The harsh reality

The Former Crown Prince had lived in the deep recesses of the imperial palace for years and knew nothing about managing an army; he was what one would call ignorant of military affairs.

His rebel forces were a collection of bandits, mountain thieves, death row inmates, and other such desperadoes, so their military discipline was more than just poor—it was absolutely abysmal.

Many county seats had been subjected to the rape and pillage of these men, leaving the commoners either dead or fled; they had long since become ghost towns, so Song Ren's army essentially just took over empty cities along the way.

Witnessing the tragic scenes along the route, the eyes of some soldiers hailing from the three prefectures turned red with a fury that seemed ready to burst into flames.

Seeing their comrades' rage, the others naturally felt the same; while they felt fortunate that their own hometowns had not suffered such a tribulation, they were also filled with lingering fear.

Almost without needing any encouragement from Song Ren, the officers and soldiers of the Jiannan Army were filled with righteous indignation, and their morale reached its peak.

The first tough battle was the army's assault on Linqiong County, the administrative seat of Qiongzhou. As a prefectural seat, Linqiong County was a fortified city with over three thousand defenders; if defended properly, Song Ren's thirty thousand troops would have suffered heavy losses to take it.

After deliberating for two days, Song Ren decided to test the enemy's strength to avoid wasting the soaring morale.

However, everything seemed to exceed his expectations. Those rebels spent their days focused only on eating, drinking, and having fun, or bullying unarmed civilians.

They had neither the time to repair the city defenses nor the time to prepare rolling logs or defensive stones; they didn't even have much fire oil.

Consequently, the siege, which was expected to be incredibly brutal, proceeded exceptionally smoothly.

After a morning of testing, Song Ren discovered that the enemy was complete garbage, and he launched a general offensive in the afternoon.

In just one afternoon, Linqiong County was breached, and the defenders scattered after only a slight resistance.

"Commander, we have captured over one thousand three hundred prisoners in this battle. How do you wish to handle them?"

"Behead them all..."

Song Ren was about to say to kill them all when he suddenly remembered that he still owed Gao Yuan a great favor. Beheading these heinous villains himself would be a waste of whetstones; it would be better to give them to Gao Yuan as a gift, killing two birds with one stone.

After silently giving himself a thumbs-up for his own wit, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Detain them for now. We will send them all to the Southwest later to guard the border."

"Commander is wise! Simply beheading them would be too easy on them. It's better to send them to fight for their lives against the foreign tribes; every one they kill is a gain!"

If Gao Yuan were here right now, he would definitely give Song Ren a massive slap across the face.

"Is this a gift? You're just sending trouble to me!"

In just five short days, Qiongzhou was pacified. The Former Crown Prince finally received the news, and in a panic, he could only turn to Hong Wantong for help.

"General Hong, Qiongzhou has fallen! What can be done?"

According to the Former Crown Prince's original plan, the battle of Song Prefecture should have lasted at least three to five months, and even if the main force of the Jiannan Army wasn't wiped out, it would have suffered heavy losses. This would have allowed him to seize more prefectures and establish a firm foothold.

Who would have thought that the Jiannan Army would return to defend in less than a month? His own forces numbered only a little over ten thousand; how could they withstand the fierce Jiannan Army?

Hong Wantong was also plagued by a massive headache. He had always felt that Song Ren was mediocre and had only attained the position of Jiedushi of Jiannan Circuit by sucking up to the Emperor.

Feeling that his talents were unrecognized, he had chosen to join the Former Crown Prince, hoping to support him in achieving hegemony so that he could become a founding official and bring glory to his family. Who would have thought this dream would only last a month?

The Former Crown Prince was ignorant of military affairs, but Hong Wantong understood them; he knew exactly what kind of rabble his troops were.

They were fine for bullying local yamen runners and guards or scaring civilians when they had the numbers, but making them clash with elite border troops was like striking a rock with an egg.

His plan had been to use the months of the Song Prefecture battle to rapidly expand the army and then crush the Jiannan Army with superior numbers. Now, they didn't even have the numerical advantage.

Thoughts raced through his mind. Hong Wantong stood there for a long time before finally letting out a sigh.

"Our only option now is to abandon some territory, contract our forces, and retreat entirely to Yandao County to engage in a life-and-death struggle with Song Ren."

The newly appointed Left Chancellor, Lu Daoyuan, stood up.

"Those cities were all won through our hard work. Isn't it too hasty to abandon them without a fight? Moreover, it will affect our army's morale."

Right Chancellor Ji Chengzi also opposed the abandonment.

"Has General Hong considered how many troops a tiny place like Yandao County can garrison? As the saying goes, a long defense is bound to fail. In my opinion, it's better to send out the troops for a decisive battle with the enemy!"

The Former Crown Prince was left wavering by this pair of "Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix" advisors. Seeing this, Hong Wantong quickly made one last effort.

"Your Highness, our army not only lacks numerical superiority but is also severely undertrained. If we remain scattered, Song Ren will pick us off one by one..."

"General Hong, aren't you being alarmist? I believe that as long as the Former Crown Prince gives the order, the defenders in all regions will surely hold out to the end."

"Exactly. As long as they fail to take the cities for a long time, the Jiannan Army will surely suffer heavy losses and low morale. Then, we can launch a counterattack and crush Song Ren in one fell swoop. At that point, our great cause will be settled."

The two of them spoke back and forth, making the Former Crown Prince's blood boil. He could almost see a vision of Song Ren crawling by the roadside, kowtowing to welcome him into Chengdu.

After the brief illusion passed, the Former Crown Prince snapped back to reality and waved his hand to cut off Hong Wantong's words.

"There is no need to say more. I have decided. These cities were bought with the lives of our soldiers; how can we abandon them without a fight? Order the defenders in all regions to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements."

Walking out of the meeting hall, Hong Wantong looked up at the sky and exhaled a long breath of turbid air, his eyes filled with despair.

"Is my Hong family really going to reach its end?"

Despite his internal despair, Hong Wantong decided to make an effort. He began forcibly conscripting civilians into the army throughout Yazhou, seizing grain from their homes, and forcing them into the mountains to cut timber and transport stones.

On Song Ren's side, he was nearly ecstatic after hearing that the enemy had made no move to retreat and concentrate their forces.

What he feared most was the Former Crown Prince contracting his battle lines and concentrating his troops; that would have made capturing those cities difficult.

Now that the Former Crown Prince was staying put, it was the best news for him; he could concentrate his forces to defeat them one by one.

Averaging one county seat every three days, Meizhou was pacified in less than fifteen. Of the five thousand rebels, over a thousand were beheaded, a few hundred fled, and the rest became Song Ren's prisoners.

As for the prisoners, after screening them, Song Ren sent the forcibly conscripted civilians back home to farm and packed the rest off to Chengdu to be detained.

The fall of Meizhou was entirely within Hong Wantong's expectations, but he hadn't expected it to happen so quickly. One city every three days, one prefecture in half a month—this speed could only be described as overwhelming.

For the sake of survival and the future of his family, Hong Wantong disobeyed the Former Crown Prince's orders for the first time, contracting all the forces in Yazhou and gathering them all in Yandao County.

However, he had clearly overestimated the execution capabilities of this motley crew. Even though he had issued the order, many people were still dragging their feet because they were reluctant to leave behind the wealth they had plundered.

The final result was naturally being caught by Song Ren's army; they either became souls under the blade or "gifts" that Song Ren prepared for Gao Yuan.

Four thousand eight hundred and seventy-six men—this was the Former Crown Prince's final force.

As Song Ren's army arrived at the city gates, the Former Crown Prince completely transformed from a refined prince into a terrified bird, living in constant fear.

At this time, he did not pull himself together to make a fresh start; instead, he was depressed to the extreme, huddled in his manor every day with two young ladies, drinking all day long.

It seemed that only when he was drunk could he escape this harsh reality.

Unfortunately, two days later, the wine also ran out!