Lu Xiangsheng pointed at the ship Chen Qianhu had just boarded.
"The ship next to us looks lively. That newly arrived reinforcement unit seems very popular."
Cao Bianjiao smiled and explained,
"Those are the household troops of the former Minister of War, Sun Chuanting. They've met our men before, so they're chatting."
"I see."
Lu Xiangsheng nodded.
"Even though Lord Sun has been sidelined by the Emperor, he still thinks about serving the country. He even sent his personal troops to support this campaign. Truly admirable."
The fleet set sail.
Following the coastline, they headed toward Jinzhou.
Several hours later, evening arrived.
It was time for dinner.
Sailors on every ship began preparing food.
The Tianxiong Army had not brought much with them. Each soldier carried only a few days' worth of dry rations. Launching such a long-distance raid on Jinzhou meant logistics would be a serious concern.
Lu Xiangsheng could not help turning to Cao Wenzhao.
"Commander Cao, our supply line will probably depend on you. If we retake Jinzhou, your fleet will need to transport grain from Tianjin."
Cao Wenzhao nodded and agreed on the surface.
But in his mind he thought something very different.
There was no way their military supplies could rely on Tianjin.
If they depended on the court's provisions, the soldiers would starve sooner or later.
Their real supplies would have to come from Dengzhou.
By now the Dengzhou Navy had practically taken the shape of Tianzun's system.
Gao Village had sent large numbers of transport ships carrying massive quantities of military supplies. These were transferred through Dengzhou, then shipped onward to Pi Island and Dandong.
Dengzhou had already become a crucial supply port.
Of course, Lu Xiangsheng had no idea about any of this.
He was still worrying whether Gao Qiqian might sabotage the supply line when the cooks carried a table onto the bow deck.
They set it down and began placing dishes in front of Lu Xiangsheng, Cao Wenzhao, and the others.
"Gentlemen, dinner is served."
Lu Xiangsheng glanced at the table.
Then he blinked.
There were several plates. Fish and shrimp, nothing unusual there.
But one particular dish caught his attention.
It was a kind of meat cut into neat square cubes.
Lu Xiangsheng had seen this before.
Back when he served as the Yunyang Pacification Commissioner, the garrison officer Luo Xi had once given him some in Shangnan. Flat Rabbit had even transported large quantities of it to relieve famine victims near Shennongjia.
The food was called luncheon meat.
A rather rare item.
After a brief moment of confusion, Lu Xiangsheng asked,
"Where did this meat come from?"
Cao Bianjiao was just about to make up some excuse.
At that moment a figure appeared at the cabin entrance, stretching lazily as he walked out.
"Oh? Dinner already? I definitely can't miss dinner."
Everyone turned to look.
It was the naval combat specialized version of Tianzun.
Well... more precisely, Li Dao Xuan.
Everyone knew one thing about Tianzun.
He loved eating.
Especially seafood.
Being a deity who had originally lived inland, he had not eaten much seafood before. Now he frequently came to the navy just to join their meals.
Cao Wenzhao and the others were about to salute with "Greetings, Tianzun."
But Lu Xiangsheng was standing right there.
So they quickly changed it into a polite greeting.
"Master Li, you're awake."
Li Dao Xuan grinned.
"Yep. Woke up and thought I'd come out for a stroll."
Lu Xiangsheng looked at Li Dao Xuan and let out a surprised sound.
He and Li Dao Xuan were actually old acquaintances.
Back when he served in Yunyang, he had met him at Luo Xi's garrison in Shangnan.
Later, during the anti-bandit campaigns in Huguang, Li Dao Xuan had also provided supplies.
He never expected to meet him here.
"Master Li, so you came as well."
Li Dao Xuan smiled.
"General Cao is a friend of mine. If he comes to Liaodong, I naturally come to lend a hand."
He added casually,
"And Lord Lu is an old friend too. If you need anything, just say the word."
Lu Xiangsheng pointed at the luncheon meat on the table.
"I was wondering about this earlier. Now that I see you here, it all makes sense."
"You have been supporting the army with your personal wealth, from suppressing bandits to reclaiming Liaodong. Your patriotic heart is truly admirable."
"Small matter, small matter."
Li Dao Xuan clearly had no interest in small talk.
He rushed straight to the table and scanned the dishes.
"Bohai Bay shrimp. Heh, I like these."
"Three spotted swimming crab. Now that's good stuff."
He plopped down in a seat and immediately grabbed a crab, cracking it open without ceremony.
The people from Gao Village were already used to Tianzun showing off his eating skills.
They quickly sat down as well.
Hu Dawei even started peeling shrimp for him.
Carefully removing every shell, even pulling out the shrimp vein before placing it in Li Dao Xuan's hand.
"Here, try this."
Li Dao Xuan dipped it into seafood soy sauce and tossed it into his mouth.
"Ah. Nice. Very nice."
Cao Bianjiao added,
"Try this too. A specialty of these waters. It's called Spanish mackerel. The meat is excellent."
Li Dao Xuan immediately picked up a piece with his chopsticks.
"Not bad, not bad. Coming here occasionally for a free meal is pretty great. Always something new to try."
Lu Xiangsheng watched all this with a confused expression.
This Master Li...
He eats like this and still doesn't get fat?
Wait a minute.
The table was filled with imperial generals.
Why were all of them serving him food?
Who exactly was in charge here?
Lu Xiangsheng decided to test the situation.
If these generals treated Master Li as their leader, then he must also be the one making decisions in battle.
Lu Xiangsheng spoke.
"Gentlemen, regarding the strategy for the surprise attack on Jinzhou, I would like to hear everyone's opinions."
After saying this, he quietly observed.
Would they all wait for Master Li to speak?
But he quickly noticed something.
Master Li had zero interest in discussing strategy.
He was still focused entirely on devouring seafood.
The generals also showed no sign of waiting for his opinion.
Instead they immediately began discussing tactics.
Cao Wenzhao spoke first.
"Jinzhou lies more than forty li from the coastline. Naval artillery won't reach it."
"So we will have to rely heavily on portable cannons."
"My navy doesn't carry many of those."
He turned toward Hu Dawei.
Hu Dawei chuckled.
"Don't worry. I brought plenty."
"Before departing I already guessed we would be fighting alongside the Guanning Cavalry, the Tianxiong Army, Chen Qianhu, and the Pi Island forces."
"With all of you charging into melee, I probably won't have much chance to fight directly."
"So I figured I might as well bring a whole lot of artillery."
Cao Bianjiao immediately brightened.
"Lots of artillery? Excellent."
Lu Xiangsheng thought to himself.
Good.
Master Li clearly had no control over the army.
He didn't even participate in military discussions.
He really was just providing supplies.
Lu Xiangsheng sighed internally.
Looks like I worried for nothing earlier.