Chapter 260: The Difficult Assault on Taojiang

Jiang Jiang Mingyu then beckoned Fang Hang to sit as well, smiling and saying, "General Fang, we are all on the same side, so do not hold back. Sit." Through this incident, he had confirmed that Fang Hang was completely on his side.

After Fang Hang took his seat, Jiang Jiang Mingyu asked, "Tell me about the city defense situation in Taojiang Commandery and Jingcheng. How is it?" Tu Tu Kesiluo did not rush to answer this time, leaving the opportunity to the newly joined Fang Hang.

Fang Hang cleared his throat and spoke, "My Lord, let me put it this way: the current Fei Hou is on the verge of total collapse." Hearing this, Jiang Jiang Mingyu immediately became interested and pressed, "Why do you say that?"

Fang Hang took a deep breath and explained, "Previously, to defeat the various righteous armies, Fei Hou frantically recruited new soldiers, causing the people's resentment to boil over. Later, to deal with you, My Lord, he recruited tens of thousands more troops. Since then, countless common people have begun to find ways to flee Jingzhou, moving south and north in droves, hoping to join your ranks. Fei Hou flew into a rage and ordered that anyone who left Jingzhou without permission be beheaded and displayed publicly, yet he still could not stop the people from fleeing. We saw the walls of Taojiang city hung with corpses. The once prosperous Jingcheng now has every household keeping its doors shut; it has truly become a living hell. Yet Fei Hou remains immersed in the delusional dream of restoring Great Feng; it is truly laughable."

Tu Tu Kesiluo nodded repeatedly after listening. Jiang Jiang Mingyu also chuckled and said, "Self-inflicted harm cannot be survived; it seems Fei Hou indeed cannot last much longer." After speaking, he instructed Tu Tu Kesiluo, "Quickly issue proclamations to Xiangcangzhou, Lanzhou, Yizhou, and the Taizhou and Guizhou areas we have occupied. Tell the common people who leave Jingzhou to join us that we will exempt them from one year of taxes and welcome them to settle in our territories!"

You cannot catch a wolf without sacrificing a child; to win the support of the people, Jiang Jiang Mingyu was willing to go all out. His family was wealthy; even if grain supplies were insufficient, he had his wife, the richest woman in Eastern Yue, to support him. Fang Hang agreed, saying, "My Lord is wise. With this, the people's hearts will surely turn toward you. The people's will is the will of Heaven; great achievements are just around the corner!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu waved his hand, having already calculated the upcoming military actions in his mind. He decided to first send envoys to various regions to pacify and recruit the people.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu waved his hand again, no longer discussing the recruitment of the people, and instead asked, "General Fang, do you know how many troops remain in Taojiang now?"

Fang Hang answered without hesitation, "Because the Yue Wang City is located in Taojiang, since the founding of Eastern Yue, the army stationed there has never been fewer than 200,000. Even now, as Fei Hou's power wanes day by day, I estimate Taojiang still has at least 150,000 elite soldiers."

Upon hearing this, Tu Tu Kesiluo was momentarily stunned: "How did so many people suddenly appear? Wasn't it said that Fei Hou no longer had the power to mobilize troops? This differs far too much from my previous estimate!"

Thinking of this, Tu Tu Kesiluo could not help but silently criticize in his heart: "Indeed, the Emperor's feet are different; one commandery has 350,000 people! Remarkable!"

Fang Hang explained, "General Tu may not know; these hundred thousand plus are the last defensive forces of Yue Wang City and are not counted in the total number of Eastern Yue's national army. If Fei Hou had not previously privately transferred 50,000 to deal with Wu Wu Chengyun, there would now be 200,000. Moreover, they are more elite than the 120,000 My Lord defeated previously."

Hearing they were elite, Tu Tu Kesiluo sneered disdainfully, "General Fang, do not think I, Tu Tu Kesiluo, am speaking wildly. What we fear least is so-called elite troops. Wasn't the Northern Liao cavalry hailed as the number one elite on the continent? Yet they were still beaten into a rout by us! If Fei Hou truly had such powerful troops, he would not be shrinking inside Yue Wang City waiting to die. Let me tell you, I, Tu Tu Kesiluo, fear no so-called elite troops!"

Hearing the words of the two, Jiang Jiang Mingyu smiled inwardly. He understood Tu Tu Kesiluo's character; he was always stubborn in his own views, but what Fang Hang said was not false. These hundred thousand plus defenders were indeed a hard bone to crack and must be dealt with cautiously.

Seeing Tu Tu Kesiluo's face full of confidence, Fang Hang seemed to want to argue a few more points, but ultimately closed his mouth. As a newly surrendered general, he feared saying too much would make Jiang Jiang Mingyu suspicious.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu reminded Tu Tu Kesiluo, "Never underestimate the enemy, or we will fail miserably." Tu Tu Kesiluo quickly nodded to indicate he remembered.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu then asked, "General Fang, if I use my 100,000 troops against Fei Hou's 150,000 elite soldiers, what are the odds of victory?"

Fang Hang thought for a long time before speaking cautiously, "My Lord, to be honest, the 50,000 you recently recruited have unstable hearts and have not yet gelled with your old troops. It is difficult to achieve unified command in a single battle. I fear the odds of victory are at most one-third, nothing more."

Tu Tu Kesiluo disagreed: "You saw our strength that day. Let me say it again: I, Tu Tu Kesiluo, never fear so-called elite troops. Besides, Big Brother and Mr. Tang Sima said that war does not rely solely on brute force, but more on strategy. I see that Fei Hou, trapped in the city, can at most stir up no more than a small wave!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu strongly agreed with his view: "Exactly. Even if Fei Hou's army is fierce, we can still achieve victory through strategy. I vow to take Yue Wang City and Fei Hou's dog life."

Seeing that Fang Hang was still somewhat uneasy, Jiang Jiang Mingyu instructed Tu Tu Kesiluo, "Time waits for no one; we will march to attack Taojiang tomorrow morning. General Fang, speak of the situation over there."

Fang Hang sighed helplessly and could only describe the defensive situation of Taojiang City.

"My Lord, Taojiang City can be called a natural fortress."

"Just the city walls are five zhang high, fully more than twice the height of ordinary city walls; arrows find it hard to shoot into the city."

"My Lord, the defender of Taojiang is Liu Liu Jiayi, a close confidant of Fei Hou. He is a die-hard brother."

"I recall that on your journey from Jingcheng to Shangmu, My Lord, you also passed through Taojiang; you should know how solid the defense of that city is."

"Outside the city walls, there is also a moat two zhang wide, which undoubtedly adds to the difficulty of the attack."

"The city walls are filled with archers under Liu Liu Jiayi's command, each with exquisite Shangshan Jian Fa, guarding strictly."

"What is even more headache-inducing is that outside the tall city walls, there is another moat two zhang wide, meaning it is impossible to approach the walls directly."

"The moat is filled with sharp wooden stakes, and there are many hidden reefs with turbulent currents; it is a natural obstacle to attack."

"With such solid city defenses, Liu Liu Jiayi sits comfortably inside commanding; it is truly unbearable to watch."

"Therefore, before we march on Jingcheng, we must first pull out this nail of Taojiang; otherwise, there will be endless trouble in the future."

"As far as I know, Liu Liu Jiayi has 50,000 elite soldiers under his command. Adding Fei Hou's remaining 150,000, the 100,000 troops we have will face a full 200,000 enemy soldiers."

"Since Liu Liu Jiayi is still stationed in Taojiang, holding 50,000 troops, we cannot simply leave him alone."

"I suggest we first prune Fei Hou's wings and eliminate Liu Liu Jiayi's army. Only then, when we later engage Fei Hou's main force, can we stop worrying about the rear and devote all our strength to victory."

Jiang Jiang Mingyu pondered for a moment, then spoke in a deep voice, "You two have worked hard on this mission. Rest well tonight. Tomorrow morning, transmit my military order and tell Goudan to prepare for battle in advance."

"This time, all 100,000 of our troops will mobilize, without a single lapse. We will leave only 1,000 old, weak, and disabled soldiers in the city, along with one deputy general to guard. Tell Goudan to prepare to march."

Jiang Jiang Mingyu was already certain in his heart that the entire Yuezhou would soon fall into our army's grasp. Even leaving only these troops in the city, no mistake would occur.

Tu Tu Kesiluo and the other two received the order and left. Jiang Jiang Mingyu turned and stood before the map, falling into deep thought.

He carefully examined every place name on the map, his brows furrowed, sinking into long contemplation. He tapped lightly on a few spots on the map, as if planning the marching route.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu's 100,000-strong army was about to march; he had to consider every detail to ensure the odds of victory in this campaign.

On the map, the location of Taojiang was particularly prominent. Jiang Jiang Mingyu stared at that spot, his eyes firm. He must find a way to break through this difficulty of Taojiang and defeat Liu Liu Jiayi to advance smoothly.

As Jiang Jiang Mingyu concentrated his thoughts, time slipped away minute by minute, second by second. To ensure the 100,000-strong army could march to victory, he still had too many things to prepare.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu was studying the map with full concentration when suddenly a report came from outside the door: "My Lord, an envoy from Guizhou requests an audience."

Without turning his head, Jiang Jiang Mingyu said, "Let him in."

Immediately, a messenger in his early thirties walked in and stood respectfully behind Jiang Jiang Mingyu, saying, "My Lord, here is the battle report from Guizhou."

Only then did Jiang Jiang Mingyu turn around and ask in a calm tone, "What does Goudan say?"

Although the messenger was exhausted, he reported with an excited tone, "Reporting to My Lord, I was sent by General Li to bring news. Our army captured the last commandery city in Guizhou three days ago; the entire Guizhou is now under our control. Lu Tong sent me to present the victory report and deliver the news."

So fast? Jiang Jiang Mingyu could not help but be somewhat surprised; he had not originally expected Li Goudan to completely control Guizhou a step ahead of Zhu Ge Yu.

After a brief silence, Jiang Jiang Mingyu could not help but laugh heartily, shouting, "Well done! Goudan did a good job! Immediately send someone back to Huicangzhou to transmit the order and reward the three armies of Guizhou heavily."

Seeing the messenger nod respectfully in agreement, Jiang Jiang Mingyu asked again, "How many troops can Goudan currently mobilize under his command?"

The messenger had anticipated his question and immediately reported, "Excluding the troops stationed in cities across the region, Lu Tong can still mobilize about 20,000."

Originally, Tu Tu Kesiluo had brought 20,000; now Li Goudan had another 20,000. Although the troop strength was not large, Jiang Jiang Mingyu did not look down on it because of this.

He spoke in a deep voice and ordered, "You must immediately ride back at full speed to notify Goudan. Order him to march 20,000 troops toward Yue Wang City. It must be fast. Leave all large baggage behind. They must arrive secretly outside Yue Wang City within three days."

Having one more combat force would be even more helpful in defeating Fei Hou.