Chapter 350 Tuotuo in a Dilemma
"Great victory! Great victory! Commander Zheng of the 36th Army annihilated cavalrymen of the violent Yuan crown prince Qiexue in Huaibei, and captured the enemy general, the son of the Grand Commandant Yesu alive!"
"Great victory! Great victory! Commander Zheng of the 36th Army annihilated cavalrymen of the violent Yuan crown prince Qiexue in Huaibei, and captured the enemy general, the son of the Grand Commandant Yesu alive!"
A messenger of the Shengwu Army rode into Jiankang City from the south gate with a signal flag on his back and a victory report in his hand, shouting all the way, which immediately caused a cry of surprise from the people in the city. The rapid report was quickly delivered to the Marshal's Mansion. After a while, some intersections on the street were also hung with notices of victory. This was specifically for the people to see, in order to boost the morale of the army and civilians.
On the banks of the Qinhuai River, next to the Confucius Temple, a group of scholars from other places were standing in front of the temple and chatting with local people.
A vendor selling incense and candles heard the knight's victory announcement and couldn't help but complain, "Another great victory? There are reports of victory coming from Jiangbei one after another. They didn't capture any cities, nor did they defeat many Yuan troops. With only 3,000 people, they still have the nerve to report a victory? I think these reports are getting more and more hollow."
However, several scholars from other places nearby were very excited, and one of them immediately retorted upon hearing this.
"You are so ignorant. Three thousand cavalrymen were annihilated this time! They were the Prince's Qiexue cavalrymen. Do you know what the Prince's Qiexue is?"
The vendor shook his head. "I don't know. What's the story?"
The scholar immediately explained, "This Qiexue Army is the imperial guard of the Tartar emperor in the north. It is the most powerful among the Yuan army. It is not comparable to the local soldiers you often see. Such elite cavalry can be annihilated 3,000 at a time. I think this achievement is enough to capture a big city!"
The vendor suddenly realized, "Oh, that's incredible! Doesn't this mean that the Marshal's cavalry is more powerful than the Tartar Emperor's imperial cavalry?"
"That's for sure!" The scholar said excitedly, "Southern ships and northern horses, what's most needed in the war in the north is elite cavalry. The Shengwu Army has such powerful cavalry, and in the future they will be able to march north to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. The Marshal will definitely be able to become the emperor!"
The vendor was puzzled, "But there are so many cavalrymen in the world, how do we know that the 3,000 that were attacked this time must be the Tartar emperor's imperial cavalry?"
The scholar was speechless again after hearing this, "You must not have listened carefully when the victory report was just now. Didn't they also say that they captured an enemy general alive, and that he was the son of the Grand Commandant of Bao Yuan? This cannot be wrong. The Grand Commandant is one of the Three Dukes. How can the cavalry led by the Grand Commandant's son be ordinary cavalry?
"Besides, we have captured the enemy commander, so there must be other prisoners. How can we lie about military intelligence? If we really dare to lie, we can bring the prisoners to the court for trial and we will know. We cannot lie."
"That's right." The vendor nodded, then looked at the scholars and said, "Young gentlemen, you know a lot. What do you do? From your accent, you don't sound like you're from Jiqing Road, do you?"
The scholars immediately straightened their chests and raised their heads proudly and said, "We are all scholars from Jiangbei. We have read the list of candidates for the imperial examination and come here to take the exam. We heard that the Confucius Temple on the Qinhuai River is efficacious, so we come here to pray. If we can pass the exam one day, we will definitely come back to fulfill our wish."
"Oh, those young gentlemen may become big gentlemen in the future. You can't be careless when you pray in Confucius Temple. Come and buy some incense from me. They are the best sandalwood. Burning them to Confucius will definitely make you on the list!" The peddler immediately started to sell his goods enthusiastically.
The scholars looked at each other and laughed, "You are a good talker. Then buy a few sticks. How much do you sell this incense for?"
"New banknotes are 500 wen each. I'll buy three for 1,300 wen."
"So expensive? Why don't you just go and rob it?!" The scholar was stunned and immediately became angry.
The peddler felt aggrieved. "It's not so expensive in normal years, only two or three cents a stick. But since the opening of the river to change the currency, the new currency has become less and less valuable. A dou of rice has risen to twenty strings of cash. My family needs to eat, right? Even if you go to other stalls, the price is the same. Buying three sticks and giving you a discount of two hundred cents is already a good deal. I really didn't cheat you."
"Of course, if you have copper coins, I'll sell them to you for three cents."
A few poor scholars with a lot of money didn't believe it, so they went to other stalls to ask the price. A quarter of an hour later, they all came back and bought 500 coins a stick of incense.
One of the scholars could not help but say indignantly, "I bought blank white paper, and it's more valuable than this printed note!"
The companion next to him also said, "I have inquired and found out that in Jiankang City, two hundred coins can only be exchanged for one copper coin, and people won't exchange them. The copper coins are becoming more and more valuable. Those of you who have copper coins should not spend them yet, but keep them."
Several people nodded in agreement, and one person suggested, "Let's go to the Marshal's Mansion to petition him to stabilize prices and mint coins. We must not use Jiaozi and Baochao anymore."
The others looked at each other and said, "Let's go together."
Of course, there are some people who really want Lu Jin to stabilize prices quickly, but most of them have selfish motives and want to meet Lu Jin before the exam to at least increase their impression points.
A while ago, Li Shanchang suggested to Lu Jin that since they had already launched the Eastern Expedition, they should stop hiding it. Since the anti-Yuan manifesto had been issued, they might as well be generous and hold the examination directly in the name of the imperial examination.
This move has three benefits. Not only will it allow the people of the newly annexed territories to return home as soon as possible, it will also solve the current problem of insufficient officials in the Marshal's Office.
There is also a most crucial point. There are many wealthy and powerful people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If these people are allowed to stay in the local area, they are likely to cause trouble and use their influence to oppose Lu Jin's new government.
Then use the imperial examination to divert their attention, let these powerful people focus on the imperial examination, and take the initiative to send their children to Jiankang, not only to use them as hostages, but also to absorb them into the system. Once they are in the system, if you mess around in the local area, there are plenty of ways to deal with you! And the reason is also fair and aboveboard.
As for whether there are so many official positions to arrange for them, there is no need to worry about this. The grassroots government of Lu Jin is set up at the town level, and there are many vacancies for the eighth-rank official positions. Don't think that the eighth-rank position is low. In the Song Dynasty, the Jinshi were only assigned to the eighth-rank positions of chief clerk, county magistrate, prosecutor, and judge. They might not even be able to become a county magistrate. Then what is the difference between being a chief clerk and a town mayor? They are both eighth-rank officials anyway.
First, bring them all in. If they are useful, keep them. If they are not, get out. If they dare to engage in corruption or neglect their duties, kill them. This is better than keeping them to fight against the government in the local area.
Lu Jin considered it and agreed. Before the eastern expedition, he officially issued a notice for the imperial examination. The examination was postponed to next year, but the scope of recruitment was also expanded. From Huai'an and Qinghe in the north to Hangzhou and Shaoxing in the east, all the territories that the Shengwu Army had occupied or would soon occupy could participate in the imperial examination.
There will be two examinations next year, the spring examination and the autumn examination. The spring examination will be held on the third day of March, and the autumn examination will be held on the ninth day of September. Those who live far away and cannot make it to the spring examination can also come back for the autumn examination. This notice also spread eastward with the attack of the Eastern Expedition Army. Every time a city was captured, notices for the next year's imperial examination would be posted everywhere.
At this time in the Marshal's Mansion, the civil and military officials were also delighted with Zheng Yong's good news.
Defeating the 3,000 cavalry of the Yuan army could only be considered a small victory, but this victory was of great significance. First of all, those were the cavalry of the Qiexue Army brought by Tuotuo, and their value was naturally different from that of ordinary Yuan army cavalry. Second, it verified the effectiveness of the musket in cavalry combat.
This was the first time that muskets were used on a large scale in cavalry combat. Actual combat proved that cavalry equipped with muskets and bows and arrows, where everyone could ride and shoot, were a group of awesome guys and had obvious tactical advantages over the brave cavalry of the Yuan court's Qiexue army.
As for the armored heavy cavalry, they have been eliminated by the Shengwu Army. The role of the heavy cavalry with armor on both the horse and the rider on the battlefield is mainly to break through the infantry formation. In the battle between the cavalry, they do not have an advantage because such heavy cavalry consumes too much physical strength of the horses and will be exhausted after charging for two rounds. They are far less flexible than the cavalry.
In terms of infantry formations, the Shengwu Army has better field artillery, and no formation can withstand artillery bombardment, so the heavy cavalry has lost its ecological niche on the battlefield and is not needed for the time being.
Therefore, although the scale of this victory was not large, it dispelled the charm of the Qiexue Army of the Yuan court. For example, Li Shanchang, before fighting this battle, persuaded Lu Jin to delay the time of the eastern expedition. The implication was that he was worried about the Qiexue Army led by Tuotuo. However, after this battle, everyone's concept changed. They believed that the Qiexue Army was just so-so, and the Shengwu Army cavalry was not inferior to them, which greatly enhanced the confidence of the civil and military officials in the Marshal's Office.
However, although there was news of a small victory in Jiangbei, everyone still dared not relax about the war situation during this period. After all, they were fighting on three fronts at the same time, and now was the time when the Shengwu Army was under the greatest pressure. In the next few months before the beginning of spring next year, whoever couldn't hold on first would collapse, no matter which side it was.
The war in the east is going smoothly so far. Yang Jing's First Army in the north had actually already dispatched troops before the official eastern expedition.
Lu Jin had asked them to gather at the front line on the fifth day of the first lunar month and then officially set off on the fifteenth day. However, Yang Jing had already released the cavalry regiment on the tenth day and surrounded Changzhou five days in advance. Danyang is one hundred miles away from Changzhou. The large army advanced along the canal, traveling fifty miles a day. It took only two days to reach the city of Changzhou, which had been under siege for seven days at that time.
After Yang Jing got in touch with the local intelligence office with the information provided by the Intelligence Bureau, he immediately launched a fierce attack on Changzhou according to the tactics used when Lu Jin led them across the river. Inside the city, there were spies from the Intelligence Bureau who instigated the Yuan army to rebel and launched a political offensive against the Yuan soldiers. Outside the city, there were the artillery regiment and the vanguard regiment of the Imperial Guard. The Shengwu Army was already very familiar with this kind of siege warfare. It only took them one day to capture Changzhou on the 18th day of the winter month. They killed Fo Jialu, the councilor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and captured more than 10,000 Yuan soldiers defending the city.
The course of the war was just as Liu Bowen had expected. Changzhou couldn't even hold out for three days. There was no point in rescuing them. They had to first think about whether the cities behind them could hold out.
After taking Changzhou, Yang Jing temporarily reorganized the captured prisoners, dismissed some of the old and weak, leaving only 13,500 people, and then organized them into three supplementary regiments.
In order not to delay the main force's advance, Yang Jing took the initiative to divide his troops, letting Zhang Wen lead a cavalry battalion, a mountain artillery battalion, a trap camp, and the main forces of two regiments and a supplementary regiment of captured soldiers to attack Jiangyin. Yang Jing himself led the remaining main force to continue advancing towards Wuxi, and wait for Zhang Wen to capture Jiangyin, and then catch up to meet him.
On the southern side, the Second Army led by Zhu Shou set out from Lishui and attacked Liyang. After capturing Liyang, the troops were divided up. However, the expected Battle of Liyang did not take place.
Liyang County was administratively under Jiqing Road. The elite Yuan troops here had been withdrawn by Yuelutemur as early as when Lu Jin had just crossed the river. Now there were only 3,000 weak soldiers guarding the city of Liyang, and they even had less than 300 sets of armor.
In addition, Lu Jin issued a manifesto this time. On the 15th of the winter month, the army set out. Before Zhu Shou's army arrived at the city of Liyang, the manifesto of the Eastern Expedition was already posted everywhere in the city. What's more arrogant is that the intelligence department in Liyang had already instigated several junior officers in the Yuan army defending the city to rebel. These people cooperated and posted the manifesto directly on the door of Feng Yuan, the defender of Liyang.
This is rather outrageous. The enemy army hasn't arrived yet, but there was a notice posted in the city. Even a fool would know that there were spies in the city. But there was also a notice posted outside the door of the commander's room. This was not as simple as spies in the city. The only people who could get close to the commander's residence could be his own people. This meant that they didn't even want to fight their own people.
The morale of the team has dropped and it is impossible to lead it.
Feng Yuan knew what to do when he saw this situation. If he continued to force his soldiers to defend the city, they might be shot in the back and killed when they went to inspect the city next time. So he decisively announced an uprising and surrendered before Zhu Shou's army arrived. He then took the initiative to send someone to lead the way for Zhu Shou.
After Zhu Shou led his army to Liyang, he did not treat Feng Yuan badly. He made Feng Yuan the commander of the temporary independent regiment, and then appointed the head of the local intelligence station as the acting county magistrate, leading several Yuan army centurions who had been instigated to defect, and five hundred soldiers to guard the city. He then took Feng Yuan's temporary independent regiment with him and continued to advance.
After the Southern Army captured Liyang, it also divided its troops.
Hua Yunlong's 42nd Army was divided into two detachments. The 42nd Army was composed of Hua Yunlong's 118th Division and Xu Da's 119th Division, two divisions with six regiments. Zhu Shou also assigned them a mountain artillery battalion and a trap camp to strengthen their siege capabilities. Then they set out from Liyang, turned southwest, and attacked Jianping (Langxi) via Wuya Mountain, and then attacked Guangde, and finally Anji and Wukang, and met up with Zhu Shou's main force in Wukang. There were a total of four cities to attack.
The situation on Zhu Shou's side was similar. He led the main force of the 41st Imperial Guard Division and Xu Yong's 42st Army, which had two divisions under Xu Yong and Guo Zixing. Including the st Imperial Guard Division, there should be a total of three divisions. They marched eastward from Liyang, captured Yixing, then turned south and continued to attack Changxing and Huzhou, and finally joined forces with Hua Yunlong's nd Army in Deqing.
After the two sides meet in Deqing and Wukang, Yang Jing's First Army will probably not be far away, and then the two armies will attack Hangzhou together.
The northern and southern armies of the Eastern Expedition both had a good start and got off to a good start. However, compared with the unstoppable momentum of the Shengwu Army, the offensive of the Yuan army in Anqing and Xuzhou was rather ugly.
Tuotuo was blocked by Zhima Li's abnormal defense system in Xuzhou. On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Tuotuo's main force crossed the Huai River and arrived at the city of Xuzhou. By the 20th of this month, they had been attacking for half a month, but they had not even broken through the sheep and horse wall outside Xuzhou, let alone touch the edge of the main city wall.
In addition, Lu Jin in the south started the eastward expedition and issued a manifesto spreading rumors that Tuotuo wanted to usurp the throne. Tuotuo was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
The current situation is very unfavorable for the Yuan army led by Tuotuo. Continuing to stay under the fortified city is very damaging to morale. Not being able to capture even a city in half a month is also very damaging to morale.
The most crucial thing is that this time, Tuotuo brought 170,000 soldiers, not counting the civilian laborers, and their military rations were all just grown in Dadu this season. There was not much military rations to begin with. If he continued to delay and there was no progress, then his army of more than 100,000 would starve.
Now Tuotuo could neither advance nor retreat. Once he retreated to Dadu, Lu Jin's annexation of eastern Zhejiang would be inevitable. Without the food supply from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the demise of the Yuan court in Dadu would only be a matter of time. However, he was unable to conquer the city of Xuzhou and was caught in a dilemma.
At this time, Zhu Liangzu and Fu Youde were still adding fuel to the fire.
Seeing that Tuotuo was really blocked by Xuzhou, Zhu Liangzu couldn't help but want to take advantage of it. After reporting to Lu Jin, he built a second floating bridge on the Huai River in Andong Prefecture (Lianshui), hoping to cross the Huai River and attack Andong.
Fu Youde also led 3,000 elite troops out of Mangdang Mountain, intending to go around Tuotuo's rear and burn his food supplies.
(End of this chapter)
"Great victory! Great victory! Commander Zheng of the 36th Army annihilated cavalrymen of the violent Yuan crown prince Qiexue in Huaibei, and captured the enemy general, the son of the Grand Commandant Yesu alive!"
"Great victory! Great victory! Commander Zheng of the 36th Army annihilated cavalrymen of the violent Yuan crown prince Qiexue in Huaibei, and captured the enemy general, the son of the Grand Commandant Yesu alive!"
A messenger of the Shengwu Army rode into Jiankang City from the south gate with a signal flag on his back and a victory report in his hand, shouting all the way, which immediately caused a cry of surprise from the people in the city. The rapid report was quickly delivered to the Marshal's Mansion. After a while, some intersections on the street were also hung with notices of victory. This was specifically for the people to see, in order to boost the morale of the army and civilians.
On the banks of the Qinhuai River, next to the Confucius Temple, a group of scholars from other places were standing in front of the temple and chatting with local people.
A vendor selling incense and candles heard the knight's victory announcement and couldn't help but complain, "Another great victory? There are reports of victory coming from Jiangbei one after another. They didn't capture any cities, nor did they defeat many Yuan troops. With only 3,000 people, they still have the nerve to report a victory? I think these reports are getting more and more hollow."
However, several scholars from other places nearby were very excited, and one of them immediately retorted upon hearing this.
"You are so ignorant. Three thousand cavalrymen were annihilated this time! They were the Prince's Qiexue cavalrymen. Do you know what the Prince's Qiexue is?"
The vendor shook his head. "I don't know. What's the story?"
The scholar immediately explained, "This Qiexue Army is the imperial guard of the Tartar emperor in the north. It is the most powerful among the Yuan army. It is not comparable to the local soldiers you often see. Such elite cavalry can be annihilated 3,000 at a time. I think this achievement is enough to capture a big city!"
The vendor suddenly realized, "Oh, that's incredible! Doesn't this mean that the Marshal's cavalry is more powerful than the Tartar Emperor's imperial cavalry?"
"That's for sure!" The scholar said excitedly, "Southern ships and northern horses, what's most needed in the war in the north is elite cavalry. The Shengwu Army has such powerful cavalry, and in the future they will be able to march north to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun. The Marshal will definitely be able to become the emperor!"
The vendor was puzzled, "But there are so many cavalrymen in the world, how do we know that the 3,000 that were attacked this time must be the Tartar emperor's imperial cavalry?"
The scholar was speechless again after hearing this, "You must not have listened carefully when the victory report was just now. Didn't they also say that they captured an enemy general alive, and that he was the son of the Grand Commandant of Bao Yuan? This cannot be wrong. The Grand Commandant is one of the Three Dukes. How can the cavalry led by the Grand Commandant's son be ordinary cavalry?
"Besides, we have captured the enemy commander, so there must be other prisoners. How can we lie about military intelligence? If we really dare to lie, we can bring the prisoners to the court for trial and we will know. We cannot lie."
"That's right." The vendor nodded, then looked at the scholars and said, "Young gentlemen, you know a lot. What do you do? From your accent, you don't sound like you're from Jiqing Road, do you?"
The scholars immediately straightened their chests and raised their heads proudly and said, "We are all scholars from Jiangbei. We have read the list of candidates for the imperial examination and come here to take the exam. We heard that the Confucius Temple on the Qinhuai River is efficacious, so we come here to pray. If we can pass the exam one day, we will definitely come back to fulfill our wish."
"Oh, those young gentlemen may become big gentlemen in the future. You can't be careless when you pray in Confucius Temple. Come and buy some incense from me. They are the best sandalwood. Burning them to Confucius will definitely make you on the list!" The peddler immediately started to sell his goods enthusiastically.
The scholars looked at each other and laughed, "You are a good talker. Then buy a few sticks. How much do you sell this incense for?"
"New banknotes are 500 wen each. I'll buy three for 1,300 wen."
"So expensive? Why don't you just go and rob it?!" The scholar was stunned and immediately became angry.
The peddler felt aggrieved. "It's not so expensive in normal years, only two or three cents a stick. But since the opening of the river to change the currency, the new currency has become less and less valuable. A dou of rice has risen to twenty strings of cash. My family needs to eat, right? Even if you go to other stalls, the price is the same. Buying three sticks and giving you a discount of two hundred cents is already a good deal. I really didn't cheat you."
"Of course, if you have copper coins, I'll sell them to you for three cents."
A few poor scholars with a lot of money didn't believe it, so they went to other stalls to ask the price. A quarter of an hour later, they all came back and bought 500 coins a stick of incense.
One of the scholars could not help but say indignantly, "I bought blank white paper, and it's more valuable than this printed note!"
The companion next to him also said, "I have inquired and found out that in Jiankang City, two hundred coins can only be exchanged for one copper coin, and people won't exchange them. The copper coins are becoming more and more valuable. Those of you who have copper coins should not spend them yet, but keep them."
Several people nodded in agreement, and one person suggested, "Let's go to the Marshal's Mansion to petition him to stabilize prices and mint coins. We must not use Jiaozi and Baochao anymore."
The others looked at each other and said, "Let's go together."
Of course, there are some people who really want Lu Jin to stabilize prices quickly, but most of them have selfish motives and want to meet Lu Jin before the exam to at least increase their impression points.
A while ago, Li Shanchang suggested to Lu Jin that since they had already launched the Eastern Expedition, they should stop hiding it. Since the anti-Yuan manifesto had been issued, they might as well be generous and hold the examination directly in the name of the imperial examination.
This move has three benefits. Not only will it allow the people of the newly annexed territories to return home as soon as possible, it will also solve the current problem of insufficient officials in the Marshal's Office.
There is also a most crucial point. There are many wealthy and powerful people in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. If these people are allowed to stay in the local area, they are likely to cause trouble and use their influence to oppose Lu Jin's new government.
Then use the imperial examination to divert their attention, let these powerful people focus on the imperial examination, and take the initiative to send their children to Jiankang, not only to use them as hostages, but also to absorb them into the system. Once they are in the system, if you mess around in the local area, there are plenty of ways to deal with you! And the reason is also fair and aboveboard.
As for whether there are so many official positions to arrange for them, there is no need to worry about this. The grassroots government of Lu Jin is set up at the town level, and there are many vacancies for the eighth-rank official positions. Don't think that the eighth-rank position is low. In the Song Dynasty, the Jinshi were only assigned to the eighth-rank positions of chief clerk, county magistrate, prosecutor, and judge. They might not even be able to become a county magistrate. Then what is the difference between being a chief clerk and a town mayor? They are both eighth-rank officials anyway.
First, bring them all in. If they are useful, keep them. If they are not, get out. If they dare to engage in corruption or neglect their duties, kill them. This is better than keeping them to fight against the government in the local area.
Lu Jin considered it and agreed. Before the eastern expedition, he officially issued a notice for the imperial examination. The examination was postponed to next year, but the scope of recruitment was also expanded. From Huai'an and Qinghe in the north to Hangzhou and Shaoxing in the east, all the territories that the Shengwu Army had occupied or would soon occupy could participate in the imperial examination.
There will be two examinations next year, the spring examination and the autumn examination. The spring examination will be held on the third day of March, and the autumn examination will be held on the ninth day of September. Those who live far away and cannot make it to the spring examination can also come back for the autumn examination. This notice also spread eastward with the attack of the Eastern Expedition Army. Every time a city was captured, notices for the next year's imperial examination would be posted everywhere.
At this time in the Marshal's Mansion, the civil and military officials were also delighted with Zheng Yong's good news.
Defeating the 3,000 cavalry of the Yuan army could only be considered a small victory, but this victory was of great significance. First of all, those were the cavalry of the Qiexue Army brought by Tuotuo, and their value was naturally different from that of ordinary Yuan army cavalry. Second, it verified the effectiveness of the musket in cavalry combat.
This was the first time that muskets were used on a large scale in cavalry combat. Actual combat proved that cavalry equipped with muskets and bows and arrows, where everyone could ride and shoot, were a group of awesome guys and had obvious tactical advantages over the brave cavalry of the Yuan court's Qiexue army.
As for the armored heavy cavalry, they have been eliminated by the Shengwu Army. The role of the heavy cavalry with armor on both the horse and the rider on the battlefield is mainly to break through the infantry formation. In the battle between the cavalry, they do not have an advantage because such heavy cavalry consumes too much physical strength of the horses and will be exhausted after charging for two rounds. They are far less flexible than the cavalry.
In terms of infantry formations, the Shengwu Army has better field artillery, and no formation can withstand artillery bombardment, so the heavy cavalry has lost its ecological niche on the battlefield and is not needed for the time being.
Therefore, although the scale of this victory was not large, it dispelled the charm of the Qiexue Army of the Yuan court. For example, Li Shanchang, before fighting this battle, persuaded Lu Jin to delay the time of the eastern expedition. The implication was that he was worried about the Qiexue Army led by Tuotuo. However, after this battle, everyone's concept changed. They believed that the Qiexue Army was just so-so, and the Shengwu Army cavalry was not inferior to them, which greatly enhanced the confidence of the civil and military officials in the Marshal's Office.
However, although there was news of a small victory in Jiangbei, everyone still dared not relax about the war situation during this period. After all, they were fighting on three fronts at the same time, and now was the time when the Shengwu Army was under the greatest pressure. In the next few months before the beginning of spring next year, whoever couldn't hold on first would collapse, no matter which side it was.
The war in the east is going smoothly so far. Yang Jing's First Army in the north had actually already dispatched troops before the official eastern expedition.
Lu Jin had asked them to gather at the front line on the fifth day of the first lunar month and then officially set off on the fifteenth day. However, Yang Jing had already released the cavalry regiment on the tenth day and surrounded Changzhou five days in advance. Danyang is one hundred miles away from Changzhou. The large army advanced along the canal, traveling fifty miles a day. It took only two days to reach the city of Changzhou, which had been under siege for seven days at that time.
After Yang Jing got in touch with the local intelligence office with the information provided by the Intelligence Bureau, he immediately launched a fierce attack on Changzhou according to the tactics used when Lu Jin led them across the river. Inside the city, there were spies from the Intelligence Bureau who instigated the Yuan army to rebel and launched a political offensive against the Yuan soldiers. Outside the city, there were the artillery regiment and the vanguard regiment of the Imperial Guard. The Shengwu Army was already very familiar with this kind of siege warfare. It only took them one day to capture Changzhou on the 18th day of the winter month. They killed Fo Jialu, the councilor of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, and captured more than 10,000 Yuan soldiers defending the city.
The course of the war was just as Liu Bowen had expected. Changzhou couldn't even hold out for three days. There was no point in rescuing them. They had to first think about whether the cities behind them could hold out.
After taking Changzhou, Yang Jing temporarily reorganized the captured prisoners, dismissed some of the old and weak, leaving only 13,500 people, and then organized them into three supplementary regiments.
In order not to delay the main force's advance, Yang Jing took the initiative to divide his troops, letting Zhang Wen lead a cavalry battalion, a mountain artillery battalion, a trap camp, and the main forces of two regiments and a supplementary regiment of captured soldiers to attack Jiangyin. Yang Jing himself led the remaining main force to continue advancing towards Wuxi, and wait for Zhang Wen to capture Jiangyin, and then catch up to meet him.
On the southern side, the Second Army led by Zhu Shou set out from Lishui and attacked Liyang. After capturing Liyang, the troops were divided up. However, the expected Battle of Liyang did not take place.
Liyang County was administratively under Jiqing Road. The elite Yuan troops here had been withdrawn by Yuelutemur as early as when Lu Jin had just crossed the river. Now there were only 3,000 weak soldiers guarding the city of Liyang, and they even had less than 300 sets of armor.
In addition, Lu Jin issued a manifesto this time. On the 15th of the winter month, the army set out. Before Zhu Shou's army arrived at the city of Liyang, the manifesto of the Eastern Expedition was already posted everywhere in the city. What's more arrogant is that the intelligence department in Liyang had already instigated several junior officers in the Yuan army defending the city to rebel. These people cooperated and posted the manifesto directly on the door of Feng Yuan, the defender of Liyang.
This is rather outrageous. The enemy army hasn't arrived yet, but there was a notice posted in the city. Even a fool would know that there were spies in the city. But there was also a notice posted outside the door of the commander's room. This was not as simple as spies in the city. The only people who could get close to the commander's residence could be his own people. This meant that they didn't even want to fight their own people.
The morale of the team has dropped and it is impossible to lead it.
Feng Yuan knew what to do when he saw this situation. If he continued to force his soldiers to defend the city, they might be shot in the back and killed when they went to inspect the city next time. So he decisively announced an uprising and surrendered before Zhu Shou's army arrived. He then took the initiative to send someone to lead the way for Zhu Shou.
After Zhu Shou led his army to Liyang, he did not treat Feng Yuan badly. He made Feng Yuan the commander of the temporary independent regiment, and then appointed the head of the local intelligence station as the acting county magistrate, leading several Yuan army centurions who had been instigated to defect, and five hundred soldiers to guard the city. He then took Feng Yuan's temporary independent regiment with him and continued to advance.
After the Southern Army captured Liyang, it also divided its troops.
Hua Yunlong's 42nd Army was divided into two detachments. The 42nd Army was composed of Hua Yunlong's 118th Division and Xu Da's 119th Division, two divisions with six regiments. Zhu Shou also assigned them a mountain artillery battalion and a trap camp to strengthen their siege capabilities. Then they set out from Liyang, turned southwest, and attacked Jianping (Langxi) via Wuya Mountain, and then attacked Guangde, and finally Anji and Wukang, and met up with Zhu Shou's main force in Wukang. There were a total of four cities to attack.
The situation on Zhu Shou's side was similar. He led the main force of the 41st Imperial Guard Division and Xu Yong's 42st Army, which had two divisions under Xu Yong and Guo Zixing. Including the st Imperial Guard Division, there should be a total of three divisions. They marched eastward from Liyang, captured Yixing, then turned south and continued to attack Changxing and Huzhou, and finally joined forces with Hua Yunlong's nd Army in Deqing.
After the two sides meet in Deqing and Wukang, Yang Jing's First Army will probably not be far away, and then the two armies will attack Hangzhou together.
The northern and southern armies of the Eastern Expedition both had a good start and got off to a good start. However, compared with the unstoppable momentum of the Shengwu Army, the offensive of the Yuan army in Anqing and Xuzhou was rather ugly.
Tuotuo was blocked by Zhima Li's abnormal defense system in Xuzhou. On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Tuotuo's main force crossed the Huai River and arrived at the city of Xuzhou. By the 20th of this month, they had been attacking for half a month, but they had not even broken through the sheep and horse wall outside Xuzhou, let alone touch the edge of the main city wall.
In addition, Lu Jin in the south started the eastward expedition and issued a manifesto spreading rumors that Tuotuo wanted to usurp the throne. Tuotuo was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
The current situation is very unfavorable for the Yuan army led by Tuotuo. Continuing to stay under the fortified city is very damaging to morale. Not being able to capture even a city in half a month is also very damaging to morale.
The most crucial thing is that this time, Tuotuo brought 170,000 soldiers, not counting the civilian laborers, and their military rations were all just grown in Dadu this season. There was not much military rations to begin with. If he continued to delay and there was no progress, then his army of more than 100,000 would starve.
Now Tuotuo could neither advance nor retreat. Once he retreated to Dadu, Lu Jin's annexation of eastern Zhejiang would be inevitable. Without the food supply from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the demise of the Yuan court in Dadu would only be a matter of time. However, he was unable to conquer the city of Xuzhou and was caught in a dilemma.
At this time, Zhu Liangzu and Fu Youde were still adding fuel to the fire.
Seeing that Tuotuo was really blocked by Xuzhou, Zhu Liangzu couldn't help but want to take advantage of it. After reporting to Lu Jin, he built a second floating bridge on the Huai River in Andong Prefecture (Lianshui), hoping to cross the Huai River and attack Andong.
Fu Youde also led 3,000 elite troops out of Mangdang Mountain, intending to go around Tuotuo's rear and burn his food supplies.
(End of this chapter)
