Chapter 63: Entering the City

“Rest assured, you will only be contributing your efforts in this matter, and you will definitely not be asked to spend money. There will also be benefits.”

The liaison officer secretly complained. Although the Australians were measured in their actions, when a large army passed through, it meant that the grass, grain, and firewood would all be gone. A few years ago, the Australians had also occupied Humen and stationed troops here. Although they paid for the things they requisitioned, after the money increased, the prices of all goods in Taipingxu soared. The merchants made a lot of profit, but the common people complained a lot.

He didn’t dare to say much more. The Fubo Army didn’t rob or kill, and they bought and sold fairly. As far as soldiers were concerned, they were already like Bodhisattvas. How could he dare to complain about anything else?

Shi Zhiqi smiled and let him go out. This liaison officer was not very useful. Unfortunately, they had too few cadres. There were only ten cadres prepared to be sent to Dongguan County. Naturally, they couldn’t send cadres to take over this small Taipingxu.

Afterwards, the special search team of the Planning Institute arrived and began to take a comprehensive inventory and receive the official property of Humen Fort. Shi Zhiqi did not ask about these matters. What he was most concerned about was the progress of the various companies advancing along the Pearl River water system.

He looked at his watch. According to the action plan, the various detachments of the Special Investigation Detachment of the General Investigation Bureau should have already controlled several city gates in the east and south of the city. The 4th Infantry Battalion, which had been lurking in the Grand World in advance, had also entered the city and begun to occupy the main key points in the city. In another 3 hours, the first squadron of the Guangdong Corps of the National Army from Hong Kong would pass through the Pearl River and head to the provincial capital and the first batch of occupied county towns and important towns.

According to the Urban Work Department, the march from the Pearl River Estuary to Guangzhou would be an armed parade. The provincial river defense system that Xiong Wencan had barely restored after he came to power was very weak. The officers and soldiers were all afraid of the Australians’ military power after experiencing the battle of breaking through the Pearl River Estuary and were unwilling to fight to the death. There were collaborators everywhere. The Urban Work Department only needed to offer the condition of “guaranteeing personal and family property safety, and those who are willing to leave can be escorted out of Guangdong” to be enough to make many people agree to cooperate.

As the commander-in-chief of the first phase, Shi Zhiqi did not dare to be careless. The plan could never be executed 100%. The internal strife in Humen Fort fully showed that it was not enough to have only a few high-level collaborators. In today’s matter, Ma Chengzu actually had a great possibility of turning the tables. Although whether he turned the tables or not could not change the situation, the journey of the army would not have been smooth sailing.

“Report to me on the progress of each detachment every hour,” he ordered. He looked at the map of Guangzhou’s urban area again. The city gates had all been marked: which ones had been worked on, the blue ones were the ones that had agreed to open the gates and surrender the city, and the red ones were the ones that might need to be resolved by force.

Looking at the map, several gates in the east of the city: the Great East Gate, the Wenming Gate, and the Guide Gate, which was the boundary between Panyu and Nanhai counties, had all been marked in blue. The total number was not large, but they were all key to occupying Guangzhou. There were also very few red city gates, and most of them were an ambiguous gray.

However, once the Fubo Army entered Guangzhou, these ambiguous grays would also “rebel before the battle,” at least that’s what Lin Baiguang said. Normally, the commander of a city gate was just a commander with thirty or forty soldiers at most. Without the support of other troops from the city, they couldn’t make any waves.

The sky was just getting bright, and it was not yet the beginning of the chen hour. Inside the Great East Gate of Guangzhou, Old Dai Chang, as usual, was carrying a full set of plasterer’s tools, preparing to go to the construction site of the Grand World outside the city to work.

At this time, the city gate had not yet opened. A large group of craftsmen and laborers who were also in a hurry to get out of the city early were squatting at the entrance of the yuecheng gate, chatting and eating breakfast. All kinds of snack stalls specializing in the business of these poor people were lined up at the foot of the city wall, steaming. Old Chang did not go over to join them as usual, but walked straight to the military officer on duty at the gate and said flatteringly, “Sir, why haven’t you opened the gate today?!”

They passed through here every day and were familiar with the soldiers guarding the gate.

“What’s the hurry?! The water clock hasn’t finished dripping yet. There’s still half an hour.”

“It’s still that long?!” Old Dai Chang seemed to be talking to himself in a low voice, “The tears of the remaining people are exhausted in the dust of the barbarians!”

The military officer on duty heard it, was stunned for a moment, quickly glanced left and right, and then replied in a low voice, “The king’s army is expected in the south today.”

After receiving the secret signal that the city gate was ready, Old Dai Chang retreated while laughing. After waiting for a while to confirm that no one had noticed him, he came to the watchtower of the Dongping Pawnshop next to the city gate, took out a piece of blue cloth, and walked in and asked, “Shopkeeper, can this be pawned?!”

The shopkeeper of the pawnshop took the blue cloth, looked at it, and said, “Wait a moment. I need to find someone to look at it.”

“No hurry, I’ll wait here.”

Before long, a small blue flag was hung on the watchtower of the Dongping Pawnshop.

At this time, the heavy sound of iron wheels suddenly came from far to near outside the East Gate. The residents in this area and the people who often went to the construction site of the Grand World all knew that this was the sound of the Australians’ iron ladder cart. This iron ladder was laid from the entrance of the Grand World to the entrance of Yuanyun Street. Because the gentry living in the Dongguanxiang outside the Great East Gate objected and the street was narrow, it was not laid to the city gate.

The sound of the iron wheel cart in the morning light immediately attracted the attention of the officers and soldiers on the city tower. They all stuck out their heads and tried to look at the entrance of Yuanyun Street not far away.

The sound of the iron wheel cart disappeared and was replaced by a burst of chaotic footsteps. A team of people in blue-gray jackets, iron helmets, leather boots, and holding firelocks ran quickly towards the East City Gate.

“Faster, in the back, keep up!”

After the leading officer shouted, he looked up at the top of the watchtower. It was a blue flag, which meant that everything was going smoothly and according to plan.

“The whole company, on alert.” After the officer gave the order, he shouted to the city gate, “Fellow villager, open the door and send a piece of land!”

In the gate hole, the government soldiers and the commander in charge of guarding the city gate hurriedly commanded the soldiers to remove the horizontal bolt, open the city gate, and lower the drawbridge.

The Fubo Army passed through the city gate and entered Guangzhou without losing a single soldier. At this time, a group of people in civilian clothes with blue cloth strips tied to their arms also ran out of the large pawnshop next to the city gate. The leader shouted to the Fubo Army officer, “Quick, this way!”

“Good, the guide is in place! Each team will proceed according to plan.” The officer ordered, “First platoon, occupy the drum tower. Second platoon, the bell tower. Third platoon, defend on the spot, ensure the traffic line of the city gate, and support the friendly forces.”

“Messenger!”

“Here!

“Report to the front command: Great East Gate, the King’s army has landed.”

With a clang, the wine cup fell to the ground. The Dargah commander guarding the Wenming Gate, Sa Zhifu, knelt on the ground, clutching his stomach in pain. His eyes stared hatefully at Pu Fuchang, and he asked in a hoarse and intermittent voice, “You, you, why did you poison me?”

“I’m sorry, I was also forced to do it. Who asked you to be so loyal to the Ming Dynasty?” Pu Fuchang stood up as if nothing had happened and threw all the wine utensils on the table to the ground. “I don’t know if the Ming Dynasty will perish or not, but Guangzhou will be broken in an instant. I won’t stop you if you want to die for your country, but you don’t have to drag us to die with you.”

“Since you were unwilling, why did you agree and even take an oath?”

Pu Fuchang smiled, “If I didn’t take an oath with you, how could you have drunk this poisoned wine? What if you went to pull others in? The Dargah soldiers have been in Wuyang City for several generations. They all have families. Do they have to die with you just because you are loyal to the Ming Dynasty?”

Before he finished speaking, Sa Zhifu had already vomited blood and fallen to the floor motionless.

Pu Fuchang smiled at the corpse again and said, “I will send your family to reunite with you soon. You can go in peace.”

He looked at the sky outside the window, took down the saber from the wall, and shouted, “Men!”

Two personal soldiers entered in response.

“Master Sa Zhifu has already done his duty for the Ming Dynasty,” he said seriously. “You can collect his body.”

The personal soldiers answered, and Pu Fuchang walked out of the city tower. The sky was already bright, and it was much later than the expected time to open the city gate. But it didn’t matter. The Australian troops should have entered the city from the Great East Gate and Wenming Gate area early in the morning. He just needed to hand over the city gate to the receiving Australians according to the original plan.

A trusted aide quietly came over and reported in a low voice that Sa Zhifu’s personal soldiers and nephews at the Wenming Gate had all been “dealt with.”

Pu Fuchang nodded slightly and said in a low voice, “Cut the weeds and dig up the roots. They must be dealt with cleanly.”

“Yes, I understand. I have already sent people.”

“You go personally,” Pu Fuchang said fiercely. “Don’t let any of them escape. They will be a disaster in the future.”

“Yes, I will go right away!”

After sending away his trusted aide, he leaned nervously against the parapet and looked at the street. There were no pedestrians on the street, and the shops were not open. The strange phenomenon that the Wenming Gate did not open on time had already alerted the nearby residents. Although they did not yet know that Guangzhou had changed its master, they instinctively decided not to go out on the street or open their doors.

Pu Fuchang looked at the sky. It was probably past the chen hour, and the Australian army should have arrived. But he had not seen them appear yet, and he couldn’t help but worry. He was the commander of the Wenming Gate, and in theory, the officers and soldiers here were all under his command. However, the Sa Zhifu family had multiplied here for several generations, and they had many relatives and friends. If someone refused to obey and made a scene, it was unknown whether he could suppress them quickly!

The most dangerous thing was not just this. In the east of Guangzhou, there was a training ground for the guerrilla training troops, with nearly a thousand men from the front and rear battalions stationed there. If the news leaked out, and the guerrilla training general directly counterattacked before the Australians arrived to receive them, he would be attacked from both inside and outside, and he would be in a situation where he would have no place to be buried!

He had already sent his trusted aides to lead his personal soldiers and retainers to control various places inside and outside the Great East Gate, but these people were after all a minority. Most of the ordinary soldiers had no relationship of kindness and righteousness with their officers. The officers’ art of command was nothing more than strict laws and deception. At a critical moment, they could not be relied on without a generous reward.