Chapter 1027: Going North and Going East

The ripples of this change soon reached Qimu Island. Yet the reports trickling back from Lu Wenyuan's scattered scouts remained frustratingly consistent: "No situation found." This maddening uniformity gnawed at the nerves of the transmigrators—Lu Wenyuan, Chen Sigen, and Zhu Mingxia—who had been brimming with confidence, poised for operations to commence.

According to their historical timeline, Kong Youde should have raised the flag of rebellion on October 31st. By November 22nd—a mere twenty-two days later—he should have led his army to the very gates of Dengzhou City. Yet several days had now passed with nothing. The scouts monitoring the Huangxian official road should have picked up at least fragmentary intelligence by now—whispers of "someone has revolted," perhaps—given that Kong Youde commanded over a thousand well-equipped men, a force not easily overlooked.

But the merchants traveling from the Dezhou direction brought no such news. Nothing at all.

November 10th arrived. Still silence on the roads. The trio could no longer sit idle. After urgent consultation, Zhu Mingxia ordered the deployment of disguised reconnaissance cavalry. Through his connection with Sun Yuanhua, Lu Wenyuan had previously purchased over a dozen Mongolian horses from the Dengzhou army specifically for this purpose—the Fubo Army had always lacked the rapid maneuverability necessary for battlefield reconnaissance.

Those serving as reconnaissance cavalry were not the regular scouts from the Special Reconnaissance Detachment, but rather personnel from the Cavalry Training Squadron attached to the Northbound Detachment. Anticipating that the Dengzhou operation might yield captured horses aplenty, a full company from the Army Training Command's Cavalry Training Squadron had been incorporated into the Northbound Detachment for on-the-spot utilization. One platoon had already been transported to Qimu Island.

The Fubo Army's cavalry doctrine mirrored the light cavalry tactics of the Napoleonic era: reconnaissance, harassment, pursuit—never intended for shock charges or breakthrough operations. Accordingly, every cavalryman in the training squadron had undergone extensive reconnaissance training.

Lu Wenyuan surveyed the dozen or so disguised reconnaissance cavalrymen assembled before him. They looked genuinely pathetic—exactly right. Dressed as small-time traveling merchants working alone, each accompanied by a partner leading a laden donkey. When they opened their mouths, they spoke in thick, often unintelligible Shandong dialect. Lu Wenyuan inquired and discovered they weren't all Shandong natives—they had been specially trained, each one glib and fluent in the regional speech.

"They've trained for over a year. This counts as their first real combat deployment," Zhu Mingxia observed. "I'd originally intended to deploy them later, but the need has arisen sooner than expected."

Each reconnaissance cavalryman carried a monocular telescope, a revolver, and two grenades. They operated in pairs, maintaining visual contact with no more than a hilltop between teams. According to the deployment plan, seven or eight teams fanned out toward Dezhou, searching forward in three to five staggered layers.

The reconnaissance cavalry pushed forward along the main road toward Wuqiao, gathering intelligence along the way. Useful information remained elusive until one group reached Sanyuan Town in Wuqiao County. There, they finally extracted something valuable from local peddlers.

Kong Youde's unit had passed through this place heading north some ten days prior. The chicken-stealing incident had indeed occurred—but the matter had been settled. The soldier who stole the chicken and killed someone had been beheaded, and the master of the Wang family had pursued it no further. Kong Youde had already led his troops away.

But what followed had terrified the local populace. Days later, word arrived that a large village several dozen li away had been wiped out entirely. Though the government claimed bandits were responsible, everyone whispered that the Liaodong soldiers were the true culprits. Several large households among the slaughtered had wealthy and well-connected relatives, making the matter impossible to suppress. The local gentry had jointly petitioned the county magistrate and dispatched representatives to lobby the prefectural authorities, intent on accusing these lawless "soldier-bandits."

"Does going to the government even help with such things?" The reconnaissance cavalryman affected an ignorant expression. "Back in my hometown, if soldiers kill a few people, the masters in the county don't care at all. They insist it was bandits. Even appealing to the provincial authorities might not work."

"You, sir, are a traveling merchant with wide horizons—what haven't you seen? For us small folk, if a soldier lord cuts us down, we're cut down. But several large households died in that village, connected to several gentry families in this county. One family even has distant relations with Master Wang's household. Master Wang couldn't pretend not to see it—neighbors and kinsmen, he couldn't possibly explain it away."

The reconnaissance cavalry dared not delay. They immediately dispatched riders back to Qimu Island with the news.

This intelligence sparked deep anxiety among the "Qimu Island Trio." What the scouts reported meant that Kong Youde had not raised the flag of rebellion in Wuqiao as history recorded—instead, he had smoothed things over through other means. This meant he would lead his army further north, eventually either suffering defeat at Dalinghe—dying or surrendering—or perhaps, given his wavering morale, defecting directly to the Manchus.

Should such a scenario unfold, the plan to use Kong Youde to plunge Shandong into chaos would collapse entirely. Numerous subsequent plans would require revision. Most pressingly, whether occupying Jeju Island remained necessary became a serious question.

"If Kong Youde won't rebel, we must force him to rebel!" Zhu Mingxia slammed the table. "Otherwise, we'll have to go into battle bare-chested ourselves."

Chen Sigen spoke up. "Can we use Sun Yuanhua to pressure him? Given that he's been slaughtering entire villages, surely Sun Yuanhua would find it difficult to shield him?"

"I doubt it." Lu Wenyuan shook his head repeatedly. "Sun Yuanhua's skill in managing soldiers is limited, and his ability to restrain subordinates is weak. Moreover, he views the old Dongjiang men as his political capital. Besides, this sort of thing isn't rare in the late Ming. Sun Yuanhua wouldn't make trouble for a valiant general with strong soldiers like Kong Youde over such a matter."

"I believe we can only count on the local gentry in Wuqiao—the Wang family, for instance." Lu Wenyuan was a field operative who had received considerable professional training in history. Having spent several months in Shandong alongside Zhao Yingong, he had grown relatively familiar with Ming Dynasty social conditions. After careful consideration, he proposed a new approach.

"The Wang family is a famous gentry household in Wuqiao, tremendously powerful. The family head, Wang Xiangchun, was a hardcore member of the Donglin Party. In the past, he was listed in the 'Donglin Water Margin,' where he was nicknamed 'Heavenly Damage Star White Stripe in the Waves.'"

"Good heavens, 'White Stripe in the Waves'!" Chen Sigen laughed. "The Eunuch Party had real literary talent."

"And Wang Xiangchun has a cousin named Wang Xiangjin, who serves as Administration Commissioner of Zhejiang—not an insignificant rank. Setting aside these brothers, Wang Xiangchun alone could make Kong Youde suffer prepared consequences."

The question remained whether the Wang family would be willing to take the lead. Lu Wenyuan believed the probability was high. Since the master of the Wang family had been willing to stand up for a servant's chicken, then with a local village slaughtered and distant relatives among the victims—for both public and private reasons—their family would have to speak out.

"The problem is, even if they speak up, it will take months. We can't wait that long."

Lu Wenyuan scratched his head—since keeping a hair bun, he couldn't wash his hair often and frequently felt his scalp itching. "That's true."

"The urgent task is to locate Kong Youde's unit and ascertain his next movements before we can take action," Zhu Mingxia said. Originally, their grasp of historical materials had given them a feeling of "one-way transparency" regarding the battlefield situation. Now, Kong Youde's unexpected deviation had brought the "fog of war" descending once again.

"Where is he now?"

According to the reconnaissance cavalry's report, after Kong Youde led his troops out of Wuqiao County City, he had traveled north for about twenty li, wiped out a large village, and then vanished from observation.

"...Several teams are still searching along the road. The latest news hasn't arrived yet."

Zhu Mingxia spread open the map and marked Kong Youde's last known position. Studying the terrain, if Kong intended to continue north toward Shanhai Pass to execute his mission of reinforcing Dalinghe, he should be heading east—not suddenly veering north. To the north lay Dongguang County and Nanpi County, far from the route to Shanhai Pass.

"What's he doing running toward Dongguang and Nanpi?" Chen Sigen was puzzled. "Could it be..." He noticed that both county seats on the map bordered the Grand Canal. "He's not thinking of robbing boats on the canal, is he?"

The Grand Canal was a vital north-south artery. Hundreds, even thousands of boats sailed its waters daily—an obviously lucrative target.

"No, he wouldn't dare." Lu Wenyuan shook his head. "Openly leading troops to intercept canal boats—that would be rebellion..."

"Isn't he going to rebel anyway?"

"That's true enough."

Zhu Mingxia said, "I estimate Kong Youde's northern movement toward Dongguang and Nanpi is either an attempt to pull off a major heist along the canal, or it's purely a feint."

He believed the latter possibility more likely.

If Kong Youde possessed the will to rebel, he could have started in Wuqiao—there was no need to rush to Nanpi or Dongguang. Wuqiao County City alone offered rich pickings. His avoidance of the county seat and movement northward clearly contained an element of plausible deniability. Should the court investigate later, he could claim innocence—his route wasn't originally headed north.

"...Kong Youde's men are cavalry, highly mobile. He could easily push all the way north, ransacking several villages en route, then suddenly turn east and rejoin his original path toward Shanhai Pass. With sufficient provisions, a cavalry unit can easily cover forty kilometers a day."

"But in that case, he wouldn't rebel in Shandong at all."

"That possibility exists," Lu Wenyuan acknowledged. "However, historically, Kong Youde never intended to rebel initially. The Wuqiao Mutiny had an element of him being forced into participation. It was primarily the lower-level officers and soldiers who decided to launch the uprising."

This indicated that rebellious sentiments had always simmered among the old Dongjiang troops stationed in Shandong. Once Kong Youde mutinied at Wuqiao and arrived in Dengzhou, he received support from Geng Zhongming and other former Dongjiang men. Throughout the Dengzhou Rebellion, the rebel army continuously gained assistance and rallied responses from Dongjiang veterans, growing rapidly in strength.

"At a deeper level, the mutiny of the original Dongjiang units was an inevitability. One need only examine the situation in Shandong to see this."

Lu Wenyuan had spent several months in Shandong, dealing extensively with churches, government officials, military units, and common folk. In his assessment, the Liaodong army's rebellion was inevitable. Conflicts between guest armies and local forces in Shandong were constant. The land was barren, the people impoverished. Gentry and local strongmen held disproportionate power. The long-sidelined and discriminated Liaodong soldiers had accumulated sufficient resentment—they lacked only a spark.

(End of Chapter)