Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 301: Outstanding Achievements

Liaodong, Moyun Mountain.

A team of more than a thousand Great Zhou cavalrymen marched on the vast land where the snow had not yet melted.

At this time, nearly two months had passed since Jia Cong set out from Yafu Pass.

Since the last time he entered Pantuo City and encountered hundreds of old and weak people being massacred by the Jurchens, Jia Cong's determination to wipe out the Jurchen warlords has become even stronger.

He and Ellie led the army northward, then turned south.

The journey along the way was often in a process of constant deviation and return from the established right-wing army pursuit route of Liaodong Town.

That's because the retreat route of the three Jurchen guards was not completely consistent with the Liaodong Army's established pursuit route.

If they mechanically pursued along the original route, they would not be able to effectively intercept and attack the remnants of the Three Jurchen Guards.

If the remnants of the three Jurchen guards escape into the dense forests and mountains of northern Liao, or even into Goryeo, the Great Zhou army would be helpless.

Within a few years, the three Jurchen guards will recover, and the confrontation between the Great Zhou and the Jurchens in Liaodong will once again enter a vicious cycle.

Fortunately, the right-wing army led by Jia Cong avoided the negative impact caused by the established marching route.

That's because Ai Li commanded the falconer to hover in the sky and investigate. Once any trace was found, Jia Cong would send out scouts to investigate the details according to the direction indicated by the falconer.

This method of searching for the enemy achieved extremely accurate and efficient results.

Although Jia Cong's right-wing army often deviated from the established route, it managed to lock down the retreat direction of the three Jurchen guards to the greatest extent possible.

During the whole process, the right-wing army and the three Jurchen guards had engaged in several fierce battles.

Because Jia Cong had a clear advantage in enemy intelligence and was skilled in the use of firearms.

After several rounds, they have killed nearly a thousand enemies, which has had the effect of eroding and weakening the enemy's strength.

The results achieved by Jia Cong's right-wing army have always been far ahead of the left and center armies.

Every time the battle report was sent back to Liaodong Town, or even back to the capital, it reported the brilliant achievements of Jia Cong's right-wing army and the stability of the left and center armies.

Liang Chengzong, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong Town, and Emperor Jiazhao in the capital were both very surprised and shocked.

It is truly amazing that a young general could achieve such outstanding results in his first expedition.

……

In the vast land of Liaodong, the two teams chasing each other had countless routes to choose from. Without the advanced technology of later generations, the probability of encountering each other was actually very low.

For example, the right-wing army led by Jia Cong had a chance to intercept and engage in battle, which can be explained as a lucky coincidence.

But if we can accurately lock onto the enemy every time, or even stop the fighting, then it cannot be explained by luck.

Although Jia Cong said that he would use the Saker Falcon to track down the enemy when he warned the Jurchen army of the invasion of Yafu Pass, both Liang Chengzong and Liu Yongzheng were skeptical.

In their opinion, Haidongqing played a negligible auxiliary role at most, and it was mainly Jia Cong who went out of the city himself and found the enemy's whereabouts through some means.

After that, Jia Cong never mentioned this matter again for some reason.

……

Since leaving Pantuo City, the right-wing army rarely encountered resistance from young and strong Jurchens in the Jurchen villages they passed along the way.

Most of the Jurchen villages were left with only weak women, children, the elderly and the infirm, with starving people everywhere and a miserable appearance. The food, cattle and sheep in the villages had almost been looted.

Even in a few Jurchen villages that showed signs of having more food reserves, there were tragic scenes of massacre and looting.

By referring to these signs, Jia Cong could judge how heavy a blow the Jurchen elite troops lost in the battle of Yafu Pass were to the three Jurchen guards.

The number of young and strong men in the Jurchen villages along the way decreased, as they were either killed in the war or forcibly conscripted by the retreating Three Jurchen Guards.

There was also the plundering of food and supplies by the three Jurchen guards, who were so brutal even when facing their own people.

This can only mean that the remaining troops of the Three Guards led by Dong Shan and Li Manzhu have reached the point of desperation and having to make a desperate attempt.

They may be the weakest enemy, but they may also be a fierce army fighting a last-ditch battle.

……

By the end of April, the temperature had risen in the past few days, the winter snow had melted, and the army encountered thick fog wherever it went. Even the eagle slaves' spying on the movements of the Jurchen army became unclear.

Jia Cong was worried that this would slow down the march and cause him to lose track of the three Jurchen guards, so he sped up his march toward Bazhujiang, intending to intercept the defeated three Jurchen guards from the front.

That night, the right-wing army marched to a place fifty miles away from Bazhu River and set up camp on a nearby meadow.

Until the moon reached the zenith and gradually set in the west, the entire right-wing army camp was silent, with only the light in Jia Cong's tent still on.

Under the dim oil lamp, a marching map made of sheepskin was spread out.

In Jia Cong's eyes, this so-called marching map was very simple, with winding and undulating vertical and horizontal lines on it, depicting rivers, mountains and their names.

There are also some dots, representing the few nearby market towns, and one place name catches the eye.

Yonghui City was an important town built by the Jurchen tribe on the banks of the Bazhu River. It had tall city walls and gatehouses and could accommodate tens of thousands of soldiers. It was the most important fortress in the northeastern border of the Jurchens.

At the military meeting at Yafu Pass, Liang Chengzong and many other Liaodong generals concluded that Dong Shan and Li Manzhu would lead the remnants of the Three Guards to retreat to Yonghui City when they were at their wits' end.

Relying on the tall walls of Yonghui City, they held the city and had a final confrontation with the Great Zhou army, buying them a chance to catch their breath.

Therefore, the three armies arranged by Liang Chengzong, including Jia Cong's right army and Deng Hui's central army, all ended their marches near Yonghui City. Thirty miles away from Yonghui City was an abandoned market, Qingyuan Market, which was built by Goryeo to trade materials with the Jurchen tribes.

Behind Qing Yuanji is the broad Yalu River, and across the river is the place where Goryeo controlled the offensive.

The flame of the oil lamp was jumping, and Jia Cong's eyes were focused on Yonghui City and Qingyuanji.

There were nearly 8,000 troops in the three armies. If they besieged Yonghui City, even if the Jurchens gathered young and strong men from the tribes along the way, they would only have more than 2,000 people.

How long can they hold the city without any further support in the form of food and fodder?
……

Ellie was curled up on the woolen couch in the tent, sleeping soundly. In the dim yellow light, her pretty face was flushed with the color of deep sleep.

There is only one woman, Ai Li, in the entire right-wing army. Her position in the army is Jia Cong's personal bodyguard and guide.

There were always many inconveniences for a woman in a military camp, so she had to grit her teeth and simply stay in Jia Cong's tent at night, calling it a close bodyguard.

In fact, she was just trying to avoid the overly masculine atmosphere in the military camp, which made her feel naturally panicky, so she used Jia Cong's tent as a refuge.

Although Jia Cong is also a man, he is different for Ai Li...

However, Guo Zhigui, Jiang Xiaoliu and others who followed the army did not think so.

Guo Zhigui, in particular, felt that it was not worth it for Jia Cong to spend two taels of gold to hire a ghost woman as a bodyguard.

Now, the ghost woman with glowing eyes has actually slept in the tent of the Third Master. Did the Third Master hire a guard or find a concubine?

Fortunately, in the battle of Yafu Pass, Ellie rushed into the battle formation and killed the enemy on horseback. Her sword skills were sharp and unstoppable, which made these firearms soldiers admire her very much.

In the battle of Yafu Pass, Jia Cong was an expert in the use of firearms and his command was decisive, which established a very high prestige among the firearms soldiers.

Therefore, these soldiers turned a blind eye to the fact that Ellie stayed in Jia Cong's tent, pretending not to see it, and at most they just told some ambiguous jokes behind her back.

In the haze, Ellie felt that the dim light was still on. She rubbed her eyes and sat up: "It's so late, why haven't you slept yet?"

Jia Cong glanced at the sleepy Ai Li and said with a smile: "No need to sleep anymore, you should get up too, let's go somewhere."

Ellie asked curiously, "Where are you going so late?"

Jia Cong said: "There is a Qingyuan Mountain less than five miles from here. When you go to the top of the mountain, you can not only see Qingyuanji, but also the other side of the Yalu River."

Ai Li was a little puzzled: "Qingyuan Mountain is quite far from the Yalu River. I'm afraid we can't see the two sides of the river clearly."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "You can see clearly, I have this thing."

Ai Li saw Jia Cong take out a piece of golden cylinder from the leather bag, and when he pulled it at both ends, it miraculously grew a long length.

This brass Portuguese telescope was a gift from Jia Cong's artillery instructor Madeline before he went to war, and it now came in handy.

……

Qingyuan Mountain is less than a thousand steps away from the west bank of the Yalu River, and the mountain is only two hundred steps high, but it is the commanding height within a radius of dozens of miles.

Jia Cong and Ai Li, with more than twenty personal soldiers, rode at full speed for half an hour and arrived at the foot of the mountain.

When they reached the top of the mountain, they could see the east bank of the Yalu River, but it was so dark that they couldn't make out any details.

Jia Cong waited on the top of the mountain until the sun rose, took out a brass telescope, and looked towards the east bank of the Yalu River in the light of the fiery red morning sun. Scenes came into view.

He could clearly see a number of organized troops moving on the east bank. Although their numbers were small, they seemed to be well prepared and were closely patrolling the river.

There were many ships of various sizes docked on the shore, and a rough count showed there were about sixty or seventy of them.

Because the Liaodong Town Defense Zone was close to Goryeo, Jia Cong had a certain understanding of the deployment of border troops on the east coast of Goryeo through the documents of the Yafu Pass Military Affairs Office after he arrived in Liaodong.

The Goryeo army's border town camp was five miles away from the east bank of the Yalu River. There were only military forts and beacon sentinels on the Yalu River. Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for so many troops to move around.

It is even more impossible to gather so many ships on the east coast for no reason.

These ships could transport thousands of soldiers and horses by traveling back and forth between the two banks several times.

There was a huge gap in national strength between Goryeo and Great Zhou. When Great Zhou was established, Goryeo took advantage of the fact that Manchuria and Mongolia retreated to the grassland and were unable to look eastward, and crossed the Yalu River to occupy Tielingwei on the east bank.

As a result, they were pursued and attacked relentlessly by the army of the Great Zhou, suffered heavy casualties, and were defeated and driven back to the east bank of the Yalu River. From then on, they never dared to cross the line again.

Jia Cong didn't think that they would dare to cross the river and attack the east with just hundreds of men and dozens of boats of different sizes.

Then there is only one possibility left!

It is very likely that Dong Shan and Li Manzhu had realized that defending Yonghui City was not a long-term solution, and had sent people to contact Goryeo in an attempt to cross the river and escape to Goryeo.

Otherwise it would be difficult to explain the strange layout of the east bank of the Yalu River.

On Jia Cong's way back, the personal soldiers who followed him rode back quickly with his military orders.

Soon, the right-wing army sent out more than ten scout teams to investigate the whereabouts of the three Jurchen guards and the movements of the left and center Zhou troops within a radius of fifty miles.

After Jia Cong returned to the right army's camp, a thousand firearms soldiers organized their troops and marched quickly towards Qingyuanji, while another five hundred elite cavalrymen formed a rear guard.

Once the eagle slaves and scouts bring accurate information, the entire army will move into Qingyuanji at full speed.

Perhaps his actions were somewhat aggressive, but there is no fixed state of water and no fixed tactics in war. If he waits until all the information is available before taking action, it may be too late!

(End of this chapter)