Chapter 144

Early the next morning, the Taiping Army, rested for a day, advanced on Xinhui. To seize the city in one blow, not only did all five battalions of the vanguard march out, but every security-team member in the rear camp was also ordered to accompany the army.

In addition, Song Xianggong organized five hundred sturdy women dressed in men's clothing and concealed them among the troops.

Finally, he even brought along all the captured carts and horses, all to deceive the Xinhui garrison into believing the Taiping Army was vast in numbers and mighty in force, creating the illusion of a great army coming to attack.

Zhu Er's cavalry squad, after being reinforced with a dozen or so soldiers who could ride, continued to serve as the army's scouts, responsible for vigilance along the route and the relay of military intelligence.

On the road, the cavalry squad likewise spotted several groups of Qing army scouts, but the other side clearly had no intention of tangling with the Taiping Army; the moment they saw them from afar, they wheeled their horses and turned back.

No Qing troops came to block them the entire way. By the time the Taiping Army reached the walls of Xinhui, the sun was already setting.

The Qing troops inside held the city and defended it, all four gates shut tight, showing not the slightest intention of coming out to test their strength against the Taiping Army.

Clearly, the destruction of Wu Jinzhong's force had made the Qing troops in the city realize that the handful of soldiers they had was no match for the Taiping Army at all.

So, just as they had done the previous year when Li Dingguo's great army attacked, they played the turtle with its head drawn in, waiting for reinforcements from Guangzhou to arrive.

That the Qing troops in the city would not come out was exactly what Zhou Shixiang wanted. He did not allow himself too much emotion at seeing his hometown again, nor did he allow himself to go look at the empty grave he had built with his own hands.

Instead, he ordered the Hujie Battalion to keep watch on the Qing troops in the city, while the remaining battalions made camp beneath the walls of Xinhui.

Zhu Er's cavalry squad was ordered to move about beneath the walls to lure the Qing troops on the ramparts into firing their cannon, so as to measure the range of the Qing artillery.

But the Qing troops in the city did not fire, only using bows and arrows to drive the cavalry off when they drew near.

Seeing that the cavalry could not draw out the defenders, Zhou Shixiang immediately ordered the Zhenlu Battalion to feign an assault on the wall.

This time he succeeded in luring the Qing troops into opening fire, and he determined that the range of the red-barbarian cannon was about three li. The price paid for this, however, was more than thirty fresh lives.

When the Qing cannon opened fire, many soldiers in the Taiping Army were shocked, covering their ears and lying flat on the ground, not daring to move.

Only those officers and veterans who had heard the sound of explosions at Luoding remained calm, utterly unafraid of the thunderous roar, and instead mocked the new recruits who were nearly pissing their pants in fright.

Ridiculed so by the veterans, the new recruits all went red in the face, yet the fear in their hearts quietly faded.

Although he did not fear that the Qing troops in the city would dare a night sortie, Zhou Shixiang still led men on an inspection of every camp, ordering each to dig trenches, set up visible and hidden sentries, and draw up regulations for how each camp should respond in the event of a Qing night raid.

The women who had come with the army were also busy preparing food. To prevent any soldier's lust from getting the better of him, Zhou Shixiang placed the women's camp at the very rear.

He personally led the Guard Battalion to cut across between them, and detached a squad of guards specifically to patrol the women's camp. At the same time, he issued a strict order: anyone who dared sneak into the women's camp without permission would be beheaded, no exceptions!

In issuing such a strict order, Zhou Shixiang had no choice. The Taiping Army's current composition was simply too mixed; officers and soldiers alike were not particularly outstanding in military quality or personal virtue.

To describe the camp's state as a motley crew of all sorts might be going a bit far, but it was not far off.

To nip trouble in the bud, Zhou Shixiang had reason to believe that among his subordinates there were certainly some worthless sorts.

With a great battle imminent, and to prevent unnecessary incidents, he thought it best to speak plainly beforehand, lest someone truly let lust cloud his judgment and, with worms crawling into his brain, commit some disgraceful act.

That night passed without incident. The Qing troops did not come on a night raid, and no disgraceful affair occurred in camp either.

The next day, on Song Xianggong's advice, Zhou Shixiang had the captured Han Banners soldiers and more than twenty Green Standard troops who had slaughtered women and children brought beneath the walls. He first sent men to urge the Qing troops inside to surrender.

The city's answer was three cannon shots.

That the Qing garrison refused to surrender was within Zhou Shixiang's expectations and no surprise. After the Qing cannon fired, he ordered the prisoners brought before the army, and there, in full view of the Qing troops on the wall, had them beheaded one by one.

In the past, slaughtering prisoners before an enemy's strong walls would certainly have been unwise, for the only result could be to stiffen the defenders' resolve to resist to the death, serving no purpose for the assault.

But now Zhou Shixiang cared nothing for the ill effects of killing prisoners.

The Qing troops in the city were plainly determined to hold out to the bitter end; with last year's successful precedent of repelling Li Dingguo's tens of thousands of troops, they would not entertain the slightest thought of surrender.

Killing these captured bannermen before their eyes was meant only to show them the Taiping Army's determination to take Xinhui, and at the same time to divert the defenders' attention and cover up another major matter.

Shao Jiugong's Xiongwei Battalion had received the largest share of Green Standard defectors, and Battalion Commander Lin Youxian had also been assigned to serve under him, now holding the post of a small banner officer.

The reason he held only a small banner, rather than being appointed a chief banner officer like Li Fuguo, was entirely due to Lin Youxian's feat of playing dead.

A battalion commander who played dead was naturally not someone Zhou Shixiang would value highly, so he had only made him a small banner officer.

"When the blade comes down later, be quick about it, be ruthless. None of you go soft. If you can't take a head off in one stroke, I'll take yours! And all of you, behave yourselves. If anyone dares to run—heh—don't blame me for being heavy-handed!"

Shao Jiugong, overseeing the execution, glared fiercely at those Green Standard prisoners who had been assigned to his battalion. Born of the same root, he understood these Green Standard troops all too well.

If he did not put on a fierce front and call out in advance what they might try to do, most of them would likely bolt and run for the walls of Xinhui.

For safety's sake, Shao Jiugong also placed two soldiers beside each of the executioners from his camp; the moment any of these men made a move to sprint forward, they were to cut him down at once.

Hearing Shao Jiugong's threat, and seeing the two soldiers standing beside them eyeing them like tigers, the Green Standard defectors felt bitter in their hearts. They dared not look at Shao Jiugong, only stealing glances at one another.

But they quickly read in each other's eyes the message: don't go looking for death.

Then, reckoning whether they could actually make it to the walls alive, and whether they had the strength to run those three li in one breath, the notion of turning coat and bolting before the ranks vanished without a trace.

"Bring them all up!"

At Shao Jiugong's bellow, the prisoners were escorted before the army, then forced to their knees one after another, facing Xinhui.

"What are the bandit soldiers up to?"

The Qing troops on the ramparts at first could not make out what the Taiping Army intended. But when the sharp-eyed among them saw that the kneeling figures were people they knew, cries of shock broke out.

"Isn't that Master Lin of the Han Banners?!"

"Company Captain Su's Goshiha is there too!"

"Regional Commander's personal guard Zhou Youshun!"

"......"

"The bandits think killing prisoners will shake our morale. Wishful thinking."

The commander on the wall—also the highest-ranking officer now in the Xinhui garrison, Route Commander Zheng Guodong—after observing the activity outside the city, gave a cold laugh and handed his telescope to County Magistrate Huang Zhizheng beside him, saying, "That bandit leader looks rather like the bandit xiucai who assassinated General You the other day.

Have a look, Magistrate Huang, and see if it is him."

"Bandit xiucai?"

Huang Zhizheng started, then immediately realized Zheng Guodong was speaking of the local xiucai, Zhou Shixiang.

How did Scholar Zhou come to join the bandit soldiers, and become a bandit leader?

Huang Zhizheng was puzzled. As for Zhou Shixiang killing You Yunlong with his own hands, he did not know how to regard it.

After all, Zhou Shixiang's entire family had been destroyed by the Qing army. As a son, as a husband, as a father, seeking revenge was only right.

But the man he had killed was a general of the Great Qing, which put Huang Zhizheng, himself an official of the Great Qing, in an awkward position. He could not pass judgment, but to call him a bandit xiucai he absolutely could not bring himself to do.

Yet the name "bandit xiucai" for Zhou Shixiang had come from the Prince of Pingnan's residence in Guangzhou. Once the Prince of Pingnan had spoken, bandit xiucai he was, whether he was one or not.

After a quiet sigh in his heart, Huang Zhizheng raised the telescope and looked down at the city. In the lens there was indeed a familiar figure—unmistakably the county-school xiucai, Zhou Shixiang.

Scholar Zhou has thrown in his lot with the bandits to avenge his ruined family. Ah...