The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 915: Strategy
The Jurchen cavalry were still fierce.

Unfortunately, their opponents possessed a large number of advanced weapons that were ahead of their time.

When they charged on horseback, overcoming artillery fire and cutting through thorns and brambles, finally making it up the slope, they were still not met with a fair hand-to-hand battle.

The rows of Han soldiers were already in perfect formation, using shields as cover, and firing muskets and crossbows at their faces.

The sounds of banging and whooshing were incessant.

At the same time, countless tribal warriors fell one after another.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the clever chief disregarded the agreement and quietly ordered the tribal warriors to retreat, letting the people of other tribes take their place.

Therefore, the more heroic the warrior, the faster he dies; while those who are most afraid of death are the first to withdraw from the battlefield, touching their pounding hearts and soothing their uneasy souls.

The battle lasted less than half an hour before the Jurchens suffered a complete rout and retreated.

Even so, Jia Lian still did not order his men to rush out of the lines to pursue the enemy. He even ordered many reserve troops to stay put, giving the enemy the illusion that he had also fought with all his might to hold them off.

"General, the enemy has been routed, why not pursue them?"

Generals including Su Keguang arrived together, seemingly puzzled by Jia Lian's orders.

It should be noted that when the Suk tribe was defeated at Tamuzhai, Jia Lian allowed his soldiers to pursue and expand the victory.

Today's victory was even easier, so why not let them chase it?

Jia Lian said, "The Jurchens should not be underestimated."

Analysis of the news from Liaodong suggests that the Jurchens originally had no fewer than 20,000 main cavalry.

Although we have suffered repeated losses, the number of Jurchen main forces should not be underestimated.

Moreover, we have turned the Jurchen stronghold upside down and beheaded tens of thousands. The Jurchens must hate us to the bone.

In this way, the Jurchens may be able to gather even more troops to retaliate in a short period of time.

Therefore, although our army has won, we must not launch an attack rashly, lest we be taken advantage of by enemy reinforcements and suffer heavy losses.

Upon hearing this, the generals felt a slight chill, and their joy at the great victory diminished somewhat.

If what Jia Lian said is true, then the Jurchens really did launch a full-scale attack.

The sheer scale of tens of thousands of cavalrymen spread out was something even they, as generals, could hardly imagine.

But is what Jia Lian said really true?

The Jurchen population was small to begin with, and their hearts were not united.

Just like before, the Jurchens' forces were significantly larger than those of the Suk tribe at Tamuzhai, but after one round of attacks, the threat they posed to our side was far less than that at Tamuzhai.

The reason for this is easy to understand.

At the time of Tamuzhai, the Jurchens were united in their determination to annihilate them, and thus each of them charged forward fearlessly.

However, the Jurchens gathered here came from different backgrounds and belonged to different factions. As a result, from top to bottom, each of them harbored their own ulterior motives, leading to a rout after only one wave of attacks when they saw the situation was not good.

It can be said that if all the tribes of the Jurchen were like this, even if they had tens of thousands of cavalry, they would not be a threat at all.

Although he doesn't have many troops at hand right now, perhaps only seven or eight thousand including the men that Feng Ziying and Jiang Ji can bring back, don't forget that he also has another large army.

Jia Yu still had 8,000 elite troops under his command, and he carried the majority of their artillery fire for this expedition.

Not to mention that there are tens of thousands of troops in the entire Liaodong region.

Therefore, he never thought that he could completely annihilate the main force of the Jurchens with the small number of troops he had at hand.

What he wanted to do was to be a sharp nail driven into the heart of the enemy, preventing them from focusing on both the top and bottom lines.

In fact, his strategy was already largely successful once the Jurchens withdrew all their troops from Liaodong and returned to pursue and annihilate him.

All that remains is to cause as much trouble as possible for the Jurchens.

If troops were to be dispatched to pursue the routed Jurchen cavalry at this point, it might indeed expand the gains, but it would inevitably expose more of their strength, making the Jurchen troops that arrive later even more wary.

Not to mention, launching a large-scale attack could indeed run into a large contingent of Jurchen reinforcements.

If the troops under your command are crippled, the intended strategic effect will naturally not be achieved.

Therefore, instead of rushing to expand the gains, it is better to first show the enemy weakness and slowly boil the frog in water.

As long as we completely disrupt the morale and fighting spirit of the Jurchens, causing them to fall apart internally, and then cooperate with the troops in Liaodong and Jia Yu's hands, how can we not destroy the Jurchens?

He then ordered, "Go down and take stock of the battle results and losses, and prepare to meet the enemy's next attack."

I have a premonition that the Jurchens' next attack will be unprecedented in scale and momentum, and it will inevitably be a fierce battle.

In addition, all the Jurchen women were transported by small boats to large ships and kept under guard.

More than two thousand young women were abducted from Jianzhou in total.

Jia Lian dared not underestimate these Jurchen women. Although they were unarmed, their numbers were so great that if these women launched an attack from the rear while they were fully engaged in dealing with the Jurchen offensive, it would be quite a problem.

Moreover, transporting these Jurchen women away could create the illusion for the Jurchen main force that he still wanted to continue his escape.

Aside from expending a large amount of ammunition, Jia Lian's side suffered almost no losses in the major battle.

In contrast, the Jurchens, with more than 5,000 troops, fled in panic after losing a third of their forces.

They initially thought the Han army would pursue them, but when they turned around, they found they weren't.

The Han army only chased them for a mile or two before retreating back to rebuild their fortifications.

This brought a great sense of relief to the fleeing Jurchens, but also left them puzzled.

Could it be that the Han army really had very few troops, which is why they didn't even dare to pursue?
If that's the case, if we had worked together a little more just now, wouldn't we have already broken through the Han army's camp?
Thinking of this, many Jurchens were filled with remorse and began to blame each other for being cowardly and afraid of death.

Of course, even without this speculation, the various generals of the Jurchens were destined to fight amongst themselves.

Everyone discussed sending troops together, but some people did not put in the effort, resulting in such a disastrous defeat.

How could those leaders who suffered heavy losses accept this?
Even for those with minor losses, we must consider who should be held responsible for the defeat.

So, after discovering that the Han army was not pursuing them, all the Jurchen leaders waited for Luo Jue Anchang's main force to arrive while engaging in endless mutual accusations and insults.

So when the Wanyan tribe leader Luo Jue Anchang arrived, he found that the leaders who had arrived earlier were almost about to fight each other.

After learning about the situation, Luo Jue Anchang deeply resented these people for being short-sighted and incapable of accomplishing anything.

But at the same time, I couldn't help but feel that...

If they all act this way, it would actually benefit his cause of unification.

So they stopped the pointless arguments and began to understand the situation and devise tactics.

"I wonder if the Grand Prince managed to wipe out the Han cavalry that was causing trouble for the Wanyan tribe this time?"

When asked this question, Luo Jue'anchang's face darkened.

He had quickly pursued them to the vicinity of the Mulunmu tribe and indeed caught the Han army's tail.

At first, the Han soldiers were incredibly brave, daring to engage in battle with his vanguard and inflicting considerable losses on him.

However, upon discovering his large army, they immediately turned and began to flee.

In order to disperse their forces, these Han soldiers did not care whether their fighting strength would be dispersed. They split into several groups and fled in different directions.

He led his troops in pursuit for a long time, partly because his troops were exhausted from the long march, and partly because he was afraid that if the pursuit went too deep, the troops he had finally managed to gather would be scattered again.

Therefore, without achieving significant results, they could only temporarily let the bandits go and regroup their forces to head south.

He had already heard that no fewer than five thousand Han soldiers had gathered on the southwestern coast and were being held up by their own people on the beach.

Clearly, annihilating this large Han army force is the most important task.

We must also eliminate this Han army.

He had already learned that the Han army in Liaodong, which had previously only dared to cower within the city, had begun a large-scale advance towards Jianzhou. He had to eliminate this Han army in the heartland as soon as possible before he could turn around and teach the Han army in Liaodong a lesson.

Otherwise, the Jianzhou Jurchen people would be in grave danger.

“That Han army has already been defeated by me and is no longer a threat.”

"Right now, we should focus on eliminating this Han army."

“Your Excellency, this Han army is very cunning. They were not chased to the sea by our army, but gathered here on their own initiative.”

Clearly, they wanted to evacuate by sea using their own ships.

It was precisely because we feared they would escape that we launched our attack so hastily.

But these damned Han soldiers, after winning a battle by luck thanks to their pre-prepared defensive fortifications, became so confident that they were no longer in a hurry to escape.

I'm so angry!

The Jurchen leader said this, but his face showed a very happy expression.

Clearly, the Han army did not take advantage of their previous victory to escape, but instead remained stationed in the bay, giving them the opportunity to eliminate them, which made him very fortunate.

Upon seeing this, Luo Jue Anchang rebuked him, saying, "You are truly foolish beyond measure."

Ben Beile knew that this Han army was very arrogant, having already defeated Xin Muershan at Tamuzhai.

Why would they run away so easily?

You've simply fallen into the enemy's trap without even realizing it.

Upon hearing this, some of the previous leaders remained silent, while others clearly realized what was happening but were unwilling to admit it.

But most people were unconvinced.

"Impossible! They hurriedly loaded food and valuables onto the ship and transported them away. What else could it be but an escape?"
Right after our attack failed, they rushed to load all the women they had abducted from Jianzhou onto ships and transport them away.

In my opinion, they did want to escape before, but because they won a battle, they were tempted to stay and continued to do so.

If Your Excellency doesn't believe me, I'll bet you.

"If we attack now, they will inevitably choose to flee by sea when they see the situation is unfavorable."

Luo Jue Anchang frowned as he looked at the man, inwardly cursing his stupidity.

However, Luo Jue Anchang believed in his own judgment, while most of the other Jurchen leaders were willing to believe his statement.

Yes, this Han army is formidable, but its total strength is limited. Knowing that their main force would surely come to encircle and annihilate them, how could they not flee?
Now that they have won the battle, it is reasonable for them to stay and observe the situation, hoping for a lucky break.

Otherwise, why would they have transported so many women away first? Wasn't it because they were afraid there wouldn't be enough time later?

In fact, many Jurchens couldn't resist when the Han army took away their women.

They launched an attack under cover of night, but unfortunately, they achieved little.

In the end, they could only face reality and watch helplessly as their women were taken away by the Han army...

Heart like a knife.

Now that Luo Jue and Anchang have arrived, they feel it is finally time to avenge their previous defeat, and therefore they all volunteer for battle.

Luo Jue Anchang, however, said, "Let's not rush to attack. On the way here, I already exchanged letters with many of the remaining princes, and they are all willing to lead troops to besiege this Han army."

We currently lack sufficient troops to wipe out this Han army force in the bay in one fell swoop.

Let's wait until all the leaders have arrived before we talk about it.

Through several battles, Luo Jue Anchang had gained a certain understanding of the fighting methods and combat capabilities of the Han army in the Gulf.

At this time, including other leaders, he had only gathered a little over 10,000 troops in total.

Although there is a chance of victory, if the Han army fights to the death, the losses will likely be enormous.

He was unwilling to take any more risks, so he wanted to wait for more leaders to arrive so that he could annihilate this evil and arrogant Han army with overwhelming superiority.

He even thought that these Han soldiers were trapped in the bay, and if they could be cut off from their food and water supplies...

I'm afraid it will be difficult. These Han soldiers have a considerable number of ships. If they really have no other choice, they will definitely try to escape by boat!

Thinking about it, Luo Jue Anchang couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

He wanted to maintain stability, but not all the other leaders agreed.

Especially those leaders who had suffered losses before and those who knew that their women had been taken away by the Han army.

"Your Excellency, we cannot delay any longer."

These Han soldiers were just observing. If our army fails to launch an attack while they are still hoping for the best, they will surely leave by boat once they realize what's going on.

"How will we get our revenge then?"

Luo Jue Anchang said coldly, "I told you, they won't run away!"

"What if? Can the Grand Prince guarantee that?"
If this Han army really escapes, will the Grand Prince dare to take responsibility?

Luo Jue'anchang's face darkened.

He was convinced that the Han army, which had been gaining an advantage in Jianzhou, would not flee until it suffered a major loss.

But would he really make that guarantee?

Did he not want to annihilate this Han army?
He hadn't seen any Jianzhou women among the Han cavalry he had pursued, so he suspected that his concubine and daughters must have been taken here, or perhaps even transported away by the Han army by boat.

Therefore, he was also very anxious.

He wants to win back his wife and daughters.

However, he had to consider the entire Jianzhou Jurchen people and could not allow them to suffer any more enormous losses.

These people are hateful; they're more trouble than they're worth, yet they dare to question him.

Suddenly, Luo Jue Anchang thought of something and asked, "How many ships do these Han troops have, and how numerous are they?"

Several leaders who had already observed the Han army camp well said, "There are quite a few ships, no less than a hundred, but they are all small boats that are not up to standard. Only seven or eight larger ships are anchored on the sea."

It seems these Han soldiers used these boats to sneak into this place.

In order not to put pressure on the Jurchens, Jia Lian had nearly a hundred huge warships anchored outside the bay's line of sight, leaving only about a hundred small boats and a few large ships that could barely hold a few thousand people.

He wanted to tell the Jurchens.

Your valuables and women are all on these large ships. If you act quickly enough, you might be able to take them back...

Sure enough, after Luo Jue Anchang found out about the Han army's ships, he suddenly laughed.

"Ben Beile already has a plan to defeat the enemy."

The leaders hurriedly asked what the plan was.

Luo Jue Anchang glanced around the tent before slowly saying, "These Han soldiers were too arrogant. Their biggest mistake was not escaping before I arrived."

They don't like to show weakness to their enemies.

"Alright, we'll play along."

Luo Jue Anchang beckoned the leaders of several large tribes to come closer and explained his plan. The leaders immediately looked enlightened and were overjoyed.

"Your Excellency, this is a brilliant plan."

If we can annihilate this Han army and reclaim our wealth and women, we will be eternally grateful for the kindness of the Grand Prince!

Luo Jue Anchang rubbed his beard, a long-lost smile appearing on his face.

(End of this chapter)