The governor's mansion in Nagasaki had become the brain of a conquering army. The delicate shoji screens and serene tatami mats were now juxtaposed with massive, detailed military maps of Kyushu, pinned to the walls and spread across long tables. The air hummed with a quiet, focused intensity. The initial chaos of the invasion had subsided, replaced by the grim and methodical business of war.
Qin Shi Huang stood before the largest map, a silent, commanding figure. The victory at sea was a distant memory. The fall of Nagasaki was a historical fact. Now, the true war began. The war for the land itself. His senior commanders stood around the table, their postures a study in rigid attention. Admiral Ding, his arm still in a sling, represented the navy's dominion over the sea. General Song Qing, a stout and capable commander, represented the raw power of the Second Army. And Meng Tian, a pillar of quiet lethality, represented the Emperor's own unyielding will.
"Nagasaki is secure," QSH began, his voice cutting through the silence. "Our supply lines from Port Arthur are established and protected by the fleet. The propaganda campaign, the 'Lament of Kenji,' is spreading through the province, sowing doubt and confusion. But propaganda is merely wind. Now, we require the force of steel." He tapped the map. "We advance."
He looked at General Song. "We will not make the same mistake General Wei did. There will be no glorious, blind march down the main road, hoping for an easy victory. Arrogance has been purged from this army. It has been replaced by caution and overwhelming firepower." His finger traced a path inland from Nagasaki. It did not stop at a major city or fortress. It stopped at a small, seemingly insignificant town.
"Our target is here," he declared. "The town of Isahaya."
General Song Qing frowned, leaning closer to the map. "Isahaya, Your Majesty? It is a small market town. The fortress at Saga or the capital of the province at Kumamoto would be more strategically valuable prizes, would they not?"
"A prize is only valuable if it serves a purpose," QSH replied, his tone that of a master instructing a student. "Saga and Kumamoto are strongholds. They would require long, costly sieges. Isahaya…" He traced the roads radiating from the small town with his finger. "Isahaya is a crossroads. It is the knot that ties the road network of this entire region together. It controls the primary route north to Saga. It controls the main road east to the Shimabara Peninsula. It controls the flow of all reinforcements and supplies. He who holds Isahaya holds the northern half of this province by the throat. We do not need to take their fortresses if we can starve them out at our leisure."
The logic was simple, elegant, and undeniable. The commanders nodded in understanding.
The Emperor turned to his spymaster, Shen Ke, who had been standing silently in the corner. "Master Shen. Your report on the enemy's disposition."
Shen Ke stepped forward, holding a thin folder of documents. "Your Majesty, our new intelligence network has been… most fruitful." A slight emphasis on the word 'new' was a subtle acknowledgement of the information now flowing from the collaborator Governor Tanaka and the newly formed 'Merchant's Guild Security Force.' "The Japanese First Army remains trapped and impotent in Korea, a problem for another day. However, we can confirm that their Second Army, under the command of a General Nogi Marasuke, has established a heavily fortified position in the hills just west of Isahaya."
He unrolled a smaller, more detailed map of the area. "They have learned from our landing at Nagasaki; they are not defending the town itself, but the high ground that dominates it. My agents report the construction of extensive trench systems, machine gun nests, and artillery emplacements. They are preparing for a defensive battle."
"And their morale?" Meng Tian asked, his voice a low rumble.
A grim expression crossed Shen Ke's usually placid face. "Their morale is… strange, General. And dangerous. We have interrogated prisoners and spoken with locals. Since their Emperor's 'holy war' decree, the soldiers have changed. Their initial shock and despair have been replaced by a kind of fatalistic, religious zeal. They are no longer afraid of dying. They seem to be embracing it. They are preparing not just for a battle, but for a battle of annihilation. They intend to die where they stand."
"Good," QSH said, the word so cold it made the other men in the room flinch. "Let them be eager for death. We will accommodate them in the most efficient manner possible." He turned back to the main map, his mind already piecing together the tactical puzzle.
"We will not launch a frontal assault on their fortified hills," he declared. "That is precisely what they expect. It would be a meat grinder, trading the lives of my soldiers for worthless dirt, all to satisfy their desire for a glorious, suicidal last stand. We will deny them that honor."
He looked at General Song. "General, you will take the main body of the Second Army, twenty thousand strong. You will make a loud, obvious, and slow advance directly toward their main position. I want your banners flying, your drums beating. I want their scouts to see your numbers. You will make them believe a massive frontal assault is imminent, that we are the same kind of fools that General Wei was. You will draw their full and undivided attention."
Then, he turned to Meng Tian. "While the anvil is being positioned, the hammer will make its march. General Meng, you will take a separate force of three thousand men—your Imperial Guard and the entire Penal Vanguard. Those disgraced officers are desperate to prove their worth, and their suicidal bravery will be a useful tool. You will take them on a forced flanking march through the mountains to the south. The terrain is difficult, impassable for a large army." He tapped the map. "But Governor Tanaka has provided us with detailed charts of old smugglers' trails and forgotten logging roads. You will be a ghost they do not know exists."
QSH stepped back from the table, his plan now fully formed. "General Song's army is the anvil. You will advance to within artillery range of their hills, and you will engage them. You will pin them in their trenches with superior and relentless artillery fire. But you will not—I repeat, not—attempt to take the hills. Your infantry's purpose is to be a threat, not a sacrifice. You will force General Nogi to keep all of his men in their positions, waiting for an assault that will never come."
His dark eyes glittered. "General Meng's force is the hammer. While the main Japanese army is pinned and being shelled, you will emerge from the mountains, bypass their flank, and strike directly at the town of Isahaya itself. You will seize the crossroads and cut off their only line of retreat. We will encircle them completely."
He made a closing gesture with his fist. "Then, once the trap is shut, we will methodically destroy them with artillery from two sides. We will not grant their soldiers a glorious death in a bayonet charge against our lines. We will grant them an anonymous death from a high-explosive shell fired from miles away. We will turn their fortress into their tomb."
The plan was cold, methodical, and utterly contemptuous of the enemy's desire for an honorable battle. It was designed to minimize Qing casualties while maximizing Japanese losses, using overwhelming firepower and superior strategy to negate the enemy's fanatical bravery. The commanders, now fully accustomed to their Emperor's terrifyingly brilliant mind, nodded in grim understanding. The ghosts of Pyongyang had been exorcised, replaced by the cold, hard logic of their master's will to win.