"His life for a million? You said it!" the Japanese pirate said in broken Chinese. This made Lu Xuan smile slightly. He knew that some of those Japanese would definitely talk about Sinicization. Even though the Ming Dynasty had declined, the influence of Han Chinese culture was still deeply rooted in Japan. Among the Japanese aristocracy, learning Chinese was a common phenomenon.
This large-scale military operation involves six ships and over two hundred elite troops. Japanese nobles will undoubtedly be present to oversee it. Using a Han Chinese translator is merely a contemptuous tactic by these Japanese nobles.
However, when that guy stepped forward, Lu Xuan immediately turned his attention to him.
The man had a magnificent katana at his waist and a wakizashi hanging from his back. As soon as he appeared, the surrounding samurai immediately made way for him, subtly protecting him in the center. With over a hundred people crowded on the deck, Lu Xuan wouldn't have noticed him at first glance if he hadn't stepped forward directly.
"So, you're the leader of this group. If I take you hostage now, can I get the hundred or so warriors behind you to go to Liaodong to mine?"
Lu Xuan felt a pang of regret. He had acted too quickly and ruthlessly. It was such a waste to kill so many laborers. Wouldn't it have been better to send them back to the mines as cannon fodder? However, he wasn't aware of the current situation in Japan. He wondered if the Bushido spirit circulated online was reliable.
If he's unreliable, what if he takes this guy hostage and all the Japanese soldiers on the other side run away? Wouldn't that be incredibly awkward?
As soon as Lu Xuan uttered these words, the Japanese pirates opposite him launched into another barrage of Chinese. It seemed that he wasn't the only one who understood Chinese. These bastards harbored a deep-seated hostility towards the Han people.
"Or perhaps we should just forget about it. After thinking it over, I realize I have too few men. Even if I capture you all, I can't take you all back. Let's just kill them all..."
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Chapter 131 The Japanese Invaders (Please Subscribe)
In the end, Lu Xuan was unable to kill all of his enemies. Including Lu Xuan's ship, there were seven ships on the sea. With only fourteen people, how could they possibly sail all seven ships back? This was a problem that tormented Lu Xuan for about fifteen minutes.
Left with no other option, he had to show mercy, keeping some of the Japanese pirates' crew on board. He also detained the Japanese nobleman, then abducted four Japanese ships and headed towards Liaodong. The other two escaped. Lu Xuan didn't bother chasing them; he needed an opportunity to promote himself.
As for that translation... the sharks in the sea are exceptionally full today.
The captured nobleman was terrified. He felt he was doomed because, up until now, Lu Xuan hadn't even asked him his surname or which family he belonged to.
There are only two possibilities for this phenomenon: either the other party doesn't care about your background, or the other party has already made up their mind to kill you, and asking questions is irrelevant. Of course, both of these can actually be considered as one.
Of course, what he didn't know was that Lu Xuan belonged to the third type; he had forgotten...
..............
The group disembarked at Yingkou and then traveled overland back to their main camp in Liaoyang. They numbered about ten and were escorting approximately thirty Japanese prisoners. A minor disturbance ensued at the port of Yingkou.
By this time, the Japanese had already gained considerable influence at sea. At least the Ming navy dared not easily confront them. The Japanese were extremely arrogant in various ports. Lu Xuan's prisoner seemed to be of very high status. As soon as he landed, many people tentatively approached him, wanting to ransom the nobleman's son. What particularly annoyed Lu Xuan was that those coming to ransom him were all merchants from the Ming Dynasty…
If it weren't for his previous life, where Lu Xuan held a high-ranking position and had political experience, he would have almost drawn his sword and attacked on the spot.
"Make a note of the merchant guilds that come to ransom their people. Once I've finished governing the mainland, I'll start governing the ports. At that time, I'll have Lu Wenzhao confiscate their property."
Ding Baiying remained indifferent. She actually wanted to offer some advice, but over the past few days, she had gradually become familiar with her position. Furthermore, she could sense the suppressed anger in Lu Xuan's heart. So, after hesitating for a moment, she ultimately remained silent.
The Japanese nobleman's son was thrown into prison. Lu Xuan's first priority was to check on Shen Lian's troop training.
It's been over a month now. Following Lu Xuan's standards, they've been fed and cared for well for a month, and the soldiers have finally shed their malnourished appearance and are starting to look like soldiers. However, it's still just appearances. By Lu Xuan's standards, this bunch of rookies doesn't even qualify as new recruits.
"My lord, the soldiers have recovered enough. Shall we begin training them in battle formations?"
"Battle formations? Those things are too complicated. These soldiers who can't read or write can't learn anything too complex. Just let them practice the simplest things. Make them stronger, run faster, and then let them see some blood, and they'll be ready to use. The only thing they need to use their brains for isn't the so-called battle formations, but rather memorizing all sorts of military flag signals, drum signals, and other signals."
The Ming Dynasty army had a particularly bizarre method of warfare. Frontline soldiers were required to fight according to battle formation diagrams provided by their civil officials... Yes, a group of ministers who never even went to the battlefield researched and created battle formation diagrams based on their imagination and ancient traditions. These diagrams were then given to the frontline soldiers to execute.
The soldiers at the front lines are naturally required to fight according to the battle formation. Otherwise, it would be considered disobeying orders. Of course, if the enemy does not fight according to the battle formation, then it is the incompetence of the soldiers at the front lines.
Lu Xuan later saw the battle formation diagrams sent by the court through Li Rubai. After that, he vowed that if anyone dared to send him battle formation diagrams, he would send that person to the front line, tie them to a chariot, and use them as a human shield.
In fact, in feudal times, there was an ultimate problem that no one could avoid on the battlefield: the transmission of orders.
Many keyboard warriors in later generations have used online platforms to analyze various ancient battles, always suggesting that if they had done something in a timely manner, the situation could have been turned around. But he never considered this: Did those generals really not know what to do?
In reality, most ancient generals, through mentorship or family training, possessed considerable military acumen. However, unfortunately, once a battle began, their orders often failed to reach the lower ranks in a timely manner.
Imagine tens of thousands of soldiers locked in a chaotic battle. One general wants to adjust their attack direction or withdraw a squad to take a detour. How can he relay this message to his troops? Once the slaughter begins, no one can constantly pay attention to orders behind them. Even if they do, they are powerless to act. The enemy is right in front of you; can you simply retreat as you please?
This problem was essentially unsolvable in the feudal era. Indeed, it was impossible to completely solve this problem in a feudal society. The best solution was to cultivate a large number of qualified middle and lower-ranking officers, and even extend this to the soldiers.
This involves extending the overall strategic thinking to the entire army from the very beginning, transforming the army into a truly unified entity. However, this was impossible in ancient times; military strategy wasn't something you could simply learn, nor could you teach it.
Based on his experience from his previous life, Lu Xuan designed a simple set of instructions that would allow soldiers to know whether to advance or retreat through the sound of drums.
He initially tried to distinguish them by quantity. He had hoped to develop more tactical commands from this. But it didn't work. More than half of the army couldn't count to ten... Even those who could count had to sit on the ground and quietly count the drumbeats to barely make out how many drumbeats there were.
Left with no other choice, he simplified it again. Rapid drumbeats meant attack, heavy drumbeats meant retreat. It took Shen Lian a month to barely get his several thousand troops truly familiar with these two commands. And this was only in training without actual combat, barely reaching a level of proficiency. Who knew how they would fare on the battlefield? In this era of competing to be the worst, Lu Xuan truly missed the mighty Tang army that had accompanied him on his conquests of Europe in his previous life.
Picking up a map, Lu Xuan began searching for a target. Yes, he needed a target to train his troops. It couldn't be too strong; going to fight the Jurchens now would basically be suicide. It also couldn't be too weak, otherwise it wouldn't be effective for training.
After much deliberation, Lu Xuan could only find two suitable targets: Japan and Korea. The reason wasn't an issue. Two of the imperial edicts Lu Xuan obtained from the capital were specifically addressed to these two countries. As long as Lu Xuan could find a legitimate reason, the edicts would allow him to send troops.
After much deliberation, Lu Xuan realized that Japan was a difficult opponent. Although there were many Japanese pirates in the surrounding area, most of them operated at sea. However, Korea was currently wavering, and attacking Korea could potentially push them completely towards the Jurchen state. This was something Lu Xuan did not want to see. Before he was certain of completely annihilating Korea, it was also unwise to take action against it.
Neither target could be attacked, which put Lu Xuan in a dilemma. Just then, a group of Japanese soldiers arrived. After listening to his subordinates' report, Lu Xuan remembered that the nobleman's son he had captured at sea was still in his prison.
"How many people came?"
"A delegation of more than twenty people."
"Looks like that guy has quite a background." Lu Xuan immediately perked up.
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Chapter 132 Miyamoto Musashi!
Japan doesn't have many surnames, at least not before commoners had them, and surnames were quite common. However, after the "Order for Commoner Prospects to Have Surnames," suddenly 140,000 new surnames appeared...