Chapter 1272: The Northern and Southern Navies

While Emperor Liu fretted and worried—even agonized—in the Western Capital, as edict after edict filled with affirmation and support was sent to the front lines, the northern expedition formally entered a new phase, a more intense phase.

Although the Liaoxi Corridor was long and narrow, thanks to the pioneering work of Chief General Ma Renyu of the vanguard army, after more than half a month, the main force of the eastern route army, 230,000 strong, had already arrived smoothly beneath the walls of Jinzhou.

With the army at the gates, they maintained their previous style—resting and preparing—but compared to before, their momentum was greater, their edge fully exposed, sharpening their blades against the city gate, intent on removing the first major obstacle to advancing into Liaodong.

Though Jinzhou's walls were tall and sturdy, they could hardly withstand the assault of the Great Han's lions, and Zhao Kuangyin had absolute confidence in breaching them.

But before the formal assault on Jinzhou began, the Liao Sea to the east was already churning with storms, angry winds whipping up towering waves. Old in years but young at heart, ambitious for noble rank and even more eager for advancement in office, Guo Tingwei displayed a swift and decisive style in executing the advance.

After receiving orders at field headquarters, Guo Tingwei returned that very night to the naval camp at Wuqing Harbor. Early the next morning, without the slightest delay, he ordered the anchors weighed and set sail, riding the waves straight for Liaodong.

The Great Han's naval forces were divided into the river navy and the sea navy, with a standing strength exceeding 70,000 men. This naturally could not compare to the scale of the several hundred thousand cavalry and infantry at home and abroad, but maintaining a navy of this size was no small feat.

And with the long-term development of the naval forces, the finest troops and ablest generals had been placed in the sea navy, giving rise to a number of naval clans.

Among them, the Guo family naturally wielded the greatest influence. Since submitting to the Great Han and taking charge of naval development, nearly eighteen years had passed. During these eighteen years, Guo Tingwei's greatest achievement was developing the two main naval forces of Mizhou and Laizhou on the foundation of the former Jingjiang Army, with a standing strength of 30,000 men.

But after all these years, these two most powerful navies of the Great Han had not accomplished much of note. Their most recent major operation was the pacification of the south, but even that was merely going through the motions—when King Qian Hongchu of Wuyue voluntarily submitted, he led the navy south on a military sightseeing trip.

Though they did participate in the attack on Jiangnan, Li Yu was too useless and surrendered without much meaningful resistance, which also meant the achievements of pacifying the south were not so dazzling, and when divided among secondary forces like theirs, they became even less conspicuous.

However, this was not entirely without gain—at the very least, it served as troop training. More importantly, Guo Tingwei knew very well that from its very founding, the navy on the Eastern Sea had one greatest and primary objective: the Liao state to the north, Liaodong itself.

Over all these years, whenever Emperor Liu summoned Guo Tingwei for talks, he never concealed it, repeatedly emphasizing this matter, and throughout the growth and development of the Eastern Sea navy, Guo Tingwei had always upheld this conviction.

During the first northern expedition, they sailed across the sea to strike Liao, and though it ended in failure after near success, that was merely a small test of their blade. Emperor Liu did not blame him, and Guo Tingwei looked forward to the next opportunity.

But as time passed, as he passed fifty years of age, a sense of urgency began to grow in Guo Tingwei's heart—he feared he might not live to see the day he awaited. After all, with seventeen or eighteen years of preparation, how could he accept being set aside in the end because of his age?

On the other hand, within the navy, Guo Tingwei was not without challenges—for instance, Zhang Yanqing, another great general of the naval forces. Also a surrendered official from the Southern Tang, Zhang Yanqing's reputation was not as illustrious as Guo Tingwei's, but in ability he was in no way inferior—a man of both letters and arms, capable of governance and command alike.

The difference between the two lay in this: when the Great Han marched south that year, Guo Tingwei led troops to resist, clashing and maneuvering against Guo Rong, causing no small trouble for the Han army, until Emperor Liu personally extended the offer of surrender, which was how he made his name.

In comparison, Zhang Yanqing held Shouzhou in defense, and only after the Han and Tang reached a peace agreement did he submit. But after surrendering to the Great Han, Zhang Yanqing's official career went fairly smoothly—first gaining the regard of Duke of Yanguo, then serving as Prefect of Chuzhou, and later being transferred to command the Yangtze river navy.

Compared to Guo Tingwei, Zhang Yanqing also had one more concrete achievement: following Zhao Kuangyin up the river into Chuanshu and pacifying the region, he had earned military merit.

Of course, what truly made Guo Tingwei feel threatened was the Southern Sea Navy established in the south after unification, with Zhang Yanqing at its helm.

Though the Southern Sea Navy had been established only recently, it had made no small stir over these years and achieved much—the recovery of Liuqiu being a solid, tangible accomplishment.

And as maritime trade in the south flourished, the Southern Sea Navy's status and role grew increasingly prominent. In recent years, they reported no small number of achievements in suppressing pirates annually—though not major, they continually made their voice heard at court. The Southern Sea Navy's standing strength had also expanded to its current 20,000 men.

In comparison, it was the long-established Eastern Sea Navy that seemed somewhat quiet—in the northern seas, the Great Han navy had long dominated the situation. And compared to the bustling maritime Silk Road in the south, the north's frequent exchanges were mainly with Goryeo and Japan.

Under such circumstances, producing achievements was naturally difficult, for one had to submit to the court's overall strategic framework. Back when relations between the Great Han and Goryeo grew delicate, he had eagerly dispatched a division to teach the Goryeo people a lesson—that aggressive attitude was not without pressure from the Southern Sea Navy's development.

However, though the wait was agonizing, in the end he got his chance. The moment the northern expedition launched, Guo Tingwei knew his long-awaited opportunity had come—the chance to vindicate himself and the Eastern Sea Navy in one stroke.

Therefore, as early as late February, when he received Emperor Liu's urgent order to prepare for the northern expedition, the overjoyed Guo Tingwei began making preparations with utmost urgency yet perfect order, faithfully carrying out the imperial decree.

In fact, as early as mid-March, the Eastern Sea Navy under Guo Tingwei had fully entered a state of war. At the same time, to bolster reserve strength, emergency conscription was conducted among retired naval soldiers, and the major shipyards were urgently building warships, transports, and other sea vessels.

So though the initial naval force committed to the northern expedition was only 30,000 men, the reserve strength was ample—if any accident occurred, at the final critical moment, the court could even transfer the Southern Sea Navy into the fight. It should be noted that as the northern expedition progressed, Zhang Yanqing had already led his forces north, temporarily anchored at the mouth of the Yangtze.

It could be said that Guo Tingwei's side could set aside most of its burdens and conduct the cross-sea operation, fully unleashing the Great Han navy's offensive power.

Moving in tandem with field headquarters, Guo Tingwei's actions were exceptionally sharp, without any hesitation—his forces drove straight for the Liao port of Suzhou. The Liao Sea was already familiar territory to the Great Han navy, with mature shipping routes, so while maintaining surveillance on the enemy, their movements showed not the slightest delay.

In comparison, the Liao navy appeared utterly at a loss—facing the aggressive Great Han fleet, even with some preparations to respond, they were pale and powerless.

Orders from Yelu Xiezhen in Liaoyang were to hold Suzhou to the death, using it to bleed the Han army. In Yelu Xiezhen's view, even if the Han army held the advantage on the surface, they could resist using the naval base and city walls—as long as they denied the enemy a foothold, they could handle things with ease.

Moreover, despite being at a numerical disadvantage, Yelu Xiezhen gritted his teeth and sent 10,000 troops south as reinforcements. In his calculations, even if the navy could not resist and the Han army made it ashore, they would still have to fight on land, delaying, stalling, and bleeding them dry...

But Yelu Xiezhen understood nothing of sea control, nor did he know that the Great Han navy already possessed the ability to project large forces across the sea.

With Yelu Xiezhen's "cooperation," Guo Tingwei led his forces north, the journey smooth and uneventful, meeting no resistance whatsoever. Upon reaching Suzhou Harbor and facing the Liao army cowering in their naval base in a posture of desperate defense, he burst into hearty laughter.

In his eyes, the Liao state adopting such tactics was no different from crippling themselves—had the Liao army been willing to come out to sea and fight, even if they could not hold, they might at least have inflicted some losses on the Han army.

Yet they had trapped themselves in a cage. To this, how could Guo Tingwei show any courtesy?