Wind Rises in North America 1625

Chapter 398 The Traitor's Battlements (Part Two)
April 5th, the twelfth year of Chongzhen's reign (May 13th, 1639).

Hamgyong Province, Gyeongseong.

As dawn broke, the military training ground was already packed with people.

Flags fluttered in the wind, and swords and spears stood like a forest.

General Kong Youde of the Jingdong Protectorate was clad in iron armor, covered by a scarlet battle robe. At his waist hung a fine steel goose-feather saber, the mottled marks on its scabbard silently telling of its bloody past.

He stood on the makeshift wooden platform, his gaze sharp as a knife, slowly sweeping over the three thousand elite soldiers below.

Apart from the seven hundred core veteran soldiers who were fully armored, most of the conscripted Korean soldiers and Jurchen barbarians wore leather armor and carried swords and spears.

Although the team wasn't very well-organized and their uniforms weren't uniform, after several years of training and practice, they had become quite formidable, with a fierce look in their eyes.

At the front of the army formation, more than ten cannons of various sizes were prominently displayed, their dark muzzles gleaming with a cold, eerie light.

"Brothers!" Kong Youde roared, his voice like thunder, making even the morning mist on the training ground seem to tremble.

The audience fell silent instantly, and all eyes were on him.

"Dongjiang Town has occupied Hanseong, the King of Joseon is terrified, that old good-for-nothing Gwanghaegun has jumped out to stir up trouble again, and the Jianzhou Tartars have also invaded!" Kong Youde said loudly, "The whole of Joseon is in complete chaos!"

A burst of laughter erupted from the audience, and someone spat and muttered curses in agreement.

"But this chaos is our opportunity!" Kong Youde suddenly raised his voice, waving his right hand high. "We've been lying low in Mirror City for years, enduring hardship and training diligently, not to be cowards here!"

"Yeah! Let's fuck them!" Cao Shaozhong shouted from below the stage, immediately eliciting a fervent response.

Kong Youde raised his hand to suppress the commotion and continued, "We've already taken Jingcheng and Funing, but that's not enough! Jizhou, Xianxing, and even further afield, are teeming with grain, silver, and women!"

He suddenly drew his waist knife, its cold light flashing as the tip pointed straight southeast: "Today, I'll lead you to plunder Xianxing City from top to bottom! Anyone willing to work for me, just give me a shout!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!..."

Thousands of people roared in unison, the sound waves shaking the trees around the drill ground, and even startling the crows on the distant city walls into taking flight.

Kong Youde nodded in satisfaction, turned around and took a bowl of strong liquor from his personal guard, raising it high above his head: "Drink this bowl of liquor, and then we'll go kill people and plunder grain! The living will drink from big bowls and eat big chunks of meat! The dead, I'll erect a monument for you, so that your names will be remembered in history!"

After saying that, he tilted his head back, poured the wine down his throat, and then smashed the bowl on the ground.

"Snapped!"

Porcelain shards flew everywhere, as if the final fuse had been lit.

"Let's go!"

The bugle sounded suddenly, followed by the clanging of armor and the thunderous sound of horses' hooves.

This army, composed of former Dengzhou-Laizhou rebels, surrendered Korean soldiers, and Jurchen Warka people from the mountains, swept towards Hamhung City like hungry wolves unleashed from their cages.

"General, more than two hundred years ago, Yi Seong-gye, the founding monarch of Joseon, also started his rebellion in Hamgyong, and then seized Gaegyeong (present-day Kaesong) in one fell swoop, established a dynasty, and dominated the region." Li Jiyu, the commander of the Left Protectorate of Jingdong, said loudly, "Now, we are also starting our power in Hamgyong. We should follow the example of Yi Seong-gye and vow to achieve great things."

"Haha..." Kong Youde burst into laughter upon hearing this, and pointed at him a few times with his riding whip. "Our current strength is not as great as that of Yi Seong-gye. If we can capture Hamhung City and take Hamgyeong Province, we will have already achieved our previous goals."

"As for conquering the entire Korea, establishing ourselves as independent, and dominating the region, I'm afraid that's difficult to achieve. Don't forget, we are, after all, outsiders, and we don't have much capital. If we want to challenge a large country with a small tribe, that's simply impossible. Hmm, be careful not to overeat and get swallowed up by them in the blink of an eye."

"General, what's impossible about that!" Cao Shaozhong, the former commander of the Protectorate General's Guard, said dismissively, "More than ten years ago, I heard those scholars talking about history. They mentioned that during the Jin Dynasty, the foreign tribes and mixed barbarians who invaded the Central Plains were able to drive and rule hundreds of thousands of Han people with only a few thousand elite cavalry, and even established dozens of kingdoms and dynasties of all sizes."

"Although we only have about 700 core brothers, after years of integration and training, we've now expanded into a Protectorate Army of over 3,200 men. In terms of combat strength, while we may not yet be as strong as the Eight Banners of the Tartars, we are definitely far superior to the local garrison troops of Korea." "Given time, once we've completely occupied Hamgyong Province, we can use these 3,000-plus Protectorate Army as a foundation to continue expanding our forces, eventually reaching tens of thousands. How could we not destroy Korea and take its place? Then, when the Grand General becomes emperor, we'll become generals or regional governors, achieving our century-long prosperity!"

"Haha..." Everyone burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"Vice Commander, the army is about to march out and take Hamjeong, why do you look so worried?" Kong Youde turned to see Geng Zhongming's worried expression and asked with a smile, "Do you feel that the time for the expedition is not right? Or are you worried that this war is dangerous and there may be unforeseen circumstances?"

"General..." Geng Zhongming forced a smile, cupped his hands to Kong Youde, and said, "Now is the best time to attack Hamgyong. If we miss this opportunity, my Jingdong Protectorate will regret it. As for whether this battle will be dangerous, I don't think so."

"On the contrary, with our three thousand elite troops, taking Hamhung City and then the entire Hamgyong Province will be a piece of cake. The local garrison troops of Joseon are so weak that they can hardly withstand our all-out attack. When the two armies clash, we will surely win a great victory."

"Hehe..." Kong Youde glanced back at the imposing troops, feeling a sense of satisfaction. He nodded slightly. "Why does the deputy commander look so worried?"

"I'm worried about... our escape route?" Geng Zhongming said softly.

"A backup plan?" Kong Youde looked at his old comrades in surprise. "Are you worried that the Tartars will come from the Yalu River and stab us in the back?"

“How could that be?” Cao Shaozhong shook his head and said, “Coming from Zhenjiang (now Jiuliancheng, Zhenxing District, Dandong City), it’s all mountains and forests, impossible for a large army to pass through. Could it be that the Tartars, like those savages in the mountains, climbed over mountains and ridges all the way here?”

"Besides, didn't we send people to the Tartars to pledge our allegiance two years ago and gain their recognition? What, are they planning to kill us while they're driving out Dongjiang Town?"

“Not a Tartar.” Geng Zhongming glanced at him and said calmly.

"If they're not Tartars, could they be Koreans?" Li Jiyu asked with a smile. "With their fighting strength, even if we send out all our troops and leave few defenders behind, they wouldn't dare to come knocking on our door!"

“He’s not Korean either.” Geng Zhongming also smiled.

"Who could be threatening our retreat?" Kong Youde's face darkened. "Speak your mind frankly, don't hide things from your own brothers like this!"

"General, do you remember a few months ago when we were recruiting Jurchen savages (i.e., Warka people) at Lindu (present-day Luojin Port), we found a large amount of ironware and salt in several tribal camps?"

"Yes, that's true." Kong Youde nodded and said, "At that time, we suspected that these barbarian tribes might have been in contact with the Tartars, and traded furs and winter ginseng from Liaodong for these ironware and salt."

“But…” Geng Zhongming raised his head, a strange expression on his face, “But yesterday when I talked about this with some of the tamed savage leaders, they mentioned a name that immediately reminded me of a terrible problem.”

"what?"

"Xinzhou!"

"Xinzhou?"

"To be precise, they should be called the new Chinese!" Geng Zhongming said with a wry smile. "They established a military outpost in a place not far from us on the northeastern coast. The ironware, cloth, and salt that those savage tribes possessed were obtained from the new Chinese."

"Hiss..." Upon hearing this, Kong Youde's eyes widened immediately, and he angrily rebuked, "Why did you only tell us about this now?"

"I just heard the news!" Geng Zhongming was very displeased by Kong Youde's public reprimand, and his tone became harsh.

"If the Xinzhou people are by our side, then we'll be in trouble!" Kong Youde muttered.

Back then, if it weren't for these Xinzhou people driving several gunboats to help, Huanglong wouldn't have been able to burn all their naval warships anchored in Dengzhou Water City in one battle, almost cutting off their escape route overseas.

Moreover, in the past two years, there have been frequent reports from North Koreans that the people of Xinzhou have accompanied Dongjiang Town in several raids on towns and villages along the west coast of North Korea.

More than a month ago, they joined forces to storm the mouth of the Han River and captured Hanyang City, forcing the Tartars to send troops to its rescue.

What? Just when we've captured all of Hamgyong Province and established a foothold in Northeast Korea, are the New Chinese here to cut off our retreat again?!

That would be extremely bad!
"Once we've captured the entire Hamgyong Province, we must send someone to investigate the New Zhou people!"
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(End of this chapter)