Chapter 629 - The General (Part Two)

He Rubin had already posted notices throughout Guangzhou and Qiongzhou, recruiting anyone who understood the internal workings of the Hair Thieves and knew Lingao well. He also tracked down sailors and merchants who had visited Lingao and interrogated them about the Hair Thieves' particulars.

But what these people could tell him amounted to little more than commonplaces: the Hair Thieves possessed great iron ships and swift boats, and they were skilled at commerce. None of this was useful for making war.

As for the Hair Thieves' combat effectiveness, he learned from these sources that the enemy "wore no armor, used only bird guns, kept orderly ranks, and maintained strict discipline." In addition, there was the widely circulated claim of "formidable firearms."

Such fragmentary observations were naturally insufficient evidence. Merchants and sailors were not military men and had paid little attention to the Hair Thieves' weapons or martial capabilities. Their accounts lacked detail; some were greedy for reward money or cowed by official authority into speaking, while others simply talked nonsense and fabricated stories. The many contradictions left him more confused than before.

It seemed he still needed to find local gentry and scholars. How could ordinary illiterate folk possibly clarify such weighty matters of military and state affairs? With this thought, he asked the staff officer beside him:

"Have there been any recruits from Qiongshan or Guangzhou?"

The staff officer replied: "A few, but upon slight questioning of their backgrounds, most turn out to be ambitious men hoping to advance themselves by offering clever strategies for defeating the enemy. Not a single person truly understands the Hair Thieves' internal situation."

Upon returning to the main camp, He Rubin found the latest Hainan garrison report, forwarded from Zhaoqing by express horse, waiting on his desk. Recently, garrison reports from Hainan had increased significantly. He opened it and saw it contained the freshest intelligence on the war situation in Chengmai and Lingao, sent by the Hainan Sub-prefectural Magistrate.

The first document concerned Lingao. Sun Tianbiao, a Hundred Household officer and the only surviving officer of the Rear Thousand Household Office under the Lingao Attached Guard of Five Thousand Households, had arrived in Zhaoqing and personally recounted the circumstances of the Thousand Household City's fall. According to his account: originally, under Thousand Householder Liu's supervision, everyone had fought bravely for six days and nights. The Hair Thieves could never breach the walls, and the Thousand Household city remained "as steady as Mount Tai." However, several "Han traitors" secretly suborned by the Hair Thieves lurked within the city. Taking advantage of a moment when the defenders were off guard, they suddenly rebelled, assassinated Thousand Householder Liu, and covertly opened the city gates, causing the fortress to fall. These "Han traitors" then used the command arrows and documents captured in the city to trick open the other agricultural station posts and the main camp. This resulted in the total annihilation of the entire Rear Thousand Household Office of the Lingao Attached Guard.

Since this garrison report constituted firsthand testimony—far more valuable than rumor-based intelligence gathered by spies—He Rubin read it with great care.

Next came the inquiry into the siege of Lingao. According to Sun Tianbiao, who had fled back to safety: he had heard the Hair Thieves had coerced over ten thousand local troops, civilians, and able-bodied men to besiege Lingao County seat, but he knew little about the specific situation, "only hearing cannon fire shaking the heavens and seeing roads everywhere filled with Hair Thief soldiers." He himself had "abandoned wife and child, and forgetting life and death" to break out.

This was nonsense. He Rubin recalled the content of the previous garrison report: when Sun Tianbiao fled to Qiongshan, news of Lingao being under siege had not yet arrived—the county's distress messenger only appeared several days later.

As for Lingao's siege, there was no specific intelligence beyond a single distress document sent by the Lingao Magistrate. After Chengmai fell under siege as well, the postal road had been completely severed, and news became almost entirely unavailable. With the postal road cut off, reports from Danzhou and Changhua could not get through either. Garrison reports now had to circumnavigate the island in the opposite direction or be shipped to Leizhou before reaching Qiongzhou's prefectural city.

"Where is the person who delivered the Lingao distress document?"

"The letter was delivered to Qiongshan, then forwarded to the province by the Qiongzhou Prefect. The messenger is probably still in Qiongshan," a staff officer said. "Seven or eight days have passed, though—he's probably returned to Lingao by now."

He Rubin regretted not having instructed Tang Yunwen to detain the messenger. That person could certainly have provided substantial intelligence on the Hair Thieves.

The second letter contained news from Chengmai. He Rubin had originally assumed Chengmai must have fallen—he understood the scale of county seats on Hainan Island. Most cities had crude defensive facilities and insufficient artillery. As for the garrison, it was practically non-existent. Expecting the "weary and decrepit soldiers" of the Wei-Suo system to rescue a county seat was simply wishful thinking. A force of two or three thousand men could not fail to take it if they attacked with deadly determination.

But when he opened the garrison report, he saw it had been dispatched from Chengmai County. The city was apparently still in government hands, and external communication had not been cut off.

"The Hair Thieves have proclaimed themselves the Fubo Army. On this day, approximately one thousand infantry and artillery troops, with dozens of cannons, established a stockade outside the south gate. Thief troops gathered outside the city walls. The city's militia and village braves sortied to engage them, claiming hundreds of rebel heads. However, the enemy force was large and their firearms fearsome; our troops suffered a minor setback. The Hair Thieves pressed their advantage to assault the south gate. Military and civilian defenders within the city resisted to the death. The gate tower changed hands dozens of times before the Hair Thieves finally lost momentum and routed. Dozens of rebel leaders, great and small, were beheaded, including three True Hair Thieves. According to prisoner confessions, among the beheaded True Hair Thieves were one falsely entitled 'Director' and one false 'Defender.' Disregarding their own lives, the Hair Thieves actually snatched the corpses away. Seeing that the county seat could not be taken, the bandit chiefs You Laohu and Yu Zhiqian split their forces to raid in all four directions. Many gentry households have suffered. They have coerced thousands of militia to construct siege lines and fortified stockades. They also bombard us with giant cannons; arrows and shot fly everywhere. Countless military and civilian casualties have occurred inside the city; houses have burned, and debris lies everywhere. Women and children sleep exposed to the elements, their wailing unceasing day and night. The situation is unbearable to witness. This must be reported in the garrison report!"

He Rubin breathed a slight sigh of relief. It appeared that the Hair Thieves' land warfare capabilities were indeed weak. A tiny county seat like Chengmai had not fallen despite the enemy deploying thousands of men and their supposedly "formidable" cannons. No wonder Lingao County seat had managed to hold out for over three years.

This reinforced his conviction in his strategy of relying solely on land forces rather than naval forces. He had originally considered ordering Tang Yunwen to immediately reinforce Chengmai. Tang Yunwen's headquarters plus local village militia could mobilize roughly two thousand men. Chengmai lay only half a day's march from Qiongshan, requiring no additional deployment or extra pay expenditure. Simply forcing the Hair Thieves to lift the siege would count as a minor victory.

He instructed someone to summon the staff officers immediately for a discussion of the Chengmai relief operation.

His principal advisor was, of course, not Lu Yizhong. Although Lu Yizhong considered himself quite "knowledgeable about military affairs," he was, after all, sent by the Governor-General and therefore operated at a certain remove. He Rubin wanted to hear the opinions of staff officers whose interests were more closely bound to his own.

The staff officers read the garrison report and concluded that the Hair Thieves must know the Court intended to encircle and suppress them, hence their attacks on county seats everywhere. Their intent was merely to create momentum and frighten the government army into hesitating to advance.

He Rubin smiled and asked: "I am considering transferring General Tang's troops to relieve Chengmai. What do you gentlemen think?"

The staff officers believed that although the Hair Thieves possessed formidable firearms, their failure to take either Lingao or Chengmai proved their land warfare was indeed incompetent. Tang Yunwen's troops were considered relatively "capable of fighting" among Ming forces in Guangdong; sending him to relieve Chengmai would surely succeed.

So long as the Hair Thieves besieging Chengmai were driven off, the constant "pressure to advance" from the Governor-General could also be buffered. Overall, the majority opinion among the staff still tended toward "prudence." They did not wish for the entire army to land on the island and launch a crusade prematurely.

One staff officer among them, however, shook his head repeatedly. "Your Excellency, General Tang's troops are mostly naval forces. Field battles and siege-breaking are not their specialty. If we rush to relieve Chengmai and suffer a setback, morale could waver."

This staff officer was named Chang Qingyun, a juren degree holder. He had considerable interest in the study of statecraft. Although he had never served as an official, he was thoroughly familiar with the workings of bureaucracy. He was one of He Rubin's more trusted advisors.

He Rubin nodded silently, reflecting that although Tang Yunwen's forces were nominally five thousand strong, actual combat soldiers numbered only about two thousand. Most were sailors, unaccustomed to infantry warfare and possessing few land-warfare firearms. These troops were also scattered across multiple counties in Hainan. Relieving Chengmai would therefore have to rely primarily on Qiongshan's village militia.

Although village militia possessed strong fighting spirit, their morale suffered considerably once they left their native territory, requiring substantial rewards to fight hard. According to the garrison report, the Hair Thieves had constructed siege lines and fortified stockades beneath Chengmai's walls. Their defenses must be formidable. When the opponent defended entrenched positions with fierce firearms, Tang Yunwen might not gain any advantage. Wouldn't the government army then find itself trapped in a stalemate beneath Chengmai's walls?

Considering all this, he temporarily shelved the idea of having Tang Yunwen dispatch troops to relieve Chengmai. However, if Chengmai did fall, Tang Yunwen, as Regional Commander of Qiongya Land Routes and concurrent commander of the Baisha Water Stockade Coastal Defense, would bear the greatest responsibility. But He Rubin himself was the military chief of Guangdong and the principal general of the expedition against the Hair Thieves; responsibility for a fallen county seat could not escape him either.

"In this student's view, Your Excellency might simply issue a personal order to Regional Commander Tang immediately, instructing him to 'act according to circumstances and relieve Chengmai quickly.'"

The staff officers nodded one after another. Since it was both "quickly" and "according to circumstances," this was indeed clever! Commander He would have issued a relief order regardless; the ball of whether or not to actually relieve Chengmai was kicked directly to Regional Commander Tang. Even if Chengmai fell, blame could not be traced back to He Rubin—his Central Battalion troops had already crossed the sea; no one could claim he hadn't attempted a rescue. That was one consideration. Second, even if Chengmai fell temporarily, once the grand army was fully assembled, recovering the county would require only a minor effort en route.

"Furthermore, in this student's view, the Hair Thieves lack the capability to breach city walls," Chang Qingyun said. "If they possessed such capability, why would they force laborers to construct siege lines and fortified stockades? This must be their strategy for a prolonged siege. The Chengmai Magistrate need only maintain a careful defense to ensure the safety of the entire city. The immediate priority is to send someone secretly into the city to deliver a letter stating that the grand army will definitely come to the rescue. Upon reading it, the military and civilian population will certainly defend with full strength while awaiting relief."

He Rubin approved of this idea and instructed a secretary handling correspondence to prepare the personal order for Tang Yunwen. He then wrote a note by hand urging Chengmai's officials, gentry, and people to hold firm:

"To Magistrate Qiu of Chengmai and the defending officials and gentry of Chengmai: This Commander will personally lead the grand army to reinforce within days. Hold fast and maintain vigilance while awaiting the lifting of the siege."

He did not write a date below—only his signature.

Upon reflection, he wrote a second identical note, changing only the addressee to: "To Magistrate Wu of Lingao and the defending officials and gentry of Lingao."

After finishing, he ordered two elite soldiers fluent in the Qiongshan dialect selected from the army, rewarded each with twenty taels of silver, and dispatched them to carry the two letters across the sea for immediate delivery.

Having accomplished these two tasks, He Rubin felt somewhat cheered. Reflecting that Lu Yizhong's constant pressure to advance had prompted him to send the Central Battalion across the sea first, it actually turned out to be a fortunate stroke.

He smiled and asked the assembled staff: "For this cross-sea expedition, we know little of the Hair Thieves' particulars. Of the twenty thousand troops I have brought, after subtracting empty quotas and the old and infirm, only about ten thousand are actually capable of fighting. I wonder whether we can match the Hair Thieves?"

Predictably, everyone offered flattery: "Once the grand army arrives, the ugly kind shall be cleansed," "A great display of punitive might," "A magnificent demonstration of military power," and so forth. Half of this was mere sycophancy, but half represented the staff officers' genuine convictions. In their view, the Hair Thieves relied solely on strange tricks and clever devices—firearms of somewhat superior power. If they actually formed up for a proper field battle, they would absolutely be no match for the Court's grand army. Thus, no one harbored doubts about the war's outcome.

One staff officer observed that although the Hair Thieves posed no real concern, they did possess sturdy ships and powerful cannons, and had gathered tens of thousands of "traitorous Fujian and Guangdong people." Moreover, the government still knew very little about the Hair Thieves' internal affairs—they did not even know the name of the Hair Thief leader.

The government's only sources of intelligence remained garrison reports and various market rumors.

"Iron ships floating on the sea, swift boats moving without oars or sails—isn't that simply monstrous!" He Rubin had consistently refused to believe such tales, only crediting them thirty percent after receiving Tang Yunwen's garrison report. But generals exaggerating enemy strength to shirk responsibility or inflate their own achievements was commonplace.

"As the saying goes, 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles.' Our army knows itself but not the enemy," Chang Qingyun sighed.

"That Sun Tianbiao fled back from Lingao and must know much about the Hair Thieves' internal affairs. Why not transfer him to the army for use?" a staff officer suggested.

"An excellent point." He Rubin nodded. Sun Tianbiao had escaped from Lingao and was an officer; he must know a great deal. Having him serve before the command tent would yield much useful information. "I will immediately request that the Governor-General transfer this man. Appoint him to an acting squad leader position to start."

Chang Qingyun spoke up: "Your Excellency's campaign to suppress these bandits will certainly achieve total success—that goes without saying. However, the suppression must be handled beautifully. If it resembles Commander Yu's campaign of years past, ending only in forcing the enemy to retreat with their entire force intact, it would fall far short of the glory of the Shuangyu Victory."

He Rubin had always harbored great wariness toward overseas peoples. Back then, driving away the Red Hairs by military force had only been avoided because civil and military officials believed the disparity in combat power too great—even if they won, the excessive losses could not be explained to the Court. Hearing Chang Qingyun say this now, he suspected Wang Zunde was merely repeating the old strategy.

Chang Qingyun believed that since the Hair Thieves possessed great iron ships and swift iron boats, merely forcing them to destroy their city and stockades and withdraw would only result in their choosing another location to rebuild their fortifications. How could such overseas barbarians, who had braved ten thousand li of ocean waves to trade in China regardless of life and death, give up so easily? They would certainly seek another lair. Although the Dutch had retreated before the government army's might in the past, they had ultimately secured a promise allowing merchants to trade on Taiwan. Moreover, they immediately turned to Taiwan to construct fortresses. To this very day, Red Hair barbarians remained a scourge on the Great Ming coast.

"What is your meaning, sir?"

"The Hair Thieves are skilled on the water. Although our army cannot engage them on the ocean waves, we can defeat them with a strategy of surprise forces," Chang Qingyun said with great confidence.

A staff officer laughed. "Are you perhaps imitating Zhuge Liang's old trick?"

"The Hair Thief ships are mostly made of iron—difficult to burn with fire," another staff officer objected, shaking his head in disapproval.

But Chang Qingyun's surprise weapon was not fire ships, the traditional Chinese naval weapon and primary means by which the Great Ming and Great Qing navies had resisted foreign aggression. His surprise weapon was the "Underwater Muddy River Dragon"—a traditional Chinese naval mine. According to various books, the "Underwater Muddy River Dragon" was a primitive moored mine, its historical significance comparable to the "Nest of Bees" being considered the ancestor of modern rocket artillery.

However, due to serious problems with the ignition mechanism and difficulties in deployment, this type of moored mine had never played a practical role and had gradually become merely a "divine weapon" existing only in books.

He Rubin naturally knew of this device. The late Ming was an era of explosive growth in Chinese firearms. Any literate person talked about inventing and creating firearms, though most were simply hoping to gain promotion and wealth through such schemes, as Song Yingxing had observed.

The "Underwater Muddy River Dragon" possessed no practical value whatsoever—He Rubin understood this clearly. But Chang Qingyun's surprise weapon was an improved version, something closer to a drifting mine.

Chang Qingyun immediately used tea as ink to sketch a rough diagram on the table. The concept was roughly this: gunpowder would be sealed in a clay pot, then bamboo poles bound crosswise on all four sides to provide buoyancy and make the device easy to hook onto ships. The raft would then be covered with straw or similar material. Specialized soldiers skilled in swimming would push it to the side of a Hair Thief ship, then ignite the fuse.

"Alternatively, no soldiers may be needed at all. Simply send small boats at night when the tide flows into the harbor, release a hundred or so Muddy River Dragons outside the harbor entrance, and let them drift in with the tide. Inside each Muddy River Dragon, use slow-burning incense for ignition," Chang Qingyun explained.

Releasing drifting mines in this fashion naturally offered no accuracy whatsoever, so many would have to be deployed—one or two hundred at a time. Even if none hooked onto ships, the explosions alone would serve to disturb the Hair Thieves. If they could sink or damage the great iron ships that the Hair Thieves relied upon as their Great Wall, the enemy could only surrender.

Chang Qingyun's new tactic sparked a discussion among the staff officers. They clearly understood the significance of this Muddy River Dragon. If large numbers were released in Bopu Harbor, not only would Hair Thief ships be damaged, but any surviving vessels would not dare remain long in the harbor. They would inevitably sue for peace early.

He Rubin wondered whether this device would actually work. But it cost little. He didn't quite believe such a thing could sink great iron ships, but sinking a few iron swift boats would constitute a notable achievement. So he agreed to have a batch produced on a trial basis first.

"It would be best to have soldiers skilled in swimming push these devices into the harbor," Chang Qingyun suggested. "Your Excellency might consider establishing a Mine Regiment, selecting a hundred or so water braves skilled in swimming for training. It will surely achieve miraculous success!"

A local staff officer spoke up: "This province has the Tanka boat people, a low-caste population living adrift on the water. Many are treacherous rogues, but their swimming skills are excellent. Why not recruit them as water braves and employ them to release the Muddy River Dragons? This would achieve the effect of using poison to fight poison—and even if there are casualties, they are not to be pitied. It would not damage Heaven's prestige and could also eliminate a local nuisance."

From this starting point, the staff officers launched into a discussion of firearms. The late Ming was an era when everyone talked about firearms; various books on the subject were numerous and readily available, so staff officers could generally contribute something to the conversation. He Rubin was himself an expert in this field and had even published writings on the topic; once the discussion began, he grew eloquent as well. Because rumors claimed the Hair Thief firearms were fearsome, everyone was eager to devise fiercer methods to counter the enemy.

He Rubin pondered for a moment. He could not make the decision to recruit water braves on his own authority; he would need approval from the Governor-General and Provincial Governor. But this was not a bad path to victory. Recruiting two or three hundred water braves would cost little. Even if the Muddy River Dragon proved useless, the men could still be employed in combat.

(End of Chapter)