Chapter 317: Suppression and Pacification

At this point, he became even more anxious to get reinforcements. He sent people to all possible places to request reinforcements, and at the same time, he sent a dispatch to mobilize Huang Long’s subordinates in Dongjiang to reinforce Laizhou. He also requested that Yu Dacheng send reinforcements quickly, and he estimated that Yu Dacheng would not refuse. Although Yu Dacheng also held a “pacification” attitude at first, the top priority now was to defend Laizhou and block the path of the rebellious army to prevent them from ravaging the entire territory of Shandong. As long as Yu Dacheng understood this, he would not refuse his request.

Yu Dacheng was now as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. His reading room in the capital had already sent news that the situation in the court was very unfavorable to him, and he was very likely to be dismissed and arrested. Recently, he had also received a court dispatch, asking him to “thoroughly investigate” the whereabouts of Sun Yuanhua and others.

After the fall of Dengzhou, Yu Dacheng had no news of Sun Yuanhua. He, who had been chanting sutras, suddenly received Sun Yuanhua’s request for help. Knowing that Sun Yuanhua was not only safe but also defending Laizhou, he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. With Sun Yuanhua’s whereabouts known, things would be much easier to handle.

In his letter, Sun Yuanhua briefly explained how he had escaped. There was inevitably some “artistic embellishment.” Of course, he couldn’t say that he had been rescued. Lu Wenyan had specifically reminded him that he must not admit that he had ever been captured. Sun Yuanhua himself also understood that this was a crucial point. Fortunately, he was out now, so he could say whatever he wanted.

As for Song Guanglan, the Dengzhou Intendant, Wang Zheng, the Supervising Censor, and Zhang Tao, the Garrison Commander, who were captured at the same time, Sun Yuanhua, following the advice of Lu Yang and others, said that they had broken out separately when the city fell and their fate was unknown.

Because Sun Yuanhua had been rescued, it was uncertain whether Song Guanglan, Wang Zheng, and Zhang Tao would still be released by Kong Youde as in history. So for the time being, it was better to say that he didn’t know. If they were killed, it would be simple. If Kong Youde still released them, then according to the plan, the special reconnaissance team would intercept them at the first opportunity and deal with them according to the situation at the time. Among these people, Wang Zheng had personally seen Sun Yuanhua’s unsuccessful suicide and capture. The others had probably also heard the news of Sun Yuanhua’s capture, so they must be kept in hand to prevent leaks. The status and position of these people were different from those of ordinary soldiers and civilians. Once they said that Sun Yuanhua had been captured, it would be very difficult to clear his name again.

Besides asking for help, he also talked about the policy of suppression and pacification. What surprised Yu Dacheng was that Sun Yuanhua had changed his attitude from fully wanting to “pacify” to “vigorously suppress.” You must know that when Kong Youde besieged Dengzhou, Sun Yuanhua had specifically sent him a letter, asking him to speak to Xiong Mingyu on his behalf and try to pacify Kong Youde’s troops. For this, he had also given him a box of valuable gold, silver, and jewelry for lobbying.

Yu Dacheng had no preconceived notions about pacification or suppression. He had no feelings for Kong Youde and the others, nor did he want to put them to death. For him, pacification was just a lower-cost approach. The court was now in a difficult situation, with troops needed everywhere. It was easy to say “suppress,” but where would the troops come from? Not to mention that the local government would have to raise a large amount of grain and pay.

However, Yu Dacheng decided not to care about whether to suppress or pacify. Since Sun Yuanhua was not dead, he was the one who had to deal with the rebellious army first. Whether he wanted to suppress or pacify was up to him. He immediately instructed his secretary to be summoned to consider how to dispatch reinforcements and, more importantly, how to write a memorial to the court.

But Yu Dacheng’s fate was already unchangeable. Not long after his memorial was sent out, on the thirteenth day of the first lunar month, the rebellious army captured Huang County. Yu Dacheng was dismissed from his post and subsequently arrested. However, by this time, Sun Yuanhua had already established a firm foothold in Laizhou. His memorial had also been formally submitted to the court.

Sun Yuanhua had a good understanding of being an official. After the fall of Dengzhou, Kong Youde, Li Jiucheng, and others tried to pull him in as a king and raise a banner to rebel. After being “inspired” by Lu Wenyan and others, he had already realized that “pacification” not only could not solve this rebellion but would also create countless enemies for him in the court, especially officials from Shandong. If he continued to insist on pacification, he would inevitably be attacked by those who were originally neutral.

Therefore, in his letters to Xu Guangqi, Zhou Yanru, Xiong Mingyu, and others, after briefly reporting his “breakout and escape,” he changed his previous attitude on future countermeasures and proposed to “vigorously suppress.”

Not only should troops from Zhili and other places be mobilized, but some elite troops should also be transferred back from Liaodong to participate in the battle.

Of course, this change to “vigorously suppress” was not only out of consideration for his own political future but also contained his hatred for Kong Youde and other old Dongjiang men whom he had always trusted but who had used and betrayed him.

Lu Wenyan and others were closely watching the situation in Laizhou. Because wireless equipment was limited and precious, Lu Wenyan had quickly established a pigeon loft after arriving on Qimu Island and established a carrier pigeon communication system. Before Sun Yuanhua’s group went to Laizhou with Sun, they had specially brought a group of carrier pigeons. Therefore, reports were sent to Lu Wenyan’s desk every day.

“Old Sun is quite something. He’s really good at being an official,” Lu Wenyan said, looking at the group’s report and combining it with the intelligence from Leng Ningyun’s side. He could clearly see the changes in the situation in Shandong.

“He started from a mere scholar, recommended by a patron, and became the governor of Deng-Lai in ten years. How could he do it without some skill in being an official?” Lu Yang sighed. “Old Sun is a capable person. If he had enough time, maybe the Manchus would have really been wiped out by his new army.”

“You’re being too naive. The situation in the late Ming Dynasty was unsolvable for the Ming court. Unless there was a strong emperor—not Zhu Yuanzhang, but at least a strong man like Yongle.”

Sun Chengzong and Xiong Tingbi actually both had a chance. Even Yuan Chonghuan, who had a mixed reputation in the Senate, could also “recover Liaodong.” Given the strength comparison between the Ming and the Later Jin, it would not be too difficult for a capable minister to achieve this strategic goal.

“Their teammates were too unreliable—not to mention being as stupid as pigs, they also sabotaged you all day long. No matter how capable you are, without a strong emperor like Yongle or Zhu Yuanzhang to protect you, no one can get things done,” Lu Wenyan said. “You just have to look at the surrendered officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty. Before they surrendered, they were all incompetent and afraid of death. After they surrendered, they all became brave and good at fighting…” He said, paying attention to the latest developments on the map. Huang County had been captured by the rebellious army yesterday. It was estimated that in a day or two, the area around Huang County would fall into chaos—to use 21st-century terms, a “humanitarian disaster” was happening.

“Please ask Chief Zhu to come,” Lu Wenyan instructed his secretary.

Zhu Mingxia had basically only done one thing these days: training troops.

In addition to the daily training and targeted project training of the Northern Expeditionary Detachment, he also organized and trained the Qimu Island militia, an auxiliary force.

The Qimu Island militia was expanded from Lu Wenyan’s militia, supplemented by many local refugees and refugees sent by Daoist Zhang from Yizhou. Since the opening of the Qimu Island refugee camp, refugees had been pouring in. It was quite difficult to select suitable recruits from a large group of sallow-faced and emaciated people. However, fortunately, the population base was large enough, and he still selected eight hundred people as a local auxiliary force.

The refugees selected for the Qimu Island militia were all young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-two. According to the view of the French army before World War I, men over twenty were not good recruits. The best cannon fodder came from the 18-20 age group. The result was that before 1914 was over, France had already lost a generation.

Zhu Mingxia believed that the French view was not bad. At least at a low technological level, young people had an advantage in being soldiers. Young people were hot-blooded, easily incited, had little understanding of death, and dared to fight in battle.

The selected soldiers were given separate meals and specially strengthened nutrition. Young people had strong vitality, and good nutritional supplements and moderate physical exercise could quickly restore their physical fitness.

The General Directorate of Education gave him a designation: “Shandong Provisional First Advance Column of the Public Security Army.” It was organized according to the establishment of the Public Security Army, and all weapons and equipment were cold weapons.

The auxiliary force was very necessary for the Northern Expeditionary Detachment. The number of people in the Northern Expeditionary Detachment was limited, and they also had to divide their forces to go to Jeju Island. In the subsequent actions, they also needed to divide their forces to carry out reception and defense tasks in multiple locations. It was impossible to complete the task without expanding the army on the spot.

Zhu Mingxia divided the auxiliary force into two parts. The best performers in training were incorporated into the Northern Expeditionary Detachment as auxiliary soldiers and could be directly put into battle in combat situations. The other part was used as the garrison of the Qimu Island base.

“How is it? Is there any action?” Zhu Mingxia asked as soon as he came in. He had also received the news that Huang County had been captured.

Lu Wenyan nodded, “That’s right. Since Huang County has fallen, our reception team will be dispatched.”

In the past ten days or so, because the rebellious army had been active in Huang County, in order to avoid direct armed conflict, Qimu Island had not sent out any large-scale foot reception teams except for reconnaissance troops.

After the capture of Huang County, the rebellious army would inevitably carry out large-scale burning, killing, and looting in and out of the city. The small stockades in the original Huang County territory could not resist such a large-scale army, and a large number of refugees would inevitably flow to the safe direction of Qimu Island. This was the right time to dispatch the reception team.

Without sending out reception teams in advance, in the icy and snowy first month, it was very difficult for the old, weak, women, and children to survive on foot. In addition, a large group of refugees could easily attract attacks from the rebellious army.

Although Lu Wenyan had decided to send out reception teams, he still had concerns. What if they encountered the rebellious army? If the enemy was small in number, it would not be a big problem. They could be dispersed with superior firepower. But if it was a large enemy force and they were cavalry, Zhu Mingxia’s reception team would probably not be able to cover the escape of a large group of refugees while fighting the rebellious army. The mobility and organization of the refugees were the worst. Once they panicked, they would be completely uncontrollable. At that time, it would be like Liu Bei’s defeat at Changbanpo.