Chapter 334: The Pillar of the South Gate

Senator Lü’s proposal coincided with his own, but under the current trend of “rule by engineers,” the possibility of a direct proposal to the Senate being passed was not high. The reputation of the financial circle was probably only slightly better than that of the few “pettifoggers” in the “Law Club.” It was better to take a roundabout route to save the country. Lü Zeyang’s plan was: he would go to Shandong for fieldwork, first relying on his hometown advantage to establish a firm foothold in the Engine Operation, build good relations with the intelligence bureau and the military, and improve the status and influence of the financial circle in the Senate. Finally, he would wait for the opportune moment to make a decision. After thinking about it, Yi Fan went to discuss it with Cheng Dong for a long time, and finally agreed. So Senator Lü was “seconded” to the Foreign Intelligence Bureau for half a month of training. A few days after Sun Yuanhua arrived in Laizhou, he also hurried over.

The Senate’s guiding ideology for the defense of Laizhou was: to be able to hold it, but not to make the rebels so desperate that they would abandon the siege. The best result was for the rebels to amass heavy troops for a long-term siege, with small groups of scattered soldiers plundering everywhere. When the main army of the court arrived, it would cause the entire three eastern prefectures to be in a state of chaos, and the power would be in a “vacuum” stage, thus facilitating the development of the Engine Operation.

Under these circumstances, it was naturally impossible to send the main force of the Northern Expeditionary Detachment to directly help defend the city—the local bureaucrats and gentry of Laizhou might not agree, and Sun Yuanhua could not bear this responsibility. However, it was still necessary to arrange for a small detachment to carry heavy firearms into the city and directly attack the rebels at a critical moment, so as to avoid the situation from getting out of hand if the city really fell. It would also be a great favor to Sun Yuanhua.

After research, the Engine front command decided to dispatch a company, carrying mountain howitzers and “typewriters” and other heavy fire suppression equipment, to the city walls of Laizhou to provide direct fire support. Lü Zeyang was the commander of this unit, fully responsible for the city defense of Laizhou and liaison matters.

For this reason, Lü Zeyang specially went to a village where the Lü clan gathered. Imitating the style of the old Taiwanese soldiers returning home to visit their relatives, he went to the clan leader’s house and took out the “family tree” forged by the Great Library to first establish a relationship. His authentic dialect and a round of silver bullet attacks made the clan leader recognize him as a “clan nephew” in a daze. Then, the special reconnaissance team members disguised as servants controlled the clan leader and the families of the main elders in the clan. Then, he “held the clan leader to command the whole village” and announced that Lü Zeyang was the “deputy commander.” Lujiazhai was thus in Lü Zeyang’s hands. He recruited several local youths from the local militia, disguised the cannons with canvas, and the Laizhou detachment of the Northern Expeditionary Detachment became the “native” militia of Lujiazhai in a grand manner.

Lü Zeyang followed the secretary to report to Zhu Wannian. Zhu Wannian knew of Lujiazhai, and with his local dialect, he did not suspect him. He immediately registered the number of people. For the militia and soldiers who entered the city, besides being supplied with grain and fodder per head, each person also received a tael of silver as a reward. Therefore, most of the various groups of people had a habit of over-reporting their numbers.

Zhu Wannian turned a blind eye to this matter. At present, it was the time for the soldiers to risk their lives, and he could not be stingy with silver. The fact that Laizhou could be defended was greatly related to the fact that the gentry and large households in the city had given out money to reward the soldiers generously at that time. At that time, the defenders of Laizhou had been tempted by the rebels and were ready to cooperate with them in a rebellion. Zhu Wannian had mobilized the gentry and large households in the city to reward the three armies generously, and then supplemented it with a city-clearing operation, which was how Laizhou was saved from being captured by the rebels.

Lü Zeyang brought a company of men, as well as gunners, special reconnaissance team members, and the militia of Lujiazhai. The total number of people was more than one hundred and forty. He reported one hundred and fifty people, which was considered particularly frugal.

Zhu Wannian immediately instructed the clerk to issue silver and ten days’ worth of grain and firewood according to the number of one hundred and fifty people. He also issued a document for receiving grain and fodder. He then asked him if he needed to supplement any weapons. Lü Zeyang said that he did not need any for the time being: the weapons and equipment were very sufficient.

When Zhu Wannian heard that he had volunteered to defend the south gate suburb, he was very surprised. Defending a stockade outside the city was a very risky thing. It was almost like a sacrificial pawn. Once the situation was critical, the city would close its gates, and not a single soldier responsible for guarding the city gates would survive. Seeing that the visitor was calm and composed and talking and laughing as usual, he couldn’t help but admire him secretly.

“It turns out that the Lü family has such a resolute, loyal, and brave descendant. The folk are truly full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers,” Zhu Wannian praised. Seeing that Lü Zeyang was not wearing any armor, he also proposed to give him a cotton armor.

“Thank you for your kindness, sir. I don’t need this,” Lü Zeyang said nonchalantly. “Armor is inconvenient to wear and is not conducive to fighting.”

Zhu Wannian praised him a few more times and then sent another person to take him to the south gate suburb to take over the defense.

The suburb had already been “fortified and the fields cleared.” The civilians and their valuables had all entered the city. The able-bodied men were organized into a team, and under the leadership of the south gate suburb’s paijia, they closed the gates of all the streets and alleys. The entrances and exits of all the streets and alleys facing outwards were sealed with bricks and earth bags. Although it was not very useful, it could at least delay the attacking enemy.

There were also people piling up firewood and clear oil in various houses, preparing to set fire once the suburb fell. Although the suburb was within the scope of what must be defended, no one thought that the suburb could be defended for a long time. So the able-bodied men and the paijia were all wearing long faces—as the able-bodied men and paijia of the south gate suburb, they probably had little chance of retreating into the city. Nine times out of ten, they would be buried here with the government soldiers stationed here.

The secretary called for the local paijia, Fan Shier, and told him to follow all of “Brave Warrior Lü’s” arrangements.

Fan Shier was the owner and cook of a small restaurant in the south gate suburb. He was considered a person with some assets. He also knew some martial arts and could usually get along with the yamen runners and clerks in the yamen, so he was given the job of being a paijia.

Being a paiia had many benefits, so Fan Shier inevitably did some things that people cursed behind his back—but generally within the tolerance of the local residents. He was also willing to stand up for the local people in official matters, so his reputation was still passable. He had also made some money.

He did not expect that the rebels would come to attack Laizhou. In addition, the various atrocities committed by the rebels in various places were heard, and Fan Shier’s heart was like being fried in oil. He still had a family, and although they had all been sent into the city, no one was sure whether Laizhou could be defended. Besides, if he died in the defense of the city, his son was still young, and the property he left behind would either be destroyed by the war or be taken by others. It was not impossible for his family to become beggars and refugees—so he had been listless these days.

Lü Zeyang saw that this paijia had a look of waiting for death. He comforted him with a few words and then boasted about himself, reassuring him that the south gate suburb was perfectly safe.

“As long as we are here, the suburb will be here. We will definitely fight to the death to protect the suburb!” Lü Zeyang said with great heroism.

“Since you say so, brave warrior, I believe you,” Fan Shier, although he did not look like he “believed,” still managed to put on a brave face. Lü Zeyang’s guarantee was worthless to him. These one hundred or so people, each with only a sword and a spear, although everyone carried a musket, did not even have a suit of armor. From this appearance, they did not look like elite soldiers who had been through a hundred battles—besides, they were just the militia of Lujiazhai.

However, they were brought here by Governor Sun himself, and it seemed that the officials in the city attached great importance to them, so Fan Shier did not dare to be negligent.

“Now take me for a walk inside and outside the suburb. I want to survey the terrain.”

Under the guidance of Fan Shier, Lü Zeyang walked around inside and outside the south gate suburb and finally chose the Wang family’s burial ground, a large household, as the place to station and defend.

This burial ground was on high ground, on a mound. It was divided into a yin and a yang residence. It was surrounded by dense trees and a small river, and it had high walls of its own. With a little modification, it would be a suitable fortress. And the terrain directly controlled the road to the moon city. If the rebels wanted to attack the south gate, they would be subjected to flanking fire from the Wang family’s burial ground and would not even be able to rush into the suburb.

Less than a li south of the south gate suburb was the Yenan River. It was now frozen, and had little defensive value. Lü Zeyang planned to have the paijia dig another trench outside the suburb and set up cheval de frise to delay the rebels’ actions.

After making the arrangements, Lü Zeyang returned to the Wang family’s burial ground with Fan Shier. A command post had already been set up in the ancestral hall. A large map of Laizhou was hung on the wall, and on the table, a sand table model of the Laizhou area, which was packed in a box, was being assembled. It included a large-scale sand table model of the entire city and a small-scale terrain model of Laizhou.

A fire had already been lit in the room with the portable iron stove they had brought, and the tall, cold ancestral hall was suddenly as warm as spring. Fan Shier looked at the stove with curiosity—this stove was so beautiful and light! Where did it come from?

Lü Zeyang asked him to sit down and said, “We are now in the same boat. We must take care of each other.”

Fan Shier quickly stood up and said with a sincere expression, “Master Lü! What are you saying? You are now our backbone. The people of this suburb are all counting on you!”

“Not at all, not at all. I am not an official of the court,” Lü Zeyang knew that he was just flattering him, but he was always pleased to hear it and couldn’t help but smile. “Your team of able-bodied men, how many people are there?” He then said with a serious expression, “This is a major matter of defense. I need to know the details of everything—you are the host, and I am the guest. I will have my own discretion in everything.”

There were always drawbacks in the use of labor, both ancient and modern. Lü Zeyang specifically said this to avoid the other party’s suspicion.

This kind of team of able-bodied men, temporarily conscripted from the common people, from sixteen to fifty, had little combat effectiveness in a siege defense, but they were a good labor force.

“How many people there are exactly, I’m afraid I can’t say for a while,” Fan Shier said with a fawning smile. “Many have run away in the past few days. I’ll be honest with you: the number reported to the county yamen is three hundred and twenty, but in reality, there are probably about two hundred and eighty.”

This meant that he was embezzling the rations of forty people every day—Lü Zeyang thought to himself, this guy is really black-hearted!

“…With all due respect, sir, I have no choice…” Fan Shier “complained.” “Everyone knows that there are benefits in managing the team of able-bodied men. I dare not offend any of the gods, big or small, and I have to share the benefits with all of them…”

“It’s no matter,” Lü Zeyang smiled. “This is also to be expected. You don’t have to worry about it, paijia Fan.”