Outside Suiyang City in Songzhou during early September, the autumn wind swept past rustling, with scattered yellow leaves already falling from the treetops, making people feel the deepening autumn atmosphere.
Outside the city, tens of thousands of soldiers waved their banners, their cheers thunderous.
Residual fires still burned on the broken city walls, the air filled with the pungent burnt smell left by burning oil mixed with timber and corpses.
The breach torn open by whirlwind cannons resembled a shocking wound on the city.
Drawing the view closer, broken weapons and armor littered everywhere—spears, bows, and arrows densely studded the rammed earth walls riddled with massive cracks. Severed limbs and corpses pierced with arrows lay fallen on the walls, in the collapsed breaches, toppled into the moat that was over ten zhang wide.
To overcome Suiyang’s high and formidable walls and wide moat, the attacking side had conscripted tens of thousands of able-bodied laborers outside the eastern gate. Braving arrow volleys as thick as locust swarms and flying stones, they forcibly carried basket after basket of earth to the city base, filling the moat over ten zhang wide and piling up a sloped path several zhang wide that reached the same height as the crenellated walls, allowing thousands of fierce soldiers to charge directly up to the city top via this slope.
Over the past month-plus, to construct this siege ramp, countless commoners had been shot dead by arrows and crushed by flying stones, their bodies directly filled into the slope to increase its height. The soldiers from both sides who died fighting on this ramp had stained the entire slope—nearly three hundred paces long—black with their blood.
“Your Majesty, look!” A mounted general rode straight through the formation strictly guarded by the personal guards, dismounted only when near the main tent, then directly threw a corpse that had been carried on his horse’s back to the ground, raising a cloud of dust. The mounted general knelt on one knee before Zhu Yu and said, “Your Majesty wanted to capture Feng Ting’e alive, but when I led men to kill our way into the compound where Feng Ting’e was staying, this fellow had his subordinate generals strangle his wives, concubines, young son Feng Yanzhang, and two grandsons under ten years old with ropes, then drew his sword and committed suicide. We failed to capture him alive—what a pity…”
Zhu Yu, wearing brocade robes and brown armor, stood silently before the main tent. Lei Jiuyuan stepped forward and saw that Feng Ting’e’s corpse had a gaping wound at the neck, his clothing and armor already soaked through with blood.
Feng Ting’e had been one of the cavalry commanders most relied upon by Liang Taizu in establishing the Great Liang foundation. Together with Qin Shixiong, Gao Jihai, and Han Jian, he was called one of Great Liang’s famous generals. Before Zhu Yu’s usurpation, he had served as Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs and Commander of the Kaifeng Horse Army Capital Command, also the supreme commander of Great Liang’s forbidden army cavalry camps. His daughter was Prince Bo’s consort, and he had always been the most powerful supporter of Prince Bo’s bid for the throne.
Han Jian had been killed by his nephew Han Yuanqi, and now Feng Ting’e had committed suicide. Of the four great generals who established Great Liang’s foundation, two were already gone. Though the former Weibo Military Governor Qin Shixiong had been summoned to Kaifeng to serve as Commissioner of Military Affairs, he spent every day drowning in wine and women, singing and feasting, terrified that the slightest transgression would bring disaster upon him. Only Gao Jihai, covered in wounds and illness, still persisted in his sickly, weakened state defending Zhongmu City against Jin army attacks from the north.
By this time, Great Liang’s older generation could be considered depleted of military talent.
As for this battle at Suiyang in Songzhou, after nearly three months of fierce fighting, both sides had suffered over sixty thousand casualties. Even though the rebel army following Feng Ting’e had suffered far more grievous casualties than the Black Armored troops, what was lost were still Great Liang’s elite forces—wounds to Great Liang’s vitality.
Han Yuanqi, Chen Kun, Jing Zhen and others rode over, dismounted before the main tent to pay respects to the new Emperor Zhu Yu, saying: “Except for a small remnant force of about seven or eight hundred men who broke through and fled toward Chenzhou to join Prince Bo, Feng Ting’e’s entire force has been annihilated in this battle—if the great army now advances on Chenzhou, Your Majesty may be able to return triumphantly to Kaifeng before year’s end.”
“No,” Zhu Yu’s thoughts suddenly snapped back at this moment. He shook his head and said, “Chen Kun will remain with his forces to garrison Songzhou, recruiting displaced people to restore cultivation. Yuanqi, you and Jing Zhen immediately lead your forces to Xuzhou…”
“Xuzhou! The great army is to proceed to Xuzhou at this time?” Both Han Yuanqi and Jing Zhen asked in puzzlement.
After Xuzhou Defense Commissioner Sima Dan had presented his pledge of loyalty, he had sent dozens of family members and relatives to Kaifeng to serve and reside there. The loyalty of Xuzhou’s forces should be beyond question. Shouldn’t they instead press their advantage and pursue, completely eliminating the remnant forces of Prince Bo Zhu Gui—now fewer than twenty thousand men—who had retreated to defend Chenzhou, completely bringing all of Great Liang’s prefectures and counties under Kaifeng’s rule?
Why at such a critical moment would they give Prince Bo Zhu Gui a chance to catch his breath, while deploying main forces to the eastern front?
Could it be that Sima Dan’s sending his descendants to Kaifeng as hostages was an intentional deception, ostensibly submitting to Kaifeng while actually harboring other ambitions?
Zhu Yu spread his hands, passing a secret letter to Han Yuanqi and Chen Kun, who had previously been focused on supporting siege operations.
“Gu Zhilong has pledged to Yueyang, and Yang Zhitang immediately followed suit—he turned far too quickly, didn’t he?” Han Yuanqi drew in a sharp breath. He had thought their own progress was already swift enough—how could he have imagined that the internal chaos in Great Chu would show signs of resolution this quickly?
“With Gu Zhilong pledging to Yueyang, once the Xuanzhou army merges with the Chishan Army and Qiuhu Army, it means that Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan and the Anning Palace have completely lost initiative on the southern flank. Though Yang Zhitang doesn’t command elite troops—mainly because Emperor Tianyou, while employing imperial relatives, was also deliberately preventing any from becoming too powerful—Yang Zhitang’s ability to assess situations and act accordingly is quite good. Together with Yang En and Yang Jian, he forms one of the three main pillars of the Yang clan, far superior to that old fellow Yang Tai,” Zhu Yu said, standing with hands clasped before the main tent. “All this means that over twenty prefectures along Poyang Lake, Dongting Lake, and the Gan River, Xiang River, and Yuan River will all be incorporated into Yueyang within the next two to three months. If everything goes smoothly, Yang Yuanpu should be able to complete a new round of troop deployment by late October. At that time, his three-pronged force of one hundred sixty to seventy thousand men—Yang Yuanpu may very well be able to march on Jinling before year’s end…”
“I’m to lead forces to Xuzhou to force Yang Yuanyan to withdraw troops from Jiangnan as quickly as possible, so that Anning Palace will have hands free to mutually slaughter with Yueyang forces?” Han Yuanqi asked.
“I hope we can make it in time,” Zhu Yu sighed.
“Perhaps we won’t make it in time?”
As the Commandant General heading the Chengtian Bureau, Jing Zhen had a better understanding of Chu’s internal situation, troop deployments, and the attitudes of local power holders in various prefectures and counties. He said:
“With Gu Zhilong and Yang Zhitang successively pledging allegiance, Yueyang recruiting the prefectures of She, Rao, Fu, Ji, Gan, and Shao probably only needs a single proclamation to succeed. Yueyang’s estimate that they can complete a new round of troop assembly by late October is not an exaggeration. Li Zhigao and Gao Chengyuan’s forces might not even need to wait for the main army to finish assembling before advancing on Jiangzhou. But in such a short time, with Anning Palace already short on provisions for so long, there’s simply no way to make such major defensive adjustments. At most they can concentrate forces on Jinling’s western flank to resist Yueyang forces, but even that won’t last long. Why don’t we continue letting Yang Yuanyan remain on the southern bank of the Yangtze, rather than forcing them to withdraw to the northern bank? Yang Yuanyan may be somewhat obstinate and self-willed, but he’s absolutely not weak in military command. Even if Chuzhou Army ultimately loses, they can still severely damage Yueyang forces’ vitality, can’t they?”
The Southern Court Forbidden Army and Shouzhou Army currently totaled fewer than thirty thousand troops on the western front at Jiangzhou and Chizhou, defending against Yueyang forces advancing eastward.
Before Yang Zhitang pledged allegiance, although Yueyang could assemble forty to fifty thousand troops at Ezhou and Huangzhou, they clearly didn’t dare rashly attack Jiangzhou. Now the situation was completely different.
Not only could Yueyang mobilize forces to the maximum extent for assembly at Ezhou, but Yang Zhitang would very likely be able to assemble over forty thousand troops south of Jiangzhou to advance north by late October. At that time, how could tiny Jiangzhou withstand an attack by one hundred twenty to thirty thousand troops from two directions?
Even if Chuzhou Army chose to retreat north immediately, with one hundred thousand troops plus vast quantities of supplies, they couldn’t possibly complete withdrawal in three to five days. At that time, the actual time remaining for Anning Palace to adjust deployments might not even reach one month.
In just one short month, how could Anning Palace possibly manage to disregard the containment by Han Qian and Gu Zhilong’s forces on the southern front while transferring large numbers of elite troops to Jiangzhou at maximum speed, disrupting Yueyang main forces’ operational intent to advance on Jinling?
Chu’s situation had reversed too quickly—so quickly that not only they, but even Anning Palace caught in the middle of it all, were caught unprepared!
“Yes, if we force Chuzhou Army to retreat north at this time, won’t it only prompt local powers in the Hu-Hang region to quickly shift allegiance to Yueyang as well?” Han Yuanqi thought it over. His moving Caizhou Army’s main forces to garrison Xuzhou at this time would only make the situation more favorable to Yueyang, more favorable to Yang Yuanpu. Yet after a moment he couldn’t help but sigh with emotion: “But speaking of it, no one could have imagined beforehand that Han Qian could rally a rabble and actually reverse the situation around Jinling’s periphery in such a short time.”
“Han Qian is far too formidable. Before June, who could have imagined Yueyang would have such an opportunity?” Chen Kun couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. He had once judged that Chu’s situation was far more chaotic than their own Great Liang—how could he have imagined that an insignificant chess piece like Chishan Army would play such a major role?
That bastard Yang Zhitang had too little principle, too little persistence! They had originally hoped Yang Zhitang would have greater ambitions and stir Chu’s situation into even greater chaos!
“Yang Yuanyan wasn’t without opportunities to contain Chishan Army’s rise—in fact there were two excellent opportunities, both missed. Yang Yuanyan is ultimately too obstinate and self-willed,” Lei Jiuyuan said thoughtfully.
Lei Jiuyuan acknowledged that Han Qian was formidable, but from currently collected intelligence, it also showed that Han Qian wasn’t so strong as to be completely unstoppable.
“No,” Zhu Yu shook his head slightly, clasping his hands behind his back and saying, “Yang Yuanyan with Wang Wenqian’s assistance is definitely not weak—it’s just that Han Qian is too strong. Yuanqi leading Caizhou Army’s main forces to Xuzhou can help Yang Yuanpu more easily seize Jinling, but I don’t consider this boy Yang Yuanpu succeeding as Chu Emperor to be a true threat to our Great Liang. In all the realm, those who can truly threaten our Great Liang—apart from the Mongols who from the north have beaten the Jin army without ability to resist—probably only Han Qian. Han Qian gathering three to four hundred thousand old, weak, women and children in northern Xuanzhou has left Chuzhou Army and Anning Palace helpless. We cannot give Han Qian sufficient time to digest these three to four hundred thousand old, weak, women and children.”
“Ah!” Han Yuanqi, Chen Kun, Lei Jiuyuan, Jing Zhen and the others were all startled, not expecting that His Majesty’s arrangement had this as its most fundamental purpose—preventing Han Qian from having sufficient time to digest the old, weak, women and children gathered between Fuyu Mountain and Jieling Mountain, even willing to directly send troops to force Chuzhou Army’s main forces to withdraw to the northern bank, helping Yang Yuanpu recover the Jiangnan region in the shortest possible time.
After Zhu Yu’s explanation, Lei Jiuyuan, Han Yuanqi, Chen Kun, Jing Zhen and others thought more deeply and realized this was indeed the logic:
Both Longque Army and Chishan Army had transformed from rabbles of common folk into elite battle troops that astonished all under heaven, but Chishan Army’s burden was too heavy and large, and they were right at Jinling’s bedside. As long as they could help Yang Yuanpu recover Jinling in the shortest time possible, help Yang Yuanpu gather Jiangnan’s aristocratic families and powerful clans to his side in the shortest time, then Chu’s ruler and ministers could not possibly tolerate Han Qian establishing a foundation base just over a hundred li from Jinling, and would have the ability to force Han Qian to surrender Chishan Army’s military authority.
Not to mention that Yang Yuanpu currently harbored suspicions toward Han Qian.
But if time dragged on for a year or two, or if Yueyang Army’s main forces were severely damaged by Yang Yuanyan, then everything would truly become uncertain.
“Besides all this, our Great Liang forces also need time to rest and reorganize!” Zhu Yu continued with emotion.
Han Yuanqi turned to look at the distant Suiyang City with corpses piled above and below, knowing that after successive battles, Great Liang’s vitality had been severely damaged—the situation was actually somewhat more severe than Chu’s.
Not only had the great army suffered considerable casualties up to now and needed rest, but more importantly, the Central Plains region would enter winter in less than a month.
They temporarily had no confidence they could complete the elimination of Prince Bo Zhu Gui’s remnant forces within one month. At that time, with wind and snow intersecting, attacking cities would become even more difficult for soldiers, and uncertain factors would greatly increase.
Compared to previous campaigns when the great army attacked Jing-Xiang and Shou-Huai regions where they could requisition grain locally and allow troops to plunder extensively to solve a considerable portion of supply problems, they were currently fighting within their own territory. Not only did soldiers’ grain have to be transported from elsewhere, they also had to shoulder responsibility for settling and providing relief to refugees. Entering the harsh winter when heavy snow blocked roads and froze rivers, provisions and fodder supply would become even tighter.
Years of continuous warfare plus nearly a year of Great Liang’s internal mutual slaughter, combined with Jin army strengthening attacks on Great Liang from Zhongmu, Weibo, Hedong and other areas over the past year—Great Liang bore tremendous pressure and truly needed time to catch its breath.