There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 183 There are so many smart people

Where is E Hui?

"Governor...Governor had already fled last night, before the heavenly troops could surround him."

Which direction did they escape in?

"No... I don't know. It's too dark. We don't know where the governor escaped to."

"..."

Yang Fang was speechless. Looking at the two captured Qing generals in front of him, he realized that all his efforts in using Hanchuan County as bait had been wasted, and he had still managed to get rid of the big fish.

There was nothing we could do about it. It was already late at night, and we couldn't see anything. We relied on a few torches to launch a night raid and encircle the Qing army. It was already quite an achievement that we were able to surround them.

It was inevitable that some would slip through the net. They simply tossed a torch, steeled themselves, chose a direction, and charged headlong into the fray. Two thousand Han soldiers were left with no choice but to give chase.

The fierce battle lasted all night, and the results and casualties are as follows:

The Qing army numbered over 20,000, with 1673 killed and over 3800 wounded.

Including the wounded, a total of more than 13,000 people were captured.

This casualty rate is somewhat strange. In reality, more than half of the Qing army's casualties had nothing to do with the Han army. They were all caused by the Qing army's own chaotic collapse in the dark, resulting in a chain reaction of casualties.

There were still many Qing soldiers, and it was impossible to contain them all; no one knows where they disappeared to.

The total number of troops involved in the battle, including the Han army and the 500 garrison troops from Hanchuan County, was more than 2500.

28 dead and 83 wounded.

The casualties mainly came from the positional warfare on the city walls. Those three thousand Eight Banner soldiers were quite capable, not the mediocre ones in the local Manchu city. There were even some Manchu Baturu among them. They were indeed capable fighters.

The Han army had only 500 soldiers in Hanchuan County. The Qing army suddenly launched a massive attack and even cut off the city's defensive lines. No matter how capable the Han soldiers were, they would eventually become fatigued after repeated night battles, resulting in casualties.

Yang Fang glanced at it briefly, then used the radio to send the battle report compiled by the clerk to Hanyang Prefecture, informing the General.

The Han army had just won a great victory, and they would certainly reward those who had contributed. At the very least, their achievements would be recorded and they would be rewarded and promoted according to regulations later. However, last night's night battle was too chaotic, and no one could see anyone else. It was only thanks to the excellent qualities of the Han soldiers and Yang Fang's timely command that they were able to lead them in a pincer attack and achieve such a great victory.

Of the 13,000 Qing soldiers captured, after counting those who died in battle over the next few days and those who went missing and couldn't escape, it was considered a stroke of luck if E Hui could leave with 4,000 of them.

Moreover, most of the 3,000 Eight Banner soldiers had been left behind, and those who were not left behind had left behind their warhorses.

Twenty thousand Qing troops attacked, and in one night, more than eighty percent of them were lost. Even if E Hui could safely return to Xiangyang, let alone escape, his position as governor would likely be over.

Returning to the matter of tallying battle merits, Yang Fang couldn't decide on the distribution of those merits. Because the fighting last night was so chaotic, the soldiers had no way of saying who killed how many Qing soldiers or captured how many.

Upon receiving the telegram, Nie Yu carefully considered and discussed the matter, and after reviewing Yang Fang's attached suggestion: "Since it's impossible to determine the exact number, let's divide the spoils according to the positions held! Those who died in the siege will be credited as soldiers of Lin Hu's battalion, and the spoils can be divided equally per head. As for those who died outside, regardless of how they died, they will all be credited as soldiers outside, and the spoils will also be divided equally per head. Prisoners will be divided equally between those inside and outside the city. The soldiers inside the city also bore the pressure of defending the city and served as bait."

Two days later, the Han army had almost finished resting and was discussing their next strategic deployment.

Stopping is definitely not an option. Although Hanyang and Wuchang have been captured, they are only captured. These two prefectures are now like enclaves, with only Hanchuan and Jiayu, the two riverside counties, truly having changed their banners and submitted to the central government.

As for the other counties, they changed their flags and banners, but they completely ignored the Han army. At most, they were using the Han army's banner as a pretext to carry out rebellion and separatist activities.

Nie Yu didn't have time to deal with these clowns for the time being. Anyway, he had already controlled the Yangtze River waterway. As long as he had enough food and supplies, he could easily take over these counties with a single army.

Now, he has to get the Han River waterway open first. The Qing troops in Hanyang Prefecture have been eliminated, and Hanyang is now nominally under the "Han" name. The next one to go is Anlu Prefecture to the west.

Once Anlu Prefecture was opened up, the waterway connecting Xiangyang and Wuchang would be cut off, and Jingmen, Jingzhou, Hanyang, and Wuchang could be connected into one area, so there would be no need to worry about being surrounded by the Qing army and turned into an enclave.

After several discussions, Nie Yu first ordered Bai Nan in Jingmen via radio to have his Second Division act as the main vanguard and directly attack Anlu Prefecture City from the east.

Meanwhile, Lei Dabiao and Yang Fang also advanced by land and water, each leading a combined force of 5,000 men from both land and water, and marched along the Han River to conquer the three southern counties of Anlu Prefecture.

With attacks coming from three directions, Anlu Prefecture could no longer be saved.

Hu Qilun, the prefect of Anlu, was completely unaware of this. This guy was quite interesting. Although he was a corrupt official, he later clashed with the provincial governor over the unequal distribution of spoils, which directly led to his own downfall.

But he was very lucky. When the case came to light, it was already the mid-Jiaqing period, and Jiaqing was powerless against official corruption. Fortunately, Hu Qilun's corruption wasn't too large, so he was only briefly implicated and then easily dismissed, successfully getting away with it.

Emperor Jiaqing even "praised" Hu Qilun, saying, "Local officials in various provinces are accustomed to following the old ways, and those who can even slightly abide by the law and perform their duties are already rare." Once the decision was made, speed was of the essence.

The Qing army's rations were insufficient, and the Han army's rations were also not very plentiful.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have only mobilized 20,000 troops to attack Wuchang, 8,000 of whom were naval forces, serving as escorts for warships, troop transports, and grain transports throughout the campaign.

Two days later, the Han army set out.

The Han River waterway is all about speed and surprise.

The Qing army was defeated too quickly, and they didn't even have time to sail away. There was no way they could get back to Anlu Prefecture. Even if they were lucky enough to get back, it would be difficult to give Anlu Prefecture time to prepare for the defense of the city.

With 5,000 Han troops deployed by land and sea, they could easily capture the three southern counties of Anlu and then join forces with the Second Division to besiege Anlu Prefecture.

If Anlu is captured, Xiangyang will be cut off, and De'an will also be blocked.

The vast Hongshan Mountain range trapped the Qing army in De'an Prefecture, leaving them unable to move.

Good news keeps coming.

That afternoon, Zou Lang, the acting magistrate of Xiaogan County, arrived in Hanyang as a messenger.

"You defeated the remnants of the Qing army?" Nie Yu asked, somewhat surprised.

Zou Lang said, "General, not only that, but this contains the head of E Hui, the Governor-General of Huguang. Please take a look!"

Having said that, he presented the wooden box he had been holding for a long time. When he opened it, there was indeed a head with its eyes wide open in death. Nie Yu couldn't tell whether it had the Heavenly Mark or not, but the haircut of the rat tail was very standard, clearly belonging to a Manchu Eight Banners.

Nie Yu did not suspect that the other party was lying on purpose. Xiaogan County was not captured by the Han army, but by the peasant army itself. Even Zou Lang, the magistrate of Xiaogan County, was the first rural scholar to lead the peasant army in rebellion.

This guy was very clever. As soon as he saw the defeated Qing soldiers appear in Xiaogan County, he immediately deduced that the Qing army had probably been defeated.

It was still a crushing defeat, a complete disaster!
Zou Lang made a quick decision and decided to take the risk, sending a grand pledge of allegiance to the Han army.

He first took the initiative to remove the Han flag, then personally went out of the city pretending to be the registrar of Xiaogan, and humbly invited E Hui, the governor-general of Huguang, to come into the city to rest.

Although E Hui felt something was wrong, he had been on the run for several days and nights and was exhausted, with no energy left to calm down and think. In addition, due to the lack of information, he still did not know whether Hanyang and Wuchang were still there.

Not long after E Hui entered the city, the Qing troops outside did not receive any food or drink as a reward. Instead, they were greeted by Zou Lang leading more than a thousand rebels out of the city, carrying red banners with Chinese characters.

"Kill!"

"The great man is victorious!"

"The Governor-General of Huguang, E Hui, is dead! Surrender now!"

The shouts of killing were numerous, but the last one was the most lethal. E Hui was killed just like that, and his head was hung on the flagpole and waved by Zou Lang.

The Qing army consisted of routed soldiers who had fled overnight and were already exhausted. Upon hearing that "Han troops" had emerged from Xiaogan County and had even killed the governor, they all became extremely nervous.

The two thousand or so defeated soldiers who had been painstakingly gathered were utterly routed.

No one bothered to maintain formation or resist; all the Qing generals were running away as fast as they could.

Most of the defeated Qing soldiers scattered and fled. Since they were all locals, and Hanyang was their hometown, they figured they might as well take advantage of the army's defeat and return home to live honest, law-abiding lives. Only a fool would continue to fight and risk their life for the government!
Nie Yu accepted E Hui's head and also took a county town for free.

The news of Xiaogan County's surrender and the Qing army's crushing defeat spread quickly, partly due to the active promotion of the news by Xiaogan County Magistrate Zou Lang.

First, the rebel army in Huangpi County on the north bank of Wuhu Lake was so frightened that it took the initiative to surrender. The rebel leader, who was also the magistrate of Huangpi County, followed Zou Lang's example and personally came to Hanyang to pay homage to the general.

Next, Yingcheng County, north of Santai Lake.

Upon hearing that tens of thousands of imperial troops had been defeated and even the governor-general had been killed in battle, the magistrate of Yingcheng County did not send a message to inform the prefect of De'an. Instead, he took the silver and valuables he had saved over the years, disguised himself, and fled the city.

Wow, that was so decisive!

Although Yingcheng County is very close to the Han army, it is still a county under the jurisdiction of De'an Prefecture. The Han army has no plans to send troops north for the time being, but this guy ran away very fast.

(End of this chapter)