1627 Rise of the South China Sea

Chapter 3862

Before the Haihan fleet arrived in Jiujiang, all rumors about the locals' intention to surrender lacked any real evidence. The Three Departments could not simply rely on these rumors to submit a report to the court requesting that the prefect Lu Congshan be punished and that someone else be appointed to replace the local officials in Jiujiang.

Of course, even if the three departments in Nanchang adopted such measures, it would still take at least three or four months to go through all these procedures.

Meanwhile, those in Nanchang probably didn't expect this day to come so quickly. The high-ranking officials in the Three Departments probably thought they had a buffer period to slowly adjust their deployments and wait for Haihan to make a clear move. Little did they know that Haihan's army, once it moved, was determined to take Jiujiang with lightning speed.

According to Lu Congshan, he only notified the officials of Jiujiang, both high and low, one day in advance, giving those who were undecided a choice—either to stay and join Haihan, or to leave Jiujiang on their own.

Officials who chose to flee Jiujiang obviously couldn't have delivered the news to Nanchang in such a short time. By the time Nanchang learned of the changes in Jiujiang through those who had fled there, it would be too late to take any remedial measures.

However, despite this, Shi Chengwu was not blinded by the easy gains. He continued to maintain a cautious attitude and ordered the advance troops entering the city to take control of key transportation routes, high points, government offices, barracks, government warehouses and other special locations within the city. After eliminating the hidden dangers, he would then enter the city with Lu Congshan and others.

Shi Chengwu was not a cautious person by nature. His caution stemmed from a special instruction he received from Shi Diwen during his last trip back to Hangzhou. Shi Diwen instructed him to be careful during the handover process when advancing into Jiangxi, and to avoid putting himself in danger.

Since the probability of the Ming army defeating the Haihan army on the main battlefield was extremely small, as long as Shi Chengwu did not lead the charge, there would not be much of a safety problem for him to sit in the army and command.

Their only chance to turn the tide is to find security loopholes in Haihan's key personnel and create chaos through assassinations. If they manage to succeed once or twice, they might be able to slow down Haihan's operations.

Shi Chengwu took his father's instructions to heart and followed them after arriving in Jiujiang. Unexpectedly, not long after the order was issued, the troops entering the city actually encountered a problem.

During the investigation of key areas, two groups of people were found to be lurking near the government office in the city and in a restaurant, respectively. When questioned by the Haihan Army, these unidentified individuals refused to cooperate, and some of them hastily brandished their weapons, intending to fight to the death.

However, the troops that entered the city first were all elites of the Haihan Army, with rich combat experience in clearing out urban areas. They did not panic at all when faced with such an unexpected turn of events. The officer in charge immediately ordered that the surrounding street intersections be guarded and the traffic in the area be blocked to prevent the enemy from escaping in the chaos.

For the thousands of Haihan soldiers who had already entered the city, these small groups of ambushers were like turtles in a jar; once they were discovered before the operation, it would be difficult for them to cause any greater trouble.

The immediate priority for the Haihan army surrounding them was not to eliminate them, but to capture them alive as soon as possible, interrogate them about their plans, and find out if they had any accomplices lurking inside or outside the city. As long as they could get something out of these guys, the war merits would be theirs for sure.

The battle proceeded without incident. Although these ambushers were equipped with swords, bows, and a small number of muskets, they were clearly no match for the well-organized Haihan army. Several volleys of fire quickly dispelled any hopes they had of breaking out.

The force that had been lying in ambush near the government office quickly lost more than half its men in the battle, and even its commander was killed on the spot. The remaining men knew that they could not accomplish anything and were in a hopeless situation, so they surrendered after being persuaded by the Haihan Army.

Meanwhile, another group of men ambushed inside the restaurant attempted to use the restaurant's environment to hold the upper floors and launch an attack on the Haihan army outside the restaurant from a high vantage point.

But they soon discovered that this attempt was futile, as their weapons were inferior to their opponents in both range and accuracy. Despite occupying the high ground, they gained no advantage whatsoever; in fact, any peek out would make them easy targets for the numerous guns outside. With the ground floor doors wide open and no defensible position, the men, seeing the unfavorable situation, could only retreat to the second floor, blocking the stairwell with tables and chairs, hoping to buy themselves some more time.

But this three-story restaurant was not a sturdy fortress, so how could it withstand an attack from all sides?

Seeing that the people inside were putting up a stubborn resistance, the officer in charge did not want to delay any longer, so he ordered the use of grenades to clear the space upstairs and then launched a full-scale assault.

With a whistle, seven or eight grenades were thrown into the building from multiple directions at the same time. The people inside had obviously never seen such unassuming metal objects before, and before they could figure out what was going on, the grenades exploded nearby.

After a series of explosions, screams of agony rang out, indicating that many people inside the building had been injured.

The Haihan Army outside the building immediately set up long ladders, climbed over the eaves, and stormed into the second floor to clear out the inside.

Amidst sporadic gunfire, Haihan Jin, who had stormed into the building, quickly subdued those who were still able to move. He then swiftly cleared the stairwell and took the few captured survivors downstairs.

The officer in charge ordered a continued search of the restaurant, both inside and out, while simultaneously ordering the prisoners to be taken to Wangjing Gate and handed over to Shi Chengwu for interrogation and further processing.

The ambushers captured from the city, along with the weapons seized, were quickly presented to Shi Chengwu and his men, who then listened to a briefing on the battle from within the city.

Shi Chengwu picked up a waist knife from the captured weapons, examined it, and nodded, saying, "They are Ming army standard waist knives. Quickly arrange for an interrogation to find out who they are."

After saying that, he looked at Lu Congshan and asked, "Lord Lu, do you have anything to add to this?"

Lu Congshan was already ashen-faced, and could only repeatedly say, "This humble official knew nothing about it, knew nothing about it!"

From the moment the gunshots rang out in the city, Lu Congshan had a bad feeling, but he still hoped that there was some misunderstanding that led to the firing.

It wasn't until the Haihan army brought out several prisoners and seized weapons and equipment that the ambush inside the city was confirmed that Lu Congshan was in despair, yet he didn't know how to defend himself.

Even if he didn't know who arranged it, he couldn't escape the responsibility that someone was causing trouble in the city and he, as the prefect of Jiujiang, was completely unaware of it.

Moreover, it is said that there was an ambush force lying in wait near the government office. If Shi Chengwu and other high-ranking officials of Haihan had just entered the city, they would have gone to the government office to take over various documents and archives according to the arrangement. That might have caused a real mess.

If Shi Chengwu now regards him as an accomplice of the ambush, then he will truly have no way to defend himself.