Chapter 2154 - Battalion Commander Zhu Si
"Bastards! Who fired?" Zhu Si flew into a rage and slapped the nearest gunner hard across the face. "Cease fire!"
Timing your shots was a key focus of Beiwei Army military training. The Minié rifle's loading speed might be the fastest in this time and space, but even a skilled soldier could only manage three to four rounds per minute. To achieve maximum killing effect, one had to time the first volley just right. In the Liaodong campaigns between Ming and Qing, the Ming forces possessed superior firearms yet often failed to inflict effective casualties on the Qing army—partly because of the generally poor quality of their weapons, but also because of bad timing.
Now this burst of wild fire had expended all the loaded heavy matchlocks on the ship. If the enemy launched a wading assault, there would be a gap in their firepower.
Under the sergeants' shouting and cursing, the ragged shooting stopped. Zhu Si didn't dare climb up to the lookout platform, so he pressed himself against an observation port behind the iron plating and peered out. The hillside along the bank was densely overgrown, and he couldn't see any enemy positions. But from the swaying of the vegetation, he could roughly tell the enemy was on the move.
"Riflemen, fire at will at suspicious targets," Zhu Si ordered. "All matchlocks, reload!"
At his command, the riflemen began firing sporadically, and the heavy matchlocks were pulled back from the firing ports for reloading. The deck fell into disorder.
"Mind the powder safety!" Zhu Si watched the gunners' reloading movements with secret alarm.
Suddenly, command boat No. 2 at the rear of the column erupted in thick smoke, and cannon fire rumbled.
"Which bastard fired that cannon?!" Zhu Si was instantly furious—firing when you couldn't see a thing!
The 12-pounder mountain howitzer was the most powerful weapon aboard, not to be used except in dire emergencies—that was what he had told the gun crew before departure: "It may only be fired on my personal order."
A cheer went up from Boat No. 2; apparently they had hit something.
Indeed, after that cannon shot, the attacks from the vegetation ceased. Then the signalman reported: "Lieutenant Li on Boat No. 2 requests permission to land and conduct a search."
"Search my ass!" Zhu Si swore. In his view, completing the patrol mission safely was good enough. Landing rashly to search might get them ambushed; if they lost a dozen men, that wouldn't look good at all.
"Order: No one is to land. All vessels proceed at full speed to Fengchuan County seat!"
The flotilla increased power and quickly cleared Jieshou Shoal. There they met Mi Longtao's two Daihatsu boats.
Mi Longtao's boats were heading upstream, moving slowly. Seeing the escort flotilla already out of Jieshou Shoal, he knew they hadn't encountered serious danger. Through flag signals, he learned that the flotilla had been ambushed in the northern channel but had suffered no casualties.
"Damn, another one!" Mi Longtao cursed—such attacks had already occurred many times this month. Though they hadn't caused major losses, this constant harassment was wearing down the garrison troops. Especially since headquarters demanded they also secure the villages and towns along the river, their defense duties were becoming ever more burdensome.
Mi Longtao let the downstream flotilla pass, then directed his troops to land at the ambush site and conduct a search.
The search party quickly found abandoned yiwo feng wooden tubes among the trees and grass—a novelty for Mi Longtao, as he had never seen these things in previous operations. Then, in a spot clearly covered by grapeshot, they discovered three corpses and a wrecked yiwo feng. Two of the bodies had been mangled beyond recognition by the grapeshot; the third was wounded in the leg but had had his throat cut—probably killed by his own comrades because he couldn't walk.
Further in the brush they found another corpse, killed by a Nanyang rifle round.
Judging by their dress, the dead were dressed in rags—forget armor, they didn't even have decent clothes. Probably low-level bandit minions.
Mi Longtao was puzzled. The yiwo feng was Imperial military equipment; ordinary bandits wouldn't stockpile such things. And if they had them, they certainly wouldn't use them so lavishly. From the empty tubes left at the scene, they had fired at least four or five yiwo feng, and had abandoned two more unfired. Such profligate, careless use suggested these weapons had come to them cheaply.
"These aren't ordinary bandits," said one of the Investigation Squad scouts serving as a guide. "Bandits don't like going home empty-handed. Attacking a flotilla here, they couldn't possibly gain anything—yet they invested so much..."
"You think they're Imperial troops?"
"Probably not, either," the scout said. "Imperial troops would at least be better equipped than this lot..."
If they were Yao militants, their dress, hairstyle, and abandoned weapons had nothing to do with the Yao.
Regardless of who the enemy was, attacking the flotilla meant opposing the Council of Elders. Mi Longtao ordered his men to expand the search radius, but apart from some junk the bandits had left behind, they found nothing new.
Mi Longtao withdrew his men back to Fengchuan, where the flotilla was moored at the dock. Some soldiers had been let ashore to stretch their legs while the damaged bamboo screens were being replaced.
"Where's your commander?" he asked.
"Over at Boat No. 1," a busy soldier replied.
As Mi Longtao approached, he heard loud scolding: "...This was acting on your own initiative! Don't you have any organizational discipline at all? How did you ever get promoted to lieutenant?!"
Walking over, Mi Longtao saw a National Army captain berating a lieutenant. The lieutenant stood ramrod straight; though his face clearly showed he didn't agree, the difference in rank and command structure meant he could only stand respectfully and take the dressing-down.
"...In the Beiwei Army, this kind of behavior would have gotten you executed!"
Mi Longtao coughed. The captain, who had been raking Li Dong over the coals, stopped. Seeing the visitor was a Beiwei Army lieutenant, his stern expression involuntarily softened, and he unconsciously snapped to attention and saluted first.
"National Army Wuzhou Battalion Commander Zhu Si!"
Mi Longtao returned the salute casually: "I'm Mi Longtao, Fengchuan County Garrison Commander."
In theory, National Army ranks were equal to Beiwei Army ranks, but neither National Army nor Beiwei Army officers believed that a sergeant from half a year or three months ago, now wearing National Army insignia, could be placed on the same level as a regular army officer.
"Yes, sir! Thank you very much for coming to support us in time!" Zhu Si didn't lower his saluting hand; instead, he bent slightly at the waist and said loudly.
"What's with the formality? It's just my duty. We're all comrades-in-arms here." Mi Longtao waved his hand. "Come to my headquarters and have a seat. Let's chat."
"Yes, sir! I'll come right over." Zhu Si couldn't be bothered to continue chewing out Li Dong for his "unauthorized firing." He turned and ordered: "You're in charge of repairs and resupply—and don't come up with any new tricks! Dismissed!"
The two came to the command post. Mi Longtao ordered a bowl of cooling herbal tea brought for Zhu Si and began asking about the details of the attack. Zhu Si recounted the events fully and marked the locations on the map.
"This is the recent pattern of attacks." Mi Longtao spread the map before him. Centered on Fengchuan, red dots clustered thickly along both banks of the West and He Rivers. Past Fengchuan County seat on the West River, the density of red dots increased dramatically.
Zhu Si was taken aback. By comparison, the stretch from Wuzhou to Fengchuan had seemed calm—apart from that one ambush, they had rarely encountered any serious attacks.
"These are just in my defense zone. The situation downstream is worse. How is it on your end?"
"Not bad," Zhu Si said. "I haven't been in Wuzhou long, but from Wuzhou to Fengchuan the river's been pretty peaceful."
"The next leg of your journey will be much more dangerous," Mi Longtao cautioned him. "Further downstream all the way to the Ducheng-Yunan section, the West River makes two big bends. Observation is limited, and there are many shoals. That stretch sees frequent enemy attacks. Last month, Logistics lost two boats there—over a dozen boatmen and soldiers killed."
Zhu Si's scalp began to tingle. He had passed through that section on his way to Wuzhou—it really was prime ambush country.
"Looks like the enemy forces are substantial."
Mi Longtao nodded: "Today's group was well equipped." He described what they had found after landing and praised the cannon shot for its accuracy and force. "If not for that hit, I reckon the enemy would have kept at it longer—they left behind three or four unfired yiwo feng."
Zhu Si gave an awkward smile. Fortunately, Mi Longtao didn't pursue the point. To change the subject, Zhu Si asked: "Intelligence reports say Yao insurgents have infiltrated this area. Could the attack have been their doing?"
"Doesn't look like it," Mi Longtao shook his head. "The clothing and weapons aside, Yao militants have been active around here, yes, but their aim is mainly to plunder villages. They wouldn't go to such trouble to attack our armed vessels—what would be the benefit?"
"But if they were bandits, this would be a losing proposition for them too. Could it be Imperial troops?"
Mi Longtao laughed heartily and clapped Zhu Si on the shoulder. "If Imperial troops had this kind of fight in them, we wouldn't be sitting here now. I'd bet nine times out of ten they're bandits who've gotten some reward from the government to come here and risk their necks. Even the local gentry are counting on us for protection now. Only bandits—who'll do anything for money and 'prospects'—would take this job."
Zhu Si nodded quickly: "You're right, sir!"
Mi Longtao sensed his stiffness and asked: "What year did you enlist?"
"1632. In Shandong," Zhu Si hastened to reply.
"Your service record is older than mine—looks like you're a senior." Mi Longtao smiled.
"I wouldn't dare say that."
"Don't be so formal," Mi Longtao waved his hand. "You served in—let me guess—the Garrison Battalion? No wonder. I can tell from your bearing and your salute—that style's sharper than even graduate-school officers! No wonder you made battalion commander at your age."
(Chapter End)