Chapter 163: 161: Who Are the Rebels?

Night.

Huang Yao led five hundred soldiers, circling for a full half-month, and finally reached the northwest of Bailuo Islet.

There were no major mountains along the way, just small hills and flatlands.

The reason for this wide detour was fear of being discovered by government troops. By the same token, the government troops dared not cross the river to plunder here, afraid the rebels would learn of it and set an ambush.

The vast rural area across from the prefectural seat of Linjiang had become strangely peaceful.

Feeling their way to the riverbank in the dark, all five hundred soldiers stripped off their clothes and swam to the mid-river sandbar on the opposite side. The rattan-shield men and wolf-brush soldiers had it easy — their wooden shields and wolf brushes both had buoyancy, making the hundred-meter crossing effortless.

After coming ashore, they walked on foot to the other side of the sandbar. Here the river channel was two hundred meters wide, but it still posed no difficulty for men well-versed in swimming.

Just like that, Huang Yao led his five hundred soldiers across the river without anyone knowing.

This was the narrowest stretch of the Gan River anywhere near the battlefield.

Wang Siren had originally taken precautions, assigning three hundred government troops to guard the spot. But lately plundering was in vogue, and the officers had taken their soldiers off to loot the villages, leaving only a dozen or so men to keep watch by the river.

A dozen government soldiers — could they watch over a riverbank seven or eight li long?

Several li from the riverbank, Huang Yao found a wheat field already harvested and passed the order: "Leave a few men on watch. Everyone else, sleep!"

After a sound sleep of one double-hour in the wheat field, the sky brightened fully, and Huang Yao immediately led his men into the village.

The grain he had brought was insufficient; he could only borrow grain from the landlord's household.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The gate was knocked open, and an old man came out, pleading bitterly, "Sirs, you military gentlemen have already come several times these days. This old man's household truly has no grain left."

"Venerable elder," the army's attached propaganda officer cupped his fist, "we are the Great Unity Army, not those government troops who extort and levy at will. When the Great Unity Army borrows grain, it is to be repaid. We can write a receipt. As for the government troops who mistreated you — once we've eaten our fill, we'll go deal with those whelps!"

"Reb—... you are the righteous army?" The old man trembled all over with fright.

The propaganda officer asked, "Do you have paper and brush? We are not borrowing much grain. We will leave a receipt and will certainly repay it in the future."

When borrowing grain from landlords in "enemy-occupied territory," Zhao Han never honored the debt, but at a time like this, it paid to appear more benevolent.

Terrified the rebels would slaughter his whole family, the old man had no choice but to open the granary again and give them grain.

The rebels truly did not ask for much — only half a dou per man — and insisted on writing a receipt. They tossed down the receipt, took the grain, and left.

From start to finish, the five hundred soldiers maintained strict military bearing and never set half a step inside the landlord's residence.

Watching the rebels depart, the old man lamented, "What kind of world is this? It's impossible to go on living!"

They marched another half-day. At noon, just as they were lighting fires to cook, a sentry suddenly reported that government troops had appeared.

Huang Yao climbed a small hill to look and indeed saw two or three hundred government soldiers, every man bearing spoils. Some soldiers were even pushing small carts, loaded full with goods and valuables looted from the countryside.

Military discipline on the government side had already broken down completely.

If you can go plunder, why can't I?

So officers great and small took turns going out to requisition grain. Some unlucky landlords were requisitioned over and over again.

These were locally recruited soldiers from Jiangxi, relatively civilized by comparison. Had they been outside troops from another province, it would have been far worse. In that situation, government troops not only robbed grain and money but also killed people and slaughtered villages, cutting off the heads of law-abiding folk and claiming they had slain rebels.

Once these government troops were defeated in battle, Li Maofang would certainly hint to his subordinate officers to kill people — cutting off some heads to take back could offset a defeat.

"Sound the horns!"

"Du-du-da, du-du-da-du-da-du-da-da-da, du-du-du-du-du-du-wooo~~~~~~"

"Du-du-da, du-du-da-du-da-du-da-da-da, du-du-du-du-du-du-wooo~~~~~~"

"Kill!"

As the government troops passed below the hill, the five hundred soldiers swarmed out. The two or three hundred grain-plundering government soldiers fled in panic, utterly bewildered as to what was happening.

Huang Yao ran the fastest of all, stabbing several men dead in succession, chasing these government troops straight into the village.

The villagers, just plundered moments before, all shut their doors and windows, peering through the cracks to observe. Seeing Huang Yao and his men chasing and killing the government troops, though they dared not make a sound, every one of them silently cheered Huang Yao on.

Of the two hundred-odd government troops, Huang Yao and his men killed nearly half, then ceased the pursuit.

Instead, they returned to the ambush point, took the grain the government troops had looted, and delivered it to the village for the peasants to come and claim themselves.

Five hundred soldiers, five propaganda officers.

These propaganda officers shouted along the village lanes: "Cousins, do not be afraid! We are Mr. Zhao's Great Unity soldiers. Great Unity soldiers do not harm the common people — we stand up for the common people. The grain the government troops looted is piled on the village threshing ground. Whoever had their grain looted, go and take it back."

Newly arrived in this unfamiliar place, having not yet won the peasants' trust, this was all they could do for now.

Once Huang Yao and his soldiers had gone far, the villagers finally dared to come out and ran to the threshing ground to reclaim their grain. Some took more, some took less — naturally, another round of quarrels ensued.

One youth did not go to snatch grain. Instead, he chased after Huang Yao's unit, picking up a long spear discarded by a government soldier along the way.

After pursuing them for a stretch, Huang Yao halted to rest and called the youth over: "What are you following us for?"

The youth stammered, "I... I want to fight with you."

"What about your family?" Huang Yao asked.

The youth answered, "My father died five years ago, my mother died three years ago, and both my older sisters are married off. I live with my uncle's family. My aunt can't stand me — no matter how much work I do, she still scolds me."

"A pitiful case," Huang Yao said. "What is your name?"

The youth answered, "Hu Dinggui. My father gave me that name. My father even studied for a few years. I can read too — my father taught me. I can recite the Three Character Classic."

Huang Yao smiled. "Very well, from now on you'll follow me and fight."

After roaming behind enemy lines for several days, Huang Yao's force grew to 536 men. One household even threw in their lot with him entirely — the elders were all dead, the family too poor to take wives, and all three brothers came to join the Great Unity Army.

There were battle achievements as well: they had killed over four hundred government troops in total, killing until the government troops dared not come plundering in this area anymore.

Even more valuable was that the nearby villagers all now knew that the Great Unity Army was an army that fought for the common people, different from those brutal government troops. Even many landlords were half-willingly lending grain, because when the government troops came, they looted even more.

"Outrageous!"

Li Maofang flew into a towering rage and personally led two thousand Governor's Guard soldiers, charging straight for Huang Yao's unit.

At this very moment, Huang Yao was near the Dragon Light Academy — the "Dragon Light" of "Dragon light shines upon the Ox and Dipper's divide." The academy's plaque was inscribed by the Long-Legged Emperor Zhao Gou, and Zhu Xi had once lectured here for over a month.

"General, General!"

A peasant came running swiftly, panting, "General, get into the mountains, quick! A huge force of government troops is coming!"

"Many thanks, cousin!"

Huang Yao immediately rose: "Forget eating — pack up and head into the hills."

Li Maofang had chased them all the way here, only to come up empty; Huang Yao was already deep inside Lion Mountain, two li away.

Li Maofang was worn out from the pursuit. He stationed his soldiers outside and went off to rest at Dragon Light Academy.

Unfortunately, the gates of Dragon Light Academy were firmly shut — they paid no attention whatsoever to this Governor.

Jiangxi has five of the Four Great Academies, and Dragon Light Academy is that fifth one. This place is no longer within Qingjiang County's borders, but on the fringe of Fengcheng County. Li Maofang dared let his troops plunder the common people, but he did not dare lead soldiers to force his way into the academy.

Having been shut out, Li Maofang grew angrier the more he brooded, staring at Lion Mountain utterly helpless.

Two days later, at the government army's main camp.

Li Maofang, Li Ruolian, and Wang Siren were still arguing. The first adamantly refused to cross the river for a decisive battle — he believed the government troops were not yet sufficiently trained.

Of the eighteen thousand government soldiers, over three thousand were newly recruited men who had trained for only two or three months. Li Ruolian's five thousand troops, moreover, had been brought from guard stations all over — every last one of them a feeble military household soldier who had just set down his hoe. Another two thousand or so were local militia that the Governor of Linjiang had conscripted. Another two thousand-odd were Wang Siren's sailors, who could not possibly fight on land. And there were three thousand civilian laborers besides.

The government troops actually capable of fighting numbered barely two thousand at most!

What the hell kind of fight is that?

Greedy though he was, Li Maofang was no fool. His original plan had never been to fight the rebels head-on, but to rely on Wang Siren's naval force to pin the rebels down so they could not force a decisive engagement.

Once the rebels ran out of provisions, they would naturally choose to withdraw.

And Li Maofang himself, without losing a single soldier, could take the chance to line his pockets. Part of that silver would go to drilling troops — drilling real elite troops. Part would go to bribing his superiors, either to get himself transferred or to get permission to keep drilling troops and exterminating bandits.

Either way, it all worked to Li Maofang's advantage.

Only Wang Siren was foolish enough to clamor for a decisive battle with the rebels — was he in a hurry to go get himself killed?

A worthless brat not worth consulting!

That sentence was Li Maofang's and Wang Siren's attitude toward each other; each thought the other an imbecile.

"Governor, Fengcheng County is lost!"

"What?"

Li Maofang started up in alarm and demanded, "Didn't the Fengcheng County Magistrate recruit a thousand local militia to hold the city?"

The scout answered, "Those militia had gone into the countryside to requisition grain. On their way back to the city, the rebels caught them squarely and chased them right into the county seat — and it was lost."

Li Maofang, Li Ruolian, and Wang Siren looked at one another in dismay.

Fengcheng County lay right behind them, and right on the banks of the Gan River. If the rebels coerced the populace of Fengcheng, their own rear line would be cut off at once.

Li Ruolian sneered: "A fine piece of work you've done!"

Li Maofang had no reply, because the grain-requisition order had indeed been issued by him.

But who the hell could have imagined that the Fengcheng County Magistrate would be such a genius — sending militia into the countryside to requisition grain, and letting a few hundred bandits slip in through the gap and seize the county seat.

That was no grain-requisitioning at all — it was the Fengcheng County Magistrate himself wanting to line his own pockets, sending troops to plunder under the pretext of suppressing bandits!

Wang Siren sighed and said, "There are only three options now. One: cross the river at once for a decisive battle. Two: withdraw the troops immediately back to Nanchang. Three: retake Fengcheng County and station the main camp there."

"Withdrawal is out of the question," Li Ruolian said, shaking his head. "Leaving the rebels before our eyes unexterminated — every one of us will lose our black gauze caps."

Li Maofang asked, "Can we not simply send troops to retake the county seat and leave men to garrison it?"

Wang Siren said, "Several hundred rebels have been hiding behind us all along. These rebels are adept at deluding the people. If we let them keep developing, I fear they will number two or three thousand by next month. With two or three thousand enemies lurking at your back, do you dare fight such a battle?"

Li Maofang pondered and said, "We cannot withdraw from Linjiang Prefecture — not even just falling back to Fengcheng County will do. Linjiang Prefecture is a key tax-collection town. Once it is lost, the court will be enraged, and losing our posts will be the least of it!"

"Then we fight," Li Ruolian sighed.

Wang Siren sighed: "This rebel Zhao — how cunning he is."

Wang Siren had considered that Zhao Han might send troops around to their rear, but he had never imagined that after circling behind them, the rebels would not launch a night raid on the government camp, but instead help the peasants drive off the plundering government soldiers!

Just a few hundred rebels, and yet when the government troops tried to root them out, they could not even catch a glimpse of them.

It was not only the peasants who passed word of their movements — even the local gentry secretly supplied the rebels with grain, simply because the government soldiers had plundered too savagely.

Wang Siren had the uncanny feeling that he himself was the rebel…

(End of chapter)