Chapter 108: Simply Swapping Homes

The Three Rivers Mouth — where the Lu River and He River converge.

This was where Xie Xuelong gathered and drilled his troops; local gentry kept arriving with their own "sons and brothers" soldiers to join him.

"Sons and brothers" soldiers, as the name implies, are the sons and younger brothers of the home district.

Tenant farmers don't qualify as "sons and brothers" — the troops are mostly clansmen and sons of respectable families; if absolutely necessary, household slaves and home-born servants fill the gaps. Absolutely loyal, they will never collude with the rebels.

Now under Xie Xuelong's command are over 800 guard-station troops, over 500 self-recruited local braves, over 3,200 gentry "sons and brothers" soldiers, plus more than 2,000 laborers hauling supplies.

The riverside army camp.

Xie Xuelong sat upon the high platform, expressionless. "Bring them forward!"

Over a dozen officers and soldiers were shoved in a bunch before the platform, wailing for their mothers, while some broke into curses.

One officer roared hoarsely, "You Xie bastard, your grandpa is the Chiliarch of Linjiang! You need a court order to kill me — are you rebelling, killing military officers on your own authority?"

Xie Xuelong gave a cold snort. "When we were suppressing bandits in Ruijin, you let your troops plunder, and I warned you then. Now, while we are drilling troops to pacify the rebels, you skip drill without cause and lead your men to violate respectable women. What of it if I kill you? Men — behead this wretch!"

Seeing the executioner approach with his blade, the officer began wailing again: "Master Xie, I was wrong, I was wrong! I swear I'll obey — let me atone with my life, I beg you!"

One stroke of the blade, and the head fell to the ground.

One after another, over a dozen were executed; four of them were officers.

The entire army fell solemn at once; no one dared make a sound, listening as Xie Xuelong reiterated the military orders.

"Governor, Mr. Meng'an has arrived with his 'sons and brothers' troops." Private secretary Li Zongxue hurried onto the platform and whispered in Xie Xuelong's ear.

Xie Xuelong was overjoyed at the news. He ordered the troops to continue drilling and himself strode swiftly toward the camp gate.

"Governor Xie!" Li Banghua saluted with clasped hands, over thirty local braves standing behind him.

Xie Xuelong hurriedly bowed with hands clasped: "This junior pays his respects to Mr. Meng'an!"

Li Banghua smiled. "A dismissed official living in idleness does not deserve such ceremony."

Xie Xuelong bowed again. "Mr. Meng'an, please enter the camp."

Li Banghua was a man of Jishui, right next door to Luling County.

He too came from a yeoman-farmer family. Back then, father and son had traveled together to the capital for the examinations. They wore only plain cotton clothes and had no money even for a boat — they walked the entire way to the capital on foot.

His earlier achievements need no recounting. In the first year of Chongzhen, he was recalled to the Ministry of Works and soon transferred to be Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War; for his competent handling of the troops, he was promoted to Minister of War.

Within half a year, by reorganizing the capital garrison, Li Banghua reclaimed over ten thousand soldiers diverted to labor service, cleared over a thousand phantom enlistments, discharged tens of thousands of old, weak, and disabled troops, and selected and organized ten thousand crack troops for drill. He also strictly regulated garrison horses, first reducing his own duty horses by a third, forbidding officials from privately commandeering military horses, and set about reorganizing the cavalry.

At the same time, he evaluated the garrison officers and audited the garrison treasury. After offending countless people, the capital garrison swiftly recovered its fighting strength.

Just then, the Tartars broke through the passes.

Li Banghua selected three thousand crack troops to defend Tongzhou and dispatched another two thousand to reinforce Jizhou, while he personally led the various divisions to encamp around the capital.

His thinking was very clear: not to defend Beijing rigidly and passively, but to deploy defensive lines outside the city.

Then the absurdity came. Chongzhen suddenly ordered Li Banghua back, commanding that the garrison's crack troops must not go out to fight but must obediently guard Beijing city. Even scouts were not to be sent out, completely cutting off news from the front. Li Banghua was so furious he nearly spat blood.

With no alternative, Li Banghua, the Minister of War, could only hole up in the city arresting bandits, capturing spies, suppressing rumors, soliciting donations, and manufacturing firearms.

Because Li Banghua had offended far too many people during his reorganization of the capital garrison, cutting off countless sources of profit, before the Tartars had even been driven back, Li Banghua was dismissed from office and sent back to Jiangxi to retire — where he has remained ever since.

Xie Xuelong was already a formidable man; now a former Minister of War had come as well. The petty rebel Zhao Han truly commanded enormous face.

Fortunately, Wang Siren had been transferred in the tenth month to be Assistant Military Commissioner of Jiujiang and was still en route to his post; otherwise, Wang Siren would most likely have come to join the excitement too.

All of them capable officials and competent administrators!

Having invited Li Banghua into the command tent, Xie Xuelong pointed at the map and said, "Mr. Meng'an, this junior has already sent out scouts. In five days we formally march. We will go upstream along the He River, use Yongyang Town as the center, and advance both north and south to recover the villages and towns, clearing out the surrounding rebels and driving them upstream. When the time comes, the rebels from every village and town will surely combine forces. Though they will appear numerous, each will harbor his own agenda, making them all the easier to smash."

Li Banghua glanced at the map and asked, "Do you have any crack troops? The kind that can endure a long-distance raid."

Xie Xuelong said, "Before I marched on Ruijin, I recruited five hundred local braves in Nanchang and have drilled them for several months. Though they barely count as crack troops, I fear they cannot endure a long-distance raid."

"Then forget it," Li Banghua sighed.

Xie Xuelong asked, "Does the gentleman have a clever plan?"

Li Banghua pointed at the map. "If we had several hundred crack troops, we could take boats upstream along the Lu River. Disembark midway, cut across on foot to Yongxin County. In the Governor's name, have the Yongxin County Magistrate requisition boats and provisions. Then follow the He River downstream and thrust straight behind Huangjia Town, capturing that rebel Zhao's lair in one stroke! Then our main army closes in, coordinating with the crack troops who have circled behind, and we catch the bandits in a pincer."

Xie Xuelong was dumbstruck — this grand flanking maneuver was simply brilliant!

Xie Xuelong pondered it over and over, then suddenly decided: "For a surprise force, quality matters more than quantity. I will immediately select two hundred crack troops."

This grand rear-flanking plan was divided into three segments, two of which could be traveled by boat. Even with some winding mountain paths, only a hundred li would need to be covered on foot — the local braves who had trained for several months were fully capable.

Li Banghua said, "I will lead the surprise raid. The local braves I brought can all be counted in."

"Why must the gentleman personally undertake such a grueling journey?" Xie Xuelong tried to dissuade him.

Li Banghua gave a cold laugh. "Though I am past fifty, I can still walk. Back then, I walked to the capital for the examinations too. This march must pass through Yongxin County. If the wrong man is entrusted with it and there is burning, killing, and plundering along the way, I fear it will provoke a popular uprising in Yongxin County! Then before one wave subsides, another will rise — the chaos in Luling County not yet suppressed, and Yongxin County already swarming with violent mobs."

Xie Xuelong was filled with solemn respect. He clasped his hands and bowed deeply: "In that case, I entrust this to you, sir!"

The pitiable former Minister of War — all his strategic brilliance could not be used to kill Tartars; he could only lead two hundred-odd men to suppress rebels.

The next day.

Two hundred crack local braves were selected, and together with the thirty-odd men Li Banghua had brought, they boarded boats and followed the Lu River on a roundabout route toward Yongxin County.

Counting the time needed to contact the Yongxin County Magistrate and have him requisition boats and grain, if everything went smoothly, within half a month they could circle behind Wuxing Town.

By then, Zhao Han's nest would surely be taken, and he would face enemies at both front and rear.

Would Zhao Han just sit still and wait to be beaten?

"You're not going to join forces with the other leaders?" Fei Ruhe asked, alarmed.

Zhao Han shot Fei Ruhe a look. "It's not like you haven't read Romance of the Three Kingdoms. What happened when the eighteen lords joined against Dong Zhuo? We're not eighteen lords — we're eighteen village bullies and thugs. Mix us all together and we're bound to fall apart on our own."

"Then how do we fight?" Jiang Dashan asked.

Zhao Han didn't even have a map in hand; he relied entirely on questioning locals to learn the distances and directions. He said decisively, "We attack Ji'an prefectural seat directly!"

The men looked at each other, utterly dumbfounded.

The government's great army was bearing down on them, and instead of thinking how to repel the enemy, he wanted to go raid the prefectural seat. With a motley force of eight hundred men in all, could they possibly take the impregnable fortress of Ji'an?

Zuo Xiaoliang hastily tried to dissuade him. "Sir, please think this over carefully."

Pang Chunlai seemed intensely interested. Narrowing his eyes, he asked, "Tell me how you'd fight it."

Zhao Han explained, "The government troops have boats. Coming down the Heshui River, they can strike wherever they choose. We have no large boats, only a few small fishing boats, so we certainly can't match them in a water battle. That leaves us with no choice but to set up defenses everywhere, and everywhere we'll be passively taking a beating. To turn the situation around, we must strike at what the enemy is compelled to rescue!"

"That stands to reason." Pang Chunlai nodded.

Zhao Han continued, "The authorities had no regular troops to begin with and rely entirely on recruiting local braves. How could Ji'an prefectural seat have any soldiers defending it? That place is both the prefectural seat and the county seat. Once it's breached, the Governor will have to pull back his troops, and our territory will be saved!"

Huang Yao asked, "But if we take all our troops away, do we just abandon Wuxing Town?"

Zhao Han said, "Have all the villagers pack up their belongings in advance. Upriver and downriver, to the front and to the rear, send men everywhere to keep watch. The moment government troops are spotted, have them row back at once and report. Everyone is to take temporary refuge in the mountains. Just take the grain, money, and clothes. Let them burn the houses, let them trample the crops. As long as the people are preserved, everything can be rebuilt! Mr. Pang will remain in Wuxing Town, Huang Shunfu will stay in Lijia Guai, and Mr. Zuo will return to Huangba Village. The moment you learn of the enemy, take the commoners into the mountains at once!"

Huang Shunde suddenly asked, "Even if we take the Ji'an prefectural seat, we'd be a lone army deep in enemy territory. When the government troops turn back to relieve it, how could we possibly hold them off? I fear we'd go and never return."

Zhao Han laughed. "Take the prefectural seat, open the granaries and distribute grain, and recruit soldiers right there in the city. Then march out, kill the landlords, and incite the common people to rise up. When righteous armies spring up everywhere, we'll seize the chance to slip away. I'd like to see what the Governor does then!"

"Brilliant!" Huang Shunde was thoroughly convinced.

Zuo Xiaoliang stared dumbly at Zhao Han. In his heart, he had to admit, this man was a born ringleader of rebellion.

What had been a completely hopeless dead end was suddenly alive again, and the Governor was the one now put in check.

They immediately assigned tasks. The civil officials went to organize the commoners, and the political workers joined in to spread the word, urging the people not to harbor false hopes and to prepare early to flee into the deep mountains.

Zhao Han personally led eight hundred of his own men, puttees wrapped tight, as they headed for the northern slopes and took the mountain paths straight toward Meitang Town.

They could actually have taken a flatter and shorter route, but there were too many people and too many eyes along the way, and their marching movements would likely have been exposed in advance.

Li Banghua's great flanking maneuver was the same. Afraid that taking a shortcut to outflank would leak word, he instead looped all the way around from Yongxin County — Li Banghua had another concern too, fearing his troops would scatter if they marched too many mountain roads. After all, local braves were ill-suited for forced marches, and a great flanking maneuver let them travel by boat the whole way instead.

Zhao Han's army advanced with light packs, without even logistics support troops. Each man carried only three days' dry rations.

The straight-line distance to Meitang Town was sixty li, but the mountain route was over two hundred li.

When their provisions were nearly exhausted midway, they killed a mountain landlord, resupplied briefly, and continued the march. Relying on their puttees and vigorous spirit, they reached Meitang Town in four days and immediately killed the landlords and opened the granaries to distribute grain.

Interestingly, Li Banghua's great-flanking surprise force had passed through here just two days earlier.

After throwing Meitang Town into chaos, since the town's boats had long since been commandeered by the Governor, Zhao Han could only tear down shop doors, lash them together into rafts, and cross the river.

After crossing the river, they headed straight for the prefectural seat, with just over forty li left to go!

(End of chapter)