Chapter 611: Greatest Casualties

On the nineteenth day, we broke the South Gate of Qingzhou, annihilating over two thousand enemies; the rebel general Jiang Yi led his troops to firmly defend the northern city, fighting fiercely for six days, we broke the northern city and occupied Qingzhou!

... In this battle our forces suffered over three thousand casualties, annihilated over five thousand enemies, and captured nearly ten thousand...

The rebel general Jiang Yi proclaimed himself the Dare-Death General, leading his troops to repeatedly attack our rear, engaging in street fighting with our army, thus greatly increasing our casualties; he has now been captured.

Qingzhou City is settled; the Deputy General asks the Lord to decide.

……

With over three thousand casualties to annihilate over five thousand enemies and capture a city, this achievement is truly a great victory.

But seeing this number, Chen Wuji felt his heart sink.

Since raising his troops, this is the first time he has suffered such a great loss.

Qian Fugui wrote the battle report in extreme detail; they actually broke through the South Gate of Qingzhou in just three short days.

In siege warfare, this counts as divine speed.

The tactic devised by the civil officials of Hezhou through collective effort shows its lethal power in a glimpse.

On the contrary, after entering the city, Qian Fugui encountered a problem.

This person named Jiang Yi, Chen Wuji had never heard of him from Lu Ping'an's mouth before; unexpectedly he became the final stubborn stone of Qingzhou.

"Come here, summon Officer Lu!" Chen Wuji said in a deep voice.

This matter, he needs to confirm it thoroughly with Lu Ping'an.

Not long after the Personal Guard left, Lu Ping'an came over with an extremely relaxed demeanor.

During this time he not only gained weight, but even his complexion improved.

"Greetings, my lord."

Lu Ping'an wore a smile and made a bow to Chen Wuji.

Chen Wuji placed the battle report on the table, pushed it toward Xu Zengyi, and casually asked, "Old Lu, what kind of person is this Jiang Yi?"

"A Yiguoyi Commandant under Pei Yanlai's command," Lu Ping'an said, "My lord, why do you suddenly ask about this person?"

"How is this person?" Chen Wuji asked.

Lu Ping'an thought for a moment, "I don't have a deep impression of this person; my strongest impression is that this guy is as stubborn as a mule, obstinate in his own views, and I've had two major arguments with him. If I didn't also dislike Pei Yanlai just as much, I would have already removed him."

"How is this person's skill in battle formations and martial arts?"

"This is indeed not bad, roughly comparable to Pei Yanlai. However, he is inept at socializing, has almost no friends, gets along with nobody, and even when there is warfare, he basically has nothing to do; he never gets a chance."

Chen Wuji nodded, "How does he treat his comrades-in-arms?"

This question made Lu Ping'an hesitate a bit; after thinking for a while he shook his head, "My lord, I really can't recall this matter. However, his troops have never had any problems; logically, he leads his soldiers well."

"Those soldier thugs in Qingzhou—I don't know where this bad habit came from; they are prone to cause trouble. Whenever something displeases them, they like to engage in shouting and the like."

"This answer satisfies Chen Wuji to some extent."

"At least this proves that Jiang Yi is not being deliberately concealed by Lu Ping'an to disgust him there."

"After Qingzhou City fell, Jiang Yi led his troops to firmly defend the northern city, fighting our army for several days, causing our casualties to exceed three thousand." Chen Wuji said, "Old Lu, do you think this person is loyal to you, or loyal to someone else?"

"He? Leading his troops to hold the northern city?!" This news made Lu Ping'an's eyes widen in disbelief, "What about Pei Yanlai?"

"He ran away!" Chen Wuji said, "On the second day of the siege he took a small contingent of his personal troops and fled, abandoning the city."

"This good-for-nothing!" Lu Ping'an cursed angrily, then said, "My lord, I dare not conceal it, but honestly I really can't tell who Jiang Yi is loyal to."

"Anyway, in Jiang Yi's eyes I'm not exactly a good person; he has repeatedly spoken ill of me to my face and behind my back, slandering me without holding back."

"I never expected him to be the one who stubbornly held Qingzhou to the end!"

Although he now repeatedly calls Chen Wuji 'my lord', as the former Lord of Nan Jun, hearing that Qingzhou City fell, he inevitably feels some sorrow.

However, these complex expressions stayed on his face for only a few seconds before fading away; with a smiling face he bowed to Chen Wuji, saying, "Your subordinate respectfully congratulates my lord on successfully capturing Qingzhou and taking over Nan Jun!"

"Knowing you're uncomfortable, there's no need to say these things." Chen Wuji waved his hand, "Old Lu, I intend to send you to Qingzhou for a trip; are you willing?"

"Ah?!" Lu Ping'an startled, "My lord, it's not that I'm unwilling, but given my status and this timing, going to Qingzhou might be somewhat… inappropriate; if anything happened, wouldn't that be adding fuel to the fire?"

"No problem, go ahead boldly." Chen Wuji said, "Jiang Yi caused our army such huge casualties; I must find a way to recover some losses, so go persuade Jiang Yi and his troops to surrender."

This detachment might be considered Qingzhou's strongest unit.

Being able to withstand Qian Fugui's bloody psychological assault, still organize forces to hold half the city and fight street battles—only a strong army can do that.

In later times, street fighting is a very rare and ordinary matter.

But in this era, street fighting cannot be done without elite troops.

This requires the commander to have absolute control over superiors and subordinates, the people's hearts, the grassroots officers' proficiency in battle formations, and other factors; for a commander with only average ability to lead an army, fighting street battles might eventually leave him with no one to find.

Upon hearing Chen Wuji's plan to induce Jiang Yi's surrender, Lu Ping'an became even more dazed, "My lord, this scoundrel caused our army such huge casualties and losses; shouldn't we drag him out to let the soldiers vent their anger?"

"We are a proper official army, not bandits; what's there to vent about?" Chen Wuji was also quite surprised by Lu Ping'an's remark—someone who has attained the position of Strategist would actually say such a thing.

"That's quite outrageous."

"Each serves his own master; Jiang Yi's conduct is not wrong, and I can't find fault with his reasoning. On the contrary, if someone like Pei Yanlai could be captured, he could be lawfully executed." Chen Wuji said.

"Old Lu, when you go to Qingzhou, you must absolutely never say such words lightly again."

Lu Ping'an's old face turned red, he bowed and said, "Yes!"

"The flattery wasn't well aimed; it seems to have precisely hit the horse's hoof."

"Xu Zengyi set down the battle report, then suddenly said, "My lord, let Wang Ce go along as well."

"Qingzhou is initially pacified; we need to comfort the people, reorganize the troops, but Officer Lu alone may lack the strength. It would be better to take Wang Ce as the chief and Officer Lu as his deputy, with Officer Lu overseeing the persuasion of Jiang Yi's troops and other surrendered forces."

"Then we'll follow Mr. Xu's advice." Chen Wuji readily agreed.

"After thinking, he again handwrote a military order and gave it to Wang Ce: "After arriving in Qingzhou, hand it to Qian Fugui; order him to rest and recuperate, then he may freely decide which city to attack next. Remember to remind him: don't be so stingy with his brush, ink, paper, and inkstone; although we are poor, we are not lacking the amount of writing supplies needed for his battle reports."

"Yes!"