Chapter 98: The Surrender of Chengmai

“No surrender! Anyone who surrenders will be beheaded!” a few generals were still threatening the defeated soldiers. But the soldiers had lost their will to fight. On land, there were swarms of Fubo Army troops, blocking their way completely. At sea were the Fubo Army’s warships, their gunports open, the dark muzzles of their cannons aimed at the coast. They had no food or supplies, and even their weapons were scarce. They couldn’t hold out even if they wanted to.

As the propaganda personnel continued to shout “preferential treatment for prisoners” and “those who surrender will be spared” through their loudspeakers on the beach, almost all the defeated soldiers on the beach surrendered. The morale of the defeated soldiers at Xiaoyingchang also began to waver.

The old veterans whispered among themselves about surrendering, and gradually their voices grew louder. The officers and generals dared not reprimand them, fearing a mutiny. The sun was getting hotter, and the several thousand men had no shelter. Water was also scarce. By noon, the situation was chaotic, and everyone was shouting their willingness to surrender. In the end, even the generals gave up and came out with the defeated soldiers, their heads bowed in dejection.

Chen Renjie refused to surrender. He took off his armor and, followed by a dozen of his personal guards who were good swimmers, secretly entered the water at Xiaoyingchang, attempting to swim out of the rebels’ encirclement. He was quickly intercepted by a navy boat. They were all stunned with long poles and then dragged onto the boat.

Most of the government soldiers who attempted to swim to safety met a similar fate. The other fate was to be shot or drowned in the sea.

“In groups of ten, take off your armor, put your hands over your heads, and come out one by one, unarmed!” a few staff members in gray uniforms, but without collar insignia, ran back and forth with loudspeakers, directing them in Mandarin. Beside them were neatly arranged soldiers with bayoneted rifles and several “Typewriters.”

Officers of the rank of wawei bazong and above came out through one channel, and ordinary soldiers through another. After each group came out, they were tied together in groups of ten and walked up a temporary pier. Transport ships were waiting for them, and as soon as one was full, it would depart. The wounded were temporarily left behind for treatment.

Jia Mofei supervised the entire process. He needed to accurately count the number of government prisoners “departing” that day so that the Lin Gao side could prepare for their reception.

By noon, a total of 5,700 prisoners had been taken in from Xiaoyingchang and the beach. The area around Chengmai County, all the way to the sea, was littered with the bodies of men and horses and discarded armor and weapons. A sea breeze blew in from the sea, dispersing the smoke and the smell of blood that hung over the battlefield.

The troops, who had been fighting fiercely since morning, began to beat the drums for assembly and return to camp. The various battalions began to regroup. In the distance, occasional gunshots could still be heard. Companies of infantry gathered under their battalion banners from all corners of the battlefield. Their faces were blackened by gunpowder smoke, their uniforms torn and stained with blood, and they were panting heavily, but they all carried their weapons proudly, singing battle songs as if in a trance.

Bundles of government army banners were thrown in front of the main camp. Countless banners, from the tattered “Commander-in-Chief of the Three Armies” great banner, the leopard-tail banner representing the military’s vital center, the twenty-eight constellations banner, the five elements banner… down to the personal banners of captains and lieutenants, all sorts of silk and cloth banners, piled up in the open space in front of the main camp.

Groups of prisoners, captured from all over, were driven in strings past the main camp towards the sea. The captured weapons, armor, and carts were brought in, cart by cart, truly piling up like a mountain. The only regret was that very few livestock were captured. The Guangdong government army, unlike the northern armies, did not bring large numbers of mules, horses, and camels with them on campaign. They had few cavalry, and many horses had been lost in the battle.

Amidst the resounding military songs, the officers, excited by their first great victory, found a particularly fine and tall Mongolian horse and asked He Ming to ride it to inspect the battlefield, “to boost the army’s prestige.”

He Ming modestly declined. “I can’t ride.”

But he did accept their request to stand on the camp wall and receive the cheers of the soldiers. As he mounted the camp wall and waved to the troops, all the cannons in the main camp fired a salute simultaneously. Then, the naval warships at sea also fired a celebratory salute. The thundering of the cannons swept across the entire battlefield.

A great victory! Wei Aiwen, Dongmen Chuiyu… and many other veterans, whether they were serving in the logistics department or directly commanding battalions, companies, and warships, were all filled with a sense of euphoria. The army they had personally built, relying on the powerful weapons and logistical support provided by modern industry, had finally unleashed its immense power. This power, transcending time and space, would lead them to conquer Guangdong, rejuvenate China, and make the entire world bow before the “New Order.”

There was no time to count the spoils of war, but the number of the most important spoils, the prisoners, was already out: in addition to the prisoners captured at the seaside, another 2,200 were captured elsewhere. Added to the prisoners captured in the previous battles, the total number of prisoners exceeded 10,000. More than two hundred horses were captured, along with countless swords, spears, and armor, and over three thousand firearms of various sizes. The amount of other supplies was almost incalculable.

But He Rubin and Zhao Ruyi had not yet been captured. Around noon, news finally came: He Rubin had escaped!

He Rubin’s own unit, while fleeing towards Qiongshan, had their horses become exhausted. After running for dozens of li, horses began to collapse one after another. Each time a horse collapsed, a personal guard or household retainer would give up his own horse for them to ride. Those without horses were left behind to resist. They fought and ran like this, managing to escape for more than twenty li. Because the aides could no longer keep up, and the sounds of fighting from behind had faded, He Rubin knew that although the enemy was not yet in pursuit, they would surely not let him go. The Shishan in front of them would also surely be blocked. His group of over a hundred men, with thirty or forty scholars, would definitely not be able to break through. Thinking that of his twenty thousand-strong army, only these few men remained, and that the court would surely not spare him, he once again thought of suicide.

Before he could sort out his thoughts, the yellow agricultural vehicle had caught up. The M240 on board sprayed a rain of bullets. The resting cavalry and aides were hit and fell one after another. For a time, the woods were filled with cries and chaos. He Rubin and Zhao Ruyi, surrounded by their personal guards, were quickly helped onto their horses. Song Ming, with a dozen cavalrymen, fired a volley of arrows to attract the attention of the men on the vehicle, allowing the others to find a gap to mount their horses and escape.

But horsepower and manpower could not compare to machines. Before long, they were once again caught by the agricultural vehicles—this time, not one, but several. The machine guns and the semi-automatic rifles of the special reconnaissance team on board crushed this small group. In the chaos, Zhao Ruyi, protected by his personal guards, abandoned his horse and fled into the jungle. He Rubin’s horse had been killed, and his men were either dead or had fled. He was already in despair and had drawn his sword to commit suicide when Song Ming rushed over and gave him his own horse.

“General, mount quickly!” Song Ming’s face was covered in blood, and his helmet was gone. “Don’t take the post road anymore. Run towards the sea!” With that, he whipped the horse’s rump hard and turned to face the enemy with his bow and arrow.

Then a few more personal guards came, all firing arrows at the mobile team to attract their attention, allowing He Rubin to escape again.

The surviving aides scattered in all directions. Some fled into the jungle and thickets, some fell to the ground and played dead, and some sat by the roadside, crying and feigning madness. Lu Yizhong had sprained his ankle and couldn’t get on his horse in time. He threw himself into the bushes, adopting the “ostrich policy” of burying his head in the sand.

After clearing the battlefield, the mobile team captured Lu Yizhong and fourteen other aides and found the bodies of nineteen aides. More than a dozen others had escaped. He Zhanran was killed in the chaos, but Song Ming once again escaped the pursuit with a few personal guards.

The curtain finally fell on the Battle of Chengmai. Of the twenty-two thousand men that Wang Zunde had gathered from all over Guangdong, fewer than four thousand remained.

“…A total of one hundred and fourteen military officers of the rank of waiwei, bazong, and qianzong and above were killed in action. Six thousand one hundred and fifty-seven soldiers were killed in action, and ten thousand eight hundred and twenty-five were lost. Nine hundred and thirty-five horses, mules, and oxen were lost in battle, and the amount of supplies was incalculable.”

—Veritable Records of Qiong Affairs of the Chongzhen Era

That afternoon, He Ming had the soldiers eat in shifts. At the same time, he sent a battalion to approach Chengmai County. All the city gates were closed, and an atmosphere of fear permeated the entire city. The twenty thousand government soldiers had been utterly defeated in front of the city’s officials and people, and the defeat was so swift and so brutal that no one held out any hope for the fate of Chengmai.

Now, the entire garrison in the city consisted of only five hundred government soldiers and a few hundred militiamen. The propaganda personnel of the General Staff’s Political Department used loudspeakers to continuously call for their immediate surrender, promising that the Fubo Army would not harm the people of the city. As for the government soldiers, as long as they laid down their arms and surrendered, they would also be protected.

Of course, there were also threats: “You are limited to opening the gates and surrendering the city before dark. Otherwise, the people of the city will not see tomorrow.”

The gentry met in the county yamen to discuss their options. The so-called options were either to surrender or to defend the city to the death.

The gentry and people of the city were unwilling to defend the city to the death. They had seen clearly that since the government army could not even defend their large camps, how could a small city like Chengmai hold out? It was better to surrender now than to drag it out and be massacred when the city was finally breached. It would only cost them some grain and money. As for the captain in charge of defending the city, he had no intention of fighting to the death. Although he did not directly say whether he was willing to surrender or not, he remained silent.

Seeing that the captain was not opposed to surrendering, the gentry decided to first send someone down from the city walls to negotiate with the rebels, hoping to persuade them not to enter the city. As for the amount of money and grain required, the city would do its best to provide it. Song Zonghui volunteered to be the envoy. Just after noon, he came to the city wall with a young servant. As he was about to be lowered down from the wall, he was suddenly stopped by Liu Jingxuan.

Liu Jingxuan whispered to him, asking him to do his best to negotiate a plan that would not allow the rebels to enter the city.

“…I have heard that Magistrate Wu of Lin Gao has always been on good terms with the rebels, and the rebels have not entered the city. Magistrate Wu has also been able to defend the territory for the court. No matter what the rebels say, old sir, just agree.”

“Yes! But what if they want the government soldiers in the city to surrender, and Captain Zhou refuses?” Song Zonghui was worried that the government soldiers would take the opportunity to mutiny and loot the city.

“If Captain Zhou refuses to surrender, can Chengmai be defended?” Liu Jingxuan knew what he was thinking and whispered, “Even if he loots all the gold and silver in the city, it will still be a bargain for the rebels… the Australians. Captain Zhou is not so foolish.”

“I’m just afraid that his officers and men will not be able to understand the greater good.”

“It’s no matter. I already spoke with him last night. The county will reward each of his officers and men with one tael of silver, and the leaders will get double. The captains will get five taels. I also promised him two hundred taels of silver. Captain Zhou has promised to do his best to maintain order.”

Song Zonghui roughly calculated that it would be about a thousand taels of silver. He knew that the bulk of this money would have to come from the gentry of the city. But at this moment, he could no longer be concerned with his wealth. He only hoped to spend money to avoid disaster and get rid of the plague gods both inside and outside the city as soon as possible.

“…And you can rest assured,” Liu Jingxuan said, looking around to make sure no government soldiers were patrolling nearby, his voice almost a whisper. “Captain Zhou hopes that you can speak with the rebels… the Australians, and let him leave with a dozen of his personal guards. He is willing to hand over his five hundred soldiers.”

Song Zonghui nodded. “Good. With these words, I am relieved. Your Excellency, please wait for good news.” With that, he sat in the large basket and was slowly lowered down from the city wall by the militia.

Song Zonghui and his servant were lowered from the city wall. They crossed the trench. He dared not wander around and shouted as he walked. A patrol of soldiers brought him to the headquarters of the 6th Infantry Battalion, which was responsible for surrounding and monitoring Chengmai County. Zhu Quanxing was directing his men to search for remaining soldiers, clear the bodies, and collect weapons. Hearing that someone had come to discuss surrender, he did not dare to be negligent and ordered the man to be brought in.

Song Zonghui was led by a soldier into the “headquarters.” He was surprised because there were no tents here, only a temporary grass hut with a red flag planted outside and slightly tighter security.

Before entering, the guards searched him from top to bottom before letting him in.

“This is our Battalion Commander Zhu!” the orderly who had brought him said.

Song Zonghui did not know how high a rank a battalion commander was, but he had seen from the city wall that a rebel battalion had about a thousand men, which was roughly equivalent to an adjutant in the government army. He saw that the general before him was tall, with a full beard and small eyes. He was wearing the same gray uniform as the common soldiers, with his leggings wrapped tightly. The only thing that distinguished him from the soldiers was the saber hanging at his waist. He had not expected the rebel leader to be so simple and couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration. He quickly bowed deeply.

“Song Zonghui, a citizen of Chengmai, pays his respects to the general.”

Zhu Quanxing saw that the visitor was a well-maintained middle-aged man. Although his clothes were stained with mud, the quality and style were very fine. He should be a member of the gentry. He immediately said politely, “I am a major, not a general.”

“I have come on behalf of all the people of Chengmai to see the general…” He immediately stated his purpose and then bowed deeply again. “I implore the general to grant our request!”

“Hmm,” Zhu Quanxing said after listening. He felt that he could not make the decision himself—this involved political matters, and even He Ming might not be able to make a decision immediately.

“I will have to report this to my superiors.” He ordered an officer to take him to the main camp headquarters immediately.

After arriving at the main camp, Song Zonghui was led to a separate hut and was well received. He saw that the main camp was orderly and well-organized, no less so than the government army’s, and was secretly surprised. He had always thought that the rebels relied only on the superiority of their firearms and were not as well-disciplined as the court’s regular troops.

The negotiations were handled by Wei Aiwen. Wei Aiwen generally agreed to the conditions proposed by Song Zonghui—they were basically in line with the Executive Committee’s guideline of “Ming skin, Australian heart” for taking over prefectures and counties. Although this guiding policy was not absolute, the other side’s initiative to cooperate was an excellent opportunity to implement it.

But not entering the city was absolutely out of the question. This, after all, concerned the actual control of the entire county town.

“What difference does it make whether our troops enter the city or not?” Wei Aiwen said. “I know what you mean. Magistrate Liu is just not willing to commit suicide for the city. Don’t worry, we will naturally let Magistrate Liu finish his term in peace and go home.”

Such bluntness left Song Zonghui speechless, but of course, the other side was not wrong.

“I still ask the general to be lenient,” Song Zonghui said in a low voice. “I would be endlessly grateful.” With that, he hinted that if Wei Aiwen could help settle the matter, he could privately offer him wealth and women.

Of course, Wei Aiwen did not want his bribe. Moreover, the CHEKA had recently stipulated that when negotiating or meeting with the natives of this time-space, someone must be present to take minutes of the entire process, and the minutes must be signed afterward. There were no exceptions, even for veterans. Wei Aiwen ignored his hints and simply stated his demands and conditions.

All government soldiers were to march out of the city and surrender their arms. Captain Zhou could leave if he wished. All supplies and armor stored by the government soldiers in the city were to be handed over without concealment.

Chengmai was to open its gates unconditionally immediately.

After the city was opened, the security and administration of the city would continue to be handled by the county yamen.

The Fubo Army would send a number of troops into the city to clear out the scattered soldiers and disarm the city. The city’s militia would be disbanded and sent home.

The entire county of Chengmai promised to supply the Fubo Army with a large batch of supplies and grain. The specific types and quantities would be determined after the city was opened.

Song Zonghui knew that this number would not be small and couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret, but he had no room to bargain and could only agree to everything. Finally, he said very carefully, “But could your esteemed troops not enter the city? This way, Magistrate Liu can have an explanation…”

“The troops entering the city will all be in plain clothes and will not fly any banners,” Wei Aiwen said. “Magistrate Liu will have his explanation and won’t have to commit suicide, right?” he said with a smile. “I know you still want to bargain and ask us not to enter the city. But you should also know that if we wanted to, we would be chatting with you in the main hall of the county yamen right now.”

Song Zonghui was startled and quickly said, “Yes, yes, the general is magnanimous. I am endlessly grateful.” He then added, “Magistrate Liu will also be grateful.”

“It doesn’t matter whether he is grateful or not,” Wei Aiwen laughed. “We have a long future ahead of us.”