Chapter 1617: The Liaodong Army's Plan

With this thought in mind, he slowly raised the blade in his hand, then, under the held-breath stares of everyone, brought it down with a heavy swing.

"Advance!"

The trusted warriors behind him formed ranks at that very moment, then barked orders for the units under their command to march forward.

Unlike the elite personal guards led by the domain lord himself, these vanguard troops were foot soldiers conscripted later from within Satsuma Domain; some had even been peasants not long ago, so their training and equipment naturally could not compare to the elite troops, and even their weapons were a motley assortment.

Besides outdated arquebuses, long spears, pikes, and bows, many even carried naginata that had long since vanished from warfare. Yet although these might be of little use in actual combat, the long-hafted naginata, measuring over seven shaku in length, could still serve as a sufficient deterrent against the domain soldiers of Nobeoka Domain.

Led by the samurai, a vast, dark mass of men skirted the paddy ridges and followed the scattered paths into the territory of Nobeoka Domain. Once the vanguard had advanced, Zhou Pu dismounted alongside Shimazu Tadatsune, then proceeded forward with the elite main force bringing up the rear.

The sky was growing steadily whiter, and shafts of golden light pierced down from the firmament to the ground, lending a touch of hazy color to this well-prepared great army.

Soon, some farmers who had risen early to tend their fields appeared before them. At the sight of this great army marching in silence, they cried out in terror, then fled frantically backward. The Shimazu forces did not alter their marching pace for them, continuing to grind forward at their army's speed of advance.

Nobeoka Domain was not large, and these fleeing peasants quickly carried word of Satsuma Domain's invasion all the way to the domain castle, throwing the domain lord, Arima Naozumi, into utter shock.

In order to support his main family and the shogunate officials within Nagasaki Castle, he had already dispatched a portion of the troops mustered within his domain to assist them in resisting the Great Han army's offensive. Now, only some old and weak soldiers remained to guard the domain; even if they held out within the domain castle, they would likely be hard-pressed to withstand Satsuma Domain's assault.

Besides, a small domain of fifty thousand koku — even if it had not sent troops out earlier, how could the forces it mustered possibly be a match for the army of Satsuma Domain?

Beset with troubles, Arima Naozumi could only first send a man to the Arima main family in Kurume Domain to report this news and beg them to dispatch reinforcements as quickly as possible to resist Satsuma Domain's advance. At the same time, he urgently gathered every soldier and all the grain he could muster and prepared to hold out within the domain castle. In addition, he also sent an envoy to try to make Shimazu Tadatsune see reason.

At this moment, he of course had no idea that Shimazu Tadatsune had already secretly joined hands with Great Han. He merely assumed that Shimazu Tadatsune, seeing the Great Han army attacking Kyushu and the shogunate too preoccupied to look after itself, wanted to seize the chaos to settle old scores with him and expand his territory in passing.

So he had the envoy tell Shimazu Tadatsune that with Great Han currently attacking Kyushu, they were like lips and teeth — if one fell, the other would be cold. They should share a common hatred and jointly resist the Great Han army, and should not forget their shared identity as Japanese. Furthermore, the shogunate's military strength was so formidable that Great Han would sooner or later be driven out; when the time came for settling accounts, how would the Shimazu clan manage then? He therefore implored Shimazu Tadatsune to first withdraw his troops, and was willing to apologize for his past disrespect, guaranteeing that he would never transgress again and would not report the Shimazu clan's actions today to higher authorities.

His envoy's earnest pleading not only failed to move Shimazu Tadatsune, but instead provoked roaring laughter. He kicked the envoy aside and sent him back to the domain castle with his terms — so long as Arima Naozumi himself committed suicide, opened the castle gates, and surrendered the domain's maps and registers, he would spare the other kin of the Arima family and guarantee that he would not harm the samurai and commoners within the domain.

This condition was actually genuine; the Shimazu family planned to turn this place into their own territory after the war — how could they possibly devastate Nobeoka Domain?

This condition was, of course, one Arima Naozumi would not accept. After hearing the envoy's report, his eyes went red with fury, and he immediately resolved to fight to the bitter end. He sealed the domain castle gates tight, then he and the attendants around him fully armed themselves, preparing to resist to the death.

Soon, the Shimazu family's forces had completely surrounded the small domain castle. By then, day had fully broken. After surveying the defenses inside the castle from outside the walls, Shimazu Tadatsune swiftly issued the order to attack.

Nobeoka Domain's manpower and wealth were limited, so the domain castle's fortifications were all crudely built; the so-called castle walls were merely some piled-up earthen mounds. Before the howling Satsuma Domain soldiers who surged forward wave after wave, these crude fortifications offered little defensive value. The domain soldiers atop them soon collapsed and scattered, and the fighting reached the outside of the castle's main keep.

Guarding the main keep were the domain lord and his elite samurai. Their morale and equipment were far better, so the resistance was somewhat fierce. Shimazu Tadatsune rode his horse back and forth below the keep, using a telescope imported from Great Han to constantly observe the defenses within, all the while incessantly urging his subordinates to press the attack.

Under Shimazu Tadatsune's urging, these Satsuma Domain soldiers surged toward the main keep with reckless abandon. Though the defenders fought desperately to hold on, they were simply far too outnumbered, and their equipment was inferior as well. After a bout of bloody fighting, the main keep was finally overrun, and the domain lord, Arima Naozumi himself, died amidst the chaotic soldiery alongside his trusted attendants.

The fall of the main keep marked the successful completion of the Shimazu family's first step in their advance plan. Shimazu Tadatsune ordered his forces to first rest and regroup at the domain castle, then prepare for the next stage of the advance.

And while Shimazu Tadatsune was advancing on Nobeoka Domain to the north, the Great Han army that had successfully landed at Hakata Bay was also beginning to stir restlessly.

Starting from the afternoon of the successful landing, transport ships had been continuously ferrying supplies to Kyushu in an endless stream. These supplies had originally been assembled by Great Han and stored in port warehouses along the coast of Busan. Because response plans had long been prepared, the allocation and transport of supplies from the warehouses proceeded very smoothly, without a single interruption.

Worried that nightfall would be disadvantageous for combat operations, the landing force at Hakata Bay ceased offensive actions after expanding and consolidating the beachhead, turning instead to focus on defending the landing zone and assisting with the transport of supplies. Although scattered domain troops from the interior fired shots and loosed arrows, they posed no real hindrance, and the transport of supplies likewise proceeded very smoothly.

By the morning of the second day, the troops ashore numbered close to two thousand, and after a brief period of rest, they had recovered their spirits and were itching to win still greater merit for the nation.

These troops all belonged to the Liaodong Regiment, directly under the command of Commander Zhao Song. Their regimental commander, Bi Su, had risen early from his makeshift tent and picked up his telescope to observe the situation in the distance.

Opposite them lay an expanse of open wildland, with only sparse green grass, and then a low wall stretching across his line of sight. Behind that low wall, in the deep, gloomy dimness, few human figures could be seen.

Several centuries ago, to guard against an invasion by the Yuan Dynasty army, under the orders of the Hojo clan, the regents of the Kamakura Shogunate, the defending forces at Hakata Bay began constructing various defensive works, with earthen walls being among the most important of these fortifications. During the Yuan army's second seaborne invasion, the shogunate forces used the low walls to withstand several Yuan assaults, keeping them from achieving any significant results and holding out until the arrival of a typhoon. After suffering heavy losses under the typhoon, the Yuan commanders were forced to choose rout; with their commanders having fled the front lines, the remaining Yuan troops immediately lost heart, and were ultimately crushed by the shogunate army and completely annihilated.

Several centuries later, most of the fortifications the shogunate had built back then to resist the Yuan army had been worn down by time into ruins, no longer capable of serving any defensive purpose. After receiving the shogunate's notification, Fukuoka Domain, which would bear the brunt of the attack, quickly recalled the lessons of those years. So, taking advantage of these few days, they had constructed some low walls and trench works within Hakata Bay.

Unlike the Kamakura Shogunate back then, which had several years to work with, they now had only a few days. And Fukuoka Domain, short on manpower, could not compare to the Kamakura Shogunate, which had been able to draw on the manpower and resources of all Kyushu. Thus, these works were all built very crudely. At the same time, considering that Great Han's navy was far too powerful and its cannon fire devastating, these works had been deliberately built deeper inland within Hakata Bay, making them incapable of preventing a direct landing by the Great Han army.

"The regimental commander has been observing the opposite side continuously since morning... does he have something in mind?" Just as the hour approached noon and the sunlight had grown intensely hot, an officer walked up beside Bi Su and asked in a low voice.

This officer was not tall, and his manner was gentle; his tone of speech was also very modest, quite unlike the average soldier. Moreover, compared to the tall and solidly built Bi Su, he seemed rather like a scholar.

He was the regiment's staff officer, Huang Changguo, a native of Xuhuai. Because his family had once been small landowners, he had studied at a private school for a few years and possessed a rough grasp of letters. Later, amid the great chaos at the end of the Ming Dynasty, his family's fortunes declined, and so he later chose to join the army, becoming a member of the Zhao family forces. Thanks to his familiarity with writing, he quickly stood out and was assigned to the ranks of the staff officers. After training, he became responsible for planning military strategy and assisting with command. After many years in the army, he had become one of Zhao Song's trusted staff officers and had earned considerable merit within the Liaodong Army. Thus, this time, at Zhao Song's special request, he had been sent to Japan. Rumor had it that the higher-ups thought very highly of him; after this campaign, he was very likely to be promoted and also granted a noble title, formally stepping into the ranks of the meritorious aristocracy.

He was ordinarily a very easygoing person who did not much stand on ceremony regarding hierarchy. In addition, because of his Xuhuai origins and the favor of his superiors, his career had soared smoothly, which had fostered a rather humorous disposition — he could joke with anyone, and his personal relations within the Liaodong Army were also very good.

Because he and Bi Su were old acquaintances with a prior friendship, he had far fewer inhibitions when speaking with Bi Su, who was honored as regimental commander, almost as if he were joking.

"I am examining the enemy's actual situation. Our army has been ashore for so long now, yet they have made no major moves — that is somewhat suspicious." Although Huang Changguo was nominally his subordinate, Bi Su did not treat him dismissively. "We clashed with them yesterday and won so easily, but I feel that things may not continue to go as smoothly as before, so we still need to proceed with caution."

"The regimental commander is clearly the commanding officer who handles countless matters daily, yet he does the work of us staff officers, even conducting reconnaissance all around — truly, this makes us ashamed!" As if in jest, Huang Changguo smiled faintly. "But the regimental commander need not worry. We discussed this in detail beforehand. The enemy we face now is nothing more than Fukuoka Domain alone. They are but a corner of Kyushu, and because of the shogunate's many years of suppressive policies, their military preparedness is very lax — they are not to be feared. That rout when they clashed with us yesterday was not an attempt to feign weakness and lure us deep, but because that is truly all the strength they have; they cannot stop our landing. Regimental Commander, please rest assured. It would be best if the regimental commander rested now; we will handle observing the enemy lines. The regimental commander has more important matters to attend to."

"Whether the enemy is strong or not, guessing is useless — you only know once you fight." Bi Su, however, shook his head and did not adopt Huang Changguo's suggestion. "That clash yesterday was nothing more than a mutual probe. Although we inflicted some casualties on them, most of them withdrew, and their core strength was not damaged. The enemy's main force should still be behind that wall, spying on us."

"Just as we are doing to them." Huang Changguo nodded. "But that's nothing to worry about, is it? Our troops are elite and our supplies ample, our weapons superior to theirs, and we have naval gunfire support at our rear. This place is already as secure as a fortress of metal — there is no way they can disrupt our deployment."

"Is staying here at ease all we should do? Is standing dumbly under the enemy's nose doing nothing the style of our Great Han army?" Bi Su disagreed. Then, abruptly, he swept his telescope forward with force. "No, we cannot just stand here waiting for the enemy to deploy at their leisure. We must go strike them, we must deny them the initiative — the Great Han army must never let the enemy seize the initiative. Otherwise, would we not become a laughingstock within the army?"

According to the original plan, after landing at Hakata Bay, the landing force was to guard against possible enemy raids and counterattacks, consolidate the beachhead, secure a staging area for follow-up troops and supplies for the main army, and draw the support of the Nagasaki shogunate forces, creating favorable conditions for subsequent operations.

The main force of the Great Han army, meanwhile, would turn south to raid the Nagasaki region and advance inland along the way, annihilating the shogunate's main forces on Kyushu as quickly as possible, then mop up the remaining hostile elements and bring Kyushu into the fold.

According to the plan, the Great Han army at Hakata Bay was supposed to rest and regroup today; tomorrow would be the time for a probing attack against the enemy to their front. By tomorrow, word should have arrived on whether the Great Han army's operations in the Nagasaki area were proceeding smoothly, and they would then decide, based on the situation, whether the Hakata Bay force should independently advance north to sever the link between Kyushu and Honshu, or move south in coordination to support the other units' assault on the Nagasaki region.

But what Bi Su was saying now clearly ran counter to this plan. At present, although word from Nagasaki said the operations there were going fairly smoothly, no new advance order had come from Commander Zhao; whether to go north or south had yet to be decided. If they attacked rashly, it could very well conflict with Commander Zhao's plan.

It was precisely because he had considered this point that Huang Changguo hesitated somewhat. "Regimental Commander... this is probably not quite proper, is it? It does not quite conform to Commander Zhao's directives."

"This is my judgment as regimental commander." Bi Su replied calmly. "When a great army is in the field, the greatest taboo is rigidly adhering to the previous battle plan and failing to adapt to changes in the situation. If you cannot improvise according to circumstances, what kind of war are you fighting? I am now the regimental commander, the highest commander here. It is my duty to consider our subsequent strategy based on the current situation. Although Commander Zhao's orders have not yet come from Nagasaki, at least the news coming through so far says everything is going smoothly. Since everything is going smoothly, they do not need our coordination over there for the time being. Why should we still wait here quietly, doing nothing? We should take advantage of the fact that the enemy is still assembling and advance immediately, catching them off guard!"

"What the regimental commander says does have merit, but..." Huang Changguo still hesitated somewhat.

"Staff Officer Huang, don't forget... we are the Liaodong Army, the Great Han's First Army! Right now, the brothers of other regiments are feasting on meat in Nagasaki, while we idle here, waiting to play second fiddle. If word of this gets back, how will the brothers of the Liaodong Army view it? And how will the realm view it?" Bi Su suddenly cut Huang Changguo off. "I do not fault Commander Zhao's arrangement. Commander Zhao is the commander-in-chief of the entire army; he cannot show favoritism — at least not openly. On the contrary, when there are good opportunities for merit, he must first offer them to the brothers of the other two regiments. But we cannot simply endure such an outcome! We must carve it out with blade and gun, earn merit for ourselves, and win face for the Liaodong Army! Think about it — waiting for Nagasaki to finish and then coordinating with them, versus us now taking the initiative to attack, crushing the enemy before us, and advancing all the way to rout them — which of these two outcomes is better for us?"

When the conversation reached the matter of the Liaodong Army's standing, Huang Changguo finally understood Bi Su's intent.

Indeed, as the Liaodong theater had gradually been pacified, the Liaodong Army's meritorious achievements had reached their peak, but a crisis had also abruptly emerged. With no great battles left to fight, the Liaodong Army's current merits could no longer compare to those of the other armies. Now, a sense of anxiety pervaded the army from top to bottom, all hoping to find an opportunity to perform well, to give the Liaodong Army's new generation of officers a chance to push their way up and prevent the Liaodong Army's status from slipping aside.

Now, the campaign against Japan was precisely the fine opportunity the Liaodong Army had long been waiting for — how could Bi Su possibly be content to play second fiddle to the men of the other two regiments? The moment he judged that the pressure facing them at Hakata Bay was not great, he had set his mind on advancing directly to put on a fine display of the Liaodong Army's elite military might.