Chapter 1028: Forcing Kong to Rebel against the Ming
Dongjiang Town, isolated in Liaodong, was equally unstable during this period. Huang Long proved incapable of suppressing Mao Wenlong's former subordinates, and the internal strife that had begun with Chen Jisheng's assassination was only intensifying.
Under the combined pressure of internal and external forces, it was merely a matter of time before the old Dongjiang men launched a large-scale uprising. All three transmigrators shared this assessment.
The difficulty lay in the evaporation of their one-way transparency. Kong Youde's next move had become opaque, unpredictable.
Their urgent task was to anticipate Kong's intentions and prepare accordingly.
Zhu Mingxia bent over the map, his colored pencil tracing lines across the glass plate. Lu Wenyuan and Chen Sigen watched him tensely. As military commander, the responsibility for deducing the enemy's specific movements fell to him.
"In my opinion, Kong Youde's movements won't deviate significantly," Zhu Mingxia announced after prolonged study.
He pointed to the large-scale map spread before them and cleared his throat:
"First, we all agree: Kong Youde's rebellion is the inevitable product of harsh circumstances colliding with irreconcilable contradictions. The question is merely when and where, not whether.
"Second, we must understand why Kong Youde would target Dengzhou. This is crucial—it directly shapes our next move. Kong knows Sun Yuanhua intimately and understands that he differs from other Ming bureaucrats. Sun Yuanhua maintains the friendliest disposition toward the old Dongjiang men. Whether Kong seeks to lull his opponent while rapidly expanding his gains, or genuinely harbors hope for amnesty, Sun Yuanhua represents his best option. If he leads his forces to Dengzhou, there remains a glimmer of hope for pardon—that's the first point.
"Second, his colleagues and former subordinates are stationed in Dengzhou, alongside a large concentration of Liaodong soldiers. These men face the same problems and harbor the same resentments as Kong Youde's own unit. If he means to rebel, only in Dengzhou can he find sufficient reliable, battle-hardened allies.
"Third, as a general with extensive combat experience, once he raises the banner of rebellion, he inevitably requires a stronghold with adequate food and weapons—a position from which he can advance or retreat at will. Examining the surrounding cities, Dengzhou proves most suitable: it serves as the primary gathering place for Kong Youde and the other old Dongjiang men. The islands scattered across Bohai Bay are mostly occupied by former Dongjiang units, facilitating coordination. Although the mutiny was not his single-handed design, once it erupts, Kong Youde has no choice but to return to his own people as swiftly as possible and use the original Dongjiang units to rapidly expand his strength. If he contents himself with aimless wandering, his forces will be exhausted before long in Shandong.
"Finally, his staunchest followers—men like Geng Zhongming—are inside Dengzhou City. With coordination from within and without, Dengzhou becomes the easiest city to capture. Precisely because of these three factors, as long as Kong raises the flag of rebellion, Dengzhou is not merely his best choice—it is his inevitable one."
"You have a point. So Kong Youde will return to Dengzhou sooner or later."
"As long as his unit doesn't stray too far from Shandong, that will be his best option after the mutiny." Zhu Mingxia exuded confidence. "Based on this assessment, our countermeasure is straightforward."
Zhu Mingxia proposed immediately deploying all reconnaissance cavalry and spies composed of local natives to track Kong's movements. In addition to long-range tracking by cavalry, they could not neglect the original route toward Liaodong to reinforce Dalinghe—in case he genuinely proceeded to the front lines.
Kong's unit consisted entirely of cavalry with distinctive appearances, making them difficult to conceal for long and impossible for scouts to mistake. For the local natives, they would immediately dispatch agents to spread accounts of his village massacres near Dengzhou. Within days, these stories would be embellished by the locals and reach the ears of both the Liaodong soldiers and Governor Sun's residence.
Word of mouth typically traveled slowly—news from Wuqiao in Hebei would normally take considerable time to reach Dengzhou. Now, they would accelerate this diffusion themselves.
"Finally, if Kong Youde truly reaches the Dalinghe front lines, or if other factors prevent him from reaching Dengzhou, we'll have to incite the Liaodong soldiers in Dengzhou ourselves. But that's a separate matter."
"Hehe, Xiao Zhu, excellent summary!" Chen Sigen interjected. "You'll write the report to the Senate!"
"According to organizational principles, all matters must be discussed and decided collectively by the three of us. Besides, now is not the time for reports," Zhu Mingxia replied.
Chen Sigen considered for a moment. "What you said makes sense. But I want to emphasize one point: you just mentioned the importance of this uncertainty. Currently, we still cannot accurately predict Kong Youde's actions. If we merely monitor him passively while spreading rumors, it won't suffice. We must intervene actively—make him act according to our will. Only then will we achieve the necessary certainty."
Zhu Mingxia raised an eyebrow. "We approach his subordinates directly to incite them?"
"We lack that capability at present." Chen Sigen chuckled. "Did you forget what Lu Wenyuan said earlier? 'Openly leading troops to intercept the canal—that would be rebellion.' We aren't certain if he can pull off a heist, but I'm absolutely certain we can pull one off for him! We'll create consequences so severe he has no choice but to rebel—whether he wants to or not!"
"Can that work?"
"Ha, why wouldn't it work! For our Special Reconnaissance Detachment, such robbery and murder is child's play—using an ox-cleaver to kill a chicken. My boys have been idle and restless, itching for chaos. At most, you provide some additional men for coordination, and it's absolutely foolproof." Chen Sigen grinned.
"Those soldiers under Kong Youde all have Liaodong accents..." Lu Wenyuan still harbored doubts.
"Haha, that's no obstacle. Our Mandarin already resembles the Liaodong military dialect well enough. And if it doesn't, we simply keep our mouths shut. When the killing truly begins, no one will notice any flaws. Besides, even if there are discrepancies, apart from Kong Youde taking the blame, what other explanation is there?" Chen Sigen spread his hands.
"Old Chen is right. However, we still need to select who goes. Wenyuan, didn't you acquire some military uniform vests before? Find them all. We'll give him irrefutable evidence. But the exact execution requires further discussion."
"I did obtain some Ming army vests, but not many." Lu Wenyuan, anticipating potential operational needs, had managed to secure some Ming army vests from Dengzhou through Huang Ande's connections. They came from various battalions, some quite worn. Chen Sigen felt this added authenticity.
"During operations, tear the battalion markers off the vests—that's more realistic," Lu Wenyuan advised. "When the action starts, wear tattered robes over them, and the appearance will be even more convincing."
No one objected to Zhu Mingxia's assessment, and they immediately split up to execute their tasks. Besides deploying all standby cavalry, they selected meticulous individuals from among the refugees they had taken in to gather intelligence on the roads.
Lu Wenyuan summoned Huang Ande, instructing him to take several soldiers of Shandong origin and rush immediately to Dengzhou to spread various news about Kong Youde among their friends and former acquaintances in the city.
Also dispatched was an intelligence agent under Lu Wenyuan who specialized in liaising with local churches in the three eastern prefectures, spreading the news through ecclesiastical connections.
Kong Youde led his troops out of Wuqiao County, heading north along what would have been the route of the Beijing-Shanghai Railway—which did not exist in this timeline—and entered Dongguang County. Dongguang bordered the South Canal directly. Nourished by canal commerce, the area was quite prosperous.
Kong Youde chose Dongguang with the intention of making a grab there. This was not on his required route north to reinforce Dalinghe. With his men's rapid mobility, making a detour to secure benefits for himself and his subordinates posed no problem in terms of schedule.
Before reaching Wuqiao, his unit's morale had plummeted to a freezing point. Complaints echoed along the entire march, and an undercurrent already surged among soldiers and officers. Kong Youde was a veteran commander. That night in Wuqiao, if he hadn't decisively massacred a village to obtain food and wealth to settle his subordinates' hearts, the best outcome would have been his men deserting along the way, leaving him with less than half by the time they reached Shanhai Pass. The worst would have been these brothers who had survived countless battles simply launching a reckless rampage through Wuqiao County.
Kong Youde was not eager to rebel. He had joined the army as a youth, crawled from piles of corpses, and finally clawed his way to the rank of Assistant Regional Commander—a third-rank position. He did not wish to carelessly discard the future he had risked his life to earn. Yet in recent years, whether in Dongjiang or Dengzhou, his prospects had grown increasingly bleak. Though Sun Yuanhua valued him, the entire Ming Dynasty appeared terminally diseased—he could discern no hope on the horizon.
Consider Dongjiang itself: ever since Commander Mao had been suddenly beheaded, then Deputy Commander Chen killed in internal strife, followed by Huang Long's arrival on the island and various units rioting over pay and launching mutinies, Dongjiang had descended into fratricidal chaos, worsening by the day.
Under Mao Wenlong, they had at least been able to conduct armed demonstrations in Tartar territory, striking the enemy by surprise. Now the will to fight ebbed ever lower. The moment the order came to reinforce Zhang Chun at Dalinghe, an emotion of fearing the enemy like a tiger permeated from officers down to common soldiers.
From top to bottom in Kong Youde's unit, probably no one failed to understand what fate awaited Zhang Chun at Dalinghe. Kong knew Zhang Chun the man—he would certainly die for his country. But many, many soldiers and generals would also die violent deaths—and Kong Youde was extremely likely to be among them.
This thought he could not shake.
After leading his troops to Dongguang, Kong Youde temporarily settled quietly in a village not far from the canal. Quite a few villages near the South Canal "lived off the river" and harbored some wealthy households profiting in secret. He dispatched his men to slaughter another village, plundering a substantial haul of money and grain. The generals and officers made respectable profits, and the common soldiers ate and drank their fill while gaining some silver. Morale improved noticeably.
However, a more troublesome problem arose. Having tasted the sweetness, officers and soldiers grew reluctant to leave. Some even quietly encouraged their superiors to simply turn bandit and make a major sweep through this prosperous land.
Kong Youde scoffed at the notion. Once an army degenerates into a bandit gang, its combat effectiveness rapidly disintegrates. He would become nothing but a worthless bandit king, destined sooner or later for destruction at the hands of government troops or local militia.
(End of Chapter)