Chapter 1080 - Alarm
The stockade crowded with refugees had become a hell on earth. In the chaos of war, no one cared to listen to songs; even selling their bodies brought no patrons. The troupe had barely survived on their meager savings—sleeping exposed to the elements, enduring constant hunger. They had hoped the military chaos would end soon so they could return to Nanjing. But the stockade proved no sanctuary either. Not long after news of Dengzhou's fall arrived, word came that the rebels had conquered Huang County and were razing stockades throughout the region. Panic swept through the local stockades, and one after another began purging outsiders who lacked guarantors. A wandering opera troupe like theirs naturally found no one willing to vouch for them. They were driven out into the ice and snow.
Fortunately, the stockade was not far from Baimatang. Their small troupe had been taken in shortly after fleeing. Otherwise, they likely would not have survived a day or two on the road before collapsing from exhaustion and starvation.
"Does the General wish Ruhua to serve him?" Liu asked softly, her half-lifetime of observing expressions and reading moods lending a practiced smoothness to the inquiry.
"Ruhua?" The name struck Zhu Mingxia like a physical blow. His mind conjured an image of that formidable woman from a certain comedy, picking her nose beneath heavy stage makeup. His expression remained controlled, but his stomach executed several violent somersaults.
"She's the woman who guided the General just now."
"Ah."
"How could that clumsy, big-footed thing possibly serve the General? She's getting old, too—a Broom Star fate. My daughter Siyu, though—I trained her from childhood. She plays the pipa beautifully. She's only thirteen this year, a virgin. If the General doesn't find her beneath him..." Liu, sensing Zhu Mingxia's lack of interest in Ruhua, immediately pivoted to promote another option. The girl was not her biological daughter, of course. To attach herself to the great tree of the Australians, to survive, it was necessary to gild her words somewhat.
Zhu Mingxia interrupted her sales pitch and asked her to bring Ruhua. As an atheist, he was genuinely curious about why Ruhua had been labeled a Broom Star. He wanted to ask her directly.
He was pondering whether he should first "purify" Ruhua by changing her name to something that wouldn't trigger unfortunate associations, then have a proper heart-to-heart conversation, when suddenly a naturalized cadre hurried to his side and whispered urgently:
"Chief, Chief Lu requests your immediate presence—it's extremely urgent."
"Hmm! Oh?" Though Zhu Mingxia had been exhibiting early symptoms of blood rushing to his lower brain, he still retained enough presence of mind. Hearing that the matter was "extremely urgent," he dared not delay and immediately ordered:
"Separate this troupe's members and detain them individually."
"Yes!"
Liu—a woman who had spent decades navigating the world of wind and dust—had long since perfected her analysis of male behavior and speech. Recognizing that Zhu Mingxia had already developed a strong interest in Ruhua, and hearing that the troupe was to be separated, she understood she had latched onto an eminent patron. For the next few months at least, food, drink, and shelter were no longer concerns. Her little life would probably be saved—and with luck, she might even earn a few taels of silver. She immediately performed a curtsy. "Many thanks for the Master's grace!"
When Zhu Mingxia returned to the stockade, Chen Sigen and Lu Wenyuan were already standing before the sand table in the war room, their expressions grave.
"What is it?" Zhu Mingxia had already guessed the general shape of things. Could the rebels be moving on Qimu Island?
"Wang Qisuo just returned." Chen Sigen said.
Wang Qisuo had performed excellently in the Battle of Baimatang. Though the overall engagement had appeared one-sided under the firepower advantage of the Minié rifles and Gatling guns fielded by the two infantry companies—the fighting had not been intense—he had displayed remarkable bravery. He had not only undertaken aggressive field reconnaissance beyond Baimatang but had also killed and captured several rebels during the pursuit.
Chen Sigen was highly satisfied with his combat performance and believed the man's comprehensive qualities merited selection for the Special Reconnaissance Team. However, Wang Qisuo had not yet undergone the evaluation and specialized political training required by the General Bureau of Political Security. For the time being, Chen Sigen had simply provided him with some reconnaissance training and assigned him as a scout for the Advance Column.
A few days earlier, he had dispatched Wang Qisuo along with some other locally-born scouts from the Advance Column to operate in the vicinity of Huang County. Their mission was to cooperate with the Special Reconnaissance Team in monitoring rebel movements.
The sentry escorted Wang Qisuo in. He wore a tattered padded cotton jacket beneath a white snow camouflage cloak, his face and hands caked with grime.
"Report what you saw again," Chen Sigen ordered.
"Reporting to the Chief," Wang Qisuo said. "At noon today, a large enemy force arrived from Dengzhou—fully two or three thousand men, all combat soldiers!"
An army of tens of thousands held no real terror—Huang County currently gathered "more than ten thousand" troops, but most were civilians recently impressed into service. The number of fully equipped combat soldiers was what truly mattered.
He reported that the arriving troops all wore cotton armor and were fully equipped. They had also brought many firearms. Of particular importance: the rebels had used oxen to tow six "giant cannons" to Huang County.
Based on historical records, the rebels had historically deployed artillery in multiple engagements against government troops, including the siege of Laizhou and several field battles. They typically employed culverins—the barrel weight alone ran to two or three thousand jin. Combined with the heavy gun carriages, maneuvering such weapons under primitive road conditions presented enormous difficulties.
That the enemy had actually brought heavy artillery to attack demonstrated that the Battle of Baimatang had left a deep impression regarding the island's firepower.
"The main general in Huang County, Mao Chenglu, is preparing meals—making ready to attack Qimu Island tomorrow." He then relayed several fragments of additional intelligence.
"Good, you may go." Zhu Mingxia nodded. This news was not entirely unexpected. Though Qimu Island's location was remote, tucked away by the seaside, it still lay within Huang County's territory. And Huang County served as the rebels' passage to Laizhou.
Had the "village braves" on Qimu Island remained passive, the rebels would indeed have been unlikely to target this coastal stockade specifically. But now they were gathering refugees on a massive scale within Huang County, appearing to have grown into a major local force.
If Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde wished to ensure the security of their road to Laizhou, they could not tolerate such a force on their flank—particularly after suffering a sound defeat just days earlier, which had given them a taste of the island's combat effectiveness.
"I've withdrawn all the scouts from the Advance Column," Chen Sigen said. "They lack the professional skills to survive out there—staying longer would just mean throwing their lives away. For now, only the cavalry will handle peripheral reconnaissance."
He indicated the sand table. "If Mao Chenglu's troops set out today, they'll arrive at Qimu Island by tomorrow noon at the earliest."
Huang County had originally held about two thousand rebels. Adding the three thousand reinforcements, the total now reached five thousand. It was unlikely they would commit every last man—after all, someone needed to garrison the county seat. At most, four thousand would come. Naturally, the rebels would also impress large numbers of able-bodied men to accompany the army as porters and cannon fodder. The total force might well exceed ten thousand.
Ten thousand men, plus artillery and ammunition—arrival tomorrow at noon was the fastest estimate. After arrival, they would need to establish camp and set up gun positions. Any actual attack could not come before the morning of the day after tomorrow at the earliest. Chen Sigen did not believe the rebels capable of mounting a night assault.
The three of them studied the defense system of Qimu Island. The island's fortifications were formidable. On the long causeway connecting to the mainland, a Willow Palisade had been constructed with painstaking care. Beyond trenches and dense abatis, coils of barbed wire and large numbers of standard bamboo spikes shipped from Lingao had been laid. The simple stockade gate at the causeway had been rebuilt into a bastion of earth and timber, equipped with artillery of various calibers. Any rebel attempt to rush headlong onto the island via the causeway would pay an appalling price.
Beyond the frontal Willow Palisade defense line, the refugee camp, the pier, and the mountain stockade on the island formed a defense system that was both self-contained and mutually supporting. Artillery and rifles could deliver crossfire between all three positions.
"The main defensive problem we face is the freezing of Longkou Bay," Zhu Mingxia said. "This greatly complicates our defense."
Regarding the ice conditions of Longkou Bay, they possessed only hydrological data from the twentieth century. January through February was typically the peak ice period, lasting approximately twenty to forty days. Average ice severity rated 2.2, with density levels of 5 to 7—having no impact on ship navigation. During maximum annual ice conditions, floating ice in Longkou Port measured only ten to fifteen centimeters thick at most. Ships berthing on the south side required high-horsepower tugboats for ice-breaking; berthing on the north side was largely unaffected. Crushed ice accumulated in the channel but had minimal impact on navigation.
According to twentieth-century data, being ice-free and silt-free year-round was Longkou Port's defining characteristic. Selecting Qimu Island as a transfer base had partly reflected this consideration.
Of course, the harbor was not completely ice-free. In some years, severe freezing occurred. Even icebreakers could not maintain port access under such conditions.
But this was the Little Ice Age. Freezing conditions in Longkou Bay might prove far more severe than the twentieth and twenty-first century records they possessed. Thus, Thorpe had strongly advocated equipping the Northbound Detachment with an icebreaker at the logistics meeting—after all, even Lingao in this timeline received winter snowfall. Accordingly, a Type 621 tugboat had been urgently modified as an icebreaking vessel at Bopu Shipyard.
The Type 621 was a tugboat by design—its overall structure was solid and the hull robust, making it suitable for icebreaking conversion. The modification project had reinforced the bow's exterior with steel plates, then used steel beams to buttress the bow's interior. Additional steel-beam reinforcement had been applied throughout the hull to ensure it would not tear apart when breaking ice.
By the time the modified tugboat was completed, it was already late December. It was immediately dispatched to Shandong, and conversion work began at once on a second vessel.
Large-scale floating ice had begun appearing in the bay around Qimu Island in January. By now, an extensive ice sheet had formed, extending nearly three kilometers from shore and connecting entirely with the coast. By mid-January, the trestle bridge had become completely unusable. The special service boat squadron moored at the Qimu Island pier was forced to retreat to the ice-free waters three kilometers from the bridge. Refugees boarding ships now used floating piers; they departed from the island and reached the vessels by walking across the frozen surface.
The arrival of the modified icebreaker had greatly improved this situation. Fuel consumption for heating fires on the island was substantial, producing large quantities of plant ash and coal cinder. Lu Wenyuan had ordered refugees to pave a channel across the ice each day using ash and slag, after which the icebreaker would clear the route.
(End of Chapter)