Chapter 223: A Dilemma

"I'm not going — if I go, I won't come out alive." Tan Laizi's face streamed with tears and snot as he struggled desperately on the deck.

Before him lay a gangplank, and beyond that gangplank was the Wharf dock at the mouth of the Hezhou river. No boats were moored nearby now, and only a few scattered figures remained on the shore. The boat's two hired hands stood on the bank hauling the grain transport ship's mooring line, grinning as they watched Tan Laizi struggle.

Two men from the Canal Gang were dragging him. The Triple Cudgel headman leading them bellowed curses: "You damned Tan Laizi, you've shamed every man in the Canal Gang, and the silver house's account office is watching from the side!"

Tan Laizi wrenched his arms free with all his strength, dropped to his knees before the Triple Cudgel, and said, "Master He, I have an eighty-year-old mother above and a three-year-old child below — I dare not throw my life away. These are hard times. If I leave them behind, what will become of them? Master He, show mercy, leave me in Jiangnan, let me go back to Anqing on my own, all right?"

"Truly pitiful." The Triple Cudgel's face filled with compassion. Tan Laizi suddenly saw hope.

"But this assignment was given by the Gang Leader himself. According to Article Three of the Bang Gui, when a gang steward dispatches a member and that member refuses, one hand and one foot are to be severed. So I'll carry out the gang rules and family law first, then send you on to Jiangnan."

"No, no!" Tan Laizi retreated two steps to the gunwale. "Don't you come any closer! Come closer and I'll jump."

The Triple Cudgel rubbed his forehead. "Then jump quickly. The silver house's account office still has business in Nanjing."

"Jump in the water... I'd freeze to death!" Tan Laizi wailed, then crouched on the deck and burst into loud sobs. The crowd watching on the boat all jeered with laughter. Tan Laizi followed the sound and looked over — there were even two women among them, both from the silver house, covering their mouths as they laughed.

The Triple Cudgel felt the Canal Gang's face could no longer endure his disgrace. He turned on Tan Laizi in fury: "You're told to scout for news of the Roving Bandits. If you learn the Roving Bandits are heading for Hezhou, you find a boat and cross to Jiangnan to deliver the warning — no one's asking you to fight the Roving Bandits to the death. Besides, the Roving Bandits didn't even come to Hezhou last time. The city walls are so high, who could take them? On top of that, there's a daily assignment pay of two mace of silver. Clearly the Gang Leader is promoting you, and you insist it's a death sentence. I'll ask you one last time: will you walk down yourself, or shall I throw you into the water?"

Tan Laizi still did not move. The two helpers moved to drag him again. Tan Laizi hastily wiped his nose. "Brothers, don't lay hands on me — I'll go down myself. Brother He, give me a foot boat, and I'll go down right away."

One of the silver house's account clerks cursed, "You think you're going to cross the river in a foot boat or something?"

The Triple Cudgel said impatiently, "Put a boat down for him."

Several boat hands expertly lowered the foot boat and placed the rope in Tan Laizi's hands.

With no excuse left to delay, Tan Laizi crossed the gangplank haltingly, then suddenly turned his head and shouted, "Give me a few more taels—"

The gangplank had just been pulled back. The grain transport ship was already drawing away from the shore. A crowd of sailors jeered from the bow.

The Triple Cudgel roared curses at Tan Laizi: "Tan Laizi, I'm telling you — if the Roving Bandits don't come and you run off, when I get back to Anqing I'll break both your legs!"

Tan Laizi pressed his lips flat. When he saw the grain transport ship far in the distance, he suddenly flung his arm and cursed furiously under his breath: "A pack of dogs! Break my legs — you think you can afford to cross me?"

When he turned back around, the dock was deserted. Two idlers on the shore were staring at him. Tan Laizi swallowed a mouthful of spit, flashed the short blade in his hand, and the two idlers each went their own way.

Seeing no one around, Tan Laizi's heart grew even more hollow. He had never traveled far from home — the farthest he had ever gone was crossing the river with a boatman when ferrying passengers. Now he was several hundred li from Anqing, in an unfamiliar place among strangers, and felt rather lost.

With his experience loitering around docks, he knew that when the Roving Bandits drew near, everyone at the docks had fled and the place was in a state of lawlessness. Tan Laizi knew this was no place to linger, but he still had this boat in tow and had to figure out a way to stow it.

Tan Laizi looked around blankly. "Where would be a good place to put it?"

In Kongcheng Town, Tongcheng County, the official road to Lujiang passed through the town. Outside the town stood a Kongcheng Bridge — a key strongpoint for the Garrison Commander's ying in the eastern sector.

On the far side of the bridge, many common folk who had fled from Lujiang waited, carrying heavy baggage on their backs, waiting for the Zhuang Squad to inspect them. Pang Yu and Shi Kefa stood at the bridge's west end, inspecting the bridgehead defenses. After this, they still had to proceed to the Lujiang border.

The scout cavalry operating in Lujiang had sent back word: the Roving Bandits were withdrawing from Luzhou, but their specific objective was unclear. The directions toward Dingyuan and Quanjiao were too distant — no intelligence had been obtained. But at least one force had followed the eastern shore of Chaohu into Chao County. The western shore of Chaohu was calm and quiet; the Roving Bandits would likely not head for Shucheng, which meant they had abandoned any attack on Anqing.

Pressure on the North Gorge Pass sector had lessened, indicating the Roving Bandits had at least given up on raiding via Shucheng. The Lujiang direction still could not be relaxed. The bridge before them was therefore relatively important, but the river water beneath it was not deep enough to stop the Roving Bandits — there were fordable ferry crossings both upstream and downstream. The Garrison Commander's ying could block a rapid enemy advance here. Today they had brought one Company's worth of troops to strengthen Kongcheng Bridge's defenses. If it was a small-scale Roving Bandit force, they could be stopped at this point.

"It largely matches General Pang's assessment — the Roving Thieves have indeed gone east. But whether they will therefore stay away from Anqing is still too early to say." Shi Kefa clasped his hands behind his back, his expression still tense. "Wuwei Prefecture was also not raided earlier this year. The Roving Bandits could perfectly well pass through Chao County to Wuwei Prefecture, and from Wuwei to Tongcheng — that way they could still seize the rations and pay they need to survive."

"What you say, Your Excellency, is entirely correct. It's just that the Roving Bandits took the eastern shore. To go from Chao County onward to Wuwei Prefecture, they would need to cross the Yuxi River — that would be abandoning the easy for the difficult. And from Wuwei Prefecture to Tongcheng, the land is crisscrossed with waterways and dotted with reservoirs, far less convenient than going directly from Shucheng to Tongcheng."

After speaking, Pang Yu lowered his head and waited. The last time he had gone to Suzhou to seek office, Pang Yu had walked back to Tongcheng from Wuwei Prefecture. That route was not a main official road; it was rich in waterways along the way, and the road conditions were poor. Given the Roving Bandits' intelligence capabilities, they would certainly be well aware of this. More importantly, if they intended to strike Wuwei Prefecture, the Roving Bandits would have marched along the western shore of Chaohu, attacked the equally untouched Shucheng, and then advanced on Wuwei Prefecture — not created trouble for themselves by crossing the Yuxi River once for no meaningful reason. At this moment, Pang Yu believed it was more likely the Roving Bandits were heading for Yangzhou.

Shi Kefa caught the meaning in Pang Yu's words, but he had no intention of expressing approval.

"You've also seen the military order that Supreme Commander Lu sent today — Anqing is to hold its garrison posts tightly and block the bandits from running rampant. Yet on this side, Military Commander Zhang wants this official to watch for an opportunity to rescue the downstream regions." Shi Kefa finished and sighed. "If we transfer the Garrison Commander's ying to Jiangpu Liuhe, going with the current is easy but returning against it is hard. If the Roving Bandits then double back, Anqing will likely be plunged into misery."

In the original course of history, Shi Kefa would not have had to face this kind of choice, because Anqing had no troops with which to rescue Jiangnan, and Zhang Guowei had no such expectations. Zhang Guowei's current hopes largely stemmed from the reckless promises Pang Yu had made while seeking office.

Jiangnan's troops were weak. Multiple intelligence reports this year indicated that the Roving Bandits indeed had designs on invading Jiangnan, which further increased the pressure on Zhang Guowei. Once the thought of using the Anqing Army arose, it was hard to put down again.

And for Pang Yu, rescuing Nanjing was both danger and opportunity. Nanjing was the political and economic center of Jiangnan — its significance could not be mentioned in the same breath as rescuing Qianshan or the like. With this opening, he could establish an initial degree of influence in Nanjing.

The Roving Bandits' current line of march now showed that the risk of Anqing being attacked again was very low. Trading that risk for the benefit of rescuing Nanjing was, in Pang Yu's view, a suitable bargain.

But Shi Kefa was the Anchi Military Defense Circuit. He could not leave his assigned territory to rescue Nanjing. The risks and rewards were not so balanced for him.

At that moment, a rider came galloping up to the far end of the bridge. The soldiers on guard there checked him and let him through. When the scout cavalryman saw Pang Yu, he immediately dismounted and said, "Reporting to Your Excellency: the Roving Bandits' Vanguard has passed through the old city of Chao County and is heading for Hanshan. It is Gao Bazi's force."

Pang Yu's mental spirit lifted. "Is the information reliable?"

"Company Commander Yang led the cavalry unit in three engagements with the Roving Bandits and captured two prisoners. One of them is a Team leader under Gao Bazi. He heard with his own ears Gao Bazi instructing his subordinate, the Four Kings — they are to strike Hanshan first."

"After Hanshan, where are they going?"

The scout cavalryman shook his head. "Gao Bazi did not say. Only, the Team leader confessed that the forces of Eight Bandits, Shooting Down the Sky, Yao Tiandong, and others have gone toward Quanjiao."

Pang Yu thought for a moment. The Roving Bandits had assembled at Luzhou. After the attack there went poorly, they immediately split their forces again, plundering along two official roads to obtain more survival supplies. If Gao Bazi had gone to Hanshan, he would not immediately go on to Quanjiao. The likelihood of crossing the complex waterways to Wuwei Prefecture was even lower. That left only Hezhou and Jiangpu.

Then he said in a low voice, "From Hanshan to Jiangpu is only a little over a hundred li. Cavalry can make it in two days. From Quanjiao to Jiangpu is even closer. If the Roving Bandits split their forces to attack Hanshan and Hezhou at that point, the overland routes will be cut off. By the time word comes back from Jiangnan, rescue may be too late. If by any chance the Roving Bandits cross the river then..."

Shi Kefa's face flushed slightly; he was clearly agonizing inwardly. If the Roving Bandits truly crossed the river, Jiangnan's troops could not withstand a single blow. If Nanjing fell then, the repercussions would be even greater than Fengyang. Under the court's thunderous wrath, who knew how many heads would roll — whether Shi Kefa's would be among them was an unsettled matter.

After a long while, Shi Kefa finally said, "Yet the shape of war is like water, and those Roving Bandits are exceedingly cunning. Look at how they pretended to head for Kaifeng this time, tricking Supreme Commander Lu into chasing north, then immediately turned and came to Luzhou — against such tricks we must also be on guard. We must have definite intelligence. If the bandits truly head for Jiangpu, it won't be too late for the Garrison Commander's ying to go then. Going with the current, it only takes three to five days to reach. Wait a little longer, wait a little longer."

Having spoken, he gave Pang Yu no chance to wear him down with persuasion and strode across the bridge on his own.

Pang Yu waited where he was for his Biao Troops to pass. Wang Zenglu, who had followed behind him, said in a low voice, "The three to five days the Circuit Intendant mentioned — even the water journey alone might not be enough."

"He's calculating it as a passenger boat. For us to transport troops, of course it won't work. For the whole ying to reach Zongyang and board ships takes two days at the fastest. And that Water Camp is no good at transporting troops — we'd need to set up at least several assembly points along the way. All of that takes time."

"Then by the time we arrive, the Roving Bandits will probably already be gone."

Pang Yu shook his head. "When the Roving Bandits attack a city, the assault generally peaks on the third day after arrival. If they fail to take it, they withdraw within two days. If they take it, they linger in the city for three to five days to thoroughly plunder its supplies. So their cycle for attacking a city, from arrival to withdrawal, is five to eight days. They'll also be delayed at Hanshan. If we set out at the right time, we can make it. But if we insist on waiting until we receive word before moving, then indeed we may not arrive in time." Pang Yu mused — these figures were all from Ruan Jin's earlier reconnaissance; the pattern summarized in the Court Gazette was roughly the same. "Time is tight. As long as the Circuit Intendant won't relent, the Garrison Commander's ying cannot be mobilized. The Roving Bandits' eastward movement is now obvious. Zenglu, you've worked boats and run water transport drills. Leave the Second Division behind. Today, take a clerk and head to Zongyang. Go over the plans repeatedly with the boat hands who are experienced on the Nanjing run. Nail down the water transport assembly points. For different departure times, coordinate the daytime and nighttime travel segments properly. Assign at least one experienced boat hand to each vessel. Best if you can also assign boat hands capable of night navigation. Make every preparation. The moment this officer leads the troops to Xiazongyang, we board and set out that very day."

Wang Zenglu agreed at once. Pang Yu gave him a few more words of advice, and Wang Zenglu took two Personal Soldiers and headed south.

Ahead, Shi Kefa had already traveled some distance. This superior was mild-mannered enough, but sometimes he struggled to make decisions — he lacked a certain force of will.

Pang Yu was accustomed to making deals and understood that even in a simple transaction, not every detail would be clear; the person making the decision always had to bear risk. Military operations involved an even broader scope and higher complexity. Most of the time, information was incomplete. In such moments, one often had to go with one's gut, relying on intuition and experience drawn from limited intelligence, and also be willing to shoulder risk and responsibility. That was the role of a commander — the same principle as in Pang Yu's past dealings.

Shi Kefa was clearly not that kind of person. His interests were also not entirely aligned with Pang Yu's. This made Pang Yu's window for deploying troops rather cramped, and the subsequent operations would be more difficult.

"If we had sitting spies in Hanshan and Hezhou who could send back definite intelligence, that would be ideal."