Chapter 318

Yongzhou Prefecture.

"What, the pseudo-dynasty's main army is only thirty li away from the prefecture city?"

Song Song Zetao asked in a panic.

The Great Great Dayu Dynasty's rule of over 270 years has long since deeply rooted its majesty in people's hearts, which is definitely not something that can be eliminated in a short time.

Three years ago, he was still a scholar who had failed the imperial examinations repeatedly.

He happened to catch up with the Bai Lian Sect uprising and was swept into it to become an accountant.

He originally thought he would muddle through for a few days before being wiped out as a bandit by the suppression army.

He never expected that his ancestral grave would smoke, and the Bai Lian Sect rebel army he despised would rapidly develop and grow, sweeping across many provinces.

As an old-timer who joined early, Song Song Zetao's official career rose steadily with the development and growth of the rebel army.

Against this background, his sense of belonging to the Bai Lian Sect was directly maxed out.

"Yes, Prefectural Magistrate."

"This is news from two hours ago; perhaps now the enemy is less than twenty li away from us.

The enemy is flying the 'Li' banner, suspected to be the forces of that thief Li Mu."

The young general's answer made the atmosphere in the room suddenly become heavy.

The rebel army has fought south and north, invincible, and they have long since stopped putting ordinary imperial armies in their eyes.

The imperial army under Li Mu's command is undoubtedly an exception.

The ruthless man who drove them out of their old home in Among Guangxi and was able to kill the Bai Lian Holy Emperor is someone no one is not wary of.

It has always been said above that Li Mu's forces suffered heavy losses in the King-Protecting War, but it is very difficult to determine the truth of such things.

Everyone has experienced more than once the false propaganda carried out to boost military morale.

Before the two Guang regions were lost, the news they received was all about the Holy Kingdom's army crushing the enemy.

If the news were all true, Li Mu's forces should have been wiped out in Among Guangxi two years ago.

"That thief Li Mu is not easy to deal with.

Magistrate Song, let's report to the Prince together and ask him to send reinforcements immediately!"

Min Min Wuliu, the garrison commander of Yongzhou, immediately stated his position.

Fighting alone to defend Yongzhou is impossible.

Looking at the data on paper, he has an army of 10,000, so defending the city is not a problem.

But the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom has clashed with Li Mu's forces many times without winning even once, so they have long since had psychological shadows.

Without superior forces, he doesn't want to try.

"Good!"

Song Song Zetao agreed immediately.

If you can't figure out the situation, being steady is never wrong.

Anyway, his own Prince has already decided to send troops to the two Guang regions and is busy mobilizing troops and generals; asking for reinforcements now just happens to resolve the dispute above regarding the choice of the main battlefield.

Looking at the city that appeared in the distance, Li Mu smiled slightly.

Yongzhou is a good place; the last Battle of Yongzhou allowed him to gain both fame and fortune.

Now revisiting the old place, there is a special feeling in his heart.

If the rebels cooperate, Li Mu doesn't mind turning Yongzhou into the burial ground for the enemy army.

Tactical methods are all ready-made; there is no need to rack his brains at all.

If the enemy's main force dares to come to the rescue, then just have a decisive battle in the field.

Holding six elite garrisons, a full 70,000 combat soldiers, is a qualitative leap compared to before.

"Mu'er, the Yongzhou city walls are solid; I'm afraid it won't be easy to fight!"

Li Yuan, who was on the side, spoke up.

He has no doubts about his nephew's ability to use troops.

Through his contact during this period, he also knows that the two Guang King-Protecting Army's vitality was greatly damaged, and it was purely to fool the court.

As for why they did this, he had already filled in the blanks before asking.

It's nothing more than fear that those idiots in the court would issue unrealistic combat orders after seeing victory.

Similar stupid operations have occurred frequently in the last few decades.

Many battles that were clearly won in the early stages ended up with heavy losses under the command of those idiots in the court.

The Northern Barbarians were able to grow big, and the officials in the court contributed half of the credit.

Choosing to falsely report battle losses certainly has the suspicion of deceiving the Emperor, but it is also to protect the big picture.

Everyone is their own people; even if he knows the truth, it is impossible for him to expose it.

Others don't have enough weight; even if they report to the court, no one will believe them.

Inherent cognition makes everyone willing to believe that the King-Protecting Army suffered heavy losses in Shandong.

Since the risk is controllable and there is Marquis Marquis Wuyang and a group of nobles to share the responsibility together, then this is not a big deal.

However, no matter how strong the strength is, one must consider realistic problems.

Attacking a city is not like field warfare; in Li Mu's past battle records, there are very few cases of taking a city by force.

It's not that he is worried about not being able to conquer Yongzhou, but the key is how much price must be paid to take Yongzhou.

If the army suffers too many losses, it will inevitably affect subsequent operations.

He, the Viceroy of Huguang, is still waiting to recover lost territory, so the army cannot have problems.

"Uncle, don't worry; the rebels told us the method of attacking the city themselves.

Since the rebels can dig tunnels to attack the city, we can naturally imitate them.

Before the imperial army withdrew from Yongzhou, they even specially left a back door.

If the rebels haven't discovered it, the subsequent siege battle won't be that difficult.

Moreover, our goal is not to take a single Yongzhou city, but to recover the entire Huguang land.

The gain or loss of one city or one place is not that important.

If the rebels gather their main force to come for a decisive battle, that's fine.

If the enemy ignores it, then divide the troops and kill into Huguang to take this granary of the world!"

The speaker had no intention, but the listener did.

When the imperial army withdrew, they left a secret door; his own nephew, this Viceroy of the two Guang regions, knew about it, yet no one reported it to him, the Viceroy.

This made Li Yuan realize that his control over the Huguang imperial army was seriously insufficient.

But there is no way around this; the position of Viceroy of Huguang is too high, and a large group of officials surrounded him.

The imperial army generals guarding Yongzhou had to queue up to see him, and they were not qualified to report individually at all.

Following the procedure of reporting level by level, it is estimated that by the time he, the Viceroy, received the news, the rebels had already received it.

"If we want to recover the entire Huguang territory, the regiment of 'Butcher Bai' is also a help.

Although suppressed by the rebels in a corner, being able to persist for such a long time, I think their combat effectiveness should not be weak.

If necessary, I can order him to cooperate in the battle.

But if that happens, it will inevitably affect the Jiangnan strategy, and I'm afraid it won't be easy for you to explain."

Li Yuan said slowly.

Strengthening control over the army cannot be accomplished overnight.

The most important thing right now is to recover Huguang; only the Viceroy of Huguang who controls Huguang can be worthy of the name.

Standing from a personal perspective, one must prioritize recovering Huguang.

However, now it is a joint operation of three Viceroys; the troops acting as the main force of the war, although coming from under Li Mu's command, still have Marquis Marquis Wuyang pressing down from above.

If one proposes to prioritize recovering Huguang, it will not only make it difficult for Li Mu but also affect the unity within the noble group.

"Now the entire court is staring at Nanjing, and Marquis Marquis Wuyang is under great pressure.

Fighting to the Yangtze River as soon as possible and going down the river to take Nanjing is what he wants.

Whether there are more or fewer other prefectures actually doesn't affect the big picture.

As for Butcher Bai, let's forget it!

His reputation is too stinking, and he is not the same kind of person as us, so there is no need to get mixed up together."

Li Mu said slowly.

Huguang and Jiangnan are both granaries, but Jiangnan's industry and commerce are developed, gathering a large number of non-agricultural populations.

Developing to the last few decades, most of the grain produced in the Jiangnan region has been internally consumed by these people.

The amount of grain that can be taken out for export is already very limited.

Huguang, deep in the interior, is different; not only is it a vast land of fertile fields, but it is also a purely agricultural province.

Developing to these recent years, it has become the most important grain-producing area of the Great Great Dayu Dynasty.

The proverb "When Huguang is ripe, the world is sufficient" circulates among the people.

Only after recovering Huguang can the Great Great Dayu Dynasty's grain prices hope to slowly come down.

Only when the grain supply is stable can the world situation hope to stabilize.

There are many officials who realize the importance of Huguang, but influenced by political factors, everyone can only think about it in their hearts.

Including Li Mu himself, he dare not say that the Huguang strategy is superior to Nanjing.

Not being able to say it doesn't mean it can't be done.

Shouting about recovering Nanjing, when it came to specific actions, he took the main force straight to Huguang.

From where to send troops to recover Nanjing the fastest, there is no standard answer itself.

Not many officials in the court understand military affairs, and Emperor Emperor Yongning is also a military novice; it is not difficult to fool them.

"Since you have already thought it through, then I won't say much.

If there is a certain chance of victory, it is fine not to let Butcher Bai get involved.

His reputation is indeed hard to describe!"

Li Yuan said with a hint of disappointment.

In the campaign to recover Huguang, he, the Viceroy of Huguang, actually ended up as a spectator.

There is no way; the chips in his hands are too few.

The few thousand troops under his command simply cannot act as the main force.

The only armed force in Huguang that persists in resisting the rebels is notorious.

He often heard the great name of the human butcher Bai Jing Yifeng even in the capital.

In the eyes of many, the reason Bai Jing Yifeng has persisted until now without surrendering is not because of how loyal he is to the court.

It is purely because he wants to surrender, but the rebels won't accept it.

In the battles to suppress the rebellion earlier, Bai Jing Yifeng's forces killed the most ruthlessly.

Even if rebel soldiers surrendered, they would be beheaded by him to exchange for military merit.

Just these things would be fine, but the key is that Bai Jing Yifeng's regiment, not only slaughtered soldiers but also didn't let go of their families.

One person joining the rebels, and the whole village being executed, was a common occurrence.

The region he guards can curb the spread of the rebels, not because his military talent is how great.

It is purely because he kills ruthlessly enough; many times, in order to clear the fields, he directly slaughtered the nearby people.

The memorials impeaching Bai Jing Yifeng were often piled higher than a person.

Forced by the needs of the situation, Emperor Emperor Yongning suppressed these impeachments.

After all, the regiment doesn't need the court to pay salaries and is also actively participating in suppressing the rebellion; one cannot demand too much in other aspects.

Nanchang City.

Wang Wang Weijiarui led everyone to the high platform and started the heaven-worship ceremony.

With the continuous growth of the Bai Lian Sect rebel army, the drawbacks of a religious regime also gradually revealed themselves.

Especially when recruiting talent, no matter how well they talked before, upon hearing the two words "Bai Lian," there was no need to continue.

The notoriety of the cult organization is too deeply rooted in people's hearts.

Scholars simply don't believe they have a chance to seize the world.

It was precisely because he realized the severity of the harm that the Southern Prince Fu Pingnan Fu Haoxuan broke away from the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom and established the Great Wu regime.

With a successful case, Wang Wang Weijiarui also accelerated the secularization process.

First, the missionary officials unique to the Bai Lian Sect were banned, and then various evil sacrificial rituals were explicitly prohibited.

Having completed de-religionization, the signboard of the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom is nothing but a burden to Wang Wang Weijiarui.

In order to participate in the competition for the world, he followed the advice of his advisors and established the secular legitimate regime of Great Chu before the expedition.

However, compared to Fu Pingnan Fu Haoxuan, Wang Wang Weijiarui was still more restrained and did not directly proclaim himself Emperor, only calling himself the Prince of Chu.

Ordinary soldiers cannot perceive the significance of the change in the prince title, but the civil officials were exceptionally excited.

It is also rebellion; a title like the Western Prince, once heard, everyone knows it is a grassroots king who is not in the mainstream.

If you read a little more books, you wouldn't use this kind of title.

Changing it to Prince of Chu is completely different.

The historical lineage can be traced back more than two thousand years, and among the many prince titles, it is ranked at the top.

Whoever hears it knows that this is aimed at competing for the world.

It can tell the outside world at a glance that they are regional princes who dominate one side, not a grassroots team.

Looking at the urgent request for reinforcements in his hand, the official responsible for maintaining order at the scene already had cold sweat on his forehead.

On the battlefield, speed is precious; as a founder, Wang Wang Weijiarui attaches great importance to the military situation at the front line.

No matter when, upon receiving urgent military intelligence from the front line, it must be reported immediately.

Even if it is in the middle of the night, he will immediately get up to handle official business.

Today's situation is special; once the heaven-worship ceremony starts, it is not allowed to be interrupted halfway.

Even if the request for reinforcements is sent up after the heaven-worship ends, it is still adding trouble to his own Prince.

Those who are superstitious will even think that this is a warning from heaven for Wang Wang Weijiarui to break away from the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom and establish the Chu State himself.

Born from a religious organization, most people buy this set.

If things go wrong, a bunch of officials will immediately pop out to admonish Wang Wang Weijiarui, asking him to return to the big family of the Bai Lian Holy Kingdom.

Reporting it is finding trouble for his own Prince, but not reporting it has even more serious consequences.

Dragging it out for a few days, the influence of changing the prince title has faded, but the Yongzhou front line cannot hold up.

Concealing military intelligence is itself a serious crime, and causing the front line to lose cities and territory is an even more serious crime.

(End of chapter)