For the Chishan Association to assemble its elite combat forces south of the Yangtze River in advance at Baiti Ridge to prepare for contingencies, they would have to wait until after the main forces of the Left and Right Five-Tooth Army navies had all passed through the Han Canal before they could borrow passage through Yangzhou territory and infiltrate to Baiti Ridge for the rendezvous.
Before that, all civilian vessels in the Han Canal would either be directly requisitioned or ordered to retreat into tributary mouths to anchor. The entire length of the Han Canal would also be under strict surveillance by the Right Divine Martial Army’s scouts and reconnaissance cavalry.
After several waves of messengers departed overnight carrying Han Qian’s directive letters, Han Qian also made new adjustments to the deployment at Baiti Ridge camp.
The previous plan mainly considered the possibility that Xu Mingzhen, recognizing the difficulty, might withdraw the Tower Ship Army remnants from Hongze Lake and abandon the southern Haozhou region.
In that case, Han Qian would have to consider the situation where the court would subsequently completely bring Shiliang County and other areas under its rule. Then he would have no choice but to abandon the Baiti Ridge camp and disperse the Chishan Association into small groups, integrating into local prefectures and counties.
But at this time, Han Qian needed to gather back the dispersed personnel and do everything possible to strengthen the Baiti Ridge camp’s defenses and military forces.
Currently at Baiti Ridge camp and nearby areas, there were over six thousand association members and their families under Chishan Association control.
Since the association members migrating north in the early stages had to be responsible for camp construction, the number of elderly, weak, women, and children was relatively much smaller. Among these six thousand-plus people, there were over 2,600 able-bodied young men, of which over 1,600 were former soldiers of the Left Guangde Army.
This proportion could already be said to be quite high.
Moreover, since the Chisha Army period, Han Qian had maintained the tradition of organizing women’s and youth battalions in war zones to maintain internal order. This was consistently carried out during the construction of the Baiti Ridge camp as well.
Therefore, the military force the Baiti Ridge camp could mobilize at this time was quite considerable.
Subsequently, after the Chishan Association assembled over a thousand elite association members on the southern bank of the Yangtze River to rendezvous, they could await the Xuzhou naval camp descending the river.
Over these years, Xuzhou mainly relied on waterways connecting prefectures and counties in Hunan and Qianzhong. The number of sturdy vessels that could be requisitioned was quite large. Organizing a naval force of five to six thousand men would be no problem.
The Xuzhou naval camp normally maintained only two battalions of eight hundred regular naval soldiers.
Even if they urgently conscripted two to three battalions of infantry to strengthen the naval camp, the Xuzhou naval camp could only hastily gather two thousand naval officers and soldiers.
Han Qian’s military mobilization at Baiti Ridge camp at this time wasn’t hoping that after the Left and Right Dragon Tooth Armies were defeated, they could turn the tide at Baiti Ridge. More importantly, it was to assemble a supplementary combat force for the Xuzhou naval camp.
At this time, Han Qian also assigned a group of personnel to immediately infiltrate along the Shitang River, Xiaojin River, and Shiliang River to survey these main river channels connecting Hongze Lake and the Yangtze River.
Unlike the Han Canal, although the Shitang River, Xiaojin River, and Shiliang River connected Hongze Lake and the Yangtze River, they had fallen into disrepair over the years with serious silting, making them very unfavorable for navigation.
This was also the key reason why the Left and Right Five-Tooth Armies chose to borrow passage through the Han Canal for the surprise attack on Hongze Lake.
However, no matter how seriously silted the Shitang River, Xiaojin River, and Shiliang River were, the waterways were still connected. It was just unfavorable for the Left and Right Five-Tooth Army navies’ mainly sharp-bottomed Xuzhou-built warships to pass through. But small and medium-sized warships with flat bottoms and broad bows could still pass through slowly.
The Tower Ship Army remnants had originally used large numbers of small and medium-sized flat-bottomed warships to escape into Hongze Lake through these river channels.
If the Left and Right Five-Tooth Army navies suffered heavy damage in Hongze Lake, or even complete annihilation, even if the Huaidong Army didn’t dare directly deploy troops to participate in battle, they would deploy troops to blockade the connecting waterway between Hongze Lake and Fanliang Lake.
Only by understanding clearly the water conditions of the Shitang River, Xiaojin River, and Shiliang River could Han Qian accurately predict the speed and scale at which the Tower Ship Army remnants or even Liang naval warships would advance from Hongze Lake toward the Yangtze River waterway after the Left and Right Five-Tooth Armies suffered heavy damage.
This would also determine the enemy situation the Xuzhou naval camp would directly face in the early stages of entering the Chizhou and capital region sections of the Yangtze River waterway.
Han Qian repeatedly deliberated over many details with Feng Liao, Guo Rong, and Xi Ren until daybreak before finalizing the initial adjustments. After Dou Rong, Han Donghu, Su Lie, He Liufeng, and others went separately to execute them, he returned to his room to lie down fully clothed for a brief rest.
Guo Rong and Feng Liao still had no desire to sleep and sat in the council hall keeping watch so that if any new situations emerged, they could handle them directly.
“When did my lord first sense something was wrong with Wen Ruilin?” Seeing Xi Ren tidy up the maps spread on the desk, Guo Rong couldn’t help but ask respectfully.
Han Qian had previously presided over the creation of the Secret Bureau’s Left Office and Jinyun Tower and could track down clues that others couldn’t easily discover. But from Feng Yi and Feng Liao’s words, Guo Rong was quite certain Han Qian had already noticed problems with Wen Ruilin before the campaign to eliminate the military governors. He was still quite puzzled about this point.
At that time, Wen Ruilin was merely an adviser beside Ma Xun of Tanzhou. Guo Rong was very curious how such a relatively unimportant figure at the time could have entered Han Qian’s field of vision.
“Before the campaign to eliminate the military governors, we had multiple contacts with Wen Ruilin. Initially, in order to establish a firm foothold in Xuzhou and induce Tanzhou to agree to lift trade restrictions, allowing refugees to flood into Xuzhou, Han Qian investigated Ma Xun, who was actually secretly responsible for Langzhou affairs, as well as those around him. However, the information that could be uncovered at that time was extremely limited. But among Ma Yin’s sons, Ma Xun was not outstanding. Only after receiving Wen Ruilin’s assistance did he distinguish himself and secure the position of heir apparent—this point is certain.”
Xi Ren said.
“During the Jingxiang War, when Wen Ruilin presented strategies to Ma Xun defending Zaoyang, they were somewhat below standard, causing the eastern flank of the Dengxiang defense line to be easily routed by Liang forces. However, these things weren’t sufficient to prove anything. Perhaps Wen Ruilin was skilled in political strategy but not military strategy. But when Han Qian ‘fled’ to Xuzhou carrying the late Emperor’s secret decree, almost everyone in Tanzhou was deceived. Only Wen Ruilin remained vigilant throughout. Wen Ruilin even secretly spread rumors of ‘eliminating the military governors.’ This was sufficient to show this person was not so simple. That’s why Han Qian went with the flow in Wuling City and gave Wen Ruilin along with the subsequent great achievement of eliminating the military governors to Li Pu. As for why he concluded Wen Ruilin was a Liang Kingdom spy, that’s also simple. After Liang Emperor Zhu Yu’s defeat in Jingxiang, he personally went to Turtle Mountain at the mouth of the Han River to invite Han Qian to work for the Liang Kingdom. Wen Ruilin had some ability, but without an extremely formidable figure guiding him from behind, he wouldn’t have been sufficient to see through all this at the start of the campaign to eliminate the military governors…”
“Ah!”
Guo Rong opened his mouth in shock, wanting to say something but truly not knowing what to say. He said to Feng Liao with some bitterness: “That my lord and Shen Yang and others could form the Dragon Sparrow Army right under Anning Palace’s nose was truly no fluke!”
Guo Rong also had deep suspicions about the secret of Li Zhigao’s background, but he also knew propriety. Just because he had been accompanying Han Qian during this time didn’t mean he could know all of Xuzhou’s confidential matters like Xi Ren, Feng Liao, and others.
Guo Rong looked at Feng Liao and asked curiously: “Lord Feng should know that after my lord learns of this matter, if he immediately sets off to return to Xuzhou, conducts more thorough mobilization in Xuzhou, then leads seven or eight thousand elite troops down the river to reinforce Jinling after the news of the Five-Tooth Army’s annihilation is confirmed, he would need to take no risk at all. And the Chishan Association here could also disperse according to the original plan. Why didn’t Lord Feng just now advise my lord?”
Feng Liao smiled and said: “Before my lord infiltrated Jinling, we also advised my lord to remain in Xuzhou and observe how the situation changed. This time is the same. Starting from what serves Xuzhou’s interests, we should first disperse the Chishan Association members, wait until returning to Xuzhou for definite news before deploying troops—that would be most appropriate. But in that case, the Great Chu forces remaining in Huaixi would almost all be smashed to pieces by Xu Mingzhen and Liang forces working together, right? Even disregarding how innocent the Huaixi common people are, when my lord has discussed the Chu-Liang situation in the past, he repeatedly emphasized the importance of defending the river by first defending the Huai. Even though Li Zhigao will very likely be Xuzhou’s greatest adversary in the future, at this time we can only cooperate with him first…”
Guo Rong was invited to serve beside Han Qian only after the Jinling battle ended and Han Qian returned to Xuzhou. Unless Feng Liao and others took the initiative to mention things, he wasn’t very clear about the details of too many matters.
Feng Liao smiled again and said: “My lord says he wants to be a treacherous hero, but unavoidably he’s still deeply influenced by the former lord.”
“With my lord here, it can truly be said: misfortune for the aristocratic families, fortune for Great Chu,” Guo Rong smiled slightly and said. “After the Five-Tooth Army enters Hongze Lake and suffers heavy damage, I’ll go see Li Zhigao and persuade him to cooperate with Xuzhou…”
Currently, Yang Yuanpu and the Privy Council wanted Li Zhigao to maintain the established rhythm of the offensive against the enemy at Chaozhou unchanged. But once the Left and Right Five-Tooth Armies suffered a heavy blow at Hongze Lake, what choice Li Zhigao would make outside Chaozhou City was uncertain.
Li Zhigao’s best choice would of course be to withdraw the eighty to ninety thousand Imperial Guards and reinforcement troops from various prefectures to Shuzhou at the first opportunity without hesitation, to observe subsequent changes in the situation.
In this case, Great Chu would still maintain powerful elite forces south of the Yangtze River and on the eastern and western flanks of Chaozhou and Chuzhou. With the Xuzhou naval camp advancing east, maintaining smooth passage on the Yangtze River waterway and connection between north and south of the great river, even if Xu Mingzhen and Liang forces heavily damaged the Left and Right Five-Tooth Armies, they would still find it difficult to establish themselves at Chaozhou and Chuzhou, and would ultimately still be forced to contract back.
However, Chaozhou was only 140 to 150 li from Jinling. After the Left and Right Dragon Tooth Armies were damaged, Li Zhigao would have to first request instructions from Emperor Yanyu before taking other actions.
This was also the disadvantage of being too close to Jinling City. As commanding general, Li Zhigao lacked the initiative of a general in the field whose authority need not always defer to the sovereign’s commands.
As for what decision Yang Yuanpu would make upon learning the Left and Right Dragon Tooth Armies were damaged at Hongze Lake, Guo Rong could guess even counting on his toes.
Given Yang Yuanpu’s stubborn nature, he would most likely issue an edict ordering Li Zhigao and other commanders to storm Chaozhou City, using Chaozhou City to meet the Anning Palace rebels and any subsequent offensives Liang forces might have.
The probability of Li Zhigao and the commanders disobeying the decree was extremely low.
In this case, the Left and Right Martial Guard Armies, Right Divine Martial Army, and other units, along with troops from Chi, Jiang, Huang, E, Shu, and other prefectures—nearly one hundred thousand Great Chu elite troops—would very likely fall into the death trap the Anning Palace rebels and Liang forces had long conspired to create, ultimately unable to escape the tragic fate of annihilation.
The most important element in the current contingency plan was that regardless of what decree Yang Yuanpu issued, they had to persuade Li Zhigao to lead his troops to abandon the assault on Chaozhou City, which had very likely secretly become a hard nut to crack, and withdraw to Shuzhou or move to defend Chuzhou, whose defense system had basically been restored and which faced Jinling across the river.
The key bargaining chip for persuading Li Zhigao to disobey the decree and cooperate with their actions was the secret of Li Zhigao’s background. And for quite a long period in the future, the Xuzhou naval camp would also need to cooperate with Li Zhigao in order to establish themselves and preserve themselves in the Jianghuai region…