Neon, Tokyo.
Emperor Hirohito, Mitsui Matsutoshi, Shuten Doji, Zhang Hanshan, and Mitsui Chiko were seated in the conference hall.
Mitsui Matsutoshi nodded slightly and said, "In summary, Lord Oniō wants us to pretend to be pirates and intercept everything being sent to Huzhou and Jiaozhou..."
"No, no, why would the Lord order us to send troops?" Emperor Hirohito scratched his head and asked, "My dear minister, did you mishear? Sending troops at this time would definitely attract those old monsters from the Dragon Country..."
"Is Your Majesty questioning the Lord's decision?" Shuten Doji looked at Emperor Hirohito with a forced smile.
"No, my Lord is wise and mighty, how dare I question him..."
"Then speak less." Shuten Doji looked at Chiko, "About how many troops can you dispatch?"
"As for the navy... we can only dispatch thirty percent of our ships," Mitsui Chiko mused for a moment and said, "And to disguise ourselves as pirates, we cannot deploy large warships. We can only use smaller tonnage cruisers and frigates. I will ask the Ministry of the Navy about this later."
Shuten Doji nodded and looked at Mitsui Matsutoshi, "Has the Lord mentioned anything about the old monsters of the Dragon Country?"
"Uh... he said that if we see a Saint, we should identify ourselves and leave the items behind. If we don't see one, we should transport the items back to Kumamoto, and he will come to collect them after some time..."
"Alas... I'm just afraid of encountering unreasonable old monsters," Shuten Doji rubbed his temples in annoyance and asked, "Anything else?"
"No more..."
"How about this, I'll go to the Dragon Country to see him in a while. Living Buddha (Zhang Hanshan), Chiko, I'll leave things here to you."
"Alright." The two agreed in unison.
...
One day later, east of the suburbs of Badong City.
A fully staffed army of over thirty thousand men began to depart from here for their destination—Badong Dam.
The reinforcements, originally scheduled to arrive in three days, completed a five-day journey in just two days after receiving an urgent order from Tang Ye.
Originally planned to travel by water, which was slower but ensured combat effectiveness and supply, and could also bring some supplies, they now had to travel by land, trekking through mountain trails and villages.
Not only that, but the cost was not small: about ten percent of the soldiers were fatigued due to guard duty and reconnaissance; additionally, to speed up, the Tang family officers in command ordered all soldiers to carry only three days' worth of supplies, with the remaining four thousand men escorting the supplies and baggage slowly towards Badong City from behind.
So by the time these men arrived at Badong Dam, many were exhausted.
"Second Uncle!" Tang Zhou immediately rushed to greet Tang Shuntian, who was waiting with several deputy officers at the entrance, "Second Uncle, what's the situation? I've brought the reinforcements. Have the Central Plains people launched a probing attack?"
"Oh, it's Little Zhou," Tang Shuntian forced a somewhat stiff smile. "You're leading the reinforcements from Wanzhou this time?"
"Alas... Uncle, there's no other way," Tang Zhou said, shaking his head as he walked into the dam defense line with Tang Shuntian. "As you know, the main forces we can mobilize now are only a little over a hundred thousand. Among the Tang family's own generals, there are even fewer. Third Uncle's children, Tang Xue and Tang Yu, both young ladies, have to help guard Fengdu."
"There's no help for it... in times of war," Tang Shuntian's gaze was slightly helpless, then he glanced sideways at a deputy officer wearing a large felt hat. Seeing the latter nod, he said, "Little Zhou, have your men enter the training ground first. You arrived too quickly, and our dormitories haven't been tidied up yet."
Tang Zhou nodded and ordered the collective to enter the training ground to rest.
...
Tang Jingjing and Wang Hu, disguised, watched as over a dozen similarly disguised Central Plains soldiers confiscated the weapons of the soldiers entering the training ground under the pretext of weapon maintenance.
"Have all the prisoners been settled?" Tang Jingjing asked.
"The defense force originally had only over eighteen thousand men. After the battle, only over three thousand remained, and they are all locked up in the dormitories now," Wang Hu said, his eyes still fixed on the soldiers continuously entering the training ground. https:/
Ever since he returned alive from the Yellow River Bridge, although he was still as hearty and carefree as before, he had become very cautious and meticulous.
"Send out all the weapons later. Make sure to inspect them thoroughly. No one is allowed to keep any privately," Wang Hu said, then couldn't help but sigh, "Brother Chuan's plan is truly brilliant... how does this person's mind work?"
Mo Chuan's plan was actually very simple: to use the information gap to completely trap all the arriving reinforcements here.
The soldiers who had previously garrisoned this place had become prisoners and were locked up in the dormitories. Then, Mo Chuan selected over ten thousand men from the nearly two hundred thousand troops outside the city, put on the Tang family army uniforms, and disguised themselves as the defending forces to wait for the bait.
That telegram was sent by Tang Shuntian as bait.
Mo Chuan's greatest reliance was "Crossing the Sea Incognito." With it, Mo Chuan could even guarantee that two hundred thousand troops could move west to Fengdu from Badong without anyone noticing.
On the other side, Tang Shuntian watched Tang Zhou drinking tea and whispered to Mo Chuan beside him, "You guarantee you won't touch the Tang family members, right?"
"Don't worry, the Tang family matters are all yours to handle. I won't inquire."
"Then, alright..."
Tang Shuntian ultimately couldn't bring himself to exterminate his own family. Therefore, although he agreed to cooperate with Mo Chuan, he also put forward his own demands.
"By the way, Second Uncle," Tang Zhou suddenly put down his cup. "You still haven't answered my question. Did the Central Plains people launch an attack?"
Tang Shuntian cleared his throat, picked up his teacup, and glanced subtly at Mo Chuan. Seeing the latter nod slightly, he put down the teacup and said, "Indeed, there was a round of attacks."
"What was the result?" Tang Zhou leaned forward, seemingly very concerned about the battle results.
"We repelled a small group of enemy attacks, but we lost a lighthouse," Tang Shuntian pointed towards the lighthouse in the distance. "Little Zhou, you've spent so much time rushing here, it's best to rest quickly. We still need to arrange supplies later."
"Uh... Second Uncle, let me tell you something, don't get angry..."
"What is it?"
"My supplies and baggage were left in Wanzhou... they probably haven't reached Badong yet..."
"???"