There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 164 Bombarding Hanyang
Hanyang was indeed doomed to fail, because the garrison in Hanyang was even smaller than that in Wuchang. Even with all his might, Zhang Wuwei, the prefect of Hanyang, could only muster about three thousand soldiers to defend the city.

When Huiling was governor, there should still be tens of thousands of soldiers. After E Hui arrived, he dismissed all the unqualified, old, and weak soldiers, leaving less than a third of the barely usable young and strong new recruits.

Nie Yu's strategic goal for this expedition across the Yangtze River was to capture Wuhan and Xiangyang, forcing the main Qing army force in Xiangyang to make a decision.

Either the Qing army was unprepared and launched a decisive battle with the Han army.

Either the Qing army continued to huddle in Xiangyang, watching as the Han army divided Hubei into three parts, further reducing the Qing army's room for maneuver in Hubei.

There's no difference between the two; one dies young, and the other commits slow suicide.

After several days, at Hanyang Wharf.

The Han army that landed and set up camp here had exceeded 10,000 men. The Han army did not bring many civilian laborers, but instead took from the local people, using money and food to hire local people around Hanyang Prefecture. There were also many military clerks who went up to the people to publicize the Han army's policies.

Many of these military clerks had previously served as land distribution officials, had gone to the countryside to distribute land, and had resolved disputes among the people. They were already very skilled at communicating with the people.

Although most people were skeptical or doubtful of the policies promoted by the Han army, there were always some who were willing to believe them, and with those who were skeptical, there were quite a few people who were willing to believe them.

Moreover, even if the people did not trust the Han army, they still had to trust the food in the hands of the Han army. By helping the people to cut down trees and dig ditches, they could receive a daily ration. What a good thing!
"What are the traitors doing?"

"Your Excellency, the rebels seem to be supplying food to the people and recruiting them as laborers to help them cut down trees and dig trenches..."

On the city wall of Hanyang, Zhang Wuwei stared at the people outside the city working hard for the rebels, but he felt little anger. He simply sighed, "The rebels have some clever methods!"

The advisor standing beside him asked in confusion, "Why do you say that, sir?"

Zhang Wuwei smiled bitterly: "Even the rebels know that if they give the people food, the people will be willing to work as laborers for them. But I, as an official appointed by the court, not only do I not give the people a single grain of rice, but I also rob them of the little food they have left to eat. Master Hou, tell me, what does this mean?"

Master Hou seemed to understand somewhat, and he replied woodenly, "Traitor...traitor, are you taking yourselves for government officials?"

Zhang Wuwei then asked, "If the rebels are the government, then what are we?"

Yes! The rebels are treating themselves like government officials, so what are they, as government officials?
When Master Hou thought of this, he felt a chill run down his spine and quickly stopped himself from thinking about it: "My lord, please rest assured, no matter how many tricks the rebels have, they are still rebels after all. When the imperial army arrives, they will surely be wiped out!"

Zhang Wuwei didn't dwell on the topic and instead asked, "Has the Provincial Governor indicated when troops will be sent to rescue us?"

Hou, the advisor, replied, “The governor said that we must wait for the right opportunity. The rebels on the river have not yet all gathered. Once the main force of the rebels has gathered, the governor will personally lead a large army across the river to attack. Together with our Hanyang Prefecture, we can not only wipe out the rebels, but also catch them off guard.”

While saying they would wait for an opportunity, Zhang Wuwei didn't completely sit idly by. He couldn't stop the Han army from continuing to recruit civilians and laborers. So he simply assigned all three thousand new recruits he had to garrison the city walls.

Subsequently, he overruled objections and opened the Hanyang treasury, taking out all the stored grain and money to reward the soldiers defending the city. At the same time, he recruited a large number of able-bodied men from the city, making all the people contribute to collect excrement, kerosene, boulders, and other resources. Even the wealthy and powerful families in Hanyang were "voluntarily" asked to contribute manpower, money, and grain to help defend the city.

In just a few days, the number of troops defending the Hanyang city wall had rapidly expanded from more than 3,000 to more than 6,000.

Nie Yu observed the city walls through his binoculars and couldn't help but chuckle, "Hanyang City can no longer be defended!"

Zhang Wuwei did his best and worked very hard to defend the city, but an amateur is still an amateur. Defending a city is never just about having a lot of soldiers.

Having more troops seems to increase the chances of winning, which aligns with the principles of military strategy. However, the premise of using troops correctly is that they must be elite troops, or at the very least, regular troops that obey orders without question.

In contrast, what kind of quality do the garrison troops in Hanyang have?
The three thousand regular soldiers were all newly discharged recruits, so they were obedient and didn't need much supervision; they could barely understand commands. The other three thousand were quite remarkable, as they were all able-bodied men recruited by Zhang Wuwei through a temporary, unauthorized opening of the granaries, and were no different from laborers.

Although he provided ample funds and provisions under his strict orders, laborers were still laborers, no matter how much money and provisions they received. Apart from being good at eating, their fighting ability was almost non-existent, and they would probably struggle even in a favorable battle.

Moreover, the army was expanded to more than 6,000 men at once, and all these able-bodied young soldiers were brought up to the city wall for defense.

The entire city wall was almost too small to stand on. The Qing army officers and their soldiers were all greenhorns who had no idea how to deploy troops and stand guard.

When there were only 3,000 men, they could barely manage. Now that the number of troops has more than doubled and they have all come up to the city walls to defend the city, the defense has suddenly fallen into chaos.

It wasn't just a short section of the city wall where dozens of young, strong recruits suddenly gathered, all clueless about what to do and unable to find their superiors. It was just a small section of the city wall with only a few scattered recruits, standing there bewildered and lost.

Zhang Wuwei was completely unaware that he had messed up. It was already quite good that he could withstand the pressure, open the granaries to distribute food and recruit soldiers. Asking him to deal with the chaotic situation of the city wall garrison was just asking the impossible.

Fortunately, the chaos did not last long, as the Han army was preparing to attack the city.

That morning, the bugle call to assemble sounded in the Han army camp.

"Dudududuwuwuwuwu~~~~~"

"Dudududuwuwuwuwu~~~~~"

The bugle calls were rhythmic and carried far, even startling the Qing soldiers who were dozing on the walls of Hanyang. One of them, still sleepy, looked out of the city and saw the Han army gathering in front of their camp.

"The rebels have gathered their troops! The rebels have gathered their troops!"

"..."

After a few shouts, the entire city of Hanyang was instantly thrown into chaos, with Qing soldiers running around and shouting everywhere.

Before long, Zhang Wuwei, dressed in the official robes of a prefect, went up to the city wall to observe the enemy situation.

Outside Hanyang, the Han army had almost fully assembled, a vast, dark mass, easily numbering in the tens of thousands. At the center of the army's formation stood a large red flag, fluttering in the wind, a truly imposing sight.

Zhang Wuwei's gaze did not linger on the banner for long, because he saw the Han army's cannons; the Han army had indeed brought out those massive siege cannons.

The cannon was huge and long, several times larger than the red-coated cannons he had ever seen before. Where did the rebels get such a big cannon?

Zhang Wuwei's lips had turned somewhat pale, but he forced himself to remain calm and casually ordered, "Order the soldiers to prepare to defend the city!"

The rewards Zhang Wuwei had given to the troops were still somewhat useful. Now, upon hearing the prefect's order, the able-bodied laborers on the city wall hurriedly began moving huge stones, logs, and other supplies. Qing soldiers also set up pots on various sections of the city wall and began boiling broth and kerosene.

Thick, foul-smelling smoke billowed from the city wall, causing even the Qing soldiers responsible for cooking to vomit repeatedly.

"boom!"

Suddenly, one of the cannons used for the defense of Hanyang fired.

As expected, they didn't even touch the Han army, because they were too far away. The Han army hadn't even started advancing yet. It was obvious that the Qing army's artillerymen were inexperienced and made an operational error, which led to the accidental firing of a shot.

Nie Yu raised his hand and ordered, "Pass down the order to have the artillery battalion fire!"

"The General has ordered the artillery battalion to fire immediately!"

After the messenger used a walkie-talkie to adjust the channel to the artillery battalion, he immediately relayed the military order to the artillery battalion.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Han army brought only a little over 10,000 troops with them when they crossed the river to launch this expedition, but they brought a lot of cannons, including five siege cannons and thirty-five red-coated cannons.

Five giant cannons and thirty-five cannons were all aimed at the walls of Hanyang and unleashed a barrage of fire.

The last time the siege cannons were used was during the attack on Changsha. Since then, they have never had a chance to be used. Either the city was captured in one fell swoop, or the Qing army surrendered on its own initiative. The cannons never got a chance to show their power.

Now, the giant cannon can finally make its appearance. After firing the first shot, the gunners who operated the giant cannon immediately recorded the angle data and then recalculated and adjusted it.

The remaining dozens of artillerymen quickly cleaned the gun barrels and then reloaded the shells and gunpowder.

"Boom boom boom!"

With the second salvo, the Qing soldiers standing on the walls of Hanyang were no longer visible; they were all stunned, wondering where the rebels had gotten such powerful cannons.

Not only could it shoot from a great distance, but it was also incredibly powerful. In the first salvo of five heavy cannons, only one shell hit the city wall, but it still managed to shake the wall violently, causing the plaster and bricks to crack and fly everywhere. This frightened Zhang Wuwei, the prefect, so much that he ran down from the city wall.

After firing two rounds of shells, the Han army artillerymen finally found the right angle, and then five heavy cannons and thirty-five cannons took turns firing at the walls of Hanyang.

A cannonball hit the city tower where Zhang Wuwei had been standing, shattering the stone bricks and even causing the windows to collapse. Luckily, Zhang Wuwei ran fast enough.

Several more shells either hit the parapet or flew over the city wall and crashed into residential areas.

The cannonballs that hit the parapet were smashed to pieces on the spot, and the Qing soldiers hiding behind them were crushed into mincemeat by the enormous kinetic energy of the cannonballs.

Those who fell on houses and residences suffered even greater misfortune, with entire areas of houses collapsing.

The Qing army's artillery also attempted to retaliate, but to no avail. Firstly, the Qing artillerymen were all new recruits with no experience. Secondly, the Qing artillery barrels were too short, resulting in poor accuracy and insufficient range, making it impossible for them to exchange fire with the Han army's artillery.

After a day of continuous bombardment, the Qing army's artillerymen suffered heavy casualties. The surviving artillerymen either ran away or hid, too afraid to fire.

The Qing army was completely overwhelmed by the entire Hanyang city wall, while outside the city, under the cover of Han army fire, a large number of recruited Hanyang laborers were carrying various materials to fill in the moat of Hanyang city.

(End of this chapter)