Chapter 195: Capture of Nanning

In the morning, the first ray of sunlight sprinkled on the earth.

"Commander Li, what happened last night?"

Zhang Sihan asked with a frown.

Since taking on the responsibility of Guangxi Provincial Governor, he asked himself that he had been dutiful and fully supported the military.

Such a big thing as attacking Nanning, they didn't even discuss it with them and started the combat plan on their own, which clearly didn't put him in their eyes.

"Provincial Governor, last night the rebel army's troops at the ferry intended to withdraw into the city, which was discovered by our army."

"This General directly followed the plan, on one hand sending troops to intercept the enemy army, and on the other hand arranging for people to impersonate rebel soldiers to trick the city gate open."

"As of now, we have already taken half of Nanning city."

"If it goes smoothly, we can clear the remaining enemies and take Nanning Prefecture within three days."

Li Mu explained calmly.

War is very special; losing is called acting without authorization, and winning is called acting according to circumstances.

The Nanning siege battle was undoubtedly a success.

Even if the rebel army received the news, they would send troops to reinforce Nanning for the first time.

The reinforcements arriving in Nanning from the nearest place would be seven days later.

Such a long time was enough to wipe out the rebel army in the Nanning region twice.

"Commander Li, you are truly a pillar of the country."

"Taking Nanning so quickly, the predicament of Guangxi is solved, the great cause of suppressing the rebellion..."

On the side, Jia Bo began to flatter without hesitation.

Not in that position, not seeking that government.

Limiting the power of military generals was the task of the Provincial Governor.

As an Army Supervisor, he only needed victory.

As for the military generals under his command, whether they would be arrogant and domineering in the future had little to do with him.

Temporary cooperation was not a long-term team-up, so there was no need to spend effort to suppress the other party.

Of course, he could think it through.

Besides coveting the Provincial Governor position, which was snatched by Zhang Sihan first, it was mainly because he had tried before and determined that he couldn't suppress Li Mu.

Rather than asking for humiliation, it was better for everyone to cooperate and get the military merit first.

Subsequent matters would be determined after the war ended and new appointments came down.

However, this made Zhang Sihan awkward.

Continuing to hold him accountable would make him appear to have no bearing and would easily be hated by the soldiers below.

Immediately changing his face to affirm his contribution had already been snatched by the Army Supervisor.

Following the trend to echo would make him appear to have no opinion, which would further reduce his speaking power.

"Minister Jia, you flatter me!"

"Being able to achieve a great victory is all due to the Emperor's blessings, the Grand Secretary's strategic planning, and the soldiers' brave fighting against the enemy."

Li Mu responded with a smile.

All parties were mentioned, but the three of them were left out.

Specifically, Guangxi Provincial Governor Zhang Sihan was left out.

As the Regional Commander of the main army, as long as he could win the battle, his share of the merit would not be missing.

The Army Supervisor was also the same; having victory was enough, and the higher-ups wouldn't care about the specifics.

The one who needed to show off was Zhang Sihan, otherwise, his contribution couldn't be highlighted.

But he had exposed his hostility in advance, making Li Mu vigilant and not giving him another chance to establish prestige.

Standing from Li Mu's position, a weak Provincial Governor was more in line with his interests.

"Commander Li, don't forget that we don't have much time left."

"The Grand Secretary has an order that we must recover two prefectures before September."

"It is already late August; we must speed up the progress!"

Zhang Sihan immediately jumped to the topic.

Li Mu's change in position was truly too obvious.

Clearly, he was neutral before, but in recent days, he suddenly showed signs of leaning toward Jia Bo.

From the news received from the court, Jia Bo was very likely to serve as Guangxi Provincial Administration Commissioner or Guangxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner after the war.

In a region that had just ended the war, the military and the second-in-command or third-in-command colluding would pose a serious threat to the status of this boss.

Perhaps nominally, they couldn't compete with him,

but in secret, they could make all the things he wanted to do fail.

If political skills were high, it was also possible to partially hollow out him, this Provincial Governor.

"Provincial Governor, in fact, we have already completed the task."

"Solving the rebel army in Nanning has created a gap in the enemy's defense line."

"The probability of General Jing taking Liuzhou has greatly increased."

"If the rebel army is not stupid, they will choose strategic contraction and firmly guard a few strategic hubs."

"If everything goes smoothly, we can recover most of the areas such as Zhen'an Prefecture, Qingyuan Prefecture, Liuzhou Prefecture, and Xunzhou Prefecture before the end of the year."

"And the rebel army will shrink back to Guilin Prefecture, Wuzhou Prefecture, Pingle Prefecture, and other areas to firmly guard."

"The enemy has a fifty percent probability of abandoning the western expedition strategy and directly concentrating their troop strength into the Huguang and Jiangxi battlefields."

Li Mu analyzed rationally.

In fact, the White Lotus Sect's strategy of blooming everywhere had already come to an end by now.

If it were him as the White Lotus Holy Emperor, at the first sign of strategic frustration, he would abandon the westward plan and concentrate his troop strength to march north.

If necessary, the Liangguang region could also be abandoned.

The first stage of rebellion since ancient times was not to capture cities and seize territory, but to strike at the court's prestige and weaken its national strength.

Even if they couldn't capture Nanjing, as long as they wandered around the three major tax-paying regions of Jiangxi, Zhejiang, and Nanzhili, Great Yu's fragile finances would have problems.

Without enough money and grain support, if the empire wanted to maintain its rule, it could only delegate power to those below.

Warlord separatism, the end of the dynasty reappears.

After completing this step, the next step was for heroes to compete for this ten thousand miles of mountains and rivers.

For the forces that launched the uprising first, this was undoubtedly very painful.

They had to endure the crazy counterattack before the empire collapsed and it was difficult to obtain a stable base.

Historically, the forces that launched uprisings first basically became the pioneers for others.

Even if they lasted until the end, because they killed too many people in the early stages and offended too many people, they lost the possibility of seizing the world.

However, the replacement of dynasties was an indispensable link.

Except for a few careerists, most of the people who rebelled were forced to launch uprisings.

Including the White Lotus Sect uprising, if there were no external forces to push it, it would be very difficult for them to have the determination to rebel.

"Commander Li, as long as you have a plan in your heart!"

Zhang Sihan said with a flushed face.

Strategic analysis was truly too difficult for people.

Asking him to substitute the rebel army's perspective to think about problems was almost impossible.

Officials from scholarly families simply couldn't understand the suffering of the bottom of society, nor had they ever regarded the bottom of society as their own kind.

Many rebellion cases in history were embellished in historical books.

All conclusions were subjective interpretations based on class positions.

The education received from childhood was wearing colored glasses, which directly affected the consciousness judgment after adulthood.

Zhang Sihan simply couldn't understand the strategic analysis made by Li Mu.

It just so happened that he valued his identity and was embarrassed to lower his status to ask for advice.

This was a common problem for most officials; when encountering problems, they all liked to use their own subjective cognition to interpret them.

If they couldn't understand, they would find ways to muddle through the matter.

Bending one's waist to ask military generals for military strategy would be ridiculed by colleagues for a lifetime.

While the few were talking, the Nanning siege battle entered the most cruel stage.

Both sides unfolded fierce battles around every street and every building.

In order to defend against the imperial army's muskets, the garrison soldiers fixed wet quilts on door panels and tables to act as simple shields.

Within thirty steps, it had a good defensive effect.

Once the distance was shortened, it was time to test character.

Sometimes they could block bullets, and sometimes they would be beaten into a sieve.

The specific principles were not something the soldiers who didn't know a single word could understand.

Anyway, the veterans did it, so everyone followed.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The roaring artillery sound broke the stalemate between the two armies.

Even the smallest caliber artillery was not something simple shields could block.

The wooden building bunkers on both sides also couldn't withstand the ravages of the artillery.

"Marquis, the situation is not looking good!"

"A large number of small-caliber artillery have appeared in the pseudo-dynasty's main army; although the power is not very great, the movement is quite flexible."

"Wanting to drag the enemy army in street fighting, I fear it is impossible."

The Assistant Regional Commander hurried over to report.

In fact, small-caliber artillery was only the smallest trouble.

What was truly irredeemable was the morale of the army.

The supervising team was not omnipotent.

From the moment the Xicheng Gate was lost, rumors were flying in the city.

The soldiers didn't have any hope of winning the war at all.

"There is nothing impossible!"

"Tell the people below to spare no cost and must block the pseudo-dynasty's main army's attack."

"Only need to drag the enemy army for a month, and our reinforcements will arrive!"

"No!"

"Go tell the soldiers that as long as they drag the enemy army for ten days, reinforcements will arrive to work from inside and outside to wipe out the enemy in one go."

"Forget it, just say guard for three days, and reinforcements will arrive."

The order that repeatedly lowered the standard made the Assistant Regional Commander's nervous heart completely die.

As the Regional Commander, Huang Yuheng was also very helpless at this moment.

Reinforcements and the like simply couldn't be counted on.

Having had the city gate stolen by the enemy last night, he knew Nanning definitely couldn't be guarded.

However, some battles, even if one knew they would lose, had to be fought.

It was the same defeat, but different ways of losing would receive different treatments.

Losing Nanning in one day—returning with such a combat record, the head on his neck would most likely move house.

If he could guard for a few more days, the matter would have room for maneuver.

Turning around to operate, giving the Holy Emperor a step to deal with it lightly, he could obtain the opportunity to make amends through meritorious service.

"This General will..."

Before he finished speaking, a stray bullet flying from afar landed on the roof.

The falling roof beam directly hit the Assistant Regional Commander's head.

Huang Yuheng, who luckily escaped a disaster, was also smashed to a bloody head by the falling tiles.

A proper human tragedy.

This place was more than a kilometer away from the battlefield.

Under normal circumstances, the enemy army's small-caliber artillery shells shouldn't fly so far.

Unable to care about the reason, the personal guards who realized that the command post had a problem hurried over and rescued Huang Yuheng from the ruins.

Under the stimulation of severe pain, Huang Yuheng soon fainted.

"Old San, hurry up and find a physician!"

The personal guard captain hurriedly ordered.

As personal guards, any accident happening to the Regional Commander on the battlefield was their dereliction of duty.

If Huang Yuheng died, they would also have their heads on the block when they returned.

"Too late, Big Brother!"

"Outside is a mess, and the only three medical clinics in the city are all gathered in the west of the city."

"Now they have all fallen into the hands of the enemy army; those physicians probably fled for their lives long ago, and now there is no way to find anyone."

"The remaining local physicians have terrible medical skills and are no different from swindlers."

"Bandage the Marquis first, and after leaving Nanning city, find someone to treat him!"

The man called Old San explained in a deep voice.

A short stay, and the shouting and killing were getting closer.

Countless fleeing soldiers directly passed through them and left, and no one stopped to pay attention to the lying Huang Yuheng.

"Retreat!"

The personal guard captain decisively ordered.

The imperial army's attack speed far exceeded their expectations.

They had to run; if they delayed any longer, they would have to stay and be prisoners of the enemy army.

Losing the Regional Commander's command, the White Lotus Sect main army in the city could only fight on their own, and the scene became increasingly chaotic.

Many rebel soldiers, hearing the artillery sound, fled in panic.

Even the most elite troops among the garrison, after engaging with the imperial army, would soon be routed.

The supervising team, which played an important role in the siege battle, also lost their fighting spirit at this time and joined the ranks of those fleeing.

Unfortunately, their luck was not very good.

Earlier, they besieged three sides and left one, and the one they opened was exactly the Xicheng Gate.

Now the imperial army happened to kill their way from the Xicheng Gate, and the rebel soldiers fleeing from the other three gates fell directly into the encirclement net.

Although this net was very fragile at this moment and the number of imperial troops left outside was limited, it was not something the rebel soldiers who had lost their morale could break through.

"Surrender and you won't be killed!"

Hearing the shouting of surrender, many exhausted rebel soldiers directly threw away the weapons in their hands.

After leaving the main force, they chose a position at random, sat on the ground to rest, and waited for the imperial army to come and capture them.

Anyway, they couldn't run away, so it was better to save some strength.

Someone took the lead to give up, and soon harvested countless rebel soldiers following suit.

Wealth and glory were for the old masters, but life was their own.

Except for a few White Lotus Sect believers who still picked up weapons to resist, most of the rebel soldiers chose to surrender.

The action of capturing prisoners lasted until the third day, and Nanning city finally returned to calm.

Stepping into the broken city, Li Mu couldn't help but sigh.

The destructive power of war was truly too great.

Especially the Xicheng District, where the war was most intense; the prosperous streets of the past were now all reduced to ruins.

Vaguely, Li Mu also heard the crying of the people.

"Provincial Governor, Nanning city is handed over to you!"

Hearing Li Mu's words, the smile on Zhang Sihan's face disappeared without a trace.

The city was recovered, but the destruction brought by the war was irredeemable.

At this moment, the Nanning Prefect had not yet arrived, and the mess left by the rebel army was all pressed on him, this Provincial Governor.

Wanting to refuse was impossible; this was a frontier official who had to bear the responsibility.

"Commander Li, Nanning has just encountered the scourge of war, and the territory is filled with a large number of rebel remnants."

"First conduct martial law on the Nanning region, and wait until the rebel remnants are cleared before handing it over to the local Yamen."

Zhang Sihan said helplessly.

The power delivered to the door, he now didn't dare to take it.

Without enough manpower in hand, rashly taking over Nanning Prefecture was just looking for trouble for himself.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 196 =====