Illumine Lingao (English Translation)
« Previous Volume 8 Index Next »

Chapter 2123 - The Capture of Wuzhou

Luo Yangming endured agonizing hours until dawn. His family remained at home—only Wen Tietou and a handful of shop assistants stood watch. If rioters attacked, they would be overwhelmed. The thought gnawed at him constantly.

Though barely four or five days had passed since the Fubo Army appeared outside the walls, it felt like half a lifetime. Each day truly seemed a year.

Multiple times he had considered sending someone to retrieve his family, but the streets were pandemonium. An accident en route was all too likely. Better they stay behind locked doors. Their neighborhood consisted mostly of rice merchants—a tempting target, certainly, but the guild maintained armed militia on patrol.

As the eastern sky began to pale, artillery thunder rolled from both north and south of Wuzhou. Luo Yangming's spirits soared. The assault had begun!

Signal rockets in vivid colors streaked across the lightening sky, beautiful to him as festival fireworks. He didn't linger to watch but scrambled down from the roof to report to the guild directors waiting anxiously in the hall below.

"The Australians have launched the assault! Before the day is half done, Wuzhou will belong to the Great Song!" Luo Yangming declared, gesturing with undisguised excitement.

The directors' dull, anxious expressions transformed instantly. They had lived on a knife's edge for days. Now, hearing that the Australians were about to enter the city, the lawless nightmare was finally ending. Their lives and property would likely be preserved. The oppressive atmosphere in the hall lifted perceptibly. Breakfast trays that had sat untouched suddenly attracted attention. Someone began loudly berating a servant for being "slow-witted" and failing to "warm up the porridge."

Luo Yangming observed the merchants resuming their habitual arrogance toward their servants. Clearly, they felt secure once more. Yet this was no time for complacency. Rampaging soldiers still prowled the city in considerable numbers, and cornered dogs bite hardest.

Guild-master Qiao proved the most level-headed. He dispatched messengers to contact militia and local garrison commanders throughout the city, ordering them to "hold their positions" and "protect the people." Once the crisis passed, "generous rewards" would follow. He also sent an envoy to the city's highest military authority, the Xunwu Regional Vice Commander.

This vice commander remained in the city purely from necessity. Wuzhou was his assigned defense zone. If it fell, the court would certainly hold him accountable, and his entire clan would suffer the consequences. Ming generals typically descended from hereditary military families—essentially petty feudal lords with ancestral stakes in their positions. For both pragmatic and sentimental reasons, he ought to fight to the death and perish with the city.

The envoy Guild-master Qiao dispatched was essentially a suicide mission volunteer. The vice commander might well have him executed on the spot for "collaborating with traitors."

The message was straightforward: if the vice commander immediately ordered his troops to open the gates and surrender, maintaining discipline among his forces, he would receive twenty thousand taels of silver for his men plus three thousand taels personally. The guild would also intercede with the Australians to guarantee his safety.

Having sent the envoy, Guild-master Qiao drew Luo Yangming aside and asked quietly whether he had connections in the Australian army.

Luo Yangming naturally couldn't reveal his true identity. He explained that he had long-standing commercial ties with Dachang, and since Dachang was reportedly supplying military rice to the Australians, he might have acquaintances among the Fubo Army.

"So you have no reliable contacts?" A flicker of doubt crossed Guild-master Qiao's face.

"While I have no personal acquaintances, the Fubo Army is renowned for its discipline. Someone will negotiate with us. Your Honor need not worry." Seeing Guild-master Qiao's skepticism persist, Luo Yangming added, "I possess an 'authorization certificate' from my Dachang dealings. With that, securing an audience with whoever commands here shouldn't prove difficult."

Once Luo Yangming mentioned having "credentials," Guild-master Qiao relaxed somewhat. He had resided in Wuzhou for many years—had heard of the Australians, used Australian goods—but possessed no firsthand experience of how the "Hair-Bandits" actually operated. In a situation as precarious as a city's fall, one misstep could prove fatal.

At least Luo Yangming had "Australian connections." That provided some reassurance. Guild-master Qiao then outlined the "gratuities" the local gentry and merchants had agreed upon: such-and-such amount per soldier, more for officers, most for the commanding general. He asked Luo Yangming whether these "figures" seemed appropriate—and naturally, when the moment came, "Brother Luo" would handle the actual negotiations...

Luo Yangming was privately amused. Free money was free money—no need to save it for these prosperous parasites. A windfall wouldn't hurt army morale after such a grueling campaign. He agreed to conduct the negotiations, which finally set Guild-master Qiao's mind at ease.


After Dayun Gate fell, the last organized resistance inside the city disintegrated completely. The Xunwu Vice Commander's remaining elite retainers attempted several counterattacks at Dayun Gate, all futile. The unit essentially came apart. As for the rioters who had terrorized the city, hoping to loot under cover of chaos, they descended into a final frenzy. Their formations shattered entirely; soldiers ran amok looting and torching. The city plunged into absolute chaos.

When Zhu Quanxing's 2nd Battalion entered the city, they moved systematically: seizing key installations, rounding up rioters along their routes, sending negotiators to accept surrenders. All Ming troops capitulating—whether local garrison or visiting detachments—were ordered to exit the city and report for inspection at the northern gate. Militia and constables were ordered to remain at their posts, manning key intersections, hunting down roving brigands, and dispatching firefighting teams where needed.

Yang Zeng's battalion entered from the south, deploying in squad- and platoon-strength units throughout the city to hunt rioters and assist firefighting efforts. Everything proceeded methodically. By noon, the entire city was pacified. Though fires continued erupting, rapid response prevented large-scale conflagrations. Several slum neighborhoods had burned, rendering hundreds homeless, and the dockside district along the river outside the walls had suffered severe damage—virtually leveled. Overall, however, the city had escaped catastrophic destruction.

The terrorized, brutalized people of Wuzhou—wealthy and poor alike—finally welcomed their new masters amid lingering fear and uncertainty. Some would never see this sunrise. Civilians slain in the previous night's riots still lay in the streets. In the Cangwu County yamen's rear hall, the magistrate who had hanged himself in despair still dangled from a ceiling beam, the courtyard surrounding him a wasteland of broken furniture and scattered papers.


Zhu Mingxia did not enter the city. To him, Wuzhou was merely a name on a map. His mission was combat. The Ming main force lay not far distant.

The task of temporary military government director thus fell to Zhu Quanxing.

Zhu Quanxing entered on foot. Unlike other captured cities, Wuzhou had opened its gates without requiring wholesale destruction—though the siege and abortive arson attempts had inflicted considerable damage. Thanks to "Lone Wolf's" intervention, Xiong Wencan's plan to burn the city had been thwarted, but conditions inside remained unstable. Under such circumstances, a formal "liberation parade" was out of the question.

Local worthies had wanted to stage a "welcoming ceremony" at the gates. Zhu Quanxing declared it "unnecessary" and instructed them all to report to the prefectural yamen—temporary military government headquarters—and await instructions.

Normally such work wouldn't require a Council of Elders member. The reception team of northward cadres from the Qiongya Column would handle it. But Wuzhou's strategic importance was exceptional. Whether the Fubo Army drove deeper into Guangxi or consolidated defensive positions in Guangdong, Wuzhou represented a crucial transportation nexus that demanded meticulous management.

"All militia save for firefighting units and prefectural and county yamen constables are to disband immediately and return home."

"All military personnel inside the city—local garrison and visiting troops alike—are to exit and report for inspection at the northern gate. Anyone remaining after sunset will be treated as a brigand."

"All Ming officials must report to the Cangwu County yamen by sunset to await processing. Those who conceal themselves will be treated as rebels."

"All sulfur, gunpowder, tung oil, and other combustible materials within the city are to be removed and stored outside the walls."

...

Order after order issued from the temporary military government's gates. The takeover entailed countless minute details, but years of experience had given the Council of Elders a mature system for urban occupation. Several veterans among the northward cadres were present. After entering the city, they directed troops to secure key offices, seal and confiscate weapons, and round up stragglers—all executed with practiced efficiency.

Zhu Quanxing was spared such minutiae. He established his command post—table and maps—at the prefectural yamen serving as temporary military government headquarters, and began arranging Wuzhou's defense and internal security.

Given current circumstances, Wuzhou qualified as a "frontline city"—and the strategic environment was decidedly unfavorable. Not only was it distant from the Pearl River Delta, the core of Council governance in Guangdong, but it also straddled the remote border between the two Guangs. To the west, Guangxi Ming forces retained considerable strength, recently reinforced by the retreating Liangshan anti-Yao Regional Commander and Central Route garrison troops, substantially boosting their capability. Though historically impoverished, Guangxi possessed several grain-producing regions and could achieve self-sufficiency. By contrast, the Fubo Army in Wuzhou already strained under overextended supply lines. To the east, the mountainous riverbanks stretching from Zhaoqing to Wuzhou harbored numerous Yao settlements. If a large-scale uprising erupted, Wuzhou could become an isolated outpost cut off from reinforcement.

Whether employed as a spearhead for Guangxi conquest or as a defensive bulwark protecting Guangdong, the 2nd Battalion had first to secure Wuzhou's fortifications.

The logical first step was understanding Wuzhou's current situation in detail. The ideal source was obviously "Lone Wolf," who had sent signals and secret letters. By all rights, this intelligence operative should have made contact by now.

What intelligence would Lone Wolf bring? Both Zhu Quanxing and Xu Ke were intensely curious about this operative inside Wuzhou. Without his timely intervention in sabotaging Xiong Wencan's arson scheme, they might now be confronting a smoke-choked ruin and an ocean of desperate refugees.

Yet even now, the mysterious Lone Wolf had not appeared.

At that moment, an orderly entered to report: the local "worthies" had been waiting a considerable time.

(End of Chapter)

« Previous Volume 8 Index Next »