Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 143: A Match Made in Heaven

Where are the defenders?
Could it be that he went somewhere else?
The commander of the 1,000 Huaiyin troops responsible for attacking the armory was named Shan Hong. He immediately sent people to investigate the movements of the defenders. If the defenders in Changsha City went somewhere else, it would be troublesome.

Sure enough, after investigation, it was found that the defenders in Changsha city bypassed the armory and went to the inner city without taking any equipment, carrying only some swords, guns and sticks with them.

"Could it be that they knew the plan in advance?"

Shan Hong was shocked and quickly ordered 300 men to stay in the armory, and the rest followed him to pursue.

On the other side, an accident also occurred among the soldiers who went to the granary to set fire.

After they arrived at the granary, they poured kerosene on it and prepared to start a fire.

During this period, some soldiers felt a little reluctant when looking at the bags of high-quality food. They could not help but poke a small hole in it with a knife, thinking of taking some food back themselves. Then a lot of sand leaked out.

The leader of the Huaiyin army who was responsible for burning the grain was horrified.

He quickly checked a few more bags of grain, and without exception, they were all sand.

The enemy actually transferred the food in advance!

Oh no, go back and provide support!
Five hundred men quickly rushed to the armory.

When they arrived at the armory, they learned from the people who stayed behind that Shan Hong was pursuing them, and they were shocked again.

Did someone leak the military secrets, or did the enemy have foresight?
There is no time to think too much. The key now is to lead the troops to support Shan Hong immediately.

At this time, the highest military officer in Changsha City, Changsha Xiedusi, was urging the soldiers to advance quickly.

"Hurry, hurry, the governor has ordered us to go to the governor's residence on Gongyuan Street and protect his family!"

The soldiers hurried on their way with sleepy eyes. After hearing the commander's order, they responded weakly, some of them were still wearing their underwear.

As war suddenly broke out in the city, the Governor of Hunan was worried about the safety of his family, so he ordered his housekeeper to rush to the military camp and order them to send troops quickly to protect him.

The steward had no knowledge of military affairs and just kept urging the soldiers. The commander did not dare to offend him, so he also kept urging the soldiers.
This caused the soldiers to rush out in a hurry.

Some people were holding a knife, but only realized it was a sheath when they were halfway along the journey.

Some people carried a bow on their backs, but after walking for a long time they realized that they had lost their arrows.

There were a few people who were night blind and found themselves in an unfamiliar army as they walked.

"Hmm, where is it?"

These people asked.

Shan Hong laughed grimly, "It's the Huaiyin Army!"

Fighting broke out.

There is no mercy.

Mercy is cruelty to one's own side.

Even though Shan Hong knew that these defending soldiers were all poor people, he would show no mercy when it came time to strike.

There is no need to dwell too much on the process; it was a complete massacre.

The overall quality of the Huaiyin Army was far superior to that of the Changsha defenders. In addition, the Changsha defenders were in extremely low condition. As soon as the Huaiyin Army charged forward, the Changsha defenders began to disintegrate.

A Huaiyin Army soldier swung his sharp sword and chopped it directly into two halves!
The Huaiyin army who were wielding swords were very shocked!

"Is my power that strong?"

"Look carefully, oh, it turns out to be a scabbard..."

There were two archers in the Changsha garrison, one without arrows and the other without a bow.

One of them said, "Lend me your bow."

One of them said, "Lend me your arrows."

During the dispute, the Huaiyin soldiers shot two arrows, killing both of them. Soon, the reinforcements from the rear who were burning food also rushed over, and the two sides attacked together, and the Changsha garrison was quickly defeated.

On the other side, He Ai led 500 elite soldiers to quickly capture various aristocratic families in the city. Because he had internal intelligence, he knew the information of these aristocratic families very well, so he could capture them all accurately.

In a short while, the three largest families in Changsha City were all arrested by him, and seven medium-sized families were also arrested one after another, including the Gong family.

He Ai's army gathered together and guarded various places in the city. At this time, there was no power in Changsha to resist.

Hunan Governor Qian Yi looked at He Ai with fear, and even now he was still a little unable to react.

Is Changsha so dilapidated?
On the other side, the Huizhou governor wanted to bury his head in the ground, for fear that He Ai would recognize him.

He Ai actually knew him because he had seen his portrait, but the position of Governor of Huizhou was no longer of much value, so He Ai didn't care.

Changsha City was indeed captured, and it was easily captured, but He Ai could not hold it. Because the main force of the Huaiyin Army was still far away in Huizhou, the distance was too far, and He Ai was alone outside and could not hold Changsha City at all.

His attack on the city was just a warning to the officers and soldiers in the city. Now it is time to retreat.

He Ai extorted 30,000 taels of silver in cash from each family, collecting a total of 300,000 taels. He then kidnapped the eldest sons of each family and used them as hostages, threatening that each family would have to pay 100,000 taels of silver to redeem them.

Gong Qi was furious and cursed He Ai as a thief, saying that his Gong family and the Huaiyin thieves could not coexist.

In a rage, He Ai ordered his men to beat Gong Qi violently and then set fire to the Gong family mansion. Although people tried to rescue them in time after He Ai and others left, several houses were burned down.

He Ai loaded the gold and silver hostages onto the ship and left calmly.

Afterwards, everyone looked sad.

He Ai took away their legitimate son, which was of great importance to each family.

They could only accept it with a pinch of their noses. Fearing that the Huaiyin bandits would kill them, they not only did not dare to report it easily, they also had to help cover it up.

The families sat together and discussed for a long time, but even the Governor of Hunan had no good solution.

I had only heard about it in the past, but now I have truly seen it.

The Huaiyin bandits are so brutal, they can break into a city at will!
Even if they reported it to the court, it would take a long time for the court's reinforcements to arrive. If the Huaiyin bandits knew about this by then, not only would the legitimate sons of each family be in danger, but if the Huaiyin bandits broke into the city again, they would...

"Do we really have to pay the ransom?"

A family patriarch said angrily.

The others fell silent upon hearing this and lowered their heads helplessly.

Perhaps, the only option left is to pay the ransom.

However, sometimes, there is always a silver lining.

A few days later, Qian Yi's grandson Qian Qianshu came back!

Qian Qianshu not only came back himself, he also brought back the legitimate sons of each family, as well as the 300,000 taels of silver that He Ai had looted.

"Qian Shu, what's going on?"

Qian Yi asked.

Qian Qianshu quietly took out an envelope from his arms, handed it to Qian Yi, and whispered:

"This is a letter from the General."

The rest of the people who came back also had letters.

Since it was Fang Yong's letter, no one dared to open it and read it immediately. They all made excuses to return home and then opened it.

The letters from each family are similar in content, as follows.

"I am Fang Yong, the Duke of Yonghuai. I failed to control my subordinates strictly, which caused harm to you gentlemen. This is my fault. I will now pay back the loss. I hope you will forgive me."

"I sent my subordinates to your place only to help the people of Hunan with their farming, and I have no intention of coveting the city. We are all ministers of Daxi in the same dynasty, and we should help each other and support the king's cause, so that the country will be long-lasting and the country will be forever stable..."

(End of this chapter)