Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 438 Bandits Besiege the City

"Divide the troops?" Gao Yingxiang was taken aback; he hadn't expected Li Zicheng to suddenly make this suggestion.

Zhang Xianzhong was not surprised at all; on the contrary, he was very happy. Gao Yingxiang was senior and highly respected, and his troops were also capable of fighting. Working with him would make things much easier for him. As for Li Zicheng, he seemed to be an ambitious fellow who had provoked him several times. He couldn't stand him no matter what, so it was good that he was gone.

Fearing that Gao Yingxiang might try to persuade him to stay, he spoke first: "The idea of ​​splitting up the troops is good. The officers and soldiers are eager for us to all gather together and annihilate them in one fell swoop! If you ask me, the various forces should go to Shaanxi or Gansu, while we head towards Jiangnan. That will leave that old fox Hong Chengchou wondering who to chase and where to put his strength."

Gao Yingxiang looked at Li Zicheng, who did not avoid his gaze and stood with his head held high.

Seeing the determination in the other man's eyes, Gao Yingxiang sighed. Li Zicheng was quick-witted, insightful, and had strong subordinates who were his capable helpers. Gao Yingxiang wanted to keep Li Zicheng, but forcing things wouldn't work. Since Li Zicheng was determined to leave, he would let him go.

"In that case, you will lead your troops westward. You have few cavalry under your command, so I will allocate two hundred cavalrymen from the old camp to you. Remember, if you encounter government troops, fight if you can win, and run if you can't. As long as you're alive, you can always rebuild."

Li Zicheng was somewhat moved upon hearing this. Gao Yingxiang's old camp consisted of veterans who had followed him since the first year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, soldiers who had crawled out of piles of corpses, and were his most elite troops. Now, he was to allocate two hundred cavalrymen from the old camp to him. If managed properly, these two hundred cavalrymen could form the core of a cavalry force of several thousand men. A strong wind reveals the strength of the grass; in times of crisis, relatives are the most reliable! This ten-character mantra, "Fight if you can win, run if you can't," was also a heartfelt truth.

He gratefully clasped his hands in thanks, saying, "Thank you, Uncle!"

The decision to split the forces was made. A few days later, the allied forces of Gao and Zhang, laden with plundered gold and silver treasures in large and small wagons, set off from Fengyang, heading straight for Luzhou. Li Zicheng, on the other hand, led his main troops on the westward journey. No one could have predicted that this division would lead the three men down completely different paths in life.

Under the command of Hong Chengchou, the imperial army to suppress the bandits gathered in Henan. The east was the weakest region for the imperial forces. With Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong joining forces, how could the counties and prefectures in eastern Anhui possibly resist? The allied forces marched eastward with unstoppable momentum, capturing Luzhou and Anqing in succession, until they encountered Zhu Dadian in Hezhou and stopped there.

Zhu Dadian led over two thousand cavalry and infantrymen from Shandong, rushing as fast as he could, and finally arrived before the allied forces breached the city walls of Hezhou, where they fortified the city. Zhu Dadian was the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner and concurrently the Governor of Fengyang, with Luzhou and Hezhou under his direct jurisdiction. Taking over the command of the city's defenses was no obstacle for him. It was precisely because of the addition of this fresh force and Zhu Dadian's personal command that Hezhou did not fall in one fell swoop like Luzhou and Anqing.

After advancing eastward, the allied forces of Gao and Zhang had snowballed to 50,000 men, a formidable force. Standing on the city wall, looking at the military camps stretching for miles outside the city, Zhu Dadian was filled with worry. He, the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner and Governor of Fengyang, hadn't even officially taken office yet, and had already lost Fengyang and Luzhou. If he had arrived any later, Hezhou would have been lost as well. Although he wasn't directly responsible for the fall of Fengyang, the inability to recover it, and the loss of cities and territory, jeopardized his career.

He said to Su Hongtu beside him, "Hongtu, the bandits are now very powerful. What are some good strategies to defeat them and recover Luzhou and Fengyang?"

Su Hongtu observed the military camps outside the city through his binoculars and honestly replied, "Defending Hezhou City without falling is a victory. With the limited troops we have, defeating the bandits and recovering lost territory... well..."

"Isn't it wishful thinking?" Zhu Dadian uttered the words Su Hongtu had been too embarrassed to finish, utterly frustrated. The current situation was far more dire than when they had quelled the rebellion. During the rebellion, he commanded forces from Shandong, Tianjin, Hebei, and Liaodong, a strong and well-equipped army, especially with the elite Guan Ning Army in command. While not invincible, they had at least forced the rebels into a series of defeats. Now, apart from his own standard battalion, there were no reinforcements. Furthermore, trapped within the city, the local troops in Huai'an, Yangzhou, and Chuzhou were difficult to mobilize. Just as Su Hongtu had said, defending the city was already a struggle, let alone launching an attack to reclaim lost territory.

He suddenly thought of Liu Ye. Back in Shandong, the Qiongzhou Camp had risen to prominence, becoming a crucial force in the suppression of the rebellion with its outstanding battlefield performance. It was precisely because of the Qiongzhou Camp's excellent record on both the land and water fronts that the rebels' defeat was accelerated. He couldn't help but ask, "The court has transferred General Liu to assist in suppressing the bandits, why hasn't he arrived yet? If he were here, everything would be fine."

Su Hongtu guessed, "Qiongzhou is much farther from Anhui and Shandong, so they're probably still on their way?"

Zhu Dadian gazed southward and murmured, "I hope he arrives soon."

At the mouth of the Yangtze River, near Songjiang Prefecture, the Qionghai Navy fleet was preparing to enter the Yangtze. Liu Ye, on the bow of the ship, sneezed and said inexplicably, "The weather is so nice today, how did I catch a cold?"

Outside the city, the camp of the refugee army.

Gao Yingxiang and Zhang Xianzhong were discussing the attack on the city.

Zhang Xianzhong said, "According to our scouts, the new governor of Fengyang, Zhu Dadian, is currently in command in the city. He fought against rebels in Shandong and is quite capable. With him here, Hezhou won't be as easy to take as Luzhou. But we can't bypass Hezhou if we don't attack it. If we take Hezhou and Chuzhou in succession, we can reach Jiangnan directly." Thinking of the wealth of Jiangnan and the delicate, beautiful women there, Zhang Xianzhong couldn't help but swallow hard. He hadn't yet tasted the flavors of a Jiangnan woman.

Gao Yingxiang said calmly, "We've already taken Zhongdu City, why would we be afraid of this small Hezhou? Zhu Dadian is somewhat capable, but he can't be stronger than Hong Chengchou. Besides, he's a new official and doesn't have time to mobilize the troops from various prefectures. How many troops can Hezhou have? With our 50,000 troops, even a single spit from each of them could flood Hezhou City!"

Zhang Xianzhong laughed heartily and slammed his hand on the table: "'King Chuang' is so straightforward! We've fought our way from Henan to here, and apart from Hong Chengchou and Cao Zhao, who have we ever been afraid of? Tomorrow we'll attack the city and make this Zhu Dadian a short-lived governor!"

At dawn the next day, the various camps of the refugee army set up their cooking pots early. After eating and drinking their fill, they prepared to begin the siege. Soldiers, as numerous as ants, filed out of their camps, carrying long ladders and thick siege timbers. They surrounded the west, north, and south gates from three directions, waiting only for their commander's order to attack the city simultaneously from all three sides.