The Great Zhou Dynasty: From Imperial Guards to Founding Dukes and Marquises

Chapter 42 Who is Public and Who is Private? Loyal Ministers and Treacherous Ministers

Under the clear autumn sky and the rising sun, over 30,000 soldiers stood in a magnificent array in the harvested fields outside the city. Banners fluttered, spears stood like a forest, and in the distance, the river was densely packed with warships stretching as far as the eye could see. The newly appointed military governor, Liu Yanzhen, who appeared quite small from the city walls, had just finished his prayers when, following the flag signals of the central army's standard-bearer, the troops embarked on their journey to glory, some boarding ships, others walking.

On the city wall of Luzhou, Li Jue was gazing at the garrison troops and reinforcements holding a grand rally in the distance.

He was surrounded by his subordinates and other civil and military officials who remained in the city. Everyone was unsure whether the new commander, who had only been in office for a little over twenty days, would lead all the regular troops in the town to take the initiative to fight Zhou's army. They unconsciously gathered around Li Jue, wanting to say something.

An official asked in a low voice, "My lord, if I may be so bold as to ask: the Northern army is advancing with overwhelming force. Can the Qinghuai Army withstand them? Can our Desheng Army achieve a swift victory?"

The others were also looking at Li Jue with expectant eyes.

The worry in Li Jue's eyes never faded. But how could he speak ill of someone in public? If someone reported it, he would be punished if they won, and even more so if they lost.

Li Jue could only smile wryly and say, "General Liu was sent by the Emperor; the court must have given this matter considerable thought. We are of low rank and insignificant position, so we shouldn't speculate. In any case, a major battle is imminent, and the Qinghuai Army may already be engaged in combat with the enemy. We must do our job well. We must keep the people's morale stable and prices stable. Local militias and garrisons must be properly armed, practice formations, and prepare to support the front lines. Invincibility lies in ourselves, vulnerability lies in the enemy; we must use our invincibility to await the enemy's vulnerability."

Everyone nodded in agreement with what he said. Li Jue took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, and slowly walked down the city wall.

After Li Jue left, someone whispered, "What can be won, and what cannot be won? I don't understand."

"I don't understand it either, but it's pretty impressive."

"Regardless of whether we can win or not, what you say makes sense. The garrison troops have gone out, and our Desheng Army cannot be left empty. We must quickly mobilize the local militia to reinforce the cities. Our families are all in the cities; how can the city defenses be unprepared?"

After decades of war, books were scarce, and scholars were even rarer. Li Jue, a scholar who had studied military strategy, was an exceptional case. Fortunately, Li Jue's attempt to show off his erudition failed; he had already explained his reasoning in plain language. This didn't cause any communication difficulties, and until a better method was found, everyone naturally followed Li Jue's instructions.

Upon returning home from the city wall, Li Jue's wife greeted him, saying, "My lord, the people in the city are in a state of panic. Many are planning to cross the river to the south of the Yangtze River."

Li Jue sighed. "If Jiangbei cannot be defended, how can Jiangnan survive alone? Since ancient times, to defend the Yangtze River, one must also defend the Huai River. Once the Huai River is controlled by the north, the overall situation of the country will be settled. What can Jiangnan do then? Go pack your things and take the children back to Guangling. You have been with me for ten years and have not enjoyed a single day of happiness. Instead, you have suffered for several years. Take the children home quickly while the situation is still not dire. Fortunately, the commander-in-chief gave us two hundred taels of gold, so we will not have to worry about food and clothing from now on. This will put my mind at ease a little."

Li Jue's wife asked, surprised and frightened, "Why do you say that, my lord? We are husband and wife, sharing both honor and disgrace. Ever since I married into your family, you have treated me without distinction. I am so happy, how could you say I have suffered?"

A couple is destined by heaven to be together. To find a good spouse is already a blessing. What more blessings do we need? Besides, I am, after all, the wife of an official. If you say I am suffering, I don't believe it, and neither do others.

"The war is still undecided, and you're already ordering me to leave with the children? This will inevitably unsettle the people in the city and damage your reputation. Have you foreseen something, sir?"

Li Jue sighed again: "The Prince of Qi is in charge of all the towns north of the Yangtze River, holding 100,000 reinforcements and holding Guangling firmly. He only ordered our Desheng Army to send troops to reinforce Shouzhou. Our new Commander Liu is a favorite of the Emperor, and he is very ambitious. Letting him go to save Shouzhou, who will cooperate with whom, the Desheng Army or the Qinghuai Army in Shouzhou?"

His Majesty has not specified, nor has the Prince of Qi. Will it be the Emperor's favored minister, Commander Liu, who will cooperate with Liu Gong, the military governor of the Qinghuai Army? Or will it be Liu Gong, a veteran of two reigns and the nation's foremost commander, who will cooperate with the Emperor's favored minister, Liu Yanzhen? The Northern Army is fierce and skilled in battle, and Guo Rong is a valiant ruler with many capable ministers and generals under his command. If our two armies cannot unite, how much can a mere 36,000 reinforcements accomplish?

This King Qi, everyone used to say he was a capable, skilled, and courageous warrior. Now that the Northern army has truly arrived, he's stubbornly refusing to budge from Guangling, letting the Northern army fight alongside the various towns along the Huai River. He hasn't even bothered to assign commands after the reinforcements arrived. This battle is going to be difficult. I am indebted to the court and cannot abandon the city and flee. You and the children should leave quickly while things are still relatively calm. The kindness of the Yu Kingdom to my family is something I can repay alone; there's no need to sacrifice my wife and children.”

Li Jue's wife wept, saying, "As a wife, I should live and die with my husband. As the wife of the clan, I must ensure our child lives well and continues his bloodline. My husband, please promise me you won't be so stubborn. The struggle for power is the responsibility of princes, ministers, and emperors. You've been suppressed by treacherous officials and unable to realize your ambitions, yet you've still done so much for the Yu Kingdom. You've repaid the kindness shown to you in Jinling. If the situation turns unfavorable and the Zhou army besieges the city, what's wrong with surrendering? Wherever you serve as an official, it doesn't matter!"

Li Jue smiled and hugged his wife, saying, "Your Majesty has shown me great favor by elevating my family, a descendant of the prime minister of the Great Yu Dynasty, from humble origins to officialdom. The protection and promotion I received from my predecessor over the years were also approved by Your Majesty. Without Your Majesty's approval and tacit consent, how could my predecessor have so easily withstood the pressure from treacherous officials and placed me in the crucial positions of Militia Commissioner and Agricultural Commissioner?"

Why did Your Majesty do this? Because my ancestors were loyal and righteous prime ministers who protected the country, and their illustrious reputation safeguards us, their descendants. Your Majesty trusts that I will not betray the name of my ancestors. If I were to abandon the city and flee or surrender, my children and grandchildren would lose this reputation and become just ordinary people, which would be a severe blow to my clan.

"As long as His Majesty has not betrayed me, I cannot betray him and surrender to the enemy. If that day truly comes, my son will be fortunate, my clan will be fortunate, and I will be fortunate too. My wife, in my heart, I believe that there must be some loyalty and righteousness in the world. We cannot all be two-faced scoundrels."

Li Jue's wife cried out, "Why are you so foolish? What's the point of risking your life for this nonsense? If you die, I won't raise your son. I'll remarry immediately with my dowry. Let that so-called loyalty and righteousness raise your son!"

Li Jue cried and said, "Fine, fine, whatever you want. I owe you so much, I can never repay you in this lifetime or two. I'll let you have it all."

The wife choked up for a long time before finally managing to say, "Li Hehuang, you bastard! You've always bullied me, and even after I married into your family, you still bully me. You've decided you'll never stop bullying me."

Li Jue said gently, "That's right, I am a bastard. By the way, do you know Li Xuan or Li Ziyu from the clan?"

His wife choked back tears as she replied, "I met him once in Lijia Town. He was a chubby guy with a jujube-shaped face. We used to buy salt from him."

Li Jue whispered to him, "He led a group of his clan to join the army in Bianliang. If our country wins this battle, there's nothing to say. If Zhou wins, the Li clan of Guangling will have to rely on him for protection from now on. I have a very good relationship with him. Give him my letter, and he will ensure your mother and child's safety for the rest of your lives and find a future for the child."

The wife silently wrote down Li Xuan's name, and cried even more bitterly.

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A few days later, the Desheng Army had approached the war zone. All the soldiers began to put on their armor and march. The armor gleamed in the sun, making them look like a giant, luminous dragon coiled on the riverside post road as they marched north.

Liu Yanzhen stood on a high slope by the roadside, looking confidently at the valiant warriors who obeyed his commands, and said smugly to those around him:

"Hahaha, this is the true spirit of a great man! I, the commander, am well-versed in military strategy. This time, I deliberately abandoned Shouzhou and led the navy straight to Dangyang Bridge, the rear of the Zhou army. The Zhou army is arrogant; they dared to cross the Huai River to attack the Qing Huai Army without a navy. As long as our army occupies Dangyang Bridge, the Zhou army's retreat will be cut off. This battle is a surprise attack and will surely achieve great success. I should also have a place among the prime ministers of the Central Secretariat, hahaha!"

His trusted confidants flattered him, saying, "Zhou Jun has a great reputation in the north, but he just hasn't met a true general. Commander-in-Chief, you are a man of both literary and military talent, and you deserve to be both a general and a prime minister. It's a pity that those old scoundrels of the Qinghuai Army can't understand your intentions. Not only do they not cooperate with you, but they also demand that our army be stationed in the mountains behind Shouzhou to serve as his support. At this rate, when will we be able to drive Zhou Jun away? Commander-in-Chief, you should impeach him before His Majesty and make him accept your command."

Liu Yanzhen's expression changed, and she snapped at him angrily, "Get out! Do you think you have the right to comment on court affairs? Hmph, even without that old soldier's cooperation, I still managed to defeat the Zhou army. You all need to fight bravely in this battle. When I return to Jinling as prime minister, I'll make sure you all rise to prominence. What's the point of living in fear in Jiangbei? Jiangnan, the land of women and pleasures, that's paradise!"

Liu Renzhan, the military governor of Qinghuai Army, was a trusted general of the late emperor. He made great contributions in the east and west when he established the Yu Kingdom. Even Emperor Li Jing had to respectfully call him "Uncle Zhan" when he met him.

Liu Yanzhen was fully aware of his position as a favored minister of the emperor. His relationship with these powerful generals who held significant military power on the frontier was neither good nor desirable. The fact that Liu Renzhan hadn't cooperated with him in this battle actually made him feel much more relaxed. (Of course, he wouldn't listen to Liu Renzhan anyway.) If the emperor hadn't given the order, Liu Renzhan would have willingly cooperated. In that case, the messenger from Jinling wouldn't have been an envoy with rewards, but rather a cup of poison.

First, he reprimanded his subordinates, publicly establishing his discord with Liu Renzhan. Then, he encouraged them to fight bravely, promising them a bright future. He executed this tactic with great skill. Although Liu Yanzhen was a treacherous minister, he was also a capable one. As a civilian commander leading troops for the first time, he was able to see the Zhou army's hidden danger—the pontoon bridge at Dangyang Town—which certainly showed his talent. However, talent does not equate to correctness.

At this moment, in Shouzhou, the capital of the Qinghuai Army, only fifty miles away from Liu Yanzhen and the Desheng Army, the old general, the military governor of the Qinghuai Army, known as the number one general of the Yu Kingdom, angrily slammed down the teacup in his hand.

They finally got a capable reinforcement, only to find it led by such an arrogant and incompetent fool. Even though Liu Renzhan had spent his life on the battlefield and had never been afraid of any hardship, he was still infuriated by Liu Yanzhen's attitude.

His generals on either side stepped forward to persuade him to calm down. Liu Renzhan, however, refused to calm down. He said indignantly, "The affairs of the state are ruined by these incompetent fools. The Dangyang pontoon bridge is a vital point for the Zhou army. Did only he know that? I knew, and the Zhou army knew it too. After crossing the river, the Zhou army had already deployed many obstacles in the Huai River. By the time they arrived, it was too late."

Even if Zhou's army lacked a navy and allowed Desheng's army to sabotage obstacles along the way, it would still take them a full day and night to reach the Dangyang pontoon bridge. In that time, Zhou's army could have adjusted its deployment, patched up any weaknesses, or even diverted troops to annihilate him directly. The Huai River is ultimately just a river; it's not a mighty river, much less a natural barrier! Playing petty tricks in the court, and still playing petty tricks on the battlefield with a large army—traitors, traitors indeed!

Well, so Liu Yanzhen has talent, but not enough. Zhou Jun, with his extensive experience from his campaigns, wouldn't have been careless in protecting the Dangyang pontoon bridge, given it was the army's only escape route and logistical passage. Even without a sufficient navy, they would have diligently erected obstacles in the river, such as driving stakes into the riverbed or even installing iron chains, and deployed patrol knights to search along the river. If the pontoon bridge could be broken, the veteran general Liu Renzhan would have already found a way to break it.

Despite his anger, Liu Renzhan dared not allow Zhou's army to annihilate his reinforcements. He immediately calculated the marching time of Liu Yanzhen's main force and deployed his elite troops to prepare to leave the city and hinder Zhou's movements, preventing Zhou from actually mobilizing his main force to encircle and annihilate Desheng's army.

It is crucial to understand that the most important element in defending a city is confidence, and the source of confidence, unless the enemy is extremely weak, depends on uninterrupted support from the rear. As long as reinforcements are still in place, the soldiers and civilians in the city know they have not been abandoned, and their will to defend the city will naturally remain unwavering.

Even more critically, Liu Yanzhen's Desheng Army wasn't just there to reinforce. The hundreds of naval warships allocated to him by the imperial court also carried massive amounts of military supplies to replenish the Qinghuai Army. In the brutal defense of the city, ample supplies could save many lives and even determine the outcome of the war.

Liu Renzhan strongly opposed Liu Yanzhen's risky move because the supplies made the naval warships draft deep and slow, making them unsuitable as a strike force. Instead, it would be better for the two armies to work together to open a breach, allowing the navy to transport the supplies into Shouzhou City. Then, the lightly armed navy could operate as a guerrilla force in the harbors along the Huai River, transporting the Yu army to use the waterways for mobile and flexible attacks on the enemy, which would be more likely to succeed.

It's a pity. If the Desheng Army were still led by its former commander, Liu Renzhan would not have been afraid of the Zhou army at all. Even if Emperor Guo Rong of Zhou personally led his troops, he would not have taken them seriously. Liu Yanzhen was a bookish strategist who thought that a combined land and water attack could solve the current deadlock. It was truly a huge joke that God played on the Yu Kingdom, the Qinghuai Army, and Liu Renzhan.

As Liu Renzhan had predicted, the Desheng Army was discovered by Zhou scouts when they were a full eighty li away from the Dangyang pontoon bridge. Zhou's Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Huainan Army, Li Gu, was facing immense military pressure from Liu Renzhan's sudden outburst. The various armies were harassed by Liu Renzhan's costly and diversionary attacks, and just as they were wondering what was happening, scouts reported that the Yu Kingdom's Desheng Army was reinforcing them along the waterway. Li Gu suddenly understood.

Li Gu said, "No wonder Liu Renzhan has been fighting so conservatively. He was trying to lure me deep into his territory, cut off my army's retreat, and swallow my 80,000 troops whole. He truly is a famous general of the Southern Dynasty; his actions are extraordinary from the start. Unfortunately, I, Li Gu, have not been idle all these years. In Southern Dynasty warfare, waterways were paramount, but our Northern army is not adept at navigation. How could I not recognize such a huge weakness?"

Despite their differing opinions, Li Gu and Liu Renzhan had different ideas. If it were a renowned general like Liu Renzhan, he would certainly be mobilizing troops and trying to find ways to annihilate or at least repel the attacking enemy.

However, Li Gu was ultimately a civil official, and his thinking was more conservative. Because he was unsure of the strength of the reinforcements, Li Gu didn't want to risk a frontal defeat at the hands of Liu Renzhan by diverting a large force to fight the Yu reinforcements to the death. Therefore, he immediately sent a message to Guo Rong requesting a full retreat, first setting up camp on the north bank of the Huai River. Meanwhile, without waiting for orders from Bianliang, he directed the various detachments to provide alternating cover and fight back step by step, orderly retreating back to the north bank via the Dangyang pontoon bridge.

It must be said that although Li Gu was timid and cautious, lacking the recklessness of a military man, he was able to calmly command the various Zhou armies from different backgrounds to retreat smoothly during the offensive personally planned by Liu Renzhan. His military expertise was indeed enough to make Liu Renzhan feel extremely threatened, and he was far superior to someone like Liu Yanzhen who only knew how to talk about war on paper.

Guo Rong had his reasons for choosing Li Gu to serve as the military commander of Huainan, but he never expected that at the crucial moment, Li Gu would lack that final push.

Fortunately, Li Gu wasn't foolish. While the main army retreated, the pontoon bridge couldn't be easily abandoned. He left a fleet of civilian boats and cargo ships on the south bank of the bridge, along with nine thousand elite troops to garrison the already constructed fortified camp. This way, the main force of the army was in Hebei, while the elite troops guarded Henan. With the pontoon bridge providing support and civilian boats transporting supplies and manpower, even if the Yu navy attempted to attack the pontoon bridge, they would be well-prepared by the Zhou army's obstacles along the riverbank and subjected to rows of crossbows and stone cannons.

Li Gu worked tirelessly, coordinating two major operations in a single day and night: the troop retreat and the new pontoon bridge defense plan. Seeing the news of each army taking its positions arriving one by one, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The battlefield situation changed drastically in just one day and night, far exceeding the expectations of Liu Yanzhen, a scholar. This was the first time he had experienced the rapid pace of offensive and defensive maneuvers between the world's top generals.

Liu Renzhan had no desire to argue with him, but simply ordered him to quickly send the navy into the inland waterways to transport supplies into the city. Liu Yanzhen's face alternated between pale and flushed as he looked at the Dangyang pontoon bridge so close at hand.

Liu Yanzhen stamped his foot in frustration. On one hand, he reported to Jinling that he had successfully repelled the Zhou army and captured many prisoners. On the other hand, he ordered the navy to disregard Liu Renzhan's request and focus all its efforts on destroying the Dangyang pontoon bridge.

Liu Yanzhen, a renowned general of his time, has led a large army on expeditions for so many days. Surely he couldn't really be Liu Renzhan's transport captain, could he? How could that be acceptable?

Thus, the Desheng army and the Zhou army, which had been prepared in advance, launched a two-pronged attack on the Dangyang pontoon bridge, with one side determined to defend it to the death and the other desperately trying to destroy it. The most intense land and water battle between the two countries since the start of the war had finally broken out.

(The following is a map showing the terrain and military operations in the theater of operations.)