The Succession Struggle in the Dream of the Red Chamber

Chapter 143 A Dark and Windy Night is Ideal for Attacking the City

From the escaped constables, Tu Chengyu learned that the county town had been captured and the Yangzhou prefect had disappeared.

Meanwhile, news came that the rebellious salt workers, after breaking through the county town and looting, had not withdrawn from the town and were still occupying it.

Upon learning of this situation, Tu Chengyu immediately relayed the news of the salt workers' rebellion to the surrounding prefectures and counties, requesting nearby garrison battalions or city defense troops to come to their aid.

On the other side, they immediately ordered the ships to speed up, hoping to reach the county town as soon as possible and rescue it.

At this moment, Tu Chengyu couldn't understand one thing: why did the salt workers suddenly rebel?

The salt workers' riots could be attributed to the coercion of Prefect Tian, ​​but now that his reinforcements have not yet arrived, there is no need for him to continue the coercion.

There was no reason for them to rebel. Did they really want to rebel?

With his questions in mind, Tu Chengyu finally arrived at the county town occupied by salt workers before sunset.

As the vanguard, Su Xuanbao was the first to arrive at the county town and the first to observe its current state.

So as soon as Tu Chengyu got off the ship and came over, he immediately came to report the situation.

Tu Chengyu asked, "What's the situation in the county town now?"

Su Xuanbao said, "I just went over to take a look. The four gates of the county town are tightly closed, and there are people patrolling the city walls. As for the situation inside the city, I haven't found out yet."

Although Su Xuanbao's explanation was simple, it still gave Tu Chengyu a clear understanding of the current situation.

That is, these salt workers not only captured the county town, but also intended to occupy it and confront the government troops.

Tu Chengyu couldn't understand why they dared to do this. Did they really think the imperial army was a bunch of pushovers?

Do they really think they can challenge the imperial court with just a mere county town?
It seems that if we don't teach these people a lesson, they'll really think the imperial court is finished.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu asked, "Can you tell how many of them there are, and how many of them are armed?"

Because salt workers rarely came into contact with knives or similar items during their daily work, they likely didn't have many suitable weapons.

Tu Chengyu asked this question for two reasons. First, he wanted to use it to assess the salt workers' fighting capacity.

Instead, he wanted to see if any other forces had gotten involved. Tu Chengyu simply didn't believe that these salt workers would suddenly lose their minds and rebel.

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's question, Su Xuanbao replied, "Judging from the number of people on the city wall, the rebels shouldn't be too numerous. They also don't have many weapons; most of them are carrying sticks and hoes."

Based on these circumstances, the rebelling salt workers' fighting strength should not be too strong at present.

So Tu Chengyu asked Su Xuanbao again, "If I were to send your guards to attack the city, do you think you could break through the county town?"

Su Xuanbao raised his head and said, "Your Highness, rest assured, the city walls are low and the defenders are salt workers. I am confident that I can break through them."

Upon hearing this, Tu Chengyu said, "Since you are confident, I will entrust this task to you."

"You can start making preparations now. As for the manpower for the siege, some can be drawn from the guards, and the rest can be selected from the soldiers of the Yangzhou Garrison."

Why did Tu Chengyu send Su Xuanbao to the garrison to select people? This is what he was thinking.

As the saying goes, "A great reward will surely bring forth brave men." If the reward is sufficient, there will always be some among these thousand men who dare to risk their lives.

Su Xuanbao was the first step, and immediately following the second step, Tu Chengyu called Lin Ruhai over and said to him:
"Lord Lin, write a letter of persuasion for me to surrender. Say that I believe their unrest is justified and that I can give them a chance to surrender."

"As long as they come out and surrender before it gets completely dark, I promise to only punish the ringleaders and leave the rest unpunished."

"At the same time, have those people who are familiar with the salt workers that Han Bocai brought shout into the city and tell the people in the city what I just said."

The letters were for the leaders among the salt workers, while the shouts were for everyone.

Tu Chengyu believed that by using a two-pronged approach, he would ensure that all the rebellious salt workers in the city would know that he, the Prince of Su, had arrived, and that he had made promises to them.

I'm sure some of them will believe it if they use the name of a prince of the current dynasty as an endorsement.

Even if we can't get them to surrender right now, we'll at least shake some of them. That will make things much easier when Su Xuanbao leads his men to attack the city.

Lin Ruhai received the order and immediately went to carry it out.

Soon a guard shot an arrow carrying a letter of surrender into the town.

At the same time, the men brought by Han Bocai, protected by soldiers, began shouting around the city walls of the county.

Because the rebellious salt workers had no bows and arrows, those who shouted could only watch helplessly from close by the city walls, unable to do anything.

While Lin Ruhai was arranging this matter, Tu Chengyu was not idle either.

He summoned Quan Xu, along with the two deputy generals of the garrison, Tang Jiu and Luo Ping.

Once they had all arrived, Tu Chengyu said, "I plan to divide the garrison into two parts and have you lead them to attack the county town from two directions. Do you dare to do it?"

Quan Xu was the only general under Tu Chengyu who could lead troops, besides Su Xuanbao.

I was already incredibly envious when I saw Su Xuanbao receive the main attack assignment.

Now that he heard he also had a task, he was naturally happy and readily agreed.

In stark contrast to Quan Xu were the two deputy generals of the garrison battalion, whose faces were filled with bitterness after hearing Tu Chengyu's words.

Tu Chengyu looked at them and said, "Are you two unwilling?"

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu's cold question, the two of them felt a chill run down their spines.

They didn't want to be misunderstood as disobedient and become the next Fan Shan.

Therefore, Tang Jiu quickly replied, "Your Highness, it is not that we are unwilling to obey Your Highness's orders, but that we have something to say to Your Highness."

Tu Chengyu asked, "Is there anything you wish to say to me?"

Tang Jiu said, "Your Highness should be able to see that the soldiers of the garrison have never been trained and their combat ability is even worse than that of the common people."

"Now that Your Highness has ordered me to lead these men to attack the city, I'm afraid they'll scatter and flee before the battle even begins."

Tu Chengyu wondered what he was going to say, but it turned out he was talking about this.

Tu Chengyu was naturally aware of what he was talking about, and of course he would take it into consideration.

The reason Tang Jiu is worried is that Tu Chengyu hasn't explained the matter clearly yet.

So, Tu Chengyu explained the key points to them.

"You are not the main attackers, but merely feints. Your goal is simply to distract the enemy and disrupt their plans."

Hearing Tu Chengyu say this, Tang Jiu and the other person breathed a sigh of relief.

However, Tang Jiu's words just now also served as a reminder to Tu Chengyu.

He added, "Listen up, when the fight starts, you can fight however you want, but there's one thing you absolutely must remember."

"That means we can't let the garrison fall into disarray, and we can't let them rout and escape so easily."

"If such a thing happens, I will hold all three of you accountable."

Tu Chengyu's words didn't even spare Quan Xu, one of his own people, leaving Tang Jiu and the other two so frightened that they could only agree verbally.

So after they went down and assigned manpower to Quan Xu.

The two men surrounded the troops assigned to them, using a combination of coaxing and intimidation to temporarily scare the rabble.

Unlike the other two, Quan Xu, after taking command of his subordinates...

But then they began a performance of making empty promises and drawing grand gestures.

While praising the enemy's weakness, they also boasted about their own prowess.

At the same time, he didn't forget to bring Tu Chengyu out to endorse him, making his promises seem highly credible. And you know what? After Quan Xu's nonsensical pronouncements, the hundreds of people following him actually showed a hint of longing.

If Quan Xu were given some time, he would likely be able to train many good soldiers from among these people.

Unfortunately, time was too short, and Quan Xu could only lead these people to put on a show and intimidate the enemy.

Tu Chengyu started making arrangements as soon as he arrived, and now all the preparations are finally complete.

Now he waited to see how the salt workers in the city would react.

If they listen to Tu Chengyu's letter of persuasion and surrender directly, that would be the best outcome.

If no one surrenders before nightfall, then the siege can begin.

Tu Chengyu really hoped it would be the former, but unfortunately things didn't go as planned. Even when it was completely dark, there was no news of surrender coming from the city.

Not only did they not surrender, but the towering flames and boisterous voices in the city showed that they were burning, killing, and looting.

Tu Chengyu naturally could not tolerate such a situation.

He immediately issued orders for Quan Xu and Tang Jiu's two feint attack forces to light torches and attack from different directions.

As soon as the troops below the city moved, the enemy guarding the city walls noticed it very quickly.

They immediately mobilized manpower to block the two attacking forces.

With Quan Xu's two teams keeping things in check, the sounds of burning, killing, and looting in the city seemed to have decreased considerably.

Meanwhile, Su Xuanbao, who had been lying in ambush, also found a weak point in the city wall.

He led his men silently to approach the city wall and attacked from this weak point.

Although the enemy was careless, Su Xuanbao and his men quickly climbed the city wall.

But just as they climbed up, before the main force could catch up, they were spotted by the enemy on the city wall.

The enemy on the city wall was numerous and held the terrain, and some of them were willing to fight to the death.

For a moment, they managed to block Su Xuanbao's attack, and it even felt that Su Xuanbao might be driven off the city wall again at any time.

Tu Chengyu stood at a distance, watching all of this by the dim light of the fire.

He felt that Su Xuanbao might really fail at the last minute, and wondered if he should send out some more of his guards to help him.

Just as Tu Chengyu was hesitating, Quan Xu, who had not placed any hope in him, brought him a pleasant surprise.

Quan Xu, using some unknown means, managed to accidentally breach the city wall during a feint attack.

Moreover, he gained a firm foothold on the city wall and waited for all the soldiers of the garrison he led to rush up the city wall.

Surprisingly, with their superior numbers and weaponry, they gained the upper hand on the city wall and gradually drove the enemy off the wall.

Quan Xu unexpectedly gained the upper hand and disrupted the enemy's plan.

Not only did they fail to stop Quan Xu, but they also gradually lost their momentum even in front of Su Xuanbao.

So very quickly, the enemy was driven off the city wall near Tu Chengyu's side.

After they had completely occupied the city walls, Quan Xu even sent people to open the city gate on this side.

Then, Tang Jiu, who had been making no move until now, led his men to quickly storm the city gate.

This very successful siege made the soldiers of the garrison camp, who were initially somewhat afraid, less frightened.

At this moment, they all remembered the generous rewards promised by Prince Su and wanted to gain some credit in this favorable battle.

Now, Tu Chengyu was absolutely certain that he had taken over the county town that had just been occupied by the rebellious salt workers.

Next, all he had to do was wait for Quan Xu and Su Xuanbao to lead their men to quell the rebellion and capture these brainless salt workers, and then he would have accomplished his mission.

He'll have to ask these salt workers why they rebelled at this critical juncture, and he'll also give the ringleaders a good dressing down.

However, just as Tu Chengyu was thinking about this, he suddenly wondered if the leader of these salt workers might take advantage of the chaos to escape.

Judging from the situation during the siege and the information we've been gathering, there's a very high chance they've escaped.

So Tu Chengyu asked Quan Wenwei, who was standing next to him, "Mr. Quan, if someone in the city wants to escape, which way do you think they would run?"

Upon hearing this question, Quan Wenwei thought for a moment before replying:

"Your Highness, if the students were to choose, I believe they would flee eastward."

"Eastward?" Tu Chengyu asked doubtfully, "To escape into the sea?"

Quan Wenwei nodded and said, "Yes, Your Highness. If someone really manages to escape the city, there is land in the north, south, and west. They might not be able to outrun their pursuers."

"But escaping from the east is different. It won't take long to reach the sea. If they prepare boats in advance, it will be difficult for them to catch up."

Upon hearing Quan Wenwei mention the boat, Tu Chengyu no longer doubted Quan Wenwei's judgment.

He then said, "Since they might be trying to escape from the east, let's go to the east and ambush them. Maybe we can catch a big fish."

Upon hearing Tu Chengyu say this, Quan Wenwei immediately tried to dissuade him:
“Your Highness, a noble son should not sit under a dangerous roof. Why should Your Highness risk your life for a few salt workers?”

In the past, Tu Chengyu might have considered Quan Wenwei's opinion, but after this period of training...

The matter at hand is no longer a big deal for Tu Chengyu.

Besides, he currently has over a hundred fully armed elite guards by his side.

With these guards around, Tu Chengyu didn't believe that a motley crew of salt workers could do anything to him.

Thinking of this, Tu Chengyu said, "What's there to worry about with a mere petty thief?"

Seeing this, Quan Wenwei wanted to continue persuading, but Tu Chengyu stopped him with a gesture, which also stopped Lin Ruhai, who was about to speak but then stopped himself.

Then, Tu Chengyu gave orders to the guards behind him, leading them directly towards the east side of the county town.

Tu Chengyu was standing near the east, so his group soon arrived at the road leading directly to the sea from the east gate of the county town.

After choosing a suitable ambush location, everyone hid on both sides of the road, quietly waiting for the enemy to arrive.

Because it was Quan Wenwei's guess, Tu Chengyu thought that if he ambushed at this location, it might take a long time for enemies to come, or no one might come at all.

But to his surprise, after they had been lying in ambush for about fifteen minutes, they heard footsteps coming from the direction of the county town, along with the sound of horses' hooves.

Just then, the guard who had been checking ahead ran back to report the situation.

"Your Highness, forty or fifty people have come from the county town, including five or six riding ponies."

Tu Chengyu asked, "Did they bring any weapons?"

The guard replied, "Each of them is armed."

The salt workers and their group had no decent weapons at all.

But every one of these escapees was carrying a weapon.

This shows that these people must have been important figures among the rebellious salt workers, or even their leaders.

Since they were important figures, Tu Chengyu naturally had no reason to let them go.

He quickly instructed the men behind him to stay alert and make sure to capture all of them.

(End of this chapter)