Chapter 160: War Breaks Out Again (For Alliance Leader

After the spring plowing, at the drill ground outside Ji'an city.

Over thirteen thousand peasant soldiers, organized by town, lined up and entered the field for drill.

Only four thousand will be chosen!

Li Banghua had proposed selecting three thousand regular soldiers, but after careful thought, Zhao Han decided on four thousand regulars.

Fei Yinggong and the bandits under his command stood to the side at that moment, watching the peasant soldiers come onto the field squad by squad.

"The hell do you call these peasant soldiers? Even the Governor's elite guard troops in every province are no better than this!" Yan Jiu stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

Fei Yinggong was equally stunned. These peasant soldiers before him not only had neat and orderly ranks and changed formations methodically, but they were also brimming with discipline and vigorous vitality.

Every one of the bandits under Fei Yinggong had martial skills. In a one-on-one fight, the bandits would certainly win. But ten against ten, the bandits would likely be routed and sent fleeing in utter disarray.

"There are actually over thirteen thousand such soldiers?" Tian Younian was shocked beyond measure.

Fei Ruhe explained, "These squads before you are all veterans from Luling County, so naturally they are fierce and tough. The new recruits from Jishui County and Anfu County have had far less drill time and will surely perform much worse."

Tian Younian asked, "How many Luling veterans are there?"

"Around six thousand," Fei Ruhe answered.

"How often do they drill?" Tian Younian asked again.

Fei Ruhe explained, "No drill during the busy farming season; during the slack season, they drill every day, practicing right in their own villages. Each village has a military officer."

The drill practice of the Great Ming's official troops was basically this: after new recruits were levied, they would spend one or two months in intensive drill to learn the signals and formations. After that, it all fell apart. Drilling once every five days counted as elite troops; once every ten days was normal; once a month was still acceptable; and there were even those who drilled once every half year!

Tian Younian lamented, "Ah, such crack soldiers, six thousand of them, and yet we can only pick a thousand."

"It will be better once we expand the army," Fei Ruhe said, pained as well.

This conscription of full-time regular soldiers could not be based on troop quality alone; it also had to be divided by region: one thousand from Luling, one thousand from Jishui, one thousand from Anfu, and one thousand surrendered troops from Yuanzhou (all archers).

The peasant soldiers of Anfu County were the last to be organized and trained, having drilled for only two or three months in total. They were no different from ordinary local militia, but a thousand still had to be conscripted.

If they only conscripted the elite peasant soldiers of Luling County, it would, first, easily create a regional faction within the army, and second, severely reduce the able-bodied labor force in Luling's villages.

Next, it was the Jishui County peasant soldiers' turn to take the field, and as expected, they were far sloppier, but still could crush the government's local militia.

When the Anfu County peasant soldiers came out to drill, the scene was truly painful to watch. Their ranks were still fairly neat when lined up, but the moment they changed formation, problems erupted one after another.

Li Banghua sighed, "We can only pick a general from among the dwarfs. For this campaign, the Luling veterans will be the main force, the Jishui troops the auxiliaries. The Anfu troops should just be used to hold cities."

The final selection was made by village, picking only those who performed best.

When peasant soldiers became regulars, peasant-soldier officers were converted to formal military ranks, and their pay was raised according to rank. Any peasant-soldier officers not selected retained their rank, but such rank would not be a formal one.

The Luling veterans who were not chosen were very unhappy, believing themselves a hundred times better than the trash soldiers from Anfu. Zhao Han had to send the propaganda officers to soothe their morale.

The selection took a full three days, and finally the four thousand regulars were chosen.

The army banner was slightly modified: still made of indigo-dyed cotton cloth, but the flag face now had the four characters "Great Unity under Heaven" embroidered on it.

Fei Yinggong and the bandits under his command were broken up and assigned to various units.

If one added Zhao Han's personal guard, the "Slave Army," plus the military judges, propaganda officers, naval troops, and so on, the regulars actually already exceeded five thousand men.

Three counties supporting over five thousand regular soldiers — the military expenditure was simply explosive!

Wu Yong, who always managed to capture high officials, had rendered meritorious service recently and was promoted to squad captain of the "Slave Army," commanding three ten-man squads.

Xiong Yao, who had been forced to serve as a guide and led Zhao Han's surprise attack on the Yuanzhou army camp, was a technical specialist as an archer and already an officer. He was promoted to Picket Commander, commanding nine ten-man squads.

Fei Yinggong was also an archer Picket Commander. This fellow had practiced archery. He was said to command nine ten-man squads, but counting the lower-level officers, he actually led a hundred men.

Leading a hundred men — that still made him a centurion, Fei Yinggong could only console himself this way.

With the reorganization of the regulars complete, two thousand of the elite peasant soldiers not selected were kept on standby; all the rest went home. These peasant soldiers still had to keep up their drills. If a large-scale government encirclement came, Zhao Han could instantly raise an army of over ten thousand!

For the next half month, all the regulars and the two thousand peasant soldiers drilled on the parade ground, mainly practicing coordination with the archers.

At the end of the fourth month, they swore the oath and set out on campaign.

The advance naval force, disguised as merchant ships, transported Zhao Han's personal guard to Xingan County.

Among the Liu clan who had recently pledged their entire lineage to his service, there was a xiucai named Liu Tongyu, now serving as an army clerk. Liu Tongyu dressed in finery and pretended to be a wealthy merchant, while Zhang Tieniu, Liu Zhu, and others disguised themselves as household slaves. They actually managed to bribe the city gate guards to let them in for a mere five mace of silver.

"Kill!"

Zhang Tieniu pulled an axe from a chest, Liu Zhu drew a steel blade, and they began hacking wildly at the city gate.

Even the xiucai Liu Tongyu drew his scholar's sword and joined the fray.

It was just a dozen or so men in all, yet they actually seized and held the city gate. The Slave Army soldiers lying in ambush on the "merchant ships" immediately rushed over as reinforcements.

Because Zhao Han had stirred up so much trouble, the county magistrates of the surrounding counties had all made a show of recruiting troops to defend their cities.

They were all for show!

Otherwise, the Sweeping King to the west would not have been able to swiftly capture three county seats in just two and a half months.

The government troops of Xingan County were exactly the same. They had been fairly diligent at first, but after waiting and waiting for a whole year without Zhao Han coming, they gradually relaxed their vigilance. As long as they were given silver, they could not even be bothered to inspect goods entering the city, which allowed Zhang Tieniu and his men to carry weapons inside.

After the west gate, which faced the Gan River, was seized by several hundred Slave Army soldiers, the remaining defending government troops simply chose to abandon the city and flee.

The county magistrate fled too, not forgetting to take his silver with him. That fellow certainly ran fast, vanishing without a trace from then on.

Zhao Han arrived by boat with the main army. He did not stop in Xingan County but continued north toward Zhangshu Town.

Of course, he could not help but sigh with emotion, for Xingan County had its historical figures — Yue Fei and Han Shizhong had both trained troops here!

Traveling from Jishui County to Zhangshu Town, one had to pass through the two counties of Xingan and Xiajiang.

The seat of Xingan County lay right on the banks of the Gan River and had to be captured. The seat of Xiajiang County was not on the river, so Zhao Han could not even be bothered to deal with it, simply ignoring that county's troops.

Five hundred peasant soldiers were left to garrison the Xingan county seat, mainly to maintain order. For the time being, they would not go into the countryside to redistribute land.

Seeing the large number of boats transporting soldiers toward them, the merchants of Zhangshu Town all fled in panic. Zhao Han immediately led his men ashore and set up camp on the opposite bank from Zhangshu Town.

After disembarking the soldiers and part of the provisions, the naval commander Gu Jianshan led the fleet back to Ji'an to transport the remaining supplies. There was no other way — they had too few boats and had to make several trips.

The battle plan this time was as follows, divided into three steps:

First, take the Xingan county seat and garrison it with five hundred peasant soldiers to ensure the water route remained open.

Second, occupy Zhangshu Town. Zhao Han would personally command two thousand five hundred soldiers to hold the position, in order to deal with any large numbers of government troops that might appear from the north.

Third, Fei Ruhe would take the remaining troops by boat west along the Yuan River and seize the two counties of Xinyu and Fenyi.

……

the seat of Linjiang Prefecture).

The Prefect of Linjiang was called He Tianqu, a proper jinshi degree holder, and lately he had been in a very agitated mood.

First, to the south lay the great Luling bandit Zhao Yan, so He Tianqu had to raise troops for defense and wait for the Governor's main army to come south and launch a joint punitive campaign.

Second, He Tianqu's ancestral home was in Luzhou, and moreover in a small town outside the prefectural seat. Word had come a few days ago that Luzhou had been ravaged repeatedly by Zhang Xianzhong, and he had no idea whether his clansmen had managed to flee. Even if his clansmen escaped, his family's money and grain had surely been looted clean!

It was sheer, rotten misfortune — He Tianqu wanted to weep but had no tears.

"Prefect, Prefect, terrible news — Zhangshu Town has been taken by the rebel Zhao!"

"What?"

He Tianqu felt as if he had been struck by lightning. Zhangshu Town was barely ten li from the Linjiang prefectural seat.

Seeing the Prefect somewhat stupefied, his private secretary quickly offered counsel: "Prefect, please issue orders at once. First, have the troops immediately man the walls and stand guard, and gather in quantity rolling logs, falling stones, vegetable oil, boiling filth, and the like. Second, dispatch men at once to Nanchang to report the rebel situation to the three provincial offices and the Governor. Third, send scouts south at once to probe the rebel Zhao's true strength and movements."

"Yes, yes, yes — do as the secretary says." He Tianqu recovered himself a little.

Very soon, He Tianqu received further enemy intelligence: the rebel Zhao was building a stockade at Zhangshu Town and showed no immediate intention of marching north to attack the prefectural seat.

This let He Tianqu breathe a little easier. He summoned the officials of the prefectural and county yamens to continue the council.

They deliberated back and forth but came up with no good plan; the only course was to gather troops quickly to hold the city and then wait for the Governor to bring his soldiers as reinforcements.

The gentry of Qingjiang County were rather interesting. Knowing that Zhao Han had arrived, they did not flee — after all, the rebel Zhao would not plunder their money and grain. They stayed at home while also contributing funds and men to help the Prefect and County Magistrate recruit local braves.

If the government troops won, then everyone would be happy.

If the government troops lost, they would just wait to have their land redistributed; fleeing later would not be too late.

A few days later, He Tianqu had recruited over a thousand local braves, which, added to the troops he had raised earlier, brought his strength to more than eighteen hundred men.

……

Nanchang.

Wang Siren had been training the naval forces on Lake Poyang when Governor Li Maofang summoned him urgently.

"Governor, has the rebel Zhao in the south made some move?" Wang Siren asked.

Li Maofang explained: "The Prefect of Linjiang has sent an urgent report. The rebel Zhao is encamped at Zhangshu Town and intends to attack Linjiang city."

Wang Siren spread out the map and soon shook his head. "The rebel Zhao's objective, I fear, is not Linjiang Prefecture at all, but rather the two counties of Xinyu and Fenyi to the west. The rebel Zhao has his eye on the iron mines and ironworks there. Otherwise, he would not be encamped at Zhangshu Town — he would have launched a swift surprise attack on the Linjiang prefectural seat."

"Should we send out troops?" Li Maofang asked.

Wang Siren sighed. "The rebels have struck within a hundred li of the Linjiang prefectural seat — how can the government troops sit by and do nothing? Zhangshu Town must be retaken!"

The Great Ming had thirty-three key tax towns across the realm; the Linjiang prefectural seat together with Zhangshu Town counted as one of them.

If Zhangshu Town remained under permanent rebel occupation and they someday seized an opening to take Linjiang Prefecture as well, would the Luling rebel Zhao not then soar to the heavens?

"Ah, we should never have gone north during the New Year period." Li Maofang was sick with regret.

They had taken a large naval force and led five thousand infantry, rushing off eagerly to relieve Fengyang. In the end, after one muddled battle, the crack infantry they had painstakingly trained were reduced by Zhang Xianzhong to just over a thousand men.

Although they had since recruited anew and once more had five thousand infantry, what use were such raw recruits?

Wang Siren thought carefully and said: "First, we march for Linjiang Prefecture. Once we have probed more of the rebel army's true strength, we will decide how to fight. We have the naval force — we can advance or withdraw. Do not lightly engage the rebels in infantry combat."

"That is all we can do," Li Maofang said.

(A reply: some readers have brought up the enclosure movement, the agricultural revolution, and the like. Before the application of large-scale machinery, England's agricultural revolution manifested mainly in two respects. First, driving the peasants off the land, with landlords enclosing it and then hiring peasants to farm it — which is precisely the late-Ming system of great landlords and tenant farmers. Second, intensive cultivation. After over a century of agricultural revolution, England's per-mu yields finally reached the level of Ming-dynasty southern China's per-mu yields. Is this discussion interesting? Please do not ignore the difference in population between England and the Great Ming. If the Great Ming had played the game England's way, peasant uprisings would have exploded long ago.)

(End of chapter)