“Brother Ma, the grand feat we couldn’t pull off in Suzhou—how about we take a shot at it in Jiaxing?!” Xu Hai strode up to Ma Ye, slinging an arm around his shoulders and pointing toward Jiaxing City, his face brimming with ambition.
His gaze was like that of a ravenous wolf—ferocious, bloodthirsty, and greedy, as if he could devour Jiaxing City in one bite.
“Brother Xu, I knew you’d say that. But think about it: we lost miserably before Jiaxing, our forces crushed. Over thirty thousand troops whittled down to just these four hundred-odd men. If thirty thousand couldn’t succeed, how can four hundred do it? Sure, Jiaxing isn’t as formidable as Suzhou, but it’s still one of the top cities in Jiangnan. You heard their confessions earlier—Suzhou had over two thousand defenders.”
Ma Ye shook his head, unconvinced by Xu Hai’s proposal. The defeat at Suzhou still gnawed at him.
When they’d set sail, he’d had over thirty thousand men under his command, brimming with confidence that Suzhou would fall in a single battle. But who could’ve predicted that before even reaching the city, they’d lose nearly ten thousand at Fengqiao? Then more losses piled up—under Suzhou’s walls, and worst of all during the retreat, a nightmare that left them with just four hundred.
Even the worst nightmare couldn’t compare!
The moment Xu Hai suggested taking four hundred to attack Jiaxing, Ma Ye’s gut reaction was to oppose it.
Thirty thousand had botched Suzhou—four hundred against Jiaxing was like a death wish.
“Brother Ma, where did we fail at Suzhou?!” Xu Hai tightened his grip around Ma Ye’s neck. “Wasn’t it because of Zhu Ping’an? Ask yourself—if it weren’t for him and his Zhejiang troops, would our Suzhou campaign have crashed and burned? Our sneak attack was ruined when his scouts spotted us, lit the beacons, and exposed us, forcing an open assault. The Fengqiao battle—we lost to his Zhejiang troops again, caught off guard by his gunpowder trap, crippling us. Luring General Wang, disguising ourselves as captives to infiltrate the city—we were *this close* to succeeding, but Zhu Ping’an saw through it, and we failed. And the retreat? His vicious, chained fire traps shredded us, leaving just these four hundred.”
Xu Hai recounted the Suzhou debacle, analyzing it step by step, concluding that it all boiled down to Zhu Ping’an’s interference.
“Uh… you’re right. It’s all that damn Zhu Ping’an’s fault. Without him, Suzhou would’ve fallen—no question!” Ma Ye mulled it over, tracing the Suzhou campaign’s timeline, and nodded, swayed by Xu Hai’s reasoning.
“Exactly! There’s only one Zhu Ping’an! He’s still tied up in Suzhou, cleaning up the mess. What—are we going to find another Zhu Ping’an in Jiaxing?! Without him as a wildcard, Jiaxing’s a much easier target than Suzhou. Plus, with these captured Jiaxing soldiers, we’ve got the upper hand. It’s worth a shot.”
Xu Hai pressed his case, his voice dripping with persuasion.
“Even so, Brother Xu, Jiaxing might not have a Zhu Ping’an, but it’s still got over two thousand defenders. How can four hundred of us take a city guarded by that many?!” Ma Ye shook his head again. He had the will to raid Jiaxing, but not the manpower.
“Brother Ma, what if—just what if—we got all our men inside Jiaxing City? Facing two thousand, would you have the confidence then?” Xu Hai asked.
“If we could get inside and tangle with their two thousand… heh, I wouldn’t be worried. Judging by the quality of these Jiaxing soldiers tonight, their city garrison’s just a bunch of chickens and mutts. How could they stand up to our four hundred starving wolves? They’d collapse in a fight!” Ma Ye grinned, brimming with confidence after their earlier skirmish.
“Heh, Brother Ma, I’ve got an idea. These Jiaxing soldiers we captured—they were headed to Yangcheng Garrison for reinforcements. That’s our edge! We can disguise ourselves as the vanguard of Yangcheng’s relief force, bring these Jiaxing soldiers along, and trick our way into Jiaxing. I reckon we’ve got a solid chance.”
“Jiaxing’s magistrate is a fame-chasing coward—he’ll probably trip over himself to open the gates for us.”
Xu Hai laid out his plan, his wolfish eyes glinting with ambition as he stared toward Jiaxing.
“Brother Xu, passing as Yangcheng reinforcements isn’t that simple. How are we supposed to pull off the disguise looking like this?” Ma Ye gestured at their ragtag crew, forcing a bitter smile.
They screamed “pirates”—dressed in tattered commoner clothes and Japanese garb, scorched by fire, soaked by water. They were clearly the defeated rabble from Suzhou, not a trace of Yangcheng reinforcements about them.
“Heh, no worries there. I got something from the captives. Not far from here—ten-odd li—there’s a town called Changping. It’s got a small iron mine, and to guard it, the Ming court set up a hundred-man post called Changping Station. Fully staffed, it’d have 112 soldiers, but the officer’s skimming pay, so there’s less than fifty—half of them old, weak, or crippled…”
Xu Hai pointed east, explaining to Ma Ye.
Ma Ye’s eyes lit up. “Brother Xu, you mean we take Changping Station and grab their uniforms to disguise ourselves?”
“Hahaha, you get me, Brother Ma! Exactly. Changping’s just over ten li away. We pick twenty-odd elites, dress them in these Jiaxing soldiers’ gear, sneak into the station, catch them off guard, and wipe them out. Half an hour’s enough to take it. From here to there, then to Jiaxing as Ming troops—about an hour total.”
“Think about it: Yangcheng Garrison’s thirty li away. Jiaxing soldiers rode there for help. Even if Yangcheng sends cavalry—eighty li an hour—or infantry marching fast at thirty to forty li an hour, round trip, it’d still take them an hour to reach Jiaxing.”
“The timing’s perfect.”
“Hahaha, heaven’s on our side!”
Xu Hai broke into hearty laughter after laying out his analysis.
Ma Ye closed his eyes, sinking into thought.
“Brother Ma, if we take Jiaxing, we’ll not only snag its obscene wealth, but all the riffraff—thugs, opportunists, traitors, greedy bastards, criminals, malcontents—we could easily rally tens of thousands.”
“The troops we lost at Suzhou? We’ll replenish them in Jiaxing. The face we lost? We’ll take it back. Our name will thunder through Jiangnan again!”
“If we trick the gates open, we charge in! If it fails, we just walk away—no loss…”
Xu Hai coaxed, step by step.
“Let’s do it!”
Ma Ye snapped his eyes open, clenching his teeth with resolve.
“Hahaha, with us brothers united, nothing can stop us! Jiaxing’s as good as ours!”
Xu Hai clapped Ma Ye’s shoulder, laughing wildly.
