Chapter 170: A Failed Ambush

"Commander, an urgent report from the Night Scouts.

The rebel army in the direction of Xunzhou has split off about thirty thousand troops and is currently closing in on us.

It is estimated they will arrive and enter the Pubei region in three days."

Upon receiving this news, Li Mu turned and glanced at the map on the wall.

"Understood. Arrange for further reconnaissance.

Determine the enemy's force composition as quickly as possible, as well as how far their nearest reinforcements are."

Thirty thousand troops was equivalent to the number of defenders; on paper, they possessed the strength for a battle.

But since the enemy had gathered over two hundred thousand troops, it was impossible they would play a one-on-one game with him.

The thirty thousand troops in front were at most an advance guard.

"Commander Li, aren't the rebels being a bit too arrogant?"

Jia Bo said, frowning.

He had not been idle these past few days.

He had collected records of all the battles, large and small, since the White Lotus Sect rebels started their uprising, and had analyzed them with great care.

He ultimately concluded that the rebel army was constantly growing stronger.

Deep down, he did not have much confidence in the Guangxi Campaign proposed by Li Mu.

The vast disparity in troop numbers was one aspect, and Guangxi was the rebels' old lair; under normal circumstances, the enemy would not abandon it.

Once the enemy withdrew their main force from the front lines to reinforce, the meager troops in Lianzhou alone would simply not be enough.

"Either the enemy is sufficiently confident, or this is bait they have released.

After our strategic contraction, there are not many areas left that we need to defend.

Standing from the rebels' perspective, if they do not want to launch a forced assault on the city, they can only lure us out of the city for a decisive battle.

The imperial court's reinforcements are arriving at the front lines one after another; time is on our side.

Counting the days, the E Army and the Xiang Army will return to Huguang before the end of the month.

At the latest, by next month, Grand Secretary Xu will launch a counter-offensive along the Huguang line.

With the lesson from Guangdong, the Provincial Governors of Fujian and Jiangxi certainly will not dare to sit idly by and watch the rebels gain a firm foothold in Guangdong.

Once the Huguang front moves, they will also attempt to recover Guangdong.

The Yunnan-Guizhou line has received reinforcements from the Shu region; I reckon they won't be idle either.

The time left for the rebels is actually only a little over a month.

If they cannot finish us off within a short time, they will not be able to concern themselves with Guangxi.

To contend for the world, they must find a way to win the upcoming Huguang Campaign.

Moreover, Guangxi is barren; after the rebels raised their army, last year's autumn harvest was nearly a total failure.

There won't be much of a harvest for this year's spring grain either.

The rebels are fighting on all four fronts, which is bound to consume a massive amount of grain and fodder.

Even if they have confiscated from a crowd of gentry and harvested a large amount of grain, they cannot afford such squandering!"

Li Mu analyzed rationally.

Since ancient times, rebellion has never been easy.

To quell the rebellion, the Great Dayu Dynasty has been tossed about until it is exhausted, let alone the rebels.

There are only a few grain-producing regions in the world; without taking one of them, the rebels cannot escape their grain predicament.

Huguang, being close at hand, has become the rebels' first choice.

Compared to the lifeline of grain, Guangxi, which cannot provide money or grain, is purely a chicken rib.

It is a classic case of political significance outweighing military significance.

If the situation were not dire, the rebels would not spend such great effort to induce Great Dayu officials to surrender.

"Lord Jia, the rebels' situation is worrying, but our situation is not much better.

We have only received half of the grain and fodder you promised.

If we capture a large number of prisoners in this battle, everyone will have to go hungry next month.

The more lost territory we recover, the more money and grain we need to spend."

Zhu Jingyi's words left Jia Bo feeling both happy and worried.

What he was happy about was that these two chief officers were full of confidence in this war.

Unfortunately, while winning battles, these two were also massive money pits.

It was not that the two were embezzling military supplies; it was purely that war consumption was high, and the consumption for post-war cleanup was even higher.

The soldiers need to eat, the prisoners of war need to eat, and the refugees need to eat just the same.

If one ignores them, they will defect to the rebels.

Yet these two chief generals were men of integrity who never killed those who surrendered, much less killed civilians to claim false merit, which resulted in more and more people needing to be fed.

The current work of pacifying the people had already been dumped on him, the Army Supervisor.

Every day when he opened his eyes, the first thing he thought of was money and grain.

Yet he could not refuse.

As the only civil official on the front line, these were his duties.

"Two Generals, please bear with it for a while.

After years of continuous warfare, the imperial court's fiscal deficit is severe.

Affected by the war, this year's fiscal revenue will decrease by at least one-third.

To raise military grain, every province has exhausted its strength.

I have already explained the situation to the Grand Secretary; you may proceed with a free hand.

As long as you can recover Guangxi, the imperial court will step in to solve other problems!"

Jia Bo said with insufficient confidence.

He was not lying; on the issue of suppressing the White Lotus Sect rebellion, the stance of the various factions in the court was unprecedentedly unified.

The imperial army being able to stabilize the front line was, to a large extent, due to obtaining the support of local gentry.

Especially the gentry near the front lines, who contributed men, money, and grain, all to suppress the rebellion as soon as possible.

Everyone had been scared to death by the rebels, fearing that the rebels would kill their way to their doorsteps and bring upon them the disaster of total family extermination.

"Since Lord Jia says so, we can rest easy.

Since the rebels in Xunzhou have chosen to show their heads, we will take them as the first target.

The Pubei region has places suitable for setting an ambush; we need to conduct on-site reconnaissance in order to make the most appropriate military deployment.

Lord Jia, stay in the city and wait for our good news!"

Li Mu said with a smile.

One cannot push people into a corner.

Compared to those fellows who only knew how to extort and demand, this Lord Jia before him was already a rare clear stream in the Great Dayu officialdom.

As an Army Supervisor, he was either urging for money and grain or pacifying refugees.

As for military issues, he only demanded that they be able to win and did not care about the details of the process.

Of course, being able to be so well-behaved was also forced out of him.

When encountering a general who was bold enough to defy the heavens, even if the Army Supervisor wanted to interfere in military affairs, he would not have the ability to do so.

……

"Halt!"

"Twenty more li, and we will enter the control zone of the pseudo-dynasty.

Let's set up camp here today and continue on the road tomorrow!"

Hearing Meng Qingfeng's proposal, Yang Jingyuan and Hou Xiangyu rolled their eyes on the spot.

All along the way, he had been dawdling, marching less than thirty li per day.

Today was even more extreme; the vanguard had only walked ten li, and the rear guard had just left the camp, yet he wanted to set up camp.

Following this operation, their vanguard unit could be dawdled into a rear guard.

"The Marquis has repeatedly urged us to speed up the march, yet we are stopping to rest after walking only this little distance today.

If the Marquis blames us, can you afford to take the responsibility?"

Hou Xiangyu said with disdain.

He had seen timid people, but he had never seen anyone this timid.

They hadn't even seen a shadow of the enemy army, yet he was acting this cowardly.

If they really started fighting, wouldn't he just turn around and run?

"I cannot afford the responsibility!

But if we fall into an enemy ambush and end up with the entire army wiped out, I'm afraid that would be worse than being blamed by the Marquis."

Meng Qingfeng retorted immediately.

He wasn't timid; he was just being "cautious."

During the last Great Battle of Lianzhou, his tribe's strength was the best preserved, and it was all due to this caution.

As soon as the army showed signs of collapse, he had taken his troops and run for it.

In any case, he was just working for the White Lotus Sect; it wasn't worth fighting that hard.

"Hmph!"

"That is sophistry!

Our tribesmen have grown up in the great mountains since childhood; we can discover any movement in the wind or grass in advance. How could the enemy ambush us so easily?"

Hou Xiangyu said with full confidence.

When it came to mountain warfare, they were the professionals.

They couldn't beat the imperial army on an open battlefield, but once they entered the mountains, the situation would change.

Whether it was setting traps or playing at hiding and ambushing, they were the professionals.

Moreover, the army was walking on the official road; although there were many surrounding mountain peaks, there were not many places that could hide a large army.

Once discovered in advance, the ambush would lose its effect and they might even fall into a passive position.

"Alright, you two.

We are fighting together, so we need to be in the same boat; there is no need to argue over such trifles.

I think everyone should take a step back; let's march another ten li forward today, but not enter the pseudo-dynasty's control zone yet.

After resting for a night and recovering our spirits, we can go look for the enemy's bad luck."

Yang Jingyuan spoke up to smooth things over.

It looked like he was smoothing things over and reconciling the two, but in reality, he was subtly fanning the flames.

The world of the Tusi is one where the strong prey on the weak; internal competition had already reached a white-hot stage.

Right now, the three were still comrades-in-arms, but they would turn into enemies later.

It wasn't that he was ambitious and wanted to unify the Guangxi Tusi; it was purely the accumulation of years of conflict.

Weakening a competitor was, in disguise, strengthening oneself.

"Hmph!"

"Hmph!"

Two cold snorts were issued almost simultaneously; it was clear that Meng Qingfeng and Hou Xiangyu were both dissatisfied with this result.

However, forced by the situation, they could only each take a step back.

If they really insisted to the end, they would only argue endlessly, leading to an even more awkward scene.

Most of the time, the verbal sparring was initiated by Hou Xiangyu.

It wasn't that he didn't care about the big picture; it was mainly because he was forced into it.

He had taken over his older brother's position, and his older brother had died on the territory of the Meng Tusi.

Rumors had always been circulating that he had colluded with the Meng family to kill his own brother and seize power.

He didn't care about the gossip, but he had to be mindful of the feelings of his tribesmen.

If he were close to Meng Qingfeng, his position as clan leader would be unstable.

Not launching a major war for revenge was his greatest restraint.

Verbal conflict, however, was absolutely indispensable.

After the small interlude, the army continued to move forward, but the atmosphere in the army could not become harmonious no matter what.

It wasn't until the mid-afternoon that the soldiers, having finished the day's journey, began to set up camp.

In order to fight for camp space, the soldiers below clashed again.

If the commanders hadn't stopped it in time, it would have been another brawl.

There were no large-scale conflicts, but small-scale skirmishes had never stopped.

To suppress internal contradictions, the three camps had to be spaced apart.

……

"Commander, the enemy army stopped advancing five li away and set up camp on the spot."

Upon receiving this news, Li Mu was speechless.

They had finally made all the preparations for an ambush, only for the enemy to suddenly not come.

Withdrawing now was equivalent to all previous efforts being wasted, and if they continued to lie in ambush on the mountain, the soldiers wouldn't be able to take it.

If they really insisted until tomorrow, the rebel army wouldn't be exhausted, but his own troops would be exhausted first.

"Could the enemy have discovered us?"

Zhu Jingyi said, frowning.

Marching twenty li a day in one's own control zone—such a snail's pace was hard for ordinary people to imagine.

Being careful and cautious was for after entering the enemy's war zone; this place was still under the control of the White Lotus Holy Kingdom.

They were able to set an ambush deep behind enemy lines because they had mixed in "Embroidered Uniform Guards" who had spent a large sum of money to operate their way into positions here.

Once they withdrew at this time, all the groundwork laid here would be completely wasted.

"No!"

"If they had really discovered us, they wouldn't have stopped at this time.

They could have stopped after approaching our ambush zone and set fire to the mountain.

Or they could have sent a small force to detour from the back and enter the mountains to engage us.

The enemy army might not be qualified soldiers, but they are qualified hunters.

Once entangled, our losses would definitely not be small!"

Li Mu said with certainty.

A successful ambush yields huge rewards, but once exposed in advance, one also needs to pay a bloody price.

The world only remembers the huge rewards of a successful ambush, but rarely pays attention to how a failed ambush puts one in a passive position.

"Regardless of whether the rebels have discovered us, today's ambush has failed.

If the rebels don't make a move, let's withdraw after dark!"

Zhu Jingyi said slowly.

The dark agents planted among the rebels were not yet at the time to be exposed.

With these people, they could control the rebels' movements at all times.

If it really came to a critical moment, perhaps these inconspicuous little people could decide the outcome of a war.

"It seems that's all we can do now.

However, the rebel camp is very close to us; if conditions are ripe, we could try a night raid on the camp."

Li Mu said calmly.

The battlefield is ever-changing; it is perfectly normal for an ambush to fail.

As long as it didn't cause serious losses to themselves, it wasn't a big deal.

Compared to setting an ambush on the battlefield, he was also experienced in night raids on camps.

Back then, he had led a group of rabble and still sent troops out to dare to raid the enemy camp, let alone now.

"A night raid on the enemy camp is indeed a line of thought.

However, according to the intelligence we have, this rebel army is mostly bait released by the enemy.

If we raid the enemy camp, we won't be able to lure out the big fish behind them!"

Zhu Jingyi said, rubbing his forehead.

The ambush before them was also a fishing plan.

According to the pre-designed plan, as long as the enemy didn't want to watch their vanguard unit be wiped out,

once the flames of war were ignited, the rebels' prepared backup plans would be forced out.

On the battlefield, the enemy in the open is not scary; the most scary thing is the unknown hidden in the dark.

"There is no perfect method in the world.

First, take out this enemy force to dampen the rebels' spirit, and we will have made enough profit.

As for the hidden backup, I guess it should be the cavalry in the rebels' hands.

The imperial court has horse farms in both Guangxi and Yunnan; they are shorter than Mongol horses, but that doesn't affect their use.

The rebels have obtained horse-producing regions, so they will naturally train cavalry.

However, the imperial court's horse administration has been abandoned for many years, so the number of qualified warhorses should not be high.

Plus, cavalry training takes time, so the enemy's cavalry combat effectiveness shouldn't be too strong."

Li Mu analyzed calmly.

In this day and age, the only army capable of high-speed movement is the cavalry unit.

Coincidentally, Baise horses have strong endurance and can adapt to mountain marches.

Their practicality in the Guangxi region is even stronger than that of Mongol warhorses.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 171 =====