There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 235 Jiujiang
The Qing artillerymen on the walls of Jiujiang scattered in panic. Although Fu Hongchang was angry, he did not kill anyone in the heat of battle.

His army consisted entirely of new recruits. Killing deserters in the face of battle might not boost morale; on the contrary, it would cause morale to collapse even faster.

Since the gunners have fled and there are no cannons left, we might as well just abandon the Han navy's crossing of the river.

Fu Hongchang summoned a messenger and said, "Pass on the military order of this prefecture, instructing the soldiers to immediately prepare supplies for defending the city, to boil oil and molten gold, and to disregard the Han traitors' ships. All of you must assemble at Ying'en Gate and Wenming Gate to prepare for the defense of the city!"

"Yes."

The messenger immediately went down to relay the order.

Thanks to Fu Hongchang's previous generosity in spending money—not only using funds from the treasury but also personally rewarding the troops—the able-bodied guards on the city walls were all willing to obey the prefect's orders.

Moreover, the Han army had not yet attacked the city. Only the artillerymen had been driven away. The remaining able-bodied officials were not clear about the Han army's combat strength and did not choose to flee immediately.

More than two thousand able-bodied men, under the command of yamen runners, carried rolling stones, kerosene, and manure buckets, and each group of eight hundred men was assigned to guard Ying'en Gate and Wenming Gate on the south bank.

As the prefect of Jiujiang, Fu Hongchang personally led 400 men as a fresh force. If the Han army attacked both city gates simultaneously, his 400 men could be deployed to provide support at any time.

Before long, the first Han army warship docked and landed on the south bank of Jiujiang Prefecture.

"Dudu dudu da da da da~~~~~"

"Hurry, hurry, get off the boat, get ashore!"

The officer jogged over to give the order, and the soldiers disembarked in an orderly fashion, accompanied by their instructor.

Compared to the slow pace of educational reforms in the Han Dynasty's academies, the reform of adding civil instructors to the Han army's military system has progressed much faster.

Nie Yu, the Prince of Han, even frequently brought relevant books to the military academy to teach the reserve civil instructors.

When Yang Fang led his troops across provinces this time, many of the instructors he brought with him were students of the King of Han.

Whether the civil service instructor system will eventually become corrupt is hard to say, but these civil service instructors certainly won't become corrupt.

Meanwhile, the Han army landed on the south bank of Jiujiang City, their movements both swift and cautious.

Although the two surrendered Qing patrol officers had already leaked important intelligence about the vulnerability of Jiujiang, it's never a bad thing to be cautious when leading troops into battle.

After all, they were the attacking side, and this was the first battle in which the Han people broke out of Huguang and marched towards Jiangnan. They not only could not afford to fail, but they had to win spectacularly.

The vanguard of the Han army quickly seized the coastal mudflats and then used them to cover the landing of subsequent friendly forces.

The city walls of Jiujiang.

Seeing the Han army warships landing on the south bank, the advisor hurriedly said, "My lord, the Han rebels have indeed landed on the south bank. We should take advantage of their unstable foothold, launch a surprise attack from the city, and drive the rebels down the Yangtze River!"

Fu Hongchang shook his head and said, "No, our troops are all new recruits, their combat strength is not good enough, they can barely defend the city, and it is most dangerous to go out of the city to fight the bandits recklessly. Right now we should take advantage of the fact that the bandits have landed and have no time to attack the city, and do our best to raise and prepare defensive supplies. Also, Wen Feng, you should immediately go to the wealthy families in the city to borrow grain and men in the name of this prefecture. Jiujiang Prefecture is now in mortal danger, and this prefecture hopes that they can all do their best for the country and not make things difficult for this prefecture!"

The last sentence was emphasized. As Fu Hongchang's advisor, he had served his master for several years and knew his master's temperament well.

This is a desperate move. If any wealthy family hesitates or wavers, the prefect wouldn't mind killing someone to establish his authority.

Anyway, if Jiujiang can't be defended, he's doomed. But if he can, there's always room for maneuver.

There are always more ways to survive than problems, and the living are always more useful than the dead.

Inside Jiujiang City, Fu Hongchang had no intention of dealing with the Han army's landing on the south bank. He focused on preparing supplies for the city's defense, even setting up a fire to boil broth. He also sent his advisors to go door-to-door, coercing wealthy and powerful families to contribute money and manpower to assist the government in defending the city.

Outside the city, the Han army also landed on the south bank in an orderly fashion, and the artillery fire on the Yangtze River had basically ceased. This was because the Han artillerymen found it extremely difficult to fire accurately, and since the Qing army had stopped firing, they decided not to waste shells.

It took half a day to log in and another half a day to set up camp.

On the first day of crossing the river, the Han army did not launch an attack on the city, but instead built camps outside the city.

The Han army gathered a large number of refugees in the area around the south bank. These refugees were all turned into laborers for the Han army, without wages, but they were provided with food. As a major city along the river, Jiujiang Prefecture should not have had so many refugees, and these refugees were mostly residents of the original Jiujiang city.

Because Fu Hongchang learned of the Han army's attack beforehand, many landlords and gentry on the south bank of Jiujiang Prefecture were so frightened that they hurriedly brought their families, money, and provisions into the city to seek refuge.

When these landlords entered the city, they definitely needed to find a place to stay. They couldn't just sleep on the streets, so they had no choice but to seize people's houses and drive them out of the city.

These people from Jiujiang, who had been forced into becoming refugees, worked exceptionally hard as laborers for the Han army. They were eager for the Han army to enter Jiujiang immediately so that they could reclaim their houses and property.

The next day.

After a night's rest, the Han army launched a formal attack on the city.

The Han army's naval fleet was not idle either, and began to bombard the walls of Jiujiang.

"Boom boom boom!"

After a round of shelling, not a single shell hit its mark, and the psychological pressure was immense.

Even though the Qing troops defending Jiujiang were all on the south section of the city wall, and the Han army's cannons couldn't hit them no matter how far they fired, the roaring cannon fire still terrified these young and strong recruits, who cowered behind the parapet and dared not peek out.

Yang Fang, holding binoculars, said, "Pass on my order: prepare to attack the city!"

"The general has ordered all units to prepare to attack the city."

The messenger used a walkie-talkie to relay the order.

Military orders were issued at each level, and the various units and battalions of the Han army quickly mobilized.

As the core fighting force of the Han army, the artillery battalion had its gunners pushing cannons towards the gun emplacement.

The fortifications were dug by laborers working in shifts overnight. These laborers were indeed very hardworking, working overtime all night without a single complaint.

Fifteen red-coated cannons were all pushed into the earthen fort, and the laborers who followed immediately filled in the soil to cover and secure them.

Once all the cannons were in place, the artillery operator responsible for maneuvering them began adjusting the cannon's position and direction, then used his thumb to calculate the firing range before making a hand gesture.

The other artillerymen responsible for loading, upon seeing the operator's gestures, immediately began clearing debris from the gun barrel and loading gunpowder shells into the barrel.

The process was very smooth, and the filling was completed in about two or three minutes.

"preparation!"

"Ignite the fire, fire!"

"Boom boom boom!"

At the command of the artillery battalion officer, fifteen red-coated cannons opened fire simultaneously on the Jiujiang city wall.

The shells were very accurate; both shells hit the target directly.

The cannonball, carrying tremendous kinetic energy, slammed into the city wall, shattering the stone bricks and exposing the rammed earth layer underneath.

"Clean the cannon barrel."

The officer gave another order, and the artillerymen cleaned the gunpowder residue from the gun barrels again.

The operator stepped forward to readjust the gun's position and direction, and then the other artillerymen repeated the previous operation.

Clean the cannon barrel, adjust the cannon position, load the shells and gunpowder, and finally fire a salvo.

All in one go.

(To be continued tomorrow)
(End of this chapter)