The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 901 Incheon Landing
Seeing how his generals had become ambitious after just a few words, Jia Lian smiled inwardly and changed the subject, asking, "Where are we now?"

Feng Ziying cupped his hands and said, "Reporting to the General, it is estimated that we have now left Liaodong Bay and it will take another eight or nine days to reach the designated landing site."

Jia Lian nodded, indicating that he understood.

In this surprise attack on the heart of the Jurchen territory, Jia Lian's route was to depart from Tianjin and head north through Liaodong Bay, directly plunging into Jurchen territory.

He had actually considered going around the Korean Peninsula, passing through the Sea of ​​Japan, and then heading north.

In that case, he could not only appear in the Jurchen's rear without anyone noticing, but if he wanted, even the Haixi Jurchen and the Wild Jurchen would be exposed to his guns.

But he only thought about it.

The main problem is that the sea voyage is too long, which greatly increases the risks of the sea route.

There's really no need for that.

After discussing the situation with the generals and learning about the other warships, Jia Lian dismissed the others, leaving only Feng Ziying and Su Keguang behind.

"How is the matter of having you teach other naval officers and men how to use firearms progressing?"

In response to Jia Lian's inquiry, Su Keguang replied, "Reporting to the General, this matter was already arranged when we were in Tianjin."

In addition to the time spent at sea, they were trained daily on ordinary warships, and the three thousand men selected are now quite proficient in using firearms.

Jia Lian nodded, indicating his approval of the work.

Although he was building new warships and creating a new navy in Tianjin, it was still in its early stages.

Apart from the hundreds of officers and soldiers on his flagship, the Zhenyuan, who were relatively skilled in using firearms, most of the other naval officers and soldiers had only a superficial understanding of firearms and cannons.

Therefore, the only way to quickly increase the number of musketeers is to intensify their training.

There are artisans in the firearms battalion. Although they are mainly responsible for research and development, the task of mass-producing cannons and muskets will still be handed over to the Ministry of War.

But at least enough should be built for internal use.

The firearms battalion had stored more than two thousand new firearms, and with some that had been replaced, Jia Lian brought all the stock out of the firearms battalion this time.

A total of three thousand extra weapons were collected, and Jia Lian equipped them to the three thousand selected naval officers and soldiers.

Of course, these three thousand were all improved flintlock muskets. Jia Lian looked down on the old ones made by the Ministry of Works and the Divine Machine Battalion, and estimated that they wouldn't be very effective on the battlefield.

Three thousand plus three thousand, a total of six thousand bang bangs, enough to open the eyes of the Jurchens.

……

The further north the warships sailed, the colder the sea breeze became.

Fortunately, Jia Lian had made preparations in advance, having prepared extra warm clothing for the soldiers while they were in Tianjin.

And so, another eight days passed.

On this day, Liu Xianglian excitedly came to find Jia Lian and said happily, "The matter that Second Master asked us to do has been settled. We took a small boat and searched along the coast, and finally we found a perfect place to land!"

"Oh?"

Jia Lian immediately stood up from behind his desk.

They have now successfully navigated by sea to Liaodong, a region bordering North Korea, as planned.

The reason for choosing to land here is twofold. First, it is the closest place to the Jurchen stronghold. If this place is excluded, the only way to directly threaten the Jurchen headquarters is to bypass the Korean Peninsula.

Secondly, this place is very close to North Korea, so if the army is short of resources, it may be able to replenish them from North Korea.

Korea was a vassal state of the Great Wei Dynasty and had many conflicts with the Jurchens.

Although we have reached our destination, deciding exactly where to land is a question that must be carefully considered.

Giant ships like the Zhenyuan cannot easily get too close to the shore, lest they run aground or collide with other vessels.

Therefore, he ordered Liu Xianglian and others to take small boats to explore suitable landing sites along the coast.

"Go, go and have a look."

As they approached the place where Liu Xianglian and the others had found it, Jia Lian was able to see it clearly.

It was a bend in the river, and at a glance, there was a large mudflat that could be used for landing. So we immediately transferred to a small boat and went ashore to conduct an on-site investigation.

Standing on the higher slope behind the mudflats, looking at the open view outside, Jia Lian couldn't help but nod in satisfaction and said, "Not bad, it is indeed a very suitable landing site!"

Are there any fresh water sources nearby?

Liu Xianglian, who had always been by Jia Lian's side, naturally knew the importance of fresh water. He immediately said, "I have already sent people to check. There is a small lake about three miles east of here, and a small river flows about five miles to the north."

The river also flows into the sea about ten miles to the east. However, the estuary there is steep and densely forested, making it unsuitable as a landing site.

Upon hearing this, Jia Lian had no more reservations and immediately decided not only to land here, but also to turn it into a temporary military port and his rear base.

Just as all the warships were anchored and the soldiers were landing in small boats, Jia Lian summoned Feng Ziying and Liu Xianglian first.

"Each of you will lead five hundred cavalrymen and, using this area as the center, clear out the land within a radius of thirty li."

Feng Ziying and the other man understood Jia Lian's meaning almost immediately.

Their surprise attack on the Jurchen rear was remarkable precisely because it was unpredictable.

But the fact that their nearly 10,000 troops have set up camp and even established positions here must have caused quite a stir.

If there happen to be Jurchens nearby who go to inform them, that would be bad.

They readily accepted the order, stating that they didn't need so many cavalry; a hundred or two would suffice.

They all knew that Jia Lian had only brought less than two thousand warhorses with him this time, and several of them had died of vomiting on the ship.

There's no way around it; when it comes to traveling by boat, animals are simply more sophisticated than humans.

"It's alright. I just wanted you to take the horses out for some training so they could recover quickly and adapt to life on land."

"Yes."

Just as he was about to accept the order, Liu Xianglian suddenly asked, "What if we encounter Han Chinese or Koreans?"

Feng Ziying laughed and said, "How could there possibly be any Han Chinese in this godforsaken place?"

This area was originally the very edge of Liaodong, and it was unlikely that Han Chinese would be active here, let alone now that the Jurchens are invading from the south.

If there were any Han Chinese, they either fled or died.

"What if there is?"

Jia Lian waved his hand and said, "If you encounter any Han people, bring them back. Release them after the war is over."

As I said before, Jia Lian always likes to plan things out before acting.

Although leading a cavalry unit on a long-distance raid, charging forward fearlessly and killing gods and Buddhas in their way, is a thrilling and exciting thing.

But doing that would rely too much on luck and wouldn't suit his current status.

The Jurchens were powerful because of their cavalry; they certainly didn't have warships and couldn't fight at sea.

In other words, as long as he was at sea, the Jurchens had no way to deal with him.

Therefore, Jia Lian was determined to build this place into a temporary naval port and a major rear base, so as to ensure that even under extremely unfavorable circumstances, they would have a way out by sea.

As for whether this place will eventually be discovered and destroyed by the Jurchens...

Jia Lian was not worried.

He even transported warhorses by warship, so how could he not transport a few heavy cannons?
As long as twenty or thirty Zhenyuan cannons are brought out and placed on the battlefield, how can the Jurchens, with their meager forces, possibly break through?

Don't forget, he also had more than a hundred warships behind him, most of which were new warships built under his supervision.

The new warships he oversaw the construction of each had several to a dozen cannons.

It can be said that if the Jurchens dared to come, they would definitely be in deep trouble.

Although we are not afraid of being exposed, it is always better to avoid being exposed if possible.

In a battle between experts, the more hidden cards one has, the greater one's chances of winning.

(End of this chapter)