Chapter 828: The Government Troops March North

Wolf Mountain Vice Commander Lu Quanyou indeed remembered that bloodless collapse at Xuzhou vividly, and his heart still palpitated at the memory of the crushing defeat on Wild Grass Shoal. But as a military officer he understood warfare. When the reasoning was laid out clearly, the odds of a successful surprise attack were extremely high — it truly was a gamble worth taking. Grand Coordinator Guo Shangyou not only explained all this plainly but also gave his promise: if Lu Quanyou helped with this matter, then Guo would do everything in his power to cover up that disastrous defeat on Wild Grass Shoal.

What moved Lu Quanyou even more was the merit to be earned this time. For suppressing a great rebellion of treasonous bandits, military rewards and honors went without saying — earning a title like Count or even Marquis was not out of the question. Grand Coordinator Guo Shangyou had already promised that Wolf Mountain would receive no less than thirty percent of the military merit distribution. Not to mention, if they won a great victory, what kind of benefits might come from the Qingjiang Great Market.

As for the cavalry dispatched by Fengyang Garrison Commander and Director-General of Grain Transport Eunuch Cui Wensheng, there was little to elaborate. The Fengyang Grand Coordinator held the duty of supervising grain transport, and this newly risen favorite at Eunuch Wei's side also had jurisdiction over grain transport affairs. By both sentiment and principle, he had to contribute troops.

Moreover, Cui Wensheng had already exchanged messages with Wei Zhongxian and naturally understood the gravity of this matter. He dared not be the slightest bit ambiguous.

Had the Zhao Character Battalion's strength in Xuzhou not been so great — with its hand even reaching into Suzhou — Cui Wensheng would even have considered using Fengyang troops to launch a surprise attack on Xuzhou. But his subordinate officers desperately dissuaded him. The Zhao Character Battalion's strength in Xuzhou was hardly limited to that one regiment and those few companies; everyone knew the score in their hearts. All they could do for now was protect themselves.

Fengyang was the crucial site of the Central Capital. If anything went wrong, the garrison and defense officials, both inner-court and outer-court, would have only one road — death. So absolutely no ambiguity could be tolerated. Cui Wensheng could not spare any hands, but he still wished to claim a share of the military merit from Grand Coordinator Guo Shangyou's operation, so he dispatched his cavalry squadron.

Both the Wolf Mountain cavalry and the Fengyang cavalry had experienced that incident of reviewing troops in the rain. But that day, only the leaders of each force had gone to observe. They had withdrawn inexplicably, and in their hearts there ultimately remained some unwillingness to concede. Moreover, even the officers leading the troops — though they had been shaken by what they saw that day — had never fought a real, blade-to-blade battle. When they thought back on it afterward, they felt their own forces might not have been without a chance. Some even felt they had been influenced by others at the time.

With such thoughts in mind, when Grand Coordinator Guo Shangyou proposed a very practical approach to deploying troops, everyone calculated it over and also felt the odds were very good. Only then did they prepare to act.

When the court's decree was delivered by fast horse to Southern Zhili, everyone's confidence swelled considerably. That Southern Zhili should dispatch troops to suppress the rebellion was a given, nothing to discuss there. But the court's arrangement for troops from Northern Zhili and Shandong to march south and assist in the extermination was a real morale booster. For one thing, everyone knew that the force at Qingjiangpu was only one part of Xuzhou, with the main force still back in Xuzhou. Even if they won at Qingjiangpu, they would still have to sit down and negotiate. And attacking Qingjiangpu carried another enormous risk: what if Xuzhou sent reinforcements? Now they no longer needed to worry about that. With court troops tying them down, this side could act at its leisure.

Now it truly was a pincer attack from north and south, leaving that gang of Xuzhou rebels unable to look after both front and rear. If this side won, the other side's fight would become easier. Even if this side suffered a minor setback, the other side would still keep Xuzhou pinned down, preventing the rebel army from daring to pursue.

With this mindset as a foundation, morale and fighting spirit both soared. Originally, the plan had been merely to send the cavalry on a lightning raid to catch the enemy off guard. But now a new plan had emerged: the cavalry would advance first, the infantry would push forward steadily, and the Wolf Mountain main force would follow up behind.

Southern Zhili was also different from other places. Both banks of the canal were wealthy, prosperous lands, and the canal waterway made transportation extremely convenient. Elsewhere, when armies marched to war, after mustering troops they still had to wait for provisions to be fully prepared and supply depots established before they could advance slowly. If anything went wrong with the provisions or the roads, it would be a great calamity that shattered army morale. But the court's government troops in Southern Zhili had no such concerns. Xuzhou had merely cut off the canal and held the single point of Qingjiangpu; they had not gone out to sweep the surrounding area. Everything in Southern Zhili remained as usual. Under such circumstances, though the army's march was cautious, it was hardly different from moving through interior lines.

Moreover, the cavalry moved quickly, and the infantry were drawn from the garrison nearest to Gaoyou Department. Thus, on the second day of the eighth month, the great army assembled, and on the third day of the eighth month, it broke camp and marched north. According to the news and estimates coming from that direction, the four thousand troops led by Baoding Regional Commander Lu Qin should have already marched out of Baoding Prefecture.

The Wolf Mountain Vice Commander's command numbered 3,600, the Fengyang garrison 200, and the Grand Coordinator's Standard Battalion 1,200 — a total of 5,000 men. Command was held by Standard Battalion Mobile Corps Commander Jiao Dayong, with Huaiyang Coastal Defense Circuit Intendant Zhai Zhengxian serving as army supervisor. They marched north along the canal, with provisions and pay all raised by local authorities and transported along the waterway. Each department and county of Yangzhou Prefecture contributed a number of civilian laborers.

For a rebellion-suppressing army of this scale, convention dictated that a civil official hold overall command. The Grand Coordinator did not need to come in person, but there had to be at least one Circuit Intendant. However, in the Jiangbei region of Southern Zhili, the Yingzhou Military Defense Circuit was far off to the northwest of Fengyang, and the post of Xuzhou Military Defense Circuit had long sat vacant. They could only use the Huaiyang Circuit Intendant, who was responsible for coastal defense, to lead the troops.

The force assembled by the Fengyang Grand Coordinator did not march quickly — thirty li a day. That was not slow, strictly speaking, but since their baggage and supplies were all transported along the river and the infantry advanced with light packs, they ought to have moved faster.

Much as both sides had estimated, during the Southern Zhili government troops' march, the Xuzhou men at Qingjiangpu kept a close watch the entire time. But they did not act too provocatively — just light cavalry shadowing them from a great distance, with riders following from morning to night.

The government troops, for their part, were not idle either, constantly sending fast riders back and forth. Only, their fast riders were not for reconnaissance or probing, but to ascertain how far the advance of the Baoding and Shandong government troops had progressed.

Traveling north from Gaoyou Department to Qingjiangpu, even a fast horse needed two days and two nights, to say nothing of a large army on the move. And for troops mustering from Baoding Prefecture in Northern Zhili to travel to Linqing Department in Shandong, rendezvous with the Shandong troops there, and then march south along the canal — that would certainly take even longer.

Messages between the capital and Qingjiangpu flowed freely, and this side learned of the order to dispatch troops for a joint extermination at the earliest possible moment. With so many people traveling the length and breadth of the land, they could also roughly estimate when the fighting would begin.

The atmosphere was gradually growing tense. But everyone knew that the fighting would probably start around the Mid-Autumn Festival. As for when it would end — only Heaven knew.

If it dragged on into the ninth or tenth month, and the autumn grain harvest could not be shipped out after being collected, or if the autumn grain could not even be gathered at Qingjiangpu at all, then many people's grand moneymaking plans for the year would suffer a severe blow. If Qingjiangpu could not earn silver, the tribute sent to the capital and to Nanjing would naturally be much reduced as well.

When the court had not yet made its stance clear, everyone had been gritting their teeth and enduring. But once word came from the court, all quarters in Qingjiangpu could bear it no longer. Everyone whose interests were tied to the grain transport trade used every means at their disposal, racking their brains to urge the army to quicken its pace. As for the matter of rescuing Wang Youshan from the capital's prison — no one remembered it at all, and no one brought it up on their own initiative.

Compared to when Ma Chonghao had led his troops north, this time Qingjiangpu truly felt the tension. The Qingjiang Great Market had already shut down completely. Among the wealthy merchants and noble personages within Qingjiangpu, all who could leave had hurriedly departed for the time being — this was a perfect moment to go enjoy themselves in Yangzhou for a while. Even among the well-to-do households, those who could leave had also left. Only those whose menfolk had been taken as hostages by the Zhao Character Battalion, and those commoners with nowhere to go, could only endure in fear and misery.

The activities of the Smelling Incense Sect grew rampant in turn. Originally, Xu Hongru's people lost much of their effectiveness once they crossed out of Shandong's borders. But now, along the entire canal line, they were practically blooming everywhere. The Internal Guard and the Zhao Character Battalion's eyes and ears submitted reports daily.

The reason for this was simple enough. Originally, among the grain transport workers and transport soldiers, there were quite a few followers who burned incense. However, they formed their own separate body, unconnected to the Shandong side, and did not meddle in the grudges between Xuzhou and Shandong. But now things were different. With the canal cut off, everyone's livelihood was affected, and resentment naturally grew rampant.

Before, whatever the Shandong sect followers wanted to do, the grain transport people paid no heed whatsoever. They had their own full bellies and warm clothes — why get involved in risky schemes? But now, whether out of resentment or a desire for revenge, they more or less offered convenience, harboring a mindset that rejoiced at the world's disorder.

Yet at this stage, stirring up real trouble was not easy. At this critical juncture, the various branches of the Zhao Character Battalion cared nothing for local sensibilities. Anyone who broke the rules was simply arrested — either sent to Wild Grass Shoal for hard labor or directly beheaded. Under such harsh laws and severe punishments, no real trouble could be stirred up.

Moreover, according to the flying-strip messages deciphered by Mu Shulan's side, the main headquarters at Yuncheng in Shandong had repeatedly issued orders for everyone to lie low, await the great change, and not act rashly.

Because at this juncture, the troops from the Baoding Garrison of Northern Zhili were marching south through Shandong, and the troops of Southern Zhili were marching north. Their target was indeed Zhao Jin, but if the Smelling Incense Sect stirred up trouble at this moment, the government troops would just as readily unleash a massacre.

After the government troops led by Huaiyang Coastal Defense Circuit Intendant Zhai Zhengxian and Grand Coordinator's Standard Battalion Mobile Corps Commander Jiao Dayong reached Baoying County, they halted according to their prior agreement.

For the government troops, this was no great matter. They had not yet left the borders of Yangzhou Prefecture, after all. The infantry had not moved very far at all, the cavalry contingent was not large, and the locality was wealthy and flourishing, with ample supplies. Everyone was more than happy for this to drag on. Ever since the Japanese pirates had been quelled, no real turmoil had occurred in Southern Zhili. How fine it was to live in peace and tranquility — no one was eager to draw blades and see blood.

At this time, Baoying County was actually rather more prosperous than before. The reason was simple: the grain transport hub of Qingjiangpu to the north had been cut off. Northbound boats could only halt, and many boats that had already reached that area had turned back. A great many boats either unloaded their cargo at Baoying County or directly traded there at reduced prices.

Because so many people were trading, a small-scale market had even formed. Surprisingly, merchants from Qingjiangpu also came here to trade. After all, Baoying County was the county seat closest to Qingjiangpu to the south, and it lay within the wealthy Yangzhou Prefecture. Trading here could also barely reach a few places in Yangzhou and Fengyang. Everyone said a great battle was coming at Qingjiangpu, that the place was already a dead zone. But Baoying County had no such worry — there was still business to be done.

With northbound boats turning back and others docking here, this stretch of the canal from Qingjiangpu to Baoying became exceptionally congested. Some merchants even hired large carts to come here and do business.

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