Chapter Thirteen: A Choice! Up!

Haiyang City.
It was undoubtedly an unforgettable day.
As soon as many merchants woke up, they found countless soldiers flooding into the city, carrying numerous flags and scattered military uniforms.
How long had Haiyang not seen such a scene? Two years? Five years?
But for the merchants, there was no worse nightmare than this.
Thousands of soldiers suddenly gathered, coming in groups with muskets to haggle in the shops—nothing short of open robbery.
Although the entire Kingdom of Vietnam was essentially a large military camp, the merchants felt as if each day was an eternity.
Trading with the army often yielded only meager profits or even losses. Worse still, whether they could get their payment depended on the whims of the officers in charge.
Yet the merchants couldn’t turn away these fierce soldiers. After all, although the official army might not be able to defeat the French, the Black Flag Army, the Qing army, or the Yellow Flag Army, it could easily deal with a few powerless small merchants.
It was then that the advantages of adopting foreign religions became apparent. With just a cross hung up and the French tricolor raised, even a commander with five hundred soldiers wouldn’t dare enter.
According to Vietnamese military organization, every five hundred soldiers made up one “chi,” led by a “guan chi.” Each “chi” was divided into ten teams of fifty soldiers each, each led by a team leader.
Haiyang had ten “chis,” totaling five thousand soldiers, but only one-third were actually present on duty. The rest, though registered, could take turns returning to their homes to farm.
But now, with urgent military needs, the various “guan chi” and team leaders were urging all their soldiers to come to Haiyang immediately.
Since Haiyang was a major province in Vietnam, its governor also had authority over the nearby Guang’an Province. Thus, Fan Fushu summoned troops from Guang’an Province to join forces in Haiyang, aiming to wipe out the Liu Zi Camp in one fell swoop.
Vietnamese soldiers, who usually only had six bullets per year, now saw barrels of gunpowder being brought out of the warehouses and distributed to various units. They bet they had never seen so much gunpowder before.
Countless swords and guns, along with many newly made muskets and even a small amount of imported Western firearms, were also supplied to the various “chis” and teams. From Shangguan’s tone, it seemed these weapons would have to be taken back later.
What amazed them even more were the various types of cannons, some of which were old cannons from before the Western Mountain Pretended Dynasty—all highly effective weapons.
They also saw countless distinguished flags. Some were worn out from years of use, but many veterans could tell that some of them dated back to the time when the Holy Emperor conquered the Western Mountain.
Since Li Weiyeh captured Hanoi and Feng Zicai joined forces with the Black Flag Army to defeat the Yellow Flag Army, Haiyang, under French protection, had rarely seen such large-scale military gatherings.
Troops from all directions were continuously arriving. Once they gathered, they would be ready to deal with the Liu Zi Camp.
Sima Tai frowned. He needed to confirm once more: “Are there really that many Vietnamese soldiers coming to attack our Liu Zi Camp?”

Someone else, upon hearing this news, immediately realized it was hopeless and turned to leave right away. But Sima Tai always valued his reputation and preferred to maintain a good image. He had just joined the Liu Camp, yet he would leave because of an attack by a large army—how would others view him then?
“It’s said that ten thousand soldiers are to be sent to attack your Liu Camp!”
What could be done?
Sima Tai was in a dilemma; the strength of the Liu Camp was well known. There were less than a hundred men truly capable of fighting, while their opponents numbered ten thousand. Even a single spit from one of them could drown out the entire Liu Camp.
Indeed, the Liu Camp was well-equipped, with twenty breech-loading rifles, but against ten thousand men! How much effect could twenty breech-loading rifles have? Only heaven knew.
There was no solution to this problem.
“When will the soldiers from Yue Country come to attack?”
“Nearly three thousand soldiers are already in Haiyang City, with more arriving continuously. Once all the troops gather, they will attack your Liu Camp!”
Although he valued his reputation, it was already quite famous, and he had friends everywhere. Even if not, just mentioning his name, Sima Tai, would earn him the title of “righteous man” and polite words from others.
Moreover, his scouting party was excellently equipped—just six people with one Spencer, one Remington, and one Minié rifle, enough to face an entire army.
The reconnaissance went smoothly. He had old friends from the Tiandihui in Haiyang, who immediately investigated the situation inside and outside the city for Liu Yu: “Prepare early! If things get too bad, retreat to Qiongshan or Gaoping! After all, you’ve been too prominent lately—you need to avoid attention!”
After saying this, the Tiandihui leader Cai added, “It’s good to meet you. Here’s something for you too! A foreign missionary named Ruan Youming asked us to deliver this letter to you—please accept it!”
At that time, foreigners didn’t know much about the Tiandihui in Nanyang. After their first encounter, they often thought the Tiandihui was merely an Eastern branch of the Freemasons. But after this misunderstanding, their relationship became much closer, and sometimes they would use the Tiandihui to carry out tasks.
Sima Tai accepted the letter and said respectfully, “Brother Cai, your kindness is immense. Sima Tai is deeply grateful!”
Leader Cai replied, “No need for formalities. I hope you’ll look after us in the future as well!”
The old camp.
The atmosphere inside the stilted house was very tense.
Those present were Liu Yu’s closest confidants and a few who had returned with him to the old camp.
From the start, everyone was shocked by the number of ten thousand.
It was truly overkill—using such a large force to deal with just a hundred people. Under foreign pressure, the governor of Haiyang had deployed ten thousand soldiers to suppress them.
Liu Yu pondered for a while before asking, “As I feared! Those foreigners surely won’t give up easily!”
Sima Tai added, “On this trip to Haiyang, friends from the Tiandihui brought a letter from a foreign missionary. Please take a look, commander.”
Jiang Ningxue interjected, “A foreign missionary? They must have ulterior motives.”
But Liu Yu remained calm. He took the letter from Sima Tai and read it carefully.

At first he remained composed, but after reading a few lines his eyebrows raised. Before long he was gripping the letter tightly, and in the end he threw it forcefully onto the table: “It’s too much! It’s absolutely too much!”