latelenovela Chapter 124 Great Victory over the Government Army
Chapter 124 Great Victory over the Government Army
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While the government troops were venting their anger on the civilians, Liu Ye returned to the fortress.
The battle was essentially over. Although the government troops retained several thousand men, their morale was completely shattered, making a comeback unlikely. In addition to killing more than two thousand men at the earthen fortress and more than four thousand at sea, more than seven hundred members of the firearms battalion were captured. Including the more than seven hundred men on Luodousha Island, a total of about fifteen hundred men were captured, most of whom were soldiers from the firearms battalion.
In this encirclement and suppression campaign, 15,000 government troops marched across the sea in a grand procession, but in the end, less than 7,000 remained. The army suffered more than half its strength, and a guerrilla general was killed in battle. From any perspective, it was a major defeat that shocked the court and the public.
After wreaking havoc in Chengmai, the government troops returned to Qiongshan. Qiongshan County was once again thrown into chaos. Fortunately, Qiongshan was the prefectural capital, and there was a newly arrived fifth-rank prefect in charge, who could speak to the governor. The generals restrained themselves somewhat and did not plunder indiscriminately. Apart from the government officials and wealthy households being ordered to "pay" the government troops for "departure silver" and "horse feed," they were spared the tragedy of their wives and children being humiliated and their families being destroyed.
After settling down in Qiongshan, He Rubin finally regained consciousness thanks to the meticulous care of the physician. The battle had been lost, and the key was how to end it gracefully. His advisors suggested offering amnesty, which would conceal the fact of the major defeat; at most, it would appear that only some troop losses had occurred.
He Rubin had no way to express his predicament. Whether or not to pacify the rebels was not a decision he could make; only the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi had that authority. But if Governor Wang were so willing to pacify the rebels so easily, there would have been no need for this naval siege. To persuade him, he could only report the battle results truthfully. In that case, regardless of whether or not the rebels were pacified, his position as commander-in-chief would likely be in jeopardy.
Generals such as Tong Yizhen and Yan Zungao advised him to retreat to Guangzhou first, either to request the governor to appease the enemy, or to continue mobilizing the troops of Guangdong and Guangxi, or even the Guangxi wolf soldiers, to make a comeback.
He Rubin angrily smashed his cup and shouted, "Truly ignorant! If we can't defeat them with one or two thousand men, do you think we can defeat them with another one or two thousand? Does the provincial treasury still have the silver? Putting aside everything else, how are we going to avoid their powerful ships and cannons when we cross the sea? And you talk about making a comeback? With enemy warships watching us from the side, it's hard to say whether we, a few thousand men, can successfully cross the sea and return to Guangdong."
The generals were thoroughly humiliated by the insults and, considering the enemy's overwhelming naval superiority, were at a loss. If the enemy could attack the fleet on their way across the sea, they could easily repeat the same tactic on their return to Guangdong. If this happened again, the remaining few thousand men would likely all meet their demise.
Unexpectedly, not only did they suffer a defeat, but even a safe retreat to Guangdong became a distant dream, leaving everyone disheartened.
The newly appointed prefect Qin Bingyan, having been tasked with supplying provisions and wages to the government troops, also participated in the military discussions. Upon hearing that the government troops could not withdraw to Guangdong, he became extremely anxious.
To procure provisions for the army, Qiongshan County had already been thoroughly plundered, and Chengmai County was utterly devastated. If the army didn't leave, the people's morale would be unstable, and if anything else went wrong, his position as prefect would be over. The previous prefect had failed to quell the rebellion with the local garrison troops, and now he had initially hoped for the arrival of the army from the provincial capital. However, once they actually arrived, the harm they would cause to Qiongzhou Prefecture would far outweigh the harm done to the rebellious people who remained obediently in Lingao. He now longed for the army to return to Guangdong as soon as possible, to send away this plague.
In his desperation, he disregarded the rules and interjected, "Governor, I have dealt with the bandits before. Perhaps I could try to persuade them and see if the army can safely cross the sea and return to Guangdong."
He Rubin forced himself to cheer up: "Alright, then I'll trouble Prefect Qin." He didn't know if the Qiongzhou Prefecture could persuade the thieves, but it was better to try than to be stuck in Qiongshan with no way out.
When the prefectural government sent a messenger to Lingao, Liu Ye had just gathered a group of people in the South Garden to discuss their next steps.
"The government troops have indeed been beaten into submission. They dare not attack again, and they are even hesitant to return to Guangdong. Haha!" Liu Ye laughed as he passed the letter from the prefectural government to everyone. The letter requested that, for the sake of the people of Qiongzhou, the government troops not be hindered from crossing the sea, so as to prevent the army from continuing to harm the people.
After reading the letter, Yan Guang chuckled to himself: "It's strange that the government is advising the rebels to release the government troops in order to ensure local peace. Who are the soldiers and who are the bandits?"
Everyone laughed upon hearing this, as they had never heard of such a bizarre thing before. Shi Ying sighed: "The common people often say that bandits are like combs, and soldiers are like fine brushes, but in fact, when it comes to harming the people, the defeated soldiers of the government army are often more dangerous than bandits."
“Now that we know the government troops’ trump card, we know what to do next,” Liu Ye asked Yan Guang. “Will this defeat bring down Wang Zunde immediately?”
"After this defeat, Wang Zunde's career has come to an end, and his resignation is a foregone conclusion. However, he is, after all, a second-rank governor, and the court has a procedure to follow. If no one in the court speaks up for him, the matter will be settled in two or three months; if someone supports him, it may take up to six months," Yan Guang speculated.
Liu Ye shook his head. He trusted Yan Guang's deductions on other matters, but Yan Guang's position in Nanjing was too low, far removed from the court, and he hadn't grasped Chongzhen's temperament in these kinds of matters. Chongzhen was stubborn and impatient, even the Grand Secretaries were replaced like a revolving door, let alone a Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi.
"That's not right!" someone said. Everyone looked and saw it was Sun Yuanhua.
Before the government troops arrived, Sun Yuanhua had not participated in any discussions. Although he couldn't stop anything, Liu Ye was worried that he would affect the atmosphere of preparation for war, so he simply didn't call on him. Now that the situation was settled, he was asked to participate in the discussions and offer advice.
Although Sun Yuanhua had only glimpsed the strength of the guards from their weapons and the quality of their troops, the fact that a mere two thousand men and five ships, combined with land and sea forces, had so decisively defeated a force of ten to twenty thousand men from Guangdong—and not just the corrupt garrison troops, but elite soldiers—was still far beyond his expectations. He knew that Liu Ye had deliberately avoided discussing how to deal with the government troops, but he was powerless to stop it. Now that the government troops had been defeated and there was no turning back, all he could do was guide Liu Ye to accept the court's offer of amnesty, preventing him from becoming the third scourge after the Later Jin and the refugees from the Central Plains.
"Although His Majesty is diligent in governing the country, he is rather impatient. Yang He, as the Governor-General of the Three Borders, failed in his attempt to pacify the rebels and was ordered to be executed. Fortunately, he had a good son, Yang Sichang, who saved his life. Wang Zunde, on the other hand, was merely the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi. He acted arbitrarily, gathering the entire province of Guangdong to launch a reckless attack, but suffered a complete defeat. He may not even be able to save his life, and his dismissal will be imminent."
Everyone thought about it and agreed. There was the example of Yang He, the governor of the three border regions, and the former governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou was also a living example. Wang Zunde had made a lot of trouble, so why should he be allowed to linger in the position of governor?
Yan Guang glanced at Sun Yuanhua and said to Liu Ye, "It was my oversight that led to this. Please forgive me, my lord."
"How could I blame you? Everyone is free to speak their mind, and no one is guilty of speaking out." Liu Ye reassured him, then turned to Sun Yuanhua and asked, "Lord Sun, does this mean Wang Zunde's dismissal is imminent?"
“I’ve said it before, I’m no longer an official, and I don’t deserve to be called ‘sir.’ If you don’t mind my presumption, just call me ‘sir.’” Sun Yuanhua corrected his form of address. “I know what you’re worried about. You have a huge business in Hangzhou and Guangzhou, but this governor has shut down your shops. If he’s still in office, your business will be over—you may be able to defeat the government troops in Lingao, but that doesn’t mean you can march into Guangzhou. Moreover, as long as you don’t accept the offer of amnesty, you’re an enemy of the government. No matter who takes over as governor, these shops will not be unsealed.” Although he was talking about Wang Zunde’s future, the key point was the last sentence. He wanted to guide Liu Ye to accept the offer of amnesty as soon as possible.
Liu Ye nodded: "Appeasement is not out of the question, but Wang Zunde must step down immediately, and the new governor can no longer use the threat of seizing the businesses in Hangzhou and Guangzhou to blackmail me. I must teach the old and new governors a lesson."
Sun Yuanhua asked in surprise, "What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think you can take Guangzhou with just a thousand land troops and a thousand naval troops?"
"With this small force, taking Guangzhou is a pipe dream. I'm not crazy. But we can scare them a bit; we don't necessarily have to go all in," Liu Ye replied with a cold laugh. He turned to Liang Xiaoming, "Mingzi, how's that siege mortar thing going?"