Chapter 246

Outside Anqing City.

Looking at the imperial edict in his hand, Pingnan Fu Haoxuan was filled with anger.

He was fighting hard to expand the territory in the front, while those guys in the rear were constantly ruining the family business.

First, they lost Guangxi, then they buried Guangdong, and now the imperial army had killed its way into Huguang.

If things continued to develop according to this situation, even if he took the entire Jiangnan, it would be ruined by those prodigal sons of the Holy Kingdom.

Deep down, his resentment toward the Bai Lian Holy Emperor rose to the peak all at once.

Without ability, one should just honestly be a spiritual leader; pointing fingers everywhere isn't that hateful!

If it weren't for the sake of the overall situation, he would have loved to immediately dismiss Shi Rongxuan and go up himself to set things right.

"The Yongzhou Battle planned by the Holy Kingdom ended in failure, and now Changsha is in crisis.

The Holy Emperor issued an edict for us to handle it ourselves.

If anyone has any opinions, please put them forward!"

Pingnan Fu Haoxuan said unhappily.

Being able to endure not cursing was already because he had cultivation; he really couldn't say any words of praise.

Constrained by the righteousness of the monarch-subject relationship, he couldn't help but be tied up in doing things.

Deep down, Pingnan Fu Haoxuan kept reminding himself to stay calm, fearing that he would lose his composure and directly curse Shi Rongxuan as trash.

"Your Highness, for the Holy Kingdom, Changsha indeed cannot be lost.

But the Battle of Anqing has already reached a critical moment; if we split our troops to Changsha at this time, all our previous efforts will be wasted.

Moreover, we are too far from Changsha; even if we send troops immediately, I'm afraid it will be too late in terms of time.

The most suitable person to send reinforcements to Changsha right now is the Western King; it's only a few hundred miles from Yuanzhou Prefecture to Changsha.

In war, speed is precious; if we want to save Changsha, we can only rely on the Western King now."

Longshi Yang Jingren spoke first.

As Pingnan Fu Haoxuan's trusted aide, he could see at a glance that his Prince didn't want to go to Changsha to wade into muddy water.

Standing from the perspective of the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom, Changsha Prefecture was indeed a military stronghold that could not be lost.

But for the Southern King personally, the situation had changed.

Running back to clean up the mess for the Bai Lian Holy Emperor not only affected the war on the front lines but was also a thankless job.

No matter how beautifully it was done, he wouldn't gain any substantive benefits.

"Between Jiangxi and Huguang lies the Luoxiao Mountain Range.

The Western King seems closest to Changsha, but if he really mobilizes a large army, the time consumed will be the longest.

Moreover, in the previous Yongzhou Battle, the 100,000-strong army sent by the Western King was also lost on the battlefield.

At a time like this, he probably won't respond immediately.

If we want to save Changsha, we still need us and the Eastern King to put in the effort.

Now the entire Holy Kingdom is watching; the more it is at a time like this, the more we need to consider the overall situation.

Regardless of whether we can save Changsha, we must make a gesture of fully reinforcing Changsha to give all parties an explanation."

Left Chancellor Zuo Ruiyu reminded.

With such a large setup for the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom, the factions inside naturally wouldn't only have the Holy Emperor and the three different-surnamed kings; they were just the largest groups among them.

Below them were various political groups and individuals attached to the big tree of the Holy Kingdom.

Looking at the entire Holy Kingdom, these inconspicuous small groups and individuals were the most numerous.

These people survived by attaching themselves to the four major factions, yet they maintained a certain independence.

Whether it was the Bai Lian Holy Emperor or the three different-surnamed kings, they all needed to win over these neutral camps.

The struggle between the upper echelons was essentially about power.

If one wanted to control the power of the Holy Kingdom, one couldn't let the setup fall apart.

Great Dayu hadn't collapsed yet, and it wasn't time for the heroes to contend for the world.

Maintaining a unified Bai Lian Holy Kingdom was crucial to the great cause of opposing Yu.

"The Chancellor is right; we indeed need to make a gesture.

Longshi, draft a document and tell His Majesty the Holy Emperor that this Prince will send 200,000 troops to reinforce Changsha in the coming days.

Accelerate the pace of reorganizing the imperial troops who surrendered to us.

Arrange for people to continue conscripting troops; once we have gathered 100,000 people, we will march toward Changsha."

Pingnan Fu Haoxuan immediately ordered.

Whether he could save Changsha wasn't important; anyway, he had to make a full political gesture.

Compared to the Changsha defense battle, he was more concerned about the Jiangnan battlefield.

Anqing couldn't be taken for a long time, so to put pressure on the enemy, he split his troops to march toward Ningguo Prefecture a few days ago.

The early progress was very smooth, easily occupying a large area of land.

However, after approaching Yingtian Prefecture, the situation changed.

The various imperial armies that were originally watching the fire from the other side all killed their way toward him; although they were no match for them, they delayed their marching speed.

Now it was time to compete on speed.

If they couldn't conquer Anqing and take Yingtian Prefecture before the Beijing Camp arrived, the current great situation would cease to exist.

Compared to the political influence of seizing Yingtian and occupying Nanjing, Changsha Prefecture had to take a back seat.

Yongzhou City.

After making preparations for withdrawal, the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom immediately took action.

Considering that the Yunnan-Guizhou region was poor and it was difficult to raise enough grain and fodder, a large amount of grain, fodder, gold, and jewelry were loaded onto carts.

From the rough workmanship, it could be seen that these vehicles were mostly made in a hurry.

The relocation of 200,000 to 300,000 people was by no means an easy task.

There were so many things to carry that there weren't enough livestock, so it could only be completed by manpower.

Yongzhou City at this moment was like a large construction site.

To make more transportation tools in a hurry, even Shi Rongxuan's temporary palace didn't escape the fate of being dismantled.

After patrolling the city, the smile on Shi Rongxuan's face gradually solidified.

With the withdrawal like this, the team was simply too huge.

With such a grand action, wanting to sneak into Shu was purely a dream.

Since deciding to enter Shu, he had made up for a lot of knowledge about Shu.

The Sichuan Basin is surrounded by mountains, blocked by the Jianmen Pass in the north, blocked by the Kuimen and the Yangtze River in the east, and guarded by the Loushan Pass in the south.

Borrowing the road from Guizhou to enter Shu, they would take the Loushan Pass.

There were countless great figures who had failed here in history.

Being unable to hide their strategic purpose and wanting to forcibly break into Shu, the difficulty was not just a little bit.

Once the entry into Shu failed, he didn't dare to imagine the consequences.

"Holy Emperor, Chenzhou is in danger; we can't drag it out any longer."

Chancellor Wu Zekai stepped forward to persuade.

Once Chenzhou fell, the 30,000 imperial troops in Guangdong would be free.

They could still handle just these imperial troops; the problem was that withdrawal took time.

Once entangled by these troops, it might be that Li Mu, who was attacking Changsha, would turn back and kill them.

In feudal dynasties, rebelling and proclaiming oneself Emperor is the most hateful tactic.

In the eyes of the Great Dayu court, killing the pseudo-Emperor Shi Rongxuan was the most important thing.

"Hmm!"

"Pass down the order to set off tomorrow.

Whatever can be taken away, take it all; whatever can't be taken, burn it with a fire.

Take the people in the city with us.

If the imperial army chases after us..."

Halfway through, realizing that his status was different, Shi Rongxuan decisively chose to shut his mouth.

When he was a cult leader, he could do anything, and no one would find it strange.

But now that he was an Emperor, he had to put on a show.

Some things that couldn't see the light were no longer suitable for his status.

Even if they had to be done, it should be the subordinates who realized it themselves and handled the dirty work for him.

"As you command!"

Wu Zekai answered immediately.

As long as the Holy Emperor was willing to listen to persuasion, other things were just minor details.

In troubled times, there were plenty of bloody scenes.

Among the many rebel armies, the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom was already considered good, at least having its own laws and rules.

Although it was a copy of Great Dayu's law and the execution wasn't that thorough, any bad order was better than no order.

Taking the people with them to run and using the people to block the pursuers—it wasn't like no one had done that in history.

As long as they seized the world, there would naturally be great scholars standing up to help them "wash white" (whitewash) it.

Central Army Camp.

"My Lord, news has just been received that the rebels in Yongzhou City have moved out.

In order not to startle the snake, our troops stationed outside the city chose to retreat after symbolic obstruction.

Do you think we should immediately send troops to wipe out this group of rebels?"

Xiang Xinghan reported happily.

To lure the rebels into the trap, they had racked their brains.

It took the joint efforts of the imperial armies of multiple southern provinces to create the current situation.

"No need to rush; the enemy has just left the city.

Give them two days first; after they are far away from Yongzhou City, we will send troops to chase them.

If we act now and the enemy discovers something is wrong and shrinks back, that would be a big problem."

Li Mu said with a smile.

He wasn't afraid of the rebels leaving; with 200,000 to 300,000 people wanting to withdraw, the speed was destined not to be fast.

If the enemy ran north, they happened to block the way, just waiting for work at ease.

If the enemy entered Yunnan-Guizhou, the imperial army there would naturally take action to intercept.

Regardless of whether they could block them, delaying time was definitely no problem.

The two Guangs were even more of a dead end; there was a 10,000-strong garrison in Guilin, and Guangdong had Jing Yifeng's forces blocking the front.

It was impossible for the rebels to sweep all the way; as long as they were delayed for a few days, the main army would catch up.

The rebels ultimately had an army of 130,000, and they were guarding the Bai Lian Holy Emperor, so there must be elite troops among them.

Fighting the enemy head-on, paying a certain price was inevitable.

To reduce losses, Li Mu specially designed a script for the enemy: the enemy blocking the way in front, and the pursuers killing from behind.

With the complex structure of the rebels, encountering this "hell mode," the morale of the army would easily collapse.

"My Lord, the rebels probably can't go back.

Our people saw Yongzhou City burning with raging flames; it should be that the rebels burned the city after withdrawing.

Now the whole city is a sea of fire; even if the enemy wants to withdraw, there is no place to stay."

Xiang Xinghan explained with a smile.

Serving under Li Mu was much easier than in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Although he still had to collect intelligence, there was less internal strife than in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

No need to worry about knowing things he shouldn't know and dying inexplicably.

The most critical thing was that after changing to a new identity, his official career development wasn't slow at all.

The "power content" was indeed not as good as when he was in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but he couldn't help that he was promoted quickly.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard made all officials tremble with fear, but the upper limit was actually not high; the Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard was only Senior Rank Three.

With the yamen's upper limit locked, the difficulty of wanting to move up naturally wouldn't be small.

The local garrison units had a lower sense of presence, but the yamen's upper limit was higher, and there were more official establishments.

In less than two years, he went from a Company Commander to a Battalion Commander.

"Oh!"

"It seems the rebel leader wants to 'break the cauldrons and sink the boats' (burn bridges) and cut off everyone's thoughts in advance.

Since that's the case, let's grant his wish.

Pass down the order to have all units prepare to set off early tomorrow morning.

Let the brothers below work hard and closely monitor the enemy's movements; I want to grasp the enemy's position at all times.

After this battle is over, this general will personally request rewards for them!"

While giving the order, Li Mu didn't forget to draw a "big cake" (promise).

In fact, he could decide the rewards and promotions of the grassroots officers and soldiers entirely by himself.

"Requesting rewards" was purely to show importance.

Only the appointments of officers above Company Commander needed to be reported to the Ministry of War.

As for the lower-level Squad Leaders and Platoon Leaders, a bunch of them died in every major battle.

Many times, the list had just been sent out, and the people in the army had changed again.

If all of them had to be reported, the officials of the Ministry of War wouldn't be able to finish their work even if they were exhausted.

Because of the war, the Ministry of War no longer had the ability to conduct background checks on the generals on the front lines.

Basically, it was the recommendation of the main general on the front lines or the Viceroy/Provincial Governor, and after the Five Military Commissions and the Ministry of War verified there were no obvious problems, it was reported to the Emperor.

This was also the main reason why the sons of the nobility were promoted quickly; compared to those unfamiliar grassroots generals, the Emperor also liked to use familiar ones.

"Holy Emperor, let's rest for a while!

We have been away from Yongzhou for five days, and we haven't seen the enemy's pursuers yet.

According to the current speed, it won't be long before we enter the Guizhou border."

Shi Qichuan stepped forward to persuade.

Out of safety considerations, after withdrawing from Yongzhou, they had been in a state of forced march.

Of course, this forced march was relative.

Acting together with families and carrying a large amount of supplies destined that the team's speed couldn't be fast.

Being able to travel 30 miles a day was already a great test of their organizational ability.

"Forget it, who told me to be compassionate to women and children!

Pass down the edict to rest on the spot for a quarter of an hour, then continue to..."

"Holy Emperor, something big is wrong!"

"The imperial army... is chasing... chasing up!"

"Do you know which imperial army is chasing up?"

Hearing this news, Shi Rongxuan couldn't care about the matter of interrupting his own speech and immediately asked.

The level of Great Dayu's imperial army was vastly different.

The powerful ones were the elites of the era, while the sloppy ones were on the same level as the chaotic people.

If it was an ordinary imperial army that dared to chase, Shi Rongxuan would definitely let these people know that he, the Bai Lian Holy Emperor, was not famous for nothing.

"Holy Emperor, judging from the flags, it should be the subordinates of that thief Li Mu.

At this moment, the enemy is less than 30 miles away from our rear army.

At the enemy's speed, they will catch up to us tonight!"

(End of chapter)