Chapter 2195 - Li Sanjiu's Abacus
The squad silently ascended the small hillock. From this position, less than thirty meters from the encampment, they could observe portions of the camp below. Zhen Huan concealed himself behind a pile of thatch, raising his telescope to carefully study conditions within.
Bonfires burned throughout the camp. Yao fighters slept on the ground surrounding the fire pits. Some dozed clutching weapons beside the fires—presumably night watch personnel. Along the camp's periphery, armed Yao sentries maintained relatively alert postures. Patrol teams carrying torches circulated along the bonfires' edges.
The spread of bonfires roughly indicated the camp's extent. Zhen Huan silently counted the fires visible within his telescope's range—approximately thirty. About fifteen or sixteen Yao fighters rested beside each bonfire. Thirty fires meant four hundred and fifty men.
"Quite a substantial force," a scout whispered.
"Too few," Zhen Huan shook his head. "According to Intelligence Bureau estimates, if the Eight Row Yao conscript one fighter from every three men, they can mobilize at least over a thousand combatants. We need to determine whether this constitutes their main encampment or if additional camps exist."
Zhen Huan led the reconnaissance team in a circuit along the camp's bonfire-marked perimeter, tallying approximately fifty fires. This indicated roughly seven hundred Yao fighters on Yanxi Mountain.
Combined with troops stationed around Lianzhou monitoring gates and roads, the estimate of over a thousand Yao fighters besieging Lianzhou appeared roughly accurate.
"Let's proceed. We'll check other locations."
Descending from Yanxi Mountain, they investigated several other sites where Yao forces might be stationed along Lianzhou's walls, discovering three or four positions in succession. Just as they prepared to conclude reconnaissance, patrolling Yao fighters spotted them. Shouts erupted. A dozen crossbow bolts whizzed through the air toward their position.
"Don't panic. Stay low and move deliberately." Zhen Huan knew the enemy possessed poor night vision and wouldn't dare pursue far beyond the bonfire circle. As long as his squad avoided obvious movement, the Yao couldn't identify targets and could only shoot blindly.
They withdrew lightly using grass and trees for cover. As predicted, the enemy dared not pursue far, merely shouting beside the bonfires and loosing occasional arrows.
Suddenly horn blasts sounded from the camp. Zhen Huan understood they were assembling larger units to initiate a search. He verified his squad had disengaged nearly 200 meters from the bonfire periphery, then ordered: "Run!"
The team straightened and sprinted. The Yao forces behind raised an outcry; a chaotic mob poured out in pursuit. However, the Yao fighters' physical conditioning couldn't match that of Zhen Huan and his battle-hardened veterans—their strength and endurance fell far short. Determining directions in the darkness proved difficult. After a burst of commotion, the reconnaissance team easily outdistanced their pursuers, returned to the city's northern approaches, located their concealed boat, and rowed back across.
Chaos erupted in the Eight Row Yao encampment on North Mountain; leaders from various routes fell into panic. No one had anticipated the Australians' troops arriving with such speed! Yao combat capabilities were limited. Every uprising exploited vacuums in prefectural and county military strength. Once government forces arrived in strength for suppression, they could only retreat to remote mountains and resist using terrain advantages.
The Australians' assault on Guangdong had prompted withdrawal of the Anti-Yao Colonel and troops from other regions, presenting the Yao people with an excellent opportunity to rise and descend from the mountains to plunder. According to most leaders' calculations, the Australian main force positioned far away in Zhaoqing and environs would require at least a month to reach Lianzhou—not to mention treacherous roads along the route, with bandits rising everywhere to make them suffer. No one had foreseen such rapid deployment!
Li Sanjiu, the Palm Matter Head of the Majian Yao, though somewhat surprised by the Australians' speed, found it within expectations. Yesterday at noon, Majian Yao fighters guarding Longjin Gate and Jichuan Gate had spotted this peculiar force on the opposite bank: grey cloth military uniforms, no armor, all carrying firearms. Li Sanjiu recognized them as Australian soldiers immediately upon hearing the description.
Unlike most Yao who spent entire lives in remote mountain valleys, Li Sanjiu was a man who had seen the world. Though Yao by blood, he had been raised in a Lang (Zhuang) stockade. Most Lang people in Guangdong had been relocated from Guangxi by the Great Ming government specifically to suppress Yao populations. These Lang stockades were typically distributed along Yao territories' peripheries and major routes. Lang people sometimes operated independently, other times cooperated with government troops to launch clearing operations against Yao regions. Reportedly, Li Sanjiu's father and mother had perished during one such government stockade-breaking operation. Young Li Sanjiu had been spared and brought back to the stockade.
Li Sanjiu thrived among the Lang people. At seventeen, his outstanding martial prowess secured him a position as personal soldier under a minor Lang Tusi (native chieftain). He accompanied the Tusi through numerous campaigns: to Guangxi, to Guizhou, even to the Two Hu provinces (Hunan and Hubei). He'd even been dispatched to Guangzhou on official business.
After Great Ming's authority in Guangdong collapsed, the Central Route Defense forces withdrew to Guangxi. Many Lang stockades immediately abandoned their settlements to relocate back to Guangxi. Li Sanjiu didn't flee with the Tusi—he understood he wasn't truly Lang and possessed no "roots" in Guangxi. So he took several brothers and defected to the Majian Yao.
With his background and résumé, he naturally represented rare "talent" among the Majian Yao. Before long he became the Palm Matter Head of Majian Row.
This Palm Matter Head wasn't actually an official position. Most Yao communities internally still functioned under a primitive social commune system. No distinction existed between nobles and commoners, nor fixed hereditary headmen or Tusi. The Eight Row Yao practiced the Yao Elder system. The Tianchang Gong served as head of the entire Yao Row for one-year terms; heads of various surnames within the Row were designated Headman Gong, acting as Tianchang Gong's assistants; Enlightened Reason Elders functioned as deliberative council members; Palm Temple Gong and Incense Burning Gong bore responsibility for religious sacrifices; Water Release Gong managed agricultural matters; while the Palm Matter Head, temporarily appointed during wartime, led clan members in military operations. Yao Elders successfully executing their respective duties, generally undertaken by clan elders of relatively high prestige, though not absolutely required.
Li Sanjiu, barely in his early thirties, represented precisely such an exception, serving as the figurehead of the young faction within the Eight Row Yao. Despite growing up in a Lang stockade and serving as a government soldier after reaching adulthood, Li Sanjiu's knowledge and hundreds of battles made him both courageous and resourceful. Soon he gathered a cohort of restless young people within Majian Yao, forming a formidable power base. So much so that he gradually hollowed out the authority of Majian Row's Tianchang Gong, becoming the de facto leader.
The Australians dispatching troops to assault Guangdong presented a once-in-a-millennium opportunity for the Eight Row Yao. The Great Ming government, preoccupied with fighting Australians, would surely lack time to address them. For Li Sanjiu personally, this represented an excellent opportunity to realize his ambitions—he had no interest in remaining a temporary Palm Matter Head. Even manipulating Majian Row from behind the scenes held little appeal: how much population and wealth could a single Yao Row command! His true ambition involved becoming a "local emperor" like the Tusi or Tu-Prefects he'd observed while suppressing uprisings in Guizhou—enjoying every luxury, commanding majestic authority, wielding power of life and death over subjects below, even passing such privileges to descendants for generations of wealth and honor.
Thus when the Eight Row Yao internally plotted their uprising, Li Sanjiu expressed unwavering support. After the rebellion commenced, he proved most active. Due to his abundant military talent, he soon usurped actual command of the Eight Row Yao rebel forces. He first dispatched people to enter Lianshan City pretending to sell mountain products, breaking the city through coordinated internal and external assault. He colluded with Baimang Stockade's able-bodied Yao men, coercing Yonghua Township Yao into breaking Yangshan City. Without pause he plundered Sanjiang Market and laid siege to Lianzhou City.
Since ancient times, Hunan had depended on Guangdong salt. Lianzhou happened to sit astride the Hunan-Guangdong salt trade route. Salt produced along the coast traveled upriver, disembarking at Lianzhou before transshipment overland to the Huguang region. Goods traveling south from the Two Hu provinces likewise passed through Lianzhou for transshipment. Consequently, Lianzhou City housed numerous salt merchants and warehouses. Li Sanjiu deliberately reserved Lianzhou for last, even refraining from blocking roads, precisely to trap more traveling merchants and wealth within the city.
According to Li Sanjiu's calculations, the optimal outcome would see Lianzhou City surrender to him. He would occupy Lianyang's three cities without bloodshed, connecting the territory into a unified region. Then he'd submit a surrender letter to the Australians, expressing willingness to submit to "Great Song." If the newly arrived Australians acknowledged this fait accompli, he could capitalize on the opportunity to become a Native Subprefect, ruling as local emperor of the Lianyang Three Cities for generations.
He judged this quite feasible. He understood something of this Great Song emerging from unknown origins with these Australians. Few people, limited soldiers—they relied on nothing beyond sturdy ships and powerful cannons. Dispatching an expeditionary army to Guangdong—the most essential part of Guangdong was Guangzhou Prefecture. Occupying there would mean endless glory and wealth. Why delve into mountain valleys to fight these "people outside civilization"? Furthermore, beyond Guangzhou, Great Ming troops remained in Guangxi, Hunan, and elsewhere. Behind them, bandits created chaos on all sides. No matter how sturdy Great Song's ships or sharp their cannons, they required abundant soldiers to commit. Therefore nine chances in ten they'd go with the flow and hold their nose to acknowledge the situation. Provided he governed these three Lianyang locations well, using them as a wealth source while integrating Lianyang Yao people into a formidable bloc, then expending additional resources and silk to bribe the Hair Thieves, serving peacefully as Native Subprefect for a dozen years shouldn't prove problematic. As for developments thereafter, none could predict clearly. Regardless, even should Great Ming counterattack, they too would have to acknowledge reality. Those Guizhou Tusi had maintained their positions for over ten generations!
Should Lianzhou refuse surrender, he'd storm the city with full force and plunder extensively within—those salt merchants were extremely prosperous. Occupying Lianzhou, he could still negotiate terms with the Australians. If negotiations failed, he'd simply retreat to the mountains with Lianzhou's spoils.
Though Yao forces lacked siege equipment and proper weapons, Lianzhou City fielded few defenders and stored even less grain—vast numbers of commoners had fled into the city. Now provisions within approached depletion; commoners already suffered grain shortages, and morale wavered. Prolonged starvation would inevitably produce internal chaos without combat.
As for himself, Li Sanjiu harbored no concerns. He'd already plundered and extorted substantial grain from surrounding areas, sufficient to sustain all personnel for over two months.
Now the Australians' arrival with godlike speed somewhat disrupted his plans. This forced Li Sanjiu to completely reconsider his strategy. He'd dealt with government forces and Lang people, but never with Australians. Yet since they styled themselves Great Song, they were presumably also Han descendants. Approaching them with the attitude one employed with Great Ming would likely prove approximately correct.