There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 253 Defeat
The casualty statistics after the battle are as follows:
The Qing army in Jiangxi numbered over 30,000, with more than 1200 killed and over 4000 wounded.

The casualty rate was exactly 4%, and the injury rate was 17.3%.

This casualty rate seems high, but it can't be calculated that way. Although the Qing army suffered considerable casualties, only about one-tenth of the total casualties were actually killed in close combat. Even including those killed by explosive bombs, the total casualties were still less than half.

As for the remaining casualties, it's completely unclear what happened. It's even unknown whether the Qing army collapsed first or whether the two governors, Zhang Chengji and Liu Ding, fled first. In any case, the Qing army's defeat was inevitable.

The Qing army suffered heavy casualties, while the local militia suffered relatively few. The local militia collapsed so quickly that many of them didn't even fight. They first charged with their fellow villagers in front of them, and then said that the front had been defeated and told those behind them to surrender.

The fighting was incredibly absurd and inexplicable, leaving Yang Fang speechless. He finally had the chance to don the heavy armor bestowed upon him by the King, ready to charge forward and give the Qing army a taste of their own medicine.

As it turned out, the Qing army was truly a paper tiger, collapsing at the slightest touch!

After the instructor finished tallying his own gains, he then reported the casualties of the Han army.

Yang Fang took the report and her expression immediately turned strange: "Our army suffered 18 dead, 28 seriously wounded, and over a hundred lightly wounded. Is this for real?"

Instructor Wen nodded: "That's right."

"Fine!"

Yang Fang handed the report back: "We must do a good job in providing compensation for the fallen soldiers and also pay more attention to the treatment of the wounded. We must not let the soldiers feel disheartened. Those who fought for the Han Dynasty will never be forgotten by the Han Dynasty."

Later that evening, the cavalry sent out to pursue the remaining enemy returned.

The Qing army was not good at fighting, but they were really fast when they ran. The cavalrymen that Yang Fang threw out were only a moment late, but they were nowhere to be seen.

……

Several civilian boats were on the Gan River.

Jiangxi Governor Zhang Chengji and Southern Jiangxi Commander-in-Chief Liu Ding were accompanied only by their personal guards; almost all the other Green Standard Army and local militia forces had been wiped out.

They lost this battle, and they lost miserably. The Green Standard Army of Gannan Town, the local militia of Nanchang, and the local militia of Ruizhou were all wiped out.

Full of confidence, Zhang Chengji led 30,000 troops north to relieve Nanchang and also hoped to defeat the Han traitors. Fortunately, he could write a slightly better battle report to the emperor.

But now, even if I write a battle report that is as eloquent as the heavens, it cannot cover up the fact that I suffered a crushing defeat.

The losses were too great. The local militia were not human; they wouldn't care if they all died, but the town of Gannan was wiped out.

Jiangxi only had two towns: Nanrui and Gannan. Nanrui had been routed by the bandits of Ji'an after the major defeat at Yongyang, and its general had died on the battlefield, sacrificing his life for the country. Gannan had also been defeated by Han bandits, leaving only the two of them and a few dozen personal guards to escape.

How can we explain this to the Emperor and the court?
At this moment, Zhang Chengji was sitting alone on the deck, wrapped in a quilt, warming himself by the stove.

Why wrap yourself in a mattress?
It's quite simple. Zhang Chengji was led by Liu Ding back to the ferry on the riverbank, and then they quickly left the shore by boat. To cover up his crime, he staged a dramatic jump into the river. Fortunately, there were two swimmers nearby who quickly pulled him out of the water.

Liu Ding originally wanted to make trouble first and share the blame with Zhang Chengji, but Zhang Chengji's suicide attempt silenced him.

After a while, seeing that Zhang Chengji seemed to have calmed down a bit, Liu Ding cautiously asked, "Commander, about this battle..."

Zhang Chengji immediately raised his hand to interrupt: "Don't call me Commander-in-Chief. I am truly ashamed before the court and the Emperor for this defeat at Shengmi Ferry!" Good heavens, he absolved himself of all responsibility in just a few words, leaving Liu Ding no chance to take the blame.

Liu Ding's face darkened, and he immediately dropped the pretense, asking directly, "Since that's the case, how should we handle the outcome of this battle? Please advise, Governor."

The implication is that we're fighting this battle together, and if we lose, we lose together. The adults shouldn't try to stay out of it; they should make a decision quickly!

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengji frowned, pondered for a long time, and then sighed, "Our army suffered heavy casualties in this battle. The only plan now is to retreat to Linjiang first and then try to resist the Han traitors!"

Liu Ding was immediately alarmed: "What about Nanchang?"

"Nanchang?"

Zhang Chengji thought carefully and said, "General Liu can send a few of his personal guards to deliver a message to Nanchang Prefecture immediately..."

……

Several days later, in Nanchang Prefecture.

Nanchang Prefecture has received news of the Battle of Shengmi Ferry, and even knows that the reinforcements suffered a major defeat and heavy losses.

It was hard not to know, because the Han army had captured a lot of local militia. Apart from the strong and healthy ones, who were temporarily incorporated into the labor camp, the rest were all sent back to their hometowns. Among them were a few local militia who lived in Nanchang Prefecture.

After returning to Nanchang, they immediately brought back news of the Qing army's defeat.

When Wanning received the report, everyone was stunned.

He wrote a letter asking Zhang Chengji to lead troops back to reinforce the city. Zhang Chengji readily agreed, saying he would bring 40,000 troops back to reinforce the city, but in the end, he didn't even see a trace of the reinforcements and was defeated so quickly.

Wan Ning summoned the local militia members who had fought in the battle and asked, "How exactly did you lose?"

The village militiaman replied, "The governor told us to join the army and take us to fight bandits. He promised that soldiers would have enough to eat and would receive two taels of silver a month. But after joining the army, we haven't seen any silver, and we're not even getting enough to eat..."

Wan Ning immediately waved his hand in disgust: "Stop, stop, stop. I didn't ask you about food, I just want to know how you lost. Didn't Governor Zhang lead an army of 40,000? How exactly did you lose?"

The village militiaman shook his head: "I don't know. At first, the governor took us by boat, and when we landed at a certain place, he ordered us to dig and fill in the trenches, saying it was to kill the rebels. We were filling them in when the rebels suddenly fired cannons. Those cannons were incredibly powerful; they even made thunderous noises when they landed. Everyone said it was the rebels' sorcery. We were no match for them, so we had to retreat. We retreated all the way up the mountain, but the rebels still used sorcery against us. We were completely outmatched, and as we ran, things got chaotic, and we were defeated."

Wan Ning's brows furrowed as he listened. It wasn't that the village militia's explanation was too abstract, but rather that he had grasped an important piece of information: the Han traitors' cannonballs could actually explode!
As a member of the Manchu Eight Banners, specifically the Upper Three Banners, and having risen to the position of Provincial Governor, he possessed basic knowledge and knew what this thing was called—it was just a high-explosive shell!
Wasn't the art of making exploding bullets completely lost decades ago, back during the reign of King Sejong?
Where did the Han traitors get the exploding shells?

Wan Ning pondered for a moment, then asked, "Anything else? What happened to Governor Zhang after his crushing defeat? How many soldiers do you have left?"

The local militiaman shook his head again: "I don't know. We left very quickly. I don't know how the governor is doing, but I heard from those Han bandits that the governor seems to have broken through the encirclement and escaped."

"Did they really escape?" Wan Ning pressed.

"I don't know." The local militia knew nothing when asked. They were among the first to collapse and had no idea what was happening with the Qing army. It was the Han army that told them about their crushing defeat.

Wan Ning was at a loss for words. Zhang Chengji had undoubtedly been defeated, but he couldn't quite gauge the extent of the defeat.

(End of this chapter)