Chapter 82: Detour Force

“Marquis, news has arrived from Yangzhou.

The rebels you captured were rescued by the rebel army yesterday.

It’s said that after Grand Secretary Xu arrived on the scene, he was so furious he could barely speak!”

Watching the steward brazenly lie, Marquis Wuyang nodded in satisfaction.

These officers under him still knew how to get things done.

Even a jailbreak could be executed so cleanly—they’d be perfect to recommend to my nephew for serious promotion.

“These traitors deserve death a thousand times over. Issue orders: if any trace of these rebels is found, kill them all without mercy.”

Marquis Wuyang’s order directly decided the fates of the corrupt officials and salt merchants.

The dirty work was done by the rebel army; the trouble belonged to Grand Secretary Xu; it had nothing to do with him.

As long as all the parties involved were dead, this Yangzhou mission would be complete.

…

Gaoyou City.

“Gentlemen, we face our greatest crisis since rising in rebellion.

The righteous army in Huai’an has been crushed by the imperial forces; the Capital Garrison is advancing south in force, its blades pointed straight at Baoying County.

The Five City Military Command, which just won a great victory in Yangzhou, is now advancing toward Xinghua County.

From the overall situation, the court intends to encircle us from north and south.

The bad news doesn’t end there—it’s rumored the court plans to deploy the Shandong Navy into the Grand Canal; the waterways will soon be unsafe!”

Wen Feiyang spoke with grave expression.

Leading a righteous army is no easy task—not only must you manage a mess of chaotic affairs, but also face external military pressure.

Though physically only in his thirties, his face looked older than many men over fifty.

“Uncle, Gaoyou lies between the Yangtze and the Yellow River.

Throughout history, warlords who carved out territories always used the Yangtze and Huai River as boundaries; no one has ever seized the realm by holding only Gaoyou.

The imperial army advances with overwhelming force; holding Gaoyou is suicide.

Whether south or north, we must seize a larger base of power—only then can we establish our footing.”

A young scholar spoke first.

Rebellion—this heart-stopping business—is best suited for the young.

The older generation’s thinking is rigid, filled with fear of the court; they hesitate at every step.

Among the Seven Great Families of the Two Huai, the Wen family was unremarkable.

Yet they were the first to delegate power to the younger generation; after rising in rebellion, they developed better than any other, and are the only faction capable of fully controlling their troops.

Compared to rebel forces elsewhere, Gaoyou’s rebels are not the largest in number, but their internal organization is the most refined.

“Wen Jianping, shut your mouth!”

“With the imperial army advancing, abandoning our base for a distant campaign turns us into bandits.

No bandit ever built a great cause!

Gaoyou may be geographically disadvantaged, but it is still a base.

As long as the base remains, morale and troop spirit remain.

Lose the base, and we lose everything.

We’d be no different from those peasant rebels.

The Great Yu Dynasty's foundation remains intact; now is not yet the time to contest for the realm.

Our priority now is to defeat the imperial suppression army, then find allies in the court to seek amnesty!”

Wen Feiyun spoke up sharply from beside him.

Wherever people gather, there is conflict; within the Wen family, opinions on rebellion are divided.

Some wish to push forward relentlessly, overthrow the Great Yu Dynasty, and establish their own imperial line.

Others believe the timing is wrong; fighting the court to the death is merely paving the way for a king; seeking amnesty is the true path.

Neither side can convince the other; every time a decision looms, a clash of strategies erupts.

When progress is smooth, the war faction usually dominates.

But when setbacks occur, the amnesty faction gains greater influence.

“Silence!”

Seeing others about to join the argument, Wen Feiyang quickly intervened.

Both sides have valid reasons; if they start quarreling, nothing will get done.

“From gathered intelligence, the Capital Garrison has roughly thirty thousand combat troops, including three thousand cavalry.

Their actual combat strength has been tested by the righteous army in Huai’an.

We cannot stand against them in open battle.

You all know our situation.

We claim two hundred thousand troops—that includes men, women, children, and elders; able-bodied men make up less than a quarter.

In actual combat, we’d be no match for the Capital Garrison.

We’ve tried holding our ground—Huai’an’s righteous army did the same; it only bought a few extra days.

The Five City Military Command’s forces are no less formidable.

Labels like 'aristocratic playboy army' are imposed by outsiders.

Huang Renlong gathered over three hundred thousand rebels to besiege Yangzhou, yet they were still crushed in a single decisive strike—proof this army is no joke.

Though they appear to have only seven thousand combat troops, without several times our numbers in open battle, we stand little chance of victory.

To break free, we must shatter the enemy’s pincer attack—only then do we have a glimmer of hope!”

When Wen Feiyang finished speaking, the room fell silent.

No matter which strategy we choose, we must fight this battle first.

Only if we win do we earn the right to speak of the future.

“Uncle, besides confronting the enemy in battle, we have another option: march west to Fengyang Prefecture.

Compared to these troops from the capital, local garrison forces are far easier to defeat.

Take Fengyang, seize Xuzhou, and plunge into the Central Plains.

If we move fast enough, we can raise a million troops before the imperial army converges.

If we can win, we fight; if we can’t, we break the Yellow River’s dikes and leave the Great Yu drowning in its own chaos!”

Wen Jianping’s plan startled everyone present.

One must admit—young men dare to dream.

Even if we couldn't seize the realm, the court would certainly be thrown into chaos.

“Jianping, I think it’s more practical to head south first and destroy the Five City Military Command.

Siege warfare is no child’s play; we captured Gaoyou quickly only because we’ve built our presence here for years.

Move elsewhere, and we’d face forced assaults; if defenders hold out for a few days, the Capital Garrison will catch up.

Don’t forget—they have cavalry.

We might not even reach Fengyang’s gates before the imperial army arrives ahead of us.”

Wen Feiyang rejected it outright.

“Take Fengyang, seize Xuzhou, enter the Central Plains”—the difficulty is no less than “attack Yangzhou, capture Zhenjiang, seize Nanjing.”

If it were truly this easy, the dynasty would have changed long ago.

Since ancient times, the hardest part has never been formulating strategy—it’s executing the plan.

…

The army trudged forward slowly; Li Mu was too lazy to ride a horse.

On the open plain, advancing thirty li a day was practically a picnic.

As far as the eye could see, for miles around, there was no cover whatsoever—no need to fear ambushes.

“Captain, enemy traces detected thirty li ahead!

Their formation is disordered, and their numbers are vast—the scouts couldn’t count them.”

Upon hearing this, Li Mu paused in surprise.

The route to Gaoyou isn’t unique; we chose to advance toward Xinghua because it’s remote.

Though flat terrain, the region is crisscrossed with vast marshes and lakes—unsuitable for large-scale battles.

According to the original plan, after the Capital Garrison crushed Gaoyou’s rebels, the Five City Military Command would simply retake Xinghua County.

That way, we’d claim credit without risking a decisive battle.

“Send out more scouts—find out the rebels’ direction as soon as possible!

Issue orders: halt and establish camp here, await the arrival of rear forces.”

Li Mu gave the order immediately.

His instinct told him—the rebels were coming for him.

After the strategic plan changed, each captain had assigned duties.

The East City and Central City Captaincies were to monitor Yangzhou, ready to return for reinforcements.

The West City and North City Captaincies were to watch the enemy near Taizhou, ready to turn and strike.

The South City Captaincy and the Command Headquarters were to feign an attack on Xinghua.

The five battalion commands were divided into three units, each no more than five li apart, forming a triangular layout.

Should enemy forces attack from any direction, the other two units could swiftly reinforce.

Strategically speaking, the Xinghua direction, lacking strategic value, was least likely to face the enemy’s main force.

But since the opponent was a rebel force, it was entirely plausible that their commander, in a fit of rage, would do something irrational.

Uncertain of the situation, Li Mu decided to play it safe.

……

Capital Garrison.

“Brother Jing, the enemy’s movements around Gaoyou are suspicious.”

Baoying County lies at the junction of Yangzhou and Huai’an, connecting Suzhong and Subei; its military value far exceeds that of Xinghua.

The enemy isn’t reinforcing Baoying but is moving toward Xinghua—this clearly defies logic.”

Had the intelligence not come from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Li Yuan would have suspected a prank.

If he were the rebel commander, he would have abandoned Gaoyou and fled long ago.

Rebellion requires choosing the right location—the more remote and impoverished the region, the higher the chance of success.

Even if the rebellion fails, they can retreat into the mountains to evade imperial suppression.

Xinghua is relatively remote, but the area lacks large mountains and is too cramped to offer strategic maneuvering space.

“Brother Jing, haven’t the rebels done enough bizarre things on this campaign?”

“When we first arrived, the Huai’an rebels actually tried to fight us using the Eight Trigrams formation, imitating ancient tactics.”

Jing Guoliang said with indifference.

Just thinking of the rebels’ Eight Trigrams formation made him want to laugh.

The ancient military formations passed down by our ancestors were indeed effective, but the more complex the formation, the higher the demands on soldiers and officers.

Setting up a formation is easy; changing it is hard. If just a few fools run amok within it, the formation collapses into chaos.

After the founding of Dayu, firearms became widespread, and military formations gradually grew obsolete.

Now, our noble families no longer bother requiring their heirs to learn those ancient formations.

Even when they do form up, they only use simple square or circular formations—easy to learn and simple to operate.

“Brother Jing is right—the rebels aren’t the barbarians beyond the border; they aren’t that cunning.”

Even if they have a scheme, they lack the strength to carry it out.

The real threat to the court remains the northern barbarians beyond the border.

Since their victory in the last Liaodong campaign, their strength has grown rapidly, and they’ve already absorbed several steppe tribes.

Given the Emperor’s nature, he won’t allow them to grow stronger unchecked.

Once the court’s finances improve, a major war will surely be reignited.

Besides the Nine Border Garrison Armies, the Capital Garrison will likely return to the battlefield.”

Li Yuan said, deeply concerned.

Only when standing on the ground did he realize how profitable the salt trade was.

With proper reform, the court could easily extract ten million taels in salt taxes annually.

Compared to the previous thirteen million taels, it was a complete transformation.

The extra money, if not poured into military funding, would be squandered by bureaucrats under other pretexts.

From the Emperor’s perspective, using it to resolve external threats was the most cost-effective choice.

“Let them fight—if the court has money, how can we fail to pacify Liaodong?”

The northern barbarians have so few people; even if they unified the entire steppe, they’d number at most two or three million.

Fight them once a year, and within a few years, they’ll be worn down to nothing.

Risk and opportunity coexist.

Prolonged peace has severely weakened our noble families’ influence at court.

If this continues, we’ll soon face the same fate as the Song dynasty.

A border conflict is also an opportunity for us.”

Jing Guoliang said calmly.

As the noble faction’s spokesperson at court, he had long accumulated countless grievances over their current plight.

With no change ahead, he had no choice but to endure.

Now that an opportunity had appeared, he wouldn’t let it slip away.

War means risk, but war also means power and wealth.

The present situation is the best example.

Under normal circumstances, nobles had no authority to interfere in local affairs.

With the Two Huai rebellion, everything changed.

War reshuffled the interests, and the noble faction's reach extended instantly.

As for the military officers eliminated in the chaos, they were simply unlucky.

The vacant military posts became the noble faction’s spoils.

After being washed clean by war, even the lowest-tier garrison units had a chance to become Dayu’s most prestigious garrisons.

No other reason—land for military farming had been restored.

With tangible benefits before their eyes, motivation naturally surged.

……

“Jianping, this is your first time leading troops—you must be cautious.”

Fengyang Prefecture isn’t easy to capture; your goal is only to draw the Capital Garrison’s attention—do not actually assault the city.”

“Once we eliminate the enemy in the Five City Military Command, join forces with the righteous armies of Taixing and Nantongzhou, then turn back to confront the Capital Garrison!”

Wen Feiyang said solemnly.

With two major factions within his clan locked in endless debate, he had no choice but to adopt a compromise strategy.

South first, then north; easy targets first, then hard ones—this was his core strategy.

But the enemy near the Capital Garrison couldn’t be entirely ignored, hence the diversionary attack on Fengyang.

Assigning his nephew to lead the force was also unavoidable.

It wasn’t just Wen Jianping who lacked experience—even he, as commander, had never faced the enemy in direct combat.

Everyone lacked experience; at least Wen Jianping had led salt guards to storm the prefectural yamen and personally slain two yamen runners.

“Uncle, rest assured.”

“We have only eight thousand troops, half of them old or weak.”

“They might cause trouble in the countryside, but attacking a prefectural city? Impossible!”

Wen Jianping immediately assured him.

He had fought hard for this chance—he wouldn’t let it slip away over a single word.

Whether he’d listen later was another matter.

The military manuals all said: when a general is in the field, he may disregard imperial orders.

Once in Fengyang Prefecture, how to fight would be up to him.

If things went badly, he could bypass Fengyang and strike Xuzhou directly, or detour into Luzhou.

In his view, roaming anywhere was better than staying in Gaoyou to die.

(End of Chapter)