The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 902 Plan unfolds
After a day of rest, Jia Lian summoned all the generals of the rank of chiliarch and above to his command tent for a meeting early the next morning.

All the generals were excited when they arrived at the main tent.

This time, Jia Lian led them, braving hardships and crossing thousands of miles across the sea, and now they are finally about to see the real test.

Moreover, what they were going to do was to completely wipe out the Jurchens—a truly great undertaking.

It is conceivable that if they succeed in this, it will be a significant event in history!
They couldn't help but feel excited and nervous.

Jia Lian seemed unaware of the generals' thoughts. As was customary, he had the commanders of the firearms battalion, the navy, and the Chang'an army report on the specific situation of their respective units. Only after resolving all the minor details did he get down to business.

"As you all know, we have come here today."

I won't go into the pre-battle mobilization and motivational speeches; let's now begin with the situation briefing and task assignments.

As Jia Lian finished speaking, the officials of higher rank all involuntarily moved closer to Jia Lian's desk.

On Jia Lian's desk lay a map. Jia Lian pointed to several key points circled on it and said:
"As we have discussed before, the Jurchens had more than ten tribes of varying sizes, mainly distributed in Mudanjiang, Suifenhe and the eastern part of Changbai Mountain."

Unlike the Central Plains, this place is vast and sparsely populated. Sometimes you might travel a hundred miles and still not run into a single living person.

Therefore, although these Jurchen tribes did not have a large population, the settlements of each tribe were quite far apart.

It's unrealistic for us to wipe out all these tribes at once.

Furthermore, if we make a move against even one of the tribes, the news could easily leak out, alerting and prompting other tribes to take precautions.

This is extremely detrimental to our operations.

All the generals nodded in agreement. Jia Lian had already led them through all these tasks, and they were all thoroughly familiar with them.

"General, there's no need to explain the pros and cons to us. We will all listen to you. We will do whatever you tell us to do. Everything will be done according to your orders."

Jia Lian remained noncommittal and continued in a serious tone: "Since it is not realistic to solve all the tribes at once, we can only choose the largest tribes that are the most harmful and have the largest populations, cripple them in one go, and preferably eradicate them completely."

Of the more than ten Jurchen tribes, about four had a population exceeding five thousand.

These are the Wanyan tribe, the Suke tribe, the Aji tribe, and the Mulunmu tribe.

"Of these four tribes, the closest to us is the Suk tribe, and the furthest is the Wanyan tribe."

The Wanyan tribe is currently the largest tribe of the Jurchens, with a confirmed population of over 10,000.

The Wanyan tribe was also the main force that invaded Liaodong and killed our people.

Jia Lian pointed to the places marked on the map and observed them with Su Keguang and the others.

Just as some Han Chinese served the Jurchens, many Jurchens also made a living in Han territory, and some even served the Wei court.

Among those accompanying Jia Lian on this occasion were more than ten Jurchens or Han Chinese who were knowledgeable about Jurchen affairs and were assigned to him by the imperial court.

With these inside contacts, it wouldn't be difficult for Jia Lian to obtain this information.

Su Keguang and the others frowned, secretly lamenting their bad luck.

They all knew that this rebellion of the Jurchens was instigated by the Wanyan tribe.

Logically, their primary target in this surprise attack should have been the Wanyan tribe.

Unfortunately, the Wanyan tribe was located in the northern part of the Jurchen territory, while their location was at the southernmost edge of the Jurchen domain.

Once they take action against other Jurchen tribes, no matter how clean they do it, the Wanyan tribe will inevitably receive the news eventually.

At that time, whether the opponent runs away or organizes a defense, it will cause them a lot of trouble.

Yes, the other party will run away.

This was quite incredible for the people of the Central Plains.

As the saying goes, you can run away from the monk but not the temple.

But for nomadic peoples like the Tatars and Jurchens, wherever they were, that was their capital.

Especially for nomadic peoples like the Jurchens, who were still in the tribal era and didn't even have a royal court, they could really run away completely in a short period of time if they sensed something was wrong.

Cheng Xian, the military advisor of Chang'an Army, spoke first: "General, since the Wanyan tribe is the ringleader, we cannot let them go no matter what."

This humble general is willing to lead his troops on a thousand-mile raid to annihilate the Wanyan tribe's stronghold!

When everyone heard that Cheng was starting to grab the task, they all became a little anxious.

Fortunately, judging from Jia Lian's expression, he seemed unmoved.

Sure enough, Jia Lian shook his head and said, "That's not a good idea. Your Chang'an army is mostly composed of infantry. Even if they travel day and night, it will definitely take a lot of time."

By then, it is very likely that our surprise attack plan will have been exposed, and the Wanyan tribe will be alerted.

They might even be surrounded by the main force of the Jurchen cavalry that rushed to Liaocheng to rescue them.

At that time, with your exhausted army facing such a situation, you will most likely suffer total annihilation.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xian, though unwilling, refrained from saying anything further.

At this moment, Jia Lian suddenly said, "Feng Ziying, Liu Xianglian!"

"Your subordinate is here." The two men whose names were called stepped forward in unison and clasped their hands in response.

"If I were to entrust all my warhorses to you two and provide you with the finest equipment, would you dare to venture into the Wanyan tribe?"

Feng Ziying and Liu Xianglian exchanged a glance, both of them saying with fervor, "This humble general is willing to go!"

“Very well. In that case, I will hand over all my cavalry, including the lancers, totaling nearly two thousand men, to you two.”

"You are given seven days to travel light and make a thousand-mile raid on the Jiannu Wanyan tribe."

"The last general takes command!"

Seeing this, the others envied Feng and Liu for being valued by Jia Lian, and at the same time, they couldn't help but respect Jia Lian even more.

They initially thought that Jia Lian wanted to leave the Wanyan tribe to himself when he saw that Jia Lian had refused Cheng Xian's request to fight.

Unexpectedly, he entrusted such an important task to the two youngest players present.

Isn't she young?
Feng Ziying was alright; he was about the same age as Jia Lian.

Liu Xianglian has such delicate skin, I wonder if he's even reached adulthood yet...

However, they did not underestimate Liu Xianglian.

Although they were only commanders of a thousand households, they would spar with each other when they were bored on the ship.

Everyone knows Xiao Liu. Don't let his youthful appearance fool you; his swordsmanship and martial arts skills are incredibly sophisticated!
"Cheng Xian!" Jia Lian began to select his generals again.

"The end will be here."

"I hereby order you to lead your own 1,000 men, plus 500 naval officers and soldiers, for a total of 1,500 men, and also give yourself seven days to launch a surprise attack on Jiji's tribe. Is that possible?"

Cheng Xian immediately knelt on one knee and said with a passionate expression, "This subordinate obeys the order. If I fail to accomplish this, I am willing to be punished according to military law!"

Cheng Xian initially harbored some resentment towards Jia Lian.

He was ordered to lead 5,000 soldiers, and after traveling day and night, he finally arrived in Tianjin.

Upon meeting, Jia Lian immediately divided his troops into four thousand, claiming they would serve as the main force and escort the heavy artillery to Liaocheng.

Although the reasons were all plausible, he admired Jia Lian's ingenious strategy of feigning one move while secretly advancing another, launching a surprise attack on the Jurchens by sea.

But he was afraid that Jia Lian would practice nepotism and exclude him, an outsider, making his trip a waste.

Now that Jia Lian has entrusted him with leading a separate army, he can finally rest assured.

Jia Lian nodded and finally said, "I will lead the main force to attack the Suk tribe."

Thus, our forces are divided into three routes, with targets both near and far, and our marches will vary in speed..."

"Wait, General, where is this humble servant?"

Upon hearing Jia Lian say "divide the troops into three routes," the naval vice admiral Jiang Ji became anxious and quickly interrupted Jia Lian.

Jia Lian looked at him and said, "General Jiang's responsibility is greater than any of ours."

Those more than one hundred warships on the sea were not only the entire assets of the Tianjin Wei Navy, but also the foundation of the imperial court, and could not be lost under any circumstances.

If our progress is not smooth, we will need General Chiang's assistance.

Jiang Ji's face immediately fell, and he looked like he was about to cry.

Suddenly he thought of something and shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No, no, seeing you all going to the battlefield to kill the Jurchens while I can only stay in the back, I, Old Chiang, can't stand it."

"Isn't there still the Mulunmu tribe? Why don't we hand it over to me, old Chiang Kai-shek?"

Seeing Jiang Ji's pitiful state, Jia Lian laughed and said, "Dividing your troops too much is a major taboo in military strategy."

The Murenmu tribe is the weakest and can be dealt with at any time, so there's no rush.

"Why not act quickly? The General said when he was in Tianjin that we must eradicate evil completely and eliminate the Jurchen threat in one fell swoop."

The general cannot go back on his word.

Since this Mulunmu tribe can be ranked among the four major tribes, it means that it poses a threat to our Great Wei and must be eliminated.

"If we let it go this time due to our negligence, allowing it to grow stronger and harass the people of Liaodong again, wouldn't that be our fault?" "This..."

Jia Lian's original intention was not to let the Mulunmu tribe go.

However, this Mulun tribe is located in the far east and is relatively weak.

Jia Lian's idea was to first wipe out the three largest tribes from south to north.

If all goes well, the three armies will join forces and then turn east and south, sweeping across the entire Jurchen stronghold in this way.

When the time comes, we'll also wipe out Mulunmu along with the other small tribes.

However, seeing how ridiculous Jiang Ji's pleading was, he couldn't help but say, "But the navy in the rear cannot be without a commander..."

Jiang Ji said, "General, do not worry. My subordinates Chen Yun and Sun Sheng are both steady and reliable men."

"I can leave these two to guard the rear; I guarantee there won't be any problems."

All eyes turned to the two captains behind Jiang Ji.

Chen Yun and Sun Sheng could only manage a wry smile in response.

They might have been transferred by Jia Lian to be leaders of the three armies, but now things are different.

The old commander, driven by a desire for military merit, disregarded all shame and kept the two men locked up in the rear.

Jia Lian smiled.

He held the position of captain in the Tianjin naval force and was familiar with the main generals in the navy. He knew that the two men recommended by Jiang Ji were not just making things up.

Thinking that the troops to be sent on this expedition would be mostly naval officers and soldiers.

He drew almost all of the more than 10,000 troops of the Tianjin Wei Navy.

After putting in so much effort, it would be unreasonable not to offer any reward at all.

So he laughed and said, "Alright, since you insist, I will give you a thousand men and send you east to launch a surprise attack on the Mulunmu tribe."

Jiang Ji was immediately delighted and readily accepted the order.

At this moment, Su Keguang smiled and said, "In that case, I would also like to ask the General to grant me permission to lead a troop into battle."

Jia Lian said speechlessly, "Old Su, stop causing trouble."

Given the importance of this place, one cannot be at ease without a reliable and dependable person remaining to guard it.

Su Keguang smiled and said nothing more.

His words were meant to liven up the atmosphere and also to help Jia Lian maintain his authority as the head coach.

Jia Lian had already mentioned his arrangements for him yesterday.

Now that Jia Lian has agreed to Jiang Ji's request but refused him, it won't make people think that Jia Lian is a soft-hearted person, but rather that he has other considerations.

As for not being able to lead troops into battle, Su Keguang didn't feel anything about it.

Unlike others, he is fifty years old this year.

As a general, he was nearing the age of retirement.

If he hadn't met Jia Lian, he would probably have spent his life in the Shenji Battalion, at best becoming a captain.

Now that he has followed Jia Lian, he has the good fortune to become the commander of a unit of the Imperial Guard, and will be able to retire as a formal general in the future.

He was already satisfied.

As for making further achievements, he'd rather do better if he could, than not. In short, his desire wasn't as strong as that of other young people.

Since Jia Lian has designated this base under construction as a rear base, it naturally needs a person of considerable influence to guard it. Besides Jia Lian, he is the most suitable person.

Moreover, who says that staying behind means you're at a disadvantage?
If they work together to accomplish this important task, neither Jia Lian nor Emperor Ningkang will treat them unfairly.

Jia Lian continued what Jiang Ji had just interrupted him about.

"To prevent anyone from launching an attack prematurely, which could lead to a leak of information and hinder other surprise attacks."

Therefore, all forces must act strictly according to the agreed-upon date. Actions should not be launched too early or too late unless absolutely necessary.

"Yes, General."

"Our surprise attack is called 'Plowing the Court and Sweeping the Cave'."

What does "ploughing the courtyard and sweeping the hole" mean?

Even if it means annihilating their race and eradicating their descendants, ensuring that the Jurchens will be unable to harass Liaodong for the next fifty or even one hundred years!

"We understand, and are willing to die for the General's grand ambitions!"

……

Just as Jia Lian was actively putting his plan into action.

Emperor Ningkang, who was thousands of miles away, had been quite anxious lately.

Jia Lian has been gone for more than half a month, and not a single piece of news has come back.

Although he also knew that no news was the best news.

But he couldn't help but worry.

Although he believed in Jia Lian's abilities, Jia Lian's plan was ultimately too risky.

It is extremely difficult to find a case of attacking barbarians by sea in the historical records of all dynasties.

Especially considering that Jia Lian's forces are so small...

Before his departure, Jia Lian gave him a secret document detailing all the preparations, so he knew that Jia Lian's two armies combined totaled less than 20,000 men.

Although the imperial court still had a considerable number of troops in Liaodong, that small force was woefully inadequate on the vast land of Liaodong.

Not to mention, Jia Lian has probably already circled into enemy territory by now.

He probably won't need the troops in Liaocheng.

He was worried that Jia Lian's plan would fail, and even more worried that Jia Lian would not return.

The Empress saw his condition clearly.

"Is Your Majesty worried about Jia Lian?"

"A child? He's still a child in your eyes."

He's now the renowned General Who Pacifies Liaodong; his thoughts and actions are unmatched by anyone else in the world.

Emperor Ningkang found that he had recently become increasingly fond of visiting Kunning Palace.

I don't know if it's because he's getting older, but he values ​​his relationship with his wife even more.

The Empress smiled and suddenly said, "Your Majesty is so worried about Jia Lian now, worried that he will betray Your Majesty's trust."

Did you know that when His Majesty stripped him of his military power after he came down from Iron Net Mountain, that child probably felt the same way about His Majesty?

Emperor Ningkang frowned, met the Empress's intelligent and discerning eyes, and suddenly fell silent.

He understood the Empress's meaning.

Looking back at the things Jia Lian has done for him over the years, almost all of them have won his favor.

However, at Iron Net Mountain, just as Jia Lian had helped him quell the chaos and refused the Emperor Emeritus's offer of service, firmly standing by his side, he had no choice but to relieve Jia Lian of all his military power for the sake of the overall situation.

If I were Jia Lian, how could I not feel resentful?
Even if one has no complaints, how can one not worry about one's future and safety?
However, Jia Lian did not show it at all.

He readily accepted all the arrangements and, without complaint, went to Tianjin to build ships for him.

Even when he first learned of the Jurchen rebellion, he immediately rushed back, intending to share his burdens.

It can be said that Jia Lian's actions truly deserve the title of "loyal to the country".

What is there to worry about with a minister like him?
Emperor Ningkang suddenly felt much more at ease.

He glanced at the Empress but did not argue with her.

The Empress thought he was worried that Jia Lian would betray his trust, but only he knew what he was worried about more.

Huo Zhao was defeated and killed; all he felt was anger.

However, he had imagined what his emotions would be if Jia Lian also sent the same message.

It couldn't be anger.

Is it frustration or regret?
No, there is a more accurate one, but he would never admit it:
sad.

He would never reveal this, not even to the Empress.

Because it concerns his imperial dignity.

(End of this chapter)