Chapter 240

Looking at the battle report in his hand, Shi Rongxuan's good mood vanished instantly.

The imperial army failed to capture Yongzhou after a long time and changed to a long-term siege.

This was exactly what he wanted to see; only by waiting for the various armies to assemble could they surely defeat the enemy.

Unfortunately, the little brothers below all had their wings hardened.

The large army mobilized from the Xiangyang battlefield had been dragging on until now, and had only just set off.

The speed of the reinforcements on the Nanchang line was faster.

Unfortunately, they didn't listen to the order to defend Changsha but went straight to Hengyang.

A hundred thousand troops attacking a city guarded by five or six thousand imperial troops—from a military perspective, there was indeed no reason to fail.

But his heart was just not at ease; intuition told him that Li Mu would not let them achieve their goal easily.

Apart from these two main forces, the reinforcements from other prefectures simply didn't come.

It wasn't that they didn't obey orders; it was purely that after Li Mu besieged Yongzhou, the imperial armies from all directions suddenly became active.

Shaozhou Prefecture and Ganzhou Prefecture had long since become battlefields, and the garrisons in nearby Chenzhou, Jian'an, and other places were also trembling with fear now.

The imperial army in the Yungui region suddenly became active, and the military pressure on the prefectures near Guizhou increased greatly.

The militia that had been beaten to their last breath by them earlier had now risen from the ashes, attacking cities and seizing land in Changde, Jingzhou, and other regions.

Even worse was the Shu army, which was assembling in the Chongqing region and might go south to participate in the war at any time.

Each of them was unable to take care of themselves and had no ability to send troops to participate in the Yongzhou campaign.

The originally planned forty-thousand-strong army had already lost seventy thousand before the decisive battle even began.

This was just a beginning; they were assembling troops, and the enemy was not idle either.

From the enemy's attack route, it could be seen that the imperial armies of the four provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, and Yungui were also deliberately moving closer to Li Mu's troops.

Once the imperial court's five-province allied army joined forces, the troops Li Mu could mobilize would break the record and exceed two hundred thousand.

Thirty-three thousand against twenty thousand—it seemed they occupied an absolute numerical advantage.

The problem was that now, with the hundred-thirty-thousand-strong army in Yongzhou City, facing less than forty thousand imperial troops outside the city, he couldn't even generate the idea of a decisive battle.

There were too many previous examples.

In several campaigns in Guangxi, the enemy often won with fewer troops.

Defeating several times the number of Holy Kingdom troops was like child's play.

If the most elite troops in the Holy Kingdom were here, he wouldn't be so afraid.

Unfortunately, those elite soldiers were mostly in the hands of the three kings and were busy fighting now.

Shi Rongxuan also had a portion of his old base in his hands, but unfortunately, having been in the rear for a long time and lacking opportunities to fight, their true combat effectiveness was a mystery.

"Marquis Qi Datou, this bastard's courage is getting bigger and bigger, daring to disobey even my imperial edict.

Our Eastern King is even more amazing, actually using the excuse that the Shu army and Qin army are about to participate in the war to want me to take back the order!"

Hearing Shi Rongxuan's complaints, the ministers were scared to death.

Where were these words something they should hear?

Agreeing with the Holy Emperor would offend people, and defending them would offend the Holy Emperor.

No matter which situation, the consequences were not something an ordinary minister could bear.

The current White Lotus Holy Kingdom was mainly composed of four major factions.

Apart from the Holy Emperor's core faction that relied on Shi Rongxuan, the remaining Holy Kingdom officials mostly relied on the three princes of different surnames.

In terms of military strength, the troops controlled by Shi Rongxuan actually no longer occupied an advantage.

Insisting on launching the Yongzhou campaign, besides washing away the shame of the previous defeat, also meant reclaiming power.

Relying on the blessing of the righteousness held in his hands, once the army reached his command, Shi Rongxuan had a way to turn them into his own people.

At worst, he could mix in sand, or simply conduct a large-scale reshuffle of the generals of each unit.

Such a blatant plot would certainly not be hidden from the three princes of different surnames.

Even if they didn't see through it themselves, there would be people around them who would discover it.

There are policies above and countermeasures below.

Without destroying the unity of the Holy Kingdom, the princes of different surnames also took measures to counterattack.

For example: deliberately delaying the time to send troops, or stuffing troublemakers inside...

In short, Shi Rongxuan wanted to control these troops, but it wasn't that easy.

"Holy Emperor, we just received bad news: Shaozhou Prefecture is lost.

Chenzhou and Ganzhou Prefecture have sent letters for help, hoping that the Holy Kingdom can send reinforcements."

Prime Minister Wu Zekai spoke up.

After being besieged, it was a time of panic, and they couldn't afford the blow of bad news.

Originally, he didn't want to make this news public in the court, but Shi Rongxuan's words were too lethal and urgently needed to change the subject.

Other small matters couldn't achieve the expected effect, so he could only release a big thunderbolt.

"Terrible!"

"The pseudo-dynasty's army has already taken Shaozhou; if they are allowed to take Chenzhou, it will connect with Hengyang and Yongzhou.

Ganzhou must not be lost either, otherwise, the flames of war will burn all the way to the hinterland of Jiangxi, and the autumn grain collection task will not be completed."

Mi Yingbo echoed in exclamation.

Unlike other places that could be abandoned, every prefecture in the Jiangnan and Huguang regions was of great significance to the White Lotus Holy Kingdom.

Plundering noble families could indeed accumulate wealth rapidly, but to continuously support the army, it was still necessary to establish a perfect tax system.

Jiangxi and Huguang were both granaries of the world and provinces of finance and taxation, undoubtedly excellent places to raise money and grain.

Losing any prefecture was enough to make one's heart ache; this was not comparable to the fall of Liangguang earlier.

"Calm down!"

"You are all pillars of the Holy Kingdom; you must be calm in the face of trouble.

Since Shaozhou is already lost, discussing it further has no meaning.

The most urgent matter is how to hold onto other prefectures!"

Shi Rongxuan reprimanded immediately.

While talking about holding onto each prefecture, in the depths of his heart, he had no bottom at all.

This was not a question of whether to reinforce or not, but that there was simply no way to send reinforcements.

Taking Ganzhou Prefecture as an example, the imperial army besieging them numbered fifty or sixty thousand.

Sending a few thousand reinforcements there was just delivering military merit to the enemy.

If tens of thousands of troops were mobilized to support, the Holy Kingdom didn't have that many mobile forces for the time being.

If they really wanted to rescue, they would have to mobilize from the army reinforcing Yongzhou.

But if that happened, the strength of the reinforcements would be dispersed, and they could be defeated one by one by the enemy at any time.

"Holy Emperor, the garrison general of Ganzhou Prefecture, Yu Dadan, is a fierce general and should be able to hold out for a period of time.

If we fight a quick battle to force a quick decision with the pseudo-dynasty's army, we might be able to catch up.

Since Marquis Qi Datou wants to send troops to attack Hengyang, then order him to speed up and strive to capture it in the shortest time.

It is estimated that after Hengyang is fought, the reinforcements from the Xiangyang region should also arrive near Hengyang.

At that time, the two armies will join forces and come over to participate in the Yongzhou campaign, which will surely defeat that thief Li Mu in one fell swoop!"

Shi Qichuan said with murderous intent.

He still remembered the last time they retreated in a sorry state.

If he didn't take revenge on Li Mu, his thoughts wouldn't be clear.

Speeding up the pace of the decisive battle certainly had risks militarily, but the current situation didn't allow them to choose.

If the war was allowed to drag on indefinitely and they missed the autumn grain collection and storage, the White Lotus Holy Kingdom's life this winter would certainly not be easy.

Outside Ganzhou City, Wei Zhiyuan was so angry he wanted to curse.

Looking at Li Mu's military order, he was between laughter and tears.

Sixty thousand against three thousand, and still unable to take it after a long time.

If it were a majestic pass of the world, it would be fine, but he happened to be attacking an ordinary city that hadn't even been mentioned much in military history.

Such a battle record was enough to ruin his reputation in the Great Yu military circles.

But the real Ganzhou was much more troublesome than the Ganzhou seen from the outside.

The garrison general was too crazy, constantly throwing people into pots to cook, forcing the young men in the city to have to contribute.

"Duan Shengde, you really are like your name; this is to cut off the holy virtue!

When I break the city, I must skin you alive!

That's not enough; I will definitely report to the imperial court and have this bastard's nine generations sliced to death together!

..."

Wei Zhiyuan couldn't help but curse loudly.

It was truly too insidious.

Under the operation of the rebel leader, the three thousand rebel troops originally responsible for guarding the city suddenly became a supervision team.

Now the ones really fighting them had become the young men in the city.

No matter how many died, the enemy wouldn't feel heartache.

Before the residents in the city were consumed, the rebel army's strength wouldn't suffer much loss.

It was estimated that after capturing Ganzhou, what they would harvest would be a dead city filled with mountains of corpses and white bones.

"General, order to stop the attack!

The siege troops have suffered too much loss; for the sake of a Ganzhou City, it is not worth sacrificing so much.

Commander Li wants us to attack Jian'an Prefecture immediately after taking Ganzhou; let's just split the troops to bypass Ganzhou and attack Jian'an Prefecture directly.

Anyway, the garrison in the city only has a few thousand in total; leaving twenty thousand troops to watch them is enough.

That bastard Duan Shengde forced the young men in the city to the battlefield, forming a blood feud with the residents in the city.

When we attacked, they were busy resisting and had no time to think.

Once the war stopped, the power of hatred would take root and sprout.

When we attack the city next time, we might have unexpected gains."

Assistant Regional Commander Zhao stepped forward to advise.

He truly couldn't afford to fight; to capture Ganzhou Prefecture, they had paid the casualties of over a thousand people one after another.

If they continued to fight, they could certainly capture Ganzhou, but no one would compensate them for the losses.

The military expenses allocated by the imperial court were not enough, and the local government's coordination funds were seriously embezzled.

Once the army suffered heavy casualties, even the pension was a tricky problem.

This money could be saved in peacetime, but in wartime, a portion must be issued to appease the military heart.

If they were really stingy, maybe one day they would be hit by a cold arrow from their own people.

(End of chapter)