced the power of the feudal governors, beginning to strip local military governors of their authority—among these measures was the restoration of County Defenders in all counties throughout the realm, returning the powers over banditry and litigation disputes to the County Defenders, and returning the judicial authority usurped by garrison commanders to the County Magistrates. Riding that wave, Gao Qiong was recommended by Zhao Hui as County Defender of Zhouzhi—at the time, Gao Qiong was only eighteen.

Zhouzhi, nestled against mountains and bordering water, had complex terrain that provided considerable convenience to bandits and outlaws, and public security had never been particularly good. When Gao Qiong assumed office, relying on his early experiences, his bravery, and his considerable skill, he swiftly suppressed the bandits and brigands in the surrounding area, restoring peace and order for the people.

Later, a large-scale Shu rebellion erupted in Guanzhong, causing a great commotion. Gao Qiong led the county soldiers and local militia to maintain order and stability. When the rebel leader Wang Shun led his troops across the Wei River and entered Zhouzhi, intending to pass through and flee into the Qinling Mountains, Gao Qiong made a keen judgment, leading his men to set an ambush at the inevitable crossing point, annihilating the remnant rebels completely and beheading Wang Shun. From this, Gao Qiong's name reached the ears of the throne.

Afterward, Gao Qiong's official career became noticeably smoother—he was transferred from Zhouzhi County to serve as Commander of Ankang, then promoted to Prefect of Dengzhou, and by the time of the southern campaign, he held the post of Patrol Inspector of the An and Fu prefectures, accompanying the army on campaign.

Having heard of Gao Qiong's reputation and appreciating his composure and his skill in managing troops, Cao Bin held considerable goodwill toward this officer several years his junior.

Gao Qiong led the two men into the camp, briefly summarizing the situation: "The southern troops are too numerous, but they're docile enough. With the cooperation of several officers from the Xiongwu Army, they all follow orders. The camp has been largely expanded, but we're short on tents, and also firewood, coal, and other supplies against the cold! They've been hungry for a long time—I'm preparing to arrange food!"

Nodding with satisfaction, Cao Bin said: "Though they are surrendered soldiers, having been moved outside the city, they're bound to harbor some resentment. If we let them go without even a bite to eat, trouble would be hard to avoid. Supply them with food first—pass the order, temporarily issue rations at seventy percent of our own troops' allowance!"

"Yes!" Gao Qiong acknowledged.

Cao Bin further instructed: "As for tents, let them squeeze together for now—that will also keep them warm. For other cold-weather supplies, allocate a portion from the army stores, and have them cut wood for fuel!"

Hearing this, Liu Guangyi sighed with emotion: "Our grain and supplies have not yet been fully transported, our siege equipment is not yet complete, and the defenders have already surrendered. How are we to report such a campaign to the Jianghuai field headquarters and the court?"

The victory had come too easily, the progress too smoothly—clearly Liu Guangyi was somewhat unsettled by it. In fact, judging from the results, the Han army's effort spent on taking cities and fortresses had been only a small fraction.

Hearing this, Cao Bin said calmly: "Just report the facts as they are!"

"Next, General, what are your plans?" Liu Guangyi said.

"What do you think we should do?" Cao Bin asked in return.

Liu Guangyi said directly: "Taking Ezhou cost us little, and the grain and weapons stockpiled there are more than enough to ease our supply situation. The soldiers' morale is high and their fighting spirit strong—we should press the advantage eastward, advancing by both water and land, attack Jiangzhou, and seize control of Hukou!"

"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Cao Bin nodded. "Our rapid progress here also benefits the unfolding of operations downstream."

"And after taking Jiangzhou?" Cao Bin asked again.

Catching an unusual note in his tone, Liu Guangyi thought for a moment, then a smile spread across his face: "With heavy forces massed downstream, taking Jinling is absolutely no problem. Rather than continuing east and interfering with Chancellor Li's deployment, it would be better to turn south and strike Hongzhou, seizing the Jiangxi region!"

"Then that's what we'll do!" Cao Bin rarely showed a smile. In truth, for the soldiers of the southern pacification campaign, they had already realized that the credit seemed insufficient to go around—and even when divided, it seemed lacking in weight—all because the fighting had been too easy.

"These nearly fifty thousand surrendered troops need to be properly settled!" Liu Guangyi reminded.

With Cao Bin's caution, he naturally took this matter seriously. After a moment's deliberation, he said: "These fifty thousand troops are of mixed quality—many were forcibly conscripted, or joined merely to scrape by for food and clothing. The old and weak should all be discharged, temporarily left in Jiangxia under dedicated management, to be arranged after the war. The rest will be incorporated into our army and fight alongside us!"

Clearly, using these surrendered soldiers for combat was the most fitting arrangement—they were under constant surveillance, easy to control, and using them reduced one's own losses. It was a disposal method that carried relatively minimal risk.

"To implement this smoothly, we'll still need the cooperation of those surrendered officers!" Cao Bin said.

Hearing this, Gao Qiong said: "In this officer's view, these surrendered officers are all quite eager. If given the opportunity to serve the court and earn merit, they will certainly leap at it!"

Cao Bin acknowledged Gao Qiong's insight and judgment, and said immediately: "In that case, let's go—let's meet that Zhu Yuhou again. We mustn't let him think we're deliberately slighting him!"

In "taking" Ezhou, besides the tens of thousands of surrendered troops, there were also considerable spoils of war—the grain stored in the granaries alone amounted to over two hundred thousand dan, all packed up and delivered to the Han army. One could well imagine that this southern pacification might be the campaign with the highest economic return rate in the court's history.

On the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month of the fifteenth year of Qianyou, the E army surrendered, and the Han army entered the city without bloodshed. That same day, Cao Bin personally wrote a battle report, submitted it to the Jianghuai field headquarters, and outlined the next steps of the advance plan.

After resting for two days in Ezhou, Cao and Liu once again led the combined water and land forces eastward. This time, with the Han army, surrendered troops, and conscripted laborers combined, they numbered eighty thousand by water and land.

This advance was equally devastating—first taking Fuchikou without expending the slightest effort, then driving straight for Jiangzhou city. They pressed the surrendered troops into a fierce assault for one day, and the city fell and the defenders surrendered.

It was not until reinforcements from Nanchang arrived that the two sides fought a naval battle at Hukou, deploying twenty thousand sailors in nearly four hundred ships—this was the fiercest engagement of the campaign. The southern army attempted a fire attack, but the wind suddenly shifted, setting their own ships ablaze, and they suffered a great defeat, fleeing in disarray to the Pengli naval stockade.

By the tenth day of the tenth month of winter, Cao and Liu's main force had secured Jiangzhou, with their spearhead pointed directly at Nanchang, essentially severing the connection between Jinling and Nanchang. The Jiangnan sovereign's hope of relocating his capital to Nanchang was thoroughly dashed—that place seemed even more dangerous than Jinling.

Of the several armies on the southern pacification campaign, the fastest-advancing and most glorious was Cao Bin's force—which seemed rather unexpected.