The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 908 Flaw
The Jurchens' complete retreat was quickly learned by the Han army.

Jia Yu personally came to request an audience with Prince Bei Jing.

Shui Rong was overjoyed upon hearing the news and immediately ordered his troops to pursue and annihilate Jia Yu, as requested.

However, someone next to Shui Rong cautiously said, "Your Highness, do not forget the lessons of the past."

Shui Rong frowned and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

The confidant said, "The previous defeat of the General Zhenguo was all due to underestimating the enemy and advancing recklessly."

Who knows if the Jurchens' withdrawal this time is not a repeat of their old tricks?

If we rashly send troops to pursue them without ascertaining the facts, how can we guarantee the safety of the Prince and the city of Liaocheng?

"This……"

Prince Bei Jing hesitated.

He had been trapped in Liaocheng for months, and no one wanted to defeat the Jurchens as soon as possible so that he could return to the capital in triumph.

However, it was precisely because he had been dealing with the Jurchens since they began their southward rebellion that he became even more aware of their power.

if……

If what this person says is true, then this is another Jurchen tactic to lure the enemy. If we rashly pursue them, our death is a small matter, but losing Liaodong will make us a sinner for all time.

Although he thought so in his heart, he still scolded on the surface: "Nonsense, the Jurchens have quietly retreated at this moment, which is clearly the result of the Duke of Rong's plan."

The Duke of Rongguo volunteered to come all the way from afar to rescue me.

"If I do not send troops and allow the Jurchens to return to their stronghold, resulting in the Duke of Rong's peril, how can I, Your Majesty, live with myself?"

Another person said, "Your Highness, it's not that we don't trust the Duke of Rong."

The Duke of Rong risked his life to launch a surprise attack on the Jianzhou Jurchen stronghold across the sea, a truly ingenious strategy that has been passed down through the ages.

Regardless of the rough seas and treacherous journey, it remains to be seen whether the Duke of Rong has successfully entered the Jurchen stronghold.

Take the Jurchen invasion of the south, for example. How could their stronghold not have left behind defensive forces?

However, the Duke of Rongguo's military strength is not strong, and even if he wanted to implement a policy of "sweeping away the enemy's strongholds," it would probably take some time to plan.

It has only been a few days since Lord Jia Yu arrived in Liaocheng. In such a short time, it is difficult to determine whether the Jurchens withdrew their troops because of the Duke of Rong, or even whether the Jurchens actually withdrew their troops at all.

In my humble opinion, it would be better to first send a small group of cavalry to the east to investigate the cities that have been captured by the Jurchens.

Only in this way can we determine whether the Jurchens' retreat was truly a panicked escape due to an attack on their stronghold, or a premeditated withdrawal.

Although the area east of Liaocheng is sparsely populated, there are some Han Chinese cities.

Although the population is very small.

Several of these cities were also captured during the Jurchen rebellion.

This person's intention was to observe the state of the Jurchens in these areas in order to determine their true intentions.

Others echoed this sentiment, saying that this was the safest approach.

Shui Rong frowned: "If things are really as Commander Jia said, wouldn't that mean missing a crucial opportunity in the battle?"

After explaining the situation at the beginning, Jia Yu did not offer any further comments.

Seeing that everyone was looking at him, he said, "Your Highness, I also think that the plan proposed by you gentlemen is the most prudent."

However, the prince's concerns were not unreasonable.

In my humble opinion, before the facts are clear, Your Highness would be better off not leaving the city lightly, lest you give the Jurchens an opportunity to take advantage of you.

However, to avoid missing the opportunity, I request Your Highness to appoint a general with about 10,000 troops to join me in pursuing the Jurchens.

In this way, Liaocheng will not fall, and we will have 20,000 troops, nearly 100 cannons, and 1,000 muskets.

As long as we act cautiously, even if the Jurchens have premeditated their actions, they cannot easily pose a threat to us.

But if the Duke of Rong's plan truly succeeds, we can seize the opportunity to storm the Jurchen stronghold and cooperate with the Duke of Rong to completely annihilate the Jurchen main force.

As far as Jia Yu was concerned, he was determined to pursue them.

But he didn't want Shui Rong to be with him either.

Firstly, Shui Rong was of noble status, and his presence would inevitably hinder the army's progress.

Secondly, if Shui Rong were present, the entire army would surely obey his orders.

Although Jia Lian had instructed that in urgent situations, his instructions should take precedence and that Shui Rong's advice should not be heeded.

However, he certainly didn't want to offend Shui Rong if he could avoid it.

Therefore, he only wanted Shui Rong's troops to cooperate with him, because he knew that he had too few troops.

As for Shui Rong, it's best for him to stay in Liaocheng.

Although Shui Rong didn't want to miss this opportunity to potentially strike a fatal blow, he had no choice but to go along with Jia Yu's opinion since Jia Yu and the others all agreed.

He immediately dispatched multiple groups of men to ascertain the true movements of the Jurchens, and ordered Zhang Leng, the general of Youzhou and Liaodong, to lead an army of 10,000 men to join forces with Jia Yu's troops in pursuing the Jurchens.

……

Jianzhou was a small Jiannu stronghold located about 200 li northeast of Sukcheng.

Jia Lian's main force was stationed here.

A whole day had passed since he captured the small fortress, but Feng Ziying's cavalry was still nowhere to be seen.

The generals under Jia Lian couldn't help but feel a little irritated.

According to their predictions, Feng Ziying's troops were all cavalry, and they were only responsible for killing and not for collecting supplies, so they should have arrived here before them.

Therefore, they were worried not only about what might happen to Feng Ziying's troops, but also about the danger they themselves would face if they continued to wait.

At this point, a full three days had passed since their massacre of Suk City.

The leaders of the Jurchens must have already received the news.

If they lead their cavalry to pursue us, we'll probably run into them within the next few days.

Not to mention, in order to ensure the secrecy of the landing in the bay and the safety of the five hundred soldiers escorting the valuables, Jia Lian deliberately left traces along the march to lure the Jurchen cavalry who might pursue them in their direction.

As a result, these generals couldn't help but come to see Jia Lian.

Jia Lian, on the other hand, seemed unhurried.

"Do you mean we should abandon Feng Ziying's troops and head south to join Cheng Xian and Jiang Ji?"

"For the sake of the General's safety, we must do this."

As for Commander Feng, his troops are all cavalry; even if the battle goes against them, their retreat should be safe.

However, even though our troops had plundered and seized a lot of Jurchen warhorses along the way, the number of cavalry was less than a thousand, and the majority were still infantry.

Once surrounded by the main force of the Jurchen cavalry, the odds are against them.

Most of the others agreed, but only one or two people began to think about it because of Jia Lian's attitude.

Jia Lian smiled and said, "I am already aware of your concerns."

But what I wish to ask is, if the Jurchens come to pursue us, how many days will it take them to arrive, and how many will they number?

Regarding how many days it would take for the pursuers to arrive, some people had already calculated it, so they answered without hesitation:

"Reporting to the General, considering that the Suk tribe is more than a thousand miles away from Liaocheng, it would take at least three days for those who escaped from Sukcheng to deliver the message to the Jurchen cavalry in Liaocheng."

If the Jurchen cavalry were to return to reinforce, it would take at least four to five days.

Three days have passed since we breached Suk City, so the Jurchens should be able to catch up here in two days at the earliest.

Of course, this excludes the possibility of the Jianzhou Jurchens (the main branch of the Jianzhou Jurchens) organizing troops to pursue them. However, there's no need to worry about that. Judging from the current situation, the Jurchens have transferred the vast majority of their troops away in order to invade Liaodong.

The Jianzhou headquarters has very few troops left behind, and now it is under a large-scale attack by our army. It is too busy to take care of itself and it is unlikely that it will be able to organize troops to attack.

As for the number of Jurchen troops pursuing them, well... this humble servant cannot predict.

If the number is small, it's fine, but if it exceeds three thousand, I'm afraid our army will be in great danger.

Hearing his subordinate's words, Jia Lian nodded.

Good, it seems you did your homework.

So he stopped keeping us in suspense and said with a smile, "If my prediction is correct, if we stay here for too long, the first wave of pursuers will probably number around three thousand."

When Jia Lian said this, some people were surprised, while others looked thoughtful.

"Does the General mean that even if we stay here, only the Suk tribe's main force will come after us?"

Jia Lian nodded with a smile.

Others couldn't help but wonder: "Why is the General so certain? The various Jurchen tribes are now united, and their main force combined has no less than 20,000 cavalry."

"Our massacre of the Suk tribe and the looting of all their wealth will surely enrage the Jurchens; they could send as many pursuers as they want."

Jia Lian raised his hand to signal everyone to calm down, and then said, "Let's make a hypothetical scenario. Let's assume you are the leaders of the Jurchens, and you are facing off against the Han army in Liaocheng."

Suddenly, we hear that Han troops have appeared in our rear stronghold and have already captured Suk City. What will you choose to do?

One of them said, "If I were the leader of the Jurchen alliance, I would choose to send troops back to reinforce them."

Since this Han army was capable of defeating the Suk tribe, it was hard to guarantee they wouldn't attack the strongholds of other tribes as well.

"Very good. How many troops do you plan to send back to reinforce, and which troops?"

"This……"

After thinking for a moment, the man said, "I will probably send the troops of the Suk tribe back to reinforce, because there is no use in keeping them in Liaocheng. They have no will to fight."

Jia Lian then asked, "What if the Jurchens knew that we had four armies attacking the Wanyan, Suke, Jiji, and Mulunmu tribes at roughly the same time? Even if they only launched attacks but did not conquer them?"

And what are you going to do then?

Just as this man was about to say something, he saw Jia Lian's meaningful look and suddenly understood, then said dejectedly:

"If that's the case, what need is there for me to do anything? The troops of each tribe are probably eager to return to their respective villages as soon as possible and defeat the invading Han army..."

The others had already realized what was happening.

Yes, the Jurchens were not like the Han Chinese; they had an emperor and a court.

They were merely a hastily formed alliance for the purpose of plundering Liaodong.

Once they learn that their respective lairs have been attacked, or even if there is only a risk of being attacked, the alliance will likely fall apart immediately.

Everyone wants to go back and protect their wives, children, and property; who cares about a temporary alliance leader like you?

"Does the General mean that even if there are pursuers chasing us, it will only be the main force of the Suk tribe?"

Jia Lian smiled and said, "Although I can't be sure, it's most likely true."

But there's no need to worry.

I've already shown the camp around; although it's not large, its location is quite good.

Nestled between two mountains, with steep slopes to the north and south, the terrain was impassable for cavalry.

Therefore, I only need to place ten cannons and musketeers in front of the camp, and I don't have to worry too much about being breached by the enemy cavalry before the ammunition runs out.

Even if things go wrong, we can lead our cavalry to retreat via the rear paths, and our infantry can disappear into the mountains on either side. Then the Jurchen cavalry will be helpless against us.”

Jia Lian did not consider it a disgrace to be defeated in battle and retreat to the mountains to live like a wild man.

On the contrary, he had already informed his generals.

Their purpose in coming here was to kill the Jurchens; even plundering their property and women was secondary.

Therefore, if you really encounter the main force of the Jurchens, you should not fight them head-on and should hide in the mountains if possible.

In short, the primary principle was to save one's own life and kill as many Jurchens as possible.

As for whether they can safely return to the landing bay after entering the mountains and forests, that depends on their own fate.

When the generals heard that Jia Lian had even considered the retreat route after the defeat, their worries subsided considerably, but they still couldn't help but have doubts:
"Didn't the General say that our mission is to kill as many Jurchens as possible, and that we should not fight the main Jurchen force unless absolutely necessary?"
Why this time…

No wonder the generals were puzzled. They all thought, is Feng Ziying so important that the general was willing to risk his life to wait for him?
Jia Lian knew exactly what they were thinking, and calmly replied, "Times have changed."

I had no idea beforehand that this trip would go so smoothly.

I ask you, are you willing to use your guns and knives only to kill those defenseless Jurchens?
Don't you want to personally slaughter those real Jurchen rebels who ravaged my Liaodong, cut off their heads, and seize their warhorses, to comfort the spirits of my Liaodong people in heaven?

Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then they all became indignant.

Seeing that the atmosphere was right, Jia Lian said, "Since God has given us such a suitable place for a defensive battle, then let the Jurchens not pursue us."

If they come, let this place be their final resting place.

"I am willing to obey the General's orders."

……

Two days later, when Xin Muershan returned to Suk with his nearly three thousand cavalry, all he saw were ruins.

Corpses lay scattered everywhere on the ground.

All the warriors of the Suk tribe who witnessed this scene were filled with rage. Many of their families, who already lived in Suk City, disregarded their superiors' objections and left the army to rush home.

New Murshan, however, had no time to discipline his soldiers.

He immediately headed towards his fortress.

And then he was not disappointed.

The fortress was spotless, pristine.

There were no smelly corpses, because they had all been thrown outside the courtyard wall.

Xin Muershan slumped down on the steps, staring blankly at his armored men as they carried the bodies of his mother, brothers, wife, and children before him.

"Your Highness, the bodies of the princesses and other concubines have not been found..."

"keep the change."

Xin Muershan had also raided Han people in Liaodong more than once, so how could he not know the whereabouts of his daughter and concubines?

His extreme anger made him unusually calm at this moment.

"Reporting to Your Highness, we have captured several people in the city."

Xin Mu'ershan was initially delighted, thinking that they were survivors and that he might be able to learn the whereabouts of the Han army from them.

To his disappointment, these people had only arrived in Suk City a few days prior, either looking for some of the Han army's lost property or simply taking the opportunity to seize houses.

After interrogating them and finding no useful information, Xin Muershan said impatiently, "Kill them all."

His killing intent had reached its peak, and he no longer cared whether these people were his clansmen or whether they deserved to die.

Just as the entire city of Suk was shrouded in gloom, filled with the curses and cries of warriors, a cavalryman suddenly reported:

"My lord, we've found traces of the enemy!"

New Murshan stood up excitedly.

……

(End of this chapter)