lovenovelstory Chapter 272 Han De
Chapter 272 Han De
Chapter 272 Han De
Just as Song Shen had said before, the troops of the various Wanhu Prefectures in Jiangnan were not very willing to move.
By the tenth day of the fifth month, the imperial court could no longer stand by and watch, so it appointed Prince Boluo Buhua of Zhennan as commander-in-chief and mobilized troops to besiege and suppress the Huashan bandits.
However, the Prince of Zhennan did not make a move. Instead, he sent his advisors to Hangzhou to discuss the matter with the provincial governor. At the same time, he also sent someone to Huashan to convey a message of appeasement.
You know what, it actually works.
Some of the fugitives went down the mountain, but after learning that the Zhu family's property had been divided up and that their family members had been exiled to distant prefectures, Zhu Mantun,
Enraged, Zhu Sanshan killed the recruiter and raised the banner of rebellion again—at this point, fewer than fifty people remained on the mountain.
Having killed the envoy, there was nothing more they could do. The Prince of Zhennan had no choice but to send out another envoy to urge the various armies to advance and suppress the rebellion.
The interpreter's Han army moved out on May 20th. Han De, who had recently been promoted to commander of a thousand, set off from Yangshe with several hundred men, stopping briefly for half a day when passing through Jiangyin City.
The prefectural magistrate Zhu Daocun, judge Ma Yuanchong, and prosecutor Ge Daji arrived one after another and hosted a small farewell dinner at Chengjiang Post Station.
Chengjiang Post Station is located near the North Gate, adjacent to the bustling Jiangxia City and the Huangtian Port with its numerous boats, and is frequented by pedestrians and carriages.
Not long after the four sat down, four large oxcarts passed by on the roadside, fully loaded with bags of salt.
The scoundrels transporting smuggled salt were so lazy that they didn't even cover the tarpaulin properly, leaving layers upon layers of burlap sacks exposed, with white salt grains seemingly glistening at the corners of the sacks.
The four of them looked at each other in silence.
After a moment, Han De spoke first. He smiled and said, "Seriously speaking, isn't this Cao Luo surnamed Shao? There's a Shengye Trading Company in Taicang, whose owner is named Shao Shuyi. Someone checked, and the two look very similar, almost identical."
None of the people present showed any surprise, clearly indicating that they knew something about it.
Zhu Daocun, who was ordered by the Prefect of Zhou to investigate Cao Luo's identity, looked particularly displeased.
This scoundrel actually boasted that he wanted to marry his sister-in-law, Yuanzhen! It's absolutely ruining his grand plan!
Furthermore, the thought of something that seemed to be in hibernation fueled Zhu Daocun's anger even more. It was one thing to be unaware before, but now everyone knew who had killed Zhu Ding. While the blame should certainly fall on the squad leader who had broken in without permission, Shao Shuyi was also culpable.
Therefore, feeling uneasy, Zhu Daocun said, "Whether it's Cao Luo or Shao Shuyi, in such a large prefecture as Jiangyin, we still have to carefully appease and coax them, right?"
The words carried a hint of grumbling and complaining, but it was actually quite normal. Weren't the officials of Jiangyin Prefecture experiencing the same complex feelings? It wasn't just one or two people complaining privately; they simply had no other choice.
Ma Yuanchong shared the same sentiment and sighed, "Since last autumn, I've been reorganizing the various patrol stations, replenishing their equipment, and diligently training them, but these people—"
'
At this point, he gritted his teeth and said, "They're hopeless; all they do is extort and blackmail. When it comes to training, they all complain endlessly. It's infuriating."
Ge Daji's eyelids twitched, and he advised, "Judge Ma, that's good enough. The patrol office is what it is; training is better than no training at all. Yesterday I passed by the Chengjiang patrol office and found that Inspector Chen's unit has improved compared to last year. That's good enough."
Ma Yuanchong shook his head and said, "Let's not talk about such unpleasant things. General Han, I wish you a safe journey."
Having said that, he picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp.
Han De, preoccupied with his own thoughts, picked up his wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. Then he sighed and said, "The phrase 'Safe journey' is well-chosen. In my life, I've reached the pinnacle as a commander of a thousand households, and now all I ask for is peace and safety. The Huashan bandits are so ruthless, having killed two county magistrates; they'll be difficult to deal with. What worries me most is..." He didn't finish his sentence.
The army that quelled the rebellion was also divided into different ranks, and considerations were given to those who were close to the enemy. If the Prince of Zhennan sent his interpreters and Han soldiers to the front lines, considering the terrain of Huashan, if the rebels broke through the treacherous mountain paths, panic and trampling would occur, and countless people would die.
How do you think the Darughachi of Jurong and Jiangning counties died? It was because those Mongols thought the archers were cowardly and timid, so they personally led the charge to boost morale, only to be defeated by the bandits and unable to escape themselves.
He is a commander of a thousand men, and it is highly likely that he will lead the charge.
Zhu Daocun, observing the situation from the side, said, "Shao Shuyi has been smuggling so much salt, it's time to help him out."
Didn't General Han invite him to join the campaign?
Han De's expression turned rather unpleasant upon hearing this.
Zhu Daocun understood immediately, but he didn't say anything more. Some things are better left unsaid; saying too much is not good.
"Speaking of salt—" Ma Yuanchong pointed to the second group of four oxcarts approaching on the street and said, "Each cart carries at least two or three thousand catties, and eight carts have already passed by, totaling no less than twenty thousand catties. Where did all this salt come from?"
Ge Daji coughed and said, "Perhaps it was bought from a salt merchant."
Ma Yuanchong glanced at Ge Daji with amusement, but said nothing more.
To deflect the question, Ge Daji also raised his wine bowl, faced Han De, and said, "General Han, I wish you a successful campaign."
Han De poured himself a small bowl and said, "I appreciate your kind words."
After saying this, he downed his drink in one gulp, wiped his mouth, and laughed, "The interpreter has sent a thousand men from the Han army, a thousand from the Changzhou 10,000-household prefecture, a thousand from the Huai'an 10,000-household prefecture, a thousand five hundred from the Zhenjiang 10,000-household prefecture, and three thousand five hundred from the Yidu New Army, plus one scout, one Mongol, and one Han army commander each from the Prince of Zhennan's forces, five hundred crossbowmen from the 10,000-household prefecture, and two thousand naval troops to block the river, totaling twelve thousand men. If we still lose with so many men, I really don't know what to say."
The others remained noncommittal.
Normally, this shouldn't have happened; overwhelming the enemy with sheer numbers would have killed them. However, having experienced the Battle of Qinwang Mountain, they weren't as confident as Han De. If you send 10,000 men up, 99% of them would just be outside cheering and waving flags; only a limited number would actually be able to fight the enemy.
Choosing a hundred or so out of twelve thousand pigs is still just picking pigs. But if the Huashan bandits break through, even the pigs that were waving flags and shouting might trample each other, resulting in heavy casualties.
Some might suggest using a war of attrition, preventing the Huashan bandits from resting and wearing them down. However, this would require the government troops to maintain high morale and be willing to charge forward again after suffering one or two defeats, denying the bandits a chance to recover.
The best way to fight this kind of battle is to find a group of brave and capable soldiers to lead the way, with a large number of low-combat-capability officers and soldiers following closely behind, shouting and cheering. Only in this way can there be a chance of victory. The premise of this tactic is that it is assumed that the officers and soldiers cannot find so many brave and capable people.
Han De drank two bowls of wine and got a little carried away. His gaze swept around and landed on Zhu Daocun.
The other two had already offered their toasts, but this fellow remained seated, which slightly displeased Han De. So he chuckled and said, "Shao Shuyi has acquired so much salt; putting everything else aside, at least he has the money. In Jiangyin Prefecture, he's quite a figure. With such wealth, I wonder if he's qualified to marry a woman from the Fei family in Shanghai?"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Daocun's face stiffened. He picked up his wine bowl and said, "General Han is drunk, but he must still drink this cup to the brim. Only in this way can he defeat the stubborn enemy and be promoted."
"Haha, easy to say." Han De felt much better and picked up the wine bowl to drink it all in one gulp.
The group drank until sunset before parting ways.
While they were drinking, another donkey cart was carrying five or six thousand catties of salted fish on the main road outside Chengjiang Post Station, heading towards the Confucian Temple and Academy.
Mr. Shao's business has truly entered an accelerated phase, and is more prosperous than ever before.
On the morning of May 21, Han De led his men westward toward Changzhou.
After traveling for several days, just as they reached Benniuba, news came from ahead: Liu Qin, the deputy commander of the Yidu New Army, led a thousand men to attack the mountain, but suffered a great defeat and was seriously wounded.
King Zhennan ordered all his troops to speed up their pace and rush to the foot of Huashan Mountain to provide reinforcements and await further orders.
Upon hearing this, Han De was at least filled with apprehension, if not utterly terrified.
The Yidu New Army was stationed in Jinling. They were supposedly better equipped and had more provisions than the Han Chinese army, yet they still lost. What about the Yangshe army? They certainly couldn't win. However, military orders were hard to disobey, and they had to go, no matter how unwilling they were.
At this moment, he thought of Shao Shuyi again.
If he could persuade these salt smuggling leaders to take the lead in the attack, things might be much simpler. When he passed through Changzhou, he heard that a fight had just broken out between private salt smugglers. A villa belonging to the Wang family of Wujin was attacked and destroyed by salt smugglers from Jiangbei, and the entire family, both noble and common, was killed.
With that kind of energy, wouldn't it be better to go to Huashan to kill bandits and make a name for yourself? No one could answer him.
On the 25th, Han De's troops were still marching within the territory of Zhenjiang Road when they learned that Prince Boluo Buhua of Zhennan was getting restless and planned to leave his comfortable home in Yangzhou before the end of the month, cross the Yangtze River south to Zhenjiang, and then personally go to the front line to command the battle.
The message is that you should hurry on your journey and stop dawdling; you must arrive before the Prince of Zhennan.
Han De then quickened his march.
On the last day of May, the vanguard of the more than 400 men arrived at the southern foot of Huashan Mountain, where they were met by a group of noisy, defeated soldiers. After asking around, they learned that the bandits had broken through the encirclement by going down the mountain, and they had been ordered to intercept them, but they had suffered a defeat. Fortunately, their friendly troops had gritted their teeth and held on, blocking the Huashan bandits back up the mountain.
Upon hearing this, Han De felt as if he had lost the battle, but it also seemed like he had won.
A drumbeat sounded ahead, signaling the troops to assemble.
Han De inquired briefly and learned that a commander of the Yidu New Army, who was defending another section of the mountain, had recruited brave men with a large sum of money to go up the mountain and suppress the bandits.
Han De chuckled. The strongest fighter in the area was on the mountain. Unless you went to other places to look for him, such as Cao Luo who was hiding in Matuosha and never showed himself, or you went to Ningguo, Guangde and other places to look for salt merchants.
Otherwise, we'll just have to wait it out; that's all we can do.
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