nucmednet Chapter 394 Suppression of the Rebellion
Chapter 394 Suppression of the Rebellion
Liu Ye sent men to make simple repairs and reinforce the sails of the remaining Fujian ships of the rebel army. All the ships that could move were slowly moved towards Changdao Island under the surveillance of cannons. Ships that could not be repaired were all sunk on the spot.
Upon arriving at Changdao Island, the surviving rebels, under the watchful eyes of the Qiongzhou Camp soldiers with their rifles and bayonets, obediently discarded all their weapons, disembarked, and went ashore. They then followed orders to put their hands behind their heads and squat on the beach.
Liu Ye ordered his men to screen the remaining rebel forces to see if any high-ranking generals had survived. Soon, based on the identification of the rebel soldiers, Wang Zideng was identified and brought before Liu Ye.
Wang Zideng had also dealt with Liu Ye before, and the two knew each other. Liu Ye asked him, "We're old acquaintances, so I won't waste words with you. Of the former generals of Dongjiang, how many are still alive?"
Wang Zideng replied in a humble voice: "Chen Guangfu covered the rear and did not go to sea; Chen Youshi died in Laizhou; Li Jiucheng died at the hands of your troops; Geng Zhongming died two years ago; Kong Youde and Li Yingyuan are missing, they may have escaped in the chaos; now I'm afraid only I am left..."
Liu Ye only recognized Li Jiucheng and his son, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Wang Zideng, and Chen Guangfu. He wasn't familiar with the others. As long as Li Jiucheng, the spiritual leader of the rebels, was dead, he didn't care too much about the others. It was just a pity that he couldn't find Kong Youde; he probably jumped onto a small boat and escaped. Of the three future Princes of Shun in the Qing Dynasty, apart from Prince Zhishun Shang Kexi, who was still in Dongjiang Town at the moment, Prince Huaishun Geng Zhongming was shot dead by Lin Sanyi with an arrow when he escaped from Dengzhou. It was unknown whether Kong Youde was lucky enough to escape to the Later Jin and, like Shi in another timeline, surrender to Huang Taiji and be granted the title of Prince Gongshun.
However, as long as the cannons didn't fall into the hands of the Later Jin, it wouldn't matter if Kong Youde fled; it would just mean another traitor. He asked Wang Zideng, "When you fled, did you load all the cannons in the city onto your ships? Where are they now?"
Prince Deng glanced back at the wrecked Fujian ships on the sea and replied, "Kong Youde said these cannons were useful, so we brought them all. However, they were all loaded onto 400-liao warships; the smaller ships couldn't carry them. Of the more than twenty cannons, I estimate that half have sunk at sea, and the rest are probably on these unsunken warships..."
Liu Ye immediately ordered his men to board the ships and take inventory. Sure enough, among the remaining dozen or so 400-ton warships, they found eight large cannons; the rest were nowhere to be found. The dozen or so ships that had escaped were all small Fujian-style ships. If what Prince Deng said was true, then the other dozen or so cannons had probably sunk to the bottom of the sea. The ambush had basically achieved its objective; not a single cannon had been left for Huang Taiji. The only concern was whether Kong Youde had escaped with the craftsmen.
He asked Prince Deng, "Did the cannon-casting craftsmen in Dengzhou City bring them on the ship?"
"Kong Youde said these craftsmen were useful, so he took them all on the ship..."
Liu Ye pressed further, "How many craftsmen were there in total?"
Wang Zideng was taken aback, then looked miserable: "I really don't know, it was all arranged by Kong Youde..."
"Useless!" Liu Ye spat, then turned to Lin San and said, "Take some men and screen the rebels again. Find out all the craftsmen and count their numbers."
The guards screened the less than one thousand rebel troops and identified about twenty craftsmen. Upon inquiry, they learned that they were all from government-run workshops in Dengzhou City, specifically responsible for casting cannons.
Liu Ye personally questioned the craftsmen: "How many of you are there in total? Are you all on the same boat? Has anyone escaped?"
The craftsmen replied, “Sir, there are about thirty of us on this large ship. A few were killed by the cannon fire, and a few others fell into the sea in the chaos. Now we are the only survivors here. No one has escaped; there was no chance at all.”
Liu Ye breathed a sigh of relief: "Very good. Clean up the mess, then escort these people back to Dengzhou." According to his estimation, without the support of cannons, the weakly defended Dengzhou should have already fallen by now.
As it turned out, his estimate was very accurate.
While the battle raged on the sea, the main city of Dengzhou was also in the thick of things. Zhu Dadian concluded that Dengzhou's defenses were weak and ordered his army to launch a full-scale attack. In no time, the west, south, and east gates were under attack. Chen Guangfu only had a little over two thousand men, and with his forces spread out, he was unable to hold out. After only half an hour, the east gate fell.
It was too late to retreat at this point. Chen Guangfu wasn't stupid; rather than die a confused death in the chaos of battle, he figured he might as well surrender and save his life. So he ordered the south gate opened and led several hundred of his personal guards out of the city to surrender to Zhu Dadian.
If it were at one of the other two gates, those soldiers, eager to make a name for themselves, might have taken advantage of the chaos to kill Chen Guangfu, adding a significant mark to their record. However, the South Gate faced the central camp of the government troops, and Zhu Dadian, who was in charge of the central camp, was a civil official who was quite fond of this kind of surrender charade. He gladly accepted Chen Guangfu's surrender and entered Dengzhou through the South Gate with dignity.
With this, the imperial court had completely recovered Shandong. This rebellion, which began at the end of the fifth year of the Chongzhen reign, lasted for more than two years and was quelled in September of the eighth year of the Chongzhen reign.
After entering Dengzhou, Zhu Dadian's first priority was to appease the soldiers and civilians in the city and eliminate the remnants of the rebel army. After he had completely controlled Dengzhou, the next important task was to write a memorial to report the victory.
The next day, Liu Ye entered the city to request an audience, bringing with him the captured Prince Deng and nearly a thousand rebel prisoners.
"This battle was entirely due to the governor's strategic planning. I have lived up to my mission. We achieved a great victory at Changdao. Except for Kong Youde, whose fate is unknown, all the other rebels were beheaded, and the traitorous general Wang Zideng was captured!" Liu Ye said to Zhu Dadian.
In truth, this ambush had little to do with Zhu Dadian. From intelligence gathering to troop deployment, the Qiongzhou Camp handled everything. However, Liu Ye insisted on praising him for his strategic planning and skillful command, which Zhu Dadian readily accepted. Having just captured Dengzhou City and then receiving this good news, Zhu Dadian was beaming from ear to ear, his usual composure and calmness completely gone.
"Very good. General Liu is indeed an outstanding military commander. He is skilled in land warfare and equally formidable in naval warfare. You deserve the greatest credit for the recapture of Dengzhou and the execution of the rebels."
Taking advantage of Zhu Dadian's high spirits, Liu Ye seized the opportunity to ask, "This humble general has a question, but I'm not sure if I should ask it..."
Zhu Dadian said with a smile, "General Liu, please feel free to ask. I will answer all your questions to the best of my knowledge."
"If the Imperial Censor Lin Tianming were to reward those who have rendered meritorious service, how many ranks would he be promoted?"
Zhu Dadian was taken aback. Lin Tianming was a civil official who assisted him in suppressing the rebellion and deserved credit. But whether the Shandong Circuit Inspector was promoted or not had nothing to do with Liu Ye, a mere Guangdong military officer.
He asked suspiciously, "What is your relationship with Inspector Lin?"