Chapter 728: Determining the Strategy for Haozhou

When the dawn light pierced the cloud layer, the camp had already been fully mobilized.

Xu Da and Tang He each led a detachment, heading separately to the high ground on the east and west sides to scout.

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) stood before the newly built sand table.

The sand table was rough, but the approximate locations of mountains, rivers, cities, and villages had been marked.

Liu Ji stood opposite him, holding a thin bamboo stick.

"Chief, please look."

The bamboo stick pointed to a spot on the south bank of the Huai River.

"This place is called Eagle's Beak Ridge; it is fifteen li from here, the terrain is high and steep, surrounded on three sides by water, with only a narrow path leading to the summit."

"It is easy to defend and hard to attack, and the view is wide, allowing one to overlook dozens of li of the Huai River's course."

"But the flat ground on the summit is narrow, capable of holding at most a thousand people, and there is no stable water source."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) shook his head.

"Too small. The camp currently has nearly two thousand troops, and more will continue to arrive."

Liu Ji moved the bamboo stick to another location.

"This place is Old Crow Shoal; it is twenty li from here, backed by a cliff, facing a river bend, and has a natural spring."

"But this place is low-lying; if an extraordinary flood occurs, there remains a risk of inundation."

"Moreover, there is only one route in and out; if surrounded, breaking out would be difficult."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) stared at the sand table, rapidly retrieving geographical memories from his past life.

In the Huai Xi region, this area could serve as a future base……

Suddenly, his gaze fixed on the northwest corner of the sand table.

There, the Huai River and Hao River converge.

A marker for a city.

"Haozhou."

He whispered the name.

Liu Ji raised his head to look at him.

"Chief, do you intend to take Haozhou?"

"Not merely desire, but necessity."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) pressed his finger heavily on that marker.

Historically, Zhu Yuanzhang rose from Haozhou.

There, the city walls are sturdy, the granaries are well stocked, and water and land transport are convenient.

More importantly—Haozhou lies on the south bank of the Huai River, with terrain high enough to resist floods.

Moreover, that place is currently on the outskirts of the False Song domain of Zhang Shicheng.

The garrison is weak.

"Haozhou is eighty li from here."

Liu Ji fell into thought.

"If we force march, we can reach it in one day."

"But the defenders inside the city number at least five hundred, and Haozhou's city walls are three zhang high, with a wide moat."

"A direct assault would not be easy."

"Then we will take it by stratagem."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) turned, looking toward Chang Yuchun, who had just entered the council tent.

"Chang, the scout leader, how is the training of the selected men?"

Chang Yuchun grinned.

"Twenty brothers, all veterans who have crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood following me."

"Last night we tried climbing; a three-zhang-high earthen wall can be scaled in ten breaths."

"But Haozhou's city walls are brick and stone, bare and smooth, making them hard to climb."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) looked toward Liu Ji.

"Sir, do you have a plan?"

Liu Ji did not answer immediately.

He walked to the edge of the sand table and carefully examined the terrain around Haozhou.

After a long while, the bamboo stick pointed to a spot outside Haozhou's east gate.

"This place has a dock, with grain ships coming and going daily."

"The garrison's inspections are lax, because the False Song and Yuan forces face off here, and the grain ships are mostly owned by merchants who trade with both sides."

He paused.

"If we could seize a grain ship, disguise it as a merchant convoy, perhaps we could sneak into the city."

Chang Yuchun's eyes lit up.

"This method is good! I will lead men to pose as boatmen; once inside the city, we will seize the gate!"

"Unsuitable." Liu Ji shook his head.

"General, your valor is extraordinary, but your appearance and demeanor differ greatly from ordinary boatmen, making the garrison prone to suspicion."

"Moreover, seizing the gate carries too great a risk; if it fails, the entire army could be annihilated."

He looked toward Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang).

"Ji believes we should proceed in two steps."

First step: infiltrate by hijacking ships, but do not seize the gate.

Second step: after entering the city, disperse and hide; when night falls, simultaneously set fires at multiple locations in the city.

When the fires start, the defending troops will surely fall into chaos; then we will seize the city gate, coordinating inside and outside.

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) pondered.

This plan is indeed more stable than a direct assault.

But time is pressing.

"How long do we need to prepare?"

"Hijacking ships takes two days, blending in takes one day, and lying in wait to set fires takes one night."

"Four days." Liu Ji held up four fingers.

"If everything goes smoothly after four days, we can take Haozhou."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) quickly calculated in his mind.

Four days.

Mobilizing the camp's relocation also requires time.

Moreover, over at White River Town...

"The infiltration operation at White River Town will proceed as usual."

He made a decision.

"Chang Yuchun, you will still lead those twenty men; three days from now, infiltrate White River Town and set fires."

"But the mission has changed: there's no need to insist on burning down the government office; creating chaos is enough."

"Withdraw immediately after the fires start, and return here to regroup."

"Received orders!"

Chang Yuchun clasped his fists, turned, and was about to leave.

"Wait."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) called out to him.

"Remember, preserving life comes first."

"Your lives are more important than burning however many houses."

Chang Yuchun stared for a moment, then nodded firmly.

"I've got it down!"

He strode away.

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) turned toward Liu Ji.

"Sir, the plan to hijack ships and infiltrate Haozhou is now entirely in your hands."

"How many personnel are needed, what resources to allocate—go directly to Xu Da and Tang He."

"I want you to produce a detailed plan within two days."

Liu Ji solemnly clasped his hands.

"I will not disappoint your trust."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) walked out of the council tent.

In the camp, everyone was busy.

Infantry were packing their gear, women and children were bundling household items, and the artisan workshop was dismantling stoves.

On the distant riverbank, Xu Da was leading people in testing a newly built wooden raft—this was prepared for crossing the river.

Everything was being prepared for the relocation.

But Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) knew in his heart that the true test had only just begun.

He walked back to his own quarters.

He took out an oilcloth bundle from beneath the bed planks.

He opened it.

Inside was that crude pulse signal receiver, along with a stack of recording paper.

On the latest sheet of recording paper, the waveform remained chaotic.

But he had already discerned some pattern.

Those three pulse clusters, the three peaks at the start of each cluster, had intervals that were slowly changing.

Like some kind of... countdown.

He took out a charcoal pencil and calculated on the paper.

Based on the timestamps of the previous signals, and the rate of change of the peak intervals...

His pupils suddenly contracted.

The endpoint of the countdown is just seven days away.

What will happen in seven days?

He does not know.

But it is certainly nothing good.

He gathered up the recording paper and left his quarters.

He climbed onto the eastern wall.

To the north, that blue star remained faintly visible even in daylight.

White River Town.

Evil formation.

Seven days later.

These clues were connected in his mind.

A horrible conjecture gradually took shape.

"Elder brother."

Tang He climbed onto the wall top, his complexion somewhat unusual.

"The fishing village ten li to the east, this morning…… the entire village has vanished."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) abruptly turned his head.

"Vanished?"

"Yes. Thirty-six households, over a hundred people, all gone overnight."

"Everything inside the houses is still there, rice still simmering on the stove, but the people are missing."

"No bloodstains on the ground, no signs of a fight."

"It's as if…… they vanished into thin air."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) felt a chill rise from his spine.

"Take me to see."

The fishing village was small, built along the river.

As Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) stepped into the village entrance, he sensed something was off.

It was too quiet.

Not even a chicken's crow or a dog's bark.

The air was filled with a faint, sweet-and-bloody odor.

He entered the nearest household.

Bowls and chopsticks were set on the table, the bowl still holding half a bowl of unfinished brown rice.

The bedding on the kang was messy, as if the owner had just gotten up and left.

But on the ground, there was a faint drag mark.

It stretched from the edge of the kang all the way to outside the door.

At the end of the drag mark were several drops of dark blue liquid.

It was already half-dried.

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) crouched and lifted a bit with a branch.

The liquid was viscous, gleaming with a metallic sheen in the sunlight.

It was exactly the same as the substance that had flowed from the skull of the black-armored soldier brought back by Chang Yuchun.

"Search the entire village."

He rose, his voice stern.

Half an hour later, the search results were compiled.

The village's 147 inhabitants were all missing.

Every household had similar drag marks and blue liquid.

In the village's central threshing floor, a huge pit three chi deep was discovered.

The soil at the pit's bottom was grayish-blue, exuding a strong sweet-and-bloody smell.

Around the pit lay dozens of straw sandals.

Various sizes, for men and women, old and young.

As if they had been hastily taken off.

Tang He's voice trembled.

"Elder brother…… what on earth could have done this?"

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) did not answer.

He stared at the pit.

The pit walls were smooth, as if melted out by something.

It wasn't dug.

It was melted.

"Issue the order."

He turned, his voice decisive.

"Relocate the camp, move up to this afternoon."

"Everyone, travel light, bringing only food, weapons, and tools."

"Everything else is to be abandoned."

"We must leave the riverbank before nightfall."

Tang He exclaimed:

"So soon? The high ground hasn't been fully decided……"

"Then we'll decide as we go."

Zhu Yue (Zhu Yuanzhang) strode toward the village outskirts.

"Tell everyone, if they don't want to vanish like this village, they must act quickly."

He mounted his horse.

He took one last look at this lifeless village.

Then he squeezed the horse's belly hard.

Northward.

Toward Haozhou.

He hurried away.

He must be quick.

Must get ahead of those things...

Before they spread over.

Find a new foundation.

Xijing, Observation Platform.

Zhao Lao Nian stared at the violently swinging needle on the copper instrument, his face deathly pale.

"Sir, the energy flow in the pinhole channel is showing abnormal turbulence!"

"Which direction?"

"Huai Xi... the Haozhou area."

"Measure the intensity!"

"Intensity... intensity is surging! It's already over three times that of Baihe Town before!"

Zhao Lao Nian's hand shook.

"Report to the lord immediately!"

"Yes!"

The young artisan ran off.

Zhao Lao Nian fixed his gaze on the copper instrument.

The needle swung wildly.

As if foreshadowing something extremely terrifying,

occurring on that land,

awakening.