Chapter 235: Strategy

"Your Majesty wishes to personally lead the campaign? Which treacherous sycophant has bewitched Your Majesty?! This villain deserves execution! The Tumu Crisis is not far behind us—does Your Majesty wish to emulate Emperor Yingzong? The son of a thousand gold pieces does not sit beneath a hanging eave! The Son of Heaven commands his ministers; all matters can be delegated! If Your Majesty personally leads the campaign, does it mean our Great Ming lacks capable generals? Your minister firmly opposes this!"

Lu Xiangsheng flew into a rage, abruptly rising to his feet. His narrow eyes snapped wide open, and a murderous aura seeped from between his brows—the imposing presence cultivated through years on the battlefield, forged amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood, was truly terrifying.

Wang Cheng'en, who had just learned of the Emperor's intention, was also frightened out of his wits. Zhu Youjian had not revealed the slightest hint beforehand, so Wang Cheng'en had known nothing of it.

What kind of joke was this? Did you think this was a stage play? Even Emperor Yingzong had been captured by the Mongols precisely because he led the campaign personally—the Tumu Incident became the Great Ming's greatest humiliation! How many years had passed since then? Did the Emperor want to repeat that mistake? Were you saying there were no capable men under your command? What were all these civil and military officials being fed for?

"Minister Lu, hear me out first. The idea of a personal campaign only occurred to me by chance just now—no one has bewitched me! Companion, pour tea for Minister Lu! Minister Lu, please be seated!"

Startled by Lu Xiangsheng's outburst, Zhu Youjian explained with a slightly embarrassed smile.

He knew that the moment he mentioned a personal campaign, he would meet fierce opposition from Lu Xiangsheng; had it been Wen Tiren or Yang Sichang, there would still been room for negotiation, but Lu Xiangsheng's character was too upright and straightforward—he was difficult to persuade with reasoning alone.

Was he supposed to tell Lu Xiangsheng: "In order to give the readers of this book their thrill points, I have no choice but to resort to a bit of melodrama like everyone else"?

Wang Cheng'en picked up the teapot and first filled Zhu Youjian's cup, then walked over to Lu Xiangsheng carrying the pot in one hand and a cup in the other. Lu Xiangsheng watched the approaching Wang Cheng'en with a thoroughly hostile gaze, convinced that it must have been someone close to the Emperor who had urged the personal campaign—and Wang Cheng'en was one of the suspects.

Wang Cheng'en carefully handed the teacup to Lu Xiangsheng, and while pouring the tea, he kept his head lowered and said in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz: "Academician Lu, by no means allow His Majesty to lead the campaign personally!"

Only upon hearing this did Lu Xiangsheng dispel his misunderstanding of Wang Cheng'en. Holding the teacup, he apologized to Zhu Youjian for his rudeness and sat back down, inwardly still wondering who exactly had proposed that the Emperor lead the campaign personally—if he ever found out, he would certainly not let that villain off.

"We cannot let His Majesty act on his whims! On the battlefield, blades and spears have no eyes—arrows and cannonballs fly everywhere. If His Majesty were accidentally harmed, all the people under heaven couldn't atone for it even in death! The Empress dares not interfere in matters of state, so this matter must be brought to the attention of Empress Yi'an! His Majesty will still listen to Empress Yi'an's words!"

Wang Cheng'en, his mind churning over how to dissuade the Emperor from his intention to lead the campaign personally, returned to stand behind Zhu Youjian—still holding the teapot without realizing he had never set it down.

"Minister Lu, let us set aside the matter of the personal campaign for now. What do you think of the strategy I discussed with the Minister of War? You have campaigned for years and should have deeper insight into military matters. If there are any flaws in this strategy, I hope you will point them out!"

The plan for next year's campaign in Liaodong had been formulated after several discussions between Zhu Youjian and Yang Sichang and other key officials of the Ministry of War. At present it was only a preliminary strategy; ultimately Zhu Youjian would still need to solicit the opinions of knowledgeable military heavyweights such as Hong Chengchou, Lu Xiangsheng, Sun Chuanting, and Chen Qiyu, after which the Ministry of War would produce detailed provisions, and only after thorough refinement could it be put into implementation.

"Sunzi said: In all battles, engage with the orthodox and win with the unorthodox—the use of orthodox and unorthodox resides in the mind of the commander alone! Your minister believes that although this plan is generally feasible, the finer points still require careful deliberation; the outcome of this campaign bears upon decades of peace or turmoil in Liaodong, so full preparations must be made. Your minister reiterates: if the imperial army wishes to achieve merit in the northeast next year, the matter of the Guanning army must be thoroughly resolved this year. Otherwise, your minister does not advise campaigning against Jianzhou!"

Lu Xiangsheng had a deep impression of Zu Kuan and his subordinates' arrogance and insubordination. Although in the later period, with victory over the bandits in sight, the Liaodong relief troops had restrained themselves considerably, Zu Kuan and his ilk had dared to defy orders with only a few thousand soldiers—if tens of thousands of Guanning cavalry were gathered in one place, they would likely defy anyone's orders.

Zu Dashou had set the precedent of defying orders in the second year of Chongzhen, actually disregarding the safety of the capital and the Emperor's sacred edict by leading his troops back to Liaodong. Afterwards the court could do nothing about him, which further encouraged the arrogant and self-important atmosphere throughout the Liaodong army.

"Adept at spoiling things but incapable of accomplishing anything" was the most fitting description of the Liaodong army. Caring nothing for state affairs and pursuing only private gain was the consistent style of Zu Dashou and his kind. If one wished to strike at Jianzhou, the Liaodong army must be dealt with first—otherwise, the rear lines of an imperial army advancing deep into the northeast could never be guaranteed safe.

As long as this hidden danger was resolved, Lu Xiangsheng was quite confident about pacifying and destroying Jianzhou.

In his eyes, no matter how strong Jianzhou was, it was merely a tribal regime carved out in a bitter, cold land; if the strategy the Emperor described were followed, with over a hundred thousand elite troops attacking head-on, Jianzhou would have to commit its entire strength to resist the imperial army. At that point, if he led his cavalry to strike them hard from the flank, their defeat and destruction would come in an instant.

"Minister Lu speaks most truly! What I worry about is also Liaodong! Over the years it has grown into an unwieldy force too big to control. I have pondered this for a long time without finding a good solution! For now I can only hope that Minister Hong will have a fine method to cure this stubborn ailment, and that the court may also save a large sum of expenditure for the people's livelihood!"

As things stood, Hong Chengchou was the best candidate for Governor-General of Ji-Liao.

Hong Hengjiu acted with ruthless decisiveness and was adept at adapting; he lacked neither cunning nor political skill. Hopefully he could resolve this great trouble.

Compared with the ancients, he still lacked political wisdom and maneuvering ability. He had been racking his brains for years without finding a good way to deal with Zu Dashou, and every year he could only pinch his nose and continue sending large amounts of money and grain to the Zu family. It was impossible not to feel stifled about it.

If Hong Chengchou could accomplish this great task, a position in the Grand Secretariat would certainly be within reach—even ennobling him was not out of the question. It all depended on Old Hong's ability.

Zhu Youjian knew that compared with these famous historical figures, his own abilities in various respects fell far short; but his greatest advantage was his position at the top. As long as he consistently upheld the principle of "never employ those you doubt, never doubt those you employ," delegating authority to his subordinates to the greatest extent, providing these remarkable historical figures with a broad enough stage to display their talents freely, then in many matters the results should not turn out too poorly.

He could not, like other transmigrator protagonists, craft glass and perfume with his literary skills and wield a blade on horseback to slaughter in all directions with his martial prowess. At best he was an ordinary person of normal intelligence who, having suddenly ascended to high position, was extremely lacking in the methods and experience of governing the state, and in many matters lacked strategic vision. To have governed the riddled-with-holes Great Ming into its present state within a few years was already no small feat.

"After Minister Lu departs for Xuan-Da, transfer fourteen thousand elite troops from the two border garrisons to the capital, then have them join the six thousand men of the Tianxiong army under Sun Yingyuan of the Yongwei Camp. In this way, the Yongwei Camp will number over forty thousand, and together with the thirty thousand of the Capital Camps, these seventy-odd thousand strong troops will form the main force for next year's campaign against Jianzhou. Given Jianzhou's current troop strength, they can only dispatch their main forces to resist—this will create the most favorable conditions for your flanking surprise attack!"

According to historical records, the total strength of the Manchu Eight Banners was only around a hundred thousand men. Even if Hong Taiji campaigned in all directions this year, incorporating the Khorchin, Chahar, and other Mongol tribes and expanding the Mongol Banners, his total strength would only be roughly comparable to the Ming army's hundred fifty thousand. And don't forget—the Jianzhou barbarians still had to leave men to guard the two vital points of Shengjing and Hetu Ala; they could not possibly commit all their forces to a decisive battle with the Ming army.

Moreover, Jianzhou's actions conveniently provided favorable conditions for Lu Xiangsheng's surprise attack next year.

Hong Taiji's relocation of the Mongol tribes to Jianzhou had conveniently created a vast uninhabited zone to the west, making it easier for tens of thousands of cavalry on a long-distance raid to conceal the transmission of information.

"Your minister obeys the decree! Your minister suggests that when the imperial army leaves the passes next year, it must not divide into several detachments, but rather concentrate in one body and drive straight for the false capital of Shengjing! This is what is called 'attacking what they must defend'! Since the Jianzhou barbarians have changed their title and established a state, they must defend their false capital! Our army has few cavalry and many infantry, while the Jianzhou barbarians are cavalry-dominated. The terrain of Liaodong is flat and open, most suitable for large-scale cavalry assaults; if our army divides its forces, I fear they will be surrounded and annihilated! Your minister has heard that the Yongwei Camp has already established a wagon battalion—this unit is precisely the sharp weapon for infantry to counter cavalry! In those years, Qi Yuanjing shook Ji-Liao precisely by relying on his wagon battalion! This battalion is most suitable as a shield against the enemy cavalry's frontal assault!"

Zhu Youjian naturally greatly appreciated Lu Xiangsheng's proposal, for it matched his own thinking: no matter how many routes the enemy comes by, I go by only one.

But his conclusion came from lessons drawn from the historical Battle of Songshan, which clearly did not count as any great skill. Lu Xiangsheng, however, had made his judgment based on experience accumulated on the battlefield—this demonstrated Lu Xiangsheng's outstanding command ability.