In the hall below, lamplight flickered. Wang Jun wore a bright red wedding dress, her hands carefully lifting the hem of her skirt as if worried about staining it with mud, revealing the tips of small embroidered shoes. Her exquisitely beautiful face appeared as white as fresh snow in the candlelight, and her beautiful eyes, appearing deep as secluded springs beneath long dense eyelashes, revealed a firm resolve.
Yin Peng, the Wang clan elders, and a group of disciples including Wang Tang, Wang Yan, Huo Li, and Huo Xiao who had just been drinking and feasting to their fill, sat there stunned, unable to comprehend what was happening for a moment.
Han Qian wouldn’t even attend his own wedding, but on the eve of his marriage, would take advantage of the Shouzhou army’s complacency to directly lead troops in a surprise attack on enemy camps?
And Wang Jun, having guessed this, neither crying nor making a fuss, had also decided not to attend her own wedding and wanted Han Qian to take her along to raid enemy camps?
On the great joyous day of their marriage, instead of both performing the wedding ceremony and hurrying to the bridal chamber, they would lead troops to raid enemy camps?
What kind of situation was this?
Yin Peng, being well-traveled and experienced, did not need much explanation from Han Qian and others at this time. He could surmise that what he had witnessed today along the southern bank of Chu River was a planned large-scale concentration of Tangyi’s elite troops.
A concentration of this scale could be said to display military might, could be said to ensure the wedding would not be disturbed by enemy forces, but of course it could also be deployed at maximum speed to strike at some location in Chaozhou or Chuzhou, catching the enemy completely off guard, raiding one or two enemy camps to add glory to the wedding.
But on the wedding day, was it necessary to play with such heart-pounding excitement?
Not to mention Chuzhou City or Chaozhou City—after nearly a year of unsparing construction, the vast majority of Shouzhou’s main fortified villages on the southern front had solid walls and thick fortifications, with soldiers maintaining extremely high vigilance.
Even a single fortified village with only one to two hundred defenders would not be easy to capture.
Four to five thousand men traveling light and striking at maximum speed could indeed catch the enemy off guard, and enemy reinforcements would not be able to gather so quickly.
However, to ensure the suddenness of the raid and guarantee rapid marching advance, they could not possibly carry large amounts of cumbersome siege equipment for scaling walls and assaulting fortifications. Other combat supplies would also need to be minimized and reduced wherever possible.
At such a time, relying solely on the swords, bows, halberds, and spears in the soldiers’ hands, no matter how many men they had, attempting to take down a solid fortress defended by one to two hundred men in a short time would absolutely not be easy and might require several times more casualties.
In that case, what meaning would the surprise attack have?
It would purely be a heart-pounding exercise yielding less than invested, possibly even earning resentment from subordinate soldiers and damaging morale.
If they were to carry siege equipment and larger quantities of combat supplies toward enemy defense lines, or push to beneath enemy cities and improvise equipment on site, then either the march would be slow, failing to achieve the purpose of an unexpected rapid strike, or time would be delayed—before formal assault and capture could occur, enemy reinforcements would already be converging from all directions.
This would fail to achieve the purpose of a sudden attack.
Unless they bypassed the southern defense system the enemy had established with Chaozhou and Chuzhou cities as cores, with several thousand elite forces penetrating deeper through gaps in their defense lines, entering the heartland controlled by the Shouzhou army in Shouzhou, Huozhou and other areas to find weakly defended targets for surprise attacks?
Thinking of this, Yin Peng sat bolt upright in alarm.
This boldness was too extreme, wasn’t it?
Launching an offensive deep in the heartland controlled by the Shouzhou army meant this surprise attack could absolutely not merely remain in enemy territory for three to five days.
Even without needing to concern themselves with the Liang army north of the Huai River, Xu Mingzhen could still concentrate over ten thousand elite cavalry within four to five days to pursue, intercept, and blockade the raiding forces.
This meant Han Qian was prepared to lead the raiding forces into the enemy’s heartland to fight the enemy’s cavalry main forces, who held absolute numerical superiority?
Hearing Wang Jun boldly burst into the great hall wearing a bright red wedding dress, saying she wanted to accompany the army on campaign, Tian Cheng, Feng Xuan, Gao Shao, Zhao Wuji and others were first startled, then all looked expectantly toward Han Qian, hoping he would agree.
They did not strongly urge Han Qian to remain for the wedding ceremony, because they deeply understood that for this deep penetration raid into enemy territory, troop morale was key to ensuring whether expected results could be achieved.
Therefore, whether Tian Cheng, Feng Xuan, or Gao Shao, none could replace Han Qian in shouldering the heavy responsibility of commanding troops for this deep penetration raid into enemy territory.
At least currently, if they wanted to organize raids, they could at most lead only their own thousand-plus elite forces in combat, with raid distances not too far and time spent in enemy territory absolutely not too long.
Only with Han Qian personally leading troops could four to five thousand elite forces possibly penetrate enemy territory at greater distances, remain in enemy territory for longer periods, and have the courage to fight enemy forces holding numerical superiority.
If the new bride Wang Jun could accompany Han Qian on campaign on their wedding day, wouldn’t the soldiers’ blood courage be stimulated to surge upward with roars?
Han Qian also knew Wang Jun was intelligent and unconstrained by common etiquette, without petty affectations. He pressed his hand on the long table to stand, declaring loudly: “Good, you shall lead troops on campaign with me…” He walked forward to grasp Wang Jun’s slightly cool small hand, then walked back to sit side by side behind the long table, signaling attendants to remove the leftover food and cold dishes from the table, bring in more long tables and floor cushions, and issue orders to summon all battalion commanders and vice-battalion commanders of officer rank currently gathered west of Wushou River into the hall that night to hold an overnight surprise attack operational mobilization meeting.
Yin Peng, the Wang clan elders, Wang Tang, Huo Li and other disciples all stood to take their leave out of discretion, going first to the temporary camp to rest.
“Wang Tang and Huo Li, since their youth, have assisted my father in managing household troops. They have read several military texts. Though they may not amount to much, in this campaign they should be able to wield swords and execute orders at my husband’s side with some measure of strength.” Wang Jun said.
Wang Tang, Wang Yan, Wang Zhe, Huo Li, Huo Xiao—these five would lead over one hundred households of slaves and servants as part of the dowry, settling in Tangyi after Wang Jun’s marriage to Han Qian.
Although this would be viewed by interested parties as a sign of the Wang clan hedging their bets, Wang Jun still insisted on it.
Wang Wenqian had always been active as a strategic advisor and judicial administrator beside Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan, only presiding over Yangzhou’s military and political affairs in recent years.
This led to Wang family members qualified for official service currently holding only some auxiliary, not particularly prominent positions.
As for Wang Tang, Huo Li and other young illegitimate sons without qualifications for official service, they were even more obscure in Huaidong.
These several men were encountering Xuzhou people for almost the first time.
During the banquet earlier, though Yin Peng had intentionally supported them, introducing them all and greatly praising their talents, hoping they could have good prospects in Tangyi, truthfully speaking Han Qian had not formed very deep impressions of them.
Tian Cheng, Gao Shao and others also thought they were people the new wife Wang Jun brought over, so they would first be employed by Lady Wang Jun. Only after gradually observing whether they had ability and would be loyal to Tangyi would it be time to promote them further.
Everyone had not expected that Wang Jun would directly recommend two of them to join the campaign at this time.
Yin Peng and the two Wang clan elders were all startled.
Remarriage itself was an extremely awkward matter for the Wang clan.
Moreover, the Han and Wang families had been entangled in too much enmity over these years. This marriage seemed more like a naked political transaction from beginning to end.
Precisely because he worried Wang Jun would face difficulties and an embarrassing position after marrying into Tangyi, Yin Peng insisted on escorting the bride despite possibly incurring suspicion from Prince Xin Yang Yuanyan, Ruan Yan and others.
He had not expected that before even performing the wedding ceremony, Wang Jun would first insist on joining Han Qian in leading troops on campaign, and after having this abrupt request granted, would unhesitatingly and directly recommend Wang clan disciples who had not gained the trust of Xuzhou people to accompany the army.
Could she really be so willful?
If Han Qian rejected her on the spot, wouldn’t her position become precarious before even becoming the mistress?
Han Qian’s expression darkened slightly as he looked toward the Wang clan disciples preparing to take their leave at the front of the hall. Wang Tang and Huo Li had spent years tempering their bodies and arduously practicing martial arts, making their figures more upright and robust, also more heroically spirited. The other three appeared more scholarly and delicate.
Just as others were speculating what words he would use to refuse Wang Jun, Han Qian turned his head, glanced at Wang Jun, extended his hand to invite Wang Tang and Huo Li to remain, saying: “The Military Intelligence Staff Office lacks two military staff officers. You two may each select a contingent of able fighters from the Wang household servants to accompany me on this campaign.”
As the central organizational institution for entire army operations, the Military Intelligence Staff Office not only conducted reconnaissance and analysis of enemy situations but also included issuance of combat orders and logistical supply guarantees—its officer allocation far exceeded ordinary battalions.
The Military Intelligence Staff Office was normally administered by Military Administrator Gao Shao on Han Qian’s behalf, with Chief Inspector Guo Que, Vice Chief Inspector Xi Fa’er and others only responsible for daily affairs.
If the Martial Academy could be called a training camp for base-level officers, then in Han Qian’s plan, the Military Intelligence Staff Office could be called the cradle of commander cultivation.
He had currently established regulations requiring battalion commander-level promotions to first serve in the Military Intelligence Staff Office for a period. Only after becoming familiar with the entire army’s military intelligence, combat reconnaissance analysis, and logistical support systems in the Military Intelligence Staff Office could they serve as battalion-level chief commanders.
Although military staff positions in the Military Intelligence Staff Office were only ordinary officer positions, Wang Tang and Huo Li could directly access the core operational secrets of Tangyi’s forces. This demonstrated Han Qian’s full trust in them.
Wang Tang and Huo Li also seized the opportunity to kneel on one knee, pledging loyalty to Tangyi and obedience to orders.
Yin Peng looked at Han Qian and Wang Jun in confusion, not knowing what scheme these two were playing, somewhat suspecting whether his bride-escorting was superfluous.
Wang Yan, Wang Zhe, Huo Xiao and others showed no disappointment or dejection at not being able to accompany the army on campaign.
Though Wang Jun had persuaded them to relocate their entire families to Tangyi, they still felt quite uneasy inside, even viewing this more as a risky venture.
As illegitimate sons, they did not fear hardship or danger, but if Wang Jun could not gain the trust of Han Qian and the Han family in Tangyi, their relocation would be destined to lifelong mediocrity, their circumstances possibly even worse than remaining in Yangzhou.
Now that Wang Tang and Huo Li could join the Military Intelligence Staff Office and participate in confidential matters through Wang Jun’s recommendation, what did they have to worry about regarding their future prospects?