There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 193: They're all noobs!
Chuang Potian died in Guidong County. The routed soldiers were pursued all the way by the local militia of Guidong. Most of them fled into the mountains, while some escaped back to Ling County.

The defeated soldiers had barely returned to Ling County and hadn't even had a chance to catch their breath when they were ordered to immediately rush to the aid of Chaling Prefecture.

There was nothing we could do; plans couldn't keep up with changes, and the Han army attacked.

King Shajin was currently in Chaling Prefecture, anxiously awaiting the daily military reports, as if he were an ant on a hot pan.

"That guy surnamed Nie is so unethical! We're all brothers fighting against the Qing, he's his general and we're our kings who kill everyone, we agreed to keep to ourselves and not interfere with each other, but now he suddenly comes to attack our Chaling!"

As soon as Kill King finished speaking, one of the bandit leaders sitting around him, Winged Tiger, said, "King Kill King, the Han army didn't attack suddenly. They sent messengers to persuade us to surrender."

King Shajin sneered repeatedly: "Persuade to surrender? Heh, you actually believed that nonsense? Surrender and you'll save your life? What a joke!"

Another leader, Hunshimo, said, "What else can we do if we don't surrender? Fight the Han army to the death? You know how powerful the Han army is, just like how they killed the King! Besides, he's not a general anymore, he's the King of Han now. I've heard from the scholars under my command that the title of King of Han isn't just a nickname we use."

King Shajin was speechless after being rebuked. He wanted to take out his knife and kill someone, but none of the people present were people he could kill; they were all leaders of the rebel army in the city.

They were trapped inside Chaling City, unable to leave even if they wanted to, as the Han army's camp was right outside the city. Chaling's geography was unique, surrounded by water on three sides, with only one side facing the direction of Hengzhou Prefecture.

The Han army had just blocked this escape route to the bandits of Chaling, leaving them with no way to leave.

Not to mention that Kill King was cursing and swearing, the other bandit leaders who were having a meeting in the hall were also quite frustrated.

Because the Han army really came suddenly. The messenger had just delivered the letter of surrender, but was then driven out of Chaling City by the King of Shajin, who was cursing and swearing. The main force of the Han army arrived shortly after, not giving the King of Shajin any time to escape.

The one leading the raid was no ordinary person, but the Han general Chen Younian, who was rumored to be extremely capable in battle, possessing the courage of ten thousand men.

Sending such a great general, even though the Han army outside the city numbered only two thousand, at most one-tenth of the rebel army inside the city, still prevented King Shajin from moving. He could only frantically order his men to break through the siege and seek reinforcements from You County and Ling County.

……

Meanwhile, the King of Shajin of Chaling was completely blocked by Chen Younian with only two thousand soldiers, and could not move.

Go north past Wugong Mountain, and you'll reach You County, where the bandit leader is called "Mantianfei" (meaning "Full Sky Flying").

In the previous battle of Anren County, he led more than a thousand men and forcefully defeated Wu Jun, a Han army commander who had slaughtered tens of thousands of the king's troops. Now, he has been promoted to commander and commands more than two thousand soldiers.

Upon receiving Chen Younian's order, Wu Jun led his troops to set up an ambush at Wugong Mountain in advance, hoping to capture and eliminate Mantianfei from You County.

They waited and waited, but the messengers were deliberately let go. Why haven't they come yet, even though they're flying all over the place?
Wu Jun couldn't wait any longer, so he swept through the villages and towns of You County. He killed any bandits he saw, released all the land-allocating officials and town heads who had accompanied the army, and helped the local people form a farmers' association to redistribute land and register households in You County.

The scouts sent out to investigate reported back when the army was halfway there.

"Report!"

"The city gates of Youxian were wide open, and the bandits were nowhere to be seen. It is said that the local people said that the bandits were flying all over the sky and seemed to have fled eastward."

Wu Jun was speechless, clearly not expecting Mantianfei to run away so decisively.

As expected, they are all bandits. When their allies are in trouble, they not only remain unmoved, but they actually abandoned their allies and ran away.

In reality, Mantianfei had no idea that Shajinwang was besieged. After the messengers were released from Chaling, apart from Zhen who went to Ling County, the rest all ran away. Mantianfei only learned of the Han army's deployment and, after observing for a few days, Zhen discovered traces of the Han army in front of Wugong Mountain.

He didn't care about anything else at that moment, decisively abandoned You County, and fled eastward into Wugong Mountain to become a bandit.

To conquer the world and overthrow the Qing Dynasty?
That's something the Han army should do. Even his daydreaming, murderous older brother Wang isn't qualified, let alone a nobody like him.

With the enemy flying away, Wu Jun decided to stop worrying. He sent a thousand troops south to meet General Chen, while he himself led the remaining thousand troops to continue his slow and methodical sweep of You County.

As for the county town, it's been ravaged by bandits so many that it's practically crawling on mice. It doesn't matter whether you take it sooner or later.

……

Ling County in the south.

The bandit leader here, Yitiaolong, already knows about Chuang Potian's defeat and death, and has also received an order from Shajinwang to return to Chaling to provide reinforcements.

At first, as the most trusted brother of the King of Killing All, Yitiaolong was still willing to obey orders and sent a force north to rescue Chaling.

As a result, the reinforcements scattered halfway there. They had heard that they were going to fight the Han army, and what kind of people were the Han army? They were the ruthless guys who had defeated 100,000 government troops.

I heard that the current general of the Han army has even called himself the King of Han, and this King of Han seems to be even more powerful than their King of Slaughter.

What's the point of fighting then?
Even if they could conquer Guidong County by going south, they still couldn't defeat it. How dare they fight this arrogant King of Han? They're asking for trouble!
Several teams were dispatched, but they either ran away halfway or simply refused to go to Chaling's aid.

After going back and forth like this, the entire leader of the dragon army became numb and was forced to personally lead his troops into battle, heading north to rescue Chaling.

Others feared the Han army, but this guy had never actually fought them in a real battle and had no idea how terrifying they were. He just thought it was all just boasting and spreading rumors to show off their power. This guy, Yitiaolong, was truly loyal; he brought along all the men he could from Ling County.

An army of over 20,000 men marched north to Chaling.

"Report! General, scouts in the south have spotted a large number of bandits!"

"Hehe, good timing."

Although Chen Younian looks like a reckless man, and is also known by outsiders as a fierce and reckless general, he is not a truly reckless and fearless man who dared to lead two thousand men to attack Chaling City without making any preparations.

Although Chen Younian only brought two thousand men, these two thousand men were all elites of the Third Division, with a high proportion of firearms among them. All the heavy artillery was piled up outside Chaling City, just in case it was difficult to turn around and attack the city. They were preparing to use the cannons to forcibly break through the city walls.

While besieging the city, Chen Younian also sent out many scouts to the south to gather information about Ling County.

With Wu Jun in You County, there's no need to worry. However, bandits might take the opportunity to launch a surprise attack on his supply lines in Ling County.

As it turned out, Chen Younian was too clever for his own good. The tens of thousands of bandits discovered in the south were not heading for his supply lines at all, but instead were rushing towards Chaling.

The most outrageous thing is that when tens of thousands of bandits raided, they didn't even bring many food transport teams. Did the guy leading the bandits have a screw loose?

Chen Younian grinned and said, "Pass down the order: the entire army is ready for battle!"

He neither intended to engage in battle nor to avoid it, but instead waited outside Chaling City. He planned to wait for the bandits from Ling County to launch a surprise attack, and then, taking advantage of their fatigue, to defeat them head-on, causing the bandits in Chaling City to completely lose control and descend into chaos.

The distance between Ling County and Chaling is not far, and with the addition of a dragon boat, the journey continues day and night.

The next morning.

"Master Long, there are many people outside the city!"

"What do you mean 'many people'? Those are Han soldiers! Hurry up and come with us! While these guys are off guard, let's smash their camp and rescue King Shajin."

The dragon felt no fatigue whatsoever, and had his personal guards drive his oxcart as they charged towards the Han army camp.

Seeing their leader charge, the bandits around him immediately followed suit, and the tens of thousands of bandits behind them followed the one in front, and the one in front followed the one in front, all being swept forward at once.

As bandits in the central and rear armies, they didn't even understand the situation. They had been running for a day and a night, and instead of finding a place to sleep, they were running again, and running so fast.

"Ready, fire!"

"Boom boom boom!"

Without a word, the Han army brought out their mortars and began firing at the dragon-shaped formation.

One hundred and twenty mortars fired shotgun shells at the bandit formation. There were too many bandits, and they were moving too densely. One hundred and twenty shotgun shells were fired, and more than a hundred bandits were killed on the spot. Several hundred more bandits were wounded, some seriously.

"Ah! It hurts!"

"Run! The Han army is firing their cannons!"

The faster you rush forward one second, the faster you collapse the next.

The vanguard collapsed with a single cannon shot; the collapse of the vanguard bandits led to the collapse of the central army; the collapse of the central army led to the chaotic collapse of the rear army as well.

No one was there to lead the army in regrouping, not only because they couldn't regroup, but also because Yitiaolong had charged too far ahead when he led the charge. In addition, he was the only one with a oxcart, making him a prime target for the Han army's mortars, muskets, and crossbows.

From the moment the dragon charged forward until it was riddled with bullets, only a few minutes passed.

"Lord Long is dead! Lord Long is dead!"

One of the surviving guards jumped off the oxcart in the chaos and shouted loudly, finally causing the entire army to collapse.

The tens of thousands of reinforcements from Ling County did absolutely nothing; they were routed by a single artillery barrage from the Han army outside Chaling City.

Chen Younian was dumbfounded. He knew that the men under the Killing King were a rabble, otherwise Wu Jun wouldn't have been able to defeat tens of thousands of people with just a thousand men.

But he only fired one shot, just routinely using artillery to clear the way, and that was it—the game collapsed.

In reality, Chen Younian was just too lucky. A salvo of mortars actually killed a dragon. Didn't he ever think that a general could charge ahead of his soldiers without being afraid of being sniped by long-range troops?

On the city wall of Chaling at that time, the King of Killing All and the bandit leaders who had rushed over had already shown numbness and despair.

"Kill the King, what do we do now?"

(End of this chapter)