There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 272 Hukou
Chen Younian had just captured Linjiang and was planning to join forces with Yang Fang to attack Nanchang Prefecture.

The Qing reinforcements from Ruizhou, Yuanzhou, and Fuzhou were indeed putting some pressure on him, but only some pressure. He was confident he could handle a real fight, and at worst, he could send Yang Fang south first to join forces with him to wipe out the Qing army.

But now, the Han army's original strategic plans have been disrupted.

The puppet Qing Dynasty's Viceroy of Liangjiang actually went south!
It is not surprising that the Governor-General of Liangjiang went south.

Because Jiangxi was originally under the jurisdiction of the Governor-General of Liangjiang, whose full title was Governor-General of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi and other places, in charge of military affairs, provisions, river management and the affairs of the southern river.

The reason why the Governor-General of Liangjiang governed three provinces was different from that of the Governor-General of Fujian and Zhejiang, the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, and the Governor-General of Huguang. The reason is that Liangjiang originally consisted of two provinces, namely Jiangnan Province and Jiangxi Province. Later, Jiangnan Province was split into Jiangsu Province and Anhui Province. The power of the Governor-General of Liangjiang was not abolished, so the territory under his jurisdiction changed from two provinces to three provinces.

The Han army launched a major offensive in Jiangxi, successively capturing Jiujiang and Nankang, controlling a vital transportation hub connecting seven provinces and a key city along the Yangtze River, and then pressing on Nanchang.

If the Governor-General of Liangjiang, who was in Jiangning (Nanjing), still wanted to keep his official position, he would definitely lead a large army south to fight against the Han army.

The Han army did not expect that this Qing governor-general could move south so quickly, just in time for the Han army to launch a pincer attack from the north and south. Moreover, he made a big move from the start, sending 200,000 troops south.

Two hundred thousand troops!

Unless the Qing dynasty mobilized the entire nation, where were they supposed to find 200,000 troops?

Based on his deductions, Yang Fang estimated that the puppet Qing dynasty had sent at most a hundred thousand troops this time.

But an army of over 100,000 is still quite exaggerated.

Yang Fang's current forces have been replenished by Jingzhou, giving him approximately 8,000 new troops. These are all newly formed Sixth Divisions, not yet at full strength, and training has only just begun.

Fortunately, the Han army was already implementing a militia strategy. During the off-season for farming, most prefectures and counties organized young and strong villagers to train and form local militia teams, which were coordinated by the farmers' association.

The 6th Division under Yang Fang's command, which was not fully staffed, consisted mostly of soldiers from rural militia. So even without much training, it could still barely form a fighting force.

At least they can understand commands and obey basic orders, so playing a low-spec version of the Mandarin Duck Formation shouldn't be a problem.

……

Hukou.

This area belongs to the eastern county of Jiujiang Prefecture. Hukou is located at the northern exit of Poyang Lake and is the only connection point between the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake, forming a strategic stronghold known as the "key to rivers and lakes and a thoroughfare to three provinces".

After Yang Fang captured Jiujiang Prefecture, he originally intended to send troops eastward to take Hukou. However, Hukou's geographical location was unique, with two islands, one large and one small, dividing the wide river channel into three narrow waterways.

The Han army's large ships could not pass, so they temporarily refrained from sending troops to occupy the area.

Now, the puppet Qing dynasty's Viceroy of Liangjiang has actually marched along the river and captured Pengze and Hukou counties in one fell swoop.

Fortunately, the lake mouth was indeed very narrow, and the large ships of the Han army could not pass through. The fleet of ships brought by the Governor-General of Liangjiang could not pass through either.

The Hukou County Government Office is now the temporary command post of Li Fenghan, the Governor-General of Liangjiang.

“Your Excellency, the two islands on the north bank of Hukou have divided the river into three, making it impossible for our large ships to pass. I suggest we cross the river directly to advance our troops,” said Wang Bing, the Jiangnan Admiral, pointing to the simple map on the table.

In a way, Wang Bing was quite lucky. The Han Dynasty had moved south so quickly that it had taken control of the entire Hunan province before the Qing court could react, and had even killed Liu Junfu, the governor of Huguang.

Otherwise, around the end of last year, this guy would have been transferred to Hunan as the commander-in-chief to lead the battle due to the unfavorable situation in the Hubei and Hunan war.

Li Fenghan nodded slightly. Wang Bing was appointed as the Governor-General of Jiangnan in the sixtieth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign and has served in that position ever since. In terms of military affairs, he certainly knows more than Li Fenghan, who was parachuted in as the Governor-General of Liangjiang last year.

Moreover, both of them were from the Han Banner Army, so they naturally belonged to the same category of people, unlike the Han soldiers below them.

Wang Bing continued, "If we cross the river directly, we can order the magistrate of Hukou County to requisition civilian boats and join forces with our Jiangnan Right Battalion Navy to cross the river in two separate groups. One group will attack Meijia Island, while the other will head south to land at Dagutang and encircle Jiujiang Prefecture."

Wang Bing's confidence as the Governor-General of Jiangnan stemmed from his willingness to divide his forces and cross the river. As the Governor-General, he commanded the military affairs of Jiangsu and Anhui provinces. His five battalions alone numbered over 8500 men, and he also led the Jiangsu naval fleet.

Upon hearing this, Li Fenghan glanced at the map and asked the other generals who had also come to the meeting, "Do any of you have any other suggestions to add?" None of the generals answered.

This was a strategic plan formulated by the Governor of Jiangnan, their direct superior, so they certainly couldn't directly contradict him.

Moreover, the strategy of dividing their forces to cross the river wasn't really a problem. They had 200,000 troops crossing the river to attack Jiujiang Prefecture. Even if their actual strength was only half that, just over 100,000, the remaining 60,000 to 70,000 were just able-bodied laborers, purely there to make up the numbers.

But this was almost all the troops that the Governor-General of Liangjiang and the Admiral of Jiangnan could mobilize, including the naval fleet that almost never moved.

With such a powerful force, they could scare the Han traitors to death!
Seeing that none of the generals spoke, Li Fenghan agreed with Wang Bing's plan and immediately gave the order: "In that case, let's follow General Wang's plan. Immediately have the magistrate of Hukou County requisition civilian boats, gather more laborers, and collect provisions to cooperate with General Wang's Jiangnan Right Battalion Navy to cross the river and attack Meijia Island and Dagutang respectively."

After speaking, he paused and asked, "In this battle, who is willing to be the main attacking force?"

With 200,000 troops marching south, everyone thought victory was assured, so whoever led the vanguard would reap the greatest credit.

No sooner had Li Fenghan finished speaking than Tian Yongyi, the general of Susong Town, said, "Your Excellency, I am willing to be the vanguard and take Meijia Island for our army first!"

Upon seeing that it was the veteran general Tian Yongyi who stepped forward, the other generals immediately fell silent.

Tian Yongyi was a military officer who had served as a veteran general in Guangdong, Yunnan, and the Grand Canal. He had experience in both naval and land battles and was more senior than anyone else present. No one could take his place as the vanguard.

After deciding on the vanguard, Li Fenghan then discussed the specific operational details of the army with Wang Bing and his generals.

In the following days, all the people of Hukou County suffered from the disaster.

The magistrate dispatched all three shifts of yamen runners to forcibly requisition boats from the people everywhere, including fishing boats.

Fishing boats can also be used as small sampans to carry a few soldiers ashore.

In just five days, the magistrate of Hukou County managed to requisition enough civilian boats for Li Fenghan to transport tens of thousands of troops across the river.

With so many civilian boats all moored along the shore of Hukou, the commotion and scene were so great that even the scouts sent by the Han army could see them from afar by boat.

The Han scouts dared not approach, but could only use binoculars to observe and record the number of ships before immediately returning to report.

"Report!"

"It has been clearly discovered that the Qing army has a large number of ships, at least a thousand, anchored on the west bank of Hukou County. Some of them are flying military flags and should be Qing naval warships, which are larger and taller than our largest warships. There are also many medium and small civilian boats without flags, which seem to have been looted from the people, merchants and powerful families along the lake."

After the scout finished reporting, Staff Officer Xia Yongqian frowned immediately: "The fact that the puppet Qing is making such a big show of requisitioning civilian boats suggests that they are preparing to cross the river in force and launch a major attack on Jiujiang Prefecture."

Yang Fang nodded slightly, having anticipated this, and immediately summoned his generals to discuss how to respond.

The Qing army claimed to have 200,000 troops marching south, but everyone knew that there were definitely no 200,000. At most, there were 100,000 troops, and that probably included able-bodied laborers.

Even so, the Han army had less than 20,000 combat-ready soldiers, of whom 8,000 were new recruits. Their combat strength was far inferior to that of the veterans under Yang Fang.

With 20,000 men fighting against 100,000, and almost half of them being new recruits, this battle is indeed going to be tough!
Yang Fang remained calm, glanced at the map briefly, and confidently said, "Although the Qing army is numerous and powerful, no matter how many soldiers they have, they cannot fly across Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River directly to Jiujiang. We only need to find a way to intercept the Qing army crossing the river, or simply annihilate them on the water when they are crossing the river, and we can win this battle."

Upon hearing that the general already had an idea, the Han army generals were greatly encouraged.

Many of these Han generals were veterans who had fought alongside Yang Fang for a long time and were used to his risky military tactics.

It's just 20,000 against 200,000. As long as Yang Fang is confident, they think they can win.

As for the newly arrived Sixth Division, although they were indeed somewhat instinctively apprehensive at first, upon seeing Yang Fang's confident demeanor, they all assumed that the general had already devised a strategy to defeat the enemy, and their morale soared.

This is the Han army. They know why they are fighting, so as long as their commander gives them a little confidence, they dare to fight to the death.

Even if it's 20,000 against 200,000!
(End of this chapter)