Chapter 324: The Alarm

The crowded stockade was like a hell on earth. In the chaos of war, no one was in the mood to listen to music, and even selling oneself would find no patrons. The group relied on their meager savings to barely get by, enduring the wind and rain, hunger and cold. They hoped that the war would end soon so they could return to Nanjing. Unexpectedly, the stockade was not safe either. Not long after the news of the fall of Dengzhou arrived, they heard that the rebels had also captured Huang County and were destroying stockades everywhere. The various stockades were in chaos, and they all cleared out the outsiders who had no one to vouch for them. Of course, no one was willing to vouch for a group of wandering entertainers like them, so they were driven out into the icy and snowy weather.

Fortunately, the stockade was not far from Baimatang. Their small troupe was taken in not long after they fled. Otherwise, they probably would not have been able to walk for a day or two before they all died of exhaustion and starvation on the road.

“Does the general want Ruyun to serve you?” Liu, who had cultivated the art of observing people’s expressions for half her life, said softly to Zhu Mingxia.

“Ruyun?” This name struck Zhu Mingxia like a thunderbolt. He instantly thought of the man with the snot-picking, heavy makeup. His face didn’t change much, but his stomach churned violently.

“It’s the woman who led the way for the general just now.”

“Oh.”

“How can such a clumsy woman serve the general? She’s also old and has the fate of a jinx. My daughter, Siyu, was raised by me since she was a child. She plays the pipa well. She’s only 13 this year and is a virgin. If the general doesn’t mind…” Liu felt that Zhu Mingxia was not interested in Ruyun and immediately changed her tune to promote another one. This was of course not her biological daughter. In order to latch onto the big tree of the Australians and to survive, it was necessary to put on a good face.

Zhu Mingxia interrupted her sales pitch and told her to bring Ruyun. As an atheist, he was very curious why Ruyun was called a jinx, so he wanted to ask her personally.

Just as he was thinking about whether to purify Ruyun first and change her name to something that wouldn’t cause any associations before having a deep conversation, a cadre of naturalized citizens hurried to his side and said in a low voice:

“Chief, Chief Lu asks you to come quickly—it’s urgent.”

“Hmm! Oh?” Although Zhu Mingxia was already showing the initial symptoms of being horny, he could still control himself for the time being. Hearing that there was something “urgent,” he didn’t dare to delay and immediately ordered:

“Separate this group of people and detain them.”

“Yes, sir!”

Liu, who had been a prostitute for many years, had a very thorough understanding of men’s behavior and speech. She knew that Zhu Mingxia had already taken a strong interest in Ruyun. Hearing that the troupe was to be separated, she knew that she had already climbed a high branch. At least for the next few months, she would not have to worry about food and shelter. Her life would probably be saved—if she was lucky, she might even get a few taels of silver. She immediately curtsied happily and said, “Thank you for your grace, my lord!”

Zhu Mingxia returned to the stockade. Chen Sigen and Lu Wenyan were already standing in front of the sand table in the war room with serious expressions.

“What’s the matter?” Zhu Mingxia had already guessed a few things. Could it be that the rebels were heading for Qimu Island?

“Wang Qisuo just came back,” Chen Sigen said.

Wang Qisuo had performed outstandingly in the battle of Baimatang. Although the overall battle was one-sided due to the firepower advantage of the two infantry companies’ Minié rifles and “typewriters,” and the battle was not fierce, he had shown great courage. Not only did he take the initiative to conduct reconnaissance outside Baimatang, but he also killed and captured several rebels in the pursuit.

Chen Sigen was very satisfied with his combat performance and believed that this person’s overall quality could be selected for the special reconnaissance team. However, he had not yet been identified by the Political Security Bureau and had not undergone special political training, so for the time being, he was only given some reconnaissance business training and was assigned as a scout in the advance column.

A few days ago, he had sent Wang Qisuo and some other local-born scouts from the advance column to operate near Huang County to cooperate with the special reconnaissance team in grasping the movements of the rebel army in Huang County.

The sentry brought Wang Qisuo in. He was wearing a tattered cotton-padded jacket and a white snow camouflage cloak. His face and hands were filthy.

“Tell us what you saw again,” Chen Sigen ordered.

“Reporting to the chief, a large enemy force came from Dengzhou at noon today,” Wang Qisuo said. “There were at least two or three thousand of them, all combat troops!”

An army of tens of thousands was not to be feared—Huang County was now gathered with “more than ten thousand” troops, but most of them were recently conscripted civilians. The number of fully equipped combat troops was the key.

He reported that all the troops that came were wearing cotton armor and were fully equipped. They also brought many firearms, and what was particularly important was that the rebels had used oxen to pull six “giant cannons” to Huang County.

According to historical records, the rebel army had repeatedly carried cannons to participate in battles against the government forces, including the siege of Laizhou and several field battles with the government forces. The cannons carried by the rebels were basically demi-culverins. The weight of the cannon barrel alone was two or three thousand jin. With the heavy gun carriage, it was very difficult to move them under primitive road conditions.

The fact that the other side had brought heavy firearms to attack showed that their firearms in the battle of Baimatang had left a deep impression on them.

“The commander of Huang County, Mao Chenglu, is currently cooking and preparing to attack Qimu Island tomorrow.” He then added some fragmentary news.

“Good, you may leave,” Zhu Mingxia nodded. This did not surprise him too much. Although Qimu Island was located on the coast, it was after all within the territory of Huang County, and Huang County was the passage for the rebels to go to Laizhou.

If the “militia” on Qimu Island did not act, then the rebels would indeed not be likely to come and deal with this coastal stockade specifically. But now they were actively recruiting refugees in the territory of Huang County and had become a very large force in the territory of Huang County.

If Li Jiucheng and Kong Youde wanted to ensure the safety of the road to Laizhou, they would not tolerate the existence of such a force on their flank—not to mention that a few days ago they had just soundly beaten the rebels and let them see their combat effectiveness.

Chen Sigen said, “I have withdrawn all the scouts of the advance column—they lack professional skills, and continuing to stay outside is just sending them to their deaths. For the time being, only the cavalry will be responsible for reconnaissance on the periphery.”

He pointed to the sand table. “If Mao Chenglu’s troops set out today, they will at least not arrive at Qimu Island until noon tomorrow.”

There were originally about two thousand rebels in Huang County, and now three thousand more have been added. It is unlikely that they will all come out—after all, someone still has to stay behind to guard the county seat, so at most four thousand will come. Of course, the rebels will definitely conscript a large number of able-bodied men to follow the army to act as porters and cannon fodder. The total number may exceed ten thousand.

These ten thousand people, plus the artillery and ammunition, would arrive at the fastest speed at noon tomorrow. After arriving, they would still have to set up camp and place the artillery. If they could launch an attack, it would be at least the morning of the day after tomorrow—Chen Sigen did not think the rebels had the ability to launch a night attack.

The three of them looked at the defense system of Qimu Island. The defense of Qimu Island was very strong. The long causeway leading to the mainland had a carefully constructed willow fence. Not only were the ditches deepened, but a dense array of various cheval de frise were also added, and concertina wire and a large number of standard bamboo spikes transported from Lingao were also laid. The simple stockade gate on the long causeway was also rebuilt into a bastion of earth and wood, equipped with artillery of different calibers. If the rebels wanted to charge into the island from the causeway, they would have to pay extremely heavy casualties.

In addition to the frontal willow fence defense line, the refugee camp, the pier, and the mountain stronghold on the island also formed a self-contained and mutually supportive defense system. The three could use artillery and rifles for crossfire.

“The main defense problem we face is the freezing of Longkou Bay,” Zhu Mingxia said. “This greatly increases our defense difficulty.”

They only had hydrological data from the 20th century for the ice conditions in Longkou Bay. The peak ice period in Longkou Bay was from January to February each year, lasting for about 20-40 days. The average ice volume was 2.2, and the density was 5-7, which had no effect on ship navigation. At the peak of the perennial ice conditions, the floating ice in Longkou Port was 10-15 cm thick at its thickest. When ships berthed on the south side, high-power tugboats were used to break the ice. Berthing on the north side was basically unaffected. There was broken ice in the channel, and ship navigation was basically unaffected.

According to the hydrological data of the 20th century, the biggest feature of Longkou Port was that it was ice-free and silt-free all year round. This was also a consideration when choosing Qimu Island as a transfer base.

Of course, it was not completely ice-free here. In some years, there would be severe freezing, and even with icebreakers, the port could not be used.

But now it was the Little Ice Age, and the freezing situation in Longkou Bay might be much more serious than the situation in the 20th and 21st centuries that they were familiar with. Therefore, Suo Pu strongly advocated for equipping the Northern Expeditionary Detachment with icebreakers at the logistics meeting—after all, it even snowed in Lingao in this time and space. Therefore, a Type 621 tugboat was urgently modified at the Bopu Shipyard as an icebreaking tugboat.

The Type 621, being a tugboat, had a strong overall structure and a sturdy hull, making it suitable for icebreaking modification. The modification work involved reinforcing the bow with steel plates, supporting the bow with steel beams, and then significantly reinforcing the hull with steel beams to ensure that it would not fall apart during icebreaking.

After the modification of the tugboat was completed, it was already the end of December. It was immediately sent to Shandong, and then the modification of the second ship began.

On Qimu Island, large-scale floating ice began to appear in the bay from January. By now, a large ice area had formed, extending nearly three kilometers from the shore and completely connected to the coastline. By mid-January, the pier was completely unusable, and the special service boat squadron moored at the Qimu Island pier was forced to retreat to a position three kilometers away from the pier. Refugees boarded the ships using floating docks: the refugees set out from the island and boarded the ships through the ice.

The arrival of the icebreaker greatly improved this situation. The island consumed a lot of fuel for heating, and there was a large amount of ash from grass and wood and coal. Lu Wenyan ordered the refugees to spread ash on the ice every day to create a channel, and then used the icebreaking tugboat to break the channel.