Chapter 126: Besieged
The other side didn’t answer, just kept slowly closing in. Wang Wu could see that the enemy was very cunning. The main body of their forces advanced to about three hundred meters and then stopped. At this distance, even the best Minie rifle shooter couldn’t guarantee a hit.
The sergeant leading the guard detail said, “They’re trying to wear us down. If this keeps up, we’re finished.”
At that moment, a commotion erupted from the direction of Zhaopu Village—the cries of women and children, rough shouts, the squeals of captured pigs, and the cackling of chickens and ducks mingled in a chaotic din. It was clear the bandits had entered the village.
“This is bad!” Liu Bin cried out, her voice choked with tears. “Uncle is still in the village!”
Seeing the chaos in the village, Wang Wu’s heart sank. Liu Dazhu was probably done for.
As a former militia captain, Wang Wu could see the gravity of the situation. He quickly calculated the work team’s strength. They had plenty of firearms—each soldier and work team member had a Minie rifle, and there were three revolvers. But now, only the seven who showed no symptoms and five or six with mild symptoms who could barely hold a gun were able to fight. It was impossible to hold off several hundred men with just twelve rifles.
“We only have 12 people who can fight. We need to send someone to the prefectural city for help immediately!” Wang Wu said.
The sergeant hesitated. “If we send someone, we’ll have even fewer people here…”
“Sending someone gives us a sliver of a chance to live. If we stay here and fight, we’ll all die!”
“Alright, I’ll send someone now.”
In the end, they decided to send a corporal for help—he was the most senior soldier besides the sergeant. Wang Wu gave him his and Liu Bin’s revolvers—rifles were useless in close combat once fired—and also a large saber for hand-to-hand fighting. But everyone knew that if it came to close combat, the corporal’s chances of getting out were slim to none.
“Sergeant, send your best shot up the watchtower to suppress the enemy! Take extra rifles and ammunition up there. And find someone with mild symptoms to help him reload!”
“Right!” The sergeant nodded and continued to issue orders. “Everyone, prepare extra guns. Those who can still move, help them load ammunition! Everyone, take cover behind the earthworks. Dismantle the tents immediately.”
Gou Xunli wiped the sweat from his brow. The sky was ominously dark, and the air was heavy, as if it was about to rain. His poisoning plan had been successfully executed. According to the village liaison he had bribed, the “kūnzéi bandits” had indeed washed the vegetables they bought from him in the river, then chopped them up and boiled them in the pot.
He and a few trusted men had waited in the village until the afternoon. Estimating that the people inside had been poisoned, he then ordered the bandit gangs waiting more than ten li away to close in on the camp.
By now, he was certain: the “kūnzéi bandits” in the camp had fallen for his trick. The village liaison he had bribed had run to tell him that an Australian leader had just come to the village, asking for men to carry people.
“Good. Take these brothers with you, and say they are the men from the village,” Gou Xunli said, squinting at the informant.
He had a dozen or so elite men with him, all dressed in rags, looking no different from the local villagers.
The liaison trembled. “This humble one wouldn’t dare…”
Several bandits immediately showed their ferocious expressions, and the liaison’s courage failed him. He obediently led the men away.
Soon after, Liu Dazhu, bound like a rice dumpling, was pushed and shoved before him. His face was cut, and his clothes were torn to shreds. It looked like he had put up a fierce struggle.
A young bandit with a broken nose handed over a holster. “This is the old fellow’s Australian handgun.”
“Hmph. Without his firearm, he’s just an ordinary brute,” Gou Xunli said, looking the gasping, bleeding captive up and down.
“What’s your name?”
“Liu—Dazhu.”
“Are you the leader of the work team?”
“What if I am?”
“You were in such a hurry for stretchers. The people inside must have all been taken down, right?” A cruel and triumphant smile appeared on Gou Xunli’s face. “Don’t waste your energy. Even if I didn’t stop you, by the time you carried them to Danzhou city, they’d all be dead!”
Liu Dazhu felt a throbbing pain in the wound on his face. He didn’t really hear what Gou Xunli was saying, but he knew he had fallen into the hands of bandits.
Growing up in Daolu Village and having witnessed the bandits’ rampant killings, Liu Dazhu knew very well what would happen to him. He remembered clearly: in the second year of the Tianqi era, Dang Namen and his bandits had killed more than twenty people, supposedly government informants, under the big banyan tree at the entrance of Daolu Village. The ground was soaked with blood.
Now, it was his turn to die. At this thought, Liu Dazhu’s legs felt weak. He remembered the money he had saved. He had planned to build a new house and get married after returning from Danzhou. He never thought it would all end here so soon.
He was so unwilling to die just like this. Liu Dazhu had never cherished his own life so much.
“Do you want to die?” Gou Xunli, a master of reading people, immediately noticed the change in his expression.
Liu Dazhu answered honestly, “No.”
“Then go and shout to the people in the camp. Tell them to come out and surrender,” Gou Xunli said. “Those who are willing to join our no-cost business can stay and work with us. You know how to use Australian firearms; our gang will definitely not treat you badly. Those who are unwilling can just leave!”
A thought flickered in Liu Dazhu’s mind: the terms were good. But he quickly realized it was just a trick. Unless they were willing to become bandits, surrender meant certain death. Bandits didn’t easily leave witnesses alive.
Surrender and become a bandit? Liu Dazhu thought of his days and nights in the training class, of all the lessons. The Australians had dispelled the darkness that had shrouded his mind, instilling in him an unprecedented way of life and thinking. They had shown him his own strength and the vast hope he had in the new society.
In comparison, what was the “respect” of a bandit gang worth? Even if he could survive in the bandit lair for a while, it would still be a dead end. The Australians never spared traitors.
“I don’t want to die, but I don’t want to be a turncoat either. If you want to kill me, then kill me,” Liu Dazhu said, trembling slightly. “I guess I’m just not lucky enough to see the day the new society succeeds!”
Gou Xunli knew the man had made up his mind. It didn’t matter to him whether he shouted or not. As long as he knew the people inside were poisoned, it was easy enough.
“Take him away and chop him.”
A young bandit kicked Liu Dazhu to the ground and cut off his head with one stroke.
“Put it on a long spear and show it to the people in the camp later!” Gou Xunli laughed maniacally. “If anyone is still alive.”
Knowing that the people in the camp had indeed been poisoned, Gou Xunli’s courage grew. He ordered the bandit gangs near Zhaopu Village to quickly surround the camp.
The main force of the bandits was led by Hu Lanyan himself. It included not only his core men but also many “part-time bandits,” totaling about two hundred people.
Seeing Liu Dazhu’s headless body and the revolver taken from him, Hu Lanyan couldn’t stop grinning.
“Brother, you are truly formidable! You took down the bandits without lifting a finger. I am impressed!” Hu Lanyan had initially thought this was a losing proposition, but now he had an Australian handgun in his possession. Once he had chopped off the heads of all the “kūnzéi bandits” in the camp, he would have dozens of genuine Australian muskets.
“It is my duty to serve you,” Gou Xunli said with a smile. “This handgun is a gift for you, brother.”
Hu Lanyan couldn’t stop smiling. He didn’t know how to wear the holster, so he just slung it over his body. He pulled out the Lingao-made revolver and examined it closely. The barrel had a wheel that could be turned by hand. The wheel had holes in it, and he could see the loaded cartridges inside.
The cartridges were also different from others, with a small copper piece at the end. Hu Lanyan turned it over and over, but he couldn’t figure out the secret of this strange handgun that allowed the Australians to run rampant in Hainan. He didn’t understand it and didn’t dare to mess with it. He called a follower to wrap the gun, holster, and cartridges in a piece of silk, planning to ask a captive about it later.
“Brother, look down there—”
“This whole affair is yours to handle,” Hu Lanyan said, in a good mood, giving him full authority.
“Thank you, brother!” Gou Xunli then summoned the bandit squad leaders.
“The roads here are rough. It won’t be easy for them to escape,” Gou Xunli said, pointing at a leader. “Later, take a dozen brothers and block the mountain road with felled trees.”
“Second-in-command, felling trees is easy enough, but the brothers have walked dozens of li and only had a few cold taroes to eat…”
“What are you complaining about?” Gou Xunli laughed. “Isn’t that the liaison from Zhaopu Village? He used to prepare food and run errands for the bandits. Now, he can do the same for our brothers! After we finish off the Australians, we’ll have him prepare women for us too!”
The leaders roared with approval. The liaison’s face turned ashen. He had been bribed by the promise of silver and Gou Xunli’s repeated assurances that he only had a grudge against the Australians and no designs on the village. That was the only reason he had become an informant for the bandits. He never thought that Gou Xunli, while intent on destroying the Australians, would also bring disaster upon the village.
“You, go and tell the village to prepare a feast! A celebration feast!”
While the bandits were wreaking havoc in the village, Gou Xunli was busy giving instructions to his leaders. He told them to prepare plenty of bows and arrows, firewood, gunpowder, and fire-starting tools, in case a fire attack was needed.
“…Don’t get too close. Getting hit by a volley from the bandits’ muskets is no joke!” He knew from Xin Nari that the bandits’ muskets had a maximum range of about a hundred zhang, but they usually opened fire at around fifty zhang. “The main force must stay at least three hundred paces from the earthworks. Surround the camp and wait for my signal!”