Chapter 92: The Battle of Shishan

Because they were tied together in groups of ten, a slight misstep would cause the whole group to fall. Therefore, the congee was distributed to each person individually. The bowl Jiang Yougong received was very light; a closer look revealed it was a coconut shell. The cook poured a ladle of ginger soup into each man’s bowl.

This was clearly to prevent them from getting sick. Jiang Yougong knew the rebels wouldn’t want them to die, so he drank the soup without hesitation and prepared to lie down and sleep.

“Captain!” a soldier tied to him whispered, “Why did the rebels strip us of our clothes?”

“They’re not planning to make a rabbit of you!” Jiang Yougong said. He also found it suspicious. He had never heard of prisoners being stripped naked. What would the rebels want with a few tattered uniforms? Besides, those uniforms were left at the foot of the rampart, and they hadn’t bothered to collect them.

Jia Mofei, who was in charge of logistics and transport, calculated that this unsuccessful raid had yielded over three hundred healthy prisoners.

“As soon as the rain stops tomorrow, we’ll put them on a ship and send them back to Lin Gao,” Jia Mofei said. “Going by land, we might be intercepted by government cavalry patrols. We have ships anyway, and it’s fast and convenient for transporting people.”

“With the wounded?”

“Of course not. The wounded have their own ship. The prisoner ship is much worse. Just a large hold below deck, close the grated hatch, and that’s it. It’s only for half a day, anyway.”

The disastrous failure of the night raid had unfolded right before the eyes of He Rubin and the others. The swaying beams of light on the rampart, the rifle volleys, and the loud shouts of the men had filled the general with great unease. The fact that the rebels’ firearms could still be used in the rain no longer shocked him. The sudden, brilliant light and the white beams that patrolled the dark, rainy sky and fields were far beyond his comprehension. He Rubin’s hands and feet turned cold: How could they possibly fight this war?

The returning Ye Zhengfang and Yan Zungao added many details, including that the enemy was clearly prepared, and their lights were extremely bright, instantly dazzling the government soldiers and making it impossible for them to even open their eyes…

A long silence fell over the command post on the city wall. Everyone was pondering: How could this battle be fought? Everyone hoped someone else would come up with a solution.

“Your Excellency! In my humble opinion, we should build fortifications and hold our ground!” Qian Taichong had been looking for an opportunity to speak, and now he finally had one. He had watched the day’s battles from the city walls, and they had left a profound impact on him. The “sharpness of the rebels’ firearms” and their tactics had left a deep impression.

Clearly, the rebels were not like Zheng Zhilong or Liu Xiang, who were only skilled at naval warfare. Their land combat skills were by no means inferior. He realized that the number of rebel infantry committed to the battle today was not large, yet they had fought so tenaciously on the fortress walls against such a large number of government troops, fighting to the death without retreating. This was clearly not just due to the “sharpness of their firearms.”

Could it be that these overseas rebels also possessed a sense of loyalty? He immediately dismissed the thought. According to the official reports, most of the rebels were “treacherous people from Fujian and Guangdong” and “Han traitors” who had joined them. How could such people, who had no respect for their parents or their ruler, possess loyalty? It must be that the true rebels had promised them great rewards, making them fight so desperately.

This thought brought him some comfort. In Qian Taichong’s view, the word “loyalty” had nothing to do with barbarians. After the battle, he knew that his “Six Strategies for Post-War Recovery” would be useless for the time being—the chances of winning by continuing the attack tomorrow were slim. He had already formulated a plan in his mind, and when he heard that He Rubin was reluctant to build fortifications and hold their ground, he felt it was necessary to speak up.

According to him, a standoff with both sides entrenched was advantageous to the government army. After all, He Rubin had the support of the entire province, while the rebels only had a single county, and Lin Gao was a sparsely populated and barren place. With ten thousand rebel troops concentrated in Chengmai, and requiring a large number of people to transport supplies, their logistics would surely become strained over time. A stalemate of several months would lead to the rebels running out of food and supplies, and they would collapse without a fight.

“…No matter how powerful the rebels’ cannons are, they only have about twenty of them. They can’t possibly bombard our camp constantly. We have many soldiers. We can offer great rewards to recruit more death-defying men to raid the rebels’ supply lines. In time, the rebels will surely fall into chaos without a fight!”

This plan was essentially the old, cautious strategy of advancing slowly. He Rubin had initially listened to the young scholar’s proposal with some skepticism, but now a glimmer of hope was ignited: That’s right! Besides, besieging the enemy was originally the Viceroy’s plan. The original plan was to besiege the enemy’s camp at Bopu and force them to retreat. Now, the location had just changed to Chengmai.

But to engage in a long-term standoff with the rebels here, the safety of the grain transport had to be guaranteed. If the army ran out of food, morale would plummet, and the entire army of one hundred thousand could collapse in an instant.

He held a meeting with his generals, ordering them to dig trenches and build fortifications in preparation for a long standoff with the rebels. Shishan was an important midway grain depot between Qiongshan and Chengmai. He Rubin ordered Yan Zungao to take two thousand men there to protect the depot and the grain transport along the route. He also sent an aide to Qiongshan to oversee the grain transport. He then wrote a letter to Wang Zunde, reporting that the government army had lifted the siege of Chengmai and had killed many rebels, but the rebels were holding their ground in their fortified camp with their firearms. The government army had been unable to break through despite repeated attacks and was now building a long siege wall to encircle the entire rebel army in Chengmai. He requested a dozen more Hongyi cannons. As for grain and supplies, their transport also needed to be expedited.

The next morning, the government army did not launch the expected full-scale attack. Instead, the entire army was mobilized to dig trenches and build fortifications below the walls of Chengmai.

Seeing the government troops busy strengthening their fortifications, He Ming knew that the enemy had lost their fighting spirit and dared not come out to fight again, preparing for a long standoff. This was a good thing, but with twenty thousand enemy troops gathered together, and his own forces less than half that number, it would be difficult to form an effective encirclement.

“We cannot afford a long standoff with the enemy in Chengmai. A war of attrition will be to our disadvantage,” Dongmen Chuiyu said at the strategy meeting. “Although the enemy’s logistics are backward, they have the financial and material support of the entire Guangdong province. If Wang Zunde is willing, he can keep this standoff going for as long as he wants. This would be a disaster for our finances.”

“I was hoping He Rubin would attack one more time today, so we could cripple his main force and then seize the opportunity to crush his entire army. It seems that’s no longer possible,” He Ming said, shaking his head. “Now we have to fight a siege battle.”

It was not unheard of in military history for a smaller force to besiege a larger one, but the Fubo Army’s numbers were simply too small. He Ming was very worried about this.

At this time, a report came from the special reconnaissance team: about two thousand enemy troops had left the main camp and were moving towards Qiongshan.

“Are they starting to retreat?”

“No, He Rubin would never dare to retreat now,” He Ming judged. “He’s building these fortifications to engage us in a long-term standoff. This force is most likely to protect his supply depots.”

“It’s also possible that the enemy is feigning one thing while doing another,” someone reminded him.

“That’s possible. But since the enemy wants to protect their supply line, we’ll cut it.” He Ming looked at the map and made his decision. “Get me the 1st and 4th Infantry Battalions!”

Just after noon, as He Rubin and the others were planning their defensive system, a scout reported that several thousand rebels had cut off the main road between Chengmai and Shishan. Yan Zungao’s unit had been defeated and was now fleeing towards Chengmai!

“Where is General Yan?”

“His fate is unknown!” the scout said, trembling. “General Yan’s banner was not seen among the fleeing troops.”

“Scout again!” He Rubin’s face paled. The rebels had unexpectedly cut off his rear. He immediately ordered his garrison adjutant, Sun Changzuo, to take five hundred men to gather the fleeing soldiers. He then summoned Zhao Ruyi and his main generals for a meeting.

“With General Yan’s defeat, our army is in grave danger,” He Rubin said grimly. “Now that the enemy has defeated General Yan’s unit, they will turn to attack Shishan and seize our grain depot!”

Having defeated Yan Zungao’s troops, the rebels’ next move would surely be to attack and occupy Shishan. Shishan was only defended by five hundred soldiers. Since the enemy could defeat a force of two thousand, taking Shishan would not be difficult. Once Shishan was lost, the supply line would be cut. And once the supply line was cut, the collapse of the entire army was imminent!

This terrifying prospect sent a chill down the spine of everyone present.

He Rubin immediately arranged the defenses of each camp, ordering all units to hold their positions and forbidding any noise, movement, or unauthorized withdrawal.

“Generals, we are now in a precarious situation!” He Rubin said sternly. “But our camps are secure, and the situation is not yet irreversible. The rebels are only relying on their superior weapons to seize the initiative! They have few soldiers and little food. As long as we can retake Shishan and protect our supply line, we can turn defeat into victory!”

He then ordered Adjutant Sha Jianbi, who was stationed at Xiaoyingchang, to immediately lead his entire force out of the camp.

“Take your men to Shishan, defeat the rebels, and secure the area,” He Rubin said. “If the enemy has taken Shishan, you must retake it.”

“I understand, sir!” Sha Jianbi knew the gravity of the situation.

“I will give you another two thousand men.”

Sha Jianbi had just led his troops out when bad news arrived: Shishan had already fallen! After defeating Yan Zungao’s unit, the rebels had immediately turned back, occupied Shishan, and seized all the military grain stored there.

“Three thousand rebels have formed up at Shishan!” the scout reported again. “And they have cannons!”

“Cannons?!”

“Yes, according to the fleeing soldiers, the rebels have several cannons of great power. General Yan did not know they had cannons and was caught off guard. He was killed by a cannonball!”

He Rubin had no heart to listen further. This string of bad news had almost driven him to despair. But he struggled to remain calm and continued to deploy his troops to prevent the rebels from taking advantage of the chaos to besiege his main camp. Hearing that the enemy had cannons, he ordered Li Guang to quickly lead two thousand men to reinforce Sha Jianbi.

Sha Jianbi led three thousand men out of the camp gate and hurried along the post road towards Shishan. Such a large movement could not escape the notice of the observation posts and special reconnaissance teams. A few minutes later, the 1st and 4th Infantry Battalions, who were building fortifications near Shishan, received the news.

Zhu Mingxia and Xiong Maozhang, the commander of the 1st Infantry Battalion, were clearing the battlefield and building fortifications. These two infantry battalions had received their orders early in the morning and had force-marched to Shishan. Xiong Maozhang’s 1st Battalion, with its three 12-pounder mountain howitzers and a determined bayonet charge, had captured the Ming army’s camp at Shishan, taking over three hundred prisoners and capturing seventy to eighty thousand jin of grain stored at the depot, along with several hundred transport wheelbarrows. The 1st Infantry Battalion then formed up at the foot of Shishan.

Yan Zungao’s two thousand men had been marching at a rapid pace, constantly harassed and sniped at by the special reconnaissance teams along the way. Several of his officers were killed, and morale was in chaos. Fortunately, the soldiers knew they were heading towards the safety of Qiongshan, and they marched desperately, hoping that reaching Shishan would increase their chances of survival. Because Yan Zungao wanted to reach Shishan before the rebels could complete their defenses, he had pushed his troops on a forced march, and many infantrymen had fallen behind. In the end, he arrived at Shishan with only twelve hundred men.

Red flags fluttered. A gray battle line was already waiting in formation at the foot of Shishan. Yan Zungao saw that the enemy had not yet built a camp and was only protected by a single trench. They had no more than a thousand men. But he had no numerical advantage. He had witnessed the superiority of the rebels’ firearms the day before, and the chances of winning an immediate battle were slim.

He retreated to a small hill opposite Shishan, preparing to make camp and wait for reinforcements before making another move.

But the Fubo Army had no time to give him that opportunity. At 11 a.m., supported by two 12-pounder mountain howitzers, Zhu Mingxia led the 4th Infantry Battalion in a sudden attack from the flank against Yan Zungao’s unit.

Yan Zungao was caught completely off guard. Under the constant harassment and screening of the special reconnaissance teams, he had no idea of the enemy’s movements nearby. His men were exhausted, and their morale was low. When a fresh enemy force suddenly appeared on their flank, he quickly ordered a captain to take three hundred men to meet the attack, hoping to temporarily halt the enemy’s momentum and buy time to form up his own lines.

These three hundred men were routed as soon as they engaged the 4th Battalion’s fierce attack. Yan Zungao had no choice but to lead his main force to meet the enemy himself. His men could not withstand the Fubo Army’s firepower and were forced to retreat. Ye Zhengfang and his personal guards and household retainers were everywhere, trying to maintain order, but the entire force was still being pushed back towards the foot of Shishan.

The 4th Battalion was like a hammer, and the 1st Battalion, formed in a line at the foot of the mountain, was the anvil. These thousand-odd exhausted and hungry soldiers could not withstand such a pincer attack and were crushed at the foot of Shishan. The remaining seven or eight hundred men were all taken prisoner. Only the stragglers managed to escape.

Xiong Maozhang sat on the low wall they had built at the foot of Shishan, smoking his pipe. His soldiers, stripped to the waist, were digging the trench deeper and wider to effectively stop the enemy’s charge. In the distance, captured weapons, armor, and flags were piled up. Strings of naked prisoners were being escorted up the mountain to the former Ming army camp, which was now the temporary headquarters for the two battalions.

Zhu Mingxia rode back and forth on a captured reddish-brown Mongolian horse, a fine steed that had belonged to a general. Zhu Mingxia was dark-skinned and had his hair cut very short, giving him a lean and capable appearance. At his waist hung not the standard Fubo Army officer’s saber, but a custom-made folded-steel Tang sword from his previous life, beautifully decorated.

“This is a fine horse,” he said, riding up to the low wall and dismounting. “But the saddle is no good. I’m not used to the old-style saddles.”

“We’re infantry officers,” Xiong Maozhang said, blowing smoke rings. “Maybe you should be a dragoon.”

“I’d like to, but we don’t have the horses,” Zhu Mingxia said with regret, patting the horse. He had a surrendered groom lead the horse away to the camp on the mountain.

“The radio said another five thousand government troops are coming. Three thousand in the front, and two thousand in support. We have a total of eighteen hundred, and we just lost a hundred men.”

“Not a problem,” Zhu Mingxia said, opening his map case and spreading out the map. “The enemy is desperate and is using the most taboo tactic of feeding in reinforcements piecemeal. We’ll continue to fight them with our well-rested troops. Three thousand against eighteen hundred, we still have a good chance of winning.”

The overall tactic remained the same. The 1st Infantry Battalion would hold its position behind simple field fortifications, drawing the main government attack. When the battle reached a stalemate, the 4th Infantry Battalion would attack from the flank and rear, sweeping their flank and crushing them. As long as the special reconnaissance teams effectively screened the government army, it would be difficult for them to detect this simple tactic. They would be like blind men on blind horses, charging into the 1st Battalion’s prepared positions and getting their heads bloodied.

“We just need to stop them from getting to Qiongshan. We don’t need to annihilate them, and we don’t need to rush to take prisoners—we can’t handle too many. The main government camp is still there. Let the defeated soldiers flee back to Chengmai for He Rubin to deal with. A crippled unit is like a frightened bird, useless in battle, and will only drag down the morale of his entire army.”

“Let’s do it!” Xiong Maozhang nodded. “How much ammunition do you have left? I’m running low, only a hundred rounds per man.”

“I’ll give you twenty rounds per man. I’m the assault force, fifty rounds per man is enough. We’ll be using bayonets!” Zhu Mingxia said, writing a note and giving it to his orderly. “Go, give this to the battalion quartermaster and have him send twenty thousand rounds over immediately.”

“It’s a pity we don’t have enough cannonballs. We’re still a bit short on men.”

The four 12-pounder mountain howitzers, which had been decisive in the battle, were light and easy to move, but their ammunition and powder were just as heavy. They had already used more than half of it in the previous battle.

“No problem, we still have hand grenades.” Zhu Mingxia was very confident. In his view, having cannons just made the battle smoother and resulted in fewer casualties, but the outcome of the battle was never in doubt.

“Battalion commanders! We’ve found the body of a Ming general!” a corporal rushed over to report.

“Oh? Let’s go see!” Zhu Mingxia’s interest was piqued. The two of them walked over to the medical team that was clearing the battlefield.

A body in armor lay on a stretcher. He looked to be in his thirties or forties. The armor was exquisite, a type of scale armor, not the crude iron plate armor worn by the infantry. Neither he nor Xiong Maozhang knew much about armor, but from the patterns, decorations, and the brocade trim, they could tell that this was not something an ordinary officer could wear. It had to be a high-ranking general.

They brought over several surrendered soldiers and officers to identify the body. It was quickly recognized as Yan Zungao, the Adjutant of Huizhou, who had come to reinforce the grain depot.