Chapter 408: Never Serving Two Masters in This Life
The news that Sheng Jun was chasing behind made the Japanese army, which had not yet had a real rest, fall into fear and tension again.
A Japanese leader said in fear: "How could the Sheng army catch up so quickly... They clearly never dared to step out of the defense line before!"
Before this, Sheng Jun behaved like a person who was really afraid of water. He didn't dare to move freely in the water for fear of falling into unknown dangers. But now...
"You also know that it was 'before'..." Fujiwara Maro sat in the cabin, full of gloom: "Everything that Sheng Jun showed before was a false appearance under the trick!"
Now he could almost conclude that the source of these tricks all came from Chang Suining! From the first time she appeared on the sea and the knife in Yoshimi's armrest hurt her, she had already set up her scam!
Fujiwara no Maru was filled with resentment, but he knew clearly that this was not the time to complain.
"How many troops are left now?" Fujiwara no Maro asked in a deep voice.
They fled all the way here, and because medicine and food were in short supply, in order not to delay their journey, they abandoned many wounded soldiers who were seriously injured and unable to fight.
A general replied: "There are still 28,000 people, and more than half of them are injured..."
This number is undoubtedly shocking.
When they led their army to attack this place, they brought with them 70,000 soldiers... and in this battle, more than half of them were lost.
Thinking of the sudden strange smoke and killing, the remaining Japanese soldiers still felt terrified, as if they had crawled out of purgatory. Whenever they thought about it, they would still break out in cold sweats.
How could this still be the cowardly and useless Sheng army that they saw as being bullied at will? "General... let's return as soon as possible and apologize to the Emperor!" One of the generals knelt down and pleaded in a trembling voice.
Fujiwara no Maru looked at him steadily, his voice hoarse and terrifying: "This battle is not over yet, who allowed you to apologize on my behalf?"
The general's face turned pale and he kowtowed immediately.
"What does a win or loss mean..." Fujiwara no longer had any intention of retreating, but instead aroused a greater desire to win: "I have promised the Emperor and the Fujiwara clan that we will fight this battle, regardless of the cost, and we will not return unless we win!"
Although the generals had different feelings, they could only respond and obey at this moment.
"That's right, we still have soldiers returning from Runzhou!" A warrior who was also unwilling to retreat said at this moment: "We still have the ability to fight Sheng's army again!"
The "soldiers returning from Runzhou" he mentioned were the Japanese troops who retreated from Runzhou.
Just an hour ago, they had found out that the 40,000 Japanese soldiers were not defeated by the Xuan Ce Army, but by the Taihu Navy who pretended to be the Xuan Ce Army... The 8,000 Neihu Navy was just a trick of pretending to be powerful! At this moment, a Japanese soldier walked quickly into the cabin and brought back news about the Japanese army that had been defeated in Runzhou.
The reason why the 40,000 Japanese troops were defeated was that they were thrown into disarray by the sudden appearance of the "Xuan Ce Navy" and the combined attack of the Sheng army, whose morale had been greatly boosted. And as Chang Suining said, they were not good at large-scale combat and lacked experience in cooperation, which led to their defeat and retreat.
Because they escaped quickly enough, the casualties were still controllable, with the number of losses being around 3,000 people.
The remaining 30,000 people were divided into two groups in the process of fleeing one after another. One group, with about 20,000 people, was converging here, while the remaining 10,000 people have not been seen so far.
The leader of the more than 10,000 Japanese soldiers was named Ishimoto Takehiko. He also came from a large family and had always been at odds with Fujiwara no Maro.
"This Ishimoto Takehiko has always done what he wants and is a despicable person. He might have heard the news of our defeat and led his remaining troops back to the island to take the opportunity to file a complaint!" someone cursed.
Fujiwara no Maro suppressed his anger and said, "He is just an insignificant clown..."
When he wins, he will be the greatest contributor to the Japanese nation and the most glorious warrior. Why should he fear these shameless villains? Therefore, he must win! Seeing his expression, the others did not dare to mention the matter of Ishimoto Takehiko anymore, so they asked and suggested: "General, the west wind is blowing from the north now. Should we take advantage of the wind to go south and meet the more than 20,000 troops?"
If they go south to meet the support, they will be sailing with the wind. On the contrary, if the more than 20,000 troops rush here, they will be sailing against the wind, which is bound to be slow.
"We are short of food and water right now. What can we use to support them?" Fujiwara no Maro said in a deep voice, "To the south of here is the Dasheng waters. The deeper we go, the farther we are from the rear supplies. If we are surrounded and attacked by the Sheng army on the way, we will die without any help from the Sheng army!"
Fujiwara no Maro's concerns were very practical.
When marching at sea, the most taboo is to go deep into enemy territory when there is a shortage of water and food, especially when you have just suffered a major defeat.
Therefore, he could not go to meet the more than 20,000 troops.
"Then...should we go back to the island directly?" the general asked uncertainly, "But if the Sheng army catches up, I'm afraid we won't have the advantage in terms of manpower..."
The "Hou Dao" he mentioned was a hidden island that they used as a rear-line supply storage in this battle.
Fujiwara no Maro said coldly: "The sea route back there may have been visited by Sheng's army..."
Several generals changed their expressions. One of them said, "The location of Houdao is hidden, and its existence is rarely mentioned on the sea charts. How could the Sheng army possibly find it?"
"But the warships and soldiers that came from there to deliver supplies have disappeared for no reason." Fujiwara no Maro would not ignore this extremely abnormal incident. He said cautiously: "At this time, we must not rashly go back there."
If they don’t go to meet up with the remaining troops, they can’t return to the rear... So, what should they do when facing the pursuit of Sheng’s army?
Fujiwara no Maro looked forward through the cracked cabin and said, "Don't forget how much preparation we have made for this battle... There are more places nearby that we can stand on than just an unknown island."
He decisively gave the order: "Let's go to Xingzhou!"
Seongju was under the jurisdiction of Don Luo. One day's boat ride north from Seongju Island would bring you to the border of Don Luo.
Jin Xianying had said before that it would take at most half a month to completely quell the civil unrest and send troops to help him conquer Sheng. Now that the half-month period has passed, he can first gain a foothold in Xingzhou and then let Dong Luo send troops -
Kim Heon-young would not dare to encircle and kill the commander of Daesung, such an honorable thing, and he had no reason to refuse.
Therefore, it would be best if Chang Suining was young and energetic enough, and had enough courage to lead the troops to chase after her... As long as she dared to come, he would make sure she never came back!
Based on the current situation, Fujiwara no Maro made the choice that he believed was the least risky and most advantageous.
At this moment he did not know that his self-proclaimed careful judgment was always under the control of others.
The broken warship sailed according to his orders, carrying him to the end of his war career.
…
At the same moment, a small boat coming from the northeast, in the twilight, approached the fleet flying the military flag with the word "Chang".
They brought with them a letter from Eastern Rome.
It is a very formal document, usually used by small countries to send written requests for help to the suzerain country, requesting the suzerain country to send troops to help.
The languages of Dongluo and Dasheng were written on it, and Chang Suining felt slightly familiar with the elegant handwriting of the Dasheng language.
The last stroke of the pen is the name of the person seeking help, who is the fifth son of the old King Dongra, Jin Chengyuan.
Chang Suining read it in the last ray of twilight and smiled with satisfaction.
In this way, it is reasonable and legitimate.
When closing the document, Chang Suining said, "Yuanxiang, I'll have to trouble you to go to Dongluo Kingdom again."
Previously, when Xingzhou paid tribute to Dongluo with tangerines, Yuanxiang disguised himself as an envoy and went to Dongluo, where he met someone in private.
Afterwards, Yuan Xiang did not stay long, and soon followed Chang Suining and his party back to the Jiangdu defense line, but left enough manpower in Dongluo to help the other party.
This person originally had his own abilities and power, and was also planning a counterattack. This time, with Chang Suining's secret promise, he quickly gained the support of more people who were dissatisfied with Kim Heon-young.
At this moment, the throne of Eastern Luo had changed hands, and only the final step was left.
This kick must be made by Da Sheng, the suzerain state, to be foolproof.
Chang Suining immediately ordered Yuanxiang to lead 10,000 troops to take a shortcut to Dongluo, and take charge of the situation in the name of Dasheng.
In the past half month, in a corner that the Japanese army could not reach, she had her men open up a shortcut to Dongluo in the northeastern waters of the Huangshui Ocean, eliminating the need to go through Xingzhou.
Chang Suining handed the document to Yuan Xiang and said, "Speed is of the essence in war. Anyone who stands in our way will be killed on the spot."
Yuan Xiang took it with both hands: "I obey your command!"
This time, we are not going to deliver oranges, but to pick heads.
But compared to the former, Yuanxiang believes that he is better at the latter. After all, the war is not fought in vain, and the art of war is not read in vain... It's time to bring honor to his own commander-in-chief!
Yuanxiang was full of energy and quickly ordered his troops to set out.
At this point, the troops brought by Chang Suining were divided into two groups. Ten thousand followed Yuan Xiang to Dongluo, and the other 20,000 followed Chang Suining to continue pursuing Fujiwara no Maro.
…
There was a delay in reporting the battle situation at sea. People in the Jiangdu Governor's Mansion were in a panic recently, especially Wang Yue. He was so absent-minded that he knocked over three teacups in the past few days.
Luo Guanlin gradually couldn't bear to watch it anymore and couldn't help but say a few words, asking Wang Yue to focus his mind and not worry about useless things. The right thing to do is to do the job well.
"How can I not worry about it? Who in the governor's mansion, or even the whole Jiangdu, can not worry about it?" Wang Yue said, looking at his friend: "After all, you are the only exception."
Luo Guanlin: “…” Why are they suddenly targeting him?
To be fair, it's not that he doesn't have to worry at all, but he is more aware that he has to focus on the overall situation and not let the governor's office get into chaos.
The Governor's Mansion is now like the head of the entire Jiangdu City. If the head is in chaos, then it will be really chaotic.
The Japanese army gathered all its forces and attacked Runzhou and Jiangdu. The naval situation in Jiangdu was particularly dangerous. The governor personally rushed to the front of the battlefield. People said that the battle situation was not optimistic, and there were even rumors of defeat. Some of them were so outrageous that "Governor Chang had died in battle."
Wang Changshi arrested many people who spread rumors, but under such circumstances, the people in Jiangdu were inevitably restless.
After all, the Japanese army has been making repeated attacks over the past six months, but has never made such a big move. It is hard to say that they are not determined to win...
Every time he opened his eyes, Luo Guanlin's first thought was how to stabilize the people's hearts in Jiangdu. He would never let the situation in Jiangdu, which had just been sorted out, fall into chaos again.
Today's Jiangdu carries too much hard work and hope.
The Chinese New Year is coming in two months. This is the first Chinese New Year after Jiangdu was recovered. It has grown new flesh and blood at a speed that others cannot believe. It is still growing vigorously during the war.
All the schools in Wuer Academy have been completed. The students of the School of Literature and the School of Mathematics have passed three ten-day examinations. The students of the other three schools have also been selected and will soon be enrolled to study...
The workshop she wanted was also being built at a rapid pace. Due to sufficient preparations in advance, it was expected to be put into use before the end of the year...
Everything is moving in a good direction. At this moment, nothing can happen to Jiangdu, and nothing can happen to her either.
This is Luo Guanlin’s real thought.
Because he felt so guilty towards Jiangdu, he didn't want to see Jiangdu fall into the hands of Japanese pirates.
Wang Wangshan has been worried and unable to sleep these days. Last night, he suddenly knocked on his door and asked him through the door: "Is Guan Lin'an asleep?"
He was forced to get up, put on his clothes, and talk with Wang Wangshan by candlelight at night.
Wang Wangshan talked deeply, even with tears in his eyes, and said that he would never serve two masters in his life. If the governor really had any problems, he would never turn to someone else.
These four words "do not serve two masters" made Luo Guanlin silent for a while.
But then he heard Wang Wangshan entrusting him with something, saying "Guan Lin, if you find another wise master in the future, I hope you can take care of and support my Wang family members."
It looked like he was leaving his last words.
Little did people know that Luo Guanlin had no intention of leaving Jiangdu - or rather, he had never thought of leaving Jiangdu if Jiangdu fell.
If everything goes well in Jiangdu, he can leave with peace of mind after three years, but if Jiangdu is trampled by Japanese pirates, he will defend it until the last moment.
Luo Guanlin did not tell anyone about these words. He just watched Wang Yue tearfully and said: [This is the wise master I finally found, but I haven’t had the chance to raise her up yet. How can I be willing to accept this…]
Having stayed up all night like this, Wang Yue was probably a little confused before he left, so he asked presumptuously: "Guan Lin, have you ever asked someone to calculate your horoscope to see if it indicates that you are unlucky?"
Luo Guanlin: [……] Is this what people say? After seeing off… no, driving away his friends, Luo Guanlin returned to his room, but he had no desire to sleep. Eventually, he absentmindedly flipped through a book on numerology and quietly compared it with his own birth date and eight characters.
And on the day after this night, that is, early this morning, a group of imperial eunuchs from the capital suddenly came to the residence of the Jiangdu governor in the name of supervising the army by imperial order, and asked about the military situation at sea.
What surprised Wang Changshi and Luo Guanlin was that the eunuch wearing a red robe and holding the military supervision order was actually the head of the Sigongtai, Yu Zeng.
Yu Zeng's visit to Jiangdu was a decision made after careful consideration by the Emperor of the Holy Ce and all the officials.
【On the public memorial day, remember history. 】
(We are recovering slowly. Thank you for your understanding and concern. I will make sure to update the system in the next two days. Good night, see you tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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