Chapter 129: The Plot to Seize Lüshun

“Since you can’t get enough to eat, are you willing to come with us?”

“I am indebted to you for saving my life, sir. I am willing to follow you.” In fact, Mao Shisan also thought, I’m already on the ship. If I say no, they’ll just throw me out into the ice and snow, on some godforsaken coast. Isn’t that just asking for death? Besides, it seems I won’t have to worry about food and drink if I follow this gentleman.

“Alright, you can rest for a while. You can also go up on deck for some fresh air if you want.”

After he left, Xue Ziliang turned to the medic, “How is the boy’s physical condition?”

“Rest assured, Chief. He was just hungry. Young people recover quickly. After two full meals, he’s fine.”

“When we next make landfall, give him a good purification.”

After parting with Mao Shisan, Xue Ziliang returned to the combat room in the sterncastle. Several Yuanlao who were participating in the survey of the northern coast of the Bohai Sea and the western coast of the Korean Peninsula were already seated around the map table.

Three days ago, the Haitian had sailed directly to Jinzhou Bay. Although Xue Ziliang rarely spoke on strategic decisions in the Yuanlao Senate, at the meetings of the General Staff, he had always been one of the main supporters of advocating for the Lüda base as a key support point for the Northeast Asia campaign.

In the eyes of this fake foreigner, the Lüda base possessed unparalleled strategic superiority. Most importantly, the Lüda base could be completely controlled by their own army, rather than adopting the “militia” model used in Shandong.

After the end of the Engine Operation, Lu Wenyuan took the opportunity to occupy the Zhaoyuan area, becoming the most powerful “local tyrant” there. However, Shandong was a core area of the Ming Dynasty’s rule. Although the three eastern prefectures were not the core area of Shandong and received relatively little attention from the government, they were much closer to the capital. It was inappropriate to openly display significant military force there. It was better to adopt a strategy of key infiltration, similar to that used in Guangdong. By controlling Zhaoyuan, Qimu Island, and several islands off the coast of Dengzhou, Lu Wenyuan and the Shandong detachment could stand in an invincible position.

Historically, the Deng-Lai region did not recover its vitality until the Qing Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty was now completely unable to attend to this area, which had been ravaged by war. As long as they did not openly raise a banner and establish a mountain stronghold, it would not be a problem to be the local emperor here for five or six years.

In contrast, the Lüshun area was a suitable base for stationing troops. From here, it was not far to threaten the Ming’s Tianjin and Beijing, or the Manchu Qing’s Shengjing, and it had the convenience of sea transportation.

“Old Xue, I agree with you. We’d better act early on the Lüda area. The defense line of the Jinzhou isthmus, relying on the line of Fanzi Mountain, is very strong. Back then, when the old Russians held out here, the Japanese, with a nearly three-to-one advantage in troops plus naval support, only managed a pyrrhic victory, and that’s not even counting the lack of a weapon generation gap advantage,” Wang Ruixiang, as a staunch “advocate of aggression,” was very dissatisfied with the Yuanlao Senate’s long-term neglect of the northern regions.

“I feel the same way. The narrowest part of this area is only three times the length of the willow palisade on Qimu Island, but the strategic depth is much greater.”

Xue Ziliang opened his laptop and showed the photos taken by the special reconnaissance team during their field survey of the Jinzhou Peninsula a few days ago. In order not to be noticed by the beacon towers of Lüshun Fortress, the Haitian did not fire up its boilers at that time, nor did it directly reconnoiter Lüshun Port. Instead, it surveyed the Jinzhou isthmus from the directions of Jinzhou Bay and Dalian Bay respectively. The results of the reconnaissance satisfied Xue Ziliang. In the Ming Dynasty, there was no land reclamation from the sea there. The isthmus was narrower than in modern times, which was conducive to defense, and the winter freezing situation was not too serious. If they controlled this place, it would be unrealistic for the Later Jin army to try to cross the ice to launch a sneak attack.

“Some of our comrades are too conservative now. The situation is constantly changing,” said the speaker, whose name was Huang Hua. He was from Heilongjiang and had volunteered for the intelligence bureau’s training to be a station chief in the Later Jin territory. He had done business before, had a certain business acumen, understood mechanical technology, was familiar with the geography and customs of the region beyond the pass, and knew some self-defense skills. He could speak fluent Korean and some Shanxi dialect. He was very enthusiastic about developing trade with the Later Jin and then infiltrating them.

“Rather than conservative, it’s more like they are unwilling to deal with the Later Jin—in their eyes, our desire to establish a base in Lüda is essentially to collude with the Later Jin,” Wang Ruixiang said with a smile. “Besides, the benefits are not very great.”

“That’s not wrong, but the enemy of my enemy is my ally. With the wild boar of the Later Jin bleeding the Ming and causing trouble, we can go all out in the south. In fact, making money from doing business with the wild boar skins is secondary. The key is to make the wild boar skins stronger so that they can enter the pass as soon as possible, so that we can avenge the Ming.”

“It’s fine for you to say that here. If the ‘Han chauvinists’ hear you, be careful of ‘heavenly punishment’…”

Huang Hua laughed heartily, “When I was smuggling goods in North Korea and with the Russians back in the day, what haven’t I seen? I’m not afraid of anything.”

Xue Ziliang smiled slightly. Although he was a genuine Chinese, he did not consider himself a “Chinese person,” so he was not interested in this topic at all. However, he also knew that this was a politically sensitive topic in the Yuanlao Senate, and it was better to stay out of it. He waited until they had all stopped talking before he spoke:

Wang Ruixiang said, “What I’m most worried about is not doing business, but that some people in the Yuanlao Senate are worried that our plan is too aggressive. They are worried that dispersing our forces to open another base will become a burden. In fact, occupying the Jinzhou Peninsula will not trigger a large-scale conflict with the Manchu Qing. The geographical conditions are enough to hinder the Later Jin army’s counterattack. We only need to protect ourselves there. The main force of the Later Jin will not bother to come and bite this hard bone, which is a thankless task. Even with the current state of the Dongjiang Army, they dare not concentrate their forces for a decisive battle without Kong Youde to lead the way. As long as we teach the Tartars a lesson once, the Jinzhou Peninsula can have long-term peace. If there is a military danger, it is more dangerous in Zhenjiang Fortress.”

“The Dongjiang Army still has more than two hundred thousand people. It’s a pity to let the Manchu Qing have these people for free. The population of Liaodong is not small either. In a few years, when we advance into Korea, Shandong, and North Zhili, Lüda will be a good strategic node. Our current strategic nodes are all too far south—the latitude of Jeju Island is actually similar to that of Jiangsu.”

“We’re all talking excitedly, but Lüshun is still in the hands of the Dongjiang Army.”

“Taking Lüshun is not an easy matter…” Xue Ziliang said.

“That’s right,” Wang Ruixiang said. “But Lüshun now has Huang Long. If we want to attack Lüshun, Huang Long must die. According to history, he committed suicide when the Manchu Qing broke through the city, so he can be considered a hero. It would be a bit ugly for him to die at our hands…”

Although Huang Long had no highlights in military administration, he was worthy of the words “loyal and heroic.” If he were to die at the hands of the Fubo Army, many Yuanlao would find it emotionally unacceptable.

“It doesn’t matter,” Huang Hua said. “In this Dengzhou rebellion, although Kong Youde failed to surrender to the Qing, there must be some among the Dongjiang generals who want to take this path. They are too deeply entangled with the rebels. As long as the court investigates, their only way out is to rebel and defect to the enemy.”

“What if the court doesn’t investigate…” Xue Ziliang felt this was too illusory.

“Then we’ll give them a push and let the court investigate thoroughly. So many people died in Shandong this time. Can the Dongjiang generals who are deeply involved get away with it so easily?”

“Actually, Huang Long’s life and death are not the main issue,” Wang Ruixiang said. “The key is that we want to support Sun Yuanhua’s faction.”

Although Sun Yuanhua was temporarily “retained in his post” after the Dengzhou rebellion, he had already been dismissed from his post. Even with the help of the Foreign Intelligence Bureau and his own activities, his chances of retaining his post were still fifty-fifty. If he could not retain his post, the Yuanlao Senate would need to support a “man of their own” in the local area before the new governor took office.

Most of the people in the “Dengzhou Christian small group” who had originally followed Sun Yuanhua were not suitable, especially the civil officials. Although they had all cleared their names of the stain of “falling into the hands of the enemy” with the help of the Yuanlao Senate, the crime of “losing territory” was unavoidable. Even if their crime was reduced by one degree, and they were not exiled to the army, dismissal and demotion were inevitable.

In contrast, the former deputy general of Dengzhou Town, Zhang Tao, had the greatest hope. Although he had already been dismissed from his post, he had “rendered meritorious service” in the defense of Laizhou, and not long ago, he was the first to “break into” Dengzhou. The credit for retaking Dengzhou and killing Li Jiucheng in battle was now all attributed to him.

In the late Ming Dynasty, due to the constant wars, the court relied more and more on military generals, and the generals had a tendency to become warlords. In order to drive the military generals to risk their lives, the past trend of valuing civil officials over military officials had changed somewhat. As long as they could fight, even if they had been dismissed from their posts for some crimes, they could easily be reinstated, and even be further promoted and entrusted with important tasks—Zuo Liangyu and others were reinstated soon after being dismissed for several disastrous defeats, and then they were promoted again. The Foreign Intelligence Bureau received news from Beijing that Zhang Tao’s reinstatement as a staff officer was just around the corner. As long as the Foreign Intelligence Bureau did some more work, it was not impossible for him to be promoted to the commander-in-chief of Dengzhou.

Huang Long was a parachuted cadre in Lüshun. Apart from his own personal soldiers and family retainers, he actually only had allies in Dongjiang and no subordinates that he could truly command and dispatch at any time. A considerable number of Dongjiang generals were very hostile to this parachuted cadre. Therefore, Huang Long’s defense of Lüshun was a dead end. Once the Manchu Qing attacked Lüshun, Huang Long would undoubtedly die.

Once Lüshun fell, Dongjiang would immediately be on the verge of collapse, just as in history. Although Dongjiang had been trapped behind enemy lines for a long time and was not well-liked, it was still a major military town that the court supported with hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and grain every year. Once it was completely finished, it would be enough to shake the court and the country.

At this time, if Zhang Tao could lead the “new Dengzhou army trained by Sun Yuanhua”—of course, it was actually the troops of the northern expeditionary force—to retake Lüshun with brilliant military prowess, and achieve a second great victory at Jinzhou, not only would Zhang Tao’s succession as the commander-in-chief of Dengzhou be no problem, but Sun Yuanhua’s retention of his post would also be quite possible.

The Expeditionary Force Command is now playing this game: a part of the Dongjiang army rebels - the Qing army attacks Lüshun - Lüshun falls - the Ming army counterattacks - retakes Lüshun - annexes the remnants of Dongjiang. After this cycle, the ultimate goal of actually controlling Lüshun and annexing Dongjiang will be achieved, while at the same time, the original Sun Yuanhua system’s troops will be tied to the war chariot of the Yuanlao Senate.