Chapter 206: The Army at the City Gates

The dust settled.

The civil and military officials present, however, couldn't be happy.

Emperor Yongning's method of handling it was certainly satisfying, but the political impact caused was very vicious.

The most prestigious Qingliu leader in the world had suddenly become a traitor; this contrast was too strong.

"Your Majesty, according to the Great Dayu law, the families and relatives of the rebel leaders..."

Before the Minister of Justice could finish, Emperor Yongning waved his hand and interrupted.

"Handle them all strictly!

I have finally understood that reading the books of sages doesn't mean one's character is good.

The two, Yin and Zuo, had many improper behaviors on weekdays; I think there is no lack of wicked people among their students.

The local school officials and instructors must take up their duties.

Absolutely do not allow these tumors to enter the court and harm the country and the people!"

As the words fell, several people fainted in the court, and many others couldn't stand steadily.

These people were either students of the two, Yin and Zuo, or had family disciples who studied under the two.

Now everything was over; the Emperor was hating the house and its crow, transferring the hatred aimed at the two, Yin and Zuo, to their students.

The Emperor had spoken; if nothing unexpected happened, a large group of scholars in the Jiangnan region would lose their imperial examination titles.

Even if no problems were found, these people couldn't count on entering officialdom through the imperial examination.

Those who had already entered officialdom were also "bright-less" in their future.

Next, they still had to tuck their tails and act like humans to keep their positions.

The civil and military officials in the court didn't have anyone open their mouths to plead for mercy.

Involving treason, no one wanted to play with fire.

Plus, the two, Yin and Zuo, had indeed made a big scene before and offended a large group of people.

Guilin Prefecture.

"Are you all dead?

The pseudo-dynasty's great army made such a big movement, and you didn't see it!

We have only reached this point, and you are all slacking off.

All you know is beautiful wives and concubines; the world hasn't been conquered yet!"

Shi Rongxuan couldn't help but scold angrily.

In the past, every move of the imperial army couldn't escape their eyes.

But now, waking up overnight, he received the news that the imperial army was about to reach the city gates.

At this moment, the imperial army was only fifty miles away from Guilin Prefecture.

If it weren't for the resistance in the county cities along the way, he might not even have known that the enemy had killed their way over.

"Holy Emperor, calm your anger!"

The group of subjects opened their mouths in unison.

Having such a thing happen, they were also very confused.

The Bai Lian had a deep foundation in Guangxi; even if they lost many prefectures, there were still believers lurking among the people.

Every move of the imperial army was a clue provided by these believers.

No one knew what had happened; this time it suddenly became ineffective.

Clearly, the pseudo-dynasty's great army had killed their way over, but the intelligence they received was still that everything was normal.

It wasn't until the battle started that the news hadn't been passed back.

"Hmph!"

"All you know is telling me to calm my anger, calm my anger!

What's the use of just calming anger? Hurry up and produce a response plan!"

Shi Rongxuan continued to scold.

According to the previous evacuation plan, they had only completed half of the task.

Now there were still large amounts of grain and grass gathered in Guilin that needed to be organized to be transported to the frontline.

The imperial army killing their way over so quickly was clearly because they had sensed their actions and wanted to destroy the grain transport operation.

"Holy Emperor, soldiers come to block, water comes to cover.

Since the pseudo-dynasty's great army has killed its way over, we will just send troops to intercept them.

Everyone has two shoulders carrying one head; I don't believe the pseudo-dynasty's army in Guangxi is invincible!"

Shi Qichuan said proudly.

As Shi Rongxuan's younger brother, not being crowned a prince had always made him feel resentful.

Now that the opportunity had been delivered to his door, he also wanted to perform.

"Guilin Marquis, do not take it lightly!

The pseudo-dynasty's great army in Guangxi is extraordinary; they are the true elites of the pseudo-dynasty.

The person leading the troops is a clansman of the pseudo-dynasty's Left and Right Commanders, who has received resource support far exceeding other units.

According to the intelligence gathered, after the pseudo-Guangxi Regional Military Commissioner Li Mu took office, he quickly restored the establishment of the guards in various places in Guangxi.

Compared to the pseudo-dynasty's great army in the Guangxi region before, the quantity has increased significantly.

The number of troops mobilized by the enemy this time has increased by more than double compared to the last great battle."

Wu Zekai persuaded with effort.

The Bai Lian Sect's army in the Guilin region was indeed not less in number than the Guangxi imperial army, but the combat effectiveness was not on the same level.

The upcoming great battle would mainly be based on defense.

Waiting for the Western Expedition Army to return would be the time for the decisive battle.

If they couldn't hold their breath and went out to fight a decisive battle with the rebel army, that would be sending heads.

"What if the number of troops has increased by double?

Compared to the Holy Kingdom, the enemy is still at a disadvantage in terms of troops.

We only need to hold the city and consume the enemy's morale.

Once the enemy loses their spirit, we will launch a counterattack, and we will definitely be able to break the enemy army!"

Shi Qichuan said disdainfully.

He wanted to perform, but he wasn't really stupid.

With a strong city to defend, why take the risk to go out and fight the enemy in the field?

Even if they wanted a decisive battle, that would be after the reinforcements arrived.

In fact, if it weren't for the large amount of grain and grass in Guilin, there would be no need to fight this battle at all.

A place destined to be abandoned—losing it one day early or one day late made no difference.

Since deciding to change the strategy, the high command of the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom had all been busy studying the maps of the Central Plains.

Having witnessed the imperial army's power, everyone no longer had full confidence in seizing Nanjing.

Besides marching into Nanjing, they had alternative plans—marching into the Central Plains and killing their way into Guanzhong.

This plan wasn't a temporary idea, but a conclusion reached after synthesizing intelligence from various places.

The north was plagued by natural disasters and was the chosen land for starting a business.

Huguang and Jiangxi couldn't be fought; besides the heavy defense of the imperial army, the biggest reason was that they lacked supporters.

The prefectures captured in the early stages had people who were very cold to their attitude, and there was no scene of welcoming the royal army at all.

Raising the recruitment banner didn't attract many people to sign up.

The people below, in order to complete the expansion task, directly grabbed strong men from the local area.

The soldiers pulled over by force naturally had no will to fight.

"Enough!

I don't want to hear you talking nonsense here.

Pass the order: the Western Expedition Army is to return to the Holy Capital immediately.

Abandon all supplies that cannot be taken.

Tell them the speed must be fast; if they cannot arrive within ten days, we will not wait for them!"

Shi Rongxuan's words shocked everyone.

Listening to their Holy Emperor's meaning, it seemed he wasn't prepared to fight to the death with the Guangxi imperial army and had the intention of directly abandoning Guilin.

Once this was done, not only would the large amount of supplies in the city be unable to be taken, but the families and wives would also have to be abandoned.

"Don't think I'm heartless; I have no other choice.

If the Western Expedition Army cannot arrive on time, these few tens of thousands of defenders in Guilin won't be able to beat the pseudo-dynasty's Guangxi imperial army.

You should know the enemy's battle record; Nanning, defended by tens of thousands of great armies, was broken in one day.

Whether the defenders of Guilin can hold on for ten days is an unknown."

Seeming to perceive everyone's thoughts, Shi Rongxuan added immediately.

"Holy Emperor, while the imperial army hasn't attacked yet, it's better to arrange for the families to leave in advance."

Wu Zekai stepped forward and proposed.

"Hmph!"

"Bullshit families!

Don't think I don't know that your wives and children have long been sent away.

Those remaining in the Holy Capital are just a group of concubines; why, are you reluctant?"

Shi Rongxuan said with a cold smile.

As the high command of the Holy Kingdom who mastered the first-hand information, knowing that the Holy Kingdom's situation was deteriorating, they naturally had to arrange for their wives and children in advance.

Either they were sent to the frontline, or they were directly arranged to hide their names.

Those remaining at home now were mostly concubines.

What was truly worrying were the soldiers, whose families really had nowhere to go.

Once discovered by the government, it would be light to have their homes confiscated and be exiled, and heavy to be directly exterminated.

Knowing that doing so existed hidden dangers, Shi Rongxuan had no way.

All government decrees needed the high command to implement.

On some non-principled issues, he could only selectively not see.

After all, they had enjoyed life, and everyone no longer had that ruthless spirit of fighting for their lives at the beginning.

He could tacitly allow the high command's families to leave, but he couldn't take all the soldiers' families to evacuate together.

If they really took their families, that wouldn't be an expedition, but a great population migration.

Not to mention going to fight, the eating, drinking, and defecating of over a million people—just logistics alone could directly drag them to death.

Choosing to leave the people with two months of rations was to take care of the soldiers' thoughts.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 207 =====