Beiyang Dream

Chapter 72 We have to lure the enemy in and kill them!

As the two were talking, the carriage slowed down.

Chang Desheng snapped out of his daze, lifted the curtain, and looked ahead.

The rubber plantations thinned out here, and a wide-open space opened up before us. In the center of this large clearing stood a small town surrounded by a tall wooden fence. The fence was made of hardwood as thick as a man's embrace, driven deep into the ground and sharpened at the top. It looked quite intimidating, but it was only good for keeping out petty thieves.

The town is small, but well-planned. Through the gaps in the fence, you can see the crisscrossing streets and alleys, all lined with Chinese-style brick and tile houses, white walls and gray tiles, neatly arranged. A clear stream meanders through the middle of the town, spanned by several stone slab bridges.

But Chang Desheng's eyes didn't linger on these sights at all.

His entire focus was drawn to the three enormous structures in the center of the town.

Those are three fortresses (the Hakka people call them "enclosed buildings") standing there in a triangular shape, like three crouching giant beasts.

The first one was the largest, at least four stories high, with walls made of thick, blue bricks. The walls were mottled, riddled with craters of varying depths and…bullet holes. Some parts were old, others worn, clearly having been hit by bullets over the years. The roof was flat, with small watchtowers at each corner, currently deserted. In front of this large compound was a vast, open rammed-earth square, smooth as a mirror, now empty, but still carrying a faint, distinctive smell of sun-dried rubber.

On either side of the square, slightly towards the back, stood two smaller enclosed buildings, similar in style, all with blue brick walls, and similarly pitted and uneven. The three buildings were about a hundred paces apart, each a distinct corner of the other.

"Interesting..." Chang Desheng's "military spirit" ignited instantly, his eyes scanning the three fortified buildings like searchlights, his mind racing:

"The triangular layout actually aligns with the principle of crossfire support. This central plaza, ostensibly a rubber drying area, is actually an excellent firing range; if the enemy rushes in, they'll immediately become sitting ducks!"

"Those bullet holes on the front wall of the Great Enclosure Building... judging from their distribution, the attacks mostly came from the front and sides. The defending troops must have been holding their ground in the building and didn't dare or have the ability to go out and fight in the field."

"This layout...if it can lure the enemy in! Mount a few Maxim guns on top of the three towers, and add two mortars...good heavens, this square will truly become a meat grinder, whoever comes will die!"

As he pondered how to transform this place into a killing ground, the carriage had already passed the rubber drying yard and stopped in front of the largest walled building. The gate was open, and a group of people stood both inside and outside the gate.

Chang Desheng's gaze swept over the area like a scanner, completing the assessment in an instant:

The man leading the group was in his forties. His skin was tanned dark, the color of years of outdoor labor. He had a buzz cut and wore a silk long gown, the material of which was of good quality, but the style was simple. He was a bit thin, and his face was clean-shaven, revealing the handsome features he had in his youth, but now a faint worry lingered between his brows.

"This must be my future father-in-law, Luo Zhenxing. He doesn't wear a queue... Even in Southeast Asia, it's rare to see Chinese people without queues. I wonder if it's a Lanfang specialty, or... he saw through the Qing Dynasty and wanted to break with those Tartars? Yes, this overseas Chinese from Southeast Asia is the mother of the revolution! I heard he spent tens of millions on the revolutionaries! You could say the Qing Dynasty was 'killed by them with silver!'"

Beside Luo Zhenxing stood two women. One was older, around forty, and bore a five or six-point resemblance to Luo Jingrou; though past her prime, she still possessed a certain charm. The other was younger, in her early twenties, pretty, but cautious, standing half a step behind the older woman.

"The older one must be my mother-in-law. The younger one is... a concubine? Or a mistress?"

Beside him stood a young man in his early twenties, who looked very much like Luo Zhenxing, but was more robust and had the same buzz cut, without a braid. He was looking at the convoy with his arms crossed. Behind him was a boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old, who was curiously peeking in. He, too, had no braid.

Behind these men were several middle-aged men who looked like stewards or managers, and further back, about twenty strong, muscular men. All of them had buzz cuts and no braids.

The strong, muscular men were likely Luo's family servants. Most were dressed in short-sleeved shirts, with short pistols (all revolvers) tucked into their waistbands, and a few carried rifles (single-shot breech-loading guns) on their backs. They stood fairly neatly, but their formation was loose and they didn't maintain a proper military posture.

Chang Desheng's gaze lingered on the group of "guards" for a couple more seconds, then glanced at the thick, silent brick wall of the surrounding building behind them, riddled with bullet holes...

I couldn't help but laugh.

"This walled compound is sturdy, and its triangular layout is quite interesting... but look at these old men guarding it!"

"They mainly use short-range pistols, which have limited range and poor sustained firepower. Long guns are scarce and of mixed types, and the ammunition is probably not interchangeable. As for the number of men… I see about twenty, so the total is probably only three or four hundred? Their training level… tsk, probably about the same as the Sultan's guard." "Guarding this 'gold mine' with just a hundred or so ragtag soldiers and a few dozen old guns? No wonder there are so many bullet holes in the walls! How many times have they been ambushed in their own home?"

"Luckily, I was there. Otherwise, with this little capital, if the Sultan really went all out, bringing in his thousand guards and two Dutch cannons... this 'gold and silver sea,' and the people inside, would probably really have to change their names."

"But this is also an opportunity... If that damned Sultan's forces have already invaded many times, then the chances of them being tricked into coming to these three walled cities again have greatly increased! But how to trick them...?"

As he was pondering this, the carriage door behind him slammed shut.

Luo Jingrou jumped out of the car like a swallow, lifting her skirt, her face flushed, and ran over.

"Father! Mother! Brother! Aunt! Younger Brother!"

She called out in clear Hakka dialect, throwing herself into the older woman's arms, then turning to hug Luo Zhenxing's arm, laughing and crying at the same time. After exchanging a few pleasantries, she suddenly remembered something, released her father, turned and pointed to the carriage where Chang Desheng was, her face flushed: "Father, this is Zhenbang, he is my...my..."

She hesitated for a while, too embarrassed to say "fiancé," and finally blurted out a string of titles:

"He's a top student from the Prussian War Academy! A member of the Beiyang clique! A fifth-rank official! He's here to help Father fight the Sultan!"

Zhang Bishi got out of the car with a chuckle and pulled the still somewhat dazed Chang Desheng forward.

Shang Dequan, Wu Dingyuan, Kong Qingtang, and Duan Qirui also got off the carriage one after another and stood by the carriage, not immediately following. Their eyes also keenly scanned the small town in the rubber forest, the wooden fence in front of them, and the guards, and finally they exchanged a glance.

The meaning in his eyes was very similar to what Chang Desheng had just been thinking:

"Such a wealthy place..."

"This is all the defense you've got?"

"If this were our estate..."

"How many layers of barbed wire should be erected? Where should the machine guns be positioned? Where should the mortar positions be placed?"

Unbeknownst to them, these four had already entered the mindset of professional soldiers, and had even adopted a World War I mentality!

At the same time, the old-fashioned steamship "Borneo" from Singapore, like an old ox struggling to breathe, slowly approached the creaking wooden pier at Pontianak Wharf, puffing out black smoke.

The ramp lowered, and passengers and laborers surged down in a chaotic mass. Among the crowd, fifteen or sixteen burly men stood out. They wore mismatched short-sleeved clothes, but their steps were steady, and their eyes, scanning the surroundings, carried an air of menacing menace. Leading the way was a short, stocky young man in a linen suit, exuding a menacing aura—it was Uchida Ryohei. Beside him followed a bespectacled, seemingly refined middle-aged man—it was Yamazaki Kozaburo. On the dock, an older man dressed as a samurai approached. He had a buzz cut, but his temples were already white, his wufu (traditional Japanese clothing) was faded from washing, and he carried a sword. However, his demeanor exuded a sense of destitution. His name was Yamada Jubei, a former leader of the Genyosha (a secret society) planted in Pontianak, now mainly making a living as a bodyguard for various "foreigners" and handling shady dealings.

"Mr. Uchida, Mr. Yamazaki." Yamada Jubei bowed slightly, his voice hoarse.

Without wasting words, Yamazaki Kozaburo lowered his voice and asked, "Have Zhang Bishi's men arrived yet? Are there any young women in kimonos among their entourage?" "They've arrived," Yamada Jubei nodded, his tone certain. "Zhang Bishi came personally, with quite a entourage. As for the woman in a kimono... yes, there is one, very young, accompanying the motorcade."

Ryohei Uchida, who had remained silent until now, adjusted his glasses. His gaze swept across the chaotic crowds and piles of cargo on the dock, finally settling on Jubei Shimazu's face. His voice was as calm as if he were asking for directions: "Where did they go?"

Yamada Jubei raised his hand and pointed to the depths of the lush rubber forest in the northwest.

"Little Lanfang, this is the Luo family's territory."

Ryohei Uchida gave a soft "hmm" and didn't ask any more questions.

The target was confirmed, and the location was also clear.

The remaining question is how to lure the "snake" out of its hole, or... simply dig up the hole.