Chuang Tatian was so furious he almost burst out laughing.
"A few fishermen? Have they gone mad?" he sneered. "I may only have rafts, but look at this scale. A thousand men spread across the river as far as the eye can see. Do a few tiny fishing boats really dare to show off in front of me?"
He barked an order.
"If they come closer, greet them with arrows."
One of his bandits hesitated. "Right away. But… Boss, we can barely keep our footing on these rafts. Our arrows might not hit anything."
Chuang Tatian snorted. "Then have more men shoot at once. Someone's bound to get lucky."
The rebels prepared themselves but continued paddling forward.
The river here was about a mile wide. Crossing on rafts took time. They rowed hard, grunting with effort, yet they had not even covered half the distance.
Suddenly, the small boats that had been watching them began cheering.
"They're here! They're here!"
Chuang Tatian frowned. "Who's here?"
A subordinate pointed with a trembling hand. "Over there… a fleet!"
Chuang Tatian turned and was instantly shocked.
From downstream, a large fleet was approaching. At the very front were three strangely shaped vessels. They had no sails and no oars, yet they moved at incredible speed.
Behind them came a chaotic mix of ships.
Imperial river patrol boats. Merchant cargo vessels. Fishing boats of every imaginable size and design.
Before the fleet even arrived, voices roared across the water.
"Villains, don't even think about crossing the river!"
"You will never ravage the southern bank of the Yangtze!"
"Go feed the fish at the bottom of the river!"
Chuang Tatian's heart sank.
Just moments ago, he had thought a thousand men on rafts looked impressive. Now they seemed like nothing more than a cluster of shrimps in open water.
"Retreat! Back to shore!" he shouted desperately.
He did not even need to give the order. The rebels were already turning around.
Only a fool would try to fight proper ships with makeshift rafts. They were northern Shaanxi soldiers. Fighting a naval battle on the Yangtze against southerners was pure madness.
"Run!"
Each man flailed his wooden plank wildly, paddling with all his strength.
But rafts were slow.
The fleet surged forward.
"Fire arrows!"
The rebels shot desperately.
But the rafts rocked violently. They could not steady themselves. Their arrows flew weakly and wildly, landing without force.
Crash!
Gao Family Village's electric boats were the first to ram into two rafts.
The rebels were thrown into the water, splashing frantically.
"Cast the nets! Haul them in!"
"Don't waste these labor reform candidates!"
"Good workers for repairing river embankments!"
Gao Family Village had already stepped into the industrial age. Their demand for labor far exceeded that of a simple farming society.
Seeing so many strong young men struggling in the water, how could they let such manpower go to waste?
Large nets were cast from the ships, scooping rebels from the river like fish. One sweep brought in a full catch.
Chuang Tatian stared in disbelief.
He had assumed these were imperial troops intercepting them.
Now he realized something was different. Imperial troops would not be so eager to capture prisoners alive.
"Who are they?" he muttered.
"Boss! Look! Their ships carry a multicolored flag!"
Chuang Tatian's face changed.
"The firearms unit?"
A chill ran down his spine.
They had shown mercy.
If those large ships had opened fire with their strange weapons, blasting at the rafts without restraint, his men would have had nowhere to hide.
The electric boats set the example. The imperial patrol ships and the requisitioned civilian vessels followed suit.
Larger boats rammed and overturned rafts, then cast nets.
Smaller boats could not ram safely, or the rebels might board them.
So they used different tactics.
The fishermen stripped off their shirts, revealing dark, muscular bodies.
One of them laughed loudly.
"Back in my day, I had a nickname too. 'Wave Tumbler' Little Zhang Shun! Let me show you what twenty years of river fishing can do!"
With a splash, he dove into the water.
In a single breath, he was already beneath a raft.
The raft began to shake violently.
The northern soldiers had never seen such a method. Terrified, they screamed as the raft rocked wildly.
Soon it flipped.
The soldiers fell into the water. After swallowing too much river water, they lost consciousness and were dragged onto boats, bound up one by one.
Chuang Tatian knew it was over.
He slowly raised his hands while standing on his raft.
"I surrender! I surrender!"
---
Meanwhile, Shi Kefa's detachment advanced with extreme caution.
Unlike the other two routes, he had neither multiple Gao Family Village generals nor elite units like the First Battalion.
He had to be careful.
Scouts were sent far ahead.
Hot air balloons floated constantly overhead.
They did not aim to slaughter large numbers of enemies. Their task was simply to prevent any rebel force from escaping through their sector.
Whenever they reached a village or small town, Shi Kefa would first order the construction of defensive works before advancing further.
"Report!" a scout announced. "Zuo Liangyu has appeared in Yingshan County. He defeated Chuang Tatian and absorbed five thousand of his men. His total strength now exceeds fifteen thousand."
Shi Kefa snorted.
"Though numerous, they are rabble. His true fighting force numbers only three thousand from his core troops. The rest are not worth fearing."
A subordinate spoke carefully.
"Commissioner Shi, while we also have over ten thousand men, our truly capable fighters are only the thousand Gao Family Village militia. The rest… are not worth fearing either."
Shi Kefa fell silent.
That was awkward.
"Report! Zuo Liangyu is advancing toward us. His scouts have already located our position."
For all his flaws, Zuo Liangyu was still a major Ming general. His grasp of strategy was solid. Once his scouts confirmed Shi Kefa's position, he acted immediately.
Soon, a messenger arrived.
"Commissioner Shi," the envoy said coldly, "as Governor of Anlu, you have abandoned your post and entered Huguang stirring up trouble. How is this different from rebellion? If our general reports this to the imperial court, you will face serious consequences."
Shi Kefa scoffed.
"You hoard troops for personal gain and harm the people. Of your men, how many are soldiers and how many are bandits? I have come to Hubei to suppress bandits. That includes both you and the rebels."
After a heated exchange, both sides understood there would be no peaceful resolution.
War was inevitable.
With fewer capable troops, Shi Kefa dared not launch a frontal assault.
He studied the map and pointed west of Yingshan County.
"Baimao Town. We will establish our defensive line there and meet Zuo Liangyu's challenge."