Chapter 216: We attacked two prefectures in five days and still said they were our own people?

On Shi Daoshen's side, the main attack direction was Jiujiang Prefecture, and the progress was also smooth.

The people had experienced several years of natural disasters in succession, and the government continued to extort taxes. They had long since become unable to make ends meet. Even though Jiujiang Prefecture was right next to the disaster, the situation was not much better, with refugees everywhere and riots continuing.

Now, when they heard that Prince Xin's men had arrived, people from the martial arts world and the surrounding common people all welcomed them with both hands raised, their blood boiling, and they brought their sons and nephews to join Prince Xin's subordinates.

Before the people reached Dehua County, thousands of people from all over the place, including many military households, gathered there.

Shi Daoshen led his troops eastward and soon captured Dehua and De'an counties.

Among them, 13 county magistrates, county secretaries and some retired officials, 21 corrupt officials, 858 members of the Cao Gang who colluded with officials, gentry and bullies were killed.

In addition, a total of 3296 people were hacked to death, including thugs who had bullied the common people and the guards of these wealthy families.

With great momentum, they made unstoppable progress and captured two more cities in the next three days. The gentry in Jiujiang Prefecture, Jiangxi Province, were woken up by their servants while they were sleeping.

"What, Prince Xin's troops have arrived? Aren't they in Wuchang Prefecture? Why are they here?"

"I don't know either. They just appeared out of nowhere and are already attacking the city." A local gentry in Jiujiang Prefecture was so angry. "We only have 2500 soldiers in Jiujiang Prefecture. How can we stop them?"

"By the way, where is the prefect?"

"The prefect...can't be found..."

"What do you mean lost?" He quickly put on his clothes and climbed up to the highest attic. He could see a dark mass in the distance. The morning breeze was biting, but the sweat on his forehead kept dripping down.

"You bastard, Prince Xin's troops came to attack the city, but they ran away without telling us!"

"Master, what shall we do?"

"What should I do? How do I know what to do... Run, let's run quickly. I heard that Prince Xin doesn't kill ordinary people, but only kills officials and gentry like us."

"But now the bandits have surrounded the city and we can no longer escape."

"......" Despair was instantly written all over the gentleman's face, and he sat down on the ground.

……

On the city wall, the officers and soldiers defending the city were also confused because their guard commander was missing. Now that the bandits were attacking the city, they suddenly lost their backbone.

"It's over, it's over... These are not bandits, what's the difference between them and soldiers?"

Each of these bandits was wearing armor, and even a few cannons were found among the soldiers.

Shi Daoshen shouted loudly: "Officers and soldiers of Jiujiang Prefecture, listen up. I am Shi Daoshen, a general under Prince Xin. Hurry up and open the city gates and surrender. We can forgive you for your previous evil deeds. If you are stubborn and refuse to change your ways, don't blame us for our ruthless artillery..."

Why did ancient wars have to involve attacking cities? Couldn't we just go around them?
That's really not possible. The city represents the official road, which is an easy way to travel without having to cross mountains and rivers. Moreover, a war requires a large amount of resources for supply.

A city is the development center of a region, and it contains food and fodder. If you can successfully capture the city, you can take control of all the food and resources in the city and supply them to your own troops.

Conquer the city, you can attack when you advance or defend when you retreat
If you choose to take a detour, once you are discovered by the enemy, you are very likely to be attacked from both sides, with your retreat cut off. If you are surrounded, the cost of breaking out will be much higher, which is a big taboo in military strategy.

Therefore, the two prefectures between Wuchang Prefecture and Hangzhou Prefecture, Jiujiang Prefecture and Huizhou Prefecture, were the "life passages" that they must capture.

Before this, Sun Kewang had already captured Dehua, De'an and Ruichang counties, while Shi Daoshen had captured Hukou and Pengze counties.

Now that Sun Kewang has headed towards Huizhou Prefecture, Shi Daoshen is responsible for capturing Jiujiang City, and they can then completely penetrate Wuchang Prefecture and Jiujiang Prefecture.

But Jiujiang was not as easy to attack as he had imagined. Jiujiang is located in the north of the Yangtze River, with Laoguantang and Baishui Port in the east, Gantang Lake and Longkai River in the west, and many mountains in the southeast, making the terrain dangerous.

Shi Daoshen tried several methods including tunnels and ladders, and the walls of Jiujiang city were repeatedly destroyed, but were all repaired in time by the soldiers defending the city.

"Go, pull up the artillery pieces that were confiscated from the government troops and fire them at me!"

"Don't...don't...Your Majesty, we surrender, we surrender!" On the city wall, the deputy commander of the guards shouted hurriedly.

The news that all the rebels in Dehua and De'an had been massacred had already reached Jiujiang City. Seeing that the situation was irresistible, the chief officers and generals all fled, and there was no need for them to hold on.

September seventeenth.

Jiujiang Prefecture, including its five subordinate counties, was all covered with flags bearing the word "信". All of Shi Daoshen's troops also did not stay for too long. Except for leaving behind a part of the necessary troops to prevent their retreat from being cut off, the rest of the troops set out again and poured into Huizhou Prefecture.

Things like military discipline and beliefs are never inherently there, but are acquired through repeated training and battles.

In the midst of the fight and killing, looking at the enemy's corpses and the fear formed.

Even though they were hungry people like ants, they had confidence in the general trend and had military rules and beliefs in their hearts.

They actually achieved the goal of enforcing orders and advancing and retreating in an orderly manner. Once these things were formed on the battlefield, the combat effectiveness had a qualitative leap compared to before.

The so-called military morale was formed slowly and unconsciously, from the previous "impossible" to the later "possible", and now it dares to shout - "We must win!"

sunny,

The chrysanthemums blooming in September are rendered exceptionally gorgeous.

……

Shizhou Prefecture,
It was Sun Chuanting's temporary Three-Border Governor's Office, where he held a celebration banquet yesterday.

Cao Bianjiao, Chen Yongfu and Zuo Dabi eliminated several small gangs of bandits.

There were more than 13000 people in the Land-Grabbing Tiger Tribe, more than 10500 people in the Ma Honglang Tribe, more than 9100 people in the Mountain Harrier Tribe, and more than 8300 people in the Little Yellow Oriole Tribe, totaling more than 45000 people.

And the troops on the north side further compressed towards the southeast.

The next step is Xiangyang, Jingzhou, and Changde, and the northern line is Nanyang and Fengyang.

It can be said that we have achieved great results.

But today, the central army where Sun Chuanting was located was in a state of solemnity.

The constant coming and going of messengers made Sun Chuanting, Cao Bianjiao, Chen Yongfu, Zuo Dabi and others all a little confused.

In five days, two prefectures as big as Jiujiang and Anqing... were lost?
The King’s people?

Cao Bianjiao looked at Sun Chuanting fiercely, "Governor, is there something wrong here? Is there any hidden secret?"

His eyes were like fire, with a hidden meaning: What did you tell me before? You said that there were quite a few of our people in Prince Xin's camp, but what about now?

Not only did they capture Wuchang Prefecture, but now they have taken Jiujiang Prefecture?

This doesn't seem like something we should do. Governor, are you mistaken?
Sun Chuanting was also confused, muttering: "This shouldn't be possible. How could this be possible? What on earth do they want to do?"

At this moment, a messenger ran in.

"Report, Liu Zongmin led his troops to attack Nanyang!"

……

Not long after,

"Report! Tian Jianxiu led his troops to attack Xiangyang Prefecture!"

……

"Report, Li Wanqing's troops are leading the attack on Runing Prefecture!"

Seemingly influenced by Prince Xin, the bandits in Huguang and Henan also began to become chaotic.

"Governor, let's send troops. The bandits are so rampant, we should lead them to rescue them." Chen Yongfu stood up impatiently and asked for a fight.

Sun Chuanting pulled at his beard, breaking several strands. He still frowned and shook his head, "No, there must be a problem. What is the problem?"

Although he couldn't tell what the problem was, his intuition told him that there must be something wrong.

The key point is that they have now mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops and it took several months to finally tighten the purse strings.

If a large number of troops were to be withdrawn to provide support now, all previous efforts would be wasted, which Sun Chuanting could not accept.

Li Zicheng had used this tactic before to make a feint to the east and attack the west, escaping from Henan back to Shaanxi.

Now it is very likely that the old trick is being repeated. In Sun Chuanting's opinion, this is most likely a stopgap measure used by the other party to avoid his encirclement.

"No, wait a little longer. We cannot act rashly without your Majesty's order."

"Governor..."

"No need to persuade me any more. Anyone who disobeys my order will be executed!"

"..."Cao Bianjiao, Chen Yongfu and Zuo Dabi could only tilt their heads and sit back in their original seats helplessly, sighing.

……

Not only Sun Chuanting's troops, but also officers and soldiers such as Zuo Liangyu and Chen Hongfan were all stunned when they heard the news.

"What's going on?" Zuo Liangyu looked at the map, veins popping out on his forehead. He had just received food and gold and silver from the Jiangnan masters, and had to go to war after replenishing his troops?
This was something he was unwilling to do.

Zuo Liangyu's idea was to use the money, food and manpower of the Jiangnan gentlemen to achieve some insignificant military exploits, and then slowly move up.

As with Zhang Xianzhong in the past, they tacitly agreed not to engage in a major battle.

Last time he received an imperial edict asking him to wipe out the bandits, although he shouted slogans loudly, he still held this attitude in his heart. However, he did not expect that Prince Xin's soldiers would go like crazy and chase him to fight.

In the end they lost all their weapons and weapons, with more than half of their men killed or wounded.

Now you want me to fight Prince Xin?

"Someone, come and explore again!"

"General Zuo, don't forget that it was us who provided the troops you have now."

"Look for yourselves, what a mess the country is in now, with wars everywhere. Tell me, where are Prince Xin's troops now?" Zuo Liangyu looked at the servants of several Jiangnan families, who were arranging the newspapers on the table. "Tell me, where can we stop them now?"

……

In the Ming Dynasty capital, at the imperial court, war reports were coming in one after another.

"Nanyang Prefecture was attacked by bandits."

"Ruyang Prefecture was attacked by bandits."

"Yangzhou Prefecture was attacked..."

Huguang, Henan, Jiangxi, Nanzhili, and Zhejiang.

Bandits attacked the capital and four provinces almost simultaneously, causing a great shock to the court.

"Why are there so many bandits?"

"It's chaos, it's all chaos, bandits are everywhere attacking the city, what's going on?"

"Didn't Sun Chuanting report that he had wiped out another 40,000 bandits? How could this problem arise?" Sun Chengzong looked at the map of the Ming Dynasty and kept marking on it, frowning and shaking his head.

"What do you think? Could it be that Sun Chuanting falsely reported his military achievements?"

"False report..."

This group of scholars and officials submitted petitions one after another, begging the emperor to dismiss and investigate Sun Chuanting, the governor-general of the three border regions.

……

"Your Majesty, all the provinces in the south of the Yangtze River are now at war, and there is a huge uproar in the court." Wang Chengen reported the news in the court.

"Let them quarrel."

"But if we continue like this..."

Inside the Qianqing Palace, memorials from ministers piled up high, but Zhu Changgan ignored them all.

He was admiring the Jade Girl embroidered by Chen Yuanyuan. "I didn't expect that Lady Chen's embroidery is even more beautiful than the painting. How did you adjust each detail?"

"Your Majesty..." The blush on Chen Yuanyuan's face became more conspicuous, spreading to the neck behind her, emitting the scent of gentle and sweet flesh.

"Wang Cheng'en."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" Wang Chengen trotted out and drove away all the palace maids and eunuchs outside. He stood outside the door and took out a small funnel.

When the small funnel was almost half full, the emperor came out. Wang Chengen quickly stuffed the things back in, thinking to himself, "It seems that I have made some progress in my studies. At least I am much better than before."

Zhu Changgan looked back and saw Chen Yuanyuan looking at him, her face as red as an apple with shame and anger. When their eyes met, she suddenly covered her face with the quilt.

He smiled, turned around and ordered: "Send a message to Sun Chuanting and Sun Yingyuan to speed up the process and clear Jiangnan before the Spring Festival."

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

"Also tell Ma Shiwei and Xu Cifu to get the Integrity Department of Yingtian Prefecture and those scholars into action!" Zhu Changgan called Wang Chengen and personally added two pieces of charcoal into the charcoal basin.

"After this fire is over, the situation in Jiangnan should be almost over..."

All the rebels from all over the capital, four provinces, were donated.
There were wars everywhere, but only Zhu Changgan knew where the problem lay.

Wouldn't it be a shame not to take advantage of this opportunity?

But what he could not have imagined was that the one who caused all this was... Chongzhen!
Zhu Changgan glanced through the list of ministers who had submitted memorials to the court and found that Sun Chengzong was not on the list. "Did Lord Sun not submit a memorial this time?"

"Your Majesty, after Lord Sun left the court, he took a sedan chair back to the palace. If Your Majesty wants to see him, I will go find him now."

"No need." Zhu Changgan's eyes were burning. "Some autumn pears just came into the palace. Send some to Lord Sun."

……

Sun Mansion,

After Sun Chengzong left the court, he returned to his courtyard early, drank a few sips of tea, and looked around.

"Where's Sun Quan?"

The housekeeper quickly replied: "Master, the master just went out."

"Call him back to me. He can't leave the house for the next few days."

"..." The old butler looked embarrassed.

"Old Liu, how many years have you been following me?"

The butler didn't understand why the master asked this, but he still replied: "Thirty-seven years."

"At thirty-seven years old, you should understand my temper. At my age, my great grandfather is already forty-six. Why should I care about him unless it is absolutely necessary?"

The housekeeper suddenly became serious, "I understand. I will go and find the master right away, even if I have to tie him up."

Sun Chengzong nodded and slowly lay down on the chair. Others might not have noticed anything, but how could he not see anything?

Even in such a situation, the emperor would not panic.

What does this mean... It is very likely that this is a conspiracy by the emperor to bypass the chain of command.

One capital, four provinces.

Why these places?

Your Majesty’s goal is self-evident. At this time, your son is still rushing into the group of civil servants in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Isn’t this courting death?
"Master, master!"

"Why are you back again?" Sun Chengzong was furious and was about to curse, but when he saw the eunuch behind him, he quickly stood up and said, "Eunuch Wang, how come you have time to come to my place today?"

"Your Majesty asked me to bring some autumn pears to the Lord."

"Quick, quick, please come in!" Sun Chengzong invited Wang Chengen into the mansion for tea, and asked the housekeeper to quickly go and find his son.

……

The next day,

The governor of the three borders, Sun Chuanting, finally received the emperor's edict.

"Follow the plan, speed up the process, and cooperate with the Anti-Corruption Department in measuring and clearing land in the southeast..."

Sun Chuanting looked at the imperial edict given by His Majesty, read it over and over again, and stared at the words such as "proceed step by step", "speed up progress", and "cooperate", and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"As expected, as expected... Your Majesty is behind all this. If we act rashly, I'm afraid that His Majesty's plan will be disrupted."

Cao Bianjiao swallowed his saliva and said, "You mean, His Majesty is behind all this?"

"Learn something. If you want to move up, you can't be too rigid in your thinking. Otherwise, you won't know how to be dismissed from office."

Cao Bianjiao had a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. Fortunately, he did not lose his temper this time and led the team out to suppress the bandits by himself. Otherwise, he would have really disrupted His Majesty's plan and would have been in big trouble.

Sun Chuanting said loudly: "Cao changed into Jiao."

"The end will be here."

"Call Chen Yongfu, Zuo Dabi and the others over. What we need to do is to suppress the bandits. Now that these bandits have emerged, it is our chance to show our edge."

"Yes, Governor!"

……

(End of this chapter)