Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 452 The Final Solution to Japan

Li Shiji took a deep breath, stepping onto the island nation's soil, his heart filled with countless emotions.

He is the commander-in-chief of this battle.

His Majesty the Emperor appointed this surrendered Tang general as the Grand Commander of the Jincheng Road Army, entrusting him with the heavy responsibility of relieving the people and punishing the guilty, as well as the precious resources squeezed from the national treasury.

It wasn't because he was more capable or loyal than Li Jing, nor was it because he was more handsome than Li Jing.

It was simply because he was younger than Li Jing and wasn't afraid of dying in a foreign land.

He's in his early forties this year, exactly the kind of "young cadre" that the Ming Dynasty would be best suited for, to go to the island and gain some experience.

"call……"

He exhaled a slight breath, straightened himself, and asked his deputy without anger or delight:

"His Majesty instructed us that resupplying across the sea is not easy and requires a swift and decisive strike."

"In other words, we need to catch the enemy off guard."

Xue Rengui, the deputy commander of the Jincheng Road army, understood his meaning perfectly and said:
"Our troops conducted repeated searches to ensure that no Japanese soldiers could transmit information about our landing."

There are generally two ways to conduct military operations without being detected by the locals.

One method is to sneak into the village and not fire a shot.

The Ming Dynasty soldiers chose the second option.

As long as no living person discovers the heavenly soldiers descending from the sky, it's practically equivalent to "no one" discovering them.

After all, a corpse is not a person.

"very good."

Li Shiji nodded approvingly and said:
"Our army will continue to advance eastward along the coastline, proceeding steadily and surely, and first establish a solid rear base near the seaport."

"If the enemy discovers our presence, we must immediately change tactics and launch a full-scale attack on the enemy capital, prioritizing the decapitation of the Japanese chieftain!"

A transoceanic operation, sending a special forces team to carry out special operations and bring about a rapid regime change in the Japanese like the "Prague Spring," is the optimal solution in terms of saving costs and time.

Like a tiger hunting, it first approaches Naniwa Castle silently, then leaps up suddenly and delivers a fatal blow to its prey's neck.

"Among these, the mobile cavalry led by Qibi Heli is of paramount importance. Your infantry must coordinate well with them and not hinder the cavalry."

Li Shiji repeatedly gave instructions.

Contrary to the common perception of a hot-tempered general, Lao Li was actually a very meticulous bureaucratic talent.

Xue Rengui nodded emphatically:

"Understood. To ensure absolute safety, send someone to patrol the mountain again!"

He then accepted the order and withdrew.

"Xue Rengui... is a good young man."

Li Shiji nodded approvingly, finally able to relax his tense nerves a little.

In this campaign, Qibi Heli and Xue Rengui were appointed as the left and right deputy commanders, serving as Li Shiji's right-hand men.

For no other reason than that these two men had the most refined and easygoing temperaments and were able to obey Li Shiji's orders.

If it were replaced by veterans like Li Daozong, Hou Junji, or Xue Wanche.

Li Shiji, a surrendered general who came to power halfway through his career, was absolutely unmanageable.

As for the expedition against Japan, since the strength was absolutely overwhelming, strategy was secondary.

Discipline is the most important thing.

Therefore, Li Ming personally intervened in personnel matters and made this arrangement.

Besides selecting generals, considerable effort was also put into determining the size of the army.

The troop strength cannot be too large, otherwise the difficulty of supply and command will increase dramatically.

However, the number of troops cannot be too small. After all, Japan is not a small country like Baekje or Silla. If the number of troops is insufficient, it will be impossible to conquer it in one fell swoop.

When a lion fights a rabbit, he also tries his best.

To ensure the success of the campaign against the Japanese pirates, the Ming court and officials put in considerable effort.

The whole nation's attention is focused here, and the nation's fiscal surplus is also focused here.

There is no room for error.

"I cannot afford to fail either," Li Shiji thought to himself, hesitating.

As a defeated general and a substitute for Li Weigong, Li Shiji felt a great responsibility on his shoulders.

If he doesn't win this battle, he'll never be able to turn his life around.

The Chinese people who have suffered at the hands of the Japanese will not let him go.

Therefore, he strives for stability, accuracy, and ruthlessness in every step he takes.

Large-scale amphibious operations are very difficult to carry out without being detected.

Li Shiji actually did it.

The method was to turn all the nearby villagers into ghosts.

The initial move involves cavalry flanking and encircling the enemy, supplemented by a frontal advance by infantry.

Even regular armies can't withstand this kind of attack; killing civilians is like a dimensional reduction attack.

The Japanese villagers, regardless of age or gender, were all slaughtered, leaving no one alive.

This was the highest level of security measure to ensure that news of the Ming army's landing would not leak out.

As for what it felt like to use the army to massacre the Japanese who could not resist.

The people of the Central Plains, who live amidst the Yellow River, gave it a thumbs up.

"Next, we will continue eastward along the coastline and attack 'Iwami Province'..."

Li Shiji gathered his thoughts, took out a map from his pocket, and began to study it carefully.

While the Ming Dynasty's intelligence work on Japan couldn't be described as knowing everything about it, it could certainly be said that it had complete control over the situation.

Because of the "prosperous" folk exchanges between the peninsula and the archipelago, Koreans have thoroughly infiltrated Japan.

Valuable political, geographical, and even military intelligence was continuously transmitted to them.

Unlike Japan, which listened to the ramblings of a politically savvy monk all day long, resulting in a completely one-way, transparent relationship with the Ming Dynasty.

"Although Japan is mountainous, the terrain from Nagato to Yamato is relatively flat, and cavalry can travel 500 li a day... No, to be conservative, we should calculate it as 350 li a day."

"In that case, it would be best for the troops to keep a low profile and remain undetected until they reach the country of Inaba."

"Once we pass Inaba, we can launch a sprint towards Naniwa and catch the Japanese chieftain off guard."

"However, the amount of rations that can be carried during a forced march is limited, and this logistics..."

Facing the map he had studied for countless days and nights, Li Shiji performed complex calculations and mentally rehearsed the battle plan once again.

Suddenly, someone patted my shoulder.

"Who?!"

Old Li's body trembled, and he subconsciously pressed his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist.

Upon closer inspection, he saw a man wearing an owl-feathered crown and with eyes as big as copper bells looking at him with some surprise, clearly startled by his startled reaction.

"Oh, it's Minister Xue Wanche."

Li Shiji smoothly lifted his hand holding the sword hilt and naturally cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"What are your instructions?"

Yes, although the imperial court did not send Xue Wanche to war as Li Shiji's subordinate.

However, Xue Wanche still went to the front line.

His mission, however, was not to fight.

They came to collect the ashes—

In his capacity as Minister of Works, he personally oversaw Japan's "reconstruction project."

Therefore, he and Li Shiji were not in a superior-subordinate relationship, and Li Shiji had no authority over him.

In some respects, Xue Wanche was actually his superior.

One of Li Shiji's major tasks in this battle was to cooperate with Xue Wanche and his "construction team".

While Xue Wanche, the "Grey Demon," felt somewhat regretful that he couldn't directly don armor and personally slay his enemies, he remained enthusiastic about the tasks assigned to him by Emperor Li Ming.

"Nagato is a really nice place. It's so close to the coast and the water is so deep that we can easily dock our giant ships."

"The Korean intelligence was right; it is a rare deep-water harbor. Alas, what a pity!"

At this point, Xue Wanche slapped his thigh in anger.

"Such a beautiful and auspicious place, and the Japanese only managed to build a dilapidated fishing port. What a waste of such a precious resource!"

"It's a waste of resources." Li Shiji couldn't help but correct the illiterate man's mispronunciation.

Feeling his intelligence had been insulted, Xue Manzi spread his hands and made a loud, thumping sound:
"You're smart! You'll be in charge of expanding Changmen Port, and you can handle the logistics yourself!"

Li Shiji immediately knelt down, groveling and coaxing the other party:

"I'm sorry, I made a mistake. Your pronunciation is correct."

Old Xue's face immediately brightened, and he even politely cupped his hands to Li Shiji, saying:
"I'm here to inform Chief Steward Li that the temporary seaport will be completed soon, and you can just wait for military supplies and equipment to be transported ashore continuously."

"Oh, thank you," Li Shiji politely expressed his gratitude.

But Xue Wanche was clearly in a good mood from the flattery and continued to boast wildly:

"Steward Li, you can rest assured and move forward boldly!"

"Wherever your troops go, my brothers will pave the way, ensuring your logistics are as good as being near a seaport, with fresh sunflowers shipped from the mainland every day!"

"Oh really? That's quite remarkable, given your leadership as Minister of Labor. Without Minister Xue's strategic planning, our army would probably be forced to procure food locally, just like the Japanese on the peninsula," Li Shiji said politely.

Xue Wanche, flattered and elated, felt as if he had found a kindred spirit and began to complain incessantly to his "kindred spirit":
"Ha! If this were on the mainland, why would we need to build roads while fighting a war?"

"It's not that the Japanese islands are bad; their infrastructure is terrible, and there's no usable port at all."

"They can only land at Nagato, which is several hundred miles away from their capital. They can only start from Nagato, which is several hundred miles away from the capital, and lead their troops to push forward."

If we could log in to Namba directly, why go through all this trouble?
The Black Ships arrive, and the game is over.

It's just that you can't play it like that.

Amphibious operations are very difficult. Even if the Japanese are incompetent, if they force a beach landing in a human country, they will definitely suffer heavy losses.

As for other ports, due to the Japanese people's terrible infrastructure, they were simply unable to dock large ships.

Therefore, Nagato is the only option.

This unnecessarily increases the distance for resupplying overland.

This greatly annoyed Xue Wanche, who would often criticize the Japanese for their construction capabilities.

Li Shiji was so tired of hearing it that he humbly and politely interrupted the other person's chanting:

"Therefore, our army's victory in this battle was entirely due to Minister Xue."

"Hahaha! You have good taste! Everyone else is not close to you, Li Shiji, I thought you had a strange temper. Isn't this quite clever!" Xue Wanche felt very comfortable being flattered and started to talk nonsense as usual.

"In short, with me and my brothers in charge of logistics, you and your army can rest assured and wait!"

Xue Wanche grinned and went back to the port to call his brothers, shouting and cursing all the way:

"Hey! How can you guys be so lazy while carrying bricks? Haven't you eaten? Give me some serious work!"

"I'll have to wait for you..." Li Shiji muttered to himself, gazing at the bustling scene of labor in the direction of the port.

He was the commander-in-chief of the military operation in the campaign against the Japanese invaders.

However, he was not the commander-in-chief of the entire "operation".

Xue Wanche and his laborers are the main characters.

This is what His Majesty Li Ming calls the "reconstruction project".

Or, to put it another way, "harmless treatment project"—

This will ensure that the Japanese islands will never again pose a threat to China.

The temporary neutralization was achieved thanks to the military.

Permanent harmlessness requires a construction team.

The specific strategy is as follows:
They first launched a blitzkrieg with their army, beheading the Japanese capital, Nanba, and its chieftain.

According to intelligence, Japan is currently undergoing the so-called "Taika Reform," which is a phase in which the central government is consolidating power from local tribes, but not completely.

Before that, if the heads were cut off, the various tribes of Japan would be like the Hydra; even if the biggest head was cut off, it wouldn't have much of an impact, and the local areas would still resist.

After beheading them, the enemy gains organized national strength, making further battles much more difficult.

Now, when there is a shortage of food and resources, it is the best time to launch a campaign against the Japanese pirates.

If we take down that small court in Naniwa Palace, the country will be leaderless, and the regions will surely descend into chaos.

This is the first step.

If we stop here, it will only lead to new problems arising again.

After Emperor Kōtoku falls, another emperor will rise. As long as the natural environment of the Japanese islands remains unchanged, in a few years, like a cockroach nest, a new wave of Japanese pirates will emerge and wreak havoc on the Central Plains.

To solve the Japanese problem once and for all, we need Xue Wanche and his construction team.

Give the Japanese a 7th-century version of "de-agriculturalization," dismantling this insect nest back to primitive society.

After reconstruction, this land can be completely rendered harmless.

Although the Japanese islands have some population and resources, they are completely beyond the control of Chinese civilization, separated by a vast ocean.

Because it's on the edge of the ocean, this godforsaken place doesn't even have the value of being a transshipment port.

It's all bad, no good. We might as well just make this ghost island barren.

The military addresses the symptoms, while engineering projects address the root cause. A combined approach, addressing both symptoms and root cause, can create a comprehensive solution.

In a sense, Xue Wanche was Li Shiji's superior.

Li Shiji was merely the bodyguard of this "demolition office".

Xue Wanche, a troublemaker, was appointed as Li Shiji's "brother unit," while Qibi Heli, the other half of Xue Wanche's brains, and Xue Rengui, an original shareholder of the Ming Dynasty, were appointed as Li Shiji's deputies.

They appointed Li Shiji as head coach, but it seems he hasn't fully assumed that role.

"His Majesty the Emperor has done a good job in gathering intelligence and seizing the right opportunity. Even this personnel arrangement is very sophisticated."

Li Shiji deeply felt the shrewd political skills of the new leader.

There is only awe in my heart.

"Grand Steward."

Qibi Heli and Xue Rengui returned from their patrol of the mountains and reported back to Li Shiji:

"After numerous reconnaissance missions by scouts, it was confirmed that no Japanese villagers could disseminate information about our army's movements."

This single line of text signifies that the Japanese people in this area were essentially wiped out.

"Very good."

Li Shiji chose to trust these two most diligent and capable subordinates.

"The entire army shall set up camp, light fires, and prepare meals. Rest during the day, march at night, and head east!"

…………

And so, in the heart of Japan.

An army of tens of thousands of people settled down without any local witnesses.

Like the scythe of death, wherever the army pointed, villages were suddenly razed to the ground and populations were suddenly wiped out.

Their movements were highly targeted, flexibly weaving between the sparsely populated fortresses of the Japanese, operating only in the suburbs to ensure they remained undetected.

They didn't seem like invaders from afar at all; they were as familiar with the local terrain as locals.

And behind this army of tens of thousands.

Nearly ten times the number of civilian laborers followed closely behind, acting like a major blood vessel, continuously "pumping" the logistical resources unloaded at Changmen Port into the army, providing them with abundant energy.

at the same time.

The capital of Japan.

Emperor Kōtoku, the ruler of Japan, was completely unaware of the approaching shadow.

(End of this chapter)