Chapter 1522: At the End of Its Strength, Stop While Ahead

Sinaloa Province, Guasave Castle.

The dragon-patterned royal banner of the Jiaqing Kingdom flew high over the estate houses more than ten li north of the castle.

The Jiaqing army's soldiers, in column after column, had all halted their advance. Some were resting briefly, others were digging trenches and raising ramparts outside the estate. More than a month of continuous marching and fighting had left this army looking rather ragged. Their uniforms were torn, and the men had been sunburned thin and dark. If not for every face being East Asian, they would have looked somewhat like an Indian army.

The supply of steamed cornbread could at least be guaranteed. The climate of Sinaloa Province was far more humid than Sonora Province, better suited to growing maize, and it had more Indian villages. These farming Indians bore no ill will toward the Jiaqing King's warrior legions. The Jiaqing King, Shimazu Noji, Hoshina Masateru, Shimazu Nobuhisa, and the other army leaders had issued strict discipline even before the expedition set out: harming Indian farmers was strictly forbidden, and entering Indian villages without orders was not permitted — they were all precious farmers! If they were all killed off, how would everyone become lords later? Had they not had enough of the "one-ryo full-equipment system"?

People are valued for their scarcity! How many people did the entire Kingdom of New Spain have? Sonora Province and Sinaloa Province were both remote backwaters within the Kingdom of New Spain, so of course there were not many "leeks" to harvest — they had to be cut sparingly.

Because the newly arrived Japanese lords seemed better than the Spanish lords who had come before, the Indian villages generally welcomed the Jiaqing King's army and were willing to provide them with cornmeal for making steamed cornbread. So the steamed cornbread was still plentiful!

The field kitchen for making steamed cornbread had already been set up within the walls of the estate mansion, with large cauldrons of water boiling and steaming racks set over them, steaming away with billowing heat.

Besides steaming cornbread, today they were even serving meat soup! The enticing aroma of meat was already drifting through the estate compound and beyond.

The warriors, who had not tasted meat or fish for many days, could not help glancing toward the field kitchen, their Adam's apples bobbing, looking ready to weep with craving.

The meat soup was made from salted beef and salted mutton produced by the United States, which meant that the United States' supply ships had arrived at Guaymas Harbor several days earlier. However, because transport from Guaymas Harbor to this place was not very smooth, and Hoshina Naomi, who had been left behind there, had little manpower available, not much had been sent up. It was just two or three hundred warhorses and the beef and mutton they had carried.

Compared with the poverty-stricken Jiaqing Kingdom, the financial and material resources of the United States of New Continent were simply too abundant!

The supply ships now arriving at Guaymas Harbor were not sent by the United States government, but were raised for the Jiaqing King by "venture investors."

These profiteers had little confidence in the Jiaqing King at first, so the investments they had promised were fulfilled very slowly. But when news of the Jiaqing King's army sweeping through Sonora Province reached Golden Gate City, everyone became enthusiastic.

The day after the news arrived, a fleet carrying warhorses, meat, gunpowder, field guns, and large-caliber mortars departed Golden Gate Harbor under the escort of two United States battleships. The fleet sailed for eleven days and arrived at Guaymas Harbor almost at the same time as the Jiaqing King.

But moving these supplies from Guaymas Harbor to Guasave was not so easy. The Jiaqing King's investors could provide money and supplies, but they could hardly recruit enough porters. And the Jiaqing Kingdom's own manpower was also very insufficient, so the task was left to Hoshina Naomi, who had remained at Guaymas Harbor, and a few Jiaqing Kingdom officials to rack their brains over.

However, Zhu Cihuan's halt was not because the supplies from Guaymas Harbor had failed to arrive. Rather, he had run into trouble beneath Guasave Castle!

The governor Don Juan José had sent to Sinaloa Province was clearly not as muddled as the governor of Sonora Province. He had not rashly sallied out, but instead, following Don Juan José's instructions, had fortified the countryside, held Guasave Castle, and awaited reinforcements. At the same time, he sent out light cavalry to harass the Jiaqing army and block the scouts and patrols the Jiaqing army sent out.

Because of the forced march of more than a month, the expeditionary Jiaqing army had not only suffered heavy attrition, but the warhorses attached to the Takeda cavalry unit had suffered severe losses, and they could no longer send out cavalry units for reconnaissance and searching.

Therefore the Jiaqing King's great army now could not ascertain the enemy situation, and was blocked by Guasave Castle. So it was held up in the area north of Guasave Castle, resting and recovering strength while waiting for baggage and artillery to be brought up — to attack Guasave Castle, a sufficient number of cannons was indispensable, and they would also need to use studded explosive shells!

In the main house of this estate, the Jiaqing King sat around a table with Shimazu Noji, Shimazu Nobuhisa, Hoshina Masateru, and the other assembled retainers. This house had also been burned, its roof gaping open with jagged edges, so that at night one could look up at the stars while sleeping. Yet now it served as the Jiaqing King's temporary palace!

From the Jiaqing King Zhu Cihuan at the top down to the base-level unit commanders (equivalent to battalion) and ashigaru squad leaders, all were gathered together in this broken-down house. Today the king was treating everyone to a meal, all Japanese dishes: Kyushu meat-filled buns, Satsuma water-basin salted mutton, Aizu saozi noodles, and boiled cactus serving as vegetables. The retainers of every rank ate with a great slurping, not even lifting their heads.

Zhu Cihuan also looked much more haggard, his beard deep and his eye sockets sunken. He finished eating first and watched impassively as his senior warriors and his wife of more than ten years, Shimazu Noji, finished their meals. Only then did he nod lightly: "I have put you all through hardship. Once we take Guasave Castle and Culiacán Castle, it will be better. Then we will distribute estates to everyone, and we can begin to live well."

His wife Shimazu Noji had also suffered much along the way, and had now been worn into a dark-faced woman, looking rather thin and gaunt, yet she was still dreaming of a snake swallowing an elephant. Hearing her husband speak, she set down her bowl and said: "My King, the situation is excellent right now, and this is precisely the time for us to strive forward. Why not sweep away the Western barbarians in one stroke, rescue the Indian people from misery, and spread Heaven's might to the four corners?"

"Silence!" Zhu Cihuan barked, his face immediately turning stern. The warriors present all set down their bowls and looked up at the King of Jiaqing and his queen.

The Jiaqing King's expression looked somewhat frightening. Shimazu Noji had never seen Zhu Cihuan so fierce, and for a moment she was stunned.

Zhu Cihuan rebuked her: "We are gambling with our lives here. Although we have been winning, our strength is still diminishing. When we left Gyeongju we had an army of 14,000. Now that we have reached Guasave, how many are still fit to fight? Barely 10,000. And Don Juan José's great army must already be on its way. From the Mexico Basin to Guasave is no more than 2,000 li, through relatively prosperous regions with good roads and ample supplies, so they will not be as exhausted as we are, and their numbers are very likely several times ours!"

"But we can defeat them!" Shimazu Noji was still somewhat unconvinced.

Zhu Cihuan said in a deep voice: "And after defeating them? How many men would we have left? Five thousand? Six thousand? Noji, our strength is very weak. Right now we are just baring our fangs and claws to frighten people. So we must have a plan to stop while we are ahead! Back then, I did not know to stop while I was ahead, and that is why—"

Shimazu Noji looked at the Jiaqing King and thought: Are you in such a bad position now? You are the ruler of a whole kingdom!

Zhu Cihuan did not see it that way. If he had not been so greedy back then and had gotten out early, why would he have had to work so hard? The lesson was deeply engraved! Now he once again had the feeling of being a stock market king on the Shanghai Bund, only the stakes were greater and the winnings more!

He paused, then continued: "Since this battle is a gamble with the nation's fate, we should have the resolve to stop while we are ahead. Because if you gamble long enough, you are bound to lose. And our capital is too small — lose once, and we can never recover!"

"Moreover, do not forget that our opponent is not only New Spain! If we win too much, the country to the north will begin to be wary of us. We must stop while we are ahead, then humbly serve the north while secretly building up our strength. In the future, perhaps there will truly come a day when we march straight into Mexico City!"

(End of Chapter)