Chapter 1244: Arriving First

It wasn't only Li Yuliang who had people stationed to gather news — there were also arrangements inside Linqing City. By this time, Linqing had already begun closing its city gates. Whether it was the Xuzhou troops or the government forces, Linqing wanted to let neither of them inside. When the Xuzhou mounted infantry regiment and the First Brigade's mounted infantry company arrived, Li Yuliang finally learned that the Xuzhou horse troops had come with over seventeen hundred riders, while the government forces, if they sortied in full strength, could still field three thousand cavalry.

Cavalry combat is different from infantry warfare. When the two armies form up and clash in formation, the Zhao Family Army is far superior, but if you take the cavalry horse troops alone for comparison, the Zhao Family Army holds no advantage. In fact, in terms of average combat strength, the Zhao Family Army is even slightly weaker. Planning for the worst, they are also outnumbered. Defending outside the city walls would likely be troublesome. In any case, the main force would need three to four days to arrive here.

But since they had come, there was no reason to give up. Under Xu Yong's direction, Li Yuliang mobilized all of the Li family's resources outside the city to build fortifications together with the soldiers. At a time like this, they couldn't afford to be picky. They directly stacked sacks of grain to build defensive works at key points. The mounted infantrymen had no desire to ride out and fight the government cavalry in the open field; they only wanted to protect the grain and fodder here until the main force arrived.

To say seventeen hundred mounted infantrymen were few was not entirely accurate. They had brought roughly four hundred firelocks, supplemented by about two hundred archers — their firepower was truly not weak. Moreover, a very high proportion of the mounted infantrymen wore armor, which was also a guarantee of their combat effectiveness.

Although the terrain around Linqing City was flat and open, there was not much open space between the canal and the city itself. This meant that a large force of cavalry could not really bring its charging impact to bear. Simple defensive works were built at key points. To break in, the enemy would have to dismount and fight. One side attacking, one side defending — the Zhao Family Army horse troops, armed with firelocks and bows, naturally had no fear.

Besides dismounting to fight on foot, the Zhao Family Army horse troops also kept a few hundred men as a mobile reserve, ready to plug any gaps at a moment's notice. The men Li Yuliang brought were not left idle either. They were organized and put on standby, particularly prepared to fight fires. They had readied firefighting tools like water buckets and yellow sand. If the enemy took the chance to set fires or infiltrate and sabotage, they had to react immediately.

The government cavalry was very likely twice the size of the Zhao Family Army's advance horse troops. If it came to a fight, it could still be a bitter battle. Yet from top to bottom, Li Yuliang and his men were quite calm at heart. They felt that now that the Zhao Family Army horse troops had arrived, the overall situation was settled.

Once the preparations here were complete, the government horse troops arrived — only their numbers were far fewer than expected. Li Yuliang and the others saw only a little over five hundred riders. This made the Zhao Family Army men defending the Linqing granary even more cautious, suspecting the government forces had split their troops and were preparing to attack from multiple directions.

But the government cavalry was only these five hundred or so riders, and they moved very cautiously. When they saw the dockside granary area was heavily guarded and that Xuzhou troops were already here on defense, perhaps the government cavalry feared an ambush and did not push too deep. They turned and withdrew early. This let everyone, high and low, breathe a sigh of relief. Next was to guard against an attack by the main government force.

Just one more day, and the able-bodied men urgently drawn from the surrounding farming estates would assemble. The various martial men privately hired by the Li family would also arrive. This Linqing dock would then be as impregnable as a fortress of metal. The only government troops that could maneuver in this area were those cavalry. Under such a fortified posture, what could those three thousand cavalry do even if they sortied in full strength? Once they thought this through, those with clear minds were already growing excited — even ecstatic!

With the stored grain of Linqing as a guarantee, the Zhao Family Army could advance into Northern Zhili and even press directly toward the capital. The objective of this Xuzhou grand army could be fully realized. Judging by the relative strengths of both sides, at this point, victory could already be predicted!

After the government cavalry had ridden far away, the gates of Linqing City still did not open. Instead, a bamboo basket was lowered from the top of the wall. Inside the basket was an envoy from the city, who stated the city's request: if the great army needed wealth, goods, or supplies, the city would do its utmost to raise whatever it could provide. Even if the great army had no need, the city would still scrape together a sum of silver to reward the troops, begging only that the great army not enter the city. The envoy and the Li family were old acquaintances, and he spoke plainly — as long as the Xuzhou troops did not enter the city, they could even provide women if needed.

Linqing was one of the wealthiest places in Shandong, even in the entire Five Northern Provinces. Their willingness to offer money and grain was certainly a great fortune. However, Xu Yong, who led the troops here, and Li Yuliang simply sent the man away, making no promises or replies, only saying they would discuss it when the main army arrived. The envoy was neither servile nor overbearing. Besides listing the benefits Linqing could offer, he also said that Linqing City could conscript over ten thousand able-bodied civilians at any time, and the city had enough grain and fodder to last over a year. If the great army tried to take it, they would likely damage their own vitality. To this, Xu Yong and Li Yuliang merely laughed it off.

After the envoy returned to the city in frustration, Li Yuliang began leveraging the Li family's connections, mobilizing laborers and able-bodied civilians to gather at the Linqing canal dock and begin preparations for the main army's arrival. Meanwhile, Xu Yong began sending light cavalry scouts northward. In addition to the intelligence coming back through internal lines, they also needed real-time battlefield updates on enemy movements.

What somewhat surprised the Zhao Family Army's advance force was that the court and the government troops still had no reaction by this time. Traveling merchants and travelers were still heading south along the canal. Many only discovered the Zhao Family Army's main force when they reached the Linqing area. Everyone's instinct was to flee the ravages of war, but the Zhao Family Army soldiers on the bank did not harass or stop them at all — they simply kept a closer watch. Quite a few people simply continued south or headed to their own destinations, but almost no one dared to turn back. It wasn't that the Xuzhou troops blocked them, but rather that the passage of the court's grand army was a real, tangible disaster of war.

By the time the Zhao Family Army's main force reached the Linqing dock, news had finally come back from Northern Zhili. Fifteen thousand troops from Xuanfu, eight thousand from Jizhen, and twenty thousand from the Capital Garrison had already converged at Tianjin. The Baoding Garrison troops had already reached Suning in Hejian Prefecture. The Zhending troops had finished mustering and were hurrying toward Hejian in Hejian Prefecture. At that time, the nearly fifty thousand-strong army of Xuanfu, Jizhen, and the Capital Garrison would join forces with the various other armies at Hejian. Only the Shanxi border troops were moving slowly; they had just now exited Gu Pass and entered Zhending Prefecture in Northern Zhili.

The urgent dispatches from Shandong had finally reached the capital. All factions in the capital were furious. These Xuzhou rebels truly did not know their place, daring to raise troops without authorization and press toward the imperial domain. For such treasonous rebels, there was no path but extermination. Beyond these impassioned declarations, a response had to be made. The Tianqi Emperor, who usually did carpentry in the rear palace and played with the young eunuchs, had already presided over several court discussions and was asking very detailed questions about these matters.

In the eyes of the Donglin civil officials, the Tianqi Emperor was of an indolent disposition, far more concerned with pleasure than with state affairs. His current presiding over court discussions surely had Wei Zhongxian's involvement behind it. This was the eunuch faction seeking a resurgence, using the present situation to suppress the upright civil officials, with intent to bring calamity to the state! Therefore, a swift response was needed to deny the other side any opening.

The capital quickly made its response, though this "quickly" was already many days late. Wang Zaijin, the former Liaodong Supreme Commander and Vice Minister of War, was appointed Supreme Commander. Xuanfu Regional Commander Zhang Jixian was made the main general, to unify the various armies and exterminate the Xuzhou rebels. Urgent orders were sent to the Hejian garrison commanders Yang Zhaoji and Yang Guodong to lead their troops to intercept the rebel mob, forbidding the Xuzhou rebel army from leaving Hejian Prefecture, and to wait for the other armies to converge and annihilate them.

Those familiar with political infighting were full of admiration for this arrangement. It wasn't that the military strategy was particularly brilliant, but rather that this arrangement struck at enemies on all sides. For example, that former Liaodong Supreme Commander Wang Zaijin had been impeached and dismissed by Sun Chengzong due to disagreements. If Wang Zaijin now exterminated the rebels and achieved great merit, it would prove that Sun Chengzong had made a grave error and lacked the judgment to recognize talent. Such a man would naturally be unable to preside over state affairs in the Grand Secretariat.

And the arrangement for Yang Zhaoji and Yang Guodong to attack and intercept was because these two former regional commanders, serving to atone for their crimes, were both of the eunuch faction. Although the rebel mob was a rabble that would collapse at a single blow, they did, after all, hold a numerical advantage and had defeated the forces of Yang Zhaoji and Yang Guodong many times before. They would surely win again this time, and this defeat could be used to attack the eunuch faction for bringing calamity to the state, ensuring that the restless Wei Zhongxian clique could not raise its head.

This grand military encirclement could earn merit and honor for the upright Donglin partisans, completely crushing the opposing factions at court; it could strike at a competitor for the position of Grand Secretary; it could stomp the eunuch faction down another notch; and it could eliminate the eunuch faction's followers. Truly an arrangement that killed many birds with one stone. For such an exquisite measure, one interlocking link after another, all sides had to voice their admiration.

"This reaction from the court is very good. We can also fight by the book. What we need to do now is dispatch more light cavalry and send scouts everywhere. Nothing unexpected can be allowed to happen," Zhao Jin made his response.

Now Li Yuliang also had a seat at the Zhao Family Army's joint councils. He was present as the liaison for the Linqing area. In truth, his father was more suited for this role, but Old Inspector Li was unwilling to show his face, only arranging grain and manpower for the Zhao Family Army from a nearby estate.

After giving his instructions, Zhao Jin spoke again: "Send word into Linqing City. They have one hour to open the gates and surrender. We seek only full control of Linqing City. We will not kill officials or change flags, nor will we confiscate property or loot. Everything belonging to the local government and gentry can be preserved for now. If the gates are not opened after one hour, they will be treated as an enemy force."

After saying this, Zhao Jin glanced at Li Yuliang and continued: "We are going to Northern Zhili. Linqing will serve as our rear base camp, receiving the wounded and supplying grain and provisions. We cannot tolerate an uncontrolled force right beside us. If the people inside the city cannot understand this point, then they need not think at all."

Li Yuliang knew this was Zhao Jin looking out for him, worried he might have some sentimental attachment to his hometown. He quickly agreed and went out to make the arrangements. The city walls were high, and arrows could be shot onto the battlements.

After Li Yuliang left, Zhao Jin gave the order: "Meng Zhiqi, set up the cannons and calibrate them now. Be ready to open fire at any time. Lu Da, you lead the Fengpei Regiment on standby. The task of storming and entering the city is assigned to your regiment!"

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