Chapter Ninety-Five: The Fish in the Pool

In truth, for Zhu Yuanzhang, this steady, methodical deadlock was the most advantageous course. Whether the Chaohu naval force won a great victory or suffered a crushing defeat, it would bring no good news to the Left Camp. Only a slow war of attrition that left both sides bleeding was the real benefit.

Zhu Yuanzhang understood this reasoning, yet Liuyi’s unhurried tactics left him unusually anxious and even unsteady. He could hardly wait for those two old rivals to settle the matter at once, and he even began to think in Liuyi’s place, searching for a way to break the stalemate quickly.

Tang He had always understood Zhu Yuanzhang best, but even he was at a loss now. He could only follow Zhu Yuanzhang’s tone and say, “The Water Camp still does not dare to commit fully, but since He Weiyi has already arrived in Yangzhou, he cannot refrain from acting even if he wants to. I estimate that within three to five days he will certainly launch a fierce assault on the Zhongcheng naval fortress...”

Li Shanchang had always been resourceful and full of schemes, yet even he had little to offer in such a situation. “My lord, let us send someone to make things plain to Kang Maocai. If he dares to throw himself into the Water Camp, it will surely be a dead end. He has no choice but to come over to our army. The only problem is that Jiqing has not yet been taken. Kang Maocai still feels he has something left to bargain with!”

The warlords of a chaotic age had little sense of nation or loyalty. What they cared about most was their own future and immediate gain. So long as the route to Jiqing remained in Yuan hands, Kang Maocai would naturally be unable to make up his mind to surrender to the Hongjin forces from Chuzhou.

The more Zhu Yuanzhang heard, the more irritable he became. “I had thought that this time, with that surnamed Liu crossing the river, he would be like a tiger descending from the mountain and take the Zhongcheng fortress in three or five exchanges. Who would have guessed he still sticks to the old routine? But these old tricks no longer work. He Weiyi is in Yangzhou, and the more than a dozen Mongol and Han army wanhu from Jining could march south at any moment. Those are the true elite troops under the Yuan court. To still play this steady, methodical game now—clearly the man surnamed Liu has taken leave of his senses!”

Though Zhu Yuanzhang’s judgment was completely opposed to Liuyi’s, everyone in the Left Camp felt that Zhu Yuanzhang had spoken exactly right. Liuyi had truly grown far too arrogant.

Although He Weiyi, the Acting Left Chancellor of the Southern Huai Province and Director of the Southern Huai Privy Council, had brought only one hundred-man unit of his personal guard when he assumed office, the moment Taiping was reached, the situation southeast of Yangzhou changed entirely. Whether in Taiping, Jiqing, or along the Huai and Yangtze region, the Yuan troops were all practically pumped full of fire.

If the Yuan forces kept up that momentum, the Hongjin army from Chuzhou might not only fail to storm Jiqing City, but might even be unable to hold Taiping City, and would be forced to flee back across the Yangtze in panic.

Now that He Weiyi had arrived in Yangzhou, the greatest threat he brought was still that he might rapidly unite the Mongol troops, newly attached troops, Qing troops, spear troops, militia, and village levies around Yangzhou into a massive army that would sweep everything aside. Though Zhang Shicheng in Gaoyou and Taizhou might be the first to suffer, the Hongjin forces under Zhu Yuanzhang would likewise be the foremost target.

Xu Da was a little more optimistic. “At present, He Weiyi’s top priority is still how to deal with Zhang Shicheng. Even if he can spare some strength to deal with us, it would be no more than an expeditionary commander with three to five wanhu.”

Three to five wanhu under an expeditionary commander amounted to at most twenty thousand men. To the Hongjin forces of Chuzhou, this did not seem like a fatal threat. Their total strength was close to seventy thousand. But the problem was that they were now at the critical moment of taking Jiqing. Not to mention an expeditionary commander with three to five wanhu—if even one wanhu with three to five thousand-man units came, the Chuzhou Hongjin would still have to strain every sinew.

Thus Xu Da’s words instead made Zhu Yuanzhang resolve himself. “We’ve reached the point where we must smash the pots and sell the iron. If the Water Camp refuses to commit all of its strength, then we shall have to use twelve parts effort ourselves. With one decisive push, seize Chen Zhaoxian, and the whole situation at Jiqing will come alive!”

Although the Water Camp was unwilling to exert its full strength, it was at least committing six or seven parts. With them tying down Manzi Haiya and Kang Maocai, Zhu Yuanzhang could move freely and devote all his strength to Chen Zhaoxian’s militia.

Though Chen Zhaoxian had long been exchanging glances and signals with Zhu Yuanzhang, and had even once reached an agreement to deal with Liuyi together, Zhu Yuanzhang believed that meat was only meat once it was in one’s mouth. They had to seize this opportunity and, in a single breath, bring down Chen Zhaoxian’s great army.

And under the pressure of the Left Chancellor He Weiyi and the tens of thousands of Yuan troops in Yangzhou, the entire Left Camp unanimously supported Zhu Yuanzhang’s view. “Exactly. Once Chen Zhaoxian is taken, no matter what trouble the Water Camp makes, it will not be able to stir up anything!”

“Not only the Water Camp— even if He Weiyi personally leads his troops south, he still won’t be able to do anything!”

“Everyone, put in more effort. As long as Chen Zhaoxian is brought down, the other Yuan forces will be no problem at all!”

Although this was an exaggerated claim—the troops under Chen Zhaoxian were numerous, but in terms of fighting strength they were not the strongest among the Yuan forces operating around Jiqing Route, and after Chen Zhaoxian took over, their combat power declined severely—even if Chen Zhaoxian’s forces were dealt with, several Yuan armies would still remain.

But everyone felt Tang He and Li Shanchang had spoken very reasonably. “Chancellor He could come south from Yangzhou at any moment. To deal with Chen Zhaoxian, we must not spare casualties or cost. Tell Marshal Liu and the Water Camp that our Left Camp has already used thirteen parts of strength. If their Water Camp still wants to coast along, then let us break ties and go our separate ways!”

But the first victim of Zhu Yuanzhang’s order was not Chen Zhaoxian’s militia. It was the Yuan naval force under the Censor-in-Chief Manzi Haiya.

Although the Chaohu navy still adhered to its policy of “seeking not total victory, only not to be defeated,” its assaults were several times fiercer than before. It threw in unimaginable quantities of troops and supplies; alone among them were hundreds upon hundreds of fire ships, launched one after another.

Manzi Haiya and Kang Maocai both felt they had already grown familiar with Liuyi’s and the Chaohu navy’s patterns. So long as the Chaohu fleet could not produce anything new, the Yuan navy should naturally be able to respond with ease, meeting each move with a counter.

But when the ferocity of the Chaohu navy’s assault rose to several times, even more than ten times, its former level, it naturally produced a qualitative change. The old method of “when soldiers come, generals block them; when water comes, earth dams it” failed completely. Manzi Haiya and Kang Maocai exhausted every ounce of strength merely to keep the situation barely under control, but the Yuan water camp’s defensive line had already become frail beyond bearing.

And then, at that very moment, Zhu Yuanzhang launched a full-scale offensive. Though his main spearhead was aimed at Chen Zhaoxian, Manzi Haiya and Kang Maocai were likewise coming under tremendous pressure. Now Manzi Haiya faced a grave choice in life: “Generals, if we keep fighting like this, then our navy has no choice but to pull back for rest and replenishment. Tell me, where should we go next?”