Chapter 308: Undercover, Counter-Undercover?

The sky gradually brightened, and the eastern clouds were dyed with a blush of red.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu leaped up and mounted a black steed. He turned to look back at Jizhou City behind him; the flag of One Da Jiang still fluttered atop the city walls. He waved the sharp sword in his hand and shouted loudly.

"Return the army to the capital!"

The One Da Jiang army, like a steel forest, had undergone two months of reorganization and training, and morale was high. The Guard Captain, Li Ming, led the cry of slogans; sixty thousand elite soldiers raised their flags and drums, marching out in a mighty procession.

On the way back to Ducheng, Zhang Zhang Jiani frowned tightly, her heart filled with worry. She urged her horse forward and said to Jiang Jiang Mingyu, "Big Brother, the gates of Western Xia are closed, and the situation is extremely perilous. We have no intelligence on that country. If we harbor ambitions of overstepping, I fear the army will inevitably act blindly and suffer harm in return."

Indeed, since Zhu Ge Yu was killed, all the spies established beforehand had been cut off. It was said those agents had all been executed on the spot by Zheng Fa, and the Western Xia military and civilians had gritted their teeth, swearing to resist the invading enemy to the death. For a time, there was no exchange of news between the two nations, and the situation had become one of irreconcilable enmity.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu nodded with understanding, looking at her with a gentle expression: "What you say is correct, but there is a reason for this; we still have a backup plan." His gaze was profound, implying something specific. In fact, the trusted agents embedded in Liu Liu Yifei's merchant caravan could truly be put to great use during this northern expedition.

Three months ago, One Da Jiang merchants began to massively export supplies to Western Xia to obtain huge profits. At that time, Liu Liu Yifei had said to Jiang Jiang Mingyu, "Although the West is far, it must eventually be guarded against. Why not take the opportunity to send trusted agents within the merchant caravans, using the chance of gaining profits to collect military intelligence all in one go?" At that time, Jiang Jiang Mingyu had selected several brave and skilled fighters from the Wei army, ordering them to hide their names and identities and infiltrate the merchant caravans, penetrating deep into the various cities of Western Xia.

To ensure they truly integrated into the merchant identities, Jiang Jiang Mingyu had specially formulated a training plan for them. Some learned trade skills, while others mastered the craft of accounting clerks. In three months of moving east and west, this group of trusted agents had become thoroughly familiar with the customs and people of the West; ordinary commoners could not detect their military identities. Through layer upon layer of infiltration, the trusted agents within the merchant caravans now covered almost every point on the national map.

Regardless, Western Xia still had to rely on trade relations with One Da Jiang. Even if Tu Tu Kesiluo was determined to be enemies, he ultimately could not be invulnerable to blades and spears, nor could he avoid a shortage of grain and fodder. Jiang Jiang Mingyu, with his deep planning and foresight, had long seen through this subtlety. Therefore, at the moment when war was about to break out, Western Xia would inevitably reopen its gates as an important trade partner of One Da Jiang. At that time, this group of undercover trusted agents could operate based on commercial activities, collecting Western Xia's military and political movements and quietly transmitting them to the One Da Jiang high command.

Hearing this explanation of the stakes, Zhang Zhang Jiani finally understood. She looked at Jiang Jiang Mingyu, and her gaze held a bit more admiration and reverence. It turned out Big Brother had already laid out the plan, incorporating the entire Western Xia territory into his intelligence system; such premeditation was enough to be compared with the heroes of the world.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu galloped back to Jin City and rushed to Chongzhengdian without waiting. Zhu Ge Yu was pacing back and forth anxiously; seeing Jiang Jiang Mingyu return, his expression immediately relaxed: "Master, you have finally returned! Something terrible has happened!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu's heart tightened, and he blurted out, "What is it? Speak quickly!"

Zhu Ge Yu sighed deeply and said mournfully, "Two days ago, news came that all of Master's wife's merchant caravans in Western Xia were ordered to death by Tu Tu Kesiluo. A few days ago, he sent people to the border to declare that he had long seen through our strategy, speaking with vicious words that since there was no sincerity for peace talks, we must meet with weapons and decide the winner. Now, where in Western Xia territory are there any of our spies? The situation is completely impossible to discern!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu furrowed his brows tightly and pressed, "Even the other One Da Jiang merchant caravans were not spared? Were they all slaughtered by Tu Tu Kesiluo?"

Zhu Ge Yu indicated that besides Liu Liu Yifei's merchant caravan, there was no other news. Tu Tu Kesiluo and Zhang Zhang Jiani looked at each other, seeing confusion in each other's eyes. Jiang Jiang Mingyu paced back and forth, unable to digest it.

He had also solemnly told Tu Tu Kesiluo and Zhang Zhang Jiani how brilliant Liu Liu Yifei's chessboard setup was; how could it have fallen to this state in just a few days? What confused him most was that there were many One Da Jiang merchant caravans within Western Xia territory; why did Tu Tu Kesiluo only target Liu Liu Yifei? Having already made up his mind to go to war with One Da Jiang, logically he should have slaughtered all the merchant caravans together; this was obviously suspicious and hard to understand.

Western Xia had limited understanding of One Da Jiang; how could they have seen through the spies hidden within Liu Liu Yifei's merchant caravan alone? Was there a traitor among the caravan members? Or was there a Gao Ren guiding Tu Tu Kesiluo behind the scenes? Various doubts formed a dead knot, leaving Jiang Jiang Mingyu with no strategy.

He paced back and forth in the hall, his mind turning rapidly. There were too many unclear points; he must get to the bottom of it. Regardless of how Tu Tu Kesiluo had uncovered the true face of Liu Liu Yifei's merchant caravan, the most urgent matter now was to open Western Xia's gates as soon as possible, allowing other merchant caravans to transmit the truth.

Thus, Jiang Jiang Mingyu immediately ordered someone to take heavy gold to the Western Xia border, spreading money widely to bribe the border generals. He also secretly investigated whether other One Da Jiang merchant caravans besides Liu Liu Yifei's had also met the same fate.

At the same time, he gathered trusted secret agents overnight, ordering them to disguise themselves as merchants and go to Western Xia to investigate the internal situation. He even sent a very small number of guards disguised as those escorting the remains of Liu Liu Yifei's merchant caravan to test the true situation within Western Xia.

He believed Tu Tu Kesiluo would certainly not give up trade relations with One Da Jiang. Once Western Xia's gates reopened, he could obtain the truth from all aspects.

However, unexpectedly, half a month later, Western Xia still had not reopened.

In the Golden Hall.

Jiang Jiang Mingyu's tightly furrowed brows revealed his inner displeasure; his face was extremely gloomy. But now that he was the Son of Heaven, he did not lose his composure excessively; he spoke calmly and asked:

"Zhu Ge Yu, tell us the specific situation on the Western Xia side that you have grasped. We must fully understand the enemy's situation to gain the initiative in the war."

Zhu Ge Yu, who was usually steady, could not hide his inner irritability at this moment; he forced himself to sort out his thoughts before slowly organizing his words.

"Your Majesty, we all know Western Xia is the most vast country on this continent. But there are many situations you may not yet understand..."

Seeing Jiang Jiang Mingyu nod to indicate he should continue, Zhu Ge Yu added, "Most of Western Xia's territory is covered by ice and snow year-round, except for the six provinces in the south. Intelligence returned from the front lines shows that, except for the six provinces, most areas of Western Xia belong to desolate lands where human footprints are rare."

This news surprised Jiang Jiang Mingyu and the generals greatly. It turned out that the Western Xia Empire, which claimed to have the largest territory, actually had far less usable land than it appeared on the surface. It seemed the difficulty of conquering Western Xia was not as great as they had originally thought.

"I recall you deployed one hundred thousand troops in the Cangzhou area; calculated this way, our total force has reached seven hundred thousand. In terms of numbers, we hold the advantage," Jiang Jiang Mingyu pondered, "but our army will find it difficult to adapt to Western Xia's severe cold climate in the short term; this will likely have a certain impact on our marching speed and combat effectiveness."

"That is correct; the climate and environment are unfavorable to us, but we must launch an offensive now; there is no room for the slightest hesitation!" Fang Hang interjected, "According to Tu Tu Kesiluo's temperament, he absolutely will not wait until next spring to act. I guess he is preparing to solve the grain and fodder problem through war with Western Xia; if we delay until next year, when Western Xia reorganizes its forces, it will be very difficult for us to cope."

"Minister Fang's analysis is not without reason," Jiang Jiang Mingyu nodded, "we can also take the opportunity to launch an attack while Western Xia lacks food and clothing. If we let them pass this winter, it will be even harder to achieve victory when their morale is high next year."

"It seems the great battle is already on the string, ready to be released."

A suffocating silence filled the air. After a long while, Jiang Jiang Mingyu finally ordered in a deep voice:

"Prime Minister Shu, you must immediately arrange to conscript laborers and fully prepare the clothing and grain and fodder needed by the great army. Tu Tu Kesiluo's troops may set out at any time; we must make perfect preparations in advance!"

"Remember, the location of this decisive battle must be within Western Xia territory! Even if our army cannot withstand them, we must absolutely not let the flames of war spread to One Da Jiang's land!"

Zhu Ge Yu pressed his lips into a smile, seeming to have already seen through his teacher's mind: "Your Majesty, please rest assured; I have made preparations long ago, and we can set out west within half a month at the latest."

"Good! Half a month from now, the entire army will depart. I will definitely make this group of Western Xia barbarians witness the might of our One Da Jiang!" Jiang Jiang Mingyu issued the order to advance with a firm tone.

At this moment, Tu Tu Kesiluo, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke; his face was iron-green, and a hint of killing intent permeated his voice:

"Your Majesty, I request to lead the rear guard! I will definitely make that group of Western Xia people pay for their blood with blood; I will swallow Tu Tu Kesiluo, that beast, alive and flay him!"

Jiang Jiang Mingyu nodded with understanding; he knew the hatred accumulated in Tu Tu Kesiluo's heart for a long time. During this western expedition, Tu Tu Kesiluo would surely transform into a fierce God of Killing, venting all his hatred upon the enemy...