There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 169 War is rising everywhere
The Han army divided its forces to attack Wuchang, but the actual number of troops deployed was not large.

Not counting the naval forces that were cooperating with them, Yang Fang's land forces numbered only a little over three thousand, all of whom he dragged into the Qing army's position to launch a strong attack on Snake Hill and Drum Tower.

As for the task of sealing off the city gates and guarding the surrendered Qing soldiers, it was temporarily handed over to Lei Dabiao's sailors.

These sailors were not skilled in combat and were not well trained, but at least they were wearing standard military uniforms and carrying standard armor, so they looked quite intimidating and could easily deter these weak and surrendered Qing soldiers.

Wang Xichen and Wu Shengqin led the way, carrying the deranged Chen Wangzhi away. All the officials in Wuchang, including Zhang Zengyong, the prefect of Wuchang, followed suit and fled.

There was no other way. If they had surrendered before the Han army marched into Wuchang, it would have been considered a meritorious act. Even if they had committed many evils in the past, this great merit of surrendering the city would have been enough to atone for their crimes, otherwise it wouldn't have been fair.

Even if we concede a step, the Han army has already stormed into Wuchang and defeated and annihilated their main force, leaving only half of the northern city of Wuchang. At this point, if they could defect on the front lines, it would at least be considered abandoning the darkness and embracing the light, and their lives should not be in much danger.

But now, the battle of Snake Mountain has been lost beyond any hope of victory. Three thousand against three thousand, they are completely outmatched. Why not run away? Are they going to stay and wait to die?
In an effort to mitigate their punishment, these Wuchang officials fled with Huiling and Chengde, who were under house arrest. Both were members of the Eight Banners; one was a genuine Manchu from the Eight Banners, and the other a noble Mongol from the Eight Banners.

Even if they were killed in battle, or even captured, their crimes would not be small.

If we take them along, we'll be in the same boat. Even if we don't share glory and shame, we've still saved the Eight Banners and atone for our sins. Then we can pin the blame for the lost cities and territories on that madman Chen Wangzhi, making it a complete fabrication, and that shouldn't be a problem.

I have to say, that's a pretty clever plan!
Taking advantage of the Han army's attack on Snake Mountain, all the Wuchang officials still in the northern part of the city fled. They ran away very quickly and decisively, not even taking much of the silver they had embezzled while in office in Wuchang.

Yang Fang was already very fast and very bold, but she was still a step too slow in the end.

The Han army was small in number and did not employ a strategy of encircling three sides while leaving one open; all its forces were focused on the main attack on Wenchang Gate. This was because there were mudflats there that allowed warships to land, and the Qing army's river defense fortifications were not densely packed.

Although there were also Han troops stationed at Wusheng Gate to the north, they were mostly small scouts whose main role was to monitor and prevent the Qing army from taking risks and launching a surprise attack from behind.

Yang Fang had already deeply understood the principle that one must be cautious in military affairs and that an arrogant army will surely be defeated. His arm injury had only recently healed and was not yet fully recovered.

Because the scouts watching Wusheng Gate were all Han scouts, they suddenly saw hundreds of Qing soldiers fleeing in panic from the city gate, and most of them scattered. It seemed that there were also quite a few puppet Qing officials among them.

The Han scouts couldn't stop them, so they could only quickly report to Yang Fang.

After this back and forth, by the time Yang Fang made her deployment and divided her forces to pursue, it was already too late.

But it doesn't matter anymore. These Wuchang officials can run away, but Wuchang and Hanyang, two important towns along the river, can't. The tens of thousands of Qing troops they abandoned can't escape either.

Although these tens of thousands of Qing troops were of poor fighting strength, it depends on who they were compared to.

Compared to the Han army, these Qing soldiers were naturally a rabble, but compared to the White Lotus rebels, their fighting strength was at least evenly matched.

If you encounter a capable general, such as E Hui or Ming Liang, who leads the troops, the win rate can be 60-40%.

The puppet Qing officials in Wuchang fled, but they lost tens of thousands of troops. Such a large army cannot be conjured up casually.

The food, armor, and supplies for tens of thousands of troops alone would be an astronomical sum, not to mention the time and effort required to train them—all problems that cannot be avoided in the short term.

The Qing troops in Wuchang and Hanyang were not strong fighters, but at least they could understand the flags, knew how to draw a bow and arrow, how to use swords, and knew that fighting involved killing people. Once the officers gave orders, they had to do what they were told.

If we were to recruit laborers, we could certainly gather tens of thousands of people in a short time, but what do laborers know? If a war breaks out, they'd be lucky if they didn't run away immediately.

By evening that day, Yang Fang had basically cleared out the northern part of Wuchang, leaving few Qing soldiers remaining. After the officials of Wuchang fled, the Qing army, having completely lost its leader, either scattered and fled as well, or simply knelt down and begged for mercy from the Han army.

The Qing troops who fled or surrendered have been uniformly designated as prisoners of war and imprisoned together with the main force of tens of thousands of Qing troops in the southern district, and all their weapons and armor have been confiscated.

The siege of Wuchang lasted two days, which seems to be one day longer than the siege of Hanyang, but that is not the actual calculation.

Because of the attack on Hanyang, the Han army landed and set up camp south of Hanyang city in advance. Then they first cut down trees to make siege weapons, and then recruited Hanyang people to work as laborers to help build and dig trenches and fences, and prepare various siege materials.

After more than half a month of preparation, the Han army launched a general attack on Hanyang City. However, after only one day of siege, the city of Hanyang was surrendered by the Hanyang gentry.

The Han army took less than two days from landing to breaching the city of Wuchang.

This is still due to the special terrain of Wuchang Prefecture City. It was built on a hill, and the city center was directly divided in two by Snake Mountain, which divided the complete prefecture city into two and a half cities in the middle.

With Wuchang and Hanyang prefectures already captured, Nie Yu took advantage of this opportunity to launch a westward attack on Hanchuan County.

Hanchuan County is located on the north bank of the Han River. If Hanchuan County is captured, the Han army's navy can easily deploy along the Han River, and can either advance westward to attack Anlu Prefecture or retreat to block the only waterway passage for Xiangyang to go south.

Yang Fang and Lei Dabiao led two thousand soldiers by water, but before they even reached Hanchuan County, they received news that the gentry and farmers of Hanchuan had joined forces in rebellion, the county magistrate had been killed, and the registrar had surrendered. The gentry of Hanchuan sent a scholar with only a dozen or so farmers to meet them several miles outside the city: "Welcome, Great Han Heavenly Army! Hanchuan County has been captured by us; we request that the Great Han Heavenly Army proceed to take it over!"...

Hanchuan County is not an isolated case; Huangpi County is located in the northern part of Hanyang.

A country scholar who had failed the imperial examination rallied hundreds of tenant farmers with a single call to arms, shouting in his thickest rural dialect, "Fellow villagers, the Han army in Jingzhou has already captured Hanyang and Wuchang. They are no match for even 100,000 government troops. We can't survive in this world anyway, so why don't we join them in taking over the county town and joining the Han army?"

……

Xiaogan County.

Xiaogan County is very close to Hanchuan County. A down-on-his-luck scholar from the countryside of Xiaogan County heard the news that Hanchuan County was about to rebel and join the bandits.

They also mobilized the tenant farmers in Xiaogan, killed the landlords, and followed the Han army's land redistribution policy they had heard about, distributing land to the tenant farmers who had started the uprising. In a short time, they raised an army of thousands of tenant farmers and surrounded Xiaogan County.

Upon receiving the news, the magistrate of Xiaogan County took the embezzled silver and disguised himself to escape from the city before the peasant army besieged it.

……

Jiayu County.

The magistrate of Jiayu County, having grasped the situation, quickly changed his allegiance and sent the prepared grain, fodder, money, and goods to the Han army in Hanyang and Wuchang prefectures by civilian boat. He also dispatched his trusted advisor as a messenger to Jingzhou Prefecture to express his intention to submit to the Han.

……

Xianning County.

The remnants of the Ma'anshan rebels, who had previously failed in their rebellion and fled, suddenly appeared out of nowhere and raised the banner of the Han army. They recruited soldiers and horses along the way, preparing to attack Xianning County.

……

Puqi County.

It's a little better here, but in the countryside, landlords are being massacred and their entire families wiped out by their tenants who have instigated rebellions.

Many landlords did not have fortified villages, so they could only flee to the county town with their silver and families. The magistrate of Puqi County did not intend to surrender, but he did not know what to do.

……

Tongcheng County.

Chongyang County.

Tongshan County.

Even Mianyang Prefecture.

Tenant uprisings were breaking out everywhere, or gentry were rallying together to rebel.

Although these rebel armies all flew the banner of the Han army, and some, like those in Hanchuan and Jiayu, voluntarily changed their flags and joined the Han army after the uprising, it is clearly unlikely that they were the popular supporters of the Han army.

The Han army captured the two prefectural cities of Hanyang and Wuchang, almost annihilating the Qing army in both prefectures. This was partly due to the fact that the people under the rule of the two prefectures were living in dire straits.

Half of the province was in turmoil due to the White Lotus Rebellion, which meant that half the province was unable to provide normal tax revenue. In addition, the 100,000 troops supporting the Xiangxi army in their fight against the Miao people had just been deployed. The people of Hubei had almost no time to catch their breath.

As soon as Governor Huiling returned to Wuchang, he began to exploit the remaining half of Hubei's population, especially the people of Wuchang and Hanyang, who were close to the Yangtze River and were the hardest hit by the levies imposed on them.

With an army of over 100,000, plus the money embezzled by officials, it can be said that this half-province and several prefectures have been almost completely drained of its last drop of blood by the pseudo-Qing government.

Because the exploitation was so severe, many gentry could not bear it. At least half of the scholars and the lower and middle-class gentry were able to reconcile with their tenants and rebel against the government.

There were simply too many counties that rebelled one after another, and the Han army was struggling to keep up. Fortunately, Hunan had been almost entirely occupied by the Han army, and although Wuchang Prefecture was adjacent to Jiangxi, it was separated from Jiangxi by the Mufu Mountains.

With this natural barrier, it would be difficult for the Qing army in Jiangxi to advance north. The only Qing army that could come would be those from Anhui. Therefore, the Han army could take over these new territories at its own pace.

(End of this chapter)