Chapter 958: Where Should a Naval Base Be Built?
At Huikou Town's docks, the situation was decided almost in an instant.
The Wanli Sunshine reclaimed the harbor the moment it arrived.
The imperial troops trailing behind took one look and instantly understood. That was one thick thigh worth hugging.
The Caijiang naval soldiers who had just moments ago been too afraid to advance suddenly found their courage. They followed behind the Wanli Sunshine, howling as they charged forward. Their voices were loud, but in reality they still kept a certain distance from the real fighting. It was just like street brawls, where the ones shouting the loudest always stayed in the back, while the ones in front said nothing and swung their blades.
The Wanli Sunshine held position at the docks, suppressing the river bandits.
Only then did the Caijiang navy finally dare to approach the shore. The garrison soldiers aboard their boats leapt onto land in quick succession.
Although these garrison troops were as weak as chickens, their arrival still had a noticeable effect on the overall battlefield.
Inside Huikou Town, the militia's morale soared. The local gentry defending the walls shouted loudly, "The imperial troops are here. The imperial troops are here. Hold on. Victory is close."
The militia fought with renewed vigor. The civilians assisting them worked even harder, hauling rolling logs, boulders, boiling oil, and scalding water up onto the town walls without pause.
On the bandit side, a trace of panic appeared as well, and their assault slowed.
The bandit commander was known as the Prince of Taiping, a historical figure and a favored general under the Eight Great Kings. He had once followed the Eight Great Kings in attacking Fengyang and even participated in digging up the Zhu family's ancestral graves. He was a ruthless character.
He turned his gaze toward the docks. The first thing he saw was the towering, imposing Wanli Sunshine.
"Damn," the Prince of Taiping said in shock. "The Yangtze really is something else. Compared to the Yellow River where we used to roam, this place is on another level. Are all the ships here this big?"
One of his subordinates wiped sweat from his brow. "Boss, even on the Yangtze, ships like that do not exist. No idea where it came from."
The Prince of Taiping narrowed his eyes. "That ship looks dangerous. Even the Huangmei river bandits ran the moment they saw it."
"Boss, it really is dangerous. The entire deck is packed with musket troops."
At the words musket troops, the Prince of Taiping frowned deeply.
This was not the first time the Eight Great Kings' forces had fought musket units.
During their long years of rebellion, they had encountered the Gao Family Village militia more than once. The earliest clash dated back to the battle at the Longmen Yellow River Bridge.
At that time, the Prince of Taiping's unit had been in the vanguard attacking the bridge. His men had propped up the corpses of their fallen comrades as human shields and charged forward, only to be beaten back by Cheng Xu's reinforcements.
The memory jolted him awake.
"Damn it," he said sharply. "Could it be those strange musket troops again? Listen carefully. Pay attention to the interval between their musket volleys."
He pricked up his ears.
Soon, after a burst of musket fire, there was only a brief pause before the second round erupted.
The Prince of Taiping slapped his thigh. "It is them. No doubt about it. Only those bastards can fire muskets with intervals this short."
A subordinate asked anxiously, "Boss, what do we do now?"
The Prince of Taiping rolled his eyes. "Withdraw."
The bandit forces surrounding Huikou Town immediately pulled back, retreating northward and away from the Yangtze.
The Gao Family Village militia could not stray too far from their ship. If they abandoned the Wanli Sunshine to pursue the bandits on land, and the Huangmei river bandits returned and seized the ship, that would be disastrous.
Reluctantly, the militia withdrew and remained to guard the ship.
The Caijiang navy also stayed aboard their own boats.
This should have been the moment for the Anqing garrison troops to give chase. Unfortunately, their morale was abysmal, and their fear of battle overwhelming. They had neither the courage nor the ability to pursue.
All anyone could do was watch helplessly as the Prince of Taiping's forces fled toward Longgan Lake and Daguan Lake in the north.
Shi Lang gripped his spear and took several steps forward, intending to chase them. After only a few strides, he realized no one was following. He turned his head and saw that the imperial troops were only shouting, their feet firmly rooted in place.
His body seemed to freeze.
After a long sigh, he lowered his head and walked back to Shi Kefa's side. In a low voice, he said, "Lord Shi, I finally understand why the bandits are never fully eradicated, and how they always manage to escape from the imperial army."
Shi Kefa replied quietly, "You understand now? After experiencing this again and again over the years, I have gradually come to understand it as well."
Shi Lang clenched his fists. "If the imperial troops were willing to fight, how could the bandits possibly survive?"
Shi Kefa let out a long sigh. "It is not that simple. The Tianzun once said that banditry is not a military problem, but a social problem. I agree deeply."
Shi Lang stared at him in confusion.
Shi Kefa patted him on the shoulder. "You are still young. You cannot understand this yet. Just remember one thing. Military problems can be solved through fighting. Social problems cannot. Even if we chased down the Prince of Taiping today and wiped out this entire band, as long as the social problems remain, another group of bandits will emerge in a matter of days. If not in the east, then in the west. There will be no peace."
Shi Lang truly did not understand, but it did not matter to him.
What he wanted was simply to be a soldier. Soldiers did not concern themselves with abstract problems. Soldiers cared only about how to win battles. Win, and you were a good soldier. Lose, and you were not. It was that simple.
In his eyes, the imperial troops were clearly not good soldiers.
The militia on this side, however, shone brilliantly. They were exactly what soldiers should be.
Not long after, everyone returned once more to the Anqing garrison.
Shi Lang stood before Jiang Cheng and Tie Niaofei for the second time.
"Instructor Jiang, I have made up my mind."
"Oh?" Jiang Cheng smiled. "And what have you decided?"
Shi Lang spoke seriously. "I want to join the militia."
Jiang Cheng laughed. "You are most welcome. Very well. Starting tomorrow, you will begin with ideological education classes."
Shi Lang froze. "What? Not training?"
"No, no," Jiang Cheng said, shaking his head. "I already told you. We have many rules here. The first rule of joining the militia is to complete ideological education. Anyone who fails that class does not even earn the right to touch a musket."
Shi Lang broke into a cold sweat.
It was precisely because he disliked studying that he had gone to practice martial arts. He never imagined that he would end up sitting in a classroom again.
Awkward. Extremely awkward.
That night, Shi Lang stayed in the camp. He was assigned a tent and a standard militia uniform, but no musket or ammunition.
He also experienced the Gao Family Village militia's special ration, luncheon meat.
To him, its appeal far surpassed that of smoked cured pork.
Children favored luncheon meat. That was true not only in modern times, but even in ancient ones. Shi Lang was still a child, after all. In his eyes, smoked cured pork was nothing special. His family had plenty of it. Luncheon meat, on the other hand, was unbelievably delicious.