Chapter 1103 - Freedom of Movement
"We must maintain neutrality. Kong Youde's rampage through the Eastern Three Prefectures has made him absolutely notorious—both the gentry and the common people hate his forces to their very bones. We must never associate ourselves with him. Forget alliances—even the fact that we've reached an agreement with them must remain secret. This political purity is crucial." Zhu Mingxia paused. "Little Lu, I'm leaving the verbal sparring with Kong Youde to you. We must reaffirm our position. Besides, this fox is a turncoat who regularly switches sides—what would we want with him?"
After the Dengzhou side received their reply, their response came swiftly. Within days they sent an envoy to relay their message: since Manor Lord Lu's side was unwilling to ally, they would not press the matter. The envoy indicated they were prepared to guarantee they would not attack the designated areas, but the Qimu Island side must not interfere with their military operations or resupply efforts. Additionally, they demanded ten thousand shi of grain.
"...Also, Commander Kong instructed me to convey to Manor Lord Lu: please do not dispatch large contingents to roam about in Dengzhou and Laizhou. Just hold fast to your forts. That way we avoid any accidental clashes..."
Lu Wenyuan had originally intended to affect an air of profundity, but hearing these Dengzhou demands, his face gradually contorted until he couldn't help bursting into laughter, leaving the messenger looking quite bewildered.
"Go tell Kong Youde," Lu Wenyuan said once he'd recovered, "war or peace—it's entirely up to him. I have nothing more to say. Off you go."
The envoy departed in disarray. Zhu Mingxia immediately ordered the Special Reconnaissance Team and scouts to sortie together, continuously sniping at the mutineers' supply columns along the Huangxian highway. The convoys transporting Red Barbarian Cannons and ammunition from Dengzhou to Laizhou came under constant fire from hidden marksmen along the post road. Oxen and horses were shot down or wounded, forcing frequent halts to wait for replacement animals. The gunners and soldiers escorting the convoys, never knowing when a bullet might fly in to claim their lives, walked in a perpetual crouch, scattering for cover at the slightest movement. The convoys managed barely four or five li per day. Eventually, soldiers flatly refused to leave the city to escort supply runs.
Using coerced refugees as porters was an option since their deaths were of no consequence—but without enough mutineers to guard them, the refugees would scatter as soon as they were any distance from the city. The supply line from Dengzhou to Laizhou was completely severed.
The mutineers switched to sea transport. The naval detachment under LĂĽ Yang's command conducted constant patrols in Dengzhou waters, repeatedly sinking or capturing vessels departing from Dengzhou's naval base bound for Laizhou.
LĂĽ Yang had originally thought this would prove difficult, but the mutineers' navigation skills were poor. They mostly hugged the coastline. With guidance from local fishermen familiar with the shipping lanes, LĂĽ Yang's detachment established observation posts and temporary anchorages on several small islands off Dengzhou's harbor, effectively controlling the shipping routes in and out.
Ships entering Dengzhou or sailing from Dengzhou to Liaodong were allowed to pass unmolested, per the plan. But any vessel headed for Laizhou was seized; those refusing to surrender were sunk. Though the ships and crews were released after their cargo was confiscated, the detachment's demonstrated ability to board anyone, anytime, anywhere threw the mutineers inside Dengzhou into chaos. Moreover, once the maritime lanes were cut, the mutineers lost all contact with the Dongjiang garrisons on the various islands, let alone any hope of recruiting them—this was practically a matter of life and death for the Dengzhou mutineers. Thus, within days, a new envoy arrived from Dengzhou, and the two sides concluded a non-aggression agreement on Lu Wenyuan's terms. The Northern Expedition Detachment had won the right to move freely throughout the region.
For identification purposes, any parties or individuals dispatched from Qimu Island need only fly the Qimu Island banner or wear a red armband bearing the Qimu Island insignia, and the mutineers would neither impede nor interfere with them. In return, Lu Wenyuan guaranteed not to intercept ships entering or leaving Dengzhou, and not to obstruct or harass mutineer operations.
Regarding the Laizhou situation raised by the envoy—Lu Wenyuan's answer was blunt: the South Gate and the coastal area at Hutouya were off-limits. The other gates could be attacked as they pleased; if they could take them, that was their skill; if not, they couldn't blame anyone else. In return, Lu Wenyuan guaranteed that Lü Zeyang would not attack or harass the mutineers outside the walls.
Despite the harsh, almost overbearing terms, the mutineers—having fully appreciated their opponents' formidable strength—agreed to everything. After all, this Manor Lord Lu demanded neither their heads nor their cities.
With this, the Northern Expedition Detachment could move freely and boldly across the entire Eastern Three Prefectures. Especially in the Dengzhou vicinity, where government authority had completely collapsed, collection teams ranged far and wide, gathering and recruiting refugees, spreading word that Qimu Island was a place of safety.
Refugees streamed toward Qimu Island from every direction in great numbers. Even those stockade communities that had fortified themselves and not yet been overrun were cajoled and persuaded by the collection teams to pack up their families and head for Qimu Island under the weight of the mutineers' mounting pressure. For a time, the entire Qimu Island region was bursting at the seams. Fortunately, by early in the second lunar month, the seas around Qimu Island had thawed. The harbors, whose capacity had been severely constrained by ice, regained their full throughput. Ships that had previously plied the Jeju–Taiwan–Hong Kong route now began sailing toward Qimu Island instead. The Forward Command at Hong Kong had issued orders for a comprehensive evacuation of population from Shandong.
To reduce the coordination complexity of population transfers and fully utilize ships and favorable currents and winds, Suopu, who was organizing shipping from Hong Kong, ordered all H800 vessels carrying refugees from Qimu Island to sail directly to Jeju Island. Refugees would be offloaded there rather than continuing with the previous system of partly transferring to Jeju and partly to Gaoxiong.
Because the distance from Qimu Island to Jeju was short and voyage time brief, physical requirements for refugees could be reduced to a minimum. This meant refugees needed no recovery period—a brief replenishment of food and they could be shipped out from Qimu Island immediately. This greatly reduced the demands on Qimu Island's housing and supply capacity. During the peak of refugee transfers, incoming refugees received only a cursory health screening before boarding directly.
Refugees underwent "purification" processing on Jeju Island. After sixty days of quarantine, they would be shipped on to Gaoxiong. Gaoxiong currently held over ten thousand immigrants from southern Shandong and Zhejiang. Since the island had virtually no infrastructure, it could not absorb further population influx for the time being. The "purification" period on Jeju conveniently provided a buffer for construction at Gaoxiong.
From the perspective of currents and winds, the East Asian coast had a southward cold current flowing at roughly two knots, while the powerful Kuroshio warm current off the Taiwan Strait ran at about four knots. Thus the fleet could ride the cold current when sailing south and follow the Kuroshio when heading north.
This meant that from Jeju Island to either Tainan or Lingao, no intermediate stops were needed. For steamships traveling at eight knots plus a two-knot current boost, that was ten knots—about 240 nautical miles per day. From Jeju, it was three days to Tainan, five days to Lingao. H800s and other sailing vessels were slower, but still managed at least four knots. Northward with the Kuroshio, that meant six knots. Assuming ten hours at six knots during the day and fourteen hours maintaining four to five knots at night, a day's travel covered over one hundred nautical miles. The northward voyage from Tainan to Jeju took seven to eight days; southward along the coast, with a one-to-two-knot cold current boost, Jeju to Tainan required roughly ten days.
After a few days' rest in Taiwan, refugees would be distributed according to the Planning Committee's weekly dynamic population requirement tables.
To further reduce turnaround time, the Forward Command established a dedicated population transfer center at Gaoxiong for direct population allocation. Apart from those retained in Gaoxiong, most were shipped to Hainan and distributed to Lingao and other prefectures and counties across the island, including the Sanya District. Even Hong Kong, which was not short of population, received a small allocation of Shandong migrants.
This was the Executive Committee's first introduction of large-scale northern population. The Committee required dispersing them as widely as possible across various locations, gradually establishing a "settler society" in Hainan and Taiwan—avoiding concentration of any single dialect group that might disrupt the existing rural and clan-based social structures.
A red sun leaped above the horizon. The JS-14 transport convoy, already loaded with refugees the previous day, raised its flags and set sail. Zhu Mingxia was aboard the flagship. The military situation in Shandong had largely stabilized. As Detachment Commander, he felt it necessary to check on the Northern Expedition Detachment's other component: the Jeju Island Contingent.
Although the Yi Dynasty forces on Jeju had been completely destroyed, comprehensive control over the island's interior had not yet been established. Anticipating that the next phase might involve counter-insurgency operations, Zhu Mingxia decided to begin specialized training on this subject immediately upon arrival at Jeju.
To strengthen control over Jeju Island, this voyage carried, besides refugees, a contingent of militia organized at Qimu Island. These militia units would be formally incorporated into the Northern Expedition Detachment at Jeju, receiving the designation "Jeju Advance Column," and would undergo standard military training. Upon completion, they would become garrison forces temporarily stationed on Jeju. General Staff planned to eventually use a small core of Northern Expedition Detachment personnel, augmented by the Jeju Advance Column, to form a National Army Jeju Battalion as the island's standing force.
Additionally, the horses, donkeys, mules, and cattle acquired in Shandong—difficult to maintain on the islands—were all loaded aboard for transport to Jeju, except for war horses retained for cavalry use.
After three days at sea, the JS-14 transport convoy entered Chocheon Harbor without incident. Since the Northern Expedition Detachment's occupation of Jeju, transformation projects had commenced immediately. This was the Second Fleet's anchorage, the Committee's horse ranch, a refugee transit station, and would also serve as a logistics base for future Northeast Asian trade and military operations. All of this required shipping. Thus the entire port district was a scene of organized chaos: the naturalized-citizen construction teams that had accompanied the Northern Expedition Detachment were working around the clock on infrastructure, while "Labor Service Teams" composed of island inhabitants and government slaves served as laborers.
(End of Chapter)