Chapter 1198: The Yangtze Cannot Be Crossed
Anqing Prefecture, Yingjiang Pier.
A vast fleet of small boats, led by several river-sea vessels, formed a massive naval formation.
The composition of these vessels was also complex.
Gao Family Village's river-sea vessels needed no introduction. The fleet also included a great many reformed river bandits from Huangmei undergoing labor reform, official river patrols under the Anlu Governor's command, Shi Kefa's personally organized Anlu militia, and ordinary fishermen and merchant ships who, inspired by his benevolent governance and the rallying of public support, had voluntarily come to assist.
This vast and mighty fleet could easily blockade the river.
Shi Kefa stood before this massive naval formation, a proud smile on his face. "Gentlemen!" he declared. "Your mission is to blockade the Yangtze River, to prevent any rebel force from crossing it and ravaging the southern bank."
"Our northern, eastern, and western land armies will converge to annihilate the rebels in the Central Plains. The only direction without a deployed army is the south."
Shi Kefa passionately declared, "Because to the south, there is the Yangtze River! I have pledged to the Heavenly Lord that we will defend the Yangtze to the death, and not a single plank of a rebel boat will cross! This pledge, I hope you all will make to me as well."
From a great many boats, the men roared, ""Rest assured, Master Shi!""
""We will never allow them to ravage the southern bank of the Yangtze," another shouted."
""Excellent!" Shi Kefa declared. "Let the fleet depart.""
The river-sea vessels, serving as flagships, immediately led the way, steaming upstream towards Wuchang. Then, countless small boats followed suit, moving against the current up the river...
Some ships were bound for Wuchang, others for Ezhou, some were destined for Huangshi, and still others would remain in Jiujiang, Pengze, and Wangjiang.
They would spread out along this stretch of the Yangtze waterway, blockading every possible crossing point. Should any signs of rebels attempting to cross be detected, small boats would communicate with each other, then intercept the rebels on the water.
On land, they might not be a match for the rebels, but on the water, it was a different story.
The rebels would meet the same fate as the Qing soldiers who attacked Pi Island!
After watching the fleet depart, Shi Kefa took a deep breath, then turned to look at the land army behind him.
Now came the true test!
Gao Family Village's northern army, led by Bai Yuan, was the strongest, with forces numbering thirty-five thousand.
The western army, under Cheng Xu, also commanded five thousand main troops from Gao Family Village, along with several thousand recruited Sichuanese soldiers for auxiliary tasks. Their strength was also formidable, especially the First Battalion, whose combat effectiveness was terrifying; at this time, no army in the world could stand toe-to-toe with them.
However, Shi Kefa's eastern army was far weaker!
Although he had already become Governor of the Anlu region and had managed the area for two years, it was too far from Gao Family Village itself. How could the main militia forces be deployed to such a distant place?
The militia from the village under his command numbered only a thousand.
The rest were Jiangnan garrison troops, plus newly recruited local militias from the Anlu region.
Whether regular soldiers or militia, the Jiangnan forces were genuinely weaker in fighting spirit compared to their northwestern counterparts.
This couldn't be held against them; after all, Jiangnan was prosperous.
The more prosperous a region, the stronger its cultural development and the weaker its martial prowess. This would only change once civilization evolved to a certain degree, elevating the soldiers' minds and imbuing them with spiritual strength... but that was a bit too soon for the Ming Dynasty. In ancient China, the martial strength of the north had always surpassed that of the south, a situation that only changed in modern times.
Shi Kefa felt a heavy burden on his shoulders!
If the eastern army failed to perform, rebels could indeed slip through their net.
He took a deep breath, then addressed the soldiers in a loud voice, "Gentlemen, our contingent is the weakest of the three land armies. I do not demand that you charge into battle to slay a certain number of enemies. I have only one demand: hold the eastern front, and absolutely do not allow this to become a breakthrough point for the rebels."
A junior officer stepped forward and saluted. "Master Shi!" he asked. "As we sweep westward, the first people we will encounter are not rebels, but Zuo Liangyu, who has just marched south from Lu'an and Shucheng. May I ask how we should handle him?"
Shi Kefa clenched his fist without hesitation. "Crush him!" he declared. "He is no different from the rebels now—no, he is even worse than the rebels."
The soldiers responded in unison, ""As you command!""—
Meanwhile...
Yingshan County.
Among the rebels, the great chieftain Chuang Tatian was advancing eastward.
Not long ago, he had a quarrel with Eight Great Kings over the matter of Chuang Wang.
Chuang Tatian hailed from northern Shaanxi, a native of Yan'an. As his rebellion had started at the same time as Chuang Wang and Eight Great Kings, he had a reasonably good relationship with both, having sworn brotherhood with Chuang Wang and then with Eight Great Kings at different times.
A few days prior, he had heard that Chuang Wang, defeated in Sichuan, had fled and sought refuge with Eight Great Kings. However, it seemed Eight Great Kings' subordinates intended to kill Chuang Wang, forcing Chuang Wang to flee, now whereabouts unknown.
Chuang Tatian couldn't stomach it. Even in the jianghu, there were codes of conduct. How could one even think of killing a sworn brother when he was down on his luck? This simply wasn't the jianghu way.
So he went to confront Eight Great Kings...
What kind of man was Eight Great Kings? Would he bother to reason with you?
He simply grabbed his blade, intending to butcher Chuang Tatian as well!
Chuang Tatian, feeling wronged, had no choice but to part ways with Eight Great Kings. Leading his own contingent, he left the main rebel army and proceeded eastward.
He had just reached Yingshan County, still unfamiliar with the surrounding terrain, when a chorus of battle cries erupted from the nearby mountain forest, and Zuo Liangyu burst forth.
Chuang Tatian hastily engaged in battle and was instantly put on the defensive, being thoroughly overwhelmed.
He could only flee in disarray with his most trusted thousand-plus subordinates...
Zuo Liangyu gathered all of Chuang Tatian's scattered subordinates and absorbed them into his own forces. His army instantly swelled by another five thousand men, and he was exceedingly pleased.
Chuang Tatian, with his thousand remaining men, fled for an unknown duration. Before him lay the Yangtze River. Only then did he realize he had been fleeing southward and had inadvertently ended up by the Yangtze's banks.
By this point, Chuang Wang was missing, Eight Great Kings had turned against him, and his main forces had all been absorbed by Zuo Liangyu. He suddenly felt cornered, with nowhere left to turn.
Perhaps his only option was to cross the Yangtze and seek a new path on the southern bank.
He quickly ordered his last thousand-plus subordinates to fell trees, chop wood, and construct rafts.
After tying together a large number of rafts, and using broken planks as paddles, they began paddling towards the southern bank of the Yangtze.
""Brother Chuang Tatian," a subordinate reported to him, "there are a few small boats watching us over there.""
Chuang Tatian snorted, ""Drive them away.""
The rebels bellowed at the top of their lungs, roaring furiously at the small boats in the distance, ""What are you looking at?!""
They had assumed such a roar would send ordinary fishermen scattering.
Unexpectedly, the small boats roared back, ""And what if we are?!""
Chuang Tatian exclaimed, "Huh? What gives these fishermen such gall?"
The people on the small boats shouted loudly, "You rebels, what audacity do you possess, to dare attempt to cross the river! In a moment, we'll show you that the Yangtze is not a river just anyone can cross."
Comments