Chapter 321: Serious Situation, Strategic Adjustment
"Butler, twenty miles ahead is Wubao Bay, an important town on the east bank of the Yellow River."
"The Shu barbarians, the Mo family, should have arrived first. We will be able to complete this big deal with them soon."
Wu Shuqiang, the leader of the servants and guards on this trip, respectfully reported to Wei Yourong, the second steward of the Dai Wang Mansion.
Although he was a retainer of the Prince of Dai's mansion, he did not dare to show even the slightest disrespect to the most trusted steward of the Prince of Dai, Zhu Yi.
Ever since the eldest prince disappeared outside the Great Wall and his soul lamp went out, the second prince Zhu Chuan has become the undisputed next heir to the King of Dai.
The second steward, Wei Yourong, is the manager of Zhu Chuan's faction. It can be said that he is one of the most powerful people in the Dai Wang Mansion, except for Dai Wang Zhu Yi.
I don’t know why, but since the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, starting from the first King of Dai, Zhu Gui, successive Kings of Dai have been restless.
Especially the Dai kings of recent generations, always wanted to rebel and turn the tide, which made the military equipment of the Dai Palace the best among all the kings and became one of the most powerful forces in the three northwestern provinces.
"Well, order the fleet's soldiers to be ready. Don't let the southern barbarians, the Mo family, underestimate our Dai Wang Mansion."
Wei Yourong nodded and said calmly, "I don't know where the Southern Barbarian Mo family got so many spiritual herbs and roots, natural materials and treasures. While trading with the Shu Palace every year, they can also take out so much to trade with our Dai Palace."
"But what does the Mo family want to do?"
"In the past few years, they have traded at least ten thousand sets of spiritual weapon suits and various military formation-related knowledge from our Dai Palace and Shu Palace."
"Humph!"
At this point, he snorted coldly, "I don't think the southern barbarian Mo family has the courage to rebel like the An family in Yunnan and Guizhou."
"Shu is not as good as Yungui. It is guarded by the white-pole soldiers of Shizhu Qin Liangyu for the Ming Dynasty. Any barbarians who want to rebel will only seek their own destruction."
Qin Liangyu, the female war god of Shu, is a world-famous female hero who has long been a peak level five warrior.
The most terrifying thing about Qin Liangyu is not her own profound cultivation, but her ability to train troops.
She trained a group of simply equipped white-spear soldiers into a force that could fight head-on against the Later Jin Tartars in equal numbers without being at a disadvantage.
This ability is unique in the Ming Dynasty.
Even compared with Qi Jiguang's Qi Family Army, it is not inferior at all.
The problem is that the armaments of Qi's army are much better than those of the White Spear Soldiers, and they have everything from psychic cannons to crossbow carts.
The Qi family army once had the strongest firearms battalion in the Ming Dynasty.
Comparing the two, the White Spear Soldiers are more valuable.
Wei Yourong was a cunning old man, and he naturally knew the intentions of the Mo family in Shu, which was nothing more than wanting to become the local tyrant in the southwest.
"But, are there so many spiritual places in Shu?"
Wei Yourong was a little surprised. "Other major forces don't even have enough natural treasures for themselves, so they rarely trade them."
"I have to go back and remind the prince to see if I can find out the sources of the spiritual herbs and roots, natural materials and treasures of the Mo family in Shu, and then take them away directly."
"How can a mere barbarian chieftain occupy so many precious lands?"
As he was speaking, the large fleet had already arrived at the river bay where the Wubao port was located at lightning speed.
"Wu Shuqiang, there are too many treasure ships in the large dock area of Wubao. There are nearly two hundred treasure ships of all sizes."
"Fortunately, the Mo family knew we were coming and left enough berths for our large fleet. Otherwise, even docking at the big pier to load and unload goods would be greatly affected."
Wei Yourong looked at the large number of treasure ships anchored at the row of bluestone docks at the port. The number was beyond his expectations.
Although their Dai Wangfu fleet had one top-grade treasure ship and three mid-grade treasure ships, it was still far less than the number of treasure ships here.
Fortunately, the Mo family's high-quality treasure ship is very conspicuous next to the big dock and can be recognized at a glance.
Moreover, the Mo family knew that we were coming, so they reserved a few berths for us, which seemed very considerate.
It was difficult to see the real situation at the big dock due to the obscurity of the large number of treasure ships.
Neither Wei Yourong nor Wu Shuqiang thought too much about it.
Our family is the Dai Wang Mansion, the top power in the three northwestern provinces of the Ming Dynasty. How noble is our status?
In the territory of the Ming Dynasty, except for the rebels, no other force dares to attack them, unless they are tired of living.
As for those anti-treason forces, big and small, that are everywhere, do they have this ability?
Wei Yourong and Wu Shuqiang both think that there is no such thing.
Not to mention that the two of them were masters of the fifth mid-level of martial arts, the three thousand royal palace guards on the ship were enough to make those with ill intentions retreat.
It was just a routine material transaction. There were neither princes nor heirs on this large fleet. Only someone who was full of food would come to cause trouble for this fleet of the Prince of Dai's Palace that was armed to the teeth.
As this fleet of four treasure ships approached the large dock and had not yet come to a complete stop, something unexpected happened!
"Whoosh!"
"Boom..."
As a bell rang, a huge dark yellow bell suddenly flew out from a medium-grade treasure ship that was hidden by the Mo family's high-grade treasure ship nearby!
This sudden huge bell flashed for just a moment before it rushed over the sky above the top-grade treasure ship of the Prince of Dai's Palace, emitting a deafening sound that swept towards all the people on the treasure ship!
In an instant, the sound of the bell that penetrated directly into the cultivator's soul enveloped all the enemies on the ship!
"No!"
"ah!"……
Li Dingguo personally led six thousand elite soldiers to form a military killing formation and launched a concentrated fire attack. How could these defenseless warriors in Dai Wangfu withstand it?
In an instant, except for the second butler Wei Yourong and Wu Shuqiang, two mid-level fifth-level masters, who felt dizzy and tinnitus and almost fainted, the remaining nearly three thousand soldiers of the Prince's Palace Guard were all shattered by the sudden and close sound wave attack, and fell dead on the deck with blood coming out of all seven orifices!
"Who the hell are you?"
"How dare you launch an ambush on our Dai Wangfu? Aren't you afraid of being implicated along with your entire clan?"
This sudden change made Wei Yourong scream in horror.
Having lived a life of luxury for so long, how could he have imagined that he would encounter such an unimaginable situation during a trip to Wubao?
"Dong dong..."
However, what he received was not a reply from the opponent, but an even more violent sonic attack!
This time, the sonic attack was focused on Wei Yourong and Wu Shuqiang, and its intensity increased several times!
"Oh!"
“Plop!”…
With Li Dingguo's current level of cultivation, he personally led a military killing formation composed of 6,000 soldiers and activated the concentrated fire attack formed by the killing formation's magical powers. This was simply not something that two mid-level fifth-level masters could contend with.
Under the sweeping sound of the Xuanhuang Chaos Bell, the opponent's protective qi was instantly blasted, and then their soul was destroyed!
Li Dingguo launched a full-force attack at close range, and only the enemy who was protected by his own magical weapon or by a military formation could resist it.
Unfortunately, Wei Yourong and Wu Shuqiang, two masters of Dai Wangfu, did not have these two methods, and could only be tragically killed on the spot!
At this time, the remaining few medium-grade treasure ships of the Dai Wang Mansion were also rushed onto the deck by the soldiers of the Xuanwu First Battalion who suddenly appeared and used the military killing formation. A one-sided battle was underway.
Since the main combat force of the Dai Wangfu's fleet was mostly on the top-grade treasure ship, the remaining three mid-grade treasure ships were caught off guard and did not even have time to activate the protective formation. How could they withstand the charge of the Fuxing Army?
In less than an incense stick of time, all the warriors in the Dai Wangfu fleet were killed.
"The Commander-in-Chief."
A moment later, a clerk in charge of clearing the spoils came to report to Li Dingguo, "There are only 5,000 sets of mid-grade spiritual weapons on this fleet, as well as a large wooden box containing some gold, silver, and jewelry, and a secret manual of the military killing array. There are not many other spoils."
"It's a pity that these mid-grade spiritual weapon sets are of little use to our army." "For our Renaissance Army, these large treasure ships are the best spoils of war."
Although he did not obtain any valuable spoils, the clerk was still very happy.
This high-quality treasure ship itself is the best trophy.
In addition to the three high-quality treasure ships and a large number of medium-quality and low-quality treasure ships obtained at the Wubao Wharf in the previous battle, the Fuxing Army can be said to have made a fortune from the surprise attack launched in Wubao this time. The harvest was huge.
Even though each enemy merchant company only has a few treasure ships, when added together they form a huge fleet.
This time, the planned ambush resulted in the capture of a high-quality treasure ship, which made Huang Zhanglong, the commander of the Xuanwu First Battalion, smile from ear to ear.
After the battle, he, together with the two deputy commanders Wu Xilin and Wang Dehua, personally led the soldiers of the Xuanwu First Battalion to work non-stop, cleaning up the enemy's corpses and cleaning up all the captured treasure ships...
The most important thing is to organize all the captured treasure ships as soon as possible and arrange for the soldiers of the Xuanwu Camp to make use of them all and incorporate them into the Xuanwu First Camp.
Li Dingguo was naturally not idle. Just like what he did at Mengmen Pass, he mobilized thousands of craftsmen who had arrived on the ship, together with thousands of soldiers from the firearms battalion and thousands of warrior recruits, to start selecting a site near the big pier to build several artillery batteries, install psychic cannons, and form a city defense force.
Then, just like Mengmen Pass, a large-scale transformation of Wubao City will be required to transform it into a large riverside fortress city.
The renovated Wubao City will become an important water hub fortress city in the Yellow River Basin of the Fuxing Army. Whether it is logistics or commercial development, it will inject great vitality into the development and growth of the Fuxing Army.
The new recruits of the Restoration Army that came on the ship were not simple warrior recruits.
Among them, there are not only many officers at the peak of the Body Refining Realm, but also more than a dozen generals at the fourth level of Qi Refining Realm.
Even though their war experience has yet to be honed, the dozens of psychic cannons built on the artillery positions here are enough to defend this large fortress city.
After the battle, dozens of civilian officials immediately plunged into intensive work and took over the government affairs of this fortress city.
The busiest personnel were those from the Military Intelligence Department. They brought two Qi Refining Realm three-tailed iron-backed demon wolves and hundreds of level three peak demon wolves and began a thorough inspection of Wubao City.
After a day and night of cleaning operation, hundreds of escaped fugitives were caught. After severe interrogation, they were beheaded and buried in a pit dug at a chosen location.
The next target of attack was Shangping Pass downstream.
This is a fortress located at the junction of Taiyuan Prefecture and Pingyang Prefecture, also on the east bank of the Yellow River.
However, this fortress is a small to medium-sized fortress, smaller than Mengmen Pass, and has fewer garrisons.
If nothing unexpected happens, the southern army of the Restoration Army can easily win the battle.
After capturing Shangping Pass, the army went south along the Yellow River, crossed the Yellow River, turned into Wuding River, went upstream, and attacked Suide Prefecture and Mizhi.
Only then will the real tough battle come.
Because it would take at least half a month for the army to arrive in Suide Prefecture.
At that time, the news of the Fuxing Army's massive attack must have reached the ears of the Suide Prefecture defenders, and they would have been on high alert.
It is no longer possible for the Fusion Army to achieve success through surprise attacks again.
Moreover, from then on, no matter how fast the Fuxing Army wanted to continue to capture cities, their sneak attack tactics would be ineffective, as all the towns in the north of Qin were already prepared, so the only way out was a strong attack.
For the Renaissance Army's Firearms Battalion, which currently has sufficient reserves of magic cores, a strong attack is not a big deal.
According to conservative estimates, after the planned first round of offensives lasting three months, the Fuxing Army will capture the entire northern region of Qin. There will not be many variables, and there is a high probability that they will achieve their goal.
After all, the army led by Hong Chengchou was still in the process of preparation, and the imperial edict did not arrive so quickly.
Even if the imperial court's decree to suppress bandits reached Hong Chengchou, it would take at least several months for him to mobilize a large army to encircle and suppress the Fuxing Army.
Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army had at least half a minute to lead their troops to capture cities and territories while gaining a foothold inside the Great Wall.
If Li Dingguo's estimation was correct, after half a year, the Ming court might not have time to cause trouble for him.
A large number of military intelligence personnel infiltrated Liaodong, and the intelligence sent back by spirit pigeons showed that it was a foregone conclusion that Huang Taiji would personally lead a million-strong army to invade after the beginning of next spring.
For the safety of the northern capital, the imperial court would certainly issue an order to draw officers and soldiers from the northern provinces to gather in the capital to resist the possible attack on the capital by Huang Taiji.
The Fuxing Army at that time would not stand idly by. Whether it was the Fuxing Army on the Dongtao Plain or the Fuxing Army on Lingshan Island in Jiaozhou Bay, they would all face attacks from the main force of the Later Jin Tatars.
The head-on collision between the Fuxing Army and the Later Jin Tatars will also officially begin.
At that time, who wins and who loses will largely determine the future historical direction of the three forces of the Fuxing Army, the Later Jin clan, and the Ming Dynasty.
Among these three forces, whoever can win in this war will surely rise up.
The losers will have a hard time making progress, and it will become increasingly difficult, and they will most likely fall into ruin.
There is no need to think too much about it now. The news of the Fuxing Army's large-scale entry into the pass will soon reach Huang Taiji's ears.
As long as Huang Taiji was not stupid, he would be able to guess that the Fuxing Army entrenched in the Dongtao Plain was part of the same group as the mysterious force on Lingshan Island in Jiaozhou Bay, and belonged to the same force founded by Li Dingguo.
The Lingshan Island forces that caused the Later Jin clan to suffer unexpected and heavy losses were caused by Li Dingguo himself, who brought his top-level spiritual beast, the golden eagle.
It is conceivable that the Later Jin clan, including Huang Taiji, would be so angry that they would jump up and down and curse, and they would definitely think of strangling the new powerful force of the Fuxing Army as soon as possible.
Regardless of the grudges between the two sides or out of considerations of the overall situation, Huang Taiji would not continue to allow Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army he founded to continue to grow rapidly. Stifling it was an inevitable decision.
Li Dingguo and the Fuxing Army only had half a year left to grow and develop.
If the Fuxing Army does not take advantage of the current opportunity to grow rapidly, facing the double blow from the Later Jin clan and the Ming Dynasty, it is very likely that it will not be able to hold on.
This is also the reason why Li Dingguo was determined to capture and control all the fortress passes in the Yellow River Basin that separated Jin Province from Qin.
Once the goal is achieved, they will be able to block the Ming Dynasty's official army and launch an encirclement and suppression of the Fuxing Army from all directions, which will greatly reduce their own defensive pressure and enable them to quickly capture the entire Qin territory with all their strength, thereby officially establishing their own territory and gaining a solid foundation.
By then, it would not be the Later Jin Tartars who came to cause trouble for the Fuxing Army, but it would be the time for the Fuxing Army to take the initiative to attack and launch a major counterattack against the Later Jin Tartars by both land and sea.
Although the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Tartars are two overlord-level forces, they now have large numbers of soldiers and generals and great potential for war.
While Li Dingguo was conducting a defensive counterattack, he developed steadily in Qin for a few years. It was not difficult for him to catch up with these two overlord-level forces.
……
"Brother Xiangzi."
In the meeting hall of the Yansui Town Government Office, which had been newly renovated by a large number of craftsmen, Hongmei sat opposite Cao Yongxiang and asked him, "A month has passed. All the towns and cities in Yansui Town, including Dingbian Town where we were born, have been captured by our Western Route Army."
"Currently, order is being restored rapidly in various places, and it won't be long before everything is completely stable."
"Recruit camps are also being built in large numbers in various places. The selection and training of new recruits under the age of 18, which is fully open to Yansui Town, is being carried out in full swing."
"In view of the fact that our cultivation resources are becoming increasingly scarce, after this round of warrior selections, we will only officially recruit 300,000 new soldiers into the camp and form two garrison corps to take over the garrison work in our jurisdiction in the future and be responsible for suppressing the local area."
"The commander-in-chief has sent back a message regarding this matter, naming the two new recruit corps that are about to be formed the Fire Phoenix Corps and the Taotie Corps."
"Since the order in Yansui Town has stabilized and is rapidly regaining vitality, the construction of large farms in various places is also in full swing. Our Western Route Corps can launch a new round of offensive outside Yansui Town."
"The commander-in-chief sent a message instructing us that the Fusion Army must seize as many cities and territories as possible before the government army's counterattack arrives. We should use this half year or so of free time to conquer more territory and gain more depth for future defensive operations."
Now, both Hongmei and Cao Yongxiang are full of confidence and have great courage.
The two believed that their own Fuxing Army would be able to survive the successive attacks from the Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin clan for more than half a year, and thus officially gain a foothold in the interior and the southeast coast, while giving the enemy a profound lesson.
(End of this chapter)
