Chapter 562 - The Fall of Anyoule Market

Wang Luobin and the command staff approached Pier No. 1 in a motor launch noticeably bedecked with four fluttering command flags. An Army squad from the Expeditionary Battalion stood at the bow, providing an armed escort.

On the pier, Wang Tao waited. He had changed into a crisp field uniform, his chest adorned with every decoration he had earned: the Hainan Circumnavigation Medal, the Bopu Defense Service Bar, the Yulin Development Medal, and the Collective Third-Class Merit Badge. Behind him, the Yulin Marine Detachment stood in formation, a forest of gleaming bayonets under snapping banners.

The handover was formal and swift. Technically, Yulin had been a Naval jurisdiction, and Wang Tao—a civilian administrator—had merely been "Acting Commander."

Now, Xi Yazhou (Commander, Sanya Expeditionary Battalion) and Li Haiping (Commander, Sanya Base Fleet) stepped forward. Bugles sounded. Infantry and marine squads presented arms.

"I hereby relinquish command of Yulin Stockade!" Li Haiping announced, saluting.

"I hereby assume command!" Xi Yazhou returned the salute. Documents were exchanged. The simple ceremony marked the end of the frontier era and the beginning of the occupation.

"Ceremony complete," Wang Luobin said, cutting through the pomp. "Is the Command Post ready?"

"Ready. Please follow me."

The new CP was located inside the central bastion of the original stockade. It had been gutted and remodeled days prior, partitioned into offices and a war room. The beds were made, the desks polished.

Wang Tao, who was scheduled to return to Lingao the next day, felt a pang of melancholy. He had built this place from nothing, raising chickens and fighting malaria. Now, it was being handed over to the big shots. Xi Yazhou promised to preserve the stockade as a monument to "self-reliance," but Wang Tao doubted his native chickens would survive the week.

In the conference room, a large-scale map was spread across the main table, covered by a sheet of glass. Clerks armed with grease pencils stood ready.

"I assume command," Wang Luobin stated.

Clerks immediately began placing markers on the glass: ship berths, supply dumps, troop concentrations. The chaos of the landing was reduced to tidy geometric shapes.

The four leaders gathered around the map.

"Security situation?" Wang Luobin asked.

Xi Yazhou cleared his throat. "Maritime threats: negligible. The Navy can handle any pirate raid. Land threats: minimal. Yazhou City is sixty kilometers away. Intelligence confirms there is no road connecting us—just dense jungle and mountains. No Ming army can traverse that terrain to attack us."

"So we can relax?"

"Basically. The only potential threat is the Li tribes. They might ambush small patrols for supplies, but they lack the numbers for a sustained assault."

"Bandits?"

"This place is too godforsaken even for bandits," Xi Yazhou scoffed. "Bandits need victims. Here, there are only monkeys."

He drew lines on the glass. "1st Company will disperse platoons to the Tiandu River, Anyoule Market, and Luhuitou. 2nd Company holds the stockade. Marines concentrate at Luhuitou to guard the battery construction. The most dangerous window is after the escort fleet leaves—we'll be relying on the battery."

"Those two guns?" Xi Yazhou muttered. "We'd be better off hoping the noise scares them away."

"As long as the defense holds for a few days, the main fleet will be back," Li Haiping assured him.

Discussion turned to the expansion. Yulin Stockade would grow north, south, and east. "New Yulin" would feature ten bastions, double walls, and a massive warehouse district for ore export.

A signalman entered. "Report: Envoys from Anyoule Market are at the gate. They request to see the 'Maritime Lord'."

"Meet them?"

"No," Wang Luobin was blunt. "I don't care what they want. The schedule says Anyoule Market surrenders in one hour."

"I've ordered the bombardment for T-plus-45 minutes," Li Haiping said eagerly. "The sailors can storm the beach. One charge, it's ours."

"Wait," Wang Luobin checked his watch. "Send Wang Tao."

Wang Tao was summoned.

"Do you think you can talk Hu Xun into opening the gates?" Wang Luobin asked.

"No," Wang Tao admitted. "He's a local warlord. Stubborn."

"Guarantee his life and family's safety. Guarantee his personal liquid assets. But not his real estate."

"I'll try."

"You have forty-five minutes. If he refuses, we level the place."

Wang Tao hurried to Anyoule Market. He wasn't being sent out of mercy; the Planning Council simply calculated that a pristine town was more valuable than a pile of rubble. They needed the buildings, and they needed the labor.

Inside the market, Hu Xun was sweating. His secretary had returned with the rejection. These Australians were arrogant beyond belief.

"Who do they think they are?!" Hu Xun raged.

Suddenly, a voice like thunder rolled over the town.

"ATTENTION, CITIZENS OF ANYOULE MARKET. ATTENTION. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE. OPEN YOUR GATES AND SURRENDER IMMEDIATELY. YOUR LIVES WILL BE SPARED. OPPOSITION WILL RESULT IN DESTRUCTION. YOU HAVE THIRTY MINUTES."

The voice was colossal, booming from the sky itself. Hu Xun's face went white. He had never heard a loudspeaker—a high-power PA system mounted on a special service boat. To his 17th-century ears, it was the voice of a god, or a demon.

"Master! Listen!" his secretary pleaded. "They have sorcery! We must surrender!"

"It... It's nothing!" Hu Xun stammered, terrified. "They're bluffing! Tell the men: five taels for a wound, fifty for a death!"

But the militia had dissolved. The sight of the iron ships and the booming voice had broken their will. Commanders threw down their weapons and begged Hu Xun to capitulate.

With five minutes left on the clock, the gates of Anyoule Market swung open.

Wang Tao met Hu Xun at the entrance. The "Mayor" was trembling violently.

"Brother Wang! Brother Wang!" Hu Xun threw himself into a bow. "For the sake of our friendship! Save me!"

"I will do my best," Wang Tao said coolly. "But you and your family will have to endure some 'inconvenience' for a few days."

Hu Xun shoved a heavy jewelry box into Wang Tao's hands. "Please! Put in a good word!"

Wang Tao weighed the box—heavy. A nice retirement fund. He immediately handed it to the discipline officer beside him. "Evidence."

Police squads led by Zheng Ergen marched into the town. They moved with discipline, rifles shouldered.

"Looters!" someone shouted.

In the chaos, opportunists were smashing shop windows. Zheng Ergen didn't hesitate. "Shoot them."

Crack. Crack.

Two looters fell. The rest scattered like rats.

"Gongs!" Zheng Ergen ordered. "Sound the curfew! Anyone on the streets is shot on sight!"

The town fell silent. The militia surrendered their weapons—or simply dropped them and ran home.

Within an hour, Sun Xiao arrived with the "Confiscation Squad."

At Wang Tao’s suggestion, Hu Xun’s home was spared from looting. He was a useful puppet, a man who knew the local landscape. With his family and wealth held hostage, he would be a loyal dog for the new administration.

Anyoule Market had fallen. Not a single shot had been fired by the invaders.

(End of Chapter)