Chapter Seventy-Seven: The General (Part 2)

He had already posted notices in Guangzhou and Qiongzhou, recruiting people who knew the inside story of the bandits and were familiar with the situation in Lingao. He also found some sailors and merchants who had been to Lingao and questioned them about the details of the bandits.

But what these people could tell him was nothing more than that the bandits had big iron ships, fast ships, and that the bandits were very good at doing business, which was of little use for fighting a war.

As for the combat effectiveness of the bandits, he learned from these people that they “wore no armor, all used muskets, their formations were neat, and their discipline was strict.” In addition, there was the widespread rumor of “sharp firearms.”

Of course, these few words were not enough to go by. But the merchants and sailors were not military men, and they were not very concerned about the bandits’ guns and cannons. What they said was not detailed, and some people, in order to get a reward or out of fear of official authority, talked nonsense and made up stories, with many contradictions, which made him a little confused.

It seemed that he still had to find the local gentry and scholars. How could ordinary foolish men and women understand such important military and state affairs? Thinking of this, he asked his staff around him:

“Are there any people who have responded to the recruitment in Qiongshan and Guangzhou?”

A staff member said: “There are a few, but after a little questioning, most of them are people who want to make a reckless advance and offer a plan to defeat the enemy. There is no one who really knows the inside story of the bandits.”

Returning to the main camp, the latest Hainan report, which had been rushed from Zhaoqing by express horse, was already on his desk. Recently, the number of reports from Hainan had greatly increased. He Rubin opened it and saw that it was the latest battle report from Chengmai and Lingao, sent by the Hainan Sub-prefect.

The first was a report about Lingao. Sun Tianbiao, the only surviving officer from the Rear Thousand-Household Post of the Neifuwei in Lingao, a hundred-household commander, had already arrived in Zhaoqing and had personally reported the details of the fall of the thousand-household post city. According to him, under the supervision of Thousand-Household Liu, everyone had fought hard for six days and nights, and the bandits could not break the city. The thousand-household post city was “as solid as Mount Tai.” However, there were several “traitors” in the city who had been seduced by the bandits. They suddenly launched an attack when everyone was unprepared, killed Thousand-Household Liu, secretly opened the city gate, and thus caused the fall of the post city. The “traitors” then used the tokens and documents seized in the post city to deceive and open the other garrisons and large camps, causing the entire Rear Thousand-Household Post of the Neifuwei to be wiped out.

This report was first-hand material, and it was much more valuable than the hearsay news that the spies had gathered. He Rubin read it very carefully.

Next was a question about the situation of the siege of Lingao. According to the escaped Sun Tianbiao, he had heard that the bandits had coerced more than 10,000 local military and civilian able-bodied men to besiege Lingao County town, but he did not know the specific situation. “He only heard the sound of cannons shaking the sky, and the road was full of bandit troops.” He himself had “abandoned his wife and son, and risked his life” to break out.

This was nonsense. He Rubin thought about the content of the previous report. When Sun Tianbiao fled to Qiongshan, there was no news of Lingao being besieged—the messenger from the county who reported the emergency only arrived a few days later.

As for the siege of Lingao, there was no specific news—apart from a distress message sent by the magistrate of Lingao County. After Chengmai was besieged, the post road was completely cut off, and news was almost completely cut off. Once the post road was cut off, even news from Danzhou and Changhua could not be transmitted. The reports had to be delivered to Qiongzhou Prefecture city by circling the island in the opposite direction or by sea to Leizhou.

“Where is the person who delivered the distress message from Lingao?”

“The letter was delivered to Qiongshan, and then forwarded to the province by the prefect of Qiongzhou. The person is probably in Qiongshan,” a staff member said. “It’s been seven or eight days. He probably went back to Lingao long ago.”

He Rubin thought that if he had instructed Tang Yunwen to detain the person who delivered the letter, it would have been better. This person could definitely provide a lot of information about the bandits.

The second letter was news from Chengmai. He Rubin had originally thought that Chengmai must have fallen—he knew the scale of the county towns on Hainan Island. Most of the cities had simple defensive facilities and not enough cannons. As for the garrison, it was almost non-existent—it was a pipe dream to expect the “old and weak soldiers” in the garrisons to rescue the county town. A force of two or three thousand men, as long as they were willing to fight hard, could not fail to take it.

But when he opened the report, it was from Chengmai County. It seemed that Chengmai was still in the hands of the government, and the external traffic was not cut off.

It was said that the bandits called themselves the Fubo Army. On that day, they had about a thousand infantry and artillerymen, and dozens of cannons, and they set up a camp outside the south gate. The bandit troops gathered outside the city, and the militia and braves in the city went out to fight, killing hundreds of bandits. However, the bandits were powerful and their firearms were sharp, and our army suffered a slight setback. The bandits took the opportunity to attack the south gate. The soldiers and civilians in the city fought to the death, and the city tower changed hands dozens of times. In the end, the bandits could not hold out and were routed. Dozens of bandit leaders, big and small, were killed, including three real bandits. According to the confession of a prisoner, one of the real bandits who was killed had the false title of “director,” and one had the false title of “garrison commander.” The bandits, risking their lives, even snatched away the bodies of the bandits. Seeing that the county town could not be taken, the bandit leaders You Laohu and Yu Zhiqian divided their forces to plunder the four villages. Many gentry families suffered disasters, and thousands of able-bodied men were coerced to build a long siege wall and a strong fortress. They also bombarded the city with huge cannons, and arrows and bullets flew everywhere. The soldiers and civilians in the city suffered countless casualties, houses were burned down, and rubble was everywhere. Women and children slept in the open, and their wails could be heard all day long. The sight was too horrible to bear. This report must be sent!

He Rubin breathed a slight sigh of relief. It seemed that the bandits’ land warfare was indeed poor. A small county town like Chengmai, with thousands of men and so-called “sharp” cannons, could not be taken. No wonder Lingao County town had held out for more than three years.

This made him even more determined to use only land forces and not the navy. He had originally wanted to immediately order Tang Yunwen to send reinforcements to Chengmai. Tang Yunwen’s own troops, plus the local village braves, could mobilize about two thousand men. It was only half a day’s journey from Chengmai to Qiongshan, and there was no need for extra expenses for mobilization and provisions. As long as they could force the bandits to lift the siege, it would be a small victory.

He immediately ordered someone to go and invite his staff to discuss the battle to relieve Chengmai.

His main staff was of course not Lu Yizhong. Although Lu Yizhong was quite “knowledgeable about military affairs,” he was after all a person sent by the governor, and there was a layer of separation between them. He wanted to hear the opinions of his staff, whose interests were closely related to his own.

After reading the report, the staff believed that the bandits must have known that the court was going to suppress them, so they attacked the county towns everywhere. Their intention was nothing more than to create a great momentum and make the government army afraid to come and suppress them.

He Rubin smiled and asked: “I intend to dispatch General Tang’s troops to relieve Chengmai. What do you gentlemen think?”

The staff believed that since the bandits’ firearms were sharp but they could not take Lingao and Chengmai, it showed that their land warfare was indeed incompetent. Tang Yunwen’s troops were considered relatively “good at fighting” among the Ming army in Guangdong. Sending him to relieve Chengmai would surely be successful.

As long as the bandits besieging Chengmai were driven away, the “urging for war” that was constantly coming from the governor could also be buffered. Overall, the opinion of most of the staff was still “cautious.” They did not hope for the entire army to land on the island and suppress them early.

One of the staff members shook his head repeatedly: “Your Excellency, General Tang’s troops are mostly navy. Field battles and breaking sieges are not their strong suit. If they rashly go to the rescue and suffer a setback, their morale may be shaken.”

This staff member was named Chang Qingyun, and he was a provincial graduate. He was quite fond of economics. Although he had never been an official, he was very familiar with the ways of the officialdom. He was one of He Rubin’s more trusted staff members.

He Rubin nodded silently. He thought that although Tang Yunwen’s troops were said to be five thousand strong, the combat troops were only a little over two thousand. Most of them were navy, and they were not used to land warfare, nor did they have many land warfare firearms. These troops were also scattered in multiple prefectures and counties in Hainan. If he were to rescue Chengmai, he would have to rely on the village braves of Qiongshan as the main force.

Although the combat effectiveness of the village braves was strong, their morale would be greatly reduced once they left their hometown. They would only be willing to fight desperately if they were heavily rewarded. According to the report, the bandits were building a long siege wall and a strong camp under the city of Chengmai. The defenses must be very tight. At that time, if the other side defended the camp and fought, and their firearms were fierce, Tang Yunwen might not be able to gain an advantage. The government army would be in a dilemma at the foot of Chengmai.

Thinking of this, he temporarily gave up the idea of letting Tang Yunwen send troops to relieve Chengmai. However, if Chengmai fell, Tang Yunwen, as the commandant of the Qiongya land route and the Baisha naval base, would bear the greatest responsibility. But since he was the military commander of Guangdong and the commander-in-chief of the suppression of the bandits, he could not escape the responsibility for the fall of the county town.

“In my opinion, it would be better for the garrison commander to immediately issue an order to Commandant Tang, asking him to act according to the situation and quickly relieve Chengmai.”

The staff members all nodded: since it was “quickly” and also “according to the situation,” this was indeed clever! General He had already given the order to rescue, so the ball of whether to rescue or not was directly kicked to Commandant Tang. Even if Chengmai fell, He Rubin could not be held responsible—his standard battalion had already crossed the sea, so it could not be said that he saw death and did not save. This was the first point; secondly, even if Chengmai temporarily fell, when the main army was assembled, retaking Chengmai would be a simple matter on the way to advance.

“Furthermore, in my opinion, the bandits do not have the strength to break the city,” Chang Qingyun said. “If he had the strength to break the city, why would he have to drive the civilian laborers to build a long siege wall and a strong fortress? This must be the bandits’ plan for a long siege. The magistrate of Chengmai only needs to defend carefully, and he will be able to protect the whole city. The current plan should be to send someone to sneak into the city and deliver a letter saying that the main army will definitely come to the rescue. When the soldiers and civilians in the city see it, they will definitely defend with all their might and wait for the main army.”

He Rubin felt that his idea was not bad. He immediately instructed a secretary who handled correspondence to handle the order for Tang Yunwen, and also wrote a note by hand, asking the officials, gentry, and civilians in Chengmai to defend to the death:

To the magistrate of Chengmai, Qiu, and all the officials and gentry defending the city of Chengmai: This general will personally lead a large army to relieve you on a certain day. I hope you will defend firmly and without slackening, and wait for the siege to be lifted.

Below, he did not write the date, but only his signature.

After thinking for a moment, he wrote a second note of the same kind, except that the addressee was changed to: “To the magistrate of Lingao, Wu, and all the officials and gentry defending the city of Lingao.”

After writing, he ordered two meticulous soldiers from the army who could speak the Qiongshan dialect to be selected. Each was rewarded with twenty taels of silver, and they were to immediately cross the sea to deliver the two letters.

After doing these two things, He Rubin felt a little more at ease. He thought that it was because Lu Yizhong had constantly urged him to advance that he had sent his standard battalion across the sea, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

He smiled and asked everyone: “For this expedition across the sea, we know little about the details of the bandits. I have brought 20,000 troops. After deducting the empty quotas and the old and weak, there are only a little over 10,000 combat troops. I wonder if we can fight a battle with the bandits?”

Everyone inevitably flattered him again, with things like “when the great army arrives, the ugly creatures will be wiped out,” “a great punitive expedition,” “a great display of military might,” and so on. Half of this was flattery, and half was the true thoughts of the staff—in their opinion, the bandits were just relying on strange skills and tricks, and their firearms were a bit powerful. If they were to set up a proper formation for a field battle, they would definitely not be a match for the court’s great army. So no one had any doubts about the outcome of the war.

One of the staff members said that although the bandits were not a threat, they had strong ships and sharp cannons, and had gathered tens of thousands of “traitors from Fujian and Guangdong.” And the government army still knew very little about the details of the bandits, and they didn’t even know the names of the bandit leaders.

The government’s only source of intelligence was reports and various street rumors.

“An iron ship can float on the sea, and a fast ship can travel without oars or sails. Isn’t this a demon!” He Rubin had always been skeptical about this. It was only after receiving Tang Yunwen’s report that he reluctantly believed it by three-tenths. But it was common for generals to exaggerate the enemy’s situation in order to shirk responsibility or boast about their military achievements.

“As the saying goes, ‘know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win a hundred battles.’ Our army knows itself but not the enemy,” Chang Qingyun sighed.

“Since that Sun Tianbiao escaped from Lingao, he must know a lot about the details of the bandits. Why not transfer him to the army for use?” a staff member suggested.

“What you say is absolutely right,” He Rubin nodded. Since Sun Tianbiao had escaped from Lingao and was also a military officer, he must know a lot about the situation. With him at the front, he could get a lot of useful information. “I will immediately request the transfer of this person from the commander. I will first give him the rank of an expectant company commander.”

Chang Qingyun said: “Your Excellency, the garrison commander, will surely achieve a complete victory in this suppression of the bandits. This goes without saying, but the suppression of the bandits must also be done beautifully. If it is like General Yu back then, who mobilized a large army and in the end only achieved the result of forcing the enemy to retreat with their entire army, it is far from the might of the great victory at Shuangyu.”

He Rubin originally had great reservations about overseas people. At that time, he only forced the red-haired people away with military force because the civil and military officials believed that the combat effectiveness was disparate, and even if they won the battle, the losses would be too great to be explained to the court. Now, after Chang Qingyun’s words, he thought that Wang Zunde was just repeating the old trick of that year.

Chang Qingyun, however, believed that the bandits had large iron ships and fast iron ships. If they were only forced to dismantle their forts and leave, they would surely choose another place to build a fort again. These overseas barbarians, who had braved thousands of miles of waves and risked their lives to trade with China, how could they easily give up? They would surely find another nest. Although the Dutch had retreated because they were forced by the government army’s power, they had also obtained the promise that merchants were allowed to go to Taiwan for trade. And they immediately turned to Taiwan to build a castle. To this day, the red-haired barbarians are still a scourge on the coast of the Ming Dynasty.

“What do you mean, sir?”

“The bandits are good at sailing. Although our army cannot fight them on the sea, we can use a surprise attack to defeat them,” Chang Qingyun said with great confidence.

A staff member smiled and said: “Could it be that you want to imitate the old trick of Zhuge Wuhou?”

“The bandits’ ships are mostly made of iron, so it’s difficult to set them on fire,” another staff member shook his head in disapproval.

Chang Qingyun’s surprise attack was not the traditional Chinese naval weapon of fire ships, which was the main means of the Ming and Qing navies to resist foreign aggression. His surprise attack was the underwater “river-mixing dragon”—a traditional Chinese-made sea mine. According to some books, the underwater river-mixing dragon was a primitive moored mine, and its significance was the same as the “beehive” being the ancestor of modern rocket artillery.

However, because this moored mine had serious problems with its ignition mechanism and was difficult to deploy, it never played a practical role and gradually became a “divine weapon” in books.

Of course, He Rubin knew about this thing. The late Ming Dynasty was an era of great explosion of Chinese firearms. As long as one could read a few words, they were all talking about the invention and creation of firearms. Although most of them, as Song Yingxing said, were just hoping to get promoted and rich by this.

The underwater river-mixing dragon had no practical value at all. He Rubin knew this very well. But Chang Qingyun’s surprise attack was an improved version of the river-mixing dragon—similar to a floating mine.

Chang Qingyun immediately drew a sketch on the table with tea as ink. It was roughly to put gunpowder in a pottery jar and seal it, then tie bamboo around it in a crisscross pattern, which not only provided buoyancy but also easily caught on ships. The raft was then covered with straw and the like. It was pushed to the side of the bandits’ ship by soldiers who were good at swimming, and then the fuse was lit.

“Or we don’t have to use soldiers. We can just send small boats, and when the tide comes in at night, we can release a hundred or so river-mixing dragons outside the port. They will drift into the port with the tide, and we can use a slow-burning incense to ignite them,” Chang Qingyun said.

Of course, there was no accuracy in releasing floating mines like this, so they had to be released in large numbers, one or two hundred at a time. Even if they didn’t hit a ship, as long as they exploded, they could also serve to disturb the bandits. If they could sink or damage the large iron ships that the bandits relied on as their great wall, the bandits would have no choice but to surrender.

Chang Qingyun’s new tactic aroused a discussion among the staff. They of course understood the significance of the river-mixing dragon. If a large number of river-mixing dragons were released in Bopu, not only would the bandits’ ships be damaged, but the remaining ships would not dare to stay in the port for long. They would surely sue for peace in advance.

He Rubin wondered if this thing would work. But it wouldn’t cost much. He Rubin didn’t believe that this thing could sink a large iron ship, but it would be a great achievement to sink a few fast iron ships. He immediately agreed to have a batch trial-produced first.

“It’s best to have soldiers who are good at swimming push this thing into the port,” Chang Qingyun suggested. “Your Excellency, the garrison commander, might as well build a water mine battalion, select a hundred or so water braves who are proficient in swimming to train, and you will surely achieve a miraculous result!”

A local staff member said: “Our province has the Dan people, who are a low-class household. These people usually live on the water and are unsettled. Many of them are criminals and thieves. But their swimming skills are excellent. It would be better to recruit them as water braves and use them to deploy the river-mixing dragons. This would be a case of using poison to fight poison, and even if there are casualties, it would not be a pity. It would not damage the prestige of the court, and it would also eliminate a scourge for the local area.”

Starting from this, the staff began to talk about firearms. The late Ming Dynasty was originally an era where everyone talked about firearms. There were many books, and they were not difficult to obtain, so most of the staff could say something about them. He Rubin was also an expert in this field and had even written books. When they talked about it, they were even more eloquent. Because it was rumored that the bandits’ firearms were powerful, everyone wanted to find some more powerful ways to restrain the enemy.

He Rubin pondered for a moment. He could not make the decision to recruit water braves alone. He needed the approval of the governor and the provincial governor. However, this was not a bad way to defeat the enemy. Recruiting two or three hundred water braves would not cost much. Even if the river-mixing dragon was useless, they could still be used for fighting.