Chapter 543: Night Sea Light Signal

Lianyun Island was very close to the Gaizhou coast, reachable even by raft; in winter, when the sea froze, it was like walking on level ground. As soon as the Dengzhou garrison first landed in southern Liaodong, they had dispatched ships to attack Lianyun Island, clearing out the small number of Later Jin troops there, though they did not occupy it. During the two most recent attacks on Gaizhou, it served as a temporary base for the special operations teams and the navy's harassment flotilla. Using Lianyun Island as a springboard to strike in all directions, they made the entire Gaizhou coast of the Later Jin so jittery that every bush and tree looked like an enemy soldier, effectively supporting the main front at Gaizhou.

Late at night on the third day of the eighth month, the moonlight was like water. The sea west of the Liaodong Peninsula shimmered with rippling light, and wave after wave of the night tide crashed against the shore with a rushing sound.

In a patch of shrubbery by the shore, the moonlight revealed a face smeared with mud. Li Tao quietly surveyed the northern sea. The former groom from the Battle of Gu'an had become the overall commander of the special operations teams. The place he was now was called Lianyun Island.

Lianyun Island lies at the mouth of the Qingsha River (now the Great Qing River), twenty li west-by-northwest of Gaizhou. In the Ming dynasty, it was a small island very close to the mainland; only in later ages, as silt carried by the river continuously accumulated, did it become a peninsula.

Setting out from Lianyun Island, one could enter the Qing River via the West River mouth and travel twenty li to reach the outskirts of Gaizhou. The Qing River channel was about one li from Gaizhou city, greatly saving on manpower. Large seagoing ships could offload cargo at Lianyun Island or the West River mouth for transfer to flat-bottomed boats, which were then towed upstream to Gaizhou. This further highlighted Gaizhou's advantage of sea access. Before the Jianzhou bandits seized Liaodong, Shandong smuggling ships had plied this route ceaselessly; like Niuzhuang on the Sancha River, it was an important seaport for Liaodong. Before the Daoguang reign of the Manchu Qing, Lianyun Island was the sole maritime trading port in the Northeast, a testament to its superior geographical conditions.

After the Jianzhou bandits seized Liaodong, they slaughtered the inhabitants of the four southern garrisons to the last. For a thousand li of southern Liaodong, not a wisp of smoke rose from a single household; the once-prosperous Gaizhou became a desolate waste. After Nurhaci died, Huang Taiji lacked sufficient control over the various banners. Lianyun Island gradually became a trading point for Liaodong smuggling again. In the original history, in the sixth year of Chongzhen, after Kong Youde and Geng Zhongming surrendered, they were resettled in Gaizhou, which only then emerged from its desolation.

There were also sea-salt pans on the coast west of Gaizhou. Since the Battle of Lushun, the Manchu Qing had abandoned the eastern coast of the Liaodong Peninsula, and they were steadily retreating along the western coast as well. Gaizhou was their last remaining salt pan for obtaining sea salt—the place Zhang Zhongqi, during his years of corvée labor, had called "Yaozhou salt-boiling." If they lost this place too, they would have to resort to smuggling even for salt, which was one reason the Later Jin were determined to defend Gaizhou at all costs.

Lianyun Island was far from the Dengzhou battle lines, had scarce fresh water, and was too close to the mainland to be easily defended in winter. Therefore, the Dengzhou garrison did not station troops there permanently, only occupying it temporarily during each campaign. In peacetime, smuggling ships from Denglai and Liaoxi frequently came here. The Dengzhou garrison held the advantage in goods, making a great deal of money from smuggling themselves. Sometimes they would also raid Liaoxi smuggling ships at sea, both to strike at the Liaodong garrison and to train their own navy. The scale, however, had never been large. Chen Xin did not wish to overly provoke Liaoxi, so the raids were merely opportunistic and had not yet reached a professional standard.

Lianyun Island thus became a gray zone. It was not until this autumn offensive was launched that the island's importance grew once more. The navy swiftly captured or expelled all the smuggling ships that appeared near Lianyun Island. There were no Later Jin troops on the island, only a small number of stranded sailors, whom the Dengzhou sailors could handle. The island quickly became the forward base for the Wendeng naval camp again, with over thirty vessels including sand ships and bird boats.

Two squads of the special operations team then moved in, using sea transport to penetrate deep behind Gaizhou's rear for reconnaissance. The current special operations team was now more oriented toward large-scale battlefield reconnaissance and sabotage; serving as the army's vanguard, as they had at Jinzhou, was now relatively rare. That kind of frontline scouting was handled by each battalion's own mounted scouts.

Also moving in was the detached Fifth Squad of the Intelligence Bureau. At this thought, Li Tao couldn't help but glance back. Beside him was Bakshan, the former Bordered White Banner Bayara Janggin who had surrendered at Lushun, his head still shaved in the queue style. The several team members waiting in the thicket behind him all had bare, shiny heads that reflected the moonlight. Being surrounded by a group of Tatars gave Li Tao a rather absurd feeling; lately, he had been constantly worried he might suddenly lose control and hack at those bald heads with his blade.

These men with queues were the Intelligence Bureau's Field Operations Fifth Squad and the Special Operations Fifth Squad. They were the two most unique units in Dengzhou, each numbering about fifty men. They shared one characteristic: all could speak the barbarian tongue, and their facial features closely resembled those of the Jurchen tribes; their hairstyles and clothing were also identical.

The secrecy surrounding these two units was extremely high. They were based at a separate military camp in the Qixia mountain area, a place rarely visited. Their station was an isolated village where everyone dressed like Jurchens. They were required to speak to one another in the Jurchen and Mongol tongues and to use the embracing salute, just like a miniature Jurchen niru. The village even had officials such as a niru ejen and funde bošokū.

Among the nearly one hundred men of the two units, there were twelve true Jurchens and five bondservants, most captured after the Battle of Lushun. Only after repeated screening and selection were these dozen or so individuals chosen, all of the type who had suffered bitter oppression and harbored deep hatred. These true Jurchens and bondservants were mainly in the Intelligence Bureau's Field Operations Fifth Squad; the Special Operations Team had only two. The Special Operations Fifth Squad's missions leaned more toward battlefield reconnaissance, while the Intelligence Bureau's Fifth Squad focused more on intelligence gathering behind enemy lines.

The village housed not only these two units themselves but also many other captured bondservants. Those who could speak the Jurchen or Mongol tongue were sometimes assigned various roles in the village. Some Intelligence Bureau personnel used the village to study the living habits and social structure of the Jianzhou bandits, and other squads of the special operations team would often go there to train.

These two squads were also different from the Blue Team of the Dengzhou Military Affairs Bureau. The Blue Team primarily imitated Jianzhou bandit tactics, wore Jianzhou armor, and flew Jianzhou banners. After training, Blue Team soldiers wore standard Dengzhou army uniforms, their personal appearance no different from ordinary soldiers. The special attire of these two Fifth Squads, however, had one consequence: the villagers there were cut off from all contact with the outside world and forbidden from contacting their families. The true Jurchens and bondservants fared a little better, but the soldiers recruited from refugees and military farming households often developed psychological problems. They couldn't wait to recover Liaodong so they could stop dressing like this. So, if one were to ask who in Dengzhou most desired the restoration of Liaodong, they could certainly be counted among them.

Wu Jianzhong, Bakshan, and others had all served as instructors in that village. After the Battle of Lushun, Bakshan became the chief instructor at that base, codenamed "Village Chief." Because his leg was broken, he could not carry out high-intensity missions, making this the most suitable position for him in the Intelligence Bureau. Bakshan had risen to the rank of Bordered White Banner Bayara Janggin in the Later Jin; within the Dengzhou garrison, his understanding of the Later Jin was unmatched. For this decisive Liaodong campaign, he had accompanied the forces. Now he had come to Lianyun Island, separated from Liaodong by a strip of water, to serve as an advisor for frontline intelligence analysis. These past two days, they had all been waiting for intelligence and needed to observe the sea at night, also incidentally guarding against a Later Jin night raid.

Bakshan looked at Li Tao beside him. The overall commander of the special operations team had his face smeared pitch-black. Bakshan had seen special operations training many times at the base. It was said that a person's face was most easily exposed at night, so one always had to smear something on it. Bakshan thought this was somewhat overly cautious. The Intelligence Bureau's Fifth Squad placed the greatest emphasis on the details of daily life and conversation, and did not demand much in the way of field combat skills, but the special operations people were always meticulous in this regard.

Bakshan gazed absently at the night sky to the east. Twenty li away was Gaizhou. The last time he had passed through there was on his way to attack Lushun, where he had inexplicably had his leg blown apart. He had been quite valiant on the battlefield, but that didn't mean he wasn't afraid of death. In the end, he had surrendered to the Dengzhou garrison, and his entire family had been killed by Huang Taiji, leaving only a young daughter. Now he was beside Gaizhou again, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of emotion.

"A light," Li Tao said in a low voice.

Bakshan quickly focused his attention and saw a light signal indeed flashing on the distant sea, an effect created by a storm lantern wrapped in black cloth. After three consecutive flashes, the intelligence officer responsible for the rendezvous confirmed it was the messenger. From the eastern side of the thicket where Bakshan was positioned, the intelligence officer began to reply with light signals toward the sea.

The light signal at sea flashed once every so often. As it slowly drew closer, the creaking sound of heavy crossbows being drawn came from all around. Bakshan glanced around; the special operations team members were all ready for combat. Lianyun Island was too close to the coast, and the Later Jin forces at Gaizhou were growing in number. The island could be raided by a small band of Later Jin troops at any time, so at night, there were not only patrol boats at sea but also sailors from the moored ships keeping night watch on the island. The Intelligence Bureau was receiving the message on the north side of the island tonight. Because they distrusted the navy's combat capability, they were unwilling to use those sailors and had specifically requested the special operations team to provide cover.

Bakshan, with his broken leg, found bows and heavy crossbows awkward to use. He was equipped with a short hand cannon, and he had also bought a long flintlock for himself. When registering the long gun with the Intelligence Bureau before this campaign, he had brought it along to Liaodong. Now, in terms of weaponry, he no longer resembled a former true Jurchen but looked more like a Dengzhou military farming householder.

A rustling sound came from behind, and Wu Jianzhong's voice reached them. "Have they landed?"

Li Tao's voice replied calmly, "Almost ashore."

Bakshan was somewhat curious. He didn't know whose messenger it was that had brought Wu Jianzhong, the military intelligence liaison officer for this campaign, personally to Lianyun Island. But the Intelligence Bureau's discipline was strict; one absolutely dared not ask about such matters, and knowing would only invite trouble.

Wu Jianzhong's name was not prominent within the Dengzhou garrison's military system, but in the intelligence community, it was thunderous. Bakshan had met Wu Jianzhong back in Liaodong, when Wu Jianzhong was still Liu Xingzuo's trusted aide. He never expected to see him again in Denglai. In between, the twists and turns of fate had transformed both their identities several times, until finally, they became comrades crouching together in a thicket.

Wu Jianzhong also took out a bow and arrows. The hidden troops at every position quietly waited for that speck of light. At last, the light reached the shore. By the moonlight, they could make it out: the light was on a small fishing boat, one that couldn't hold many people and was incapable of launching a surprise attack on Lianyun Island.

The intelligence officer handling the rendezvous walked onto the beach. A dark figure disembarked from the fishing boat. The two exchanged a few low words on the shore, and the intelligence officer turned back and gave a whistle, signaling that the contact was correct.

Wu Jianzhong rose from the thicket and strode to the fishing boat with two of his men. By the moonlight, Wu Jianzhong scrutinized the visitor, whose head was still shaved in the queue style. He appeared to be in his forties.

The man also studied Wu Jianzhong across from him for a moment. Wu Jianzhong wore a Dengzhou-style military cap with a brim. The moonlight was blocked by the brim, casting a shadow over Wu Jianzhong's face and concealing his features in darkness. Combined with his ramrod-straight posture, the whole man seemed as if carved from rock.

Overawed by Wu Jianzhong's presence, the man turned to the contact intelligence officer, whom he was relatively familiar with. "This... this..."

"This is Master Wu from our Intelligence Bureau, in charge of Liaodong affairs for this operation. Whatever your master wishes to say, you may tell Master Wu."

The man hastily pulled a booklet from his bosom. "Master Wu, this is the roster of Jianzhou bandit officers from funde bošokū and above." As he spoke, he took off his shoe, pried open the sole, and produced a letter. "The other matters my master wishes to convey are all in this letter. My master told his slave that it is written in a cipher, which this slave cannot understand anyway."

Wu Jianzhong immediately took it and handed it to the intelligence officer beside him. The intelligence officer swiftly departed to arrange for the cipher to be decoded.

"When you return this time, tell your master this: Master Chen's hundred-thousand-strong army is assembled in Liaodong. The Jianzhou bandits' defeat and destruction are imminent. Your master is a clever man and won't think of dying alongside Huang Taiji. If he works diligently now, Master Chen will remember it. The requests your master made last time, Master Chen has agreed to all of them. He may choose either an official post or engaging in trade; Dengzhou garrison guarantees his safety and will not pursue what he did in Liaodong in past years."

The messenger stammered, "My master still has some worries. His official rank among the Jianzhou bandits is not low. What if the Ming court..."

Wu Jianzhong gave a cold laugh. "If your master has worries, why did he still send you with a letter? Since he sent the letter, that means he has chosen our Dengzhou to win. Tell him not to waver. To gain wealth and rank without taking any risk—where is such a good thing? But there's no need for those groundless fears. Have you heard of Bakshan, the Bordered White Banner Bayara Janggin? He is a true Jurchen, yet he sincerely surrendered to our master at the Battle of Lushun, and our master guaranteed his safety. He is on this very island right now. What the hell is the court?"

"Then... could this slave meet Master Bakshan..."

Wu Jianzhong waved a hand. "Take the messenger to see Bakshan."

Another attendant immediately led the messenger toward the thicket. A moment later, Bakshan emerged from within. The messenger appeared timid but was quite meticulous in his work, even striking up a conversation with Bakshan. He asked about everything from the amount of his monthly pay to whether he owned any shops, and even inquired about the relationship between the Dengzhou garrison and the court.

Wu Jianzhong did not urge them. Now only one attendant remained at his side. Watching the messenger's retreating figure, Wu Jianzhong let out a long breath, then said in a low voice to the attendant beside him, "Gao Hongzhong has already boarded our Dengzhou garrison's ship. He has no room to waver now; the chance of him betraying us is very small. This time, you two will return with this man, disguised as Gao Hongzhong's goshiha. With this identity as cover, you will be able to move more easily between Gaizhou and Haizhou. Remember, your most critical task is to awaken Hibernating Snake One and Hibernating Snake Two. Deliver the letters to them; they may prove useful at a critical moment. However, you must not reveal Gao Hongzhong's identity to the Hibernating Snakes. After awakening them, you will sever contact with the Hibernating Snakes and continue to remain hidden at Gao Hongzhong's side, acting according to the battlefield situation when the time comes." (To be continued...)