Chapter 345: Militia Commander Lu

Lu Zeyang sat in Fan Shier’s small eatery. Its inconspicuous location by the road now served as the forward command post for the Laizhou detachment.

The walls, made of broken bricks and plaster, were riddled with irregular holes. The floor was covered in dirt and rubble. The tables and chairs had been pushed aside, leaving only two square tables joined together in the center, on which sat a horse lantern and a map. The windows had been smashed and sealed with broken bricks and tiles. Sandbags were piled at the entrance—it looked like a set from a war movie.

Lu Zeyang wore a thick cotton robe, covered by a coarse cloth gown that was caked with dust and grime, torn in places. On his head was a Fanyang hat. Around his waist was a canvas military belt, the kind used by ordinary Fubo Army soldiers, with two Lingao-made Model 30 revolvers tucked crosswise. A Ming army standard longsword leaned against the table.

Fan Shier stood respectfully by his side. Ever since the great battle seven or eight days ago, his admiration for Militia Commander Lu had become boundless.

Militia Commander Lu was no mere man—he was a god, a god of war! In Fan Shier’s limited knowledge, he knew that Yue Fei was incredibly brave, sending the Jin soldiers fleeing in disarray and saving the Song Dynasty. But that was achieved through sword and spear.

This Militia Commander Lu had barely left the Wang family cemetery throughout the entire battle. From the initial charge of the rebel cavalry to the final assault by the rebel infantry and cavalry, Militia Commander Lu had stood on the roof of a building in the Wang family cemetery, looking through two cylinders, occasionally giving a few words of instruction to his personal guards to relay messages.

When he heard the rebel army was at the city gates, Fan Shier was terrified, not daring to leave Militia Commander Lu’s side for a moment. He figured the leader would have a way to escape, and he would just follow him.

Unexpectedly, before the rebels even began their attack on the city, the government soldiers guarding the south gate hastily closed it, trapping these several hundred people outside. Many in the conscripted labor team panicked, running to the city gate, crying and begging to be let in. The soldiers on the wall simply turned a deaf ear, ignoring all their curses and pleas.

Fan Shier thought he was done for in this southern suburb. He didn’t expect that as soon as the battle started, he saw the hundred or so militiamen on the rooftops and barricades firing their muskets. The white smoke from the gunpowder nearly enveloped the entire suburb. He could only hear the crackling of muskets from within the smoke, with red flashes everywhere. When the smoke cleared, the area outside the suburb and the entrance to the street were littered with the bodies of rebel soldiers.

In the ensuing battle, the sea breeze would occasionally blow away the thick smoke, and Fan Shier could clearly see how the militiamen formed ranks and fired in volleys. They continuously brought down rebel soldiers with their muskets from a great distance. Several times, the rebels were routed before they could even get close to the suburb. Militia Commander Lu also had two small two-wheeled cannons. They looked small and exquisite, pushed around by a few men. They didn’t look like they could be of much use. There were many large and small cannons on the walls of Laizhou city; Fan Shier had helped transport gunpowder and cannonballs for them, and they were all massive. Just looking at them, you could tell they were incredibly heavy. But when the battle started, he realized these small cannons were fierce. Their projectiles flew far and accurately, and they would explode upon landing, wiping out a large area. The rebel soldiers were sent crying for their mothers and fathers, their formations often breaking before they even got close to the suburb.

During the rebels’ final assault on the southern suburb, several thousand infantry and cavalry swarmed forward. Driven by their superior numbers and the constant beheadings of those who faltered by the rearguard, the rebel soldiers charged into the streets of the southern suburb. Fan Shier watched as a dense mass of rebel heads surged in like quicksilver. There were only a few dozen militiamen in the street. His legs trembled with fear, and he was on the verge of wetting himself. Just then, a wheelbarrow with a flat box mounted on it was pushed out from a house and placed across the street. The militiamen in front immediately dispersed. Flames shot out continuously from the box with a crackling sound, and in an instant, the charging rebels were sent rolling on the ground. The most amazing thing was that after one volley, it could fire a second, and so on, without end. Then, dozens of militiamen with fixed bayonets charged forward, and with a flurry of stabs, they drove several hundred men out of the street. The several hundred men in front threw down their helmets and armor, pushing and shoving each other, scrambling and crawling to escape, while a few dozen militiamen with bayoneted muskets chased after them. The scene left Fan Shier dumbfounded—what a battle!

After the rebels were driven off, a count of the spoils revealed over two hundred abandoned bodies both inside and outside the street. Many had been trampled to death. They didn’t go out to count the bodies in the fields further away for fear of enemy cavalry attacks, but it was estimated there were another two to three hundred. They also captured a few dozen prisoners who had been knocked unconscious in the stampede.

Governor Sun and Governor Xu in the city learned of the great victory at the south gate. After verifying the heads, banners, and weapons that were sent, they not only sent silver as a reward but also praised Militia Commander Lu profusely. Even Fan Shier received commendation. The messenger indicated that Governors Sun and Xu were drafting a memorial listing the meritorious personnel. When the court’s rewards came down, even a commoner could gain a title. The innkeeper Fan Shier’s face beamed with greasy delight. In contrast, Militia Commander Lu seemed indifferent to this, more interested in the silver and wine sent from the city.

From then on, Fan Shier was completely devoted to Militia Commander Lu, worshipping him as a god. His own life had been on the line, and now, without a scratch, he was to receive a reward from the court just for being there. This Militia Commander Lu was simply his lucky star.

Lu Zeyang was also very pleased. Only one man had been killed by a cannonball during the battle, and a few others were wounded. The losses were negligible—even the ammunition consumption was low.

He captured a few dozen prisoners and interrogated them briefly. Those with a local accent were all assigned to the conscripted labor team—Fan Shier had now become his shadow and echo, doing whatever he was told without hesitation. He handed over all those with a Liaodong accent to Zhu Wannian. Most of these were old soldiers from Dongjiang, and keeping them would be a certain risk.

After this great battle, the rebels shifted their attacks to the north, west, and east gates. The sound of cannons bombarding the city gates could be heard almost daily. Besides strengthening his defenses, Lu Zeyang also sent out a few scouts to check the situation at the other gates. If the government troops couldn’t hold, he was prepared to lead his men to help.

Historically, Laizhou city had held out with very few troops, so Lu Zeyang wasn’t too worried, just taking precautions. He heard from his scouts that the fighting at the other gates was intense. The rebel artillery was fierce, bombarding the city day and night. The defending government soldiers could only hide behind the battlements on the city walls. Even so, most of the battlements and parapets on the walls had been destroyed by the artillery fire. Casualties were heavy everywhere.

However, morale seemed to be good. The gentry and wealthy households in the city, led by Zhang Xin, had contributed large amounts of money and grain to reward the troops. In the late Ming, soldiers basically fought for whoever paid them; otherwise, even the emperor couldn’t command them. When Chongzhen ordered the Guanning army to fight Li Chuang at Zhuxianzhen, they wouldn’t move without their pay from the court.

What worried Lu Zeyang most were the officials and soldiers in the city. Laizhou was now teeming with officials. There were two civil governors alone, and even more military commanders. On the thirtieth of the first month, General Yang Yufan had also fled into Laizhou after his defeat at Xincheng Town. The city now contained troops from Sun Yuanhua’s former Dengzhou-Laizhou garrison, troops from Tongzhou, Tianjin, and Shandong who had come with Yang Yufan, and the local military households of Laizhou… Troops from different systems were mixed together. Although the generals tried to keep them in line, minor conflicts still broke out constantly.

When the rebels attacked the south gate, the commander of the south gate’s decision to simply close the gates made him realize that the government troops were unreliable teammates. Not only could he not count on their help, but he also had to be constantly on guard against them. Sure enough, as soon as the rebels were defeated, the government soldiers at the south gate rushed out to claim heads and weapons. Lu Zeyang had to order his men to deal with the disorderly soldiers with a volley of fire to make them behave.

Lu Zeyang didn’t care about this “merit,” but he was very afraid they would cause trouble behind his back during a firefight. Fortunately, not long after, Zhang Tao, who had come from Dengzhou, arrived in Laizhou and was appointed by Sun Yuanhua as the commander of the south gate.

The city’s defense was also divided into sectors, with a four-gate responsibility system. Sun Yuanhua defended the south gate, Xu Congzhi the north, Yang Yufan the west, and Wang Daochun the east.

Lu Zeyang was assigned to Sun Yuanhua’s defense zone, which saved him countless troubles. Otherwise, after his great victory at the south gate that day, if not for Sun Yuanhua’s protection, those who had ill intentions towards his small unit would have already made their move.

Even so, people constantly requested to see Militia Commander Lu’s “sharp weapons.” Yang Yufan even offered to buy some of the muskets and cannons used by the militiamen, which Lu Zeyang of course refused. However, he didn’t hide the fact that they were “overseas sharp weapons” bought from Guangzhou. Yang Yufan immediately asked for an introduction, preparing to go to Guangzhou to purchase these “sharp weapons.”

Zhang Tao was also very interested in their weapons. He and Sun Yuanhua were fellow Catholics and promoters of Western firearms in China, so he had long known that this Militia Commander Lu’s sharp weapons were actually those used by the “Kun bandits” in Guangdong. Especially the muskets that could be fitted with a bayonet and fired in succession—only the Kun bandits had them.

This so-called Militia Commander Lu, though speaking with a Laizhou accent, was almost certainly deeply connected to the Kun bandits.

But he and Sun Yuanhua had already come to an understanding, so they feigned ignorance. To avoid trouble, they gradually replaced the original guards of the Laizhou south gate with the remnants of the former Dengzhou garrison. The force was a bit small, but Sun Yuanhua knew the combat effectiveness of Lu Zeyang’s unit, so he wasn’t worried.

Lu Zeyang was now satisfied with everything, except for the fact that his plan to shelter refugees was not as successful as he had hoped.

Just now, an officer had come to report on the current refugee situation. Because the rebels had arrived so quickly, very few refugees had been able to reach Laizhou before their arrival. Once the rebels laid siege to Laizhou, the flow of refugees was completely cut off. He had only managed to take in less than five hundred people. They were all housed in the empty buildings in the southern suburb, just waiting for the coastal port to thaw so they could be sent out.