Red Mansion: Seizing Jiangdong, starting with pirates

Chapter 168: Quick Success
The counter-espionage tactic is a tried and tested strategy that works no matter what the situation.

It is usually used in conjunction with the strategy of sowing discord. The two are inseparable and have great effects. It has almost gradually evolved into a formulaic means.

To put it simply, it means first using counter-espionage tactics to bribe officials of the enemy country and use them for our own purposes, and then using alienation tactics to spread rumors and alienate the relationship between the monarch and his subjects.

Looking back at the generals and ministers throughout history, more than half of them have fallen victim to this kind of strategy.

Even figures as wise as Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi could not avoid being suspected by the monarch.

Gao Zhi knelt on one knee in front of Kah Khan and said:
"Great Khan, my uncle Zhao Shihong is a senior official of Daxi and a senior official of the cabinet. Once I receive a letter of divorce, I will persuade my uncle to surrender to the Khan, alienate the relationship between the monarch and his subjects, and work for the Khan!"

After hearing this, Kah Khan asked:

"Are you sure about this?"

Of course Gao Zhi was not sure.

Zhao Shihong really loved his nephew and even supported him all the way to a high position. However, when it came to such a major event, Gao Zhi could hardly be sure that Zhao Shihong would betray his country and surrender to the enemy for him.

But we might as well try it out.

He is now at the end of his rope. If he cannot make achievements immediately and attract the attention of Kah Khan, Chen Zhengdu will soon kill him!
In order to save his life, Gao Zhi could only bite the bullet and say that he was sure of it, and then he deceived Kah Khan by saying that Zhao Shihong had no children and loved his nephew very much.

There were a mixture of truth and falsehood in the words, and Kah Khan could not tell the truth from the false. He thought there was no harm in giving it a try, so he agreed to Gao Zhi's plan.

Gao Zhi thus temporarily saved his life.

At the same time that Kah Khan sent people to carry out the counter-espionage plan, news came from the front line that Daxi had sent envoys to negotiate peace.

The envoy was named Meng Liang. Kach Khan met with him and brought many gifts of gold and silver, asking Kach Khan to withdraw his troops and restore friendly relations between the two countries.

Meng Liang talked about alliance, marriage, and other matters of righteousness in the world. After this series of conversations, Kah Khan's head hurt.

Kah Khan had no intention of negotiating peace. He was about to enter the capital, so how could he give up all his efforts here?
He is not the despicable and lustful Fang Yong, so why would he want to form an alliance?
So he casually told Meng Liang that he would agree to peace talks if the other party agreed to offer the heads of Niu Jizong and Ma Shang, and then sent Meng Liang away.

This was just a casual remark by Kah Khan. I don't think Daxi would be stupid enough to kill his own generals defending the city to seek peace...

The battle of Juyongguan is still going on fiercely.

The grassland people's offensive never stopped.

Niu Jizong and Ma Shang led troops to garrison the city.

They had 20,000 new troops brought from the capital, and Qi Jianhui's nearly 30,000 troops. In terms of numbers, it was more than enough to defend the city.

Although there is a shortage of food and grass in the city, Emperor Longqing promised to transfer food and grass as soon as possible, so there shouldn't be any problems.

The soldiers' experience in defending a city is somewhat insufficient, but this is not a big problem for Niu Jizong and Ma Shang, and can be solved through command.

The two had been comrades-in-arms for many years and were also relatives by marriage, so they worked together very well.

Niu Jizong guarded the city during the day and Ma Shang guarded the city at night, ensuring the absolute stability of the city.

The grassland people attacked day and night, but no matter what they did, they could not gain any advantage over the two men.

Deng Ren, who surrendered to the grassland, had an artillery battalion under his command. They used artillery to attack and cooperated with the grassland people in the siege, which was very fierce.

Niu Jizong sent people to record the frequency of artillery attacks and taught the soldiers how to avoid artillery fire. The walls of Juyongguan were extremely thick and strong, and artillery could not penetrate them at all. After becoming familiar with the situation, the soldiers quickly launched a counterattack.

Ma Shang sent people to put explosives into cans to make a simple weapon, which played a great role in the battle to defend the city.

While the fierce fighting was going on at Juyong Pass, on the other side, Wang Ziteng had just led his troops out of Shanhaiguan and was marching to the vicinity of Qian'an County, Yongping Prefecture.

Here, Wang Ziteng met the special envoy of the court.

The special envoy conveyed Emperor Longqing's order to Wang Ziteng.

"Abandon the baggage and food, lead the front army to speed up the support of Juyongguan, and supply food and grass along the way..."

Wang Ziteng agreed to the order on the surface, but in fact, after sending the special envoy away, he still marched according to the original order. The 170,000-man army marched steadily, not only did it not speed up at all, but it slowed down a lot.

Wang Ziteng sees the current situation better than anyone else.

The biggest bargaining chip under his command is the 170,000-strong army. With this power, he will be safe wherever he goes. No matter what the imperial edict is, it will have no effect on him.

He could actually understand Emperor Longqing's thoughts.

Because from the perspective of Emperor Longqing, although there were some rebels in the world, on the whole, the country was peaceful and the people lived in peace and contentment.

The imperial court could not come up with the money because it had “hidden its wealth among the people,” not because there was something wrong with the country itself.

It doesn't matter even if Wang Ziteng's army abandons its baggage. As long as they open the local granaries when passing through counties and towns along the way, won't that be enough for the army's needs?
But in fact?
Over the years, Wang Ziteng has fought wars in the south and the north, conquered the two Huai regions, conquered Zhili, governed Shanxi, and traveled to Liaodong. What he saw and heard along the way made him understand the true situation of Daxi better than anyone else.

Abandon the baggage and go to the towns and counties along the way to ask for food?
I'm afraid there's no grain in the granaries of those towns and counties, only sand for building houses.

When the time comes, the army will be out of food and there will definitely be a mutiny in Xiaoying!

That is something Wang Ziteng absolutely cannot accept.

So he simply ignored Emperor Longqing's order and chose to march in his own way.

Nothing else, just stability.

Leading these 170,000 troops is more important than anything else.

So what if Juyongguan is broken?

He had already sent a secret letter to his family in the capital.

If things became impossible, he would let his son flee to Huaizhou with Li Ni.

He has an army of 170,000 at his command, and his niece is the favorite concubine of Fang Yong of Huaizhou. He will have enough power to gain a foothold no matter what!

Speaking of Fang Yong, at this time Fang Yong had already arrived in Dezhou.

Texas put up a symbolic resistance and then surrendered.

It has only been more than ten days since the start of the expedition, but Fang Yong has already taken over Shandong!

During this period, except for one formal battle in Jinan, most other places, like Texas, chose to surrender after a symbolic resistance.

After entering the city, Fang Yong arranged for the soldiers to rest temporarily and resume the march the next day.

At this time, Zhai Xun and Wu Yuan were seen walking together, with a young girl behind them.

The girl had her face covered with a green veil and walked gracefully with lotus steps. Judging from her figure, she did not look very old.

"This is?"

Fang Yong asked doubtfully.

Wu Yuandao:
"This is the daughter of Cui from Hejian. I heard that the general was coming, so I offered her to comfort him!"

Fang Yong couldn't help laughing when he heard this.

He shook his head and said:
"War is coming, how can I have time to do this?"

Wu Yuan asked, "Are you tired, General?"

Fang Yong shook his head and said, "Not tired."

He had a system entry, so his body hardly felt tired. It was just that he had been marching quickly and conquering cities in the past few days, and had been too busy, so he was a little exhausted mentally.

Wu Yuan heard this and said:
"The general is not tired, but I am very tired. Not only am I tired, but Commander Zhai is also very tired, and the soldiers are even more tired. I hope the general will take note of this!"

(End of this chapter)