Chapter 258: The White Pole Troops' Grain Cut Off, Qin Liangyu Feigns Surrender to Raid the Camp

Between the Li River and its tributary, the Little East River, lay a sandbar in the middle of the water. This sandbar never sank when flooded and covered a vast area. Since the Tang dynasty, it had been the home of a family surnamed Zi, and so it was named Zijia Islet.

Whenever a fine drizzle fell, the Li River stretched into misty vastness, and Zijia Islet vanished into the smoke and rain like a Penglai fairyland—known as one of the Eight Scenes of Guilin, "Zijia Islet in Misty Rain."

But today the sky was clear and bright, and Zijia Islet was still shrouded in smoke and dust—though this was the gunsmoke of black-powder cannon fire.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

On the Nan'ao artillery position, the roar of cannon fire thundered without cease, startling every water bird within a dozen li into flight.

Because Zijia Islet lay less than seven hundred paces in a straight line from the Jingjiang Princely Mansion, the Nan'ao army had chosen it as their camp site.

Once the cannons were set up, the shells could fly directly over the city wall and land inside the princely mansion.

On the watchtower, an observer raised his telescope to track the shell impacts. After a moment, he shouted: "Target correction: fifteen paces left, eighty paces short." Each gun crew adjusted their firing tables according to the impact points and corrected their barrel angles.

Because the Guilin city wall blocked direct line of sight from the position, they had built this watchtower rising above the wall.

On the position, Lei Sanxiang paced restlessly, unable to sit still, muttering: "Damn it, not being able to see the impacts is torture. Little Five, how are the shots landing?"

Little Five was the observer on the watchtower. He called back loudly: "The mansion's huge—no misses! One shell even blew a hole straight through the Chengyun Hall!"

"Hahaha! Excellent!" Lei Sanxiang pumped his fist. "Give that pig-headed Prince a good knock on his pig skull!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The words had barely left his mouth when another volley of cannon fire thundered.

The position had a total of ten twenty-four-pounder heavy cannons—dedicated siege guns. They were extremely difficult to transport, but once assembled, their power was astonishing. Previously, the various prefectures and counties had surrendered too quickly, so the siege guns spent four hours being loaded and unloaded yet only managed to fire four or five shots.

Today, facing the turtle-shell of Guilin city, they could finally shoot to their hearts' content.

An hour passed in the blink of an eye. The bombardment paused to let the gun barrels cool.

Lei Sanxiang pulled out his telescope to observe the city wall. He saw the defenders standing about loosely; only after the bombardment ended did the rest of the garrison slowly climb back up to the wall. He spat: "These Guilin troops sure treasure their lives—the moment the cannons sound, they come down off the wall. That ricochet tactic won't work well either. Good thing the princely mansion is close to the wall." He watched for a long while; there was no unusual movement anywhere in Guilin, nothing suggesting they meant to sally out and fight to the death.

Lei Sanxiang put away his telescope and muttered: "Will this method even work? Zhang Moye!"

"Here!" Zhang Moye, squad leader of the personal guard banner, answered and ran up to Lei Sanxiang.

"That pig-head Prince—tell me again, what's his background?"

Zhang Moye said: "The one in the city is the Jingjiang Prince. Among the Ming dynasty's princely houses, single-character titles are the most honored. Two-character ones are generally commandery princes, one rank lower by ritual law. But this Jingjiang Prince is an anomaly—among the founding princes of the Ming court, the Jingjiang Prince is the only one who was not Zhu Yuanzhang's own son yet was enfeoffed as a prince. Though a two-character title, his regulations are identical to a full Prince.

The father of the first Jingjiang Prince was Zhu Wenzheng—the one who held off Chen Youliang's six hundred thousand troops in the Defense of Hongdu.

Later, Zhu Wenzheng committed an offense and was placed under house arrest by Zhu Yuanzhang until his death. Perhaps out of guilt, Zhu Yuanzhang created the Jingjiang Prince title."

Lei Sanxiang remarked: "The Grand Ancestor Emperor could be said to have been loyal and righteous."

Zhang Moye disagreed, snorting coldly: "Zhu Yuanzhang was loyal and righteous to his own family, but toward the people of Guilin, he was ruthlessly heartless." Lei Sanxiang said: "Enough with the useless talk—will bombarding the pig-head Prince's mansion really crack open Guilin's turtle shell?"

Zhang Moye said: "The Jingjiang Prince has been enfeoffed in Guilin for over two hundred years. Though hated, he is still part of the Zhu Ming royal house.

Didn't the Helmsman say that General Qin has held herself to loyalty to the sovereign all her life? I think if the mansion is bombarded, she can't just sit by and do nothing, can she?"

Lei Sanxiang nodded: "Good. As long as she comes out of the city, we'll settle it with real swords and real spears. White-tassel spears, black-tassel spears—whatever they are, the Nan'ao army fears none of them!"

While they spoke, another dozen-plus sand junks came downriver and moored before Zijia Islet. From the ships, another ten twenty-four-pounder cannons were unloaded. The gun crews hurried to offload and quickly installed them on the position, finishing by dusk.

Twenty cannons fired in alternating volleys, never pausing. The bombardment continued day and night without cease.

Inside Guilin city, everyone from the Jingjiang Prince down to the servants had evacuated the mansion.

But listening to the cannon fire with his ears, and watching the princely mansion being ravaged by artillery with his one remaining eye, Zhu Lühu's heart and body both bled.

This mansion was the hard-earned legacy that twelve generations of Jingjiang Princes had accumulated!

And now it was being destroyed by rebel hands!

And it had cost him one of his eyes as well.

With the mansion destroyed, Zhu Lühu could only take up temporary residence in the home of some wealthy family in the city. On the way there, he personally witnessed commoners gathering to watch the mansion being bombarded, gloating over its misfortune. The fear and fury in Zhu Lühu's heart reached an unbearable peak.

After having the physician treat his eye wound, Zhu Lühu immediately summoned Qin Liangyu to see him.

Qin Liangyu had left the mansion and gone straight to the city wall to organize the defense, working until dusk. When she heard that Zhu Lühu wanted to see her again, fury flared in her heart. She raged: "By the ancestral laws of the Ming, a feudal prince may not command troops, nor may he privately meet with military officers! Now the Jingjiang Prince has summoned this general again and again—what exactly does he mean by it?" Qin Liangyu had always been fiery by nature. Now past fifty, she had reined in her temper, and for the sake of the larger situation she had yielded again and again. But the Guilin officialdom had humiliated and obstructed her repeatedly, and now at this moment of crisis they were still trying to meddle—how could she contain herself?

The messenger, seeing Qin Liangyu's anger, dared not argue. He dropped a harsh parting remark and slunk away.

That very night, the White Pole Troops' grain rations were cut off.

By then the Nan'ao cannons had arrived, and the city wall thundered without stop. The guard station troops grew restless, and panic spread through the city.

Even elite troops like the White Pole Troops were thrown into uproar by such injustice. Some shouted that they might as well take Guilin by force and surrender it.

Qin Liangyu dealt with those who spoke out, suppressed her men's emotions, and then, bringing her son and daughter-in-law, burst into the Governor's yamen to demand military grain.

Qin Liangyu stated her purpose with force.

The Guangxi Governor could not put her off any longer, so he said: "I'll speak frankly with you, General—this was all His Highness's order."

Qin Liangyu raged: "In our dynasty, feudal princes draw stipends but do not govern affairs. Even if the Jingjiang Prince gave an order, you, Governor, as the Regional Governor—with the enemy at the gates—why must you obey him so slavishly?"

The Guangxi Governor stared at her with a complicated expression, as if he had a thousand words to say but did not know where to begin.

The cannon fire never ceased. The Governor slowly lit a stick of sandalwood incense, closed the doors and windows, and only then spoke in a low voice: "In the third year of Hongwu, the Jingjiang Prince was first enfeoffed. The title has passed down to this day for two hundred and fifty-nine years—nearly as long as the Great Ming dynasty itself. Look across the realm—is there any feudal prince who has held his title as long as the Jingjiang Prince?

Laws have no fixed form; where power grows great, it encroaches. Like a river's dike, it seeps and gradually crumbles, until at last the river changes course.

Even the Foolish Old Man knew that with the strength of his descendants, he could move mountains. In all the affairs of the world, what is eternally unchanging?"

Seeing that Qin Liangyu only half understood.

The Governor spoke more plainly: "In the eighteenth year of Wanli, the tenth Jingjiang Prince died without leaving an heir. According to the ancestral instructions of the Imperial Ming, when a prince has no heir, his fief and title are abolished.

In shock and fury, the mansion's clansmen looted goods in the streets and beat commoners. Then they broke into the government offices, seized the Guangxi Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, and nearly beat him to death. They also forced the Guangxi Provincial Administration Commissioner to falsify the salary records, throwing the whole city into chaos and terrorizing the populace.

The Guangxi Governor and Regional Inspector of the time memorialized the court, requesting that an elder be chosen from among the Jingjiang mansion's clansmen to succeed to the title. That man was the eleventh Jingjiang Prince—the current His Highness's father."

Ma Xianglin pressed: "And afterward, how did the court deal with the clansmen who caused the trouble?"

The Governor glanced at him, gave a cold laugh, and did not answer.

Qin Liangyu now understood. She clasped her hands in thanks to the Governor, rose, and left the yamen to go see the Jingjiang Prince.

On the way, Ma Xianglin asked: "Mother, what did the Governor mean?"

Qin Liangyu's face was cold and she did not answer.

Zhang Fengyi said quietly to her husband: "In Guilin, the Governor, the Surveillance Commissioner, and the Administration Commissioner don't have the final say — the Prince of Jingjiang is heaven itself. If he doesn't nod, we can only starve to death."

Ma Xianglin flew into a rage: "You villain—"

He barely got out two words before his wife clamped her hand firmly over his mouth.

Zhang Fengyi said: "When we see the Prince of Jingjiang shortly, you must swallow your anger, Husband. Do not indulge in sharp words and ruin the larger plan."

Qin Liangyu said: "When we reach the gate of the residence, the two of you need not enter."

"Mother..." Zhang Fengyi tried to persuade her, but Qin Liangyu cut her off.

"That's settled."

When they arrived at the residence gate, the husband and wife obeyed orders, standing outside the gate as they watched Qin Liangyu enter.

Zhang Fengyi knew well that the Prince of Jingjiang was used to wielding absolute power in Guilin. Today he had first lost an eye to a stone, then summoned Qin Liangyu and been refused — his face had been slapped. Who knew what humiliations her mother-in-law would face going in?

This temporary residence was far smaller than the prince's main mansion, and the commotion in the main hall could be faintly heard even outside the gate.

Before long, the Prince of Jingjiang's furious roar came from the main hall, followed by the sound of a teacup shattering.

The noise grew louder still, until the sound of drawn blades could be heard.

The couple was greatly alarmed and was about to rush in to help when they saw Qin Liangyu striding out, her face grim beyond measure, her left palm dripping with blood. Seeing the couple, Qin Liangyu said: "Tell the fire troops to draw their military rations."

Ma Xianglin asked with concern: "Mother, your hand?"

"This old woman has sworn an oath in blood, agreeing to leave the city on a chosen day and fight a decisive battle against the rebel Lin."

Zhang Fengyi looked at her mother-in-law's hand, a surge of grievance welling up in her heart, and said choked with sobs: "Mother is loyal to the state with all her heart — how could they treat you like this! Let's not fight. Let's return to Shizhu!"

Ma Xianglin chimed in beside her.

"Nonsense!" Qin Liangyu rebuked. "Thunder and rain, dew and grace — all are the emperor's favor. We are subjects of the Great Ming. How can we abandon matters of state and army over a little grievance?"

Qin Liangyu glanced back at the residence and said: "Let's return to camp. We'll talk as we walk."

On the way, Qin Liangyu gave orders: "The Li River may not be wide, but it cannot be swum across. Starting tomorrow, you will recruit artisans in the city to build rafts and boats."

Ma Xianglin could hardly believe his ears and shouted: "Mother! This is marching to our deaths!"

Hearing this, Zhang Fengyi was frightened out of her wits and hurriedly urged: "The Nan'ao navy is invincible on water — even the elite naval forces Governor Zhu deployed at Xunzhou were burned to complete annihilation. The White Pole Troops know nothing of river warfare, and we're to meet the enemy on wooden rafts... this... this... this truly is certain death with no chance of survival!" Qin Liangyu sighed deeply and said: "Do you think this old woman doesn't know? But before righteousness, there is only death, to preserve loyalty and honor to the end."

"No! Our soldiers cannot be thrown away like this!" Ma Xianglin suddenly stopped and knelt, saying, "This officer begs the Regional Commander to rescind the order!" Zhang Fengyi also knelt beside her husband, begging Qin Liangyu to reconsider.

Qin Liangyu turned back, coldly looking at the two of them. After a long moment, a hint of a smile bloomed on her face: "You believed it? Good. That should be enough to fool the rebel Lin outside the city."

"Ah?" The couple was stunned.

Qin Liangyu helped them up and said in a low voice: "The rebel Lin's watchtowers can overlook all of Guilin. We'll build boats right under their noses, while spreading word of the tragic tale of the White Pole Army being forced out of the city to seek death.

The White Pole troops will split into two groups. One group will slip out of the city by night from the north, taking mountain paths to lie in ambush behind the rebel Lin's lines.

The other group will claim they've had enough of official oppression and refuse to die for nothing — they'll leave the city and feign surrender.

Since the rebel Lin rose up, he has never suffered a single defeat. Every prefecture and county he passed has submitted and begged for mercy. He must be insufferably arrogant by now and won't suspect our feigned surrender in the least. When the time comes, both groups will strike from front and rear, and the rebel army can be broken."

After hearing the plan, the couple stood frozen in place.

Ma Xianglin stared at Qin Liangyu's hand and asked in astonishment: "Mother, you had this plan to break the enemy all along? This was a ruse of self-injury?"

Qin Liangyu shook her head: "I merely turned their coercion against them. Though clever, this is a perilous gambit. Had the Prince of Jingjiang not forced my hand, this old woman would never have used it."

Zhang Fengyi sighed with emotion: "With Mother defending the city, Guilin is truly fortunate."

Qin Liangyu waved her hand: "It is merely doing one's duty of loyalty to the sovereign. Return to camp quickly and make preparations. Only the three of us may know of this — it must not leak out by any means." The next day, Lei Sanxiang went to inspect the positions again, and the spotter said smugly: "Regional Commander, the Prince's Hall of Heavenly Fortune has been shelled to collapse, and a large stretch of the front courtyard — hall after hall — has caved in as well."

Lei Sanxiang was somewhat surprised and asked: "A whole night of bombardment, and you only managed to wreck the front courtyard?"

The spotter said: "The Prince of Jingjiang's mansion is too large, and the buildings are built with sturdy materials — hard to bring down."

At over seven hundred paces, they were already pushing the extreme range of the muzzle-loading cannons, and the mortars were useless.

Fortunately, the Nan'ao army had ample gunpowder, and the purpose of bombarding the mansion was to crush the defenders' morale and force them out of the city to fight. Dragging out the torment a bit longer also had its benefits.

Just then, the spotter spoke again: "Regional Commander, there's activity in the city... it looks like... looks like they're building boats."

Guilin had been a city since the Qin and Han dynasties, expanded outward many times over the ages, and the moats of previous eras had become Guilin's inner lakes, all connected by waterways to the Peach Blossom River and the Li River.

The boat-building scene the spotter saw was right by the edge of an inner lake.

Lei Sanxiang was delighted to hear this and confirmed: "You're certain — the Ming army is really building boats?"

The spotter pulled out his telescope, confirmed again for a long while, then declared loudly: "No mistake. By Fir Lake, two to three hundred artisans have gathered — some hauling timber, some planing boards. They're building boats, and beside them are large numbers of requisitioned sculling skiffs."

"Pfft, hahahaha..." Lei Sanxiang burst out laughing at the news.

Even if the Li River's waterway was too narrow for the navy's great ships to enter, at least the Cangshan ships and bird ships were warships — with sails and oars, able to fire on the enemy from their decks.

The Guilin defenders wanted to build wooden rafts and flatboats to match against warships?

Wasn't that the most ridiculous joke under heaven?

Even without firing a shot, the Nan'ao navy could ram the rafts and flatboats and sink them by sheer hull weight.

After the laughter died down, Lei Sanxiang declared to his messenger: "Summon all the army and navy commanders of the siege forces to the central command for a council."

Half an hour later, Lei Sanxiang convened the tent meeting and explained that the Guilin defenders were building boats. At the end, he asked half-jokingly: "Zhong Aqi, your unit guards the Peach Blossom River. If the White Pole troops come at you on wooden rafts, can you hold the line?"

The moment the words left his mouth, the whole tent burst into laughter, many commanders laughing until tears came out.

Most of the Nan'ao soldiers had been recruited in Fujian — even the army troops had basic knowledge of water warfare and understood how absurd it was to fight warships with wooden rafts. After the laughter subsided, Zhong Aqi still cupped his hands and said solemnly: "Regional Commander, rest assured. If the Ming army truly dares to come up the Peach Blossom River, I will slaughter them to the last man. Should I lose so much as a single ship or boat, I will willingly accept military discipline."

Bailangzai said flatly: "Same on the Li River."

A commander in the tent asked: "By all reason, even if the Ming army is stupid, they should know by plain sight that flatboats are no match for warships. Why do something so futile?"

Lei Sanxiang's smile faded: "Exactly! This is what this commander called the council to discuss!

A few days ago, the helmsman sent a letter detailing the Tusi Qin Liangyu of Shizhu, warning us to be careful of that dead woman.

The helmsman's words have never been wrong.

These past two days I've observed Guilin's defenses — loose outside, tight within. There's some craftiness to it; these aren't the kind of fools who only fight dull battles.

How could they do something as monumentally stupid as building boats on the eve of battle? There must be treachery in it!"

The commanders discussed among themselves, none able to guess what Qin Liangyu was up to.

Zhang Moye guessed: "The Prince of Jingjiang's word is law in Guilin city—could he have forced them to build ships and sally out to fight?"

Zhong Aqi waved his hands repeatedly: "Impossible, impossible. He's a feudal prince, after all—how could he be that stupid?"

Lei Sanxiang stroked his chin, pondering: "Even if that Pig-Head Prince really is a pig's head, there are plenty of officials in the city—they wouldn't let him run wild. The helmsman said Qin Liangyu is a capable one. Let's not be careless; let's think it over again."

Just as they were deliberating, a soldier reported from outside the tent: "Regional Commander, we've captured a few deserters."

"Oh?" Lei Sanxiang perked up and ordered the surrendered soldiers brought into the tent for questioning.

Upon interrogation, they learned that these men were garrison troops from the surrounding guard stations. Unwilling to die defending the city, yet afraid to surrender to the Nan'ao army, they had climbed over the city wall under cover of darkness to flee—only to be caught red-handed by the Nan'ao troops lying in ambush north of the city.

Lei Sanxiang asked about the shipbuilding in the city.

These garrison soldiers didn't know the full picture, only that the Prince of Jingjiang was overbearing and that the White Pole Troops were much disliked in the city—and once asked, they told everything. Lei Sanxiang waved his hand and ordered the deserters taken away.

After they left, Zhong Aqi said: "Could it really be that the Prince of Jingjiang had some wild fancy, sending the White Pole Troops out of the city to their deaths?"

Lei Sanxiang pondered for a long while, and seeing that staring blankly wouldn't yield an answer, he let the officers return to their respective defense sectors, instructing: "Keep your eyes peeled these next few days—don't let the enemy slip through any cracks."

"Yes!" Everyone rose together and clasped their fists.

For the following three days, after the artillery had pounded the prince's residence to rubble, they bombarded the various government offices of Guilin city.

The Guilin defenders, pounded by artillery with no way to fight back, saw their morale severely damaged, and deserters grew more numerous by the day.

Based on what these men said, Lei Sanxiang pieced things together and roughly figured out what was happening inside Guilin city.

So the Prince of Jingjiang really was that stupid—rushing Qin Liangyu out of the city to die.

But looking at it from an overall perspective, the move wasn't entirely foolish.

The waterways around Guilin had been sealed off by the Nan'ao forces, and the Zunyi relief army was dawdling along—marching three days, resting five—and still hadn't even left Guizhou province.

Since Zhang Woxu had taken over, the She-An rebels, who had been beaten down to their last breath, had successively repelled several Ming encirclement campaigns and managed to prolong their lives. No matter how you looked at it, Guilin was an isolated city—if they didn't break out, they could only sit and wait for death.

According to the deserters' information, as the siege dragged on, the conflict between the Prince of Jingjiang and the White Pole Troops grew ever more intense.

The Prince of Jingjiang repeatedly threatened to cut off their food supplies, while the White Pole Troops often grumbled about surrendering and opening the gates—which made the prince trust them even less, and he merely kept pressing Qin Liangyu to sally forth.

The gunpowder smell inside the city was growing thicker by the day.

Lei Sanxiang was completely at ease now. This scene was all too familiar to him—before any prefecture or county in all of Guangxi fell, there was basically always this kind of business. If it wasn't the Assistant Regional Commander and the Prefect fighting among themselves, it was the Battalion Commander leading his men in revolt.

When things reached this point, they always fell into chaos without even being attacked, then opened the gates and surrendered.

Sure enough, another day passed, and in the dead of night, the Nan'ao army received a White Pole soldier who came to surrender.

This person was a woman disguised as a man, and she gave her name as Zhang Fengyi—Qin Liangyu's daughter-in-law.

In the commander's tent, Lei Sanxiang eyed her suspiciously: "You're a daughter-in-law—can you make decisions for your mother-in-law? Why didn't they send that Ma fellow?" Zhang Fengyi said frankly: "We Stone Pillar natives don't have all your fuss about men's and women's roles."

Lei Sanxiang chuckled: "The White Pole Troops' commander is a woman, and you're a woman too—I suppose that makes sense."

Zhang Fengyi shot him a glare: "Enough idle talk. After surrender, no punishment for past deeds, hereditary rule of the borderlands—does that promise still hold or not?"

"That's what it said on the surrender leaflets, so of course it holds. But are you truly willing to surrender? Stone Pillar is in Sichuan—aren't you afraid the court will make trouble for you?" "Ha, the court?" Zhang Fengyi's face was full of disgust. "The Ming court's civil officials love money as life itself, its military officers fear death, eunuchs hold the court in their grip within, and feudal princes plague the regions without.

Why should we risk our lives for such a shitty court?

Stone Pillar's terrain is perilous, and the White Pole Troops are unmatched in elite prowess. As long as we guard our mountain gates well, no matter how many men the court sends, they'll never break through.

Once your Nan'ao army takes Guangxi, it's bound to draw the court's encirclement campaign. Having Stone Pillar share the burden from the north—isn't that just perfect?"

Lei Sanxiang weighed the matter in his mind.

The Ming had countless native chieftains like Qin Liangyu. The famous Guangxi Wolf Soldiers were in fact the private armies of native chieftains, of the same nature as the White Pole Troops. Every one of these chieftains was a weathervane—outwardly obedient to the court, but in truth, the slightest grievance would set them raising troops in rebellion.

That was exactly how the She-An Rebellion had come about.

Even if Qin Liangyu was the world's most forbearing pushover, after suffering so much injustice, she ought to be thoroughly disillusioned with the Great Ming by now.

Having thought this through, Lei Sanxiang nodded in agreement and said: "Three days from now, you will open the water gate east of Guilin. Once the city falls, I will let you go, and will also issue you grain and travel expenses."

"It's settled then." Zhang Fengyi clasped her fist, her spirit soaring.

Outside the tent, watching Zhang Fengyi's figure vanish into the night, Lei Sanxiang grinned to himself, thinking: "The helmsman thinks so highly of this Qin woman—if I can win her over, that'd be a real great merit! Too bad the feel—"

Zhang Fengyi returned to the city and reported the negotiation to Qin Liangyu.

Then she said: "Mother, the rebels won't let us approach—instead they want us to open the gates. What do we do?"

Qin Liangyu smiled: "That's perfect. Lure the enemy's main force to the east water gate, and while their camp is empty, we'll have a better chance of raiding it.

Ruizheng (Ma Xianglin's courtesy name), have you gotten a clear picture of the enemy's deployment north of the city?"

Ma Xianglin nodded: "The ambush force numbers about a thousand or more, scattered on both sides of the official road north of the city. We can circle around via Yushan and cross the river upstream on the Li River."

The White Pole Troops excelled at mountain travel, and Ma Xianglin had placed observation posts on all the hills north of the city.

By observing where the deserters had been captured, they had mapped out the Nan'ao army's northern defenses and the patrol patterns along the Li River channel.

With the elite White Pole Troops, slipping out of the city to circle behind was no difficult feat.

Qin Liangyu ran through the plan in her mind once more, and confirming it was sound, said in a slow voice: "Fengyi, you will lead a thousand men to hold the city. Three days from now, when the enemy camp catches fire as the signal, sally out and kill the enemy—coordinate from within and without, and break the enemy forces!"

On the twenty-first day of the fourth month, dark clouds obscured the moon. On the Li River, nothing was visible except the lights of boats—a perfect night for crossing the river in a surprise attack.

Around the hour of Zi, the Governor, the Regional Military Commissioner, and other high officials ascended the city wall and saw Zhang Fengyi standing atop the ramparts, gazing toward the opposite bank.

The Governor said: "Still no movement?"

Zhang Fengyi turned her head, signaling him to speak quietly.

Qin Liangyu's plan to raid the enemy camp had originally been kept secret from the Guilin officials, but tonight, coordinating with the raid required opening the water gate, so they had no choice but to reveal the plan. The Guangxi Governor felt the scheme was feasible, but knew the Prince of Jingjiang would never approve it—so he simply threw caution to the wind and authorized it on his own authority.

After all, he bore a heavy responsibility. He had waited in the government office, unable to sit still from anxiety, and so had run up to the city wall to oversee the operation.

Zhang Fengyi said in a low voice: "There are far more boat lights on the Li River tonight than usual. The rebels have taken the bait. Now we only wait for Commander Qin to light the signal fire." Behind the water gate, a thousand White Pole Troops had already boarded wooden rafts and flat-bottomed boats, arrayed in strict readiness. These vessels would be a joke in a naval battle, but for crossing the Li River—less than two hundred paces wide—they were more than enough.

Another thousand-plus Guilin defenders also waited by the lakeshore. Since they were going to crush the enemy in one stroke, they had to gamble with all their strength.

Time slipped by second by second, and before they knew it, it was already the fourth watch. Zhang Fengyi's expression grew increasingly grave. The city wall was so quiet that the sound of the Li River's current could be heard.

The Governor was growing impatient.

Just then a gust of wind blew, and pale moonlight spilled down, dimly illuminating the river surface.

There on the Li River, boats of every size filled the water—stretching as far as the eye could see, seemingly endless, a dark, oppressive mass that stole one's breath.

It was only then that the Governor realized not every vessel had lit its ship lantern—the actual number of boats on the river was several times greater than the lanterns suggested.

Dark clouds soon rolled in, covering the moonlight once more, and the river returned to its sparse scattering of lantern lights.

Seeing this, the Governor's eyes went wide, his breathing turned rapid, and his limbs went weak. He confirmed in a low voice, "Will this really work? What if... what if the water gate opens and..."

Even as he spoke, a flash of fire appeared on Zijia Islet, followed by several more points of light. The line of flames spread quickly—someone had definitely set this fire deliberately.

Zhang Fengyi's heart leapt with joy, and he immediately ordered, "Open the city gates!"

"Wait!" the Governor stopped him.

Yahei

Fenyuan

Pen