Chapter 696: Learning the Truth

"We have no choice but to give it our all."

Han Zheng and Xie Duan exchanged a glance, their gazes firm.

They had nowhere left to run; the retreat route provided to them by Sato Masahisa was their only chance.

If they wanted to survive and preserve their wealth, they had to seize it.

Sato Masahisa nodded upon hearing this.

The three-month deadline was something he had deliberately exaggerated; in truth, it would not take that long.

But he understood the nature of these Da Song Shizu; if he did not apply a little pressure, they would only collapse like a mountain of sand at the first sign of defeat.

"Leave one hundred thousand troops in Lu City to fight the Yan Wang, and have the rest retreat south." After hesitating for a moment, Han Zheng gritted his teeth.

Sato Masahisa nodded slightly, expressing his approval to Han Zheng; this was his sincerity.

If they retreated directly to Peng City, the Yan Wang's troops would certainly pursue them there, but by leaving one hundred thousand troops in Lu City, they could stall the Yan Wang's army and slow their southward advance.

Xie Duan said, "Many Rich Clans from Qizhou are retreating south with us, bringing their private armies. Why not gather these private armies, organize them into a force, and appoint commanders to lead them? That way, we could add fifty or sixty thousand troops to our ranks."

Sato Masahisa was very much in favor of Xie Duan's proposal. He added, "And that is just the Rich Clans from your Qizhou; there are also the Rich Clans of Ningzhou and Hao Prefecture."

He paused, then continued: "Given the current situation, we should fully exploit the Rich Clans' hatred for the Yan Wang. Although their private armies are far inferior to your regular troops, they can still create some trouble for the Yan Wang's army."

Han Zheng and Xie Duan nodded slowly. If they could mobilize the Rich Clans, the resulting private armies would indeed be a considerable number.

"I will send men to summon the Rich Clans of Ningzhou and Hang Prefecture immediately." Xie Duan bowed to Sato Masahisa and turned to leave.

Han Zheng sighed at this moment. "My Qizhou Rich Clans have suffered heavy casualties responding to the order to crusade against the Yan Wang's army; otherwise, we could have mustered at least one hundred thousand troops. However, the Wang Family's Yuzhou has not yet been affected, so I will order Wang Zi'an to issue a decree to Yuzhou."

Since Xie Duan was being so proactive, he naturally could not afford to lose.

After all, he was still counting on Sato Masahisa to support him in securing a place within the Eastern Land Alliance in the future.

Sato Masahisa wore a smile; at this moment, he felt exceptionally smug.

Both Han Zheng and Xie Duan were striving to perform before him, which gave him the satisfaction of being a chess player.

In the past, although Dongying did not fear Da Song, they had never dared to harbor any covetous designs toward it.

But now, Dongying would be able to influence the future destiny of Da Song, a fact that any Eastern Japanese could be proud of.

"Go, gather everyone who opposes the Yan Wang under our banner; we must defeat this evil vassal king from the North," Sato Masahisa declared loudly.

They were currently portraying the Yan Wang as a heinous villain, whether to the Eastern Japanese or the Westerners.

As for the Da Song Shizu, he did not even need to propagate it.

Because in their eyes, the Yan Wang was already an alien element incompatible with them like fire and water.

Seizing upon this point, he would gather everyone in Da Song who was dissatisfied with the Yan Wang,

and forge a massive force to oppose the Yan Wang.

By the afternoon, large numbers of troops were hauling baggage trains, grain, gold, and treasures toward Yi City. Afterward, they would leave a portion of their troops in Yi City to continue resisting the Yan Wang's army before heading to Peng City.

This time was sufficient for the Rich Clans of the four prefectures to lead their private armies to converge on Peng City.

In this way, they would henceforth resist the Yan Wang together with the Rich Clans, doing their utmost to drag out the Yan Wang's southward advance.

Besides this, Han Zheng also sent an order to Wang Xie, telling him to leave only a small portion of troops in Yang City and lead the remaining main force south together.

More than three days passed.

Except for the one hundred thousand troops left in Lu City, all the Shizu and Rich Clan armies within the four Southwest prefectures had retreated to Yi City.

Inside Yi City, Han Zheng and Xie Duan reorganized the Rich Clan armies and dispatched commanders to train the private soldiers in the use of Artillery and Flintlock.

At the same time.

After three days of trekking, Zhao Xu arrived at Ji City.

"Your Highness, the Shizu armies have retreated south to Yi City. Currently, there are still one hundred thousand Shizu troops inside Lu City," Qin Shan said.

Over the past few days, he had continuously sent men to scout the vicinity of Lu City to understand the situation in the four Southwest prefectures.

"A bunch of cowards. The battle hasn't even started, yet they've already run away," Chang Wei snorted.

He then added, "But it's truly strange. Since they've retreated, why didn't they retreat completely? Why leave one hundred thousand troops in Lu City?"

If they were being chased and fighting as they retreated, it would be understandable for them to leave troops behind to cover their rear.

But the Shizu had been retreating leisurely these past few days, so leaving troops behind made no sense.

Zhao Xu was also somewhat puzzled; this was practically handing them a gift.

Once the Prince's Personal Army surrounded these one hundred thousand men in Lu City, they would have no hope of escape.

As the group was wondering, the sound of hoofbeats rang out. A Cavalryman stopped before the three of them and presented a letter to Zhao Xu. "Your Highness, a secret letter from the Four Courts."

Zhao Xu tore open the letter, scanned it, and his brows immediately furrowed.

Crumpling the letter into a ball, Zhao Xu said coldly, "I understand why they left one hundred thousand troops to die."

"Why?" Chang Wei and Qin Shan cast their gazes toward Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu's eyes narrowed slightly.

According to Xu Ke, a few nights ago, a Warship of the navy had collided with an Eastern Japanese Merchant Ship off the coast of Qizhou.

The Merchant Ship sank, and most of the Eastern Japanese on board drowned, though some escaped under the cover of night; they had only managed to fish out one severely wounded Eastern Japanese.

This Eastern Japanese was sent to the Four Courts in Yancheng to recover for a period before regaining consciousness, after which Xu Ke interrogated him.

During this time, they had been using this method to obtain intelligence from the Eastern Japanese captured by the navy.

From the mouth of this Eastern Japanese, they learned of a plan currently being pushed by Dongying.

Moreover, this plan had received initial support; if successful, Dongying would be able to rope in Northern Di, Sam Country, Britain, and Wu to establish a so-called Eastern Land Alliance to contain him.

If possible, Dongying would attempt to rope in even more forces in the future.

At the same time, because Dongying had volunteered to be the vanguard in opposing him,

Sam Country and Great Britain had the idea of driving a nail into the Eastern Land and letting Dongying wreak havoc in Da Song, so they decided to support Dongying.

"What a familiar scene; history is always so similar," Zhao Xu thought to himself.

In the modern era, after the Black Ships incident, Japan became the spokesperson for the United States and Britain in East Asia, receiving their full support and indulgence for its various atrocities in East Asia.

Their purpose was to have Japan charge and fight on the front lines for them in East Asia at that time.

The Russo-Japanese War was the result of instigation by the United States and Britain.

However, the Great Qing at that time was too incompetent; in the eyes of Japan, Britain, and the United States, it was merely meat on the chopping block and could not be considered a threat.

Therefore, there was no such thing as Japan targeting the Great Qing; there was only bullying toward the Great Qing.

But due to his existence, the situation had clearly changed.

If he had not come to the Great Song, perhaps a similar history would have repeated itself for the Great Song.

Yet he had come, and he was so strong, that he became an object they had to contain.