There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 112: Four-sided Han Song
The next day.

Xing Zhao took his personal soldiers and climbed up the city wall again. He had to come back. If he didn't come back, it would be tantamount to forcing the Qing soldiers to rebel.

However, he still took some remedial measures. This time he came up and carried several large boxes of silver and copper coins.

These were the wealth Xing Zhao had accumulated through plundering and corruption during his more than a year as the general of Jingzhou. After deducting the silver that should have been handed over for criminal offenses, there were still tens of thousands of taels left.

Now, in order to survive and to defend the city of Changde, we have no choice but to spend all the money.

With such a huge reward, I don’t know if there are any brave men who can take on the challenge, but at least Xingzhao is safe for the time being.

"General, the rebels' cannons are powerful and our city defense artillery can hardly resist them. What should we do?" De Fu stepped forward and asked with a bow.

Xing Zhao stood on the city wall and looked out. Although it was quite far away, the Han army's artillery was huge, obviously much larger than the artillery of Changde Prefecture, and the barrel was much longer.

Xing Zhao looked at it for a while and asked, "Can we go out of the city and seize the rebels' cannons?"

De Fu shook his head: "We can't get out. We can only hold on to the city by relying on our own strength. Besides, it's hard to say whether our army can defeat the rebels."

It was said very bluntly and ridiculously, the officers and soldiers were no match for the rebels, and this was admitted by their commander.

Xing Zhao's face darkened: "What about blowing it up with gunpowder?"

"..."

De Fu was speechless. Didn’t you understand what I just said? I said that we can’t defeat the rebels. If we could go over and blow up their cannons, I guess they would have already shot through the rebels. Is there still a need to blow up the cannons?

Xing Zhao seemed to realize that he had spoken out of turn. In fact, he was in a state of confusion. He had not slept well the whole night because of Fu Zhi's hurtful words yesterday.

Xing Zhao thought over and over but couldn't come up with any good way to break the deadlock. His artillery was under pressure and his troops were stretched thin, only slightly more than the Han army.

But the Qing army's strength was too mixed, and their training and combat effectiveness could not be guaranteed. If they really wanted to go out of the city to fight, even if there was a god of war, they would fail, let alone them?
How to do?
Go out of the city to attack at night? A night attack is a sure thing. Since ancient times, night attacks have been able to turn the tide of war, and there are basically only a handful of them.

If we fail, there will be big trouble.

Without giving Xing Zhao time to come up with a solution, the Han army had already pushed out the artillery and started bombarding the city again.

"Boom boom boom!"

Five guns, firing in sequence.

After firing a cannon, the barrel is immediately cleaned and reloaded. The next cannon fires next, and so on, continuing the bombardment uninterruptedly.

The destructive power is not great, but it will make the Qing army nervous, and there is no guarantee that a shell will fall.

The Han army's artillery took turns bombarding, and the other men were not idle either.

Under the cover of cannons, the laborers carried bags of mud and sand to fill the moat. Among the laborers, there were also some who were good at carpentry work, and they all went to cut trees to build siege equipment.

A large number of simple wooden ladders and grappling hooks were built, as well as wooden shields made from house door panels. Because Changde Prefecture had few firearms, and even if there were firearms, most of them were bird guns, door panels might not be able to stop bird guns, but they could still block bows and arrows, kerosene, and gold juice.

The Han army launched an attack on the city, and the Qing army certainly could not just sit there and watch. The silver that Xing Zhao had given them before was at least of some use.

"Shhhhhh!"

Archers immediately shot arrows towards the city, trying to stop the civilians from filling the city.

After just a few rounds of arrows, cannons were aimed at them. Several shells came down one after another, and soon one of them hit the parapet.

The parapet is fragile and can block arrows but not cannonballs.

The shells hit and smashed the parapet.

The Han soldiers switched to more bouncy spherical shells, which bounced off the city wall several times, killing and injuring several unlucky Qing soldiers.

"Shhhhhh!"

"Boom boom boom!"

The Han soldiers destroyed a Qing archer's hiding place on the city wall, then turned the gun barrel and aimed at the next archer's hiding place.

After a day of continuous bombardment, the Han soldiers lost more than a hundred civilian laborers who were filling the city, and the Qing army also lost more than a hundred archers.

In the end, the Qing soldiers and archers didn't dare to stick their heads out.

Archers are much more difficult to train than gunners. Even if Xing Zhao is stupid, he knows that he cannot waste them like this.

The Han soldiers defeated the Qing archers and then acted completely unscrupulously in the following days, bombarding the Changde city walls indiscriminately.

Changde Prefecture is located along the Yuan River. It is also an important city in Hunan and has an important military strategic position. It takes several days just to fill the moat.

On the third day of the bombardment and filling of the city, Fu Zhina returned, still fully dressed and wearing the Manchu cotton armor.

The speaker in my hand is also set to automatically record and play in a loop.

Xing Zhao couldn't bear it any longer, because he had no money left. If he continued to endure it, he was really afraid that these Manchu soldiers and Green Camp soldiers would join forces to rebel and kill him here.

Xing Zhao personally led a group of Manchu soldiers, intending to leave the city to attack the Han army's artillery unit.

As soon as the Qing army left the city, they were discovered by Han army lookouts.

"The Qing dogs have left the city!"

"Crossbowmen, get ready! Load!"

Thousands of Han soldiers armed with crossbows lined up neatly beside the moat.

A large number of Green Camp cavalrymen who were charging forward were shot off their horses on the spot.

Xing Zhao's mind cleared instantly, he reined in his horse, looked around carefully, and then retreated in shame. He didn't even dare to take a detour. The Qing army in the city was too mixed, and even he himself was not confident in bringing the Manchu soldiers out. Instead, he brought half of the two families out together.

When they returned to the city, the losses were not great, with only a few Green Camp cavalrymen killed.

The morale of the army in the city plummeted again. Even the Manchu soldiers who had suffered no losses no longer showed the respect they had shown to Xing Zhao two days ago. Instead, they looked at him with meaningful eyes.
Xing Zhao remained calm and continued to live on the city wall every day. He summoned civil and military officials such as Hu Wenquan and Defu to discuss how to defend the city.

"General, Taoyuan and Longyang counties are gone."

"what?"

Xing Zhao was somewhat shocked and asked quickly, "How were they lost? These two counties at least have city walls. Even if we recruit soldiers to defend the city, we can buy some time. If the rebels want to capture them, how can they do it without sending thousands of soldiers?"

The messenger replied, "The rebels only sent out a hundred or so men to attack the city walls, but the Longyang County Magistrate was killed by the Dianshi, who then opened the city walls and surrendered. The Taoyuan County Magistrate even abandoned the city and fled, his whereabouts unknown, and the county itself was lost with him."

"Good good!"

Xing Zhao's veins popped out when he heard this and he wanted to curse, but he couldn't help it.

Hu Wenquan and Defu next to them were also silent.

Longyang and Taoyuan are located on the edge of Changde Prefecture. The fact that these two counties were able to "hold on" for so long was considered a sign of the rebels' slowness.

But similarly, Taoyuan and Longyang counties were lost, the road to the west has been blocked by rebels, Lizhou in the north is also the rebel territory, to the east is Dongting Lake, further east is the rebel Yuezhou, and to the south is Changsha which has been lost.

Well, Changsha was lost, that’s a fact.

In the past few days, Xing Zhao tried to deceive the soldiers, saying that Changsha must still be there. The rebels had to work hard to capture Changde, so how could they break through Changsha so quickly?
However, as the military intelligence from Changsha was sent over via telegram, it was relayed by Fu Zhina using a loudspeaker.

Changsha was lost, it was indeed lost, even Hu Wenquan could confirm it.

Because the rebels actually invited Luo Dian, the old principal of Yuelu Academy, to write a letter of persuasion for them. The content of the letter was very brief, but Hu Wenquan and others knew as soon as they heard it that the person who wrote the letter of persuasion was extraordinary in literary talent and rich in experience.

Changde Prefecture has enough money and food, but its military force is stretched thin, and now it is surrounded by rebels on all sides.

"We are surrounded by rebels on all sides. This is the sound of the Chu Song! I still miss Xiang Yu, why did he refuse to cross the Yangtze River?"

Xing Zhao thought of the King of Chu for no reason and felt that he was even more miserable than the other because the King of Chu simply refused to cross the Yangtze River to the east, not because he could not cross the "Jiangdong".

The Yuan River was blocked by bandits from Dongting Lake, so he couldn't get out at all. He was also surrounded by rebels on land, and was surrounded like a dumpling.

"boom!"

As soon as a shell fell, there was a loud sound of bricks breaking. It turned out that this shot had actually created a crack in the city wall.

It's only been a few days! The rebels' artillery is too sharp.

Xingzhao's face became increasingly gloomy. The Manchurian officers, including Defu, were at least somewhat polite, but the officers from the Green Camp and the Brave Camp came up directly and demanded to see Xingzhao.

Under normal circumstances, it would be considered a blessing if these Han officers who dared to offend the Eight Banners were not beheaded in public.

The Yuan River was blocked by pirates. It was certainly possible to force our way out, but there would be heavy casualties and we wouldn't be able to get far.

Retreating by land was possible, but the city's baggage and food could not be taken with them. This was because if they wanted to take the baggage with them, they would have to bring a large number of civilians with them, and with so many civilians, they would become a big target, making it impossible to retreat.

Moreover, the Qing army was too disorganized, its morale was unstable, and it was getting lower and lower. If they really had to retreat, who would cover the rear if the entire army retreated together?

It was impossible for the Manchu soldiers to cover the rear. If the Green Camp and the Brave Camp were to do so, they would probably mutiniate on the spot. Even if they could retreat, if the Han army gave them even a little chase, they would probably start a civil war, and even the Manchu soldiers might abandon him as a general.

Because Fu Zhi said that as long as the Han army surrendered, they would spare their lives.

If I had said this at any other time, I guess the Manchu soldiers wouldn't have believed it.

But now, Changsha is gone, Fu Kangan is dead, Changde Prefecture is surrounded by the Han army, and the "Han" songs are heard from all sides.

"boom!"

Another shell came, making Xing Zhao tremble with fear.

At this moment, a messenger suddenly came from afar. The messenger was dusty and looked like a servant, but he had a braid on his head. He took a small path and entered the city from the side in a basket.

Hu Wenquan couldn't wait to ask, "Who are you? What military information do you want to share?"

He really didn't want to hear any more bad news, but God seemed not to be doing what he wanted.

The messenger angrily replied, "I am the long-time attendant of my master, the magistrate of Yuanjiang County. The rebels attacked Yuanjiang County. The wealthy families and yamen runners in the city colluded to deprive my master of his power and demanded the city walls surrender. Unwilling to endure the humiliation, my master drowned himself in a well. The rebel general, grateful for my loyalty, released me to report the news."

Okay, now I’m completely heartbroken!
This is not a gratitude for loyalty at all, it is clearly to break the city and then drive people over to tell them that Changde is already an isolated city.

The Han army will be here soon and eat Changde Prefecture like dumplings.

Defu came over at this time and said, "General, Changde can no longer be defended. If we retreat to Chenzhou now, we can still rely on Chenzhou to hold on. Also, please ask General He from Xiangxi to march north. With the loss of Changde, Chenzhou is in imminent danger. Even if General He is very cautious and self-protective, he cannot sit idly by!"

Xing Zhao thought about it and nodded, "Okay!"

If we withdraw now, we certainly cannot withdraw the entire army, so there is no doubt about how many people can be withdrawn.

As for the Green Camp and the Brave Camp in the city, it’s none of the Manchu soldiers’ business!

(End of this chapter)