Chapter 998 The army lost contact!

Hanyang, early morning

Ye Pengchao arrived at the Jingchu Censorate's office on time in a carriage. After meeting and greeting the Censor Liang Xin, he was ready to start his new day's work as the deputy envoy of the Jingchu Censorate...
After Jingchu surrendered to the Fengwu Army a few months ago, the Fengwu Army's power should have entered Jingchu. However, at that time, the Fengwu Army's strategic focus was in the north to deal with the Golden Horde.

Therefore, it was impossible to spare too many men to be stationed in Hanyang at once. Therefore, only one battalion of troops from the First Division and the Fourth Army, totaling 6,000 people, were stationed in Hanyang. Zhang Shengli, commander of the First Division, was appointed as deputy general of Hanyang, and Li Zhengyong, commander of the Fifth Army, concurrently served as general of Hanyang.

As for the civil service system, the Fengwu Army also arranged several people to be stationed in the Jingchu Provincial Administration, the Censorate, and other government offices!

And because Ye Pengchao had made considerable contributions in the Fengwu Army's capture of Hanyang, and he had worked in Hanyang for many years and was familiar with the situation in Hanyang, he was transferred from above with an order to leave the General Coordination Office system and temporarily take over the position of Deputy Envoy of the Jingchu Censorate!
Ye Pengchao was also very happy with the above arrangement. Although the Coordination Office had great power, its reputation as a spy agency was not very good after all, and its room for advancement was limited and the ceiling was very low!
The Deputy Envoy of the Censorate is a genuine fourth-rank official position. Although he is currently only temporarily a fifth-rank official, he has been promoted two levels compared to his previous sixth-rank position as a centurion of the General Coordination Office!
At the same time, Ye Pengchao was also very familiar with the rules of the Fengwu Army system. He knew that as long as he stayed in the position of deputy envoy of the Censorate, he would not make any serious mistakes that would anger the people and the heavens...

Then, in just one or two years, he would be able to take off this temporary title and become a true fourth-rank deputy envoy of the Censorate!

Therefore, Ye Pengchao was very grateful for the above arrangement and wanted to work hard to serve the Marshal.

In order to better perform his duties as deputy envoy of the Censorate, Ye Pengchao also transferred several of his subordinates in the Coordination Office into the system of the Jingchu Censorate.

However, because the Fengwu Army only controlled Jingchu in name, its actual control over Jingchu was very limited, and there were not many available manpower in Jingchu.

Therefore, before Ye Pengchao left the Coordination Office, he recommended his subordinate Huang Dale to take over his position as a captain in the Coordination Office. He would be responsible for gathering intelligence on the Zhennan Army at the front line, resisting the infiltration of the Thousand Tiger Guards, and carrying out internal control tasks, etc.

However, due to the long distance, the reply from above had not yet been received, so Ye Pengchao, who could not wait for the reply from above, handed over the work of the Coordination Office to Huang Dale, and then focused on the work of the Censorate!
In order to maintain the stability of Jingchu, the Fengwu Army has temporarily decided not to make any major changes to the Jingchu Provincial Government, the Censorate, and the heads of various prefectures, but this does not mean that the Fengwu Army will continue to tolerate Jingchu maintaining the status quo.

Therefore, Ye Pengchao’s position as the deputy envoy of the Censorate is also very critical. He has been given a secret order from above to find out the ins and outs of the Jingchu officialdom and make some preparations for the Fengwu Army to rectify the Jingchu officialdom...

In order to complete this secret mission, Ye Pengchao transferred several of his capable subordinates from the Coordination Office to the Censorate to secretly take charge of this matter.

After collecting evidence of a deputy governor's corruption and bribery, and a provincial prosecutor's murder, Ye Pengchao put the evidence in the drawer of his desk and locked it.

He has already collected evidence of the crimes of dozens of Jingchu officials, and is only waiting for the commander-in-chief in Yi Jing to give the order, so that he can set off a storm of connections in Jingchu, expose the true colors of these parasites who suck the fat of the people, and make them receive the punishment they deserve!
At this time, a minor official came to Ye Pengchao's room and reported:

"Master Ye, Huang Dale from the Coordination Office wants to see you!"

Upon hearing the news, Ye Pengchao frowned slightly with a look of surprise. Logically speaking, as the secret agency of the Fengwu Army, the Coordination Office did not have a very good reputation.

Many officials are disgusted by their existence, and the special duties of the Coordination Office also require them to keep a certain distance from some government offices.

Although he came from the Coordination Office system, he has left the Coordination Office system after all. So even if Huang Dale, who was my former subordinate, had something to talk to me about, he should have come to me privately instead of coming to the Censorate to find me so openly...

Huang Dale certainly understood this logic, and the fact that he came to find me like this meant that he must have encountered something, and it was something extremely urgent, otherwise he would never do this!
Thinking of the responsibility in his heart, Ye Pengchao put aside some of his concerns and asked the clerk to invite Huang Dale into his room.

Soon, a seven-foot-tall, dark-skinned man came into the room. This man was Huang Dale, an old subordinate of Ye Pengchao and now the temporary head of the Jingchu branch of the Coordination Office!
Huang Dale came into the room and closed the door without waiting for Ye Pengchao to speak. Then he said to Ye Pengchao anxiously:
"Master Ye, something big has happened. The main force of the Fifth Army has lost contact in Xiaowu Mountain!"

Ye Pengchao was shocked when he heard this, and then he subconsciously asked:
"Come on, tell me what's going on."

Huang Dale preached without hesitation:
"On July 11, the Fifth Army dispatched 50,000 troops to Xiaowu Mountain to annihilate a detachment of the Zhennan Army. Since then, no news has been sent back from Xiaowu Mountain. A total of 50,000 troops have completely lost contact!"

Thinking that today is already July 20th, Ye Pengchao could not help but ask angrily:
"Such important news, why did you deliver it only now? What do you do for a living?"

Facing Ye Pengchao's roar, Huang Dale didn't even dare to wipe the spit on his face, and could only preach humbly and helplessly:

“After the lord and his men were reorganized into the Fifth Army, the brothers became a little lax about their intelligence…”

"And this was also a normal military deployment, so the brothers didn't think much about it. Who knew something like this would happen?"

Hearing what Huang Dale said, Ye Pengchao closed his eyes in pain. He knew that after the Hanyang Incident, as the main planning department of the incident, all the people in the Coordination Office in Jingchu had received heavy rewards from above.

Although this huge reward was a recognition of the past work of the staff of the Jingchu Branch of the Coordination Office and a reward they deserved, it also made everyone immersed in the joy of victory. Many people became lazy and lost their previous alertness and vigilance! And the current situation may be God's punishment for them!
Huang Dale, who learned about the Fifth Army's action at the beginning, did not actually take it seriously. After all, according to the intelligence he had obtained, the Zhennan Army's detachment that attacked Xiaowushan had only 5,000 people, while the Fifth Army had dispatched a full 50,000 men. Even if the Fifth Army had a serious problem of unemployed soldiers, the nominal 50,000 men were actually still 30,000.

In addition, Xiaowushan already had thousands of soldiers in the Fifth Army, so the troop strength ratio of the two sides was almost seven to one. Therefore, Huang Dale felt that even if the combat effectiveness of the Fifth Army was not strong, with a troop strength of seven to one, it would be a sure thing to take down this detachment of the Zhennan Army without any problem!

So when there was no news coming back from Xiaowu Mountain on July 15th and 16th, Huang Dale did not take it seriously. He just thought that the mountain was high and the road was long, and the news from the Fifth Army was delayed on the way.

But it was not until two days ago, on July 18th, when no news had been sent back from Xiao Wushan that Huang Dale realized something was wrong!
But he still had hope and waited for another two days. Today, which was July 20th, Huang Dale finally realized the seriousness of the matter. On the one hand, he sent people to Xiaowushan to investigate, and on the other hand, he hurried to find his old leader Ye Pengchao, hoping to get his help and find out the truth of the matter!

Although he had realized that the main force of the Fifth Army might have met with an accident at Xiaowu Mountain, Ye Pengchao still asked Huang Dale with a fluke mentality:

"What's going on with the Zhennan Army?"

Huang Dale hesitated for a moment and said:
"Based on previous situations, except for a detachment of 5,000 men, the rest of the Zhennan Army is stationed in the area and there has been no unusual movement!"

Upon hearing this news, Ye Pengchao's brows were still furrowed. At this time, Huang Dale continued to speak:

"Sir, I have sent dozens of people to Xiaowu Mountain and Tanzhou, but I am worried that the Fifth Army may encounter an accident in Xiaowu Mountain, so please go find General Li and ask him to prepare for an emergency!"

Ye Pengchao nodded slightly and said:
"This is all we can do for now. I'm going to find Li Zhengyong now!"

Huang Dale's solemn expression eased a little after hearing this. Although he had good expectations for the Fifth Army's experience in Xiaowu Mountain...

But Huang Dale also knew in his heart that if no news had been received for such a long time, the Fifth Army might have encountered an accident.

If the Fifth Army encounters an accident, the defenders of Tanzhou will probably not be able to hold out for too long, and the Zhennan Army may march straight to the city of Hanyang!
Hanyang, as the economic and political center of Jingchu, was also the basis for Fengwu Army to control Jingchu. As long as Hanyang was not captured by Zhennan Army, even if Zhennan Army conquered some prefectures, it would not be a big problem for Fengwu Army.

As long as the main force of the Fengwu Army is transferred from the north, it will not be difficult for the Fengwu Army to regain the lost territory!
Therefore, the top priority now is for the defenders of Hanyang to be prepared to be attacked by the enemy at the gates of the city. They must not be caught off guard by the enemy and must firmly defend the city and not allow the enemy any opportunity to take advantage!

After discussing it, Ye Pengchao and Huang Dale immediately started to act separately. Ye Pengchao also went to find Li Zhengyong immediately. At present, there were about 18,000 defenders in Hanyang City.

Twelve thousand of them are under the command of General Li Zhengyong, so now Li Zhengyong must realize the seriousness of the situation!
After a stick of incense, Ye Pengchao arrived at the yamen of Hanyang General's Mansion. However, the people in the yamen of Hanyang General's Mansion said that Li Zhengyong did not come to the yamen today...
Although he didn't know what Li Zhengyong was doing, Ye Pengchao immediately went to Li Zhengyong's mansion. At first, the housekeeper of Li's mansion was hesitant to say anything, but under Ye Pengchao's questioning, the housekeeper of Li's mansion still said honestly:
Li Zhengyong has been in a bad mood recently, so he went out hunting with his personal soldiers and several concubines. They didn't know where Li Zhengyong went!
Upon hearing this news, Ye Pengchao was so angry that his teeth were itching. He knew that Li Zhengyong and Duan Zhibao had always been at odds over the position of the commander of the Fifth Army!

Although the Marshal did not give the position of commander to Duan Zhibao, Duan Zhibao's rank of commander-in-chief was still one level higher than Li Zhengyong's commander-in-chief, making him the de facto commander of the Fifth Army.

Li Zhengyong was very angry about this. In order to appease him, his superiors not only gave him some money and goods, but also gave him the position of General of Hanyang.

But Li Zhengyong was still angry. He had put a lot of military work aside recently. It would have been fine if it was at any other time, but Ye Pengchao was still very angry that he couldn't find anyone at such a critical moment.

Since he couldn’t find Li Zhengyong, Ye Pengchao simply gave up looking for him and went directly to the military camp east of Hanyang City, where Hanyang Deputy General Zhang Shengli and the 6,000 Fengwu troops drawn from the 4th Army of the 1st Division were...

After arriving at the military camp in Dongcheng, Ye Pengchao soon met Zhang Shengli and told him what had happened. Zhang Shengli was also very surprised.

Ye Pengchao also made a very serious suggestion to Zhang Shengli:

"General Zhang, I suggest you declare martial law throughout the city and recruit the young and strong men in the city to defend the city. Be prepared for the worst!"

Facing Ye Pengchao's suggestion, Zhang Shengli said with some embarrassment:

"Master Ye, don't worry, we brothers are always ready, but you know that Master Li Zhengyong is the commander-in-chief. If I do this, I'm afraid Master Li will think that I am overstepping my authority!"

Seeing Zhang Shengli's embarrassed expression, Ye Pengchao also remembered the idea that Li Zhengyong and Zhang Shengli were not on good terms. It was said that Zhang Shengli initially could not stand the corruption, ghost soldiers and lax military discipline within the Jingchu Army, and suggested to Li Zhengyong that military discipline should be rectified!
But little did they know that Li Zhengyong was one of the corrupt officials in the Jingchu Army who was the most corrupt and had drawn the most empty salaries, so Zhang Shengli’s suggestion was naturally rejected by Li Zhengyong······························

(End of this chapter)