Chapter 188: Storms over Huainan

In the second year of Xian De, spring.

The Later Zhou southern expeditionary army, boasting three hundred thousand troops, split into three routes and launched a fierce attack on the Southern Tang.

Guo Rong personally led the campaign, commanding the main force on the central route, with his troops aiming straight at the key southern Huai stronghold, Shouzhou.

The army advanced like a blade through bamboo, and the Southern Tang Prefectures and Counties along the way surrendered at the sight of its banner.

However, when the Later Zhou army reached the foot of Shouzhou City, it bit into a hard bone for the first time.

Shouzhou City, nestled by mountains and water, with high walls and deep moats.

The defending commander in the city was none other than the Southern Tang's top general, Liu Ren Shan.

Liu Ren Shan ran his troops with strict discipline, winning the soldiers' trust. He commanded fifty thousand elite soldiers, already within the city, fully prepared.

More importantly, he possessed a trump card capable of turning the tide of battle.

The complete battle plan of the Later Zhou army, delivered by Li Chongjin's envoy.

"Hahaha! Truly heaven aids me!"

Inside the Shouzhou Military Governor's office, Liu Ren Shan stared at the battle map that detailed which general was assigned to assault each city gate, and couldn't help bursting into laughter.

"Guo Rong, you brat, think yourself invincible. Yet you do not know that every move of yours is already in my grasp!"

A deputy commander said anxiously, "General, the source of this intelligence is unknown; could it be a Later Zhou plot?"

"No," Liu Ren Shan shook his head, a cunning glint in his eyes. "The person who delivered the intelligence has been verified, indeed a close aide of the Later Zhou royal Li Chongjin. Moreover, the reported Later Zhou troop deployments match exactly the reports from our scouts."

"Li Chongjin also promised that if we can hold Guo Rong, he will stage a coup in Kaifeng and cut off his retreat!"

"This is a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity! As long as we hold Shouzhou and attack from inside and out, Guo Rong will undoubtedly be defeated!"

The deputy commanders heard this and their confidence surged instantly.

"Your wisdom, General!"

……

Outside Shouzhou City, the Later Zhou main camp.

Inside the central army's main tent, the atmosphere was heavy.

Guo Rong stared at the sand table, where the Shouzhou City loomed like a massive beast perched on the banks of the Huai River, his brows tightly knit.

"Your Majesty, our army has been besieging for three consecutive days, suffering heavy losses, yet we haven't even grazed the city walls," the senior general Zhang Yongde reported gravely.

"The Southern Tang's defense is too bizarre," another commander added, unable to hold back, "They seem to foresee our moves. When we focus on the east gate, all their elite troops gather there. When we attempt a waterborne raid, they have already set hidden stakes and iron chains in the river."

"Each time our attack intentions appear to be seen through by them in advance!"

Guo Rong remained silent, his face still calm, but inside his mind roiled with turbulent waves.

He knew something was wrong.

His battle plan had certainly been leaked!

Only a handful could know his entire plan, and only one person had both motive and ability to leak it to the Southern Tang.

Li Chongjin!

Although he stripped Li Chongjin of Military Power and dismissed some of his close aides, he underestimated the influence of an old general within the army.

Guo Rong clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms.

He resented himself for not having slain that rebel with a single strike back then, but instead choosing a "dignified" way to imprison him!

A woman's compassion ultimately became a great disaster!

"Your Majesty, what should we do now?" Zhang Yongde asked, "Our soldiers have suffered heavy casualties and morale is low. If we continue like this, I'm afraid…"

"Relay my order!" Guo Rong snapped his head up, a resolute ferocity flashing in his eyes, "Suspend the siege!"

"Suspend the siege?" the generals were all startled.

"Exactly."

"Since a direct assault fails, we shall encircle!"

"Encircle them to death!"

"Send the orders: withdraw the main army thirty li, set up camps! Dig deep moats, build high walls! Cut off all communication between Shouzhou City and the outside!"

"I do not believe Liu Ren Shan can sprout wings and fly away!"

"But Your Majesty, a prolonged siege will strain the provisions of our hundreds of thousands of troops…" a logistics officer said anxiously.

"You need not worry about provisions," Guo Rong said, his gaze turning toward Yangzhou in the southeast.

"I have the Wang Family behind me."

He believed the Wang Family would help him, having done a favor for them for the classics of the Grand Secretariat, never expecting that favor would be needed so soon.

……

A protracted siege war thus began.

The Later Zhou army surrounded Shouzhou City like an iron bucket.

Time passed day by day.

Era Name Deadline……

Three months……

Half a year……

Shouzhou City, once as impregnable as golden broth, gradually turned into a living hell.

The city's food supplies were exhausted.

They began eating horses, dogs, and rats.

In the end, cannibalism even emerged.

Southern Tang's ruler Li Jing was anxious. He dispatched several relief forces to try to break the siege of Shouzhou.

But each of these relief armies, without exception, was shattered midway by the Later Zhou's superior forces, losing helmets and armor, the entire armies annihilated.

But the mutiny of Li Chongjin in Kaifeng, which Li Jing had placed great hopes in, left not even a trace.

The messengers he sent to Kaifeng never returned, disappearing without a trace.

He didn't know that those messengers had already been spotted by Wang Family's informants placed throughout the Later Zhou territory as soon as they set foot inside.

All that intelligence eventually was compiled into Wang Hao's hands.

Wang Hao looked at the handwritten letters Li Jing had written to Li Chongjin, urging him to act quickly, gave a faint smile, and casually tossed them into the fire pit.

He did not hand those letters to Guo Rong.

Because he knew that Guo Rong now needed not those pieces of evidence.

What he needed was victory in this war, and what Wang Hao intended to do was ensure that this victory would encounter no mishaps.

He leveraged the Wang Family's worldwide merchant routes and intelligence network to keep every move of the Southern Tang firmly under his control.

At the same time, he mobilized all of the Wang Family's Transport fleets, continuously shipping food and armaments from Jiangnan, Shu region, and even overseas, via waterways straight to the Shouzhou front.

The logistics of the Later Zhou army, far from encountering problems due to the prolonged siege, actually became increasingly abundant.

The soldiers could eat white rice every day, and every few days they even had meat.

With this attrition, the scales of victory and defeat had already tipped completely.

Winter, third year of Xian De.

After being besieged for a full year, Shouzhou City finally could no longer hold out.

The defending commander Liu Renchan, realizing there was no way to turn the tide, did not want the city's civilians to suffer the hardships of war any longer.

He drew his sword and committed suicide, giving his life for the country.

Shouzhou, the city fell.

When the news reached Jinling, Southern Tang sovereign Li Jing spat fresh blood on the spot and collapsed.

When Guo Rong led his army into Shouzhou City, seeing the scene of devastation and starving corpses everywhere, he felt no joy.

He bowed deeply toward the direction where Liu Renchan had taken his own life.

"General Liu was a true man. Bury him with honors."

He understood that the real enemy was not Liu Renchan, but the "Hao Biaoxiong" who was lurking behind, stabbing him with a knife.

Now is the time to go back and settle the final accounts with him.