Notice

Ren Tianye’s face lit up with delight.

Had the naval training grounds already been completed?

Come to think of it, Zhang Shi had Lu Chaosheng assisting him. Lu Chaosheng had originally been the de facto commander of the Jiangbei Fortress Cluster, so with him there, the training grounds should not have presented any major problems.

But then…

“What’s the situation with the warships?”

“Reporting to you, Lord Duke, General Zhang Shi has rallied the villagers at Linjiang Ferry and requisitioned their boats. However… they should be ordinary civilian vessels, not warships.”

Ren Tianye nodded, quite satisfied with the result.

They were an infantry army. The most difficult part of attacking the Yangtze defensive line would be facing the enemy navy on the river. They would need a great number of vessels—not merely warships.

The fact that Zhang Shi had thought of this and put it into action was more than enough to deepen Ren Tianye’s expectations of him.

He immediately wrote out a military order, picked up the imperial jade seal, and slammed it down with a resounding clang. Then he had someone deliver it to Zhang Shi, granting Zhang Shi the authority to make every preparation necessary for attacking the Yangtze defensive line.

When Zhang Shi received Lord Duke’s military order, his face was filled with joy.

“Lord Duke recognizes me.”

“Lord Duke recognizes me!”

“Hahahaha! I said it before—although I may not have Wang Ming’s luck, I’ll certainly catch up to him step by step.”

“Under Lord Duke, I will become a great general who opens up new territory!”

Lu Chaosheng nodded beside him. “General Zhang Shi, with your abilities, you proved yourself a fine general long ago. It’s only that the situation in Yunjing is somewhat complicated. As for your methods, General Zhang Shi, they have already earned my deepest respect.”

“However…”

Lu Chaosheng continued, “We’ve gathered several thousand vessels by now. Although most of them are civilian boats, with the warships left behind by the Jiangbei Fortress Cluster added in, that should be more or less enough, shouldn’t it?”

“Should we put things on hold for now and discuss how to attack the Yangtze defensive line?”

Zhang Shi immediately shook his head.

He knew that Lu Chaosheng had arrived at the wrong conclusion.

Lu Chaosheng was a native of the Jiangbei Fortress Cluster and had been familiar with naval warfare from birth. In his view, as long as they had roughly enough boats, they could attack the Yangtze defensive line.

But Zhang Shi had spent many years on the northern frontier and understood infantrymen much better.

For infantry soldiers, becoming accustomed to the water meant far more than simply knowing how to swim. The most important thing was to rid the soldiers of their fear of the river.

That was extraordinarily difficult.

For some soldiers, it might even be a barrier they could never cross in their entire lives. In particular, when facing the surging waves of the Yangtze, they needed to overcome their fear in every respect—physically, psychologically, and through sheer familiarity.

Boats were an excellent means of doing so.

They needed a great many vessels. Then they could assign the soldiers to them and ultimately work out a set of battle tactics suited to their army.

“Just do as I say,” Zhang Shi ordered.

“Continue recruiting boats.”

“Before Lord Duke arrives, make sure we gather enough vessels and make every preparation necessary to seize the Yangtze defensive line.”

Since Zhang Shi had put it that way, Lu Chaosheng naturally did not argue further. “Yes, General!”

“By the way, General Zhang Shi, should we continue distributing your proclamations?”

“The effect seems to have been quite good.”

Zhang Shi nodded. “Naturally.”

“The people of Yunjing have suffered under the Tongxin Alliance for far too long.”

“Now that Lord Duke has led his army here, the soldiers and civilians have flocked to him like fish returning to water. As the vanguard, I naturally have to carry out Lord Duke’s will and spread the campaign against love-addled fools.”

“Otherwise, how could so many people have been willing to offer up their boats and lend us a hand in such a short time?!”

…