Chapter 160: Contradictions

"Naturally, it is true!

Such a matter cannot be faked.

Brother Meng only needs to send someone to Yongzhou to inquire, and it can be verified immediately."

Zhou Zekai guaranteed immediately.

When he set out from Guangxi, the main army had already begun to move.

During that time, in order to avoid the pursuit of imperial troops, they had hidden in the countryside for several days; counting the days, fighting should have broken out there by now.

"Brother Zhou, this matter is of great importance.

I must discuss it with my brothers before I can give you an answer."

Meng Zeyang expressed his stance tactfully.

Working together is fine, but one must see substantial benefits.

It is impossible to ask everyone to risk their lives based on mere verbal promises of wealth.

"Brother Meng, these blank appointment documents were bestowed by His Majesty the Holy Emperor.

Just fill in a name, and they are an official of my Great Peace Holy Kingdom.

I am handing them to you now.

As long as you can help the Holy Kingdom take Hengzhou Prefecture, you will be the new Prefect of Hengzhou.

If you can assist the Holy Kingdom in taking Changsha, a Third-Class Marquis title is certainly guaranteed!"

As he spoke, Zhou Zekai handed the blank documents over directly.

When it comes to winning over hearts, the White Lotus Holy Kingdom plays with such generosity.

Never mind a Prefect or a Marquis; even if it were a Chancellor or a Prince of the Blood, Zhou Zekai would dare to promise it just the same.

As long as one is willing to rebel, there is no official rank the White Lotus Holy Kingdom dares not bestow.

"I am honored by the Holy Emperor's high regard; if I were to refuse again, I would be ungrateful.

Brother Zhou, just wait for my good news!"

……

Similar scenes were constantly playing out in various places.

As long as one had some influence within the White Lotus Sect, regardless of the size of their strength, they were all being courted.

The armies for the Northern Expedition and Western Conquest were still on the road, while the local White Lotus Sect followers had already prepared to provide support in advance.

……

Lianzhou Prefecture.

The surging winds and clouds of the outside world did not affect Li Mu's strategic deployment.

After stabilizing Lianzhou, his gaze was once again cast upon the map of Guangxi.

To take Guangxi, Nanning and Xunzhou were both unavoidable strategic locations that military strategists must fight for.

"Nanning is situated at the confluence of three rivers; once Nanning Prefecture is taken, one can control Southern Gui via the waterways.

What needs attention is Kunlun Pass; this place connects Central Gui and Southwestern Gui, and the terrain is extremely perilous.

Xunzhou is located at the border between Lingnan and the outside, and it similarly possesses very strong strategic value.

Especially the Dateng Gorge, located between Great Ming Mountain and Dayao Mountain.

As long as this gap is controlled, the road from Central Gui to Southeastern Gui is effectively cut off.

Should we take Nanning first, or Xunzhou first? Let us all discuss it together!"

Li Mu said slowly.

After realizing that the world was about to fall into chaos, he had been deliberately cultivating the military command ability and strategic vision of his subordinates.

In the past, such strategic decisions were all made by him alone, but now he brought them out for everyone to discuss.

To lower the difficulty, he even deliberately pointed out the respective strategic importance of the two places.

"Assistant Regional Commander, in this subordinate's view, it is better to take Nanning first.

It is not that Xunzhou is unimportant, but mainly because Dateng Gorge is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

The rebel army has stationed heavy troops there, and it will not be easy to take in the short term."

Yun Yufeng said with slight trepidation.

"Company Commander Yun, Dateng Gorge is hard to fight, but is Kunlun Pass easy to fight?

When it comes to the degree of peril, I fear it is even a step above Dateng Gorge.

Regardless of Nanning or Xunzhou, neither is easy to take.

Rather than taking Nanning, which is further to the rear, it is better to first take Xunzhou, which has a higher strategic status.

Once Xunzhou Prefecture is taken, we can threaten Wuzhou Prefecture.

When necessary, we can send troops to cut off the connection between the two Guangs, leaving the rebel army unable to look after both ends!"

Su Zhiyong said with great enthusiasm.

Taking Xunzhou and seizing Wuzhou would completely change the current strategic situation.

The first great merit in suppressing the rebellion would be firmly secured.

"Company Commander Su, we know Xunzhou Prefecture is important, and the rebel army naturally knows it too.

If we really fight to the gates of Wuzhou, do you believe the main force of the rebel army besieging Guangzhou Prefecture will turn around and come to deal with us directly?

No matter how well the Yangzhou Battalion can fight, we only have this many troops.

If we really encounter the main force of the rebel army, even if the enemy stood still and let us kill them, we would be too busy to handle it.

By sending troops to Lianzhou, we have already offended the Provincial Governor of Guangdong.

Counting on them to send troops to share the military pressure is almost impossible.

By comparison, the risk of attacking Nanning is much smaller.

If we can take Kunlun Pass, that is naturally best.

Even if we cannot take it down, recovering some prefectures and counties in the Southern Gui region is likewise a great merit.

The rebel army is busy expanding outward and cannot attend to the barren Southern Gui region for the time being.

The military pressure our army needs to bear is relatively more controllable."

Yun Yufeng retorted immediately.

Military merit is good, but one must have a life to enjoy it.

Encountering teammates like the Provincial Governor of Guangdong, if one does not learn to preserve their strength, they will sooner or later be sabotaged to death.

"This matter is simple; after we seize Xunzhou, we can just stop our offensive.

As long as we don't attack Wuzhou, we won't touch the rebel army's bottom line.

Once the imperial court's main suppression army arrives, we can then seize the opportunity to strike out and take Wuzhou, and we can still obtain the first merit for suppressing the rebellion."

Xie Zhiyuan, who was on the side, spoke up.

"Company Commander Xie, those civil officials are the ones with the power to decide who gets the first merit; it is not judged based on actual merit on the battlefield.

The imperial court has already dispatched an Imperial Commissioner to concurrently serve as the Viceroy of the Five Provinces; if, after we take Xunzhou, the Viceroy orders us to attack Wuzhou, what then?

On the Guangdong front, the imperial court is constantly suffering defeats, and Guangzhou Prefecture is already in precarious danger.

In order to save Guangdong, choosing to sacrifice us is entirely possible!"

The Company Commander's words directly pierced through the final layer of window paper.

War is the continuation of politics.

The predecessor of the Yangzhou Battalion was the Wucheng Military Commission, and these main commanders of theirs also mostly came out of the Wucheng Military Commission.

The political labels on them determined that their trust in Grand Secretary Xu could not possibly be very high.

Compared to establishing merit and building a career, how to preserve oneself in war was the first priority.

Li Mu was happy to see these changes.

Being a military officer in the Great Dayu Dynasty, if one does not guard against civil officials, one would not even know how they died.

"Alright, some things are enough for everyone to know in their hearts.

Guangdong cannot be relied upon, and the Imperial Commissioner's side cannot be counted on either.

To recover lost territory, the only ones we can rely on are ourselves.

Therefore, in the next steps, our actions must be as small as possible.

Recovering one county seat every ten days or half a month is about right.

We must let the Imperial Commissioner know the difficulty of recovering lost territory.

The imperial court's various armies are all losing cities and territory; if we perform too capably, it is not a good thing."

Li Mu said with an expressionless face.

Nanning and Xunzhou both had to be taken, but one must wait for the right timing.

At the very least, before the money and grain requested from the imperial court arrived, it was not suitable to appear too proactive.

……

"Grand Secretary, something terrible has happened!"

"Just received news, Yongzhou Prefecture is lost!"

Upon receiving this tragic news, Xu Wenyue's body began to tremble.

Having just arrived in Wuchang Prefecture, he hadn't even had time to familiarize himself with the front-line military affairs before the rebel army presented him with a grand gift.

"Lu Jingxuan, didn't you say the Yongzhou defense line was impregnable? How did you let the rebel army succeed?"

Xu Wenyue shouted sternly at the Provincial Governor of Huguang.

Yongzhou Prefecture was a transportation hub connecting the two Guangs, Guizhou, Jiangxi, and other places, possessing a very important strategic status.

With this place lost, the imperial court's strategic plan to blockade the rebel army was declared bankrupt directly.

The worst part was that Yongzhou was lost at the wrong time.

If it had fallen a few days earlier, while he, the Viceroy of the Five Provinces, was still on the road, he wouldn't have needed to bear any responsibility at all.

Now that it had happened just in time, he couldn't avoid bearing this responsibility even if he wanted to.

"Grand Secretary, it is all because the White Lotus Sect rebels are too despicable.

They launched rebellions in the Yongzhou and Hengzhou areas, attracting a large amount of the imperial court's military strength, which led to loopholes in the defense line.

Then they impersonated imperial troops and tricked the city gates open..."

Before Lu Jingxuan could finish speaking, Xu Wenyue's teacup was thrown out, and water splashed everywhere for a moment.

"Trash!"

"All of you are a bunch of trash!"

"To actually be tricked into opening the city gates by someone, which idiot is the garrison commander of Yongzhou? I want to chop off his head!"

Xu Wenyue had thought of all kinds of possibilities, but he never expected that the ultimate reason for the loss of Yongzhou was actually that the enemy had tricked the city gates open.

"Grand Secretary, the loss of Yongzhou cannot be blamed entirely on Regional Commander Han; the one who followed the rebel army and called for the city gates to be opened was the County Magistrate of Dong'an.

The garrison troops guarding the city knew him; who could have imagined that he, as a County Magistrate, would also join the rebel army in causing chaos!"

Lu Jingxuan spoke up to defend his subordinate.

It wasn't that he was particularly good at taking responsibility, but mainly because the current crisis in Huguang required relying on the military officers below to exert effort.

Regional Commander Han Song not only had a brigade of troops under his command but also eight hundred retainers.

Among the various commanders in Huguang, he was considered one of the most capable fighters.

If this person were to be executed, the subsequent battles would be even harder to fight.

"What, there is actually a County Magistrate participating in the rebellion?"

Xu Wenyue asked in disbelief.

Since the rebellion in Guangxi began, the number of Great Dayu officials who died for their country was countless, and the number of officials who fled was even more numerous.

But this was the first one to join the ranks of the rebel army.

The military impact was not great, but the political impact was extremely vile.

Once this bad precedent was set, there would be more and more officials surrendering to the rebel army in the future.

"Grand Secretary, many people saw this matter, so it shouldn't be fake.

However, considering that the rebel army has always been despicable, it is also possible that they found someone with a similar appearance to impersonate him; this subordinate does not dare to make a judgment without authorization."

Lu Jingxuan said with a troubled face.

From the bottom of his heart, he did not want to admit this matter.

But with the loss of Yongzhou, he needed to give the imperial court a reasonable explanation.

"Forget it, suppress this matter for now.

After verifying the truth, report it to the imperial court.

As for the commanders guarding Yongzhou, let them make amends for their crimes through service!"

Xu Wenyue said with slight hesitation.

The matter had already happened; all that could be done now was to clean up the mess.

As for the matter of the Dong'an County Magistrate, there would be plenty of opportunities to settle scores after the autumn.

"Issue an order to the Provincial Governors of Guangdong, Yunnan, and Guizhou to order them to launch an attack on the rebel army immediately!

Right, the imperial troops in Lianzhou Prefecture must also move."

Xu Wenyue added subsequently.

Ever since he suffered a loss in Yangzhou before, he had been cramming a series of military knowledge.

What the specific level was, it was unknown for now, but at least he knew common military sense.

With the war in Huguang becoming tense, he would let the other suppression armies increase the intensity of their attacks to disperse the rebel army's strength.

"Grand Secretary, you might not know the situation while on the road.

In recent days, the imperial troops in Lianzhou and the Guangdong side have been at a stalemate; the Provincial Governor of Guangdong has withheld the money and grain allocated to them by the imperial court.

It is said that because of this matter, there is also a great deal of chaos within Guangdong."

Lu Jingxuan applied eye drops without any hesitation.

Last time, it was agreed that the four provinces would send troops together to suppress the White Lotus Sect rebellion, but they were tricked by the Provincial Governor of Guangdong, which led to Huguang losing thirty thousand troops.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 161 =====