There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 250 The Qing Army Needs to Divide Its Troops

Ji'an Prefecture was definitely not going to hold. On one hand, the Qing army suffered a major defeat at Yongyang Town, with even a general killed in action. On the other hand, the gentry and powerful families of Ji'an Prefecture had begun to secretly plot to betray Yuan Chunde and surrender the city.

Yuan Chunde dared not surrender because he was from Zhejiang, and his family and children were all there. But these gentry from Ji'an Prefecture were all locals, and they had no qualms about surrendering.

The King of Slaughter's methods were no longer what they were in Hunan. Even the landlords and gentry who were willing to surrender and submit could promise not to kill or plunder their wealth. If it weren't for the fact that the land was still completely looted, and that this guy's greed was still undeniable, he would be no different from the Han Dynasty.

The city of Ji'an held out for more than a month under the siege of tens of thousands of bandits.

Finally, on a dark and stormy night, a raging fire broke out in the city, and several gentry and wealthy families joined forces, gathered their servants, and launched a rebellion.

Taking advantage of the situation, King Sha Jin attacked the city and captured Ji'an Prefecture in less than half an hour.

In despair, Prefect Yuan Chunde jumped off the city wall and committed suicide.

The city of Ji'an thus fell into the hands of the bandit king, Sha Jinwang, and his rebel army.

The day after Shajin Wang took control of Ji'an Prefecture, he changed the name of Ji'an Prefecture to Chengtian Prefecture, following the advice of his advisor Zhou Ji, to signify that he had received the mandate of heaven. He also officially abandoned the name Shajin Wang, which had the radical for grass, and changed it to Gan Wang.

This guy plans to take over the entire Jiangxi province as the foundation for his future conquest of the land.

……

Fengcheng County.

Zhang Chengji's tens of thousands of troops had just arrived here and were preparing to go north along the Gan River to fight the Han traitors.

Ji'an Prefecture had fallen, and the king, having killed all the kings, had proclaimed himself King of Gan, revealing his ambition to annex the entire Jiangxi province. This series of bad news was delivered to Zhang Chengji by the prefect of Linjiang via fast boat.

There was no other way; Ji'an Prefecture was right next to the Gan River. Now that Ji'an Prefecture had been captured by Shajin Wang, the next step could be to move north along the Gan River at any time to attack Linjiang, Yuanzhou, or even Nanchang Prefecture.

This is no joke!
Zhang Chengji and Wan Ning decided to sell Ji'an Prefecture, but they didn't expect it to be captured by bandits so quickly. Moreover, it happened to fall at a crucial juncture when Han bandits were besieging Nanchang, and Zhang Chengji was preparing to lead his army north to relieve the siege.

The prefect of Linjiang sent three urgent letters, requesting Zhang Chengji to immediately lead his troops back to reinforce the area.

How is he supposed to provide assistance?

There were bandits on both the north and south sides, and they all seemed to be more and more capable than the last. I had misjudged them before, actually thinking that the bandits in Ji'an would be easy to defeat.

These bandits and rebel troops from Huguang were all so fierce and ruthless that they far surpassed the soldiers from Jiangxi province itself.

Although Zhang Chengji, as a puppet Qing official, held the high position of provincial governor, he still maintained the habit of having advisors around him.

This guy's staff consisted of five people. One of them was a staff member from Shaoxing who had followed him when he was in Guangdong. The other four were local staff members from Nanchang, Yuanzhou, Ruizhou and Linjiang respectively. They all made great contributions to Zhang Chengji by persuading local gentry to raise money for soldiers.

Wang Shih-han, a staff member from Linjiang, spoke first: "General, the city of Ji'an has been captured by the bandits of Ji'an. We should immediately lead our troops back to reinforce Linjiang. Otherwise, the bandits of Ji'an, who have proclaimed themselves the King of Gan, have already set their sights on Jiangxi. They will surely take the opportunity to attack Linjiang from the north along the river, causing immense suffering to the people of Linjiang!"

Before Zhang Chengji could speak, Min Yongzhen, a staff officer from Nanchang, retorted, "General, you absolutely must not turn back! Our soldiers have already gone out to fight, and their homesickness has been suppressed by the money. If we go back now, not only will all our previous efforts be wasted, but Nanchang will also be without reinforcements. If tens of thousands of Han rebels attack the city, Nanchang will be in grave danger!"

Before he could finish speaking, Wang Shih-han retorted, "Nanchang is in grave danger, but does that mean Linjiang isn't? The bandits of Ji'an have already captured Ji'an, and the notorious bandit has killed all the kings and proclaimed himself the King of Gan, his ambitions now completely undisguised. If we don't take advantage of their unstable foothold and return to defend now, once they realize what's happening, the governor will be attacked from both sides. Moreover, this notorious bandit from Ji'an comes from southern Hunan, the same region as the Han bandits. If the two join forces, the consequences will be unimaginable!"

Min Yongzhen continued, "It is precisely because the situation is so dire that we must first deal with the Han traitors in Nanchang. The bandits in Ji'an are nothing but a rabble, a minor ailment. Once the siege of Nanchang is lifted, the governor can easily deal with the bandits in Ji'an, recover the lost territory, and establish this great achievement of suppressing the bandits and pacifying the region."

Wang Shih-han sneered: "Since you know that the bandits of Ji'an are a rabble, do you know that in military campaigns, the easy tasks should be tackled first, followed by the difficult ones?"

Min Yongzhen scoffed, "The Song dynasty's strategy of starting with the easy tasks and then moving to the difficult ones still resulted in them failing to defeat the Khitan and Liao barbarians..."

"Cough cough!"

Before the two could finish arguing, Zhang Chengji forcefully interrupted them with a cough. This was no longer allowed, as the Qing Dynasty had such taboos.

Although the Liao Dynasty and the Khitan were not of the same lineage as the Qing Dynasty, both originated in Liaodong. If one is not careful, they could easily get caught up in the messy history of literary inquisitions.

It's no wonder Zhang Chengji was so cautious. He certainly didn't know how to fight, but he had lived through the Qianlong era and knew just how sensitive that emperor was to literary inquisitions.

This is the kind of "filial son" who can ban books written by his own father.

Zhang Chengji interrupted their argument, and the two quickly realized that the topic they had brought up was somewhat sensitive, so they immediately shut up.

The field fell silent for a moment, as no one spoke.

Zhang Chengji had no choice but to speak up himself to warm things up, asking the other three advisors who hadn't spoken yet: "The city of Ji'an has been captured and slaughtered by the bandit king. This bandit is also audacious enough to call himself the King of Gan. What should we do now?"

The other three advisors included his personal aide and two newly recruited advisors from Ruizhou and Yuanzhou. Since none of them were from Linjiang or Nanchang, they remained rational and neutral, refusing to offer advice based on the safety or interests of their hometowns.

Kuang Chenxian, a staff member in Ruizhou, said, "I believe we should save Nanchang first. The Han traitors are powerful and should not be underestimated."

He said very little, but got straight to the point. The key point was that Zhang Chengji felt this was advice without any ulterior motives.

No selfish motives?

How could that be? He must still have his own selfish motives. Kuang Chen isn't afraid of killing the King of Ji'an, since Ruizhou Prefecture and Ji'an Prefecture don't border each other. But he's afraid of the Han army!

Not only does Ruizhou Prefecture border Nanchang Prefecture, but the city of Ruizhou is located along the Jinjiang River. If the Han army were to change its route by waterway from the Ganjiang River, it could directly reach Ruizhou City.

Min Yongzhen, a native of Nanchang, feared that if the Han army captured Nanchang, his family, relatives, and land would be lost. Kuang Chen also feared that the Han army might not attack Nanchang, or that after capturing Nanchang, they would cross the river and attack Ruizhou.

After Kuang Chen finished speaking, Wang Shihan became anxious and was about to speak when Yuan Zhou's advisor, Li Ziqian, stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "General, now that Ji'an Prefecture has fallen, the Ji'an bandits can no longer be regarded as a rabble, and we cannot ignore Linjiang Prefecture either. Otherwise, even if we rush to reinforce and save Nanchang, if the Han bandits in Nanchang join forces with the Ji'an bandits, we will truly be attacked from both sides."

These words are quite apt. Zhang Cheng had basically already prepared to send the entire army north, leaving Linjiang behind for the time being, but now he seems somewhat hesitant and uncertain.

Min Yongzhen quickly said, "That's not right. The Ji'an bandits can no longer be considered a rabble, but their fighting strength is still inferior to that of the Han traitors. As for the two joining forces, that's unlikely. The Ji'an bandits were driven out of southern Hunan by the Han traitors, and these two groups of rebels have a deep-seated grudge."

Li Ziqian shook his head and said, "Can you guarantee they really won't join forces? The governor has tens of thousands of troops at his disposal. If he blindly charges forward because of a mere excuse that it's unlikely, and falls into the enemy's ambush, then everything will be over!"

Can you guarantee that?

Of course, that can't be guaranteed. They are not ignorant people. Those of them in Jiangxi have all heard that the imperial court previously sent officials of the highest rank to Huguang to pacify the Han traitors.

That's a traitor to the Han!

This Han traitor, who raised the banner of anti-Qing and restoration of Han rule, called the court a "Qing dog," and slaughtered countless Manchu nobles, was tolerated and appeased by the court. In reality, this appeasement was just a last resort; the court had no other options and thus resorted to this desperate measure of negotiating peace with the Han traitor!

Zhang Chengji couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "What brilliant idea does Ziqian have?"

Li Ziqian bowed and replied, "Commander, let's divide the troops!"

"Divide the troops?" Zhang Chengji was somewhat surprised.

Li Ziqian said, "Since we can't avoid the Han traitors and the Ji'an bandits either way, for the sake of our rear, we have no choice but to divide our forces. We should send a trustworthy person to lead a local militia of no less than five thousand men south to defend Linjiang Prefecture. In this way, even if the Ji'an bandits cross the river and head north, with this returning militia, they might have some difficulty fighting, but they will be absolutely safe. At that time, Linjiang Prefecture only needs to wait for the governor to wipe out the Han traitors before heading south to join forces against the Ji'an bandits. Even if the governor's campaign is unsuccessful, Linjiang Prefecture can still protect the governor's rear, preventing him from being surrounded and attacked from both sides."

At first glance, this strategy seems quite reasonable. Since it's unavoidable anyway, why not divide the forces for defense, sending some troops to protect the rear, and then calmly deal with the rear after the main force has annihilated the invading enemy?

In practice, however, this division of forces is extremely difficult, as it is equivalent to an army fighting on two fronts simultaneously.

This is not too difficult for the Han army. It's just a two-front war. The Han army can even fight on three, four, or multiple fronts, as long as logistics and supplies can keep up.

However, the Qing army was a local militia hastily recruited by Zhang Chengji. The oldest "veteran" among them had probably only been in service for about a month, making them even more inexperienced than new recruits.

Zhang Chengji had already exhausted all his resources, including money and food, just to get this army to obey orders and train.

Now they actually want to divide their forces to fight?

Clearly, this was a terrible idea, proposed by a scholar who knew absolutely nothing about military affairs and warfare. It sounded reasonable at first glance, but in reality, it was even worse than fermented soy milk that had been sitting out for two days.

then……

Zhang Chengji believed it, but he had no choice but to accept it, because he was not only afraid that the bandits from Ji'an would attack Linjiang and cut off his retreat, but he was also afraid that Linjiang Prefecture would really be lost.

Linjiang Prefecture is a major tax-collecting town. If it were lost, His Majesty would surely not spare it in his rage.

Fortunately, Zhang Chengji felt that the Han army might be able to fight, but it shouldn't be as terrifying as he imagined. He also had tens of thousands of troops under his command. As long as he was careful and avoided a decisive battle with the Han army, he could first secure Nanchang Prefecture and then deal with the rest gradually.

Two days later, the Qing troops in Fengcheng County split up.

Zhang Chengji brought 40,000 troops north, including 10,000 recruited local militias from Ruizhou, Yuanzhou, and Linjiang, and 10,000 of the most "elite" Green Standard Army from southern Jiangxi.

To ensure absolute success in this troop deployment, Zhang Chengji immediately recalled all the local militia from Linjiang. He also sent Wang Shih-han back with the army to supervise the Linjiang prefect in continuing to recruit and train local militia to defend Linjiang city.

Zhang Chengji personally led a mixed army of 30,000 men across the river to the north, preparing to launch a strong attack on Shengmi Ferry, hoping to force the Han traitors to retreat with the overwhelming force of the attack.

……

Jiangxi has a unique terrain. When fighting here, once both sides' armies reach a sufficient size, the outcome of the battle will no longer be decided by land forces, but by naval engagements.

The most typical example is probably the Battle of Poyang Lake at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, a major battle that determined the fate of the country.

The first battle is the decisive battle; one battle will decide the fate of the world!
The reason for this is quite simple: Jiangxi has a mountainous terrain, and its major cities are mostly surrounded by mountains. It also has a network of rivers and waterways that connect the prefectural cities of various parts of the province.

The saying "Southern boats and northern horses" is no joke.

As long as the navy survives, they can occupy the waterways, firmly control the supply lines, and then defend the cities along the river, thus remaining invincible.

This was also Yang Fang's main strategic goal. He said he wanted to attack Nanchang Prefecture, partly because Nanchang Prefecture was the capital of Jiangxi Province, and partly because he wanted to open up the Ganjiang River channel.

The Han navy had already entered Poyang Lake from the Yangtze River. Although the Han navy fleet was dilapidated, consisting mostly of civilian boats equipped with a few cannons, it was still a navy. In Jiangxi Province, where no navy had been trained, the Han navy was an invincible force.

If Wan Ning and Zhang Chengji hadn't acted quickly and blocked the mouth of the Gan River to Poyang Lake in time, the Han army's navy would have already entered the Gan River and begun to dominate this vital river in Jiangxi.

The Han army was stationed at Shengmi Ferry and had already learned in advance, through the local people and fishing boats along the river, that tens of thousands of Qing troops were stationed in Fengcheng County.

Yang Fang did not move his garrison or launch a preemptive attack. Instead, he concentrated his troops and waited patiently to lure the enemy into a trap.

Another day passed.

"Report! The Qing dogs have crossed the river."

"Don't stop them, let them come over, then have the laborers withdraw. There's no need to continue digging trenches. Give each of them a weapon."

Yang Fang began deploying troops and withdrawing civilian laborers. The weather had been very kind these past few days, with clear skies and no signs of rain, making it the perfect time for a major battle.

Zhang Chengji was completely unaware of Yang Fang's strategy of luring the enemy deep into his territory. Instead, he noticed from afar that the Han army camp was not large in number. Clearly, their strength was less than tens of thousands, perhaps even less than ten thousand. With such a small Han army, even if they were highly skilled, he felt he could still put up a fight.

Zhang Chengji immediately ordered his local militia to cross the river as quickly as possible. He did not have a navy; he only had civilian boats for transporting troops and supplies. They had to lower small boats and cross the river slowly.

More than 30,000 people crossed the river, and the entire crossing took almost a day.

The Qing army worked on crossing the river until the afternoon, and then simply set up camp to rest in the evening. They did not build any fortifications or dig any trenches, and were preparing to launch a decisive general offensive the next day.

The next day during the day.

Zhang Chengji impatiently ordered: "All troops, attack! Slaughter all the Han traitors on the other side!"

"Boom boom boom!"

On the Qing army's side, drums sounded, and tens of thousands of Qing soldiers moved out one after another.

"Tsk, they haven't even been properly equipped with uniforms yet. Looks like it's just another hastily assembled local militia."

With binoculars in hand, Yang Fang looked at the Qing army's position opposite him with a clear view. He saw a chaotic mess, which did not look like a regular army at all.

Fang Jie asked, "General, when shall we attack?"

Yang Fang smiled and said, "Let them come slowly."

Outside the Han army camp, many trenches were dug. The Han army commanded the laborers to dig these trenches for more than half a month. Some of them were so narrow that only one or two people could pass through. It would take the Qing army a lot of time to get through them.

The Han army, however, would not allow the Qing army to pass through slowly. This battle was a professional army fighting against a group of amateur laborers; it was pure bullying.

(End of this chapter)