There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 267 Suppressing the Enemy

On the first day of the siege, the battle was already becoming unwinnable.

The cannons on the river defense walls of Linjiang City fell silent after only half a day.

The Qing army's artillerymen either suffered heavy casualties or scattered and fled, and no one dared to go up and operate the cannons anymore.

Having cleared the Qing army's artillery positions, the Han army's artillery battalion continued their old tactic of attacking the city, aiming all their cannons at the Linjiang city wall.

"boom!"

"boom!"

"boom!"

The cannons were fired one after another in rotation. Whether they hit the target or not was not important, but it was essential to ensure that the artillery fire on the Han army's position never stopped.

The garrison on the city wall of Linjiang was composed of local militia recruited temporarily. Although they had been training for several months, their morale was low, and they were bombarded by the Han army's cannons for most of the day.

The fact that there was no large-scale collapse and desertion already shows that Liu Ding was a good commander. To expect them to step forward and fight desperately to defend the city is simply wishful thinking.

Under the cover of artillery fire, the Han army's militia finally took action. They quickly carried sandbags and ran to fill the moat of Linjiang Prefecture.

Liu Ding had already taken refuge inside the city tower. Upon seeing the Han soldiers carrying sandbags, he shouted urgently, "Quickly, stop them! Don't let them fill in the moat!"

When the order was given, none of the soldiers dared to move, fearing that they would be hit by artillery shells.

Having no other option, Liu Ding changed his tune, saying, "Those civilians who dare to defend the city and resist the Han traitors today will all be rewarded with a hundred coins for wine and meat after the battle. As for those who are cowardly and afraid to fight, they will all be punished according to military law for desertion!"

A generous reward will surely attract brave men; those who do not act bravely will be beheaded.

Upon hearing the order, the defending soldiers had no choice but to stand up, even though they were reluctant.

Liu Ding then ordered: "Fire arrows! Shoot the Han traitors and their laborers to death."

The archers in the defending army hurriedly took down their longbows and nocked arrows at the city below.

"Shhhhhh!"

A volley of arrows rained down.

It's not that it caused no damage at all, but rather that it was weak and ineffective, with wildly inaccurate aim. It was just randomly shooting from top to bottom without any real aiming.

If a hundred arrows were fired in a volley, it would be rare for even one-tenth to hit the target, and those that did hit were blocked by the leather armor and shields of the Han army militia.

The shields were not real shields, of course, but were made from door panels salvaged from the homes of the surrounding villagers, with simple ropes and rattan tied to them.

Yes, they were all paid for; they were door panels purchased by the Han army.

Some villagers even answered the call of the Han army to carry sandbags and cut down trees to make siege weapons.

Seeing that the archers could not cause any damage, Liu Ding had no good solution. Rolling stones, logs, and molten gold were all materials for defending the city, and using them on laborers would be a waste of resources.

Even bows and arrows are very expensive, with arrowheads made of iron, which consumes a lot of money and food.

Liu Ding had no choice but to order the archers to continue firing arrows in the hope of creating some resistance.

The Han army's artillery fire continued almost non-stop throughout the day.

Liu Ding was completely pinned to the city wall and unable to move, and could only watch helplessly as the Han soldiers and laborers leisurely filled in several sections of the moat road.

As evening fell, the Han army ceased their siege and returned to their camp to rest. Liu Ding was observing the torchlight of the Han army camp when Zhang Chengji, carrying a lantern, climbed back onto the city wall, followed by Ye Hekan and a group of officials from Linjiang.

"General Liu, this battle can't be fought like this!" Zhang Chengji's face was grim. In the still-dark light, he saw that several sections of the moat had been filled in.

Ye Hekan didn't forget his proactive strategy: "General, as the saying goes, prolonged defense inevitably leads to defeat. The Han bandits have only been attacking the city for a day, and Linjiang is already in such dire straits. Rather than waiting for the Han bandits to break through Linjiang, why don't we take the initiative and launch a night attack to catch them off guard? Perhaps we can turn defeat into victory!"

"That's utter nonsense!" Liu Ding immediately retorted without hesitation. "General, our army consists mostly of local militia, with low combat strength. Even defending the city is proving difficult. If we were to launch a reckless attack outside the city, especially a night raid, we would likely suffer a crushing defeat before even catching a glimpse of the Han traitors. That would be truly disastrous!"

After thinking for a moment, Zhang Chengji reassured Ye Hekan, "Prefect Ye, please don't say anything more. I have already entrusted the military affairs of this battle to General Liu."

Hearing that the governor still refused to listen to him, Ye Hekan had no choice but to shut up and back down.

Liu Ding continued, “General, although our army was already teetering on the brink of defeat on the first day of the siege, this was entirely due to the fact that most of the local militia in the city were new recruits who lacked combat experience and could not adapt to the Han bandits’ pace of attack. In addition, the bandits often attacked the city in one fell swoop, and the first few days were when their momentum was at its peak.”

"Having survived the first day, the soldiers have adapted to the rhythm of defending the city. The enemy's morale has been lost, and it will only become easier to defend the city in the future. We may not be able to hold out for a year or two, but we should be able to hold out for a month or two without any problem."

While these words were meant to comfort him, Liu Ding was indeed telling the truth.

The reason he was overwhelmed on the first day of defending the city was purely because all the soldiers were new recruits with poor morale and no experience in defending the city. Otherwise, he would not have been so frustrated.

Zhang Chengji nodded slightly upon hearing this: "If that's the case, then I'll entrust everything to General Liu! General Liu, please rest assured. Although I'm not very knowledgeable about military affairs, I won't give orders recklessly. General Liu, just go ahead and do your job. If you need provisions or laborers, I and Prefect Ye will arrange them for you."

Upon hearing Zhang Chengji's assurance, Liu Ding breathed a sigh of relief and replied with a cupped hand, "Rest assured, Commander, this humble general will do his utmost to defend Linjiang Prefecture!"

The next day, the Han army continued its siege in an orderly manner.

"boom!"

Twenty red-coated cannons fired in turn.

The Han soldiers and laborers carried sandbags on their backs and ran towards the moat of Linjiang Prefecture.

"boom!"

A cannon shot rang out; it was the cannons on the river defense walls of Linjiang City that fired.

Liu Ding was very clever. Although the gunners had only fired a few rounds of cannon fire yesterday before fleeing, he still rewarded all the gunners and the brave soldiers who dared to fire arrows with food, drink, and a hundred coins each, in accordance with the principle of rewarding merit.

Zhang Chengji was responsible for providing all the money; he was just a corrupt official who would stop at nothing to climb the ranks.

He could embezzle large sums of money, fabricate achievements, and kill innocent people to claim credit in order to climb the ranks. He could also throw away the embezzled money to these lowly soldiers in exchange for their willingness to fight.

After all, you can only spend money if you're alive. If you die trying to save your money, then no matter how much money you have, it's useless.

Moreover, money is only money when it's spent; saving it up and taking it to your grave is the idea of ​​a fool.

The food, drinks, and cash rewards were indeed immediately effective.

The Qing artillerymen who were scattered on the first day actually dared to come back on the second day and start firing again.

But after only two rounds of artillery fire, the Han army's cannons were aimed at them and fired only one shot.

One shell hit the target, while others missed and didn't directly hit the embankment, but instead smashed the parapet near the embankment.

These Qing artillerymen were quick and experienced, each one like a veteran of the battlefield, and they swiftly fled the gun emplacements.

The cannons on the river defenses of Linjiang City only fired two rounds this time, compared to the half-day bombardment on the first day. They didn't even empty the gunpowder from the magazines before scattering.

(End of this chapter)