Chapter 1014 He Jingyun’s reluctance!

Anqing, Xingzhou

Cai Shaojie of the Zhennan Army rode a tall horse, surrounded by a group of Zhennan Army soldiers, and walked into Xingzhou City very proudly...

In this Anqing battle, he followed the arrangement of General Xu Hu and led his 8,000 troops from Huainan to Xingzhou in Anqing.
According to the intelligence of the Thousand Tiger Guards before the war, Xingzhou was stationed with a battalion of the Fengwu Army's Fourth Army with more than 3,000 people, and was equipped with at least five heavy artillery.

Therefore, Cai Shaojie was also aware of his own strengths and weaknesses. He had no plan to attack Xingzhou City, but planned to divide his troops into two groups. One group would attack the city to tie down the Fengwu Army of Xingzhou, and the other group would prepare to sweep through the surrounding towns!

Although Huainan is a very prosperous province compared to Ji, Yu, Youyan, and Liaoyang, its wealth cannot withstand the constant fighting of your Zhennan Army. Therefore, the Zhennan Army’s logistics problems have always been very serious!

In order to support the previous external expansions of the Zhennan Army, the people of Huainan have been complaining bitterly, and there have even been several small-scale uprisings. Moreover, since last year, there have been people of Huainan who have fled from the south bank of the Nanjiang River to the north bank and came to the rule of the Fengwu Army!
Xu Zhaojie also saw this situation. Although he was very angry, he could do nothing about it. For this reason, he could only compromise and reduce the excessive taxation in Huainan, hoping to reduce the breeding of peasant uprisings and achieve stability under his rule.
Although reducing the showdown and levies on the people eased the conflict to a certain extent, it also made the already difficult logistics situation of the Zhennan Army even more severe!
Currently, only Xu Zhaojie's direct troops of more than 20,000 people can maintain the normal payment of food and wages. The rest of the troops can only keep having food to eat, and as for wages and silver, they can only be owed!

Therefore, during the Anqing battle this time, Xu Hu made it very clear that logistical issues needed to be resolved by each unit on their own and there was nothing he could not solve!

And do you all understand what the so-called self-resolve means?
It's nothing more than making the people suffer more!
The Fengwu Army also understood this routine, so they also prepared to clear the fields in advance, so that the people who could hide in the mountains could hide in the mountains, and those who could hide in the city could hide in the city. In short, they did not want to let the Zhennan Army get sufficient supplies in Anqing!
Under the Fengwu Army's strategy, Cai Shaojie's troops were in great trouble. They went through several towns and villages but could not find any food. Cai Shaojie was so angry that he directly ordered to burn down these towns and villages!
Although burning down these towns and villages was satisfying, it could not solve the problems he was facing now!
The limited supplies were soon to be used up, but new food had not been found yet. To be honest, Cai Shaojie was so worried that he couldn't eat or sleep well.

Every day when he opened his eyes, the first thing that came to his mind was that the 8,000 men under his command would consume 8,000 kilograms of food··························
Faced with such a predicament, Cai Shaojie made up his mind and did not follow his original plan. Instead, he led his troops directly to Xingzhou City!

Cai Shaojie knew that many of the common people in Xingzhou were hiding in the city of Xingzhou, so as long as they captured the city of Xingzhou, the food problem would be solved!

Although there was a lack of artillery and sufficient engineering equipment, in order to have food to eat, Cai Shaojie led his men and charged forward!

The battle lasted for three days. In order to have enough food, the 8,000 soldiers of the Zhennan Army fought with all their might. The battle was extremely fierce!
Three days of fighting resulted in nearly two thousand casualties among Cai Shaojie's troops, and also dealt a heavy blow to Cai Shaojie's determination to capture Xingzhou City!
If Cai Shaojie had not thought that their food was not enough to return to Huainan, he might have led his troops back!
However, what Cai Shaojie never expected was that the defenders of Xingzhou City actually abandoned the city and fled last night!

He had suffered two thousand casualties but failed to capture the city, but now he got it without any effort!
This was like pie falling from the sky, which made Cai Shaojie dizzy. Only now that he had entered the city did Cai Shaojie dare to believe that all this was true...
Feeling the fear and terrified eyes of the people on both sides of the road, Cai Shaojie not only did not feel the slightest discomfort, on the contrary he enjoyed it very much. He knew that these people were like pigs and sheep, and he had unquestionable power of life and death over them. His every word and action would determine their lives!
When they arrived at the government office in the city, Lieutenant General Cao Hui had been waiting for a long time and directly welcomed Cai Shaojie in.

When Cai Shaojie sat on the big chair representing the prefect, Cao Hui also reported to Cai Shaojie with a flattering look on his face:

"General, the prefect of Xingzhou, Zheng Wenrong, fled with the Fengwu Army last night. I heard that the Fengwu Army stationed in Xingzhou also suffered nearly a thousand casualties in the past three days!"

"So these damn Fengwu soldiers were frightened by you, General. They thought they would be wiped out if they continued to fight, so they ran away last night under the cover of darkness!"

Cai Shaojie was also very pleased to hear Cao Hui say this. He nodded and said with contempt:

"They all say that the Fengwu Army is powerful, but do you think they are just so-so? In front of this general, they are just a bunch of rats running away in a panic!"

Upon hearing this, Cao Hui echoed:
“This Fengwu Army is very powerful in front of others, but in front of you, General, they are like mice seeing a cat. They all show their true colors...”

Cai Shaojie also laughed out loud when he heard this. After laughing a few times, he asked the question that he was most concerned about.

"How much food did the Fengwu Army in Cao Hui's city leave behind? Oh, and did they leave behind any firearms? And the five heavy cannons?"

Hearing this question, Cao Hui looked a little embarrassed and said:

"There are only about 500 dan of grain in Xingzhou's treasury. As for firearms, there are some such as the Fengwu Army's Weiyuan gun, the Po Lu gun, and the Hu squat cannon, but there are no Fengwu Army guns!"

Upon hearing that there were only about 500 dan of grain, Cai Shaojie couldn't help but frown. Although his troops had lost 2,000 people, they still had to consume at least 6,000 kilograms of grain a day. These mere 500 dan would not last long!
Seeing Cai Shaojie's frown, Cao Hui understood what he was thinking and said:
"Although there is not much grain in Xingzhou's treasury, I think the people of Xingzhou are quite wealthy. As for the grain stores, we helped them drive out the Fengwu Army, these bastards. These people should show respect to us!"

Hearing what Cao Hui said, Cai Shaojie immediately asked with expectation:

"How much food can they give as a tribute?" Cao Hui said confidently:
“Sir, I think two thousand dan is a fair number. The people of Xingzhou City will certainly be very happy to make due contributions to you, General…”

Hearing this number, Cai Shaojie smiled with satisfaction and ordered:
"In that case, I'll leave this matter to you!"

Cao Hui also preached very humbly:
"General, just wait and see!"

After solving the food problem, Cai Shaojie thought about the firearms issue again and asked:

"What about the five cannons? Did the Fengwu Army take them away?"

Faced with this problem, Cao Hui said helplessly:

"General, the five cannons weighed eight or nine hundred kilograms at the lightest and more than a thousand kilograms at the heaviest. The Fengwu Army would not take them with them when they fled in panic. However, these bastards of the Fengwu Army blew up the five heavy cannons with gunpowder before leaving!"

Upon hearing this, Cai Shaojie slammed the table heavily and said angrily:

"These Fengwu Army bastards are such a waste! They must not fall into my hands, or I will definitely blow them to pieces with gunpowder!"

Cai Shaojie has a love-hate relationship with the Fengwu Army's artillery. What he hates is the enormous power of this thing. In the past three days of siege, these five heavy artillery pieces killed and injured at least hundreds of Zhennan Army soldiers, making a great contribution to the defense of Xingzhou City!
What Cai Shaojie loved was its great power. At the same time, the commander of the Zhennan Army, Xu Zhaojie, had already issued an order to obtain as many cannons as possible from the Fengwu Army. Whoever could complete this task would be rewarded handsomely. Cai Shaojie was also drooling over the reward...
But it is obvious that the Fengwu Army's approach of preferring to blow it up rather than leave it to you has undoubtedly shattered Cai Shaojie's dream!

Although it was a pity that he could not obtain the complete version of the cannon, when he thought of Xu Zhaojie's previous explanation, Cai Shaojie had a new idea and asked Cao Hui again:

"What happened to the cannon? Are there any other parts?"

Cao Hui was stunned at first and then recalled:

"The cannon was blown to pieces, but there are still some parts, and one barrel is intact!"

Hearing this news, Cai Shaojie felt comforted and ordered:
"Have someone pack up the usable parts and send them back to Shouchun. The Marquis has already arranged for someone to study the Fengwu Army's artillery. These parts may be of great use!"

Upon hearing that it was an order from the Marquis himself, Cao Hui also became serious, nodded heavily and said:

"I understand, sir. I will arrange this matter immediately!"

After receiving this answer, Cai Shaojie nodded slightly, and a trace of fatigue appeared on his face. Seeing this, Cao Hui smiled and whispered to Cai Shaojie:
“General, there is a pair of sisters in Xingzhou named Da Song and Xiao Song. Both of them are rare beauties. After hearing about your reputation of defeating the Fengwu Army, they are willing to offer themselves to serve you…”

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While Cai Shaojie was enjoying the fruits of victory in Xingzhou, two hundred miles away in Anqing City, He Jingyun, Zhang Meng, Cui Zheng and other Fengwu Army generals were gathering in a room to discuss plans.

"Reporting to Lord He, Commander Wang Zhifa has led his battalion of soldiers and evacuated from Xingzhou as planned!"

Upon hearing the news, He Jingyun nodded expressionlessly. At the same time, the staff officer in the room immediately pulled out the flag of the Fengwu Army above Xingzhou City on the sand table and replaced it with the flag of the Zhennan Army!

Compared to He Jingyun's expressionless face, the Fourth Army commander Zhang Meng showed some reluctance at this time. Since the Battle of Anqing that year, he was appointed to garrison in Anqing after the capture of Anqing. During this short period of time, he also traveled to various prefectures and counties in Anqing, and gradually developed feelings for Anqing!

Zhang Meng was also very clear that under the Fengwu Army's strategy of clearing the countryside, the logistics of Cai Shaojie's troops were becoming increasingly unsustainable. So after entering the city, in order to obtain sufficient supplies, they would definitely harass the people. Who knows how many innocent people would die tragically at the hands of the Zhennan Army?
He Jingyun also noticed the change in Zhang Meng’s expression, but he didn’t care. Although Zhang Meng was already the commander of the Fourth Army of Fengwu Army and one of the most senior generals in Fengwu Army, in the eyes of this veteran, Zhang Meng was still a young man...
He Jingyun was also very clear about what would happen to the people in the city after Xingzhou was abandoned, but He Jingyun didn't care. He believed that a merciful army cannot be commanded, and compared with the victory he would achieve later, all the sacrifices now were worth it!
In the first battle of Yunbing, He Jingyun defended Jinzhong under the powerful offensive of 200,000 Luoan Imperial Guards and completed the combat goal assigned by Ye Mingsheng!
However, the huge casualties and the loss of several counties still could not make Ye Mingsheng satisfied with the results. The public conflict with Guo Zhiping, the then commander of the Third Army, became the last straw that broke the camel's back, forcing him to leave the Yunbing battlefield sadly under Ye Mingsheng's orders!

This was also regarded by He Jingyun as a great shame in his life. Before this war, his position in the Fengwu Army was generally believed to be higher than that of Yuan Song!
But after a war, everything changed. After Yuan Song completely destroyed the Luoan court, repelled the Golden Horde and conquered the land of Yongliang, no one in the Fengwu Army thought that He Jingyun was stronger than Yuan Song!

As the saying goes, there is no first in literature and no second in martial arts. He Jingyun still has a sense of superiority towards Yuan Song. After all, when he was a famous general, Yuan Song was just an unknown sentry in the imperial army. So He Jingyun could not accept the public opinion that Yuan Song was better in the Fengwu Army.
(End of this chapter)