Chapter 1525: Even a Tycoon King Gets Trapped Sometimes!

"Great King, Your Highness, the Kingdom of Jiaqing and our United Provinces are as close as lips and teeth — when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold!"

"Great King, Your Highness, the Kingdom of Jiaqing is in mortal peril! Our United Provinces and Jiaqing are iron-blooded allies — how can we stand by and watch them die!"

"Great King, Your Highness, if Jiaqing falls, the United Provinces are in danger. Every woman and child in the United Provinces knows this truth! You must give the order to send troops at once!"

"Great King, Your Highness, the King of Jiaqing rendered great service in making our United Provinces what they are today. The United Provinces must not forget his contributions."

A crowd of United Provinces councilors who had followed the King on his "personal expedition" — Zhu Hehao had arrived at Golden Gate Bay under the pretext of defending California and conquering New Spain — had come to Golden Gate Bay for deliberations, and early this morning they all flocked to Zhu Hehao's temporary palace in Golden Gate City to plead for troops on behalf of the King of Jiaqing.

Every one of them spoke with righteous indignation, mouths full of high-sounding nonsense about "lips and teeth depending on each other, when the lips are gone the teeth grow cold." It made Zhu Hehao furious — right now Don Juan José's fleet commander was sitting on some little island in the Gulf of the Americas waiting to be ransomed, so what was New Spain going to use to destroy Jiaqing? Sprout wings and fly to Fort Angel?

Besides, the United Provinces had stationed heavy troops in Golden Gate City — a full infantry division! If the enemy really did attack, the United Provinces would send troops to the rescue, and if one division wasn't enough, they could send more! The United Provinces had a million armed citizens, with nearly half a million able-bodied men on the rolls! With such a powerful ally, how could the Kingdom of Jiaqing possibly be destroyed?

You councilors must have invested in the King of Jiaqing's southern campaign, and now you're afraid of losing your capital, so you've come begging for troops, haven't you?

Though his mind was clear as a mirror, Zhu Hehao didn't dare refuse these councilors to their faces — that was simply the political reality of the United Provinces! Those who became councilors were generally members of the "Founding Families." The United Provinces had been built up bit by bit by the families behind these men, who had contributed money, effort, and manpower, braving every hardship.

To put it bluntly, Zhu Hehao had simply picked up what was ready-made — he didn't even measure up to the King of Jiaqing, Zhu Cihuan. That battle at "Flood River Valley" was regarded throughout the United Provinces as the founding battle of the nation!

And who was the number-one hero of the Battle of Flood River Valley? None other than the King of Jiaqing, Zhu Cihuan — at the critical moment when the two armies clashed, he had lived off the favor of Shimazu Nogi, causing the Shimazu army to defect on the battlefield and lock in the victory in one stroke. That was also what formally put the United Provinces of New Continent on the world stage.

If Zhu Hehao showed anything less than full enthusiasm on the question of rescuing the King of Jiaqing, those councilors who had lost their capital and the profiteering merchants of the United Provinces would surely blacken his name to a shine. So he could only grit his teeth and go save the King of Jiaqing — and he couldn't afford to move slowly either, or he'd still end up getting blamed.

Now he could only hope that Don Juan José would move quickly! If he could kill Zhu Cihuan within fifteen to twenty days, then the tycoon king would surely avenge his uncle!

Having thought through the crux of the matter, Zhu Hehao's face had already taken on a look of iron resolve.

He gave a heavy nod: "You are absolutely right! Our United Provinces of New Continent and the Kingdom of Jiaqing have always been nations as close as lips and teeth. If the King of Jiaqing falls, the United Provinces will surely be in peril!

The King of Jiaqing deserves the highest credit for the prosperity the United Provinces enjoys today. As King of the United Provinces, We truly owe him an enormous debt of gratitude!

Therefore We have resolved to personally lead a great force by land and sea straight to the front, to support the army of the King of Jiaqing and fight to the death against the invading enemy!"

So this was to be a personal expedition. No one could say what the result would be, but at least the attitude was excellent. In the end, even if the King of Jiaqing couldn't be saved, it would still count as an answer to those below.

Besides, what if the King of Jiaqing could still be saved? This was a "War of Three Kings," after all — whether the Kingdom of Jiaqing could establish itself to the south all depended on this "War of Three Kings."

So no matter what, Zhu Hehao had to seize leadership of this War of Three Kings. He had to let the councilors and armed citizens of the nation see his valor and skill in battle. And he could also repay the debt of gratitude the United Provinces owed Zhu Cihuan.

Once the debt was repaid, if there came another chance to deal with the King of Jiaqing and his wife, he could do so with a clear conscience!

Of course, if the King of Jiaqing and his wife would keep far away from the United Provinces from now on, Zhu Hehao wouldn't make trouble for them either.

After sending off these councilor lords whose investments had been trapped, Zhu Hehao immediately summoned his trusted confidants Chen Yonghua, Feng Xifan, Gan Hui, and Feng Xin, and also invited Admiral Zheng Jing of the Eastern Ocean Fleet to come discuss strategy.

A war outside the plan — they certainly needed to think it through carefully!

……

"Great King, how many troops are we sending this time?"

The question came from Zhu Hehao's cousin, Admiral Zheng Jing of the Eastern Ocean Fleet.

"We estimate fourteen or fifteen thousand troops... Golden Gate only has that many available."

Zhu Hehao thought for a moment, then asked: "Can our fleet transport that many?"

"Transport is no problem," Zheng Jing said. "The question is where to send them."

"Colima or Acapulco, of course!" said Gan Hui, admiral of the United Provinces' naval fleet. "Cut off Don Juan José's line of retreat and leave him with no way home!"

Zhu Hehao looked at Chen Yonghua.

Chen Yonghua shook his head and said: "Better to relieve Guaymas. If the King of Jiaqing fares badly against the enemy, he will surely retreat to Guaymas to await aid. If Your Majesty truly wants to save him..."

"Of course it's a real rescue!" Zhu Hehao said. "Since we have no choice but to save him, then we must really save him! Who could a fake rescue fool?"

There was also the matter of additional investment involved here!

Once Zhu Hehao sent troops, who knew how many people would follow suit! If Zhu Hehao played at a fake rescue, wouldn't he offend them all terribly? Would he ever have another good day after that?

"Great King," reminded Feng Xifan, commander of Zhu Hehao's personal guard, "when you first arrived, the King of Jiaqing did not have good intentions!"

"It was Shimazu Nogi who didn't have good intentions!" Zhu Hehao said. "My Fifth Uncle doesn't have that much ambition... so if he should be saved, he must be saved!

Commander Feng, can your troops move out immediately?"

This question was directed at Feng Xin, commander of the United Provinces' First Division stationed at Golden Gate Bay.

"Yes! The First Division can move out at any time!" Feng Xin was also a trusted man Zhu Hehao had brought from the Great Ming, and he had been leading and drilling troops ever since arriving in the New Continent.

The First Division now stationed at Golden Gate was an elite force he had personally trained.

"The navy?"

Zheng Jing said: "As long as the wind is favorable, we can move out at any time!"

"Good!" The King of the United Provinces nodded heavily. "Then we shall send troops and go save the King of Jiaqing!"

……

Sinaloa Province, Fort Navojoa, the great camp of the King of Jiaqing.

Zhu Cihuan, who had sent envoys to Golden Gate Bay to seek aid, had now withdrawn with 11,000 troops to Fort Navojoa, located on the coastal plain of southern Sinaloa Province.

In addition, there were still nearly 1,000 Qingzhou samurai in Guaymas harbor, and in several estates in the Sonoran Desert there were still some garrison troops.

The days of waiting for rescue were not easy!

Zhu Cihuan's plan had been excellent — trap the tycoon king and a bunch of United Provinces councilors and big capitalists, force them to invest more, and then burn money until Don Juan José was burned to death.

But the problem was, in this day and age there were no telephones or telegraphs, so no one knew what the United Provinces had actually decided.

So after the King of Jiaqing sent out his military envoys to seek aid, the only thing he could do was hold Fort Navojoa and wait.

And Don Juan José had marched his great army to the walls of Fort Navojoa and, in passing, surrounded the King of Jiaqing.

Of course, the encirclement wasn't tight — it was a three-sided siege with one side left open.

While besieging, they had also begun digging parallel trenches outside the fort — a fort like this couldn't stop a great military mind like Don Juan José!

Now Don Juan José was on the verge of assaulting the fort, and no one knew when Zhu Hehao's relief troops would arrive. The days of the King of Jiaqing trapped inside Fort Navojoa could hardly be pleasant to contemplate!

"Great King, let me take some men and break out, and go in person to Golden Gate Bay to seek aid!"

Shimazu Nogi had at some point come up beside Zhu Cihuan, who was observing the enemy from the ramparts, and quietly made this suggestion.

Zhu Cihuan glanced back at his wife and shook his head: "What is meant to come will come... If he won't come, your going would be useless. Better to stay with me — we can still have a good..."

Just as he finished speaking, a burst of fireworks suddenly exploded in the northern sky, and then another...

"Great King, those are signal rockets — our relief troops are coming!"

(End of Chapter)