There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 278 The Han Dynasty Divides Its Troops
The Qing navy's crushing defeat quickly affected the battle situation at Meijia Island ferry crossing.

Five days later, the Qing army reinforced its troops again and forced a crossing at Meijiazhou Ferry. Instead of launching a pincer attack, they directly crossed the river head-on.

Li Fenghan's original intention was that with such a large troop advantage, he could act without any scruples, forcefully cross the river and launch an attack, catching the Han traitors off guard.

The Han troops defending the Meijia Island ferry were initially caught off guard by the Qing army's massive reinforcements. However, this initial surprise was short-lived; the Han troops adapted very quickly and soon had complete control of the battlefield.

No matter how many more troops the Qing army reinforced, the number of ferries was always limited, and the narrow river only allowed the Qing army to cross slowly.

Thus, Li Fenghan's confidence in his superior troop strength has become completely meaningless.

The Han army used cannons at long range and mortars to fire volleyballs when they got close, leaving the Qing army crossing the river with absolutely no chance of resistance.

With great difficulty, through wave after wave of sacrifice, they managed to force some Qing soldiers to land. The Han army's rifled guns and crossbows had been lined up and waiting for the enemy for a long time. Upon seeing the Qing soldiers who had landed, they fired a volley of fire at them.

"Bang bang bang!"

"Shhhhhh!"

In an instant, dozens of Qing soldiers fell to the ground. The cotton armor they wore was completely ineffective, and the hollow bullets from the Han army's rifled guns pierced through them with a single shot.

The Qing troops who landed also had muskets, but their muskets were all matchlock muskets, which are traditional matchlock guns.

Its range was too short and its rate of fire too slow; it was no match for the rifled muskets of the Han army.

Even compared to crossbows, crossbows at least have a higher accuracy rate and are much more powerful than muskets at close range.

The arquebuses in the hands of the Qing army became mere firewood, completely ineffective.

"Raise your bayonets!"

A Qing army lieutenant general, seeing that firearms were not an advantage and that his cotton armor was as flimsy as paper, simply ordered his men to straighten the three-edged bayonets on their muskets (as recorded in the "Imperially Commissioned Great Qing Code") and use them as long spears, intending to force a hand-to-hand battle with the Han army musketeers.

"kill!"

"retreat!"

When the Han arquebusiers saw that the Qing army was going to fight to the death, they immediately retreated quickly.

The Qing army wanted to fight to the death, but the Han army refused to fight them. Instead, they used their superior firearms to overwhelm the Qing army and crush their morale.

The Qing army adjutant had no choice but to change the military order.

"Raise your guns!"

"Quickly, fill in the medicine!"

The military orders suddenly changed, and the Qing army was thrown into chaos.

Just moments ago, they were using muskets as fire sticks to fight hand-to-hand with the Han army, but now they have to switch back to muskets to load them with gunpowder and ammunition.

"stop!"

"Archers, retreat! Rockets, fire!"

While the Qing army was still in a state of chaos, the Han army suddenly stopped, the musket battalion quickly dispersed, and the grenadier battalion, carrying rockets, rushed forward to meet them.

They were very close to the Qing army's arquebuses, about 150 paces away, which was just within the effective range of the Qing army's arquebuses.

Compared to the Qing army's arquebuses, which required the effort of loading ammunition, rockets required no preparation at all.

"ignition!"

"put!"

"Boom boom boom!"

More than a hundred rockets were launched at close range, without even needing to be aimed.

Just as the Qing soldiers opposite finished loading their arquebuses and were preparing to fire, they saw more than a hundred rockets flying straight towards them, spitting fire.

"Oh!"

Amid the violent explosion, the soldiers of the Han army's grenade battalion immediately lay down to protect themselves.

The Qing army on the other side was instantly wiped out by rockets made of sugar gunpowder.

It was truly an explosion, no exaggeration.

Severed legs and arms were flying everywhere; not a single intact body could be found.

"Oh my god!"

The rockets unleashed their power once more. The Su-Song Qing soldiers under Tian Yongyi, who had witnessed the power of rockets before, could no longer withstand the psychological pressure and desperately rowed their boats to escape.

"what are you doing?"

The Qing soldiers from Langshan who were on the same boat were unaware of the situation and immediately became furious and shouted at them.

"Puch!"

With a single stroke, the Qing soldier from Langshan was killed on the spot.

The Qing soldiers from Su and Song were bloodshot. After killing people, they jumped into the river and swam away, completely ignoring the ferry issue.

"Blow the trumpet!"

Seeing that the Qing army was showing signs of collapse, Fang Jie seized the opportunity and shouted.

"Dudududuwuwuwuwu~~~~"

It wasn't a bugle call to charge, but the Qing army couldn't understand it and thought the Han army was about to launch a counterattack.

If they, as the attackers who forced their way across the river, could be so badly defeated by the Han army, what would be the point of them fighting if the Han army were to launch a counterattack?
The Qing army, already on the verge of collapse, finally disintegrated completely.

At the Shizhongshan ferry crossing, the Qing army had already sounded the retreat, trying to recapture what they could, and leaving the rest to cross the river and perish on their own.

Tian Yongyi looked at the retreating soldiers, all of them dejected and with solemn expressions.

General Chen Anbang of Langshan stepped forward and said, "After a series of defeats, the morale of our troops has reached a low point. I'm afraid we'll need at least ten days to half a month to rest before we can fight again."

This guy was really unlucky. He should have retired a year later, but with the Qianlong Emperor's death and the Jiaqing Emperor regaining power, he was promoted to Jiangsu Governor (after the Jiaqing Emperor took power, he established the Anhui Governor).

Unfortunately, now, let alone being promoted to admiral a year from now, the main concern is whether he can shift the blame for the defeat.

Tian Yongyi understood his meaning and shook his head, saying, "This battle was not a mistake. I will report the detailed battle situation to the General and the Governor together with you. The strange firearms in the hands of the Han traitors have already posed a threat to our army and can no longer be taken lightly!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Anbang also felt that it made sense.

The two acted swiftly, withdrawing their troops that same day and immediately reporting the situation to Wang Bing and Li Fenghan.

Li Fenghan was at a loss after hearing this. The news from the Balijiang camp had just arrived that the navy had lost more than half of its warships and almost all of its light warships.

The navy suffered a crushing defeat and was clearly incapable of fighting again.

However, they just couldn't seem to capture the Meijiazhou ferry crossing no matter what they tried.

Li Fenghan frowned and said irritably, "Weren't there only four thousand Han traitors? I gave you thirty thousand troops, and you still can't take it down?"

Chen Anbang didn't know how to explain, so Tian Yongyu explained: "Your Excellency, the Meijia Island ferry crossing is narrow. If we try to cross it head-on, even if we send out 30,000 troops, only a few thousand can make it through. Our numerical advantage will be completely wasted. In addition, the Han bandits' firearms are indeed sharp, and they also have those strange firearms that can spit flames. The soldiers all call them sorcery and dare not fight them at all."

“Sorcery, sorcery! What kind of sorcery is this in the world?” Li Fenghan cursed angrily.

Tian Yongyi remained silent, waiting for Wang Bing to speak up and defuse the situation.

These generals in Jiangnan were all considered Wang Bing's men. Wang Bing had served as the Governor-General of Jiangnan since the sixtieth year of the Qianlong Emperor's reign, and for the past three years, he had long been in cahoots with these local generals, sharing their connections.

Li Fenghan wants to poach and control the person, but that's not feasible for now. He needs to serve as governor for at least a year first, and then Wang Bing can be promoted and transferred.

Wang Bing spoke up: "Governor, given the current state of the war, no amount of punishment can undo the damage. Moreover, General Tian is right; the Han rebels' firearms are indeed formidable. Governor Zhu and we were right to warn them that we cannot continue fighting blindly. We must first devise a long-term plan. Otherwise, if we continue to wear down the Han rebels here, and they seize the opportunity to capture Nanchang, things will be very bad!"

The last sentence is the key point Wang Bing wanted to make.

Seeing that a quick victory was impossible, and even the possibility of winning was questionable, it was best to hurry south to save Nanchang!

The loss of Jiujiang is already a serious matter; if Nanchang is lost as well, then it will be a truly major disaster.

The Han traitors took over Huguang, which was a serious problem, but at least it was contained in the southwest. However, if they had taken Nanchang, the war would have spread to the south of the Yangtze River.

The granaries of Huguang have been lost, and the pseudo-Qing dynasty is on its last legs.

With the canal transport in Jiangnan disrupted again, the pseudo-Qing dynasty could basically go all in and gamble everything on the Han dynasty.

Just as Li Fenghan and Wang Bing were talking, a messenger suddenly arrived with news: "My lord, an urgent report has arrived from Pengze: Susong County has been captured by the Han rebels!"

"what?"

Li Fenghan and Wang Bing were both shocked, thinking they had misheard.

Susong County is located east of Huangmei County and north of Hukou County, bordering Anhui, Hubei and Jiangxi provinces.

Li Fenghan, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, had only been in Hukou County with an army of 200,000 for a short time when Susong County was seized by the Han traitors.

……

Dagutang Ferry Crossing.

Li Fenghan was greatly shocked and surprised when he received the messenger's message, while the Han army was not surprised at all, and had even received the news several days in advance.

The Qing army could send 200,000 troops south to attack Jiujiang Prefecture of the Han Dynasty, and the Han Dynasty could also take the opportunity to advance eastward and send troops to attack Anhui Province.

The reason the Han army couldn't be divided earlier was because its strength was limited to only 50,000 men. The Qing army also had garrisons in the provinces, so dividing the troops for fighting would have been too risky, and the food and finances couldn't withstand the drain of a prolonged two-front war.

But now it's different. The Qing army claims to have 200,000 troops marching south. Even if we take away the bluff, there must be at least 100,000 of them.

To mobilize an army of 100,000 men, it would be impossible without completely draining Jiangsu and Anhui provinces.

The number of soldiers, laborers, and provisions was astronomical.

Therefore, after repeated calculations, the Army Command of the Han Dynasty determined that the provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu must be sparsely populated at this time.

As long as the Han army goes into battle, even if they don't win in one battle, they can quickly expand their territory.

If they could advance all the way to Anqing Prefecture, they could directly shake the foundation of the puppet Qing regime in Jiangnan, and even force Li Fenghan, the Viceroy of Liangjiang, to send troops back to reinforce the area.

"In Anhui, General Bai has already captured Susong County and is currently advancing towards Wangjiang County. Once Wangjiang County falls, it will no longer be us who are in a passive position, but the puppet Qing governor-general."

Yang Fang was at the main camp, discussing the next strategic and tactical steps with Staff Officer Xia and several commanders under his command.

They had just dealt a heavy blow to the Qing navy by dividing and luring the enemy, and also captured more than a hundred light warships.

The Qing navy, which had inadvertently fallen into the trap, initially wanted to fight the Han navy to the death, but the Han navy was only unable to defeat the Qing navy's large ships, not these light warships.

With the cannons firing, the Qing warships couldn't even get close.

After finally closing the distance, they prepared to engage in a boarding maneuver.

The rifled gun firing was like target practice; the Qing sailors became live targets, allowing the Qing soldiers to fire at them indiscriminately.

Having eliminated the threat from the Qing navy, Yang Fang had no more worries and even began preparing to clear the sunken ships in the middle of the river to remove the silt blocking the lake mouth so that the navy could go into battle.

(End of this chapter)