Chapter 393: Defending Dengzhou City to the Death, the Sea Siege Begins
"Is Chen Hongfan ready?"
Yang Wenyue asked his trusted aide Wu Jieyou, "As the general of Denglai, he has 30,000 soldiers under his command, which is the most powerful official army in our Denglai area. Don't make mistakes at this critical moment."
Yang Wenyue has always disliked Chen Hongfan, a general from Liaodong.
Chen Hongfan was a man of many talents. He made some contributions in suppressing the rebellions of Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming and Li Jiuchen, and his achievements miraculously reached the ears of His Majesty. He was then appointed as the Prince's Junior Tutor and General of Denglai, and he rose rapidly to the top.
As an alternative civil servant with an upright character, Yang Wenyue was very disgusted with this kind of military general who was always good at taking advantage of opportunities.
But Chen Hongfan is very capable.
In the past two years, he has used his tremendous power and obtained a large amount of money and materials through various means. Not only has he fully staffed his 30,000 soldiers, but he has also reorganized the Denglai navy.
However, the scale of this navy is not large, with only three high-quality treasure ships and sixteen medium-quality treasure ships.
After Chen Hongfan did his best, at the beginning of this year, he finally equipped his soldiers with all kinds of weapons, including the spiritual cannons and spiritual crossbow carts on the navy's treasure ship.
This made the military force under Chen Hongfan, the general of Denglai, second only to that of Liu Zeqing, the general of Shandong, in the land of Qi and Lu.
In terms of comprehensive combat effectiveness, even the 30,000 soldiers of the Du Biao Battalion under Yang Wenyue were no match for Chen Hongfan.
Now that the Fuxing Army has launched a massive and violent offensive against Deng and Lai Prefectures, Yang Wenyue can only rely on Chen Hongfan.
"Your Excellency."
The staff member Wu Jieyou bowed to Yang Wenyue and reported, "This Chen Hongfan is very smart and is also quite afraid of death."
"Since the Fuxing Army entrenched in Lingshan Island launched a fierce offensive against Laizhou two months ago, he quickly led his soldiers to repair the defense equipment of Dengzhou City, and even quickly moved his Denglai Navy camp to the water gate of the north city."
"I guess he heard that the navy of the Restoration Army was very powerful, and he made a helpless choice in panic."
"Some time ago, the huge fleet of the Tartar navy was easily defeated by the navy of the Restoration Army, and even completely annihilated. How could Chen Hongfan have the guts to let his 20,000 naval forces and those few large treasure ships continue to stay in the naval base outside the North City Water Gate and wait for death?"
As Yang Wenyue's most trusted and capable subordinate, Wu Jieyou has real talents and skills, and his reputation is not in vain.
Most of the orders issued by Yang Wenyue were arranged and implemented through him, and they were completed very well, with no faults to be found.
When it comes to military and political affairs, Wu Jieyou is better than Yang Wenyue.
Even the intelligence department of the governor's office was in charge of Wu Jieyou, so he was much more familiar with everything in Dengzhou City than Yang Wenyue.
"Well, that's good."
Yang Wenyue heaved a sigh of relief after hearing this. After thinking for a while, he turned to his Dubiao Battalion Commander Yang Tianyou and said, "Tianyou, the soldiers of the Dubiao Battalion you lead must always remain highly alert, lest they be taken advantage of by the Fuxing Army, which is very good at surprise attacks."
"We have limited military strength now. If we want to fight the fierce and powerful Restoration Army, we must rely on the aristocratic families, wealthy merchants and super-rich people in the city."
"Since the Restoration Army launched its offensive, more than 50% of the aristocratic families, wealthy merchants and tycoons in Dengzhou Prefecture have evacuated to the city of Dengzhou Prefecture with their families and large convoys of personnel."
"As long as they don't want to die and their clan to be wiped out, they must fully cooperate with us to defend Dengzhou City."
"If you are short of any military supplies, just go and ask them for them. Don't be polite."
Although Yang Wenyue is a bit old-fashioned, he is not stupid.
Otherwise, he would not have been able to hold on to the position of Governor of Denglai for so long.
Now is a rare opportunity to reasonably demand large amounts of money and supplies from those wealthy guys.
Yang Wenyue would not refuse the money and materials that were delivered to his door, and he would like to get as much as possible.
Although Deng and Lai states suffered from the scourge of the rebels Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming, there was basically no loss for the aristocratic families and wealthy merchants.
These unscrupulous rich guys even took the opportunity to make a fortune from the war, annexing countless lands and the wealth and properties of small and medium-sized gentry whose families were wiped out by the rebels.
Li Dingguo's restoration army was different from the rebels of Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming.
The rebels led by Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming did not have the strength to capture any of the fortresses of the aristocratic families before, but Li Dingguo's restoration army would not be so bad.
So far, there has been no news of the Restoration Army losing a battle, and there has been no fortress or town that they cannot capture.
Especially for those aristocratic families, wealthy merchants and tycoons, the Fuxing Army adopted a strategy of annihilation, leaving them no chance of survival.
The only rebel as brutal as Huang Chao's at the end of the Tang Dynasty could be compared with him.
Now in the huge and overcrowded city of Dengzhou Prefecture, no matter what those aristocratic families, wealthy merchants and tycoons think, the most urgent task is to defend Dengzhou City in order to save their lives and property.
At this time, even if Yang Wenyue and Chen Hongfan made some excessive demands, they would do their best to satisfy and cooperate.
Yang Wenyue has learned that Chen Hongfan has recently started to make demands unscrupulously and has obtained a huge amount of supplies and wealth, and has armed his 50,000 naval and land forces to the teeth.
Moreover, this guy has also recruited 50,000 new soldiers in the city with great fanfare and is currently selecting and training them with all his strength.
"Yes, my lord!"
Yang Tianyou was overjoyed when he heard this and immediately agreed.
He is the nephew of Yang Wenyue, and this mythical name was given to him by Yang Wenyue.
Because Yang Tianyou has excellent innate qualifications, he can be regarded as the most outstanding genius in the Yang family in recent years. He has been vigorously cultivated by Yang Wenyue, and after he recently broke through to the fifth level of cultivation, he handed over his Du Biao Camp to him to take charge of.
Naturally, we can only feel at ease if this core military force is handed over to our own people.
"Sir Futai, should our Yang family's large fleet be prepared to break out and leave if the war goes badly?"
Aide Wu Jieyou suddenly interrupted and asked.
To be honest, he had no confidence at all that he could use Dengzhou City to stop the offensive of the Fuxing Army.
Although a letter for help had been sent to the court nearly two months ago, so much time has passed and not only has there been no news, but even Liu Zeqing has not returned to Shandong, which makes people uneasy.
Once the city of Dengzhou is captured by the enemy army, none of them will survive.
Although my master is not a corrupt official and has done some practical things for the people, he has a good reputation among the people. If he surrenders, he can be spared by the Fuxing Army.
But given Yang Wenyue's character, it was impossible for him to surrender.
According to Wu Jieyou's estimation, once the city of Dengzhou was breached by the enemy, there was a high probability that Yang Wenyue would immediately commit suicide.
For this reason, he still wanted to try his best to save the situation before the unthinkable situation occurred.
"This……"
Yang Wenyue originally wanted to refuse it outright.
But when he thought of his two young children, Yang Tai and Yang Shan, who were only seven and nine years old respectively, he hesitated. He attached great importance to the inheritance of the family, and although he himself was not afraid of life and death, the two children were innocent people, and it was not appropriate for them to serve the court with him.
"Wu Bo."
He then looked at the old butler beside him and ordered in a low voice, "Go down and pack up some valuables, heirlooms, and secret manuals, take Tai'er and Shan'er away from this city, and find a kind family nearby to temporarily stay and settle down."
"The Restoration Army is coming with such force that I may not be able to escape this disaster. From now on, Tai'er and Shan'er will be left to you to take care of until they grow up."
"If I unfortunately die for my country, remember to warn Tai'er and Shan'er not to seek revenge on Li Dingguo."
"This is not a national hatred or family feud, but a battle between two armies. It has nothing to do with personal hatred."
"If you die on the battlefield, you can't blame anyone but bad luck."
He was a man of both civil and military talents, so he naturally guessed that with the military force of the Fusion Army, it would not be a difficult task to capture the two states of Deng and Lai, or even the entire Qi and Lu land.
Even the million-strong Tatar army led by Yuetuo and Manggurtai was easily defeated by Li Dingguo's army and almost wiped out. How could Yang Wenyue be so virtuous and capable as to withstand the next violent offensive of the Fuxing Army?
"Yes, sir."
Wu Bo, the steward of Li, who was already very worried about this matter, felt very sad when he heard this, but he still bowed and accepted the order.
Wu Jieyou, the aide standing by, was feeling nervous. Although he appeared calm on the surface, he had other plans in mind.
Although he was Yang Wenyue's confidant, he did not want to be buried with Yang Wenyue. He remained calm on the surface and stopped trying to persuade Yang Wenyue who rejected his proposal.
Having served this benefactor for so many years, Wu Jieyou knew his character very well. He knew that since Yang Wenyue had made the decision, no matter how much he said, it would be useless.
"Master Futai, I think you are worrying too much."
Yang Tianyou said confidently, "How many aristocratic families, wealthy merchants and super-rich people are gathered in Dengzhou City now?"
"These hundreds of medium and large forces, even if each has only a thousand warriors and servants as guards, are enough to raise nearly a million troops!"
"There are at least a thousand Qi Refining Realm warriors among them. Can't they deal with Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army who attacked not long ago?"
"Not to mention our Dubiao Camp and Chen Hongfan's Denglai General's Office with so many soldiers!"
At such a young age, he is already a mid-level fifth-level expert. He has never met a real opponent and has never suffered from the harsh treatment of society. He is truly ignorant of the world.
"God bless!"
Yang Wenyue scolded, "This fierce and powerful Li Dingguo is not comparable to the bandits you have wiped out before!"
"You must remember that there is always someone better than you, so you must never be careless."
"According to reliable information we have received, Li Dingguo, who defeated the million-strong Tatar army led by Huang Taiji and Yuetuo respectively, is far from being comparable to an ordinary rebel."
"Besides, I am also making plans for both scenarios. It doesn't mean that I will definitely not be able to defend this state capital."
"However, we can only defend the isolated city now. We don't have the energy to organize a large army to actively fight against the Renaissance Army. We can only watch them wantonly attack cities and territories in Laizhou."
"According to reports from some of our spies, since the Fuxing Army launched its offensive against Laizhou over the past two months, they have been unstoppable and have captured almost the entire Laizhou!"
"About ten days ago, we received solid intelligence that the enemy's 200,000-strong central army had already arrived at Laizhou City, and now they have most likely captured the city!"
"This Restoration Army is famous for its navy and has been invincible so far. Next, they should board the big treasure ship and attack directly south from Laizhou Bay, and arrive directly outside the North City Water Gate of our Dengzhou City by sea!"
"Immediately carry out my order and try to raise enough money, food and supplies from the aristocratic families and wealthy merchants in the city. Focus on monitoring the water gate in the north city!"
"If you discover the Restoration Army fleet approaching, report it immediately!"
Yang Wenyue knew that it was pointless to say more to this high-spirited nephew, so he waved his hand and asked him to carry out the military order.
After everyone at the scene left in a hurry, Yang Wenyue walked to the window with his hands behind his back, looked at the gloomy sky outside with a cold gaze. He stood there for a long time without moving, and no one knew what he was thinking.
……
The sky was clear and on the azure blue sea, a large fleet of ships was sailing in two columns at high speed, riding the wind and waves at an extremely fast speed.
"Commander-in-chief, look at the big city ahead, it must be our destination, Dengzhou Prefecture City!"
"After eight days of sailing, we are finally here!"
Little Shitou stood on the bow deck of the flagship Dabao Ship, pointed to the huge city vaguely visible in front of him, and shouted excitedly to Li Dingguo.
Their large fleet sailed out to sea from the Ye River, entered the Laizhou Bay, and sailed rapidly towards the east. After eight days, they finally arrived at their destination.
"small stone!"
Li Dingguo immediately ordered, "Inform the firearms battalions of all the treasure ships to immediately switch to a full attack formation!"
"Once the large fleet reaches the cannon range in front of the water gate of Dengzhou North City, we will immediately launch a concentrated fire attack and try to break through the protective formation of this prefectural city within half an hour!"
"The enemy must have already activated the city defense formation. We can't give them too much time to prepare!"
"He Lijing!"
Seeing Xiao Shitou immediately taking orders and leaving, he turned to He Lijing and ordered, "Tell the generals at all levels to set up the military killing array according to the plan. Once the city is broken, follow me to activate the killing array magic power and rush into the city!"
"Our time is precious. We cannot let this siege drag on and turn into a protracted stalemate with the enemy. We must fight quickly and decisively!"
"According to intelligence reports, more than 50% of the aristocratic families, wealthy merchants, and tycoons in the entire Dengzhou region have gathered in this city. It is normal for them to gather a ragtag army of more than 500,000 to fight back."
"As long as we take down Dengzhou City, it will be very easy to sweep across the entire Dengzhou area."
Li Dingguo, who had experienced countless wars, naturally knew the importance of this battle. He had already drawn up a battle plan and now all he had to do was order his soldiers to act according to the plan.
"Yes! Commander-in-chief."
He Lijing's face was solemn. She immediately took the order and left, conveying Li Dingguo's order to all the generals.
As the large fleet quickly changed its battle formation, the Dengzhou city in front was less than thirty miles away from the large treasure ship in the front.
"Dudu..."
With the sound of special naval horns, the large fleet continued to advance for ten miles, and then formed two columns in an orderly manner, neatly staggered and arranged horizontally on the sea.
The psychic cannons and spiritual crossbow carts on each of the treasure ships were pointed at the huge city wall ahead. The soldiers began to load magic cores, adjust the shooting angles, and prepare for a volley.
A rare sea siege is about to unfold before the eyes of the soldiers of the Renaissance Army.
(End of this chapter)
