Fu Shanhe

Chapter 570 Outrageous Operations

"impossible!"

"How could the Annam Protectorate, located in such a remote and uncivilized place, possibly support an army of 300,000?"

Cao Zirui immediately denied it.

If the news is true, wouldn't it be a joke if he led his troops to surrender to the Northern barbarians?

The Marquis of Hanshui's appeal was unmatched in the Great Yu army.

If the main force alone has nearly 500,000 troops, they could not only march north to defend the emperor, but also conquer the entire country.

He demonstrated absolute strength; the Yu army along the way surrendered much faster than he did.

In many states, his former subordinates would hand over territory without him even having to lift a finger.

"General Cao, please do not doubt our professionalism."

The information gathered by spies may contain some inaccuracies, but the discrepancy will definitely not be too great.

If the Annam Protectorate was truly that poor, would the Marquis of Hanshui have abandoned Guangdong and Guangxi to spend over a decade in a remote, impoverished region?

Erd asked with a dissatisfied look on his face.

No matter how true the information is, once it comes out of his mouth, it must be true.

If the intelligence is proven false, how can he, as the head of the intelligence department, continue to hold his position in the imperial court?
If there aren't enough soldiers, horses will do; if there aren't enough horses, laborers will suffice.

Their southern expeditionary forces are all inflated; why should they expect that the publicly disclosed troop strength of others is accurate?

Spies are human, not gods. As long as the general numbers match, the intelligence is considered valid.

To ensure absolute accuracy, it's impractical to have intelligence personnel call out names one by one.

With the current capabilities of intelligence organizations, they can manage to collect some publicly available information, but infiltrating the enemy's high command is simply out of the question.

Compared to the leaky Great Yu Empire, the Annam Protectorate was much more secure.

All the civil and military officials under Li Mu were dreaming of achieving merit by following the emperor's rise to power, making this the time when their internal fighting strength was at its most formidable.

Going to turn these people against their cause is simply like throwing lambs to the slaughter.

"This……"

Cao Zirui was rendered speechless in an instant.

Marquis Hanshui came from a noble family. If Annam Protectorate was truly a remote and impoverished place, it would be completely illogical for him to have stayed there for more than a decade.

If the emperor was shrewd and capable, it could be said that he was going away to avoid disaster.

However, when Li Mu left, it was already the middle of the Yongning Dynasty, and the Great Yu had already declined drastically.

No matter how you judge him, Emperor Yongning was a mediocre ruler, and his abilities had nothing to do with being shrewd.

The two subsequent puppet emperors neither held real power, so they were even less worthy of the Marquis of Hanshui's fear.

The truth was out, and Cao Zirui was completely stunned.

Deep down, he cursed Li Mu's ancestors for eighteen generations.

With such wealth, why not reveal it sooner rather than later!

Hiding things from others will only lead to disaster.

Subconsciously, he always believed that Li Mu could only mobilize a total of 100,000 troops.

This conclusion is mainly based on the extreme value calculated from the fiscal revenue of Guangdong and Guangxi.

As for the Annam Protectorate, in everyone's subconscious, it was a money-losing entity.

Outward expansion comes at a cost; so many newly occupied territories cannot be occupied without a large garrison.

Once the large army is withdrawn, not only will the local forces retaliate, but the neighboring evil neighbors will also take advantage of the situation.

The theory was correct, but unfortunately, he didn't have all the information he needed.

The premise for a backlash from local forces is the existence of local forces. While expanding, the Annam Protectorate had already completed a major purge in the region.

Even if a bad neighbor takes advantage of a disaster, there must be a bad neighbor in the first place.

The European colonists' limited military strength couldn't even handle the local reserves.

Apart from European colonists, the entire Southeast Asia region and the Indochina Peninsula were under the sphere of influence of the Annam Protectorate, and there wasn't even an independent country.

唯一的邻居莫卧儿帝国，也因为干涉虞缅战争挨了一顿胖揍，这会儿正在舔伤口。

The miscalculation wasn't limited to military matters; the financial misunderstandings were even greater.

Newly occupied territories may not generate tax revenue in the short term, but they can provide markets for the sale of goods.

There are no direct taxes, but indirect taxes can still be collected.

Through its monopoly on salt and iron products, as well as its control over bulk commodities such as grain and cloth, the Annam Protectorate collected substantial indirect taxes.

These new economic practices were confusing even to the civil officials of Dayu, let alone the military generals.

In addition to taxes, there are millions of free laborers who are constantly generating revenue for the Annam Protectorate.

Especially in the last two years, the first-mover advantage of being the first to initiate the industrial revolution has become increasingly apparent.

"Alright, General Cao."

That scoundrel Li Mu is extremely cunning; it's understandable that you don't know he's hiding his strength.

No matter how many troops the enemy has, as long as we seize Jiangnan and Huguang first, we will be invincible.

The provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Yunnan, and Guizhou are mostly mountainous, resulting in relatively limited grain production.

Annam Protectorate was a new territory, and even though some areas were developed and could produce grain, the output was far less than that of Jiangnan and Huguang.

With our manpower, financial resources, and material strength, we can wear him down!

Hugjil smiled and reassured him.

From the perspective of the Tatar Kingdom, regardless of how many troops Li Mu had, they had to launch this war.

The Goguryeo Kingdom, our little brother, has been completely drained. With their productivity, they simply cannot support a standing army of 100,000.

If we don't go south to plunder soon, our people will go hungry in winter.

The same reason why the Guifang people were willing to respond positively.

They either had to head south and seize enough money, food, and supplies for the cold from the Great Yu, or they would starve and freeze to death in the harsh winter.

……

"Great Chanyu, the Yu army in Zhenjiang City has suddenly boarded ships and is heading downstream towards Songjiang Prefecture!"

The news brought by the young general instantly attracted everyone's attention.

As the gateway to Nanjing, Zhenjiang's strategic value is self-evident.

Under normal circumstances, Yu Jun should have defended the city at all costs, but the current situation is completely the opposite.

The fact that the Yu army in the city suddenly abandoned the city and fled when they had spared their strength clearly indicates something is wrong.

"The garrison suddenly abandoned the city and fled. What do you think the Yu Dynasty is up to?"

Hugjil asked, frowning.

"Great Chanyu, this humble general dares to guess that the city's garrison commander is afraid of our military might and dares not confront us!"

Nichileg was the first to respond.

The Zhenjiang garrison ran too fast, so fast that they didn't even have time to stop them.

Of course, even if one wanted to stop them, one wouldn't know where to begin.

Despite their crossing of the Yangtze River, the Yu Army's naval forces were still active in the Yangtze River waterway.

Using hastily made rafts to intercept enemy ships on the river is clearly not the act of a wise person.

Moreover, their strategic objective was to capture Zhenjiang, not to annihilate the Zhenjiang garrison.

Regardless of the reasons why the enemy abandoned the city, their strategic objective of capturing the city has now been achieved.

"wrong!"

"If they were afraid of our military might, they should have run away before the crossing of the Yangtze River campaign began."

As a result, they preferred to spend a lot of time evacuating the city's residents rather than withdrawing their army.

Furthermore, in the days that followed, the garrison in Zhenjiang fought quite well, showing no signs of morale collapse.

"If the defenders are willing, even if we attack for another month, we might not be able to take the city!"

Hugjil immediately denied it. Although he didn't know what had happened, his intuition told him that there was definitely more to this than met the eye.

"The Great Chanyu's death may have been caused by internal strife within the Yu Dynasty."

Under normal circumstances, even if the garrison in Zhenjiang were to withdraw, they should have gone to Nanjing to participate in the defense of the capital.

Abandoning the city and sailing down the river would have been a major political blunder.

Shi Shichang couldn't help but remind him.

Having lived in the Great Yu Empire before, he knew very well how intense the internal political struggles were.

The noble-affiliated troops were able to slack off and deliberately abandon the capital. The fact that they have been able to hold Zhenjiang for so long is already a great favor to the imperial court.

From a military general's personal perspective, going to Songjiang Prefecture to wait for the Marquis of Hanshui's reinforcements to arrive and join forces was much safer than participating in the Battle of Nanjing.

The reason they were able to abandon the capital was because the once prosperous capital had already been destroyed in the war, leaving behind only a mess.

The imperial court was unwilling to invest money in rebuilding, and the emperor no longer worked there, so it was simply lost.

Nanjing was different; the imperial court and the emperor were both located within the city.

Even if the defending troops wanted to flee, they had to take the young emperor and his officials with them at the very least, otherwise they wouldn't be able to explain themselves to the people.

Anyone familiar with military affairs knows that when fleeing for one's life, bringing family members will severely hinder the evacuation speed.

In particular, fleeing with the emperor makes it easier to attract enemy troops.

It's better to defend the city than to risk a evacuation; the chances of survival are much higher that way.

"Ok!"

"At a time like this, the Yu Dynasty still doesn't forget to fight among themselves. It seems that heaven is helping me!"

"Pass down the order to immediately send men to take over Zhenjiang City, and then march on Nanjing."

Having obtained a seemingly reasonable explanation, Hugjil did not bother to investigate further and immediately ordered his troops to march on Nanjing.

……

"Rumble..."

The sound of cannon fire ripped through the sky, startling the officials who were attending the court assembly.

"Why did the cannons suddenly go off? Quickly send someone to check what's happening outside."

No sooner had Wan Huaijin finished speaking than a young general rushed in.

"My lords, something terrible has happened!"

"The Northern barbarians...the Northern barbarians are attacking!"

Upon hearing this news, everyone's first reaction was bewilderment.

Although the northern barbarians crossed the Yangtze River, Zhenjiang was still blocking their way.

Without removing Zhenjiang as a thorn in their side, the enemy would not dare to launch a full-scale attack on Nanjing.

"Oops!"

Something's happened in Zhenjiang!

The Duke of Chu immediately drew a conclusion.

"Lord Duke, why didn't the imperial court receive advance notice of the incident in Zhenjiang?"

Even if a scorched-earth policy was implemented along the way, surely they would have left behind at least a few spies?

He Zhengze couldn't help but press for an answer.

With the Battle of Nanjing underway, Zhenjiang, a strategically important location, certainly deserves close attention.

The strategically important town was lost in a muddle, without the court receiving any prior warning. They only found out when the northern barbarians attacked.

Their performance in intelligence gathering was clearly inadequate.

"Perhaps the scouts encountered an accident and failed to transmit the intelligence back in time."

The Duke of Chu answered with a forced smile.

Deep down, he was already secretly lamenting his fate.

Not all nobles are capable of brilliant military strategies.

For example, this Nanjing garrison commander was rich in theoretical experience, but his practical experience was limited to working with Yun Xiangwen to suppress the "White Lotus Rebels".

The entire operation was orchestrated by the nobility, seemingly reaping great rewards, but in reality, it was all just bandits and outlaws filling in the gaps.

Being suddenly put in charge of Nanjing's defense was inherently challenging.

With so many things to arrange, he was so busy that he completely forgot about deploying scouts.

For the defending side, this military blunder was not fatal.

Under normal circumstances, when Zhenjiang fell, Yun Xiangwen should have sent someone to warn the imperial court in advance.

After the city fell, the remaining troops also had to retreat to participate in the defense of Nanjing.

He was all prepared; once Yun Xiangwen arrived, he would pull him to the command post to help with the work.

To my utter surprise, this comrade-in-arms, on whom I had placed such high hopes, turned out to be so unreliable.

"What a convenient accident!"

"Humph!"

"Hopefully this is the last time. If a few more accidents happen, we'll all become prisoners!"

An Jingzhi chimed in with his own complaints.

As a seasoned veteran of officialdom, even without military expertise, he could sense something was amiss.

Those qualified to serve as scouts are all elite soldiers.

One or two scouts might encounter an accident, but it's absurd for all of them to encounter an accident at the same time.

If any scouts along the way noticed something amiss and issued a warning to the court, they should have known in advance that the northern barbarians were attacking.

Even if we only receive the news half an hour in advance, everyone can be mentally prepared.

"Alright, let's end today's morning assembly ahead of schedule!"
After coming down, I quickly checked the implementation of the city's defenses.

"The Five City Garrison and Yingtian Prefecture must both mobilize. At this critical juncture, there must be no chaos within the city."

Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Wan Huaijin immediately called a halt to the court session.

Problems should be resolved privately. Bringing them up for discussion in court at a time like this is just asking for trouble.

Wars do not change according to individual will; the Battle of Nanjing officially began when the imperial court took action.

In July, the Yangtze River, facing the summer breeze, stirs up waves.

Hugjil personally led an army of 80,000 to form a battle array south of the city. Their black armor gleamed coldly in the morning sun, and their battle flags fluttered in the river wind.

"fire!"

With a roar from Shi Shichang, sixty giant cannons roared simultaneously, solid shot whistling as it crashed down on the city walls.

"Artillery fire back!"

The garrison commander of Shangyu immediately ordered a counterattack.

The cannonballs flew out and carved several bloody trenches in front of the army, and in an instant, the auxiliary troops participating in the siege were killed or wounded.

Upon seeing this, Shi Shichang remained completely unmoved.

The lives of the auxiliary troops are worthless. Once they die, they can be incorporated into the Yu army. As long as their direct subordinates are not used as cannon fodder, it doesn't matter.

When deploying troops, he deliberately placed generals who were usually at odds with him in the main attack positions, ostensibly to give them a chance to prove themselves.

The suicide squad, carrying ladders, rushed to the moat, their grappling hooks and iron anchors snapping into the battlements.

Eight hundred helmeted warriors charged across the pontoon bridge, the clanging of armor plates mingling with the whistling of arrows piercing the air, weaving a prelude to death.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Times have changed. Faced with a barrage of bullets, traditional armor proves utterly ineffective.

Many soldiers fell on the battlefield before they even had a chance to climb the ladders.

The bloody battle continued until nightfall, and the moat was stained red with blood.

As the bugle sounded the retreat, soldiers on both sides breathed a sigh of relief.

(End of this chapter)