Chapter 626 - Harassment Warfare
"Have the Battalion Commander and other officers been caught?"
"Battalion Commander Liu has been caught. Most officers were killed. Didn't catch many alive."
"Did anyone escape?"
"No one escaped."
"Good, bring all the officials up!"
Inside the battalion city, officers from small banner leaders upward, including company commanders, probationary company commanders, and personnel with specific duties but no rank, totaled over twenty. More than half had been killed in the riot before the breach. Only a dozen were brought before Wei Aiwen.
Hands bound behind their backs, hair disheveled, some bleeding. Panting heavily, still seemingly in shock.
"Which one is Battalion Commander Liu?"
Just as Wei Aiwen asked, the commander roared: "Rebels!!! Rebels!!! The Court will deal with you sooner or later!!! Rebels!!!"
Wei Aiwen understood some military dialect. Hearing his curses, he frowned. "This is that Commander Liu?"
Lin Fu said: "That's him. This dog had several guards protecting him with their lives to save him."
"Any guards caught alive?"
"One, a half-grown kid. Took a knife cut. Cursed endlessly. If we hadn't snatched him, the households would have killed him." Lin Fu asked, "Keep him alive?"
"Of course. Forgot the Three Disciplines and Eight Points again!" Wei Aiwen said dissatisfiedly. "Have a medic look at him; save him if possible. He's just a small guard. How great a sin can he have?"
Lin Fu hurriedly responded: "Yes."
Wei Aiwen swept a glance at the captured commander but didn't sentence him immediately. "How are the households?"
"I placed the ringleaders in the drill hall. The rest of the able-bodied men are waiting for judgment in front of the hall." Lin Fu said. "Call them over?"
"Good, bring the ringleaders." Wei Aiwen pondered.
Two ringleader households were brought forward. Seeing Wei Aiwen standing among the crowd, knowing he was a high-ranking officer among the Kun, they knelt quickly.
"Get up, we don't do that." Wei Aiwen spoke in military dialect. "What are your names?"
The two households were Hao Guoxin and Cui Zheng. Both around thirty, stick-thin and haggard. Let alone soldiers, they looked worse than local peasants. Wei Aiwen asked and learned Hao Guoxin was a blacksmith here, Cui Zheng a horse groom.
Wei Aiwen chatted casually with them, learning they were locally born and bred military household sons. Because of suppressing the Li, the garrison's arms were fairly complete, and men drilled often. Not only were weapons and armor complete, but they also kept horses and mules.
From conversation, Wei Aiwen learned they deeply hated this group of "masters." Garrison hereditary officers and households were originally comrades-in-arms, but gradually had become landlord masters and serfs. Garrison official land theoretically belonged to the state, farmed by soldiers for rations, but in reality harvests were almost entirely taken by officers; ordinary households only got a pittance to subsist. Households were not only state serfs but slaves of officers, used unpaid like servants for generations. Impoverished and often abused or killed at officers' whims.
Wei Aiwen already knew this. Seeing households killing and violating officers' families after entering the city, sparing neither women nor children, he knew the hatred was deep, far beyond ordinary conflict.
"Since it's so, today I'll let you suffering brothers vent your anger." Wei Aiwen said. "I'll hand the people over to you shortly. You trial and judge them yourselves. Beheading or feeding to dogs—you have the say."
Hao Guoxin and the others hadn't known how the Kun would handle things. They feared the rebels would accept surrender and amnesty, sparing Commander Liu and others, and felt uneasy. Hearing they could vent their anger, they were overjoyed and knelt to kowtow quickly, saying:
"These heartless dogs—we've wanted their lives for a long time."
"Good, take them away." He ordered soldiers to escort most of them to the drill hall for the households to hold a "struggle session," then hang them all. Only the clerk managing accounts was kept for checking supplies, plus one company commander.
The Planning Institute search team took prisoners to check and seize supplies from warehouses and residences one by one. There were no exciting valuables in the battalion city, just grain, weapons, and livestock. The most valuable capture was over twenty horses and mules. The horses were small, probably the fruit-tree horses common in Yunnan, Guizhou, and Sichuan.
Inventory and the struggle session took all day. In the fanatical atmosphere of the session, Commander Liu and his group were all hanged on trees outside the stockade. How to deal with their families caused arguments among households; some wanted to distribute the women, some advocated killing them all. The dispute almost came to blows. Finally, the "rooting out weeds" opinion prevailed. Households dragged officers' families and lackeys to the river beach outside the stockade, made them kneel, and beheaded them one by one.
While households were killing, Wei Aiwen called the specially kept company commander forward. This commander had been scared out of his wits; seeing Wei Aiwen, he collapsed on the ground, begging for mercy.
"I'll spare your dog life." Wei Aiwen said. "Scram immediately. Go to Haikou Coastal Defense Battalion and raise the alarm with Tang Yunwen!"
"I dare not! I dare not!"
"Go quickly. If you dare not raise the alarm, I'll hand your whole family to the households." Wei Aiwen tilted his head toward the river beach, where screams came continuously.
"Yes, yes, yes, I'll go for sure!" The commander scrambled up.
Wei Aiwen called two soldiers and instructed them to escort this commander to the Lingao-Chengmai border.
Subsequently, all military households in the two garrisons were relocated; they were dispersed and settled in various communes. As for the houses, materials, and land of these two garrisons, the Civil Affairs People's Committee took over to settle other immigrants.
As for Hao Guoxin and Cui Zheng—one was assigned to the machinery factory for training as a worker, the other to manage horses under Nick. Wei Aiwen recruited a batch of hot-blooded sixteen and seventeen-year-olds from the households to fill the training unit, preparing for political training after initial cultivation. Now their hands were bloodied; no fear they wouldn't follow the transmigrators to the end.
You Laohu led his three hundred-plus men boisterously across the Lingao-Chengmai county border. He regretted the flag wasn't ready; marching lacked majesty.
This special detachment's mission was creating noise, so You Laohu could march slowly. Resting at every village encountered, villagers fled at the sight of them. You Laohu didn't send men to chase, only instructed everyone to mind discipline, forbidding unauthorized entry into homes or taking commoners' things. Before leaving, they pasted slogans on walls.
Encountering larger fortified villages, You Laohu sent men to requisition grain. Seeing they had cannons, villages dared not refuse, giving ten-odd piculs of grain to cope. You Laohu didn't ask for more; spreading news of the Fubo Army's arrival was enough.
Thus his troops marched and rested, stopping and going, taking an entire day just to reach Chengmai County City. This speed felt incredibly slow to You Laohu, though by normal official post road schedule, Qiongshan to Chengmai was half a day, Chengmai to Lingao exactly one day.
When You Laohu's scouts reached the city wall, summer days being long, the city gates actually hadn't closed yet. Villagers went in and out with no sign of war preparation. Only when the main force appeared did the county town panic, rushing to close gates.
You Laohu knew if he wanted to seize the city, even a running charge would succeed. But since He Ming didn't want him to occupy Chengmai, there was no need to bother. He ordered camp set up on high ground outside the city.
This infantry company's commander was also a transmigrator, named Yu Zhiqian. Yu Zhiqian was a fair-skinned youth who loved reading, quite scholarly. He was half a military enthusiast, but his passion was modern military; he had zero interest in contemporary stuff. Belonged to the Line Infantry Party.
Because he loved reading and often styled himself "Staff Officer" or "Strategist," You Laohu simply treated him as his chief of staff to offer advice.
"Old Yu." You Laohu called everyone "Old X"; even Du Wen was "Old Du." "We're at Chengmai now. Looks like we scared the surrounding commoners plenty, but don't know how scared the officials inside are. The Commander wants huge fanfare; how do you think we should posture?"
"Of course pose for a siege." Yu Zhiqian was confident. "But just firing guns outside won't form pressure."
"Stop analyzing the situation; just say what to do."
"The county town isn't going anywhere. I think we should harass the countryside." Yu Zhiqian proposed leaving some troops to monitor the city while others conducted armed parades nearby, requisitioning grain, hitting big households, and conscripting many commoners to fell trees for siege engines, dig trenches, and build camps under the walls, posturing for a big fight.
"We have few people, and those on the wall aren't blind. So we must act like an advance force with a main body coming behind. Then the county people will panic. They'll have to go out and beg for help."
You Laohu laughed loudly, slapping his shoulder. "You've got it! Good, we rest well tonight, split forces to harass Chengmai tomorrow. Let's arrange camping now."
Army regulations required digging trenches, building earth walls, and erecting abatis whenever camping. You Laohu estimated harassment wouldn't end in a few days, so camp defenses should be solid. He had specially drawn rolls of barbed wire before departure. Then soldiers built a ten-meter simple watchtower, giving a clear view of every move on Chengmai's south wall. The three mountain howitzers also got emplacements, and rain shelters were built for guns and ammunition carts.
You Laohu led men to inspect tents. Soldiers aside, militia morale was high. Guessing they would attack the city tomorrow, everyone discussed how to break in quickly.
You Laohu didn't reveal the mission was only harassment. Following regulations, he checked hygiene in every platoon, urged cooks to boil water for foot soaking, and had medics treat blisters and apply Liu San's herbal medicine so they could walk long distances tomorrow. Compared to regular infantry, militia rarely had long-march training and had been hauling cannons and baggage. Many collapsed asleep as soon as tents were up. You Laohu urged militia captains to wake sleepers for food and foot soaking.
Inspection done, You Laohu and Yu Zhiqian went up the watchtower to observe the wall with night-vision binoculars. Many torches and lanterns were lit on the wall, with more men patrolling.
Compared to Lingao's irregular shape, Chengmai was a textbook square county town. North gate built but never opened, walls not high or thick, defenses not tight. Marching here, they noted Chengmai had slightly more population than Lingao and better land development, perhaps due to proximity to the prefectural city.
Next morning, Yu Zhiqian took half the men deep into Chengmai territory to forage and conscript. You Laohu led the rest to wave flags and shout under the walls, militia firing firelocks occasionally to bluff.
Seeing some leave and only a hundred-odd remain, courage grew on the wall. Curses came constantly; arrows flew down occasionally. The Fubo Army was five or six hundred meters away; even city cannons couldn't hit. Both sides cursed each other.
You Laohu stood on a mound surrounded by guards, directing the harassment. Watching militia crackle away with single and triple-barreled firelocks was lively; he knew they had no iron shot, just noise. He laughed; this fighting was rare—did it count as sparrow warfare? Amid stray thoughts, the drawbridge suddenly lowered. Over two hundred trained braves and militia swarmed out, crossed the moat, and charged shouting.
You Laohu hadn't expected the enemy dared sortie, but necessary precautions were in place. The infantry platoon covering the militia immediately formed a double-line traverse.
"Fire!" The indigenous Second Lieutenant commanding the platoon slashed down his saber. Minié rifles thundered. You Laohu clearly saw the dozen braves in front fall backward as if hitting a wall. The braves probably hadn't expected the Kun' firearms to be so powerful, killing and wounding from half a li away. Charging steps hesitated instantly.
Infantry soldiers reloaded immediately, followed by second and third volleys. Minié rifle fire rate far exceeded all contemporary firearms. Within minutes, another dozen braves fell. The rest panicked and ran back toward the city chaotically.
"Sons of turtles wanted melee!" You Laohu spat. "Retracted just like that!" He felt regret; his militia had hefted spears and formed up, ready for slaughter. He wanted to test the border army saber's power himself.
"Battalion Commander! Let's set up cannons and blast their mothers!" The artillery student team leader ran over excitedly asking to fight. "Kill the majestic air of those dog officials inside!"
You Laohu looked for a while, then said: "Forget it for today!"
From scout reports, he knew a dozen men had rappelled down from other gates at midnight. Scouts followed orders not to capture, just tracked them—found three or four heading to the prefectural city, the rest to various places in the county.
You Laohu analyzed the county must be sending men to gather braves to reinforce defense. The more braves gathered, the wider the news of besieging the county town would spread. So he didn't intercept these messengers, letting them seek help everywhere. That the town militia dared sortie today showed they had prepared to gather quite a few people.
In his heart, he yearned to fight a big battle at Chengmai and win major merit. And he was full of confidence in his firepower and soldiers, believing as long as vigilance was maintained, he could repel any number of attackers.
Next day Yu Zhiqian brought back dozens of piculs of grain and two or three hundred laborers. The two started major works under the city—repairing the camp on one hand, felling trees to make cloud ladders and battering rams on the other. Gentry on the wall saw the Kun, though few in number, driving laborers to make siege preparations, plus knowing the rebels had sharp firearms, and felt very afraid. They constantly sent men to raise the alarm and gather county braves.
"More and more braves in the city," You Laohu observed. "If we take the city, we can grab a big batch of prisoners."
Yu Zhiqian didn't speak. He felt that since their strength hadn't increased, city defense was relaxing again, so he suggested shelling the city.
"We don't have enough people; might be underestimated. Give them a taste of shells."
"Good, saves having militia haul ammo back."
To increase tension, You Laohu approved shelling the south gate. 12-pounder mountain howitzer shells couldn't destroy the wall, but smashed half the gate tower and many battlements, killing and wounding many defenders. Especially the high-explosive and incendiary shells shocked the defenders greatly—they had never faced such fierce artillery. Fires started in the city; some houses were destroyed. After continuous bombardment, defender morale crumbled. If not for He Ming forbidding a breach, Chengmai could be taken instantly.
You Laohu felt this wasn't severe enough. He discussed with Yu Zhiqian: rather than waste shells here, better use howitzers to break a few stockades, eliminate a few big clans. While fighting, wipe out some local power factions, laying foundations for future rule. Also earn more spoils—didn't the Executive Committee cry "can't afford war" daily? Capturing people and looting grain and wealth could silence them somewhat.
(End of Chapter)