Chapter 616: War Horn

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Chang Wei spat on the ground.

At this moment, the Eastern Japanese commander struggled on the ground twice but could not get up; he could only lie there, breathing heavily.

"Clap, clap, clap..." Zhao Xu clapped his hands.

He then looked at the Eastern Japanese commander: "Either you tell me everything you know yourself, or I will have to take action."

"Watashi no, kore no, itadakimasu..." the Eastern Japanese commander refused to admit defeat and shouted at Zhao Xu.

Without waiting for the pirate translator, Zhao Xu waved his hand, "Hand him over to Xu Ke."

The Eastern Japanese commander said he would not speak even if he died.

Then he would just have to be shown the methods of the Four Courts.

Upon receiving the order, two Wangfu Army guards stepped forward, dragged the Eastern Japanese commander away, and left the Council Hall.

"Your Highness, did you call this general back this time because you intend to attack Qi?"

Zhao Xu nodded; from the arrogant demeanor of this Eastern Japanese commander, one could see the current attitude of Dongying toward Da Song.

Since they dared to set foot on the territory of Da Song.

He would make Dongying understand that if one wants to take a bite out of others, one must have a good set of teeth, otherwise, one will only end up with teeth scattered all over the floor.

Of course, there is also Qi.

As citizens of Da Song, they actually colluded with the Eastern Japanese and condoned the Eastern Japanese soldiers' slaughter of Da Song citizens.

He believed that if his army had not arrived in time, the people of Dachang Village would certainly have suffered.

For this alone, he would make the Han Family understand that those who invite wolves into the house will come to no good end.

"Hehe..." Chang Wei clenched his fists, causing them to make a crisp cracking sound.

Yan Wang had admitted it.

Next, Yanzhou would deploy troops against Qi.

Before Chang Wei arrived,

Zhao Xu had already prepared a map of Da Song.

At this moment, he slowly spread the map out on a table.

Pointing to the three cities north of the Jin River, he said: "I want you to take the three cities of Leling, Pingyuan, and Yangping."

The boundary between Yanzhou and Qizhou is not the Jin River.

Rather, it is these three cities north of the Jin River and the areas they control.

Throughout history, to take Qizhou, one must first take these three cities before one can cross the Jin River to head south.

Likewise, if the forces of Qizhou want to take Yanzhou, these three cities are also very important.

By occupying this place, they can advance to attack and retreat to defend, relying on these three cities to constantly harass Yanzhou.

And Yanzhou can only defend passively; this probing attack by Qi on Yanzhou is a microcosm of this advantage.

Although they are county-level cities, the walls of these three cities are in no way inferior to those of a commandery city.

And the forces entrenched within them, in order to prevent forces from the north from heading south, also often stockpile heavy troops in these three cities.

Chang Wei nodded; Yan Wang and he were thinking the same thing.

He had long been annoyed by these three cities.

It was like a neighbor across the river building an arrow tower in front of your house.

They can shoot arrows into your home from the tower at any time, but if you want to break into their house, you must pull out this arrow tower first, which is very passive.

But once these three cities are taken, the Jin River will no longer be an inland river of Qi.

They will be able to reach Fanyang via the Canal at Pingcheng, and then reach the Jin River from Fanyang.

Thus, in the future, besides the river mouth of the Sea River, Yanzhou will have an additional river mouth at the Jin River.

"These three cities will soon become Your Highness's territory." Chang Wei's eyes lit up.

Zhao Xu's eyes showed anticipation; the Jin River is the Yellow River.

Although the Sea River is also quite good, it is not as wide as the Jin River.

Extending the territory to the banks of the Jin River means that merchant ships heading out to sea will have one more transport line.

This can promote the development of commerce in Yanzhou.

Although merchants could use the Jin River in the past,

passing through here meant being heavily taxed by the Han Family.

Regarding this, the merchants of Yanzhou had long been dissatisfied.

Besides this, relying on the strength of the Yanzhou Navy, from then on, he would be able to firmly control the river course from Jinzhou to Qizhou.

Sizhou, Jinzhou, and Yanzhou will be connected through the Jin River, and in the future, coal can also reach Yanzhou more conveniently, which can be called of great strategic significance.

Of course, there is one more point that is equally important: once these three cities are taken, the Jin River will become a natural barrier for Yanzhou, protecting Yanzhou just like Yanguan.

"Although the firearms of the Wangfu Army are superior to those of Qi, you must still be careful and cautious in this campaign."

"Do not attack recklessly just to save time, causing unnecessary casualties to the soldiers; after all, quite a few Artillery pieces are installed on these three cities, and we are the attacking side, which puts us at a disadvantage," Zhao Xu said.

After a pause, he added: "Moreover, through this Qi army, it can be judged that the Eastern Japanese are clearly training the Qi soldiers; whether they have brought some different tactics from Dongying is also unknown."

"Yes, Your Highness, this general understands," Chang Wei said.

Yan Wang's meaning was equivalent to giving him sufficient time to lay siege, not limiting when he must take these three cities, to avoid the commanders of the Prince's Personal Army being eager for quick success and causing unnecessary losses.

The matter was settled.

Chang Wei returned to Fanyang.

It was a great coincidence that among the Southern Three Commanderies of Yanzhou, Fanyang Commandery faces Leling, Guangning Commandery faces Pingyuan, and Dai Commandery faces Yangping.

Among them, Leling and Pingyuan are in Qizhou, while Yangping is located in Yuzhou.

……

At the same time.

The three soldiers who fled from Yanzhou had already crossed the Jin River and were heading toward Lu City.

Two more days passed, and the three arrived at Lu City.

"What? The Flintlock of Yan Wang's soldiers can kill from one hundred and fifty meters away!" Sato Masahisa's expression was one of shock.

"It is absolutely true," said the only Dongying soldier who had escaped back.

The two Qi soldiers were describing the entire process of the war to Han Zheng.

Immediately, the two fell silent for a long time.

Han Zheng sighed gloomily: "No wonder Yan Wang was able to win the Ningjin Battle and annihilate so many of the Northern Di troops; it turns out they have replaced them with new Flintlocks."

Looking toward Sato Masahisa, he gave a thumbs up, "Lord Sato's considerations are truly thorough. If we had rashly started a war with Yan Wang without this probe, we would certainly have suffered heavy losses."

Sato Masahisa gave a bitter smile; although he had probed Yan Wang's bottom line, he could not laugh at all.

The range of the newest Flintlock currently in Dongying was only one hundred and thirty meters.

This proved one point to him: Yan Wang's firearms were more advanced than Dongying's.

But the more this was the case, the more it stirred up his vicious heart.

This made him realize that he must take advantage of the fact that Da Song was mired in division to eliminate Yan Wang; otherwise, they would never have another chance in the future.

More importantly, this concerned the national destiny of Dongying.

If they defeated Da Song, their Dongying would be the hegemon of Dongtu.

Conversely, he would live forever under the shadow of Da Song.

And this was something he, and the entire Shogunate, could not accept.

They had witnessed the glory of the Western Lands nations as they stood above the world, and this was also what their Dongying wanted.

If they were to live in the mire, they would rather die.

Thinking of this, he immediately wrote a letter himself and ordered someone to send it to the Dongying merchant house, having them make several copies to be handed to different Merchant Ships and sent to the Dongying Shogunate.

Their Seii Taishogun, Watanabe An, needed to understand all of this.