Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 292 Following the Military Mandate to Achieve Prosperity (2)

madman.

Although I knew Song Yan was bold, I never imagined he would be this bold.

Jiao Junze is a good fighter.

Faced with the Jurchen cavalry, he only managed to withstand wave after wave of attacks thanks to the high city walls of Dingzhou, preventing the Jurchen cavalry from breaching the city. If he were to lead his infantry outside the city to confront the Jurchen cavalry head-on, he simply wouldn't have the ability. Putting aside everything else, he didn't even have the armor made of hundred-fold steel.

Song Yan not only dared to confront the Jurchen cavalry head-on, but he even dared to set his sights on the Jurchen royal court.

Regardless of how much Song Yanzhen might gain upon arriving at the royal court, even if he only manages to shoot an arrow at the royal court from afar, it would be enough to embarrass Wanyan Guangzhi.

It's possible that Wanyan Guangzhi's prestige accumulated over the years could vanish because of this raid.

However, Jiao Junze couldn't understand why they had suddenly shifted their focus to the royal court when the Jurchens were fighting amongst themselves. He felt that Song Yan's thinking was a bit unconventional and he couldn't quite keep up with it.

Moreover, the royal court, as Wanyan Guangzhi's stronghold, is the most powerful Wuji tribe among the Jurchens. Even if a large number of elite troops are transferred out, the number of guards left in the royal court will certainly not be small. There are probably tens of thousands of elite soldiers. We only have 30,000 soldiers on our side. So, are we going to raid their base or go and send them to their deaths?
Thinking this, Jiao Junze quickly shook his head: "No, no."

"Our forces are too small; it's simply unrealistic to expect us to strike at the heart of the enemy's territory."

“We’re not familiar with Haixi either. With this not-so-accurate map in our hands, if something really goes wrong, we might not even have a chance to escape. I’m here with my brothers to earn military merits. If we can cut off a few Jurchen barbarians’ heads and reduce the pressure on the border, that would be great. But sending them to their deaths is absolutely out of the question.”

Jiao Junze's meaning was simple: seek stability.

“Let’s just stay here and ambush their exhausted troops. There’s no need to take any risks. Brother Song is worried that the brothers’ health won’t hold up, so I’d rather retreat. Anyway, we’ve already wiped out a tribe, which is a victory. If all else fails, we have a third option.” As he spoke, Jiao Junze placed his hand on the map again and drew an arc from the royal court to Anchegu tribe: “This is probably Wanyan Guangzhi’s marching route. Judging from the map, this route has the fewest mountains and rivers, making it the most convenient for marching.”

"Although the Jurchens looted Pingyang Prefecture this year and obtained a lot of grain, it is still not enough. They don't have that much grain to waste, so I am certain that Wanyan Guangzhi will not take a detour."

“If Brother Song wants to expand the gains, we can choose other tribes, such as this one… the Shuhu tribe; and this one, the Tudan tribe, or even the Shuzu tribe. These are all medium-sized tribes of the Jurchens, with a population of about 20,000 to 30,000. After being conscripted by the royal court, they do not have many soldiers left to fight. Moreover, they are all far from Wanyan Guangzhi’s marching route. Even if someone escapes, it will be too late to send a message.”

"And these are all small tribes similar to the Haoshi tribe, but there are many of them. If we were to take them all down, we would have to behead quite a few."

Jiao Junze spoke at length.

To be fair, this is the safest and most suitable choice.

There were some gains, but no real danger.

However, it is clear that Song Yan's goal is not just these beheadings. In Song Yan's eyes, although the Jurchens are fierce and cruel, they are ultimately not true enemies and are not worth his attention for too long.

Moreover, if we're going to fight, we need to secure at least a decade of peace; otherwise, the war won't be very meaningful.

If you want a few decades of peace, there are only two ways: the first is to exterminate your entire clan.

When the Jurchen race no longer exists, there is naturally no threat to them.

The second possibility is internal strife.

Instead of the current approach, where Wanyan Guangzhi mobilizes the elite forces of all tribes to besiege Anchegu, he intends to throw the entire Haixi Grassland and all the Jurchen tribes into chaos. Once in disarray, they will have no energy to provoke Ningguo, thus buying Ningguo valuable time.

“Brother Jiao is right.” Song Yan nodded, first acknowledging Jiao Junze’s words, then changed the subject: “However, Brother Jiao failed to consider one point.”

"Oh? Which point?" Jiao Junze asked curiously.

“It’s very simple, it’s Wanyan Guangzhi’s ambition.” Song Yan smiled and pointed his finger at the royal court.

Under the moonlight, one could even see a strange light flickering in Song Yan's eyes.

"Wanyan Guangzhi has always wanted to unify the Jurchens. In my opinion, the threat that Wanyan Guangzhi alone poses to Ningguo is greater than that of the entire Wuji tribe. He wants to take over the Central Plains, and he is different from ordinary Jurchen barbarians; he is more intelligent."

"It's no exaggeration to say that if Wanyan Guangzhi had successfully killed Anchegu, he would have been able to unify the Jurchen tribes much faster."

"As for us, it's fine if we destroy the Haoshi tribe now, but if too many small tribes like this are destroyed, the remaining small tribes will naturally become afraid and choose to gravitate towards the larger forces. Wanyan Guangzhi's Wuji tribe is the best choice, which can be considered as indirectly helping Wanyan Guangzhi to achieve unification."

Song Yan spoke eloquently, analyzing the pros and cons: "Right now, the Jurchens are not united, and we can still handle it. But if Wanyan Guangzhi succeeds, the pressure on Ningguo will increase several times over. At that time, if 100,000 Jurchen cavalry march south, we won't be able to stop them at Xinhou County."

Jiao Junze's brows furrowed.

Although such a thing seems somewhat distant, it still makes him worry.

"Perhaps we can split into two groups."

"You lead the way, plan the route in advance, and target small tribes, the smaller the better. Burn, kill, and plunder along the way, causing as much destruction as possible. Burn anything you can't take with you. Don't leave them anything. Even if you can't kill everyone, in this kind of weather, with little food and clothing, many will probably starve or freeze to death."

Jiao Junze instinctively opened his mouth, wanting to refute, after all, he thought 30,000 men were not enough, and now Song Yan wanted to divide the troops.

Why don't you just stop calling yourself Song Yan and start calling yourself Song Zi (meaning "to die")?

Furthermore, what exactly constitutes burning, killing, looting, and arson?

They make themselves sound like villains... Well, to the Jurchens, they probably were indeed villains.

Song Yan waved his hand, interrupting Jiao Junze: "As for me, I will lead a group of cavalry. The number doesn't need to be too large, four or six thousand will suffice."

"Cavalry is much more mobile. Although the distance is a bit far, three days should be enough for cavalry to reach the royal court."

"Similarly, we cannot achieve complete annihilation without aiming for it."

Song Yan smiled. Even if the Wuji tribe transferred away a large number of elite troops, the remaining number would still be no less than 100,000. It was impossible for a few thousand cavalry to annihilate them all.

"kill."

"set fire."

"Make as much noise as possible."

"In this way, Wanyan Guangzhi was busy annihilating the Jurchen tribes, but his own home base was raided. This was enough to make Wanyan Guangzhi lose face. Even those who wanted to join Wanyan Guangzhi should think carefully about whether he was a worthy person to join."

"The survivors of other destroyed tribes will certainly not feel that the destruction of their tribes was due to their own lack of courage and their unwillingness to fight to the death. They will probably attribute the cause to Wanyan Guangzhi's transfer of the tribe's elite troops."

"In this way, even if Wanyan Guangzhi wipes out Anchegu, it won't be of much use. On the contrary, it will make other large tribes wary and alienate them from Wanyan Guangzhi. Those large tribes that are unwilling to be gradually devoured by Wanyan Guangzhi, unless they are completely stupid, will definitely take this opportunity to smear Wanyan Guangzhi... If it were me, I might even secretly support Wanyan Guangzhi's surviving brothers, or even his son, and preferably let them fight to the death." "In this way, the Wuji tribe will be in chaos."

"The entire Jurchen people were in chaos."

"The conflicts between tribes will become irreconcilable, and unification will be a long way off. At least for now, it will be impossible for them to pose a threat to Ningguo in the short term."

Jiao Junze listened quietly to Song Yan's words, his brows furrowed.

Song Yan's words make a lot of sense.

If things were to develop as Song Yan had envisioned, it would undoubtedly be the best outcome for Ningguo... But as the saying goes, such a plan is both too smooth and too dangerous.

"A surprise attack on the Jurchen royal court... what if we are besieged?"

“Heavy cavalry has the strongest impact.” Song Yan thought for a moment: “In terms of impact alone, even the Jurchen cavalry cannot stop heavy cavalry. Even if surrounded, they should be able to break through the blockade. In addition, I have a secret weapon in my hand, so even if we are surrounded, it will not matter.”

Song Yan grinned.

The secret weapon he was referring to was, of course, a hand grenade.

He hadn't been idle in the days before, and he had also transferred a group of craftsmen from Ningping County. Except for the step of allocating the intermediate share, which was done by Song Yan, all the other steps were done by these craftsmen.

These craftsmen were mostly old men from Luo Yuheng's side, and their loyalty was beyond question.

Of course, it is also possible that they were bribed, like Luo Yuheng and Luo Caiyi's maids. Therefore, a large part of these craftsmen were doing useless work and mixing useless materials, which were mostly just for deception.

To this day, hand grenades have never actually appeared on the battlefield. Perhaps it's time for people of this era to witness the power of technology.

Among the Black Armored Warriors, the two squads led by Wang Chao and Ma Han each carried a palm-sized grenade.

Even if surrounded by Jurchen cavalry and warriors, it shouldn't be difficult to blast a way out.

However, this palm-sized thunderbolt is one of Song Yan's greatest assets at present. Both Luo Yuheng and Emperor Ninghe regard it as a top secret and cannot tell Jiao Junze about it. Of course, Song Yan also understands that once gunpowder appears on the battlefield, its formula will eventually be known. He is just trying to delay that time as much as possible.

Seeing the doubt still lingering in Jiao Junze's eyes, Song Yan sighed helplessly: "Don't worry, I value my life very much. I won't joke around with my life unless I'm absolutely sure."

"If all else fails, I'll make a solemn promise: even if I die, I will absolutely not implicate you, okay?"

Jiao Junze smiled wryly. He had figured it out. Song Yan was extremely stubborn, and once she made a decision, it was not easy to change it: "Fine, I'll do it your way."

As for the pledge, it was not mentioned.

This thing isn't very useful. If something really happens to Song Yan, and Emperor Ninghe and Luo Yuheng want to cause trouble for him, even a military order won't stop them.

After a pause, Jiao Junze said, "However, we need to set a time... well, let's set a limit of ten days."

"Ten days have passed. Regardless of whether you have the opportunity to attack the royal court, you must retreat. The same applies to me. I will meet you at the border of Xinhou County."

"That's fine then, thank you."

"Also, take my cavalry with you; more men are always useful."

Song Yan shook his head: "That's not necessary. I'll only bring six thousand... no, four thousand men this time. I'll even leave four thousand of the black-armored soldiers for you."

If no one were to withstand the onslaught of the Jurchen cavalry, Jiao Junze's infantry archers alone would likely suffer heavy losses.

After discussing the details further, Song Yan left Zhang Zhen, Zhang Han, and even Lei Yi behind. As for himself, he took Wang Chao, Ma Han, and their four thousand black-armored soldiers and headed north under the moonlight.

Horse hoofprints were left on the thick snow.

Jiao Junze silently watched Song Yan's retreating figure, and for a moment he felt a sense of tragic grandeur, like the mournful wind howling over the Yi River, a hero departing never to return! As soon as such a thought surfaced in his mind, Jiao Junze spat a few times, realizing that such a thought was somewhat ominous.

His feelings towards this young man were somewhat complicated, and he even felt that he couldn't understand him... Before this, he thought Song Yan was a bit rebellious. But now, he felt that everything Song Yan did was for Ningguo, even for the Central Plains, and for the Han people.

It even gave him the feeling that letting Song Yan take power wouldn't be so bad. Thinking this, Jiao Junze chuckled and scolded himself a few times, feeling he had truly let down the prince's nurturing.

He sighed, gazing into the distance, watching his figure grow smaller and smaller in the moonlight, a slight sense of confusion creeping into his eyes. No matter what:

May the military prosper.

……

Aventurine.

As the capital of Ningguo, this place is naturally the most prosperous area in Ningguo.

Although it was late at night, Dongling was still bustling with activity.

There is no curfew here, and even at night, you can see quite a few people on the streets.

A group of seven people, seemingly never having seen such a bustling scene before, couldn't help but look around curiously and enviously at everything. This naturally attracted the attention of many people around them. Looking at the clothes worn by these seven people, they were all wearing ordinary hemp clothes. Although they were dressed as Han Chinese, their attire was somewhat incongruous.

This is roughly what it means to be a monkey wearing a crown.

Moreover, the hemp clothing was mostly worn out and patched.

Perhaps because he hadn't taken a bath in a long time, he still smelled nauseating.

The nobles in the capital scoffed, thinking he was probably just some country bumpkin. However, these people, considering themselves of high status, didn't say it out loud, even though they looked down on him.

Just then, one of the seven suddenly grabbed a passerby. The passerby was initially a little angry, but his expression suddenly changed as he felt the fingers gripping his shoulder like iron clamps, causing him sharp pain.
"You, what do you do?"

They're truly barbarians, they don't understand any manners at all.

The barbarian opened his mouth and spoke in broken Mandarin:
Do you know Song Zhe?

(End of this chapter)