Chapter 496: Capital on the Yangtze

This time Li Zicheng's southward advance into Huguang was divided into two routes. One route was commanded by his eldest nephew Li Guo, moving south through the Lexian Bridge trading post, first taking Jingmen and then descending on Jingzhou. This route was a diversionary force — the rear-battalion troops under Li Guo's command — and even they were not committed in full, only eight thousand combat troops plus eight thousand support troops, sixteen thousand men in all.

With so few men, they certainly could not storm the tightly defended Jingmen prefectural seat, and Li Guo did not absolutely have to take it — although Jingmen Prefecture was called the northern gate of the Jianghan Plain, the land east of Baota Mountain, east of the prefectural seat, was open plain, and an army could easily march around it.

So after discovering that Jingmen's prefectural seat was fairly strongly defended, Li Guo chose to besiege it without assaulting. He first sent troops to seize Baota Mountain east of the prefectural seat, then used six thousand men to dig trenches and invest the city. He himself and Li Laiheng split their forces to attack the areas around the Jingmen prefectural seat — Zhanghekou, Xianjukou, Yiyang Garrison, Neifang Mountain, Jianyang Town, Jingmen Garrison, Xincheng Town, and Dangyang County seat.

Unlike their previous practice of taking only major cities and ignoring small county towns and villages, once the mobilization strategy of "land to each according to headcount, debts cancelled and not repaid" was settled, the Shun army began following the line of "the countryside surrounding the cities."

The Jingmen prefectural seat could be left for later; the surrounding countryside had to be taken first.

Moreover, wherever the army went, it posted proclamations announcing "equal land and cancelled debts," and began taking population counts and dividing the land equally. Now the Roving King had seventy or eighty thousand veteran-camp troops who had already staked out and divided land, and their capacity to carry out policy was far beyond what it had been — they could truly implement the "equal land and cancelled debts" policy!

And although this method of equalizing land while advancing was steady — allowing them to build base areas as they moved forward — it was still too slow. So the route Li Guo commanded was not the Shun army's main force, but merely a diversionary force sent to seize territory.

The true main force was the eighty thousand troops led personally by Li Zicheng, moving east down the Han River by both water and land. This main force of eighty thousand reached the Chengtian prefectural seat of Zhongxiang on the second day of the eleventh month. There was no one like Jing Muqing in Zhongxiang, so before the Shun heavenly troops even arrived, the gentry and wealthy merchants who could flee headed for Hankou. Those who remained could only open the gates and surrender, welcoming Li the Roving King's great army into the Chengtian prefectural seat.

After entering the city, Li Zicheng did not let himself be burdened by the mundane work of "equal land and cancelled debts." He rested only one day, and early on the fourth day led seventy-five thousand of his main force on eastward along the Han River.

Two days later, on the evening of the sixth day of the eleventh month, the vanguard under Liu Fangliang occupied the key town of Qianjiang County on the west bank of the Han River. Li Zicheng himself reached Qianjiang on the seventh day of the eleventh month, and entered the county seat to the welcome of the poor commoners lining the roads around the town.

In excellent spirits at sensing the people's hearts were with him, Li Zicheng summoned his generals that very night to the Qianjiang county yamen and began a council of war.

The generals attending the council were all beaming. The vanguard officer Liu Fangliang spoke first: "This advance of ours has won the people's hearts more than any before! All along the road we saw common folk supporting the old and leading the young to welcome us. The Zhu family's bandit soldiers and officials all fled at the sight of us — utterly unable to withstand a blow. In the past there were always some wicked gentry who overestimated themselves and raised militia to fight us, but this time even those are nowhere to be seen. It seems Huguang will not be long before it is all the Emperor's territory."

The Chancellor Niu Jinxing, who was traveling with Li Zicheng, smiled at Liu Fangliang's words and said: "This time we have truly won the people's hearts. Equal land by headcount, debts and interest cancelled — the poor men of Huguang have gained real, tangible benefits. How could they not support us?

Besides, our administration of the four prefectures of Xiangjing, Nanyang, Yunyang, and Hanzhong has also borne fruit. This southern campaign has mobilized more than a hundred thousand troops, and all the grain and fodder they need is self-supplied — no longer requisitioned as we march — so the harassment of the people along the route has been much reduced."

Tian Jianxiu sighed: "We should have done this long ago. At the beginning of last year we should not have marched east; we should have spent more effort governing the territory in Shaanxi, Huguang, and Henan. If we had governed our territory well before striking at Beijing, we would not have suffered so many setbacks."

Liu Zongmin laughed: "That's all hindsight. At the beginning of last year, who among us knew?"

Li Zicheng nodded with a wry smile: "At least it's not too late. Unifying the realm looks difficult now, but a three-way division is still within reach."

Yuan Zongdi said: "Why only a three-way division? The people's hearts are with us now, and we hold the advantage of the upper reaches. I say if we govern well for a few years, we can escort the Emperor down the Han into the Yangtze and pacify the southeast. Once the southeast belongs to the Emperor, how much longer can the Tartars drag out their existence?"

Everyone nodded repeatedly at this. Li Zicheng also smiled: "A three-way division is of course only temporary. We first pacify Huguang, then ally with Ba-Shu, and the drive east will be like splitting bamboo. If we labor diligently for eight or ten years, why should we fear we cannot possess the realm?"

More than half of what he said was meant to boost morale. The men who followed him would of course prefer to unify the realm; a three-way division holding Jing-Xiang and Ba-Shu would never look like a lasting arrangement.

Li Zicheng asked again: "What news is there from Wuchang Prefecture and Hanyang Prefecture?"

"Reporting to the Emperor, there is some news." The one who took up the topic was the Second Military Adviser Gu Junen. On this southern campaign Li Zicheng had not brought Song Xiance, but had ordered him and Chen Yongfu to remain and guard Xiangjing while waiting for the right moment to send Zhu Cihuan, Gao Yushun, and Noble Consort Yuan to Huaibei. So the one at Li Zicheng's side offering counsel and also handling intelligence was Gu Junen.

Gu Junen paused, then added: "Emperor, word arrived just this evening: Zuo Liangyu's great army has left Wuchang Prefecture and Hanyang Prefecture by water, moving along the Yangtze toward Jingzhou Prefecture."

"What? The Zuo bandit has left?"

"That is excellent news!"

"Emperor, let us not delay — advance quickly and seize Hanyang and Wuchang!"

The moment the generals heard that Zuo Liangyu's great army had left, they were all stirred up, clamoring to advance at once.

Li Zicheng turned to look at Gu Junen. "Are Hanyang and Wuchang both empty cities now?"

"The prefectural seat of Hanyang is nearly empty," Gu Junen said, "but the prefectural seat of Wuchang and the town of Hankou are still packed with people — all Hubei gentry and profiteering merchants. These gentry and profiteers are carrying their valuables with them, but because the boats were seized by Zuo's army, they have no way to flee.

If we move quickly, we may be able to take Hankou Town and Wuchang City with ease. If Hankou and Wuchang both fall into our hands, going downstream in the future will be far easier!"

"Only Hankou and Hanyang?" Li Zicheng asked.

Gu Junen replied: "This subject recommends taking Hankou and Hanyang first, and leaving Wuchang to the Zhu family's little Crown Prince. Because Wuchang lies south of the Yangtze, and our navy is, after all, no match for the Zhu bandits. If we are defeated on the river, the troops entering Wuchang will surely become an isolated army. The Zhu bandits now have many Western cannon, and Wuchang City is fundamentally indefensible. If the royal army suffers a setback at Wuchang, it would greatly damage morale and the people's hearts throughout Huguang."

Li Zicheng narrowed one eye and furrowed his brow, as if weighing the matter back and forth. After a while he asked: "How many Hongyi cannon do we still have in usable condition? Can they command the Yangtze?"

The artillery battalion's commanding general was Li Zicheng's trusted man Wu Ruyi — taciturn, but extremely reliable in his work. Hearing Li Zicheng's question, he opened his mouth and answered: "Emperor, Hongyi cannon are hard to cast. We have tried casting them several times without success, so we have only four old pieces captured earlier that are still usable. I have heard that the Zhu bandits have many warships also fitted with Hongyi cannon. The artillery battalion's four pieces, I fear, cannot command the Yangtze.

Moreover, Hongyi cannon all weigh several thousand catties, and are inconvenient to transport and emplace. To use them properly, one must build gun platforms, mount the cannon on high ground, and then secure the surrounding defenses."

The Shun army's skill in employing artillery was still inferior to the Qing army's. The Hongyi cannon they possessed had no carriages that could be moved in the field; they were all hauled on large carts, and once on site, gun carriages had to be built or gun platforms and gun forts constructed.

"If we cannot lock down the Yangtze, we cannot hold Wuchang!" Li Zicheng pondered for a moment. "Better to be prudent. Take Hankou and Hanyang first, then find high ground outside Hankou and build a gun fort, using the Hongyi cannon to blockade the Yangtze. Ha — first make ourselves undefeatable, then slowly wear him down! We now have the people's hearts, we are an army of the true king, and we have plenty of time."

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