Chapter 646 — Standoff
"Double canister shot—Fire!" At the artillery officer's command, two 12-pounder mountain howitzers fired simultaneously amidst the rifle volleys. A storm of projectiles swept across the entire enemy column. The charge collapsed without any suspense.
Sha Jianbi led the Central Army in two more fierce assaults on the 1st Infantry Battalion, but he was beaten back each time. Seeing his main force's ranks gradually falling into disorder—many soldiers unwilling to crash into the Hair Bandits' gun muzzles again, disobeying officers' orders, some even drawing knives—he realized the situation was hopeless. An Assistant General of his who had tried to reorganize the troops was dragged from his horse and killed.
He gasped for breath, knowing nothing more could be done. The only path remaining was to retreat quickly to a safe position and await the arrival of follow-up forces, combining strength before making further plans. He immediately ordered conch shells blown, signaling all units to withdraw slightly and reassemble.
Just as he prepared to retreat, Zhu Mingxia, who had been waiting for precisely this moment, ordered the 4th Battalion lurking behind the mountain to repeat the old stratagem—bursting out suddenly to sweep into the government army's flank.
The army, whose morale was already tottering, was suddenly struck by a fresh force. Many men turned and ran after only slight resistance. The panic was contagious: the organized retreat of officers and soldiers devolved into chaos. Soldiers scrambled to escape, trampling each other underfoot. The fleeing men left behind not only flags and weapons but even threw away their helmets in their haste.
Sha Jianbi beheaded several soldiers in succession but still could not arrest the collapse. He had to stop caring about his subordinates' lives and had no time to consider future punishment for losing the army. He fled in panic with several dozen personal soldiers.
The government soldiers' flight was so swift that the 4th Infantry Battalion could barely catch them in an encirclement; they intercepted only a portion. High-pitch speakers constantly shouted "Those who surrender will be spared!" Many men, utterly exhausted, could only drop their weapons and kneel to surrender.
Zhu Mingxia personally led the pursuit for two or three kilometers, capturing several hundred more exhausted soldiers and seizing many weapons and materials before halting. He quickly reassembled his troops.
"Beat the assembly drum! Gather the troops!"
The drummers lined up and began to beat. After about ten minutes, the formerly dispersed soldiers began converging toward the army flag from all directions.
The Special Reconnaissance Team was already issuing warnings: the enemy's follow-up forces were not far away.
He pondered for a moment. The enemy's follow-up troops were approaching—according to the Special Reconnaissance Team's report, there were also two thousand of them. If he continued the defensive counterattack pattern as before, his soldiers had been fighting continuously since morning; physical strength and ammunition consumption were tremendous. Another battle might not go as smoothly as the previous two. Moreover, beneath Shishan the battlefield was being cleared and captives secured; if the government soldiers committed fresh forces now, all of that would be disrupted.
Considering this, he made a quick decision: he would lead the 4th Battalion directly to meet the reinforcing troops, tailing the routed soldiers in pursuit. He would use the fleeing soldiers to disorder the reinforcement column, then attack immediately to rout their entire army.
Seeing that the troops had assembled, he radioed Xiong Maozhang:
"I'm going to meet the follow-up troops. You hurry—take men to grab captives and clean the battlefield!"
With that, he immediately led the entire battalion, shouting and chasing fiercely along the post road in the direction of Sha Jianbi's rout.
Sha Jianbi led his fleeing soldiers for more than ten li. Just as he began to believe the enemy had stopped pursuing and was about to gather men and join Li Guang's reinforcing army, he heard another burst of war cries from the rear—especially the distinctive Hair Bandit bugles and snare drums among them. He understood that if he ran again now, not only would his own army be annihilated, but even Li Guang's two thousand men would be thrown into chaos by his defeated soldiers. He immediately ordered his big flag raised on a small hill beside the post road and personally led his household guards and personal soldiers to rally troops.
But the sounds of guns and cannons from the rear unit drew steadily closer. Soldiers who had no will to fight refused to continue fighting and fled downward one after another. Sha Jianbi beheaded several fleeing soldiers in a row but still could not stem the rout.
While helpless, he saw Cao Xiangjiao retreating from behind, covered in blood. The young man's Vanguard Battalion Garrison Commander post had not lasted long; his men had all scattered. Only through the desperate rescue of a few personal soldiers had he escaped from the paddy field. He had just managed to gather a handful of men on the road, intending to turn and resist upon hearing the sounds of enemy pursuit—but they were quickly broken. Cao Xiangjiao had been wounded by a bullet and struggled here with difficulty.
"General—go quickly!" Cao Xiangjiao shouted. "Hair Bandits caught up again! Humble General will hold them here for a while!" With that, he turned back, shouting and waving his saber.
Sha Jianbi wanted to hold on a little longer, but the officers and soldiers around him had already descended into chaos. Ignoring whether or not he gave orders, they clustered around him and fled backward directly.
Cao Xiangjiao stood on the post road with his personal soldiers for a time, watching the defeated troops surge past him like a tide until no more men and horses remained on the road. Only then did he lead his few personal soldiers to throw away the flag and flee into the small woods beside the road.
Zhu Mingxia's pursuit made it impossible for the government army's routed troops to stop and reorganize. They routed for seven or eight li, and in the process crashed through Li Guang's entire two thousand men. Li Guang attempted to rally his forces but was swept up in the chaotic mass of soldiers retreating toward Chengmai. Zhu Mingxia's troops pursued closely behind. After chasing another five or six li, they captured large numbers of additional captives.
In the series of battles surrounding Shishan, the government soldiers suffered heavy losses—not only losing large quantities of weapons and horses, but of the seven thousand men sent to reinforce Shishan in three successive waves, fewer than three thousand returned. Those who did not return were either corpses on the battlefield or captives in Hair Bandit hands. A Regional Commander had also been lost.
This completely demolished the assertion, previously unanimous among generals and private secretaries, that "Hair Bandits are not good at field battles." Large numbers of routed soldiers escaping back to camp drove morale in the Chengmai stockade to rock bottom. Many generals and officers were already packing their belongings, preparing to flee. The camp filled with the sounds of chaos. He Rubin and Zhao Ruyi racked their brains, dispatching men to comfort and suppress, and quarantining all defeated soldiers in separate battalions to prevent them from spreading rumors everywhere.
Ye Zhengfang, assigned to suppression duties, beheaded more than twenty soldiers and low-ranking officers throughout the various camps who had been agitating for flight. He Rubin's Regional Commander's Standard and household guards remained intact and calm; their steady presence finally settled the once-chaotic atmosphere of the Grand Camp.
He Rubin gathered all principal generals into the great tent for a meeting to discuss countermeasures. Some generals advocated withdrawing the entire army eastward immediately, rushing past Shishan and back toward Qiongshan to camp and rest. Others advocated holding position on the spot and sending fresh forces to attack Shishan again the next day. Sha Jianbi argued that the Hair Bandits' troop strength was insufficient—those defending Shishan numbered no more than two thousand. If five thousand were dispatched in a single assault, with the stay-behind troops in Qiongshan attacking from front and rear simultaneously, the Hair Bandits could certainly be forced to abandon Shishan.
But no one endorsed this arithmetic. Seven thousand men had been sent out that day in total, yet they had been routed utterly. What use would sending another five thousand be?
"Today our army committed the blunder of underestimating the enemy," He Rubin said. "General Yan, General Sha, and General Li's units were thrown into the battlefield in three separate batches. In each instance, our army failed to achieve superiority. The enemy defended a stockade to the death with firearms, waiting at ease for our fatigued troops. Our army attacked with hungry and exhausted soldiers after a long march—originally lacking the strength to achieve what the heart desired, and therefore unable to break the enemy."
He Rubin's assessment of the battlefield situation remained accurate. He understood clearly that, in his impatience, he had committed the classic mistake of "Fueling Tactics"—feeding forces into battle piecemeal rather than concentrating strength. He was unwilling to withdraw just yet. Once he retreated to Qiongshan, the Hair Bandits would certainly return and capture Chengmai. Losing army and territory, losing a great general—the consequences were unimaginable.
So he firmly advocated holding fast locally and continuing to send heavy troops to reopen communication with Qiongshan. He estimated that the Hair Bandits' troops and provisions were limited; they could not divide their forces indefinitely. As long as both sides maintained a stalemate, the Hair Bandits would inevitably withdraw from Shishan.
Inventorying provisions, he found more than ten days' grain storage remained with the army. Adding the reserves stored in the Chengmai County granary, the entire army could support itself for perhaps half a month by rough calculation.
"Only, this provision..." Zhao Ruyi asked somewhat skeptically. Half a month's grain reserve was hardly reassuring.
"Within three to five days, we must exert every effort to reopen the grain route!" He Rubin said. "If necessary, we can transport grain by sea!"
"The Hair Bandit navy is formidable. I fear that will not go as planned."
"This is a strategy prepared but not necessarily used," He Rubin said. He called out: "General Tang!"
Tang Yunwen knew this "good errand" would inevitably fall on his head. He immediately stepped forward: "Humble General is here!"
"Transporting grain from Qiongshan by navy—is there any certainty of success?"
Tang Yunwen dared not say "no certainty," so he said: "This can be done, but this Humble General's unit's ships... the expenses for ship repair over the years have never been sufficient. Usable ships are few..."
"There are impounded merchant ships and fishing boats in Haikou. You may commandeer all of them."
"Yes!" Tang Yunwen said. "Please provide the Commander's arrow-token immediately, Marshal. Humble General will send men back to handle it at once."
He Rubin shook his head. "No—you will go back and handle it personally. I give you ten days. Grain and fodder must be delivered! Otherwise, don't blame this Regional Commander for naming you in a severe impeachment!"
"Yes—Humble General will surely not disgrace the mission!" Tang Yunwen was both relieved and anxious. Relieved, because he had broken away from this desperate place that was certain to end in defeat—unlike the other generals and private secretaries, he fully understood the strength of the Hair Bandit military power. The government army would surely be defeated this time. Anxious, because although supplying grain by sea was not absolutely impossible, whether it could be accomplished within ten days remained uncertain. Once the government army suffered a great defeat, his failure to deliver grain on time would become He Rubin's excuse to shift blame. At that point, even a hundred mouths could not explain it away.
That night, Tang Yunwen took a few close followers and quietly boarded a fishing boat at Xiaoyingchang. Under cover of darkness, they slipped along the coastline toward Qiongshan. His troops remained behind, led by Baisha Stockade Chiliarch Chen Renjie.
To receive grain and fodder by sea, He Rubin decided to reoccupy Xiaoyingchang. This time, officers and soldiers had thoroughly learned their lesson—not only were two thousand men dispatched, but they were heavily reinforced with firearms, preparing to defend to the death.
In the following two or three days, the government army silenced flags and drums, refusing to leave their stockade and fight. He Rubin only urged generals to continuously repair stockades and dig ditches, reorganizing their ranks. He intended, after several days of rest, to personally lead the heavy troop group—with the Regional Commander's Standard and household guards as the main force—to rout the Hair Bandit army at Shishan in one decisive blow, retake Shishan, and reestablish the grain route.
Inside the camp, all was solemn bustle. But within a courtyard inside Chengmai's county seat, the atmosphere was quite different. This was the residence of the county's wealthiest family. The owner, surnamed Song, also held the status of Imperial Academy Student (Jiansheng). During the Hair Bandits' siege of Chengmai, he had exerted himself more than anyone in defending the city. Once the government army arrived, he had flattered them effusively, offering up part of his private residence for high officials to lodge. Since generals needed to remain with their troops and signify "sharing weal and woe" with their soldiers, only civil officials and private secretaries had moved in. Master Song treated this group of private secretaries as a "protective talisman," entertaining and supplying them diligently.
At this moment, Chang Qingyun, Qian Taichong, and a dozen or so private secretaries who regularly associated were drinking tea and enjoying the evening together in the garden of this residence, accompanied by the residence's owner, Song Zonghui. This Master Song was a man of some elegance and means; the residence featured a charming arrangement of springs and ornamental stones with a touch of garden beauty—very rare in this southern frontier.
Because they were engaged in military affairs, the private secretaries dared not openly summon courtesans to accompany their wine. They had simply set up a few tables in the garden, laid out tea, fruits, and dim sum, and chatted idly beneath the moonlight.
Because the war was going badly—having lost several great generals in succession and now having the grain route severed—the entire army's situation was precarious. Except for a few who could still drink and eat freely, joking as usual, most private secretaries wore troubled expressions. The optimism of the days in Qiongshan had been swept away entirely.
Quite a few realized that this campaign against the Hair Bandits had been lost—though none dared say so openly. Some still refused to concede that the Hair Bandits' abilities extended beyond "strange techniques and craftiness." Even though the Fubo Army had defeated three government army units in succession in field battles at Shishan, they attributed it purely to objective factors like "Shishan is strategically perilous." As for whether Shishan was truly "strategically perilous" and how the battles had actually been fought, they showed no interest.
Qian Taichong was far more pragmatic than these men. He had been observing military councils in the great tent recently and had personally visited low-ranking officers who had participated in the battles, learning much firsthand material from them. He knew the Hair Bandits were not only skilled in firearms but also neat in formation and strict in discipline; in battle, they were no less capable than government soldiers. He felt this was a grave threat, for in the past, sea lords and bandits in Guangdong had never possessed such forces. The Hair Bandits somewhat resembled the Franks, but whether Franks or Red-haired people, neither could concentrate so many troops for offensive and defensive field battles against the Imperial Court's Grand Army.
At this moment he pulled Gou Chengxuan aside repeatedly, urging him to speak of Hair Bandit matters—especially Hair Bandit firearms, which Qian Taichong and the others found particularly interesting. Gou Chengxuan had no choice but to describe what he knew, one item at a time. Especially the bird guns and cannons used by the Hair Bandits; because the technological gap was so vast, they could not help but leave an extremely powerful impression on Qian Taichong and the others.
"So—most Hair Bandit firearms are made in Lingao?" Qian Taichong asked seriously.
"Exactly." Gou Chengxuan nodded. "Cannons, bird guns, powder, and bullets—everything."
"The Imperial Court has been using Red Barbarian Cannons made by Westerners since the Tianqi reign; they are sharp weapons of the military and state. I never expected Hair Bandit cannons could actually be improved to such a degree." A private secretary sighed. "Bullets that explode to injure people—I have seen mention of them in Wubei Zhi. That is not considered rare. But bullets capable of exploding in the air—this is truly unheard of since ancient times."
"Whether those so-called 'Heaven-Shaking Thunderbolt Fierce Fire Cannons' in Wubei Zhi actually work or not, only Heaven knows." Qian Taichong sniffed at the comparison. "Apart from those manufactured by the Armament Bureau during the Jiajing reign, they haven't been seen for a long time."
"In my humble opinion, these blossoming cannons are nothing more than an evolution of the Song/Yuan 'Fierce Fire Oil Cabinet' and the 'Ten Thousand Men Enemy' of our dynasty. Back then trebuchets were used; now cannons are used." Chang Qingyun was considered something of an expert on firearms, and he added his commentary immediately. "If one speaks of Western cannon making, it is nothing more than a vestige of the Great Song's fire lances..."
"'Nothing more,' 'That is all'—said again and again, yet in the end we still strictly require Westerners to help us build cannons!" Qian Taichong slapped the table excitedly. "Now Hair Bandit guns, cannons, and firearms exceed even the Westerners by another level. And people like ourselves can only sigh in vain!"
Everyone found his outburst quite abrupt, wondering why this Cultivated Talent had grown so excited. Qian Taichong evidently realized he had lost composure somewhat; he took a sip of tea and fell silent.
An older private secretary spoke up: "Though Hair Bandit firearms are sharp, they possess no more than one county's land—not enough to be a worry. What is most worrying is that the Fake Hairs beneath them are actually willing to go through fire and water for them, risking the danger of sharp blades and arrows. Such arts of beguiling people's hearts are the true scourge of the Imperial Court."
Everyone lamented for a while with phrases like "Mean people chase profit" and "Public morals are degenerating daily."
Qian Taichong spoke in a firm tone: "However, the accumulated abuses of the present extend to more than these few ends! In my humble opinion, rather than seeking treatment for minor details, it is better to treat the root. And the so-called root is 'Education'..."
He spoke at great length, spittle flying, stirring a burst of discussion among the private secretaries. Some talked about "Qi" and "Heart"; others discoursed on Wang Yangming's "School of Mind."
Just as they chatted with enthusiasm, a burst of desolate horn sounds suddenly came from outside the county seat, shaking the heavens and interrupting their discussion. Everyone realized that holding forth on such topics at this moment was not merely ridiculous—it was absurd.
Chang Qingyun turned back to his method of "Water Mine Defeating Enemies." In his view, whatever fast ships and iron ships the Hair Bandits possessed would vanish in a puff of smoke upon encountering the "Muddy Dragon" he so ardently advocated. Once the Hair Bandit navy broke, the grain route could be reopened immediately.
"That place Shishan—let the Hair Bandits occupy it if they wish. When those tens of thousands of jin of grain are exhausted, these three thousand Hair Bandit troops will be an isolated army, collapsing without a fight." Chang Qingyun spoke with spittle flying.
Everyone knew his so-called Water Mine Battalion contained elements that were somewhat fanciful. It might have had its uses in a siege of Bopu; now, with Hair Bandit ships merely anchored near shore—and the current flowing in the opposite direction—the idea was worthless. Everyone ignored him.
Only Qian Taichong sneered: "Once the sea grain route opens, I fear countless provisions will drift away into grasping hands again. At that point, if fifty or sixty percent of the money and grain can actually reach Chengmai, it would be a blessing." He added, "In my humble opinion, reopening the land grain route remains the best strategy."
"Yes—if the grain route cannot be opened, the grain in the city is limited. I fear it will not support us for many days." Song Zonghui finally found an opportunity to interject. He was different from this group of private secretaries; his entire family and fortune were here in Chengmai. The success or failure of the government army's campaign against the Hair Bandits directly bore upon his family's property and personal safety. He could not help but care.
(End of Chapter)