Chapter 251: Is This Also a Queen?

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After defeating Fang Qifu, Song Jiang did not cease his pursuit but relentlessly chased Fang Qifu with his cavalry.

By the time they reached Chongde, Yao Pingzhong and Liu Guangshi caught up with Fang Qifu; the two armies clashed in fierce combat.

Fang Qifu's five divisions were thrown into chaos, and Fang Qifu himself nearly got captured alive by Yao Pingzhong.

With no choice, Fang La's rebel army, primarily infantry, could not withstand the iron hooves and sharp sabers of Song's cavalry, so they quickly broke and fled toward Hangzhou City.

Upon receiving the news, Fang La, following Wang Gonglao's advice, ordered: "No routed troops shall enter the city."

Fang La and his men feared that fleeing troops would let Song forces infiltrate the city, hence the order to close the gates.

Fang Qifu's troops outside the city gates shouted loudly: "Don't shut the gates!"

But the Fang La rebels inside Hangzhou paid them no heed.

This allowed Yao Pingzhong, Liu Guangshi, and later arriving generals such as Lu Junyi, Guan Sheng, Lin Chong, Xu Ning, and Yang Zhi to slaughter them mercilessly, leaving Fang La's forces reeling and scattering in panic.

Seeing this, Fang La was forced to send his newly appointed Eight Great Kings, Lu Mai, along with Guan Sunzhong, Fang Shizong, and others, leading his personal guard (over five thousand cavalry and more than twenty thousand elite infantry) out to fight the Song army.

Lu Mai, Guan Sunzhong, Fang Shizong, and other generals were Fang La's trusted elite commanders; the troops they led were the elite among Fang La's elite, and every officer was a core member of the Moni Sect, fearless in battle.

The Song army had already been fighting all day and was exhausted, men and horses alike.

Ultimately, after over an hour of brutal combat beneath Hangzhou's walls, the Song army, realizing they could not prevail, reluctantly withdrew, waiting for their own infantry to arrive before launching another assault on Hangzhou.

In this campaign, from Chongde to the walls of Hangzhou, corpses lay piled upon one another, too numerous to count; Fang La's troops trampled each other in retreat, abandoning weapons and armor across the countryside.

After the Song army departed, Fang Qifu received Fang La's imperial decree ordering him to camp outside Hangzhou City, gather the scattered rebels, and await further orders.

Notably, this was Fang La's first imperial edict since his coronation.

After regrouping, Fang Qifu counted his forces: he, Fang Baihua, Chen Miao Zhen, and other rebel leaders had fewer than ten thousand men left from over a hundred thousand.

Fang Qifu gazed at the dark, heavy sky, his heart heavy with complex emotions.

But Fang La gave Fang Qifu no time to process his feelings.

Fang La soon summoned Fang Qifu into the city and demanded to know how he had been defeated so utterly and so swiftly, caught completely off guard.

Fang Qifu blamed the defeat entirely on the court's re-equipping of Song Jiang's army, claiming the court had not only armed Song Jiang's forces with elite gear but also supplied them with vast numbers of cavalry, including even fully armored heavy cavalry.

Moreover, the Song army's numbers were nearly double his own.

Fang La rebuked Fang Qifu, saying: "If that's the case, why did you engage Song Jiang in open battle? Why not choose a well-stocked city like Chongde and fight a defensive siege?"

Fang Qifu did not say: "You ordered me to defeat Song Jiang's army, absorb it, and then strike to break the Song blockade of the Yangtze—I was merely carrying out your orders," nor did he say: "I never expected the court to have such resolve—to immediately re-equip Song Jiang's bandits after their surrender, and thus I lost my guard and suffered a catastrophic defeat."

Fang Qifu merely objectively recounted the course of his defeat.

It was clear this loss had dealt Fang Qifu a severe blow.

Lü Jiang offered an objective analysis: "The Song army has superior cavalry, and now it is winter—rivers and wetlands have dried or receded, turning some areas into land. The cavalry can exploit their speed for surprise attacks; it is indeed hard to resist. Losing because you were unaware Song Jiang's forces had been armed by the court is understandable."

As for the Song army's reliance on cavalry, there was no need to worry.

As long as they could hold out a few more months, when the weather warmed, rains would increase; then, Jiangnan's dense rivers, lakes, swamps, and water networks would narrow land routes and slice them apart, rendering cavalry mobility—such as rapid charges and encirclements—nearly impossible. Horses would struggle to move through mud, even sinking into swamps, unable to unleash their speed.

Furthermore, cavalry depended on vast quantities of fodder and water; Jiangnan's humid heat caused feed to mold easily, and transporting grain via waterways was far less efficient than northern land routes. If supply lines were cut, cavalry units would rapidly lose combat effectiveness from lack of food and fodder.

Moreover, Jiangnan cities were mostly built beside water, often surrounded by moats or water systems, making direct cavalry assaults on walls impossible.

Most crucially, cavalry had virtually no combat capability on water; once they deployed their navy, the Song army would be forced into passive defense.

Hearing Lü Jiang's analysis, Fang La and his men grew considerably more at ease, even optimistic: if they could just hold out a few months, not only would the Song cavalry lose its advantage, but by the time summer heat arrived, the northern soldiers would be baked to death.

Fang La also abandoned his earlier complaints and comforted Fang Qifu, saying: "Once we repel the Song and Song Jiang, with fifty million people in Jiangnan, how could we lack rebel troops?"

Fang La was not boasting.

Since the Huang Chao Rebellion, Jiangnan had suffered little war, its people living in peace and prosperity, resulting in abundant resources, dense populations, and great wealth—truly possessing the potential for countless recruits.

Crucially, Jiangnan's populace had accumulated growing resentment against heavy taxes and oppression; many were half-naked, starving, even forced to sell their children. As long as Fang La was not crushed by the court, a single call to arms would easily draw in tens or hundreds of thousands of rebels.

Given enough time, Fang La could recruit another one or two million rebels in Jiangnan without difficulty.

After Fang La's reassurance, Fang Qifu regained his fighting spirit and went to reinforce Hangzhou's defenses, taking full charge of the city's fortifications.

Fang Qifu knew his burden was immense and dared not slacken. He employed the Hundred-Step Method to divide his forces, splitting the outer city walls into four defensive sectors—east, west, south, north—each assigned over twelve thousand troops as frontline defenders. For each sector, he appointed one Fang family member and one capable rebel commander as joint sector overseers, and heavily fortified each city gate, ensuring every area was clearly assigned and defended.

Meanwhile, Fang La dispatched a trusted aide to each of his rebel factions, ordering them to represent the court and pressure all regional commanders to rush reinforcements to Hangzhou.

Three days later, on the seventeenth day of the second month of Hongwu Ninth Year.

Song troops began arriving outside Hangzhou City.

Two days later, Song Jiang arrived with the main Song army outside Hangzhou City.

Song Jiang did not immediately launch an assault. Instead, he followed the advice of advisors like Zhang Suo, directing Song soldiers and hired laborers to construct a linked chain of fortresses around Hangzhou like fish scales, establishing strict defenses. He divided the four suburbs of Hangzhou into east, west, south, and north zones, appointing strategic and courageous men as overseers in each. He built twenty-four sturdy camps at key terrain points, each with its own commander and garrison, clearly preparing for a prolonged war against Fang La's rebels.

Song Jiang chose this strategy for two reasons: first, Hangzhou City was too strong and Fang La's forces too numerous to capture quickly; second, they now knew Hangzhou's grain stores were scarce. If they applied steady pressure, Fang La's rebels would inevitably collapse.

No one expected that the first battle between Song Jiang and Fang La would be a single combat.

It was not Song Jiang and Fang La fighting each other, but each side sending a fierce general to duel on horseback beneath Hangzhou's walls.

Single combat—or mounted dueling—was rare on battlefields at this time.

But Fang La's rebels had just suffered a defeat, and many of their defiant warriors were unconvinced.

So Fang La sent his fierce general Zheng Mo Wang, spear in hand, riding out before the Song lines to curse Song Jiang and challenge him to single combat, igniting this duel.

Zheng Mo Wang was a core believer of the Moni Sect, known as "Demon King" for fighting bare-chested with disheveled hair and his face painted with demonic symbols, using religious rituals to inspire morale.

Zheng Mo Wang was one of the rare rebel leaders who, after the uprising, answered Fang La's call and submitted to his command.

Precisely because of this, Zheng Mo Wang became Fang La's vanguard commander, having led a surprise attack on Muzhou, breaching the city with swift, brutal force and demonstrating formidable battlefield impact.

Now, as Fang La's forces showed signs of decline, Zheng Mo Wang stepped forward without hesitation. Song Jiang, seeing Zheng Mo Wang's imposing size and fierce appearance, dared not underestimate him and ordered two of his generals to charge out together to take him.

Unexpectedly, Zheng Mo Wang was exceptionally skilled, defeating both Song generals within a few rounds.

Zheng Mo Wang grew even more arrogant, shouting: "Are these pigs and dogs daring to show their faces?!"

Zheng Mo Wang further cursed Song Jiang for breaking his word, demanding he come out to fight.

Song Jiang remained silent.

At this time, a junior officer named Wu Jie from the Jingyuan army, sent by Tong Guan to reinforce Song Jiang, requested to duel in person.

The Wu Jie of this moment was not the same Wu Jie of history—who long garrisoned Sichuan, held fast at Monk's Origin, Rao Feng Pass, and Immortal's Pass, repeatedly defeated the Jin army, and was praised by historians as "Wu Jie bore the brunt; without him, Shu would have fallen long ago"—nor the Wu Jie who, alongside his brother Wu Lin, defended Sichuan for decades, lauded by historians as "he pacified the people and aided the state, devoting his heart and diligence to his duty," and whose military achievements firmly ranked among the top three of the Southern Song.

At this time, Wu Jie was merely a green junior officer with no reputation in the army, utterly insignificant.

Given this, Song Jiang was troubled and urged Wu Jie: "Both generals have failed against him—if you lose too, where will our Great Song's military prestige stand?"

Wu Jie said: "Lend me your lord's warhorse; I shall return with the enemy general's head."

Song Jiang asked why, and Wu Jie replied: "The enemy general is indeed fierce, but I noticed his mount falters when turning sharply—that is his fatal weakness."

Song Jiang found Wu Jie's reasoning sound and lent him his warhorse, allowing him to ride out.

Wu Jie rode forth, and Zheng Mo Wang immediately spurred his horse to meet him.

But Wu Jie did not engage Zheng Mo Wang—he wheeled his horse and fled.

Zheng Mo Wang charged after him in pursuit.

When the two horses ran side by side, Wu Jie suddenly reined his mount, spun around, and lunged at Zheng Mo Wang.

Though Zheng Mo Wang's steed was powerful, its sudden halt and sharp turn were sluggish and unresponsive. When Wu Jie lunged, it could not stop in time and bolted forward.

Wu Jie seized that instant and speared Zheng Mo Wang from his saddle.

The Song army erupted in thunderous cheers; Fang La's rebel forces lowered their banners and fell silent.

Wu Jie became famous overnight from this battle.

Later, Zhao Yu used this as pretext to transfer Wu Jie to his personal guard, train him personally, and later assign him to the Divine Mechanism Army.

That is a tale for another time, not yet told.

That night, the Song army used "tunnels" as cover to move beneath the city walls and erected scaling ladders, swarming upward.

The "tunnels," also called "tunnel houses," were wooden arched frames covered with oxhide, shaped like caves or rooms, capable of deflecting arrows and ordinary siege stones.

Fang La's rebels used battering poles to knock down the ladders and hurled massive stones from the walls to smash the tunnels.

The Song army then rolled forward massive war towers. Their exteriors were bound in oxhide, interiors held climbing ladders, their height nearly matching Hangzhou's battlements.

The Song army pushed the towers against the city wall and leapt directly from their tops onto Hangzhou's ramparts.

Fang Qifu and other rebel leaders ordered death squads to open the gates and charge out, slashing Song soldiers with long spears and broadswords, setting fire to the towers.

The Song army countered by sending elite troops to fight Fang La's death squads.

Both sides exchanged volleys, arrows flying like locusts; soldiers on both sides kept falling, pierced.

The only difference: Song soldiers wore armor; if not struck in vital spots, they could still be rescued.

Moreover, after Song Jiang's forces accepted imperial amnesty, the court dispatched numerous physicians to their ranks, enabling effective treatment of wounded.

Fang La's rebels, however, were not so lucky—once struck by arrows, they were nearly certain to die.

This caused Song soldiers to grow bolder; even as corpses piled layer upon layer, they kept charging relentlessly, trampling over the dead toward the walls.

It must be said, Fang La's rebels, desperate and brainwashed by the Moni Sect, fought fiercely too—they truly risked their lives, inflicting heavy casualties on the Song army.

This was precisely why Zhao Yu armed Song Jiang's rebels.

Fang La's forces numbered over a million, fearless and relentless—without arming Song Jiang's rebels, how could his mere twenty thousand possibly quell the rebellion in Jiangnan?

Historically, the Zhao Song dynasty deployed forty to fifty thousand elite troops, plus local gentry militias, just barely suppressing Fang La's uprising.

After the war, the Zhao Song elite were shattered, so weakened they could not defeat even the remnants of the Liao with their few ten thousand men, mocked by the Jin, leading to the Jingkang Humiliation.

Moreover, though the equipment Zhao Yu gave Song Jiang's rebels was decent, for the current Zhao Song dynasty, it was merely second-rate.

Take the best three hundred sets of full plate armor: the Static Peace Corps they formed could only bully Fang La's poorly equipped rebels—if they faced the Divine Mechanism Army, a single volley of Thunderclap Bombs would render them useless.

In short.

Though Fang La's rebels fought fiercely and denied the aggressive Song army any decisive advantage, Hangzhou's food supplies soon ran out, making prolonged defense impossible.

Thus, after six days and nights of fierce battle, Fang La ordered Fang Qifu to lead twenty thousand rebels to remain inside and pin down the Song army, while he himself led the rest to break out, fleeing toward Muzhou.

Seeing this, Song Jiang ordered cavalry to pursue.

The Song cavalry chased Fang La's rebels for dozens of li, slaughtering countless and shattering their main force.

Regrettably, Fang La fled too swiftly—the Song army had no chance to capture him.

Yet the Song army did not return empty-handed.

Yang Zhi luckily captured Fang La's wife, Shao Shi.

Could she be called an Empress?

A few days later, Fang Qifu, seeing the tide had turned, led his men to break out of the city.

Song Jiang reclaimed Hangzhou, now holding three beauties—Shao Shi, Fang Baihua, and Chen Miao Zhen—and could finally return to the capital to pay court…

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(End of Chapter)