Chapter 788: When the lips and teeth are in danger, all parties must work together!
Huainan, Zhucheng

"Run away! The Fengwu Army is coming!"

"No running away! Anyone who retreats will be killed!"

"Get on top of it, you bastards! Drive the Fengwu Army out!"

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Amid shouts and screams, after a day of siege, the East Gate of Zhucheng, the central gateway of Huainan, was first breached by the Fengwu Army. With the fall of the East Gate, thousands of Fengwu Army rushed into the city, and the defense of Zhucheng began to gradually collapse.

Half an hour later, Zhang Meng, deputy commander of the 4th Army of Fengwu Army, rode his tall horse triumphantly into the city. Looking at the large number of prisoners of the Zhennan Army kneeling on the ground, the smugness on his face became more and more evident. He glanced at the prisoners and asked the deputy general beside him:

"Where is Zhucheng General Wang Zhikui?"

Hearing Zhang Meng's question, Deputy General Liu Shenggang hurriedly said:

"Sir Wang Zhikui fled with a dozen of his personal soldiers before the city was breached, but Commander Cai has already sent people to chase them. I believe they will be brought back soon!"

Zhang Meng nodded slightly after receiving the news. Because Anqing and Zhucheng were only a few dozen miles apart, although there were no major conflicts between the two sides, scouting, reconnaissance and infiltration between the two sides were still ongoing.

Two months ago, the scouts of the Fengwu Army suffered a small loss near Zhucheng. Seven people were killed and more than a dozen were injured. This made the Zhennan Army of Zhucheng very proud. Among them, Wang Zhikui, the general of Zhucheng, even cut off the heads of the sacrificed Fengwu Army soldiers and built a Jingguan on the border in order to provoke the Fengwu Army...
Although the Fengwu Army won a great victory and regained its ground in several subsequent frictions, Zhang Meng was a vengeful person. He always wanted to settle the score with Wang Zhikui about this matter. Unfortunately, because he had not received Ye Mingsheng's order, he could not lead his troops to attack on his own, so he had been holding back his anger.

And now that he has finally received Ye Mingsheng's order, he will naturally not betray this bastard Wang Zhikui. He will chop off this bastard's head with his own hands and build a city gate to commemorate the dead Fengwu Army soldiers and comfort their souls in heaven!
Putting Wang Zhikui's matter aside for now, Zhang Meng asked Liu Sheng next to him:
"What were our casualties and results in this battle?"

Liu Sheng thought for a moment and said:
"Sir, our army suffered about a thousand casualties in this battle, and annihilated nearly five thousand enemy troops, including three thousand captured and more than one thousand seven hundred killed!"

Hearing this result, Zhang Meng nodded with satisfaction and ordered:
"Send the news that my Fourth Army has captured Zhucheng to the General Staff Headquarters! Also send this news to Bozhou and tell the colleagues in the First Army!"

This time, according to the plan of the General Staff, the Fourth Army and the First Army under his command would advance in parallel to attack Huainan. However, what made Zhang Meng somewhat dissatisfied was that in the specific combat plan, their Fourth Army was mainly to support the First Army and protect the flank of the First Army instead of launching the main attack...

Although he understood that the First Army was the Fengwu Army's main trump card and the apple of the eye of the General Staff, Zhang Meng still felt a little uncomfortable about it.

Zhang Meng felt that his Fourth Army was underestimated by the General Staff. As a military-level unit that had only been established for a year, the Fourth Army was indeed not as famous as the First Army, but it was not much worse than the First Army and was fully capable of taking on the task of the main attack.

For this purpose, Zhang Meng also wrote a special letter to the General Staff and Ye Mingsheng, hoping that the Fourth Army could also take the main attack with the First Army. He, Zhang Meng, was willing to issue a military order to ensure the completion of the task.

Ye Mingsheng wrote back to comfort Zhang Meng, who was eager to fight. However, to be on the safe side, he still asked him to follow the established plan to protect the flank of the First Army and assist the First Army's offensive.

Faced with Ye Mingsheng's order, Zhang Meng could only obey orders obediently. However, he was still unwilling to give in and was thinking about proving the capabilities of their Fourth Army to the General Staff and the Marshal on the next battlefield!

Although Zhucheng is not a big city in Huainan, it is also a strategic location. Their Fourth Army was able to capture it in just one day, which is something they can be proud of and worth bragging about. It can be regarded as a good start for the Battle of Huainan!

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Two days later, Huainan, Shouchun
In Xu's house, Liu Chaohu walked quickly into the study and bowed to Xu Zhaojie who was reading a book and said:

"My Lord, news just came from the front that Bozhou and Zhucheng have been lost! Zhucheng's Wang Zhikui was killed, and Bozhou's general Sun Kaishan surrendered!"

Hearing this news, Xu Zhaojie, who was reading a book, did not seem surprised. He nodded slightly and said:

"The Fengwu Army is still as fast as before!"

Regarding Xu Zhaojie's words, Liu Chaohu hesitated for a moment and said:
"My Lord, although we have controlled the news, the news of the fall of Bozhou and Zhucheng has begun to spread in the city. We suspect that there are spies from the Coordination Office in the city!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Zhaojie immediately asked:

"What's the current situation in the city?"

Facing Xu Zhaojie's question, Liu Chaohu showed a hint of hesitation on his face. Seeing this, Xu Zhaojie said calmly:

"Tell me the truth! I am mentally prepared for this!"

Hearing what Xu Zhaojie said, Liu Chaohu also said very sincerely:

"My Lord, the situation is still under control, but it's not very good!"

"After the Battle of Ji and Yu, the soldiers and civilians in Huainan were somewhat afraid of the Fengwu Army. Now Bozhou and Zhucheng fell too quickly, so many people in the city are afraid that the Fengwu Army will break in!"

"Although Zhuji Grain Shop was dealt with by you, my Lord, and they dare not raise the price of grain anymore, they now say that the grain supply cannot enter the city, so they can only sell a limited amount every day...
"So although the price of grain in the city is still five cents per stone, there is no price at all. Many people can't buy food, and many people are complaining. The most hateful are those rats in the Coordination Office. They are fanning the flames everywhere and trying to incite the people to confront the government!"

After Liu Chaohu finished speaking, Xu Zhaojie's originally calm expression also became serious and he asked Liu Chaohu:
"Who in the Chief Secretary is responsible for supervising food prices? Has any information been reported?"

Liu Chaohu thought for a moment and said:
"My Lord, it's a clerk under Governor Wu, and his name seems to be Sun Ying!"

"He didn't report any situation. He said that the grain can't be transported in now. It's mainly because of the reduced grain production in the fall. In addition, it has been raining and snowing recently. A lot of grain has become damp and moldy, and the roads are muddy. Multiple factors have led to this situation!" Hearing this news, Xu Zhaojie's eyes flashed a cold color, but he didn't say much. He just nodded and ordered:

"I know everything. Go get Fang She for me!"

"Yes!"

A stick of incense later, Fang She, commander of the Thousand Tiger Guards, appeared in front of Xu Zhaojie.

"Master Hou, are you looking for me?"

When Xu Zhaojie saw Fang She, he asked directly:
"How was the talk with Sun Liangyu and the others?"

Seeing Xu Zhaojie asking this, Fang She said without hesitation:
"Although there are still some minor setbacks, overall the situation is going smoothly. Sun Liangyu has already received the first batch of 300,000 taels of silver from Jiangnan. His general Hou Zhen is also ready with 30,000 troops. They can attack Anqing at any time!"

Hearing this, Xu Zhaojie nodded slightly, and with a smile on his face, he said to Fang She:

"This matter is all thanks to Fang Sheni. If it weren't for your efforts to make this happen, I really wouldn't have thought of getting reinforcements from Sun Liangyu!"

Facing Xu Zhaojie's praise, Fang She also said very humbly:

"I dare not take credit for it. If it weren't for the support of the Marquis, I would not be able to make this happen even if I talked my mouth off!"

Seeing Fang She being so humble and sensible, he, who was already very satisfied with him because of this matter, undoubtedly looked up to him even more.

After eliminating the aristocratic families headed by the Cao family, Xu Zhaojie has been preparing for war, thinking about how to resist the invasion of the Fengwu Army.

At that time, he did not think that he could still borrow the power of Jingchu and Jiangnan. After all, in the past few years, because of Xu Zhaojie's covetousness and some historical grievances, his relationship with Jingchu Inspector Sun Liangyu and Jiangnan Governor Lu Jianchao was not very good.

However, Fang She proposed to seek help from these two families to jointly resist the Fengwu Army.

Faced with the idea proposed by Fang She, Xu Zhaojie did not hold out much hope at first. In his eyes, whether it was Sun Liangyu or Lu Jianchao, seeing him being attacked by the Fengwu Army, they must be watching a joke and would never help him!
However, with Fang She's insistence, Xu Zhaojie felt that it would be okay to give it a try. The Fengwu Army had mobilized two armies with tens of thousands of people this time, and the pressure on him was very great. If he could get support from Jingchu and Jiangnan, that would naturally be the best thing.

Even if he didn't get any support in the end, he wouldn't suffer any loss, so Xu Zhaojie agreed to Fang She's method and asked Fang She to contact and make this matter happen. Because he also felt that the possibility of success of this matter was too small, Xu Zhaojie put this matter behind him and focused on how to become self-reliant.

However, what he never expected was that ten days later Fang She brought him good news. Under Fang She's eloquent explanation of the pros and cons, out of fear of the Fengwu Army and concern for the loss of both sides, Lu Jianchao and Sun Liangyu reached a secret agreement.

Lu Jianchao took out one million taels of silver and 300,000 dan of grain to give to Sun Liangyu, and Sun Liangyu lent Xu Zhaojie 30,000 soldiers to fight against the arrogant Fengwu Army...

Xu Zhaojie was naturally very excited about this unexpected surprise. Although he was confident that he could stop the offensive of the Fengwu Army and preserve the foundation of the Zhennan Army, he also understood that with the current strength of the Zhennan Army, it was not enough to confront the Fengwu Army head-on, and losing cities and territories was inevitable!
But with the addition of these 30,000 troops from Jingchu, the situation changed greatly. After occupying Huainan, Xu Zhaojie had many battles with Jingchu. He knew that Jingchu's troops were not weak, but still very combat-effective. And the most crucial point was that the Fengwu Army did not know about these 30,000 troops from Jingchu and was preparing to intervene in the Huainan battle.

Therefore, these 30,000 soldiers can be said to be a surprise force. If used properly, they may be able to have a decisive effect!

Seeing that Xu Zhaojie was in a good mood, Fang She hesitated for a moment and said:
"My Lord, Hou Zhen asked me to ask you when you plan to let him join the battle?"

"Oh?"

Facing Xu Zhaojie's inquiring gaze, Fang She carefully considered his words and explained:
"My Lord, after learning that Bozhou and Zhucheng had fallen, Hou Zhen was a little worried that our army would be defeated."

Although Fang She's words were very euphemistic, Xu Zhaojie could not understand what Jing Chu meant, and he snorted coldly and said:
“Tell him not to worry about it! They won’t be needed in the short term, so when they are needed, don’t let them down…”

"Yes!" Fang She bowed and replied:
After thinking for a while, Xu Zhaojie asked Fang She again:

"What's the news from Jinghai?"

Fang She thought for a moment and said:
"After Cao Huan captured Zhang Kai, he also hooked up with Jiangnan and got a lot of silver and firearms from Lu Jianchao. Recently, he has been recruiting soldiers and expanding his strength rapidly. Now his army has more than 10,000 soldiers. The Fengwu Army's massive attack this time is also asking Cao Huan to harass our army in the rear and tie down our army's strength!"

"Although Cao Huan sent some troops to harass the Fengwu Army in response to their request, I think they were being hypocritical. Compared to harassing our rear, Cao Heng was more interested in managing Jinghai!"

Hearing this news, a sneer emerged on Xu Zhaojie's face. He knew that the reason why Lu Jianchao was willing to pay one million taels of silver to help him this time was because of Cao Heng. Lu Jianchao used Cao Heng to guard against himself, and used himself to guard against Ye Mingsheng. This was a double insurance!

Lu Jianchao thought that his move was very clever, but he would soon make him understand what it meant to be too clever by half. Now that the Fengwu Army was approaching, he could not spare the energy to deal with the bastard Cao Huan. After he repelled the Fengwu Army, there would be no suspense in dealing with Cao Heng.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Zhaojie changed the subject and said:
“Fang She, there are still too many bugs in the Central Coordination Office in Shouchun City. You must clear them out for me. Also, investigate the food supply in the city to see if anyone is playing tricks…”

"Yes! Mr. Hou!"

(End of this chapter)