Chapter 130: At Least Put Up a Fight

Liu Yi nodded, "I trust Marshal Hua. Send the order: mobilize the troops immediately!"

Hua Yun had not expected Liu Yi to be so righteous. "Director Liu, would you like to finish your wedding ceremonies before you leave? You should at least meet your bride!"

Liu Yi laughed, "I trust your arrangements, Marshal Hua! Besides, if I were to enjoy a newlywed life, how many days would you ask me to wait?"

At this, neither Hua Yun nor Li Shanchang dared to say more. Although Liu Yi already had beautiful wives and concubines, they had brought him so many stunning beauties that if Liu Yi were to truly indulge in a newlywed honeymoon, he might well linger among the flowers for ten days or half a month before setting off.

In war, speed is of the essence. If they waited even ten days, the opportunity would surely be lost. Realizing this, Li Shanchang made an immediate decision: "Director Liu, please dispatch your troops as quickly as possible. Once Zhang Shicheng is dealt with, you may have as many beauties as you wish!"

Liu Yi shook his head. "Leave the beauties aside for now; I only want Songjiang!"

Li Shanchang cast a sidelong glance at him, feeling that Liu Yi was not joking at all. Did the Chaohu Navy intend to sweep along the Yangtze River and capture Jiangyin, Pingjiang, Kunshan, and Songjiang? However, Li Shanchang felt this was not his concern. The urgent priority was to get Zhenjiang to mobilize: "We are all one family. As long as your naval forces drive straight in, not only Songjiang, but even Hangzhou and Dadu could be ceded to the Zhenjiang forces!"

The Chaohu Navy was mobilized at once. Dozens of warships appeared on the river, and the number of infantry and cavalry deployed grew exponentially. This sent the morale of the Chuzhou Red Turbans soaring, and they shifted to a counter-offensive on all fronts.

Although the main force of the Chaohu Navy had only just made contact with Zhang Shicheng’s army, everyone in the Chuzhou Red Turbans—from commanders like Zhu Yuanzhang, Xu Da, and Tang He down to the common soldier—felt that a great victory was within reach.

Though they had only merged with the Chaohu Navy for a year, a path dependency had formed within the Chuzhou Red Turbans. They felt that as long as Liu Yi took the field, the situation would change completely. Even though Liu Yi had brought only ten thousand men, in everyone’s eyes, he had brought an army of one hundred thousand.

The negative impact of Shan Dashe’s defection on the battlefield vanished in an instant. Many newly affiliated commanders who had been wavering—some even preparing to defect to Zhang Shicheng—saw Liu Yi’s red flag raised and resolved to follow the Dragon and Phoenix banner. They even consoled themselves, "We aren't serving Deputy Commander Zhu; we are serving the Han-Song imperial court. We must remember this!"

While they were subordinates of Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu himself was a general of the Han-Song court, just as Liu Yi was. No one wanted to hang themselves on a single tree.

As for the veteran generals of the Chuzhou Red Turbans, they felt a sense of immense satisfaction: "With the naval forces arriving, it won't take long to take Changzhou!"

"Indeed, as long as Director Liu takes the field, ten Changzhous could be captured!"

"Hua Yun handled this beautifully; he deserves his rank. By the way, Director Liu is a man of refined tastes; if there are any peerless beauties, save them for him!"

The happiness of the Chuzhou Red Turbans was built upon the great suffering of their opponents. Zhang Shide had not expected that Liu Yi’s merely symbolic personal campaign would cause such a dramatic shift in the war: "This Director Liu is a ruthless character. He leaves behind the beauties Zhu Yuanzhang sent him just to rush here to die—isn't he afraid someone will take advantage of this opportunity to touch his women?"

Everyone knew Zhang Shide was speaking out of frustration. With Director Liu showing such might on the battlefield, who would dare to lay a hand on his women?

Zhang Shide said this only because Liu Yi’s forces had moved too quickly, striking the most vulnerable point of the Changzhou army. Chen Erbao immediately advised, "Since the man surnamed Liu has already mobilized, there is no point in talking now. The urgent priority is to have His Majesty send reinforcements. No matter how great the powers of that Liu fellow are, two thousand armored troops sent from Pingjiang would solve everything!"

Although they knew Zhang Shicheng had already dispatched troops to Songjiang and could take the entire Songjiang Prefecture in half a month to a month, the immediate crisis had to be addressed. Zhang Shixin added, "The man is coming too fiercely. I fear our current forces won't be able to hold them off!"

Chen Erbao, Shan Dashe, and other desperate men who usually feared nothing felt, for some reason, that the brutality of the Chaohu Navy exceeded their imagination. They immediately agreed, "I don't think two or three thousand reinforcements will be enough. To deal with the bandits of Zhenjiang, His Majesty must take the field himself!"

"Once His Majesty leads the campaign, the Zhenjiang bandits will collapse without a fight!"

"His Majesty sitting in Pingjiang can win the hearts of the world, but now that the nation is in peril, His Majesty must act!"

Pan Yuanming, who was responsible for overseeing the army, found this talk increasingly wrong. He had originally thought Zhang Shicheng was making a mountain out of a molehill, as the Changzhou front was rock-solid. Even without reinforcements, they should have been able to hold for two or three months. He had not expected the Changzhou generals to be so terrified the moment the Zhenjiang bandits moved, to the point that even he felt they might not hold.

However, since Zhang Shicheng had sent Pan Yuanming to oversee, he had anticipated this. Pan Yuanming cleared his throat and said, "Gentlemen, are you not overestimating the Zhenjiang bandits? They may be one of the fiercest gangs in the world, but our army is the world's finest. Outside Gaoyou, we joined forces to wipe out forty thousand elite Mongol troops. Are the Chuzhou and Zhenjiang bandits stronger than forty thousand Mongol elites? At the very least, we must fight a battle to test their quality before scaring ourselves!"

Pan Yuanming’s words carried weight, and since those present were all hardened men who had grown up in danger, Zhang Shide made his decision: "Since Yuanming says so, let us test their quality first. However, we must prepare for the request for reinforcements; we cannot let personal obsessions ruin the affairs of state!"

Pan Yuanming, who was emotionally inclined toward the Changzhou generals, promised, "Please rest assured, I would never ruin the affairs of state. But we must fight at least one battle first. As for how we fight, that shall be decided by you, Generals!"

Zhang Shide immediately resolved, "We must not engage in reckless battle. Notify the brothers to hold the camp and wait for Zhu Ding’s Jiangyin navy!"