There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 251 The Battle of Raw Rice Crossing
The Qing army quickly approached the Han army's camp. Although they were not stopped, the Han army's camp was surrounded by trenches.

These trenches were divided into several concentric circles, and were so narrow that they were difficult to pass through. They had to be filled in before the army could cross.

With no other option, the Qing soldiers at the forefront had to put down their weapons and temporarily act as laborers to fill in the outer moats.

"Order the artillery battalion to prepare to fire!"

Seeing that the Qing army was basically in place, Yang Fang waved his hand and gave the military order.

Although the Han army did not have many troops, they brought a lot of artillery, including ten red-coated cannons, as well as countless mortars.

"The general has ordered the artillery battalion to prepare to fire!"

"Artillery battalion obeys!"

Upon receiving orders, the artillery battalion soldiers swiftly pushed the artillery vehicles out and secured them in the pre-buried pits in front of the camp.

Meanwhile, on the Qing army's outskirts, several Green Standard Army soldiers who were directing local militia to fill in the trenches spotted the artillery carts that the Han army had pushed out.

"Oh no! Get out of the way! The Han traitors are about to fire their cannons!"

These Qing soldiers reacted incredibly quickly, shouting warnings while simultaneously leaping into the newly cleared trenches.

They had barely jumped into the trenches dug by the Han army when the Han army's cannons opened fire.

"Boom boom boom!"

Ten red-coated cannons fired simultaneously.

The shells flew out, accompanied by a thunderous roar and thick sulfurous smoke, and after drawing a beautiful parabola in the air, they crashed straight into the Qing army's positions, which were being filled in with trenches.

These local militias were all recruited by Zhang Chengji through donations from local gentry. While they weren't entirely without fighting power, they were practically worthless.

The most senior member of the local militia had probably only been in service for a month. In that month, they barely managed to train in formation and understand commands.

To ensure that the local militia could at least obey orders, Zhang Chengji forced the army to stand in a dense and rigid formation. This way, even if some militia members didn't understand the military orders, they could still follow others and be carried along by the main force during battles, preventing the formation from becoming too chaotic.

The dense formation of the positions, facing the Han army's cannons, meant there was no way to escape, and the casualties and losses would be maximized.

The ten red-coated cannons were almost always accurate, each shell that pierced the enemy's position, leaving a deep furrow of flesh and blood.

Many Qing soldiers and local militia didn't even realize what was happening before they saw a large iron ball fly towards them and then they died.

Those local militia and Qing soldiers who were lucky enough to survive saw that their comrades, who were working and chatting one second ago, were now standing on their two legs the next, their upper bodies smashed to pieces by artillery shells, with bits of flesh spraying all over their faces.

"Ahhh!"

"Help! The traitors have fired their cannons!"

"Run!"

The commotion came from somewhere, and one of the village militiamen broke down, dropping his hoe and running away crying.

His escape quickly sparked a herd mentality, leading other local militia members to flee as well.

Zhang Chengji was stunned and didn't know what to do.

Liu Ding, the General Commander of Southern Jiangxi, reacted a little faster, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect and reminding the Commander: "Commander-in-Chief, we should quickly order the supervisory teams to quell the unrest. If the turmoil spreads to the central army, it will be too late!"

Upon being reminded, Zhang Chengji's expression changed drastically: "Issue this order: the supervisory team must immediately suppress the rebellion; anyone who dares to speak of desertion will be executed without mercy!"

After saying that, he quickly added, "Where are our artillery pieces? Bring them all out and bombard these Han traitors!"

Two military orders were issued, and the Qing army's supervisory team rushed forward, raising their swords to slash and suppress the rout of the local militia.

Then, the artillerymen behind the Qing army's position also drove the local militia to assemble artillery carts, and then pushed these carts forward to a distance where they could bombard the Han army's camp.

"General, look!"

The Qing army's cannons were very conspicuous, and were spotted by several sharp-eyed Han soldiers as soon as they were brought out.

Yang Fang looked through the binoculars and saw that the so-called cannons were just some mother-and-child cannons and Weiyuan cannons, and there were more mother-and-child cannons. The Qing army gunners were obviously not very skilled.

Jiangxi had not fought a war for decades. Not only were the Qing army's Green Standard Army troops stationed there very few, only two towns, totaling just over 20,000 men.

The previous battle in Ji'an Prefecture completely crippled Nanrui Town, which was the strongest town in Jiangxi on paper.

The remaining troops in Nangan Town were originally defeated troops from Ji'an Prefecture, and they were all second-rate Green Standard Army soldiers with low combat strength. How could you expect them to be any elite?

"Boom boom boom!"

The Han army opened fire again.

The objective was very clear: the artillery positions that the Qing army had just set up.

Moreover, this time was a little different. Ten red-coated cannons fired first, followed by more than a hundred mortars that were pushed out and fired a barrage of explosive shells at the Qing army's position.

The red-clad cannon fired, and the shells rolled out several bloody gullies.

The mortar fired, and the explosive shells detonated above their heads before they even hit the ground.

"Bang bang bang!"

These Jiangxi soldiers had never seen explosive shells before. They only saw the Han army fire their cannons first, and several black shells instantly killed several friendly soldiers.

That wasn't all; they then unleashed a dense barrage of small shells, like a downpour.

They tried to use the artillery vehicles as cover, but the small shells exploded in mid-air before they even landed.

The blazing fire scorched their skin, and many Qing soldiers and artillerymen had their hats blown off by the heat, and their braids were set on fire (because they were very oily).

The violent sonic boom shattered the eardrums of several lucky Qing soldiers, while the unlucky ones were either killed instantly by shrapnel from the explosion or blown up by artillery shells.

The explosions were so brutal that the Qing army artillerymen were completely stunned.

It didn't matter that they were stunned; the Han army artillerymen wouldn't stop firing. They immediately continued loading shells and indiscriminately bombarded the Qing army's positions.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The second round of mortar fire followed.

The Qing army's artillery positions finally gave way and collapsed!
The Qing army's artillerymen were all new recruits, and their only combat record was fighting against the bandits in Ji'an. Moreover, they didn't fire many shots in total, spending the entire time marching to besiege the city, and later, after their defeat and retreat, they even lost several cannons to the bandits in Ji'an.

The Han army's artillery is firing so fiercely now, and they even have explosive shells that can detonate. The power isn't very great, but the shock is truly shocking.

"The traitors of Han possess sorcery!"

"The bandits' cannonballs will explode, run!"

The Qing army's artillery positions collapsed without firing a single shot, and even the cannons were abandoned on the open ground.

Zhang Chengji, who was supervising the battle from the rear, remained expressionless. He was almost numb from watching. First, the local militia were so frightened by the artillery that they scattered in small groups. Before their own artillerymen could even fire, they were bombarded by the Han traitors' cannons and fled in panic.

How can this war continue?
Liu Ding's face also turned grim upon seeing this. He had thought that the Han traitors would be difficult to defeat, but he hadn't expected them to be this difficult.

If the Ji'an Wei Kou was cunning enough to avoid battle and then launched a surprise attack from Pei to defeat the Qing army, then the Han traitor was simply crushed by sheer strength.

The Han traitors' firearms are too powerful, even more powerful than their cannons, and they also have explosive shells.

He wasn't completely unfamiliar with these explosive bombs; they were nothing more than the kind of weapon mentioned in military books that could kill ten thousand men. But those things could only be burned, not exploded, and they couldn't be used as artillery shells either!
Where did the Han traitors' firearms come from? They couldn't possibly be sorcery, could they?
Liu Ding was still frowning in thought when the Han army's cannons fired again in unison.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Boom boom boom!"

Ten red-coated cannons and more than one hundred mortars fired simultaneously, targeting the Qing army's vanguard militia positions.

These local militiamen were all squeezed together by the army formation and had no way to retreat. They could only watch helplessly as cannonballs crashed down on their own positions.

"Bang bang bang!"

Explosions rang out one after another, accompanied by the screams and cries of agony from the local militia.

In the blink of an eye, hundreds of local militiamen of the Qing army's vanguard were killed or wounded.

The reason why the casualties were not as great as expected was that although the Qing army's formation was dense, the local militia were all new recruits, and the formation could not really squeeze all the militia together. The killing power of primitive mortar shells was ultimately very limited.

It doesn't matter if the lethality is limited; as long as the psychological impact is sufficient.

The surviving militiamen were stunned by the tragic state of their allies. They hadn't even reached the Han army's camp, yet they had already suffered hundreds of casualties, and the deaths were so gruesome that they didn't even have complete corpses.

Why would anyone work for a corrupt official like this?

Zhang Chengji, a governor who, upon arriving in Jiangxi, was so eager to kill innocent people and claim credit for his services, how good could you expect him to be to the local militia?
The local militia were forcibly conscripted to fight for the government and received no benefits whatsoever; they were only given military rations to barely get enough to eat.

Seeing how difficult it was to defeat the Han bandits, with such heavy casualties even before they had seen a shadow of them, the local militia, not being fools, immediately disobeyed orders and fled in panic to the rear.

The supervisory team tried desperately to stop them, but they couldn't stop them at all. They killed one person, and two more rushed over.

Moreover, several local militiamen, their eyes bloodshot and filled with rage, saw that the supervising team was preventing them from escaping and even sending them to their deaths. They immediately drew their knives and spears and began slashing and stabbing at the supervising team.

Although the supervisory team consisted of veterans of the Green Standard Army and were slightly stronger than the local militia, they were still only slightly stronger. Surrounded by so many local militia, they were no match for the overwhelming force.

In a few swift moves, the supervising team was routed by the fierce local militia and fled in disarray. The Qing army's vanguard was utterly annihilated!

Yang Fang put down his binoculars, drew his sword, and shouted, "Pass down the order: all troops, charge!"

"The general has ordered: all troops, charge!"

"Dudududuwuwuwuwu~~~~"

"Dudududuwuwuwuwu~~~~"

The Han infantry had already formed their battle lines. Upon hearing the bugle call, they immediately shouted and charged towards the Qing troops outside the camp.

"Kill!" "May the Great Han Dynasty prevail!"

Because the moats outside the Han army camp had been partially filled in by the Qing army, these filled-in moats could not accommodate 30,000 Qing soldiers, but they were more than enough for infantry formations of two or three thousand men to rush out in batches.

Of the Han army infantry formation, only three thousand men actually participated in the charge, including many crossbowmen and musketeers.

Three thousand men charging into a Qing army of thirty thousand was truly a case of one against ten.

Despite having a significant numerical advantage, the Qing army's vanguard had already collapsed. Facing the Han army's charge, it was like a sharp knife piercing the heart of the Qing army, leaving them with no power to resist.

Zhang Chengji's face was filled with panic as he shouted, "No one is allowed to escape! No one is allowed to escape! Organize a counterattack! The Han traitors are only a few thousand strong, while you have tens of thousands. Don't be afraid of the Han traitors! Kill them! Kill them!"

Liu Ding, standing to the side, was speechless. How could he have actually believed what the higher-ups said—that this new governor was knowledgeable in military affairs and that he had to keep a low profile and serve him carefully so as not to reveal the dirty secrets of the Jiangxi Green Standard Army?

Looking at it now, it's clear that this governor probably hasn't even seen a battle, let alone knows anything about military affairs. No wonder he dared to delegate so much power before; he knew his own limitations and didn't dare to interfere recklessly!
Liu Ding felt a pang of regret, but it was too late. He could only step forward and say, "General, our army has not yet been defeated. We should immediately lead our troops to retreat to the southeastern mountains. The Han rebels have already achieved a small victory and will surely underestimate our army. As long as we lure the Han rebels to attack the mountains, our army can defend from the high ground and have the Gan River as our retreat route. The Han rebels cannot outlast us!"

There was some truth to what he said. As if grasping at a last straw, Zhang Chengji hurriedly ordered Liu Ding to lead the main force to retreat to the southeastern mountain islands, relying on the terrain of the islands for defense, and to fight a defensive counterattack against the Han traitors.

It wasn't that simple for the Qing army to retreat to the mountains with its main force for defense.
Once two armies clash, it's virtually impossible to safely withdraw and retreat.

If they retreat, it could lead to a complete rout of the army.

Liu Ding was, after all, the General Commander of Southern Jiangxi, and he wasn't really that incompetent. He knew that the vanguard was entangled with the Han army and couldn't retreat; retreating would only result in more casualties.

He ruthlessly cut off the armies of the thousands of local militia fighting in the vanguard, and after removing the scattered local militia and Qing soldiers, the Qing army was left with only more than 10,000 men.

Of these more than 10,000 people, the majority were from the Southern Jiangxi Green Standard Army, the rest were local militia from Nanchang, while the local militia from Ruizhou either fled or were unable to return.

Liu Ding and his more than 10,000 men turned tail and fled, and fled very quickly.

The Han soldiers noticed his movements but did not pursue him. Instead, they shouted, "The Qing dogs have been defeated! Your governor has fled! Your general has fled! Those who kneel down and surrender now will not be killed!"

"To reiterate, those who kneel and surrender will not be killed!"

"..."

With a few shouts, the morale of the Qing army's local militia, which was already on the verge of collapse, finally crumbled completely.

Many of the local militia members who were engaged in battle did not believe it. When they turned around, they saw that the banner and flag that they had been able to see had disappeared.

Now, I'm completely heartbroken.

Without the slightest hesitation, the local militia laid down their weapons, knelt down, and surrendered, begging to be spared.

The reason why the war could be fought so easily and without pressure was due to the intensity of the war. This war seemed to be very exciting, with cannons and thousands of elite Han troops charging and fighting fiercely.

In reality, excluding those killed by cannon fire, the actual casualties on both the Qing and Han armies were only one or two hundred, with the majority being wounded and few actually dying in battle.

The reason for this is simple, and somewhat absurd: the Qing army's local militia were all new recruits, and new recruits didn't know how to fight.

The fighting looked intense, but out of ten of the Qing army's local militia, only one or two were actually capable of fighting. The rest were all crammed on the outside, holding their weapons and helpless, just watching from the periphery.

The Han army was too small, with only 3,000 men against 30,000. They couldn't just recklessly charge in; they had to use battle formations to meet the enemy steadily.

This revised version of the Mandarin Duck Formation, although it removed the wolf-tooth rake, still retained the long spears and even added two more.

The Han soldiers thrust their spears outwards, and the Qing soldiers and local militia dared not approach at all, allowing the Han army to rampage through their ranks.

The Qing army's militia, which outnumbered the Han army's troops several times over, were completely unable to stop them, nor did they dare to intercept the Han army's infantry formations charging.

The main force of the Qing army fled to the mountains, and the more than 10,000 local militiamen who were left behind all became prisoners of the Han army.

Yang Fang did not have enough troops to capture these people, so he simply confiscated their weapons, selected the strong ones to supplement the labor camp, and sent the rest back to their hometowns.

Before dismissing them, the instructors gave them a lecture, telling them about the policies of the Han Dynasty and that the Han army would not kill poor people.

If they are forcibly conscripted into the army by the puppet Qing government in the future, they will be spared by the Han army as long as they lay down their weapons and kneel down to surrender.

Yang Fang had studied the classics for twenty years, and besides being brave in battle, she was also truly wicked in mind.

The number of local militiamen he released was at least tens of thousands. Releasing so many militiamen back seemed to be replenishing the Qing army's manpower, but in reality, they had already witnessed the fighting strength of the Han army.

The next time they encountered the Han army, they would only listen to what the Han army instructors told them and obediently kneel down to surrender and save their lives.

The Han army might not believe them if they said they would be given land, because anything they didn't actually receive was just empty talk. But they had all experienced the possibility of survival by laying down their weapons, so they would definitely believe it without a doubt.

Thus, even if the puppet Qing dynasty wanted to fight again and conscripted them into the army, they would only have gathered tens of thousands of rabble.

We're no good at fighting, but we're good at eating.

Furthermore, these local militia members, once they returned, could serve as free propagandists, telling the people under the pseudo-Qing rule that even if they were captured by the pseudo-Qing and used as cannon fodder, they shouldn't be afraid; surrendering would save their lives.

They were all poor people, content with just eating the grain provided by the officials, why risk their lives?
Meanwhile, Liu Ding led his troops to retreat to the hills along the river. This place, with its back to the Gan River and a commanding position, was an ideal location for a defensive counterattack.

Because the Han army was busy collecting prisoners, the more than 10,000 Qing troops had time to leave with their supplies.

The Qing army's artillery was all light cannons, which could be easily disassembled and carried away.

Yang Fang took out her binoculars to observe the mountain and laughed, "The enemy general does have some ideas, but unfortunately they're useless."

It's really not very useful. The difference in pure military strength cannot be made up for by simple tactics and terrain.

Moreover, the Han army's artillery was far superior to that of the Qing army, and the resulting gap made it almost impossible to turn the tide.

Yang Fang did not rush to attack the mountain immediately, but instead ordered the artillery battalion to open fire.

The red-coated cannons were too heavy, so the Han army left them at the rear and had the laborers slowly move them.

The mortar was very light and portable; two Han soldiers could carry it and run down the mountain. They set it up, adjusted the distance to the gun position, and loaded the explosive shells and gunpowder.

"Boom boom boom!"

With a series of cannon shots, dozens of explosive shells were launched, hitting the trenches that the Qing army had just dug halfway up the mountain.

"Bang bang bang!"

Dozens of explosions rang out. The Qing soldiers hiding in the trenches survived, but the local militias who were still digging outside, and the Qing soldiers who didn't have time to hide, were in dire straits.

The explosive bomb wasn't very powerful, but if it hit the middle of a crowd, it could easily knock people down or kill them.

The Qing soldiers in the trenches were terrified. They were both glad that they had reacted quickly and frightened that even though they were on the mountain, how could the Han traitors' cannons still hit them and hit them so accurately?
Isn't that obvious?

When the Han army used artillery, they emphasized fire coverage; as long as the artillery fire was dense enough, they could always kill several people.

Moreover, the Han army's mortars were all modified from tiger crouching cannons, which are a type of mortar that can be fired on both flat ground and mountains.

The Qing army was stunned, and Liu Ding was also taken aback, but he quickly came to his senses, drew his sword and roared, "Quickly, let our cannons fire! The Han traitors are at the foot of the mountain, so their cannons aren't that accurate. We're on the mountain, so we still have the advantage in artillery battles."

The Qing artillerymen quickly assembled the mother and child cannons, adjusted their positions, and aimed them at the Han army positions below the mountain.

"Boom boom boom!"

Dust immediately billowed up on the Han army's position, and the Qing army fired cannons from above, which indeed caused casualties to the Han army.

The two swordsmen and shieldmen were standing too far forward and were hit squarely in the face by the cannonball. The cannonball shattered their shields and broke their ribs, some of which pierced their lungs. They were coughing up blood and were clearly going to die.

"it is good!"

Liu Ding was overjoyed: "Keep firing! Commander Wu, I order you to lead your troops down and crush the Han traitors!"

Seeing that the artillery had achieved its goal, the morale of the Qing army soared. Wu, the commander, immediately accepted the order and led his two thousand Qing soldiers to charge down the mountain.

The Han army quickly dragged away the two fallen swordsmen and shieldmen, and an instructor recorded the details, as these were to be used to distribute death benefits later.

The Han army infantry formation remained completely still. Casualties are inevitable in battle, and the Han army is not invincible, so how could they not lose soldiers?

More than two thousand Qing soldiers charged down the mountain. Wu, the commander who led the charge, was in a frenzy, as if he could already see himself defeating the Han traitors and making a great contribution.

"Ready, raise your guns!"

Well, what sound?
"aim!"

"shooting!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Shhhhhhh!"

The Han army's rifled guns and crossbows fired upwards in a volley.

After one volley, another volley begins.

After the three volleys of fire were completed, the Qing army vanguard battalion rushing down the mountain had suffered more than a third casualties.

Because they died so quickly, the Qing army didn't even have time to collapse. Wu, the captain who charged at the front, was riddled with bullets on the spot and died very quickly without much pain.

"Vanguard Battalion, charge!"

"kill!"

After the Han army had used up their crossbows and muskets, they did not wait any longer and launched a counter-charge.

The Han army dared to charge, and the Qing army dared to flee.

One wave of attack, and before they even touched anyone, a third of them were dead, including the commander. Why aren't they running?
Liu Ding was dumbfounded; he hadn't expected the Han army to have muskets and crossbows.

Because the Han army charged in infantry square formations from beginning to end, and the Han army's muskets were all rifled flintlock muskets, which could be used by one person per musket, unlike traditional matchlock muskets, which required two or three soldiers to operate.

Seeing that the Han army was attacking the mountain, Liu Ding knew that he could no longer hold back and that he had to fight a decisive battle with his entire army.

Liu Ding muttered to himself, "Our army is numerous and powerful; we will surely win this battle." After muttering this, he waved his hand and ordered, "All troops, charge forward and kill the Han traitors!"

To save his own life, Zhang Chengji added, "Soldiers, for the sake of the Great Qing, kill the Han traitors! Whoever kills a Han traitor will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, and whoever kills the traitor's general will be rewarded with a thousand taels of silver!"

(End of this chapter)