Chapter 181: Post-War Impact

The operation to capture prisoners continued for ten consecutive days, lasting even longer than the actual combat between the two sides.

Even with the cavalry cutting off the enemy's retreat, only thirty thousand people were captured. The remaining rebel soldiers either fled into the mountains to hide or escaped to the opposite bank of the Dajiang River.

Li Mu was naturally dissatisfied with such a battle record. However, there was nothing to be done; the rebel soldiers, desperate to flee, erupted with astonishing potential.

If it weren't for the fact that many rebel soldiers did not know their retreat had been cut off and foolishly ran toward the ferry, the number of prisoners captured would likely have been even lower.

The only consolation was that while capturing prisoners, the main army took the opportunity to recover Siming Prefecture.

"Commander Li, Regional Commander Jing, when will you launch the river-crossing campaign?"

Jia Bo asked with concern.

The victory report for the Guangxi Campaign had already been sent out; now, only the final link of recovering lost territory remained.

If they could take the two strategic strongholds of Nanning and Xunzhou, half of Guangxi's territory would be under their control.

"Magistrate Jia, the situation has changed.

We have just received news that the Annan people have suddenly massed troops at the border and may invade at any time.

If the rebels and the Annan people collude and stab us in the back at the critical moment of the river-crossing campaign, we will be in big trouble.

For the sake of safety, we must first restore the Siming Prefecture defense line. Only after ensuring the rear is stable can we send troops to recover the lost territory.

The subsequent combat mission will mainly be to recover the land east of the Yujiang River and expand our strategic depth.

If the Grand Secretary can provide greater support, there is also an opportunity to take advantage of the momentum to capture Leizhou Prefecture, Gaozhou Prefecture, Guanghai Guard, and other regions."

Li Mu said with a solemn expression.

The Annan people had indeed increased their troops at the border, but the scale was not very large.

Before the outbreak of the great war, the White Lotus Holy Kingdom possessed an absolute advantage in troop numbers. Even if the imperial army was more elite, both sides should have engaged in fierce fighting.

The rapid conclusion of the Guangxi Campaign also caught the Annan people off guard.

Judging from the intelligence gathered, the Annan people had not yet made preparations for war.

The Li Dynasty also had a history of over two hundred years, only slightly younger than the Great Dayu Dynasty.

Any dynasty that develops to this stage inevitably accumulates a pile of internal contradictions. The government's efficiency also drops lower and lower.

The contemporary Annan King was ambitious, attacking cities and seizing land all over the Zhongnan Peninsula. But external expansion also comes at a price.

Affected by the war, the current Annan Kingdom was much like Great Dayu, with deficits appearing in its finances.

What was slightly better than Great Dayu was that they had expanded their territory during the war, alleviating internal contradictions. Once they digested the fruits of the war, their national strength would increase significantly.

"Damn Annan people!

Once the imperial court frees up its hands, we must let them know how formidable we are!

......"

After cursing the Annan people, Jia Bo no longer talked about sending troops.

For the rebels, it was entirely a case of a son selling his grandfather's fields without feeling the pain; he dared not gamble on the integrity of the White Lotus Sect.

If they were caught unprepared and the rebels and Annan people got mixed up, losing a large swath of Guangxi's land, his merit would turn into a fault.

Serving as an official in the Great Dayu Dynasty, it didn't matter if you didn't achieve merit, but you must never make a mistake.

Especially the grave crime of losing cities and territory, which one must never touch.

Wuchang Prefecture.

Looking at the victory report in his hand, the usually serious Xu Wenyue could not help but show a smile on his face.

The Guangxi Campaign was a complete victory, routing over four hundred thousand rebels, beheading over fifty thousand enemy troops, and capturing over one hundred thousand.

The rebels' influence in the region east of the Yujiang River had been swept away by the imperial army. Now, only scattered remnants of resistance remained; their annihilation was only a matter of time.

This was the greatest victory achieved since the outbreak of the White Lotus Sect rebellion, sweeping away the shadow brought by the failure of the Guangdong Campaign.

"I have just received news that our army has achieved a complete victory in the Guangxi Campaign, and the results are very gratifying.

If no accidents occur, we can recover a large area east of the Yujiang River within this month.

However, the Guangxi Front Army has also become an exhausted force and needs to rest and reorganize, while also guarding against the Annan people taking advantage of the fire to loot.

Convey my order to take one million taels from the anti-rebellion funds and allocate it to the Guangxi Front Army for military use.

Additionally, allocate another five hundred thousand taels to help refugees and restore production."

After Xu Wenyue finished speaking, the eyes of the civil and military officials below almost popped out.

One point five million taels was a huge sum, enough to make anyone's heart race.

With such a large cake, not being able to get a share of it made everyone envious and jealous.

But this was exactly what Xu Wenyue wanted to see.

He did not understand how to use troops, but he knew how to govern people.

If you want people below to work for you, you must set an example.

Now that the Guangxi Front Army was performing the best, it was natural to increase resource investment.

As for doing this and causing the Guangxi Front Army to become a target of public criticism, that was not his concern.

Anyway, the two sides were far enough apart that, besides envy and jealousy, the civil and military officials would at most complain a few times.

"Grand Secretary, the front line is fighting fiercely, do you think it is possible to......"

Before Huguang Provincial Governor Lu Jingxuan could finish his sentence, Xu Wenyue waved his hand to interrupt him.

"We'll talk about it later!

Today, I have gathered everyone here, besides announcing the good news of the victory in the Guangxi Campaign, more importantly, it is to organize a counterattack.

The reinforcements sent by the imperial court have arrived at the front line one after another; we cannot let the rebels continue to act recklessly.

You are all pillars of the imperial court; if you have any ideas, speak them out!"

The anti-rebellion funds prepared by the imperial court were limited; as the Viceroy of the Five Provinces, he had to spend money where it mattered most.

Using various tricks to defraud funds had been staged countless times in the past.

At the beginning, as long as it involved strategic security, Xu Wenyue would readily give money.

Gradually, he discovered that something was wrong; the number of strategic strongholds was simply too high.

The most pitfall-ridden part was that after he allocated a large amount of money and grain, the front line was still losing battles.

After sending people to investigate privately, he discovered that no matter how much military expenditure he allocated, the soldiers below were still eating chaff and vegetables.

After all, he was an old fox in the officialdom and did not fly into a rage because the people below were embezzling military supplies.

Corruption was a stubborn disease of Great Dayu, not something that could be changed by his personal will.

Even if a new batch of people were replaced, if the atmosphere of the officialdom did not change, corruption would still occur.

Rather than increasing uncertainty, it was better to keep these people and continue using them.

However, when it came to funding, Xu Wenyue began to cap the budget. You can have money, but first, show some political achievements.

The evaluation standard was very simple: if you can defeat the rebels and recover lost territory, then everything is easy to talk about.

If you cannot defeat the enemy on the battlefield, besides daily military expenditure, don't expect any additional allocations.

"Grand Secretary, I propose to assemble a coalition of multiple provinces and simultaneously launch a strategic counterattack against the rebels from Guangdong, Huguang, Yunnan-Guizhou, Guangxi, and other regions."

Jiangxi Military Commissioner Yu Xiuwen proposed.

Following the fall of Guangdong, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces began to face the rebels' military edge directly. Although the rebels had not yet launched a large-scale offensive, the outbreak of war was only a matter of time.

In order to strengthen the connection between the provinces, both provinces sent officials to Wuchang. Yu Xiuwen was the expatriate official arranged by the Jiangxi Provincial Governor's office.

"Magistrate Yu, having the provinces coordinate to launch a strategic counterattack is not just a simple sentence.

How many troops will each province send, where will the attack be launched from, how to respond to emergencies, and how to solve the money and grain issues?

These are all realistic problems that we need to solve.

Not to mention anything else, just the communication between the various anti-rebellion armies is a big problem.

In the Guangxi Campaign, we took advantage of the rebels' split forces to defeat the enemy one by one.

With a ready-made case, the enemy can also imitate it.

If the rebels concentrate their forces to attack one route, whether the other anti-rebellion armies can react in time, no one can guarantee!"

Lu Jingxuan took the lead in opposing it.

Having suffered from joint operations, he was not interested at all in joint provincial suppression campaigns.

The failure of the four-province army hunting in Guangxi previously proved with facts that pinning hopes on the integrity of colleagues was very unreliable.

If everyone could cooperate sincerely, the White Lotus Sect rebels would have been suppressed before they even left Guangxi.

After all, the rebels were not this strong from the beginning. Being able to create the current momentum was because they absorbed the imperial army from various provinces.

"Provincial Governor, the problems you mentioned do exist.

However, suppressing the rebellion was never smooth sailing and will inevitably be accompanied by various problems. We cannot stop doing it just because there are troubles.

The reason why the Guangxi Campaign could concentrate forces to defeat the rebels one by one was that the region was small, and the various armies were only two or three days' journey apart.

The White Lotus Sect rebels span several provinces, and the distance is right here. Wanting to concentrate superior forces to defeat them one by one is simply not operable.

If the rebels really did that, it would be our opportunity instead.

The main army only needs to fight steadily and advance step by step to the front line to recover a large amount of lost territory and compress the rebels' activity space.

The Guangxi region is not wealthy and cannot support so many rebels. The situation in Guangdong is slightly better, but grain production is still not high.

The situation in Yunnan-Guizhou goes without saying; it is also not wealthy.

To suppress the rebels, the most important thing is to drive the enemy out of Huguang and cut off their grain input.

Later, even if it's just grinding, we can grind the rebels to death!"

Yu Xiuwen replied without changing his expression.

The rebels' shortcomings were very obvious; even if their influence spanned several provinces, they could not change the embarrassment of lacking grain-producing land.

To seize the world, the White Lotus Holy Kingdom must quickly capture a granary. Otherwise, they would sooner or later be trapped and starved to death.

The key to the problem was pointed out, and the pressure was suddenly placed on the Huguang side.

As the largest granary in the world, Huguang was bound to be the focus of the White Lotus Holy Kingdom's offensive and also an important direction for the imperial army's counterattack.

"Magistrate Yu, theoretically that is correct, but we have not yet made preparations for war.

Currently, on the Huguang front, the battle line has just stabilized. In the Yunnan-Guizhou region, the imperial court has already fallen into a disadvantage, not to mention a strategic counterattack.

After the fall of Guangdong, the reinforcements sent by Jiangxi and Fujian were almost wiped out, and the military strength of both provinces was severely damaged.

Now, what Huguang can rely on is only the troops of the E Army and the Xiang Army, totaling no more than twenty thousand people.

On the Yunnan-Guizhou side, there is only one town of Shu Army, with only over ten thousand elite troops.

The situation in Fujian is about the same; besides one town of elite troops, the remaining troops are also not fit for use.

The situation in Jiangxi is the best; besides one town of Gan Army, they also received reinforcements from the Yongan Camp, Tongzhou Camp, and Baoding Camp.

Combining the strength of all provinces, the true elite is only eighty thousand. Adding the two camps in Guangxi, they cannot even gather one hundred thousand elite troops.

If we split the troops to besiege the rebels, it is easy for the enemy to take advantage of the situation.

It is better to concentrate forces on one line and push directly to the rebels' lair!"

Lu Jingxuan responded calmly.

"One hundred thousand main army" sounds like not much, but after adding the elite, the weight is suddenly different.

The vast Great Dayu Empire, with the power of the whole country, only supported two or three hundred thousand elite troops, and this was the result of the massive strengthening of military equipment during the Emperor Tianyuan era.

If it were in a peaceful era, having one hundred thousand elite troops, plus the guard troops in various places, would be enough to maintain the rule of the Great Dayu Empire.

If these elite troops could really be concentrated and used, the rebels would simply not be enough to look at.

It's a pity that this can only be thought about; if troops were really drawn from various provinces, I don't know how many local battle lines would collapse.

As the Viceroy of the Five Provinces, Xu Wenyue dared not take this risk at all.

"Alright, you two, let's listen to other people's opinions first!"

Xu Wenyue said with slight displeasure.

Regardless of whether the plan was reliable, at least these two were offering advice. There was a large group of people in the room eating melons and watching the fun, with no intention of contributing at all.

He hated these guys who only took salaries and didn't work, and liked to pick faults afterwards, to the bone.

Holy Capital Imperial Palace.

From the moment he received the news of Marquis Zhongxiao's defeat and death, Shi Rongxuan knew that the situation in Guangxi was going to be bad. But he never expected that the situation would deteriorate so quickly.

According to the prior estimation, even if the other two armies could not block the imperial army, they could persist for a period of time, buying time for the Holy Kingdom to mobilize reinforcements.

Reality was a slap in the face; before his orders could be conveyed, the other two armies simply ran away.

The Holy Kingdom's twenty thousand main army was preserved, but the Tusi coalition army that acted together was unfortunately lost.

From now on, the White Lotus Holy Kingdom would no longer have to worry about the threat of the Tusi.

A large number of young and strong men were lost on the battlefield, and those lucky Tusi who escaped the disaster could only keep a low profile now.

"Bastards!"

"One by one, what kind of battles are they fighting!"

Shi Rongxuan could not help but curse loudly.

Regardless of whether they were confidants, when conquering the world, "being incompetent" was the original sin.

Fortunately, Marquis Zhongxiao died on the battlefield; otherwise, he would have to shed tears and behead Ma Su now.

Fu Sanqi, standing in the center of the crowd, was very embarrassed at this moment. Last time he presided over the suppression and failed, which led to the failure of this Guangxi Campaign.

Although he did not need to be responsible for the failure of the Guangxi Campaign, the Holy Emperor's angry scolding still made him unable to face anyone.

"Your Majesty, calm your anger!"

The ministers said in unison.

When encountering a thunder that cannot be carried, everyone should go up together. It is an eternal truth that the emperor cannot vent his anger on everyone.

After absorbing the surrendered officials, the White Lotus Holy Kingdom was gradually affected. Many officialdom experiences quickly spread among the hundred officials.

"Calm your anger!"

"Calm your anger!"

"Besides saying calm your anger, what else can you do?"

"The situation in Guangxi has deteriorated, and the Liangguang region is unstable. Do you have any countermeasures?"

Shi Rongxuan reprimanded coldly.

The failure of the Guangxi Campaign not only interrupted the White Lotus Holy Kingdom's high-spirited advance but also ruined their national destiny.

Affected by the failure of the great war, the Liangguang region was severely impacted. If one was not careful, the lair would be overturned.

"Your Majesty, although the Guangxi Campaign failed, the pseudo-dynasty's main army also paid a painful price.

The fact that the enemy did not take the opportunity to cross the river is the best proof.

In the short term, the pseudo-dynasty imperial army in Guangxi should not have the ability to launch a second campaign.

The top priority is to capture Huguang as soon as possible, and then go down the river to seize Nanjing, laying the foundation for the Holy Kingdom's eternal foundation!"

Chancellor Wu Zekai spoke to persuade.

It seemed like he was talking about the Guangxi imperial army, but in reality, he was also talking about themselves.

After the crushing defeat, the White Lotus Holy Kingdom, whether militarily or economically, did not allow them to launch a second Guangxi Campaign.

If they forced it, they could only draw troops and materials from the front line.

Once they did this, the White Lotus Holy Kingdom would change from the attacking side to the defending side.

For a newly born rebel regime, it must continue to attack externally. Once the pace of attack stops, the spirit of seizing the world will leak out.

When the external attack stops, the internal contradictions originally covered up by victory will gradually be exposed, thereby opening the prelude to internal strife.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 182 =====