There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 148: Abstract Siege Warfare (with a map)
The Qing army was defeated in Madi Town, and tens of thousands of troops were wiped out. The battle report was quickly transmitted back to Chenzhou Prefecture.

When Jiang Sheng and Liu Junfu received the news, they were still drinking and eating in the government office. Suddenly they heard such terrible news.

Jiang Sheng asked in disbelief, "Didn't General Eldengbao command tens of thousands of troops? How could he be defeated? And how did he lose?"

The Qing soldier who escaped back shook his head: "No, I don't know. I was just in the rear army when I suddenly heard people shouting and killing, and then everyone started to run away. I had no idea what was happening, so I could only follow them. As we were running, the rebels started chasing us. Luckily, I ran fast..."

“Stop… stop!”

Liu Junfu quickly raised his hand to stop him and asked, "Where are the three generals? Where are they now?"

The Qing soldier replied, "Ah? Oh, you are talking about the Manchu general up there, right? I'm not sure, but I noticed the big banner inside seemed to have fallen, and someone was shouting that the general was dead..."

"..."

Liu Junfu's pupils shrank instantly, and he and Jiang Sheng looked at each other, and they saw the solemnity in each other's eyes.

The banner has fallen, and regardless of whether Eldengbao and his men are truly dead or not, the situation is unlikely to be very good.

This is no longer a major rout, but rather a total annihilation of the army.

After the Qing soldiers retreated, Liu Junfu was silent for a long time before asking, "Master Fuhe, the army on the front line has been defeated. What should we do now?"

Jiang Sheng didn't say anything because they had no choice.

What else could they do? Either surrender, flee, or defend the city; all three options would ultimately lead to death.

Surrendering could save their lives temporarily, but Emperor Qianlong was mean and ungrateful, and was always harsh on Han officials. If they really dared to surrender, once the court had suppressed the rebellion, they would be lucky if they were not tortured to death by slicing, and even their families might be implicated.

Run away? Running away would be the same, and even shorter than surrendering, because Jiang Sheng was the governor of Hunan, and Liu Junfu was the admiral of Huguang. Both of them had the responsibility to defend the territory. Most of Hunan was lost, and even the provincial capital of Changsha was gone.

In this last Chenzhou, if they dared to run away, Qianlong would kill all nine generations of their clan with a knife and let them reunite as a family in the underworld.

As for defending the city, that is even more nonsense. So far, Chenzhou has only recruited more than 2000 soldiers, and they are all young and strong militiamen who were newly recruited not long ago.

It’s hard to say whether they can fight, but they are all very good at eating.

More people does not necessarily mean more strength, but more people definitely mean a bigger appetite!

Seeing Jiang Sheng silent, Liu Junfu probably knew what he was thinking. He couldn't help but curse, "This Eldengbao is simply an idiot among idiots. That's an army of 60,000! Even if you take into account the civilians, there are still 40,000 combat-ready soldiers. How could they lose? And lose so miserably!"

Jiang Sheng did not pursue Liu Junfu's angry words that were so disrespectful to the Manchus, because he also wanted to curse the mothers of Eldengbao, Mingliang, Delentang and others.

Forty thousand troops are already twenty times the strength of the Qing army in Chenzhou. Even if they were forty thousand pigs, it would take the rebels several days to catch them all, right?
"Ugh!"

Jiang Sheng suddenly sighed, then put on the official hat on the table and straightened it.

"Pass on this order from the governor. Effective immediately, all officers and soldiers below will be given double-ringed military gifts. Wine and meat will be distributed among the soldiers. Those defeated soldiers who fled south... will all be secretly executed!"

Liu Junfu was stunned: "Do we really want to defend the city?"

Jiang Sheng replied calmly, "If we don't defend the city, what will happen to our families and wives?"

Liu Junfu fell silent for a moment. Both of them were high-ranking officials, and the cost of surrendering or escaping was too high.

As far as they are concerned, they can no longer bear the responsibility for this crime. Even if they die for the city, they still cannot bear it.

Jiang Sheng said, "Chenzhou cannot stop the rebels, but even if Chenzhou is reduced to ruins, we cannot just hand it over to the rebels. If we report this to the court, the guilt for the loss of our territory will hopefully be mitigated."

"..."

……

The next day.

Yang Fang's army arrived very quickly, because speed is of the essence in war. The Guizhou soldiers under his command did not even change into the Green Camp's uniforms and armor, as they also wanted to try to see if they could still break into the Chenzhou city.

"Tsk, still a step too slow!"

Yang Fang took a telescope and saw that the walls of Zhanzhou were full of defenders. They also saw this "Green Camp" and refused to open the city gate.

Jiang Sheng and Liu Junfu have already agreed to rather die than surrender. At least even if they don't have any merit, they can at least have done some hard work.

Seeing that the deceptive city could not be opened, Yang Fang did not attack the city immediately, but instead set up camp under the city, surrounding the city with three sides and one side. Then, it was the same old trick, and he had Fu Zhina's slave army ride up and call for surrender.

"I am Fu Zhina, the general of the Eight Banners, from the Manchu Plain Red Banner. My ancestor, Hesheli, was the empress of Emperor Kangxi. All the pseudo-Qing garrison officers and officials in the city, listen up! If you surrender the city, everyone will be spared!"

Well, it is true that he was spared the death penalty, but he could escape the punishment of living crime.

The Han army had now become a force to be reckoned with. Even tens of thousands of Qing troops in western Hunan were annihilated. A Mongolian guard commander (Delentai) was killed in the battle, and more than 2,000 Baturu guards were killed, wounded, and captured.

As for these Manchu officials and generals who surrendered, there was no need to spend a fortune to buy their bones as before. Even if we did so in the past, the bones we actually bought were of low-ranking officials who surrendered without much guilt.

There is no need to chop off the real evildoers, as this would be a waste of manpower, and it would be too easy to just chop off their heads. It would be better to send them all to mine and build canals, or follow the General's Mansion to open up the most desolate land, and work for the Han army's anti-Qing cause until death, squeezing out all their remaining value.

They kept shouting back and forth like this for an hour, but not a single guard on the city wall dared to shoot. Not only did the guards themselves not dare, but even Jiang Sheng and Liu Junfu did not dare either.

This is a Manchu! He is a genuine member of the Eight Banners. Even if he turned against the enemy, he is not something that these lowly Han officials can kill.

If they really killed one of them, even if they defended the city, the court would probably not reward them, but would instead punish them for the crime of disobedience.

Yang Fang grinned. He was really disgusted when he was guarding Chenlong Pass before. Now the offensive and defensive positions have changed, and it is finally his turn to disgust others.

On the first day, Yang Fang did not attack the city. He just asked the slave soldiers to take turns to shout and persuade the enemy to surrender, and they did not stop until the loudspeakers ran out of battery.

On the second day.

"The whole army attacks the city!"

Yang Fang officially launched the siege. Thousands of Guizhou soldiers and hundreds of Manchu slave soldiers, all carrying simple siege ladders, launched a charge.

Jiang Sheng and Liu Junfu were stunned. The rebels had no moral principles and actually allowed the Eight Banners to participate in the siege.

"Don't shoot arrows! Don't hurt the nobles of the Eight Banners!"

When Liu Junfu saw that some soldiers were about to shoot arrows, he quickly waved his hand to stop them. These arrows were indiscriminate, what if they hurt Mandarin?
Too abstract!

They were already attacking the city and fighting, yet they were still doing this. They were obviously not afraid of death, but were still afraid of hurting the Manchu.

Because of Jiang Sheng and Liu Junfu's hesitation, the militia defending the city couldn't fight properly at all. They couldn't shoot arrows, and they had to watch out for people when throwing rocks and logs. How could they fight a chicken?
Less than half an hour into the siege, Guizhou soldiers had already scaled several sections of the city wall.

Although they were quickly driven back, Yang Fang had been observing the battle and knew that the defenders could no longer hold out. He immediately drew his sword and shouted, "My men, follow me to take the city!"

This guy actually led hundreds of Guizhou soldiers from his own unit all the way to the city wall and climbed the wall towards the chosen target. The guards there were already exhausted after being charged by the Guizhou soldiers twice in a row, and they saw someone trying to force their way up again.

A long spear stabbed towards him. Yang Fang dodged it with a quick move, holding the sword in his mouth. Then he flipped over with one hand, picked up the machete and cut off the wooden handle of the spear before he could retract it.

"kill!"

Yang Fang killed the stunned guard with a single blow, then shouted, "Long live the Han! Those who kneel down and surrender will be spared!"

"The great man is victorious!"

"Those who kneel down and surrender will be spared!"

Yang Fang's personal soldiers followed him up the city wall, and then rushed into the group of defenders, hacking at them indiscriminately and shouting loudly.

Now, the defenders completely collapsed!
They were originally a group of militia recruited temporarily, with poor combat capabilities and no training. They relied entirely on the money from the governor and the admiral to support them.

Now, the rebels have climbed up the city walls, but they are not allowed to shoot arrows. They cannot hurt the Manchus in the battle, so what’s the point of fighting!
The defenders could no longer bear it and saw that Yang Fang and his personal soldiers were not easy to deal with, so they ran away immediately.

As soon as they ran, the other guards saw them and ran after them.

As they ran, the entire section of the city wall collapsed. Yang Fang stretched out one arm and led seven or eight personal soldiers to chase after hundreds of people.

There were also people who were not afraid of death and rushed forward with their swords, but were chopped into two pieces by Yang Fang with one sword.

What a powerful force! The defenders were completely frightened.

(Sphere of Influence Map)

(End of this chapter)