Chapter 800: The Nanyang Campaign

"The Yellow River burst its banks?"

Liu Chengzong received this news with disbelief and asked instinctively, "Is the intelligence reliable?"

He rarely did this — blurting out his inner doubts without thinking them through.

The news truly seemed absurd to him.

Shaanxi had suffered a great drought for nearly ten years, and Henan had been dry for several years too — especially this year, when the Yellow River ran dry for over half a month at the Shaanxi-Shanxi border, the water upstream unable even to reach Hukou.

Later, although rain fell in Yan'an Prefecture and water returned, the flow was nothing compared to previous years.

It had never burst before — why would it burst this year?

But Zhang Tianlin was utterly convinced of his source.

Because the news had not come from a single person, but from refugees fleeing to the Tongguan Plateau, from rebel armies rising in Henan, from forts and stockades pledged to the Marshal's Manor, from folk sectarian societies... multiple channels, all reporting the same disaster in a short span of time.

There could be no more credible source than this.

Even so, Liu the Lion still could not fathom it — where had the water come from?

The upper Yellow River had little water; the Wei and Jing rivers were drained by the Guanzhong Plain for irrigation, running dry every farming season.

The flow from every tributary feeding into the Yellow River in Shaanxi this year was less than in years past.

He even briefly wondered whether the Han River was somehow connected to the Yellow River — that the great waterlogging there had caused the Yellow River to swell.

This question was not answered until the Marshal Manor's River Circuit Viceroy, Chen Qiyu, was summoned to the Prince of Qin's palace.

When Chen Qiyu heard the news that the Yellow River had burst in Henan, his expression showed not the slightest surprise — it was entirely within his expectations.

Liu the Lion even caught on Chen Qiyu's face a hint of 'it was only a matter of time.'

"Brother Yuxuan, do you know the cause of this breach?"

Even now, Chen Qiyu still was not quite used to being too close to that smiling tiger, Liu Chengzong.

When others heard Liu Chengzong call them brother, they would lower their heads or bow in salute; Chen Qiyu would instinctively step back half a pace, only realizing afterward and lowering his head with clasped fists.

"In reply to the Grand Marshal, your humble servant once served as Magistrate of Luoyang, and when appointed Henan Administration Vice Commissioner, concurrently oversaw military defense for Nanyang. I am more familiar with conditions in Henan than the various generals from Qin."

Chen Qiyu nodded. "In Henan, the Yellow River is a suspended river, and therefore..."

"What's a suspended river supposed to mean?"

Before Chen Qiyu could finish, Zhang Xianzhong cut in, earning a sidelong glance from Liu the Lion: "Let Brother Yuxuan speak first."

It was Cao Yao beside them who raised a hand above his head and said, "The Rites Minister doesn't know what 'suspended' means? It means high — the dikes higher than the river, the river higher than the land!"

Cao Yao was a true Henan man; there was no place in the north he had not been, he had seen everything, and he was genuinely astonished by Zhang Xianzhong's ignorance. "Minister Zhang has never been to Henan?"

Now it was Zhang Xianzhong's turn to feel aggrieved: "I have been, actually — but it was winter, the river was frozen solid, just ice."

Cao Yao grinned. "No matter. Our Henan's in trouble this time — once we fight our way in, I'll show you around."

You could not let those two fiends chat — the more they talked, the more outrageous it got, planning to invade Henan just to see a suspended river on the ground... Liu Chengzong shot Chen Qiyu a look, cutting off their conversation: "Brother Yuxuan, continue."

Chen Qiyu first cupped his fists toward Cao Yao and said, "It is indeed as the Grand Commander says. The land of Qin sits high, and the Yellow River flows with great momentum — until it reaches Tongguan, blocked by the Qinling Mountains, it turns eastward into the lowlands of Henan."

"Low land slows the water; slow water deposits silt. Thus in Henan, the Yellow River's bed is constantly raised by sediment. At the Kaifeng section, the riverbed stands three zhang and five chi above Kaifeng city."

This knowledge, more precise than common understanding, was something even Cao Yao did not know.

Zhang Xianzhong stopped interrupting too. He simply leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the painted ceiling beams of the palace hall, picturing the scene in his mind and muttering to himself, "Damn... the river's surface nearly rivals the walls of Xi'an."

The walls of Xi'an were four zhang high.

The idiom 'a mouth like a suspended river' was, for the first time in Zhang Xianzhong's mind, rendered concrete.

And having said all this, Chen Qiyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

In truth, that initial 'just as I thought' expression of his had nothing whatsoever to do with foreseeing the Yellow River breach.

Rather, from the very day he was appointed River Circuit Viceroy, he had known that Liu the Lion would sooner or later question him about the Yellow River.

For a River Circuit Viceroy, the Yellow River was a question where failing to answer meant losing your head.

So Chen Qiyu had done a great deal of preparatory work on the Yellow River — and sure enough... Liu the Lion had asked.

"Therefore, Marshal, when the Yellow River bursts, it is the dikes that burst. Abundant water does not necessarily breach the embankments; scant water does not mean the embankments will hold."

Liu the Lion understood what he was saying.

The Yellow River's tendency to breach in Henan was not determined by water volume, but by topography.

From the Loess Plateau to the fertile plains of the Central Plain, the elevation drops a thousand meters. The Yellow River reaches Tongguan, slams into the Qinling Mountains, turns east... and randomly seeks a path to wander toward the sea.

Henan had not been peaceful these past few years either. The embankments along the banks, long neglected and unrepaired, had developed weaknesses — and the Yellow River could force a path through.

After that, the Prince of Qin's palace fell into silence.

Liu Chengzong leaned askew, half-sitting against the table, his horsewhip tapping rhythmically and lightly in his hand as he stared silently at the empire map hanging on the wall.

The assembled generals each harbored their own thoughts, exchanging glances from time to time, but none made a sound to disturb Liu Chengzong's contemplation.

They all knew that whenever Liu Chengzong stared at the map as if no one else were present and said nothing — war was about to come.

Cao Yao even raised his hand to point at the map, tracing a line far from Tongguan toward Henan, and clapped Zhang Tianlin on the shoulder, meaning his time to earn merit had arrived.

The two of them were far too familiar — their acquaintance traced back to the Tianqi era, before the Chengzu and Chengzong brothers had even gone off to be soldiers, when the two of them were already company commanders shoulder to shoulder at Yuhe Fort.

Now they were the Marshal Manor's garrison generals for two defensive fronts, one southeast and one northwest — even Zhang Xianzhong could not get a word in.

At that moment, Liu Chengzong, deep in thought as he stared at the map, suddenly stopped tapping his horsewhip and raised a hand. "Bring the deployments and intelligence on Ming forces in Shanxi, Henan, and Huguang. Send the order!"

The Plumed Forest Cavalry attendants standing by — Yue Wenkui, Li Qifeng, Zhang Yong, and others — immediately stepped forward to receive the command.

"Before dusk, the ten Assault Commanders of the Plumed Forest, Tiger Guard, Northern Yuan, Imperial Clan, Black Banner, Liaoyang, Scout Cavalry, Batu, Hengshan, and Reinforcement Suppression divisions; the eight Generals of the First and Second Brigades and the Qiyuan Support units; and the presiding officials of the Revenue, War, and Works Ministries are to enter the palace for council. Each is to order his own command to replenish warhorses, inventory arms and equipment, and prepare for deployment."

As he spoke, Liu Chengzong turned around and waved for the Plumed Forest Cavalry to carry out the orders, then looked at Zhang Tianlin. "For the Guanzhong Brigade to assemble at Tongguan — how many days do you need?"

"In reply to the Grand Marshal, full brigade assembly requires five days."

Zhang Tianlin answered with clasped fists. After speaking, he raised his head to glance at Liu Chengzong's expression, then added, "But the main and mobile battalions, seven thousand troops, can exit the pass by the afternoon of tomorrow."

Liu Chengzong had been issuing orders with great solemnity, but hearing Zhang Tianlin's words, he could not keep a straight face.

He knew Zhang Tianlin had been left to guard the home front during the great battle east of the ranges and was now burning to fight — but his five-thousand-man main-force encampment was stationed just outside the east gate of Xi'an Prefecture, two hundred li from Tongguan. Flying there in a day and a night, there was really no such desperate hurry.

Besides, handing over the Guanzhong Brigade's assigned defense zone would also take time.

"Assemble in five days, then march out six days from now."

"Within six days, the Guanzhong Brigade will transfer its defense posts and assigned zone to the Second Brigade. Advance scouts will ride out beyond the pass to reconnoiter Henan intelligence along the southern bank of the Yellow River. The entire brigade will assemble at Tong Pass carrying half a month's rations. Six days from now, we march out of the pass and seize the line of Mengjin, Sishui, and Xingyang in succession."

As soon as Liu Chengzong finished speaking, Zhang Tianlin clasped his fists in fervent excitement: "Your subordinate accepts the order!"

After answering, Zhang Tianlin paused, stunned, then savored Liu Chengzong's command. The more he pondered it, the stranger it felt.

Having long garrisoned Tong Pass, he was thoroughly familiar with the Henan environment. Although Liu Chengzong was sending his Guanzhong Brigade eastward first this time, in terms of troop deployment, it seemed the Guanzhong Brigade was merely the advance force, tasked with seizing the checkpoints along the river.

The Guanzhong Brigade's predecessor was one of Liu Chengzong's three great battalions. Relying on elite cavalry and fire-arrows, it breached every defense — the sharpest assault force under the Marshal's Command.

However, after expanding into the Guanzhong Brigade, it had been permanently stationed at key points in Guanzhong, worn down by the mundane duties of rotating garrisons. Its usual combat operations amounted to little more than driving off Zhang Renxue's Henan Army, with no major battles fought since.

Zhang Tianlin was itching for a fight, counting on this eastward push into Henan to conquer a princely fiefdom.

Yet from the sound of Liu Chengzong's orders, it seemed he had no intention of letting him assault strongholds.

Seizing a few small ferry-town cities along the Yellow River — for the Guanzhong Brigade, wasn't that using a great talent for a petty task?

What exactly was going through Zhang Tianlin's mind might not have been so clear to others.

But Liu Chengzong could see through it at a single glance.

Zhang Tianlin's expectation was clearly to attack the major, famous cities where the princely fiefs of Fu, Lu, Zheng, Tang, and Chong were located — Luoyang, Ji County, Henei, Nanyang, and Ruyang.

He smiled. "What, itching to fight a few hard battles?"

Before Zhang Tianlin could answer, Liu the Lion continued, "The Guanzhong Brigade, drilled by my elder brother's own hand, excels in field battle. Using it to storm cities and seize strongholds is using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken. The land of Henan is a flat, open plain — precisely the stage for galloping and charging at will."

He did not take those princely cities of Henan seriously.

Cities like Luoyang and Kaifeng were indeed easy to defend and hard to attack, but surrounding and besieging them was not so difficult.

Liu Chengzong's mind was still set on besieging a point to strike the reinforcements. He told the assembled commanders, "Do not contend for a single city or patch of land. Once Guanzhong's troops enter Henan, the cities have no legs to run away. Though the princely cities have high walls and deep moats, they are no more than items in our bag."

He emphasized to Zhang Tianlin, "Sending you to assault cities is using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken. Leave the siege work to Golden Cicada's Clansmen Camp. When Zhang Renxue leads his army to relieve them, the Guanzhong Brigade will then intercept and strike his forces, boosting our momentum. In that case, everything west of Kaifeng can be taken within a month or so."

"If a swift victory is impossible, then temporarily seize Henan Prefecture and use the Song Mountains and Ying River as a barrier to hold off the troops from Kaifeng."

Zhang Tianlin nodded in agreement. This was still Liu Chengzong's habitual strategy: first swallow the enemy's field forces, then throw full strength into attacking cities and seizing territory. The commanders of the Marshal's Command were all so familiar with it they could not be more so.

But Cao Yao and the other commanders looked at one another, utterly speechless at Liu Chengzong's deployment.

Letting Zhang Tianlin lead the Guanzhong Brigade to gallop and charge across Henan — anyone could understand that. Past Luoyang, further east was an unobstructed plain, a battlefield open on all four sides, truly suited for cavalry clashes.

But sending Golden Cicada, at the head of the Clansmen Camp composed of the various princely households of Shaanxi, to attack the cities of the various princely households of Henan... Cao Yao and the others could only interpret this as Liu Chengzong's mischievous sense of humor.

In truth, however, Liu the Lion felt that a rebel leader of imperial clan origin like Golden Cicada would find it easier to incite the commoner descendants of the Henan imperial clan to defect and fight. Likewise, compared to the Marshal's Command's regular army, their assault on the various princely fiefs' royal cities would be less likely to stir resistance in the hearts of the Henan commoners.

At the same time, the center of gravity for his troop deployment in this campaign was not placed on northern Henan.

Because the Henan region, strategically, was a battlefield open on all four sides — troops from any direction could enter Henan easily. At the same time, the Central Plains region was also a rare wealthy area in the realm.

But this place, under the Great Ming, was a poor province.

It was not that Henan was poor. In the agricultural era, Henan was one of the few wealthy regions.

It was simply that Henan's seven prefectures were garrisoned by seven imperial princes — one prince per prefecture, blessings shared by all. A single province's tax revenues were not even enough to pay the stipends for the princely estates.

Not to mention the two princely fiefs of Fu and Lu, belonging to the Wanli Emperor's dearest son and brother, which were the two wealthiest princely fiefs under heaven.

Liu the Lion thought to himself, if he were the Chongzhen Emperor, the place he would most want to conquer would not be Shaanxi, but these two princely fiefs.

Therefore, his objective was temporarily not set on northern Henan, but on Nanyang Prefecture in southern Henan, which he viewed as a passage into Huguang and a route to advance on Jingzhou and Xiangyang.

Ever since capturing the fertile Guanzhong — more precisely, Xi'an Prefecture with its vast, excellent fields — Liu the Lion had long coveted Huguang.

Shaanxi, among all the provinces under heaven, was the finest geographical unit militarily. Calling it a vantage point overlooking all below would not be an overstatement; attacking other places was as easy as bending down to pick something up.

It was just that Huguang, as a region radiating outward in all directions, presented nearly identical circumstances to both sides: a standoff was easy, but advancing was hard.

The narrow Qinling mountain paths made it difficult to rapidly pass a massive army through in a short time, and heavy weapons would severely delay the army's speed.

If the realm had only just descended into chaos, attacking Huguang from Shaanxi would still have been relatively easy.

But now, Huguang had been long managed by Lu Xiangsheng, who also commanded a large group of Liu the Lion's defeated former foes — Zu Dale, Yang Zhengfang, Lei Shisheng, Qin Yiming, Li Chongzhen, Yang Shien, and others, every one of them a fierce and valiant commander.

To block them, Liu Chengzong felt anyone would do. But if it came to defeating them and seizing Huguang, Liu Chengzong believed that none of his own subordinate commanders could claim a sure thing.

That was the Great Ming's last heavy troop group in the Central Plains region.

Compared to them, Zhang Renxue's Henan Army Corps, whether in scale or strength, was not worth worrying about.

Therefore, Liu the Lion shifted his riding crop, moving from Henan toward Huguang, tapping several strategic points in succession: "Nanyang Prefecture in Henan is currently empty. Enter Huguang via Nanyang, take the Xinye-Xiangyang line, and assemble forces there."

"The Second Brigade and the Hanzhong Brigade will seal the mountain paths. The Guanzhong Brigade will serve as a screen on the line from Xingyang to Kaifeng in northern Henan. Our army's troops will fight their way straight into Huguang, challenge Lu Xiangsheng to battle, and annihilate his great army in the region of Jingzhou and Xiangyang."

Having said this, he pointed to the location of Xiangyang on the map, turned to the commanders, and said, "Strike and seize Huguang, take its coin and grain, build naval strongholds and warships. In three to five years, the length of the Yangtze River will be ours to gallop across at will."

Zhang Tianlin's mouth hung slightly open. He stared blankly at the map, his mind envisioning Liu Chengzong's grand strategy.

He had merely wanted to secure the vanguard post for the attack on Henan, and at best, to capture Luoyang where the Prince of Fu resided — that would have satisfied him completely.

He had never imagined that a single breach of the Yellow River's dikes would lead Liu Chengzong to intend to seize the Yangtze.

If they followed Liu Chengzong's strategy, capturing the two prefectures of Nanyang and Henan, and if they could continue advancing, seizing Kaifeng Prefecture, then once the flooding along the Yellow River's banks subsided, the prefectures south of the Yellow River would be as easy to take as pulling items from a bag.

And capturing Xiangyang would mean controlling the Yangtze waterway. The Marshal's Command would very soon possess an inland river navy.

Goosebumps rose all over his skin.

It was only at this moment that Zhang Tianlin truly felt it... he was truly following Liu Chengzong, walking a path of contending for hegemony over all under heaven.

Good afternoon!