Section Eleven

Following an urgent order from the General Staff, Shi Lang and Yang Haisheng returned to Beijing after half a month. Upon their arrival, they did not pause to rest but immediately led their naval staff officers to draft an expeditionary plan. Because this involved a top-secret military operation, the generals’ return was kept very low-profile and attracted little attention. In reality, at this time, most people in Beijing and the interior did not place much importance on the navy. Many officials, and even some cabinet ministers, had always viewed them as a mere "transport fleet" akin to the grain transport services of the past. They believed the imperial court only valued the navy because the traditional canal routes were severed, necessitating reliance on maritime shipping, rather than out of any respect for their combat capabilities.

Lin Feng spent nearly two months inspecting the various garrisons around Zhili. During this major reorganization, in addition to adding several new field armies, the army also established several new training bases and military academies. Now, within Zhili, beyond the original Fengtai and Luanzhou garrisons, Baoding and Datong garrisons had been added to train new recruits locally. Furthermore, based on a suggestion from Gao Shiqi, the Director of Military Education, a portion of the faculty from the Mazhuang Military Academy was dispatched to establish a new academy in Baoding Prefecture. According to this training program, the cultivation of Great Han officers would formally enter a standardized process: the Baoding academy would focus on training non-commissioned officers and officers below the battalion level, while the Mazhuang academy would be upgraded into an advanced institution for senior officers, equivalent in status to the Imperial Academy, with Lin Feng personally overseeing graduation placements.

Immediately upon returning to Beijing, Lin Feng received a report from Zhou Peigong stating that the General Staff’s expedition plan was largely finalized and awaiting his consultation and approval. Lin Feng had always attached great importance to this matter, so upon receiving the news, he immediately rushed to the General Staff office to deliberate with Zhou Peigong and the others.

Counting from the first month of this year, Shi Lang and Yang Haisheng had not seen Lin Feng for over half a year. In fact, since the establishment of the navy, these two veteran generals of the Han Army had spent most of their time at sea. Even when they were on land, they were either busy opening up ports or seeking out Dai Zi and Cui Fa for weaponry. Consequently, compared to the other great generals of the Han Army, their fame was minimal. According to the legendary rankings in local teahouses, Yang Haisheng, despite being a heavy-hitting general who had risen alongside the likes of Zhao Guangyuan, barely ranked fifth or sixth, which spoke volumes about their standing in the eyes of the public and the court.

"Perhaps it is different. I have heard that the customs of the Western barbarians are strange and bizarre. It is said that their titles have little to do with the imperial court; sometimes, even if the court is destroyed, their titles are still recognized by the new master!"

"What do you mean..." Zhou Peigong asked in shock. "General Shi Lang means... as if the pseudo-Qing destroyed the former Ming, and after establishing their own dynasty, the titles granted by the Ming were still recognized by the Qing court?!"

Seeing Zhou Peigong’s bewildered expression, Shi Lang felt quite embarrassed. In truth, he was only repeating hearsay and was not very certain himself. "My Lord, please understand, this humble general is only repeating rumors from the Westerners; I do not know if they are true!"

"Very well, whether it is true or not, let us try it!" Lin Feng nodded. "Handle this matter as Peigong suggested—but we digress, let us continue the military discussion!"

"Yes. Reporting to the Lord, with the cover of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce, we now have nine Western-style ships," Shi Lang said with a bow. "I have inspected these merchant ships. According to Western styles and regulations, these are called 'galleons.' One is a large galleon, and the other eight are medium-sized sailing ships. If we set sail, the large galleon can carry a full load of over 460 men, and the medium ones about 320..."

"Can they not carry more?"

"Reporting to the Lord!" Shi Lang said with a bitter smile. "What I just stated is the full load—usually, when these ships set sail for trade rather than naval warfare, the large galleon only needs 140 or 150 sailors, and the medium ones only 60 or 70. Merchant ships prioritize trade, so naturally, they try to save as much cabin space as possible for cargo!"

"Then this is difficult!" Lin Feng paused and shook his head with a wry smile. "With an army of two thousand, we simply cannot transport them with these ships. Are we supposed to send a full-scale fleet over there? That could hardly be called a surprise raid!"

"Reporting to the Lord, there is still a way!" Yang Haisheng, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly stepped forward. "Chief of Staff Zhou, Old Shi, and I have thought of a method, though it will be hard on our soldiers!"

"What method?" Lin Feng turned to look at Yang Haisheng. "Tell me!"

"It is nothing much, really—we just have our soldiers dress up as slaves!" Yang Haisheng laughed. "My Lord, you might not know that those red-haired devils love to plunder people everywhere as slaves. We can simply mix in with them, dress our soldiers as slaves, and keep them locked up with the black people and mixed-race natives from the South Seas. During port inspections, we can just say we are slave traders. Once we are out at sea, they can come out for air. We can also load some tea, silk, and other light goods as a cover. Wouldn't that solve the transportation issue?"

"Aside from port inspections, there will also be naval inspections by other countries while at sea!" Lin Feng said hesitantly. "This move carries significant risk, and it is very easy to be exposed!"

"If you want to climb the mountain, you must be prepared for the danger!" Yang Haisheng stopped grinning, his expression turning solemn for the first time. "A journey of ten thousand miles to Europe is a matter of life and death from the start. Whether we succeed or fail, it is unlikely our soldiers will return alive. Since we are already risking our lives, what is there to fear?" He added viciously, "Even if it is a suicide mission, we must go, even if it costs us our damn lives!"

Silence fell for a long moment; everyone remained speechless.

"Then these..." Lin Feng pointed to the oil painting. "What are the names of these two cities?"

"The smaller one is called 'A Coruña'," Zhou Peigong frowned slightly. "My Lord, forgive me, but because our forces are limited, I have tried my best to select cities with weaker defenses. The place you mentioned earlier, 'Gibraltar,' is Spain's primary military stronghold and the throat of the Mediterranean. Spain has stationed many troops there, and they have built artillery batteries on nearby islands, with heavy naval patrols. Ordinary merchant ships cannot easily approach it. Therefore, we believe that since the primary goal is retaliation and slaughter, there is no need to clash with the enemy's main forces."

"That makes sense. Haha, Peigong, you are overthinking it. I only mentioned it in passing; which port we attack is not as important as how many people we kill!" Lin Feng patted his shoulder. "As long as we can kill tens of thousands of Spanish women, children, and civilians, I will be satisfied, regardless of which city it is."

"Yes, the Lord is wise!" Zhou Peigong nodded. "Therefore, I have chosen two cities. One is this 'Bilbao,' and the other—" he moved his finger to the other side of the painting, "—this city is called 'Seville'!"

"Why choose these two as targets?" Lin Feng smiled. "Spain is a maritime power; I imagine they have quite a few ports, do they not?"

"Yes, reporting to the Lord. According to Portuguese merchants, Spain has over twenty ports. I calculated carefully before settling on these two!" Zhou Peigong nodded. "A Coruña has a garrison of about four thousand troops and six or seven large warships, with a population of sixty or seventy thousand. We chose it because its defenses are not strong, giving us a higher chance of success. Furthermore, it is close to Portugal; we can leverage the connections of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce to act conveniently, making it easier to advance or retreat!"

"And what about Seville?"

"Reporting to the Lord!" Zhou Peigong said gravely. "If we are to strike a death blow and shock the entire Spanish nation, we should attack Seville! Look—" he pointed to the city on the painting, "—this Seville is not a coastal port, but an inland river port in Spain. The journey to Europe is three or four thousand miles, and the situation is complex and ever-changing. How could we, so far away in China, predict everything? If the situation is favorable and the commanding officers are determined to fight to the death, they can use the name of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce to travel up the Guadalquivir River, deep into the heart of the empire, and slaughter their second-largest city right under the enemy's noses!"

"The second-largest... city!!..." Lin Feng gasped, staring blankly at Zhou Peigong. He had initially thought his long-distance surprise attack was unprecedented, but now he suddenly realized that his subordinates were bolder than one another. Not only were they planning a surprise attack, but they were targeting the enemy's second-largest city. He asked in disbelief, "Can two thousand men take it? How many people are in this 'Seville'?"

"Reporting to the Lord!" Shi Lang bowed. "According to the Portuguese merchants, there are about six to eight thousand soldiers, plus some small river patrol boats used for capturing bandits."

Lin Feng slowly calmed himself, frowning, "This plan is too risky. I fear the probability of success is not high."

"In reply to the Lord," Zhou Peigong said calmly, "our expedition to Europe is a gamble in itself. Since it is a gamble, why not make the stakes even higher? Look—" Zhou Peigong leaned forward, pointing at the painting. "Westerners say this city is exceptionally prosperous. Ships from the 'New World' across the ocean trade here, and the flow of people is extremely complex. Gold, ivory, silk, tea, porcelain, spices, and slaves are all traded here. We can use this to blend in. The art of war says, 'Appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.' This place appears to be a dangerous trap, but in reality, it is the safest spot, like a blind spot under a lamp!"

"According to intelligence, Seville has a population of over two hundred thousand residents and merchants, and it has been peaceful for a long time. If our surprise attack succeeds, given the combat prowess of the Great Han elite, the enemy's few thousand garrison troops will likely collapse in a single engagement. Once that happens, our troops can scatter, spread rumors of a pirate raid or an invasion by the Great Food Empire, release the slaves, arm them, and then set fires everywhere, blocking the city gates to prevent residents from fleeing. If arranged properly and everything goes smoothly, all two hundred thousand enemy civilians should be slaughtered!" Shi Lang said in a low voice. "I have been in the army, and based on my experience, if a city is suddenly attacked during peacetime, it will take at least twelve hours for nearby reinforcements to react. If the barracks are far apart, gathering troops is even more troublesome, which will drag the time out even further. So, as long as we break the garrison, we can carry out the slaughter of women and children at our leisure. After burning all two hundred thousand people in Seville to death, our troops can abandon their ships, go ashore, and transform into cavalry. We will ravage the Spanish heartland, avoid the enemy's main force, go through villages and towns, killing everyone we see and burning every house we encounter. We can retreat toward Portugal, or move toward France. Colonel Murong Wu is a former horse bandit; he is very familiar with this type of warfare and will definitely be competent for the task..."

"Transform the entire army into cavalry?" Lin Feng exclaimed, "Where will we get the horses?"

"Reporting to the Lord, Westerners are accustomed to using horse-drawn carriages. Seville is a big city, and there should be many nobles, so after the city falls, we should be able to seize a large number of well-trained horses!"

"Retreating to Portugal will likely not work. Once a city is slaughtered, the whole country will be shocked, and an army will be sent to suppress us. Even if Portugal does not cooperate with Spain to hunt us down, they certainly will not let us pass through!" Lin Feng shook his head.

"The Lord is unaware," Zhou Peigong stepped forward. "I have heard that things are not peaceful within Spain either. It is said that there is an ethnic group in the northwest of their territory that feels much like the relationship between the Chieftain Nurhaci and the Ming Dynasty—nominally under Spanish rule, but resentful at heart and often thinking of rebellion. If we can use light cavalry to penetrate there and find a way to buy the hearts of the locals and form an alliance, it might not be very easy for Spain to suppress us!"

Hearing this, Yang Haisheng let out a strange, sinister laugh. "It would be best if it were just like that old Tartar Nurhaci; if those Westerners could use us as a catalyst to stir up a Spanish civil war, that would be even better! ...Hehe..."

"Oh!!..." Lin Feng pondered for a long time and turned around. "Let the commanding officers exercise their own discretion. With the army so far away, we cannot make the plan too rigid, or it will become a constraint!"

Seeing Lin Feng agree, Zhou Peigong took the opportunity to turn to the last page and reported, "My Lord, this expedition is extremely costly. After careful calculation by the General Staff, the purchase of ships, goods, slaves, construction of fake cities, training losses, military expenses, expedition supplies, and soldiers' pensions will total over 1.74 million taels of silver!"

"No matter. As long as we can teach Europe a lesson, I would accept paying several million more!" Lin Feng waved his hand magnanimously. "The journey is ten thousand miles, crossing several continents and oceans. You must deliberate thoroughly and ensure all supplies are prepared for the soldiers. Furthermore..."

Just as he was speaking, a shout of anger came from outside the door, "Colonel Li!!—Please step aside, I must see His Majesty..."

"Cough... cough... In reply to the General of the Imperial Guard, the Lord is currently discussing military secrets in the inner hall. Please..."

Hearing this, Lin Feng frowned and shouted, "Li Ergou, is that Rick?!"

Li Ergou hurried in and bowed, "Reporting to the Lord, the General of the Imperial Guard requests an audience!!"

"I know, tell him to come in!" Lin Feng nodded and turned to the three men, "You three may go first!!"