nycdaug Chapter 130 Speed
Chapter 130 Speed
The entire city of Rencheng had only 15,000 garrison troops, who had to be divided among the four city gates for defense. Zhang Lu was under immense pressure. Not only did he have very few troops, but he also lacked advanced equipment. Of the 15,000 garrison troops, only 5,000 were arquebusiers, while the rest were spearmen and swordsmen—outdated types of soldiers. As for artillery? What was artillery? Zhang Lu had never even seen one, let alone possessed any equipment.
The defenders of Rencheng were completely unable to retaliate and could only take the beating. Half an hour later, the Yanzhou army completed its preparation time and the attacking troops began to advance. The morale of the Rencheng defenders, who had been out of battle for a long time, had plummeted after the recent barrage of fire. The Rencheng defenders, who had never seen the power of artillery before, were completely stunned the moment the Yanzhou army's cannons fired. When they heard that the enemy outside the city had launched an attack, most of the defenders did not think about how to fight back, but how to run away.
Once there's a first, there will naturally be a second. So, before Zhang Lu could even begin his counterattack, his army had completely scattered, and the garrison of Rencheng was routed.
The city was full of hiding soldiers. The local soldiers took off their armor and uniforms, threw away their weapons, and ran back home.
The attacking Yanzhou army was dumbfounded. They had only just rushed up the city wall, and in that hundred-odd meters, they had only lost a dozen or so men, who were shot down by sporadic fire from the city wall.
When the battle report arrived, Yuan Shao was stunned, Li Ji was stunned, and Chen Er of Yuyang was dumbfounded. Everyone knew that the Xuzhou army was probably one of the weakest armies in the entire empire, but no one expected that the Yanzhou army's victory would come so easily, to the point that the Yanzhou army's follow-up troops hadn't even crossed the Si River before they achieved victory.
Li Ji of Lu analyzed, "The Yanzhou army won their first victory so easily. They will definitely speed up their advance. This is our opportunity."
“Yes, who knew the Xuzhou army would be so easily defeated,” Chen Bang said.
"That's not entirely true. After all, the two sides are not even on the same level. The Yanzhou army has already implemented some modern reforms, while the Xuzhou army in Rencheng hasn't even widely adopted matchlock guns. It's not surprising that they were routed in one battle." Li Ji's analysis is quite accurate. It's not that the Xuzhou soldiers were incompetent, but rather that they and the enemy were simply not from the same era. Most of the surviving soldiers probably thought the same way: why make meaningless sacrifices, especially in a war with no hope of victory?
"Chief of Staff, send an additional platoon of scouts. I need to keep track of the movements of the Yanzhou army in the Rencheng direction," Li Ji said to Chen Bang.
"Yes, Commander!"
As time passed, the autonomous region had amassed two full-strength corps and the 7th Army, tasked with a separate mission, on the southern front. Twenty armies were poised to strike. Li Ji didn't need to look to know how interesting Yuan Shao's expression must be; of course, he couldn't see it anyway. But as Li Ji had guessed, Yuan Shao's expression was indeed grim. Although the Yanzhou army had won its first battle with only a dozen or so casualties, Yuan Shao understood that he had essentially played with fire. Chen Er's 200,000-strong army in the north was watching him closely. If he revealed any weakness, Yuan Shao could imagine the terrifying scene of 200,000 troops pouring out. Even now, having exhausted all of Yanzhou's resources, Yuan Shao had only managed to build 50,000 flintlock musketeers, 100,000 musketeers, and the rest of the elite troops. The entire province's military strength was only 150,000, while Chen Er had deployed two corps totaling 200,000 troops with a mere show of force. Yuan Shao's mood was thus easily understood.
This is why Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu actually set aside their differences and cooperated to plot against Xuzhou; it's not simply because they were both members of the Yuan family.
On February 3, the Yanzhou army that captured Rencheng, after joining forces with 20,000 flintlock musketeers and 50,000 matchlock musketeers, began to advance towards Jiqiu and other places, leaving only 8,000 men to garrison Rencheng. Li Ji knew that his opportunity had come.
Li Ji, the commander of the 7th Army of Lu, immediately dispatched two regiments to march towards Jiqiu, making it appear as if he was going to support the Xuzhou army and attract the attention of the Yanzhou army.
In reality, the main force of the 7th Army was secretly marching towards Rencheng, leaving only one regiment of the 22nd Infantry Division and the division headquarters to guard Lu State, awaiting orders after the two regiments used to lure the enemy returned. The Yanzhou army was relatively strong, and Li Ji worried that they might divide their forces to directly attack Lu State once the two sides officially went to war. Therefore, it was safer to leave one division to defend Lu State. As for Rencheng, Li Ji believed that his two divisions plus the army's directly subordinate troops would be more than capable of defending it. Besides, the two cities of Lu State and Rencheng were not far apart, and mutual support was possible.
On the morning of February 5th, the Seventh Army suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Rencheng. The Rencheng defenders were taken aback and were unable to organize an effective defense in the chaos. Moreover, the Yanzhou army had always believed that Lu State only had one local garrison regiment in the autonomous region, less than three thousand men, which was not a threat at all. Who would have thought that less than three days after the main force left, the enemy army was already at the city gates? More importantly, the Seventh Army attacked at dawn, and the city gates of Rencheng were surrounded before they were even opened. Not a single Yanzhou soldier had a chance to escape and report the news. When Ju Yi, the commander of the Yanzhou army at the front line, received the news, it was already the third day since Rencheng had been occupied.
"Say it again!" Ju Yi grabbed the captain who had brought the message and demanded.
The captain said tremblingly, "General, Rencheng has been captured. Chen Er's army suddenly appeared in Rencheng and occupied it. At that time, I went to the countryside to collect grain, which is why I was not besieged in the city."
It turned out that the Yanzhou army was short of food. The first thing they did after occupying Rencheng was to collect grain from the villages attached to Rencheng. This captain failed to besiege the city because he went out to collect grain the day before the Seventh Army besieged it. As a result, when he returned to the city the next day, he was caught off guard by the Seventh Army disguised as the Yanzhou army. If the captain hadn't been quick-witted and escaped, Ju Yi might have been delayed for two more days.
"I finally managed to shake off the enemy's pursuit and, after many hardships, have finally found you, General," the captain said, weeping bitterly.
Ju Yi understood that the captain couldn't possibly lie to him, because there was no need for it. If the Chen family army had truly occupied Rencheng, they would never want to expose themselves so quickly. Moreover, the captain's identity had been confirmed. So the question was, had Rencheng really fallen?