Jiang Jin looked at the map. “That’s the plan for now, but Qu Zhao has heavily fortified his forces in Donghu Commandery. Taking it won’t be a quick task.”
She understood what Zhou Sui meant. If they could capture Donghu Commandery fast enough, all of Fengzhou would follow, making it worthwhile to hold Lin County.
Conversely, if the timeline dragged on too long, there would be little point in committing too many troops to Lin County.
Lin County was an isolated city. While it tied down Qu Zhao’s forces, it also tied down their own.
The front line was too long, the distance too great. Even grain had to be transported there, and they were constantly vulnerable to Qu Zhao’s attacks. If anything went wrong, they would be too far away to help.
That meant they had to station a large number of soldiers there, which overall was more detrimental than beneficial.
Yun Ci understood this reasoning too and sighed heavily. “Letting it go feels like a bitter loss.”
Capturing a city was no easy feat, yet now they had to give it up.
Zhou Sui felt the same frustration. “It’s a shame. Luo Lan was too rash. If he had been more selective in who he recruited, trained his soldiers properly, perhaps…”
He deeply abhorred Luo Lan’s practice of cannibalism, but he also knew it was a desperate measure born from Luo Lan’s overexpansion.
Luo Lan was no Lord. He lacked the Lord’s extraordinary talent for governance and couldn’t even ensure his own people’s survival.
His ambitions had outstripped his means. He failed to manage the people’s welfare, let alone improve his soldiers’ combat effectiveness.
This created a vicious cycle: weak forces meant more recruitment to rely on sheer numbers; more recruitment meant even fewer provisions; fewer provisions led to cannibalism.
Because of his soldiers’ poor performance, Luo Lan couldn’t even manage to sally out and raid Qu Zhao’s territory.
Consequently, it only led to attrition among the Han Chinese themselves.
Xia Chanyi shook her head. “Indeed, if he had recruited selectively—excluding the violent rabble and refugees, accepting only able-bodied men—then trained them into effective fighters…”
Yun Ci lamented, “That’s difficult. Who among those who cannibalize their own kin could possibly be good people? Once ordinary civilians entered the city and learned of this, they’d flee in panic.”
“From that perspective, if he wanted to expand his forces quickly, he could only recruit unprincipled thugs.”
Zhou Sui fell silent. Yun Ci had hit the nail on the head.
He couldn’t help but glance at Jiang Jin. It was hard to imagine that in just one year, she had acquired three counties and a population of seventy to eighty thousand.
Jiang Jin lowered her head, deep in thought. After a long while, she pointed at the map. “What about considering an alliance with Daqing?”
Zhou Sui shook his head. “Lu You, the Left General of Daqing, is likely already struggling to survive.”
But Jiang Jin smiled. “Precisely because he’s in dire straits, if we propose an alliance—letting him expand his influence into Wuqin—do you think he’d agree?”
Yun Ci gasped. This was a direction he had never considered.
Zhou Sui grew serious. “Lord wants to join forces with Lu You to take down Qu Zhao first?”
Daqing Commandery was currently under siege by the Jiaolong tribe. If Lu You abandoned part of his territory to the Jiaolong and turned to attack Wuqin, the Jiaolong would likely be happy to stand by and not interfere.
Jiang Jin nodded. “Exactly. The tens of thousands of troops in Lin County will wear down Qu Zhao’s strength. Winter is coming soon. If Lin County can hold out until winter, this war will be won.”
Her voice rang with conviction. “By the time next spring arrives, Daqing and Lin County can combine forces to pin down Qu Zhao’s troops, making it easier for us to take Donghu Commandery. Then, together with Lin County, we’ll seize all of Fengzhou.”
Xia Chanyi raised a concern. “Lord, if we do this, the Left General will also occupy some counties in the northeastern part of Fengzhou within Daqing Commandery. Will we have to take back those territories from him?”
Jiang Jin gave a proud smile. “Why take them back? Having him there will help us pin down part of the Jiaolong forces.”
Yun Ci’s eyes flickered as he quickly grasped her intent. “Lord, after taking Fengzhou, your next target is Chongzhou?”
Having Jiang Jin let Lu You pin down the Jiaolong and not planning to remove him anytime soon meant her next target likely wasn’t Juanzhou to the south. After all, no ruler would tolerate leaving a thorn in their own territory, especially someone as cautious as Jiang Jin.
Sure enough, Jiang Jin’s voice rang out. “That’s right. The Qu Zhao, the Jiaolong, and the Jizu tribes have occupied our Yan Kingdom. Since they’re here, none of them are leaving. I intend to close the door and beat the dog!”
Zhou Sui, Yun Ci, and Xia Chanyi stared at her, their hearts pounding with excitement. She meant to seal off all escape routes for the barbarians who had invaded Yan!
A ruler guarding the nation’s gates—nothing less!
There was another advantage: with no retreat, the barbarians would have to push south or flee into other countries.
As their territory shrank, conflict among them would inevitably flare up. Many Han Chinese factions, who only wanted to hold one city or one commandery, would be forced to fight.
Even among the barbarians, infighting over territory would break out.
This was Jiang Jin’s scheme. She held no fondness for the Han factions who had merely watched while their nation fell apart.
“You only wanted to defend your cities? I won’t allow it. Get up and fight!”
“If you won’t, I’ll force you to!”
After all, barbarians weren’t like Han civilians who had nowhere to flee—they plundered and conquered.
Those who didn’t want to die or become slaves had no choice but to fight to the death.
Of course, this required Jiang Jin to be strong enough that no one would dare covet the cities she took, forcing them to seize other territories instead.
Though her forces were limited now, she had great confidence in herself.
With her abilities and tactics, her army and influence would expand rapidly.
Besides, neither Fengzhou nor Chongzhou could be conquered overnight—the process itself would give her time to grow her forces.
Once the whole of Fengzhou was hers, she would only need to station troops in key cities and counties, rather than spread thousands of soldiers across every town.
Xia Chanyi’s face flushed with excitement. “So we are taking Lin County?”
Jiang Jin nodded. “But not yet. Let Luo Lan continue to drain Qu Zhao’s strength. Let them hold out until winter, and only then will we take over.”
She had no use for Han Chinese who had resorted to cannibalism, regardless of their ability.
Let them fight Qu Zhao until they died—that was the best end she could offer them.
No one objected.
One question troubled Yun Ci. “Transporting grain will be difficult, and Qu Zhao might lay siege to the city come spring.”
The distance from Ge Feng to Lin County was considerable. With thousands of civilians in the city, plus the future garrison of Jinyang forces, they would need a large amount of grain.
Since they were now openly opposing Qu Zhao, transporting grain through his territory would require massive resources and manpower.
Jiang Jin smiled. “That’s simple. Lin County just needs to dig an underground tunnel. As for the grain—have you forgotten the people I have?”
For others, grain transport was a huge problem. For her, it was simple once she arrived in person.
A heavily guarded supply convoy over such a long distance was unsafe.
But if she led an elite cavalry on a swift raid, few could stop her.
If necessary, she could take obscure back roads and easily bypass Qu Zhao’s encirclements.
