After sending Wang Zeng away.
Yang Ge held his tea bowl and studied the plans Wang Zeng had offered for luring the enemy into a death trap.
Wang Zeng had offered two such plans.
The first involved Liuheng Island, a large island lying far offshore in the Zhoushan archipelago. Its port, Shuangyu Port, was not only an important overseas trading port for Prince Ning and the Zhejiang Faction, but also a hub for the maritime circulation of money and goods along the entire southeastern coast, and even throughout Southeast Asia.
Shuangyu Island lay beyond the reach of Great Wei's laws. Every major raid the Japanese pirates of the Eastern Isles had launched against the southeastern coast had used Shuangyu Port as a bridgehead and supply station.
They only needed to station a large force in ambush on Shuangyu Island, waiting at ease for the weary enemy. Once the Japanese pirates entered the port to indulge themselves, they could crush the invading bands in a single blow.
The other plan was for Wang Zeng to use his title as pirate king of the East Sea to gather the invading bands of Japanese pirates at Fierce Harbor, his fortified anchorage on Jintang Island in Zhoushan. An ambush there could achieve much the same effect as one on Shuangyu Island.
However, Wang Zeng had made himself perfectly clear: though he bore the empty title of pirate king of the East Sea, he could not command pirates or Japanese raiders who were not under him. Thus, those Japanese pirates would not lower their guard upon entering his stronghold. On the contrary, fearing that he might rob his fellow thieves, they would become even more alert.
An ambush at Fierce Harbor could rout those bands of Japanese pirates, but annihilating them would be harder than