There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 286 The End of the Twelfth Lunar Month
The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month is the Little New Year in the south.

Bai Nan, leading reinforcements from the Second Division, along with accompanying civilian officials and several key members of the peasant association, had just arrived in Susong County.

"Your subordinate greets the General!"

The Han army general in charge of the temporary military command in Susong County happened to be one of Bai Nan's commanders, named Lin Yong.

Upon seeing Lin Yong, Bai Nan couldn't help but ask, "What's the situation in Anhui now? What are the Qing army's movements? You've taken Susong County, which is the gateway to Anqing Prefecture. Is the Qing army already gathering troops?"

Bai Nan asked three questions in a row, clearly quite anxious.

The Han army's expedition took place right in the dead of winter. Not only was the weather frigid, but the soldiers also couldn't go home for the New Year, inevitably leading to resentment. It was only thanks to the commander's exemplary conduct and the king's advance envoy's visit to offer comfort and rewards that the soldiers' emotions were calmed down.

Lin Yong replied, "There has been no unusual activity in Anqing Prefecture. When I first arrived in Susong County, I also thought that as the capital of Anhui, the puppet Qing governor would be in a panic and mobilize a large army to attack Susong County. I even recruited laborers immediately, distributed weapons to them, and had them conduct basic city defense drills in preparation for any eventuality. But as it turns out, the Qing army has not yet sent troops. Instead, the Huizhou merchants have sent people to make contact, and it seems that the Qing army cannot come."

Bai Nan was taken aback, then pressed for details: "Tell me the specifics quickly."

Lin Yong said, "I don't know the specifics either, but the intelligence reports from the Huizhou merchants in Anqing Prefecture and our spies indicate that there are not many Qing soldiers in Anqing Prefecture. On the contrary, the puppet Qing government is recruiting a large number of laborers and local militia."

Bai Nan then asked, "What about the counties of Taihu and Wangjiang? Have there been any unusual developments?"

Lin Yong shook his head: "There is no unusual activity in Taihu County, but there is indeed unusual activity in Wangjiang County... The magistrate of Wangjiang County sent a messenger, wanting to surrender to our Great Han."

"..."

Bai Nan was at a loss for words.

Upon learning that the battle in Henan was about to begin, the Han army hastily dispatched troops, intending to take advantage of the fact that the Qing army's attention was temporarily diverted from the south during the major battle in Henan, and then rely on the Yangtze River defense line to resist the Qing army's southward advance.

The current situation is that the Han army has already entered Anhui, and even if the Qing army is slow to react, they should have already gathered their troops to prepare for battle.

As a result, after all this trouble, they were still recruiting laborers and local militias, and there were hardly any real Qing soldiers at all.

In reality, this was just wishful thinking on the part of the Han Dynasty. The Han Dynasty had radio stations that could transmit intelligence information quickly and promptly, but the Qing Dynasty did not!

Moreover, the Han Dynasty established a three-tiered power structure in towns and villages, consisting of town mayors, land allocation officials, and peasant associations. As long as the Han government issued an order to conscript laborers and transport supplies, its execution efficiency was unmatched by the pseudo-Qing government.

Upon seeing Zhu Gui's handwritten letter and the governor's seal on it, Li Changgui, the general of Shouchun Town in Anhui, indeed yielded and replied that he would send troops south.

But when this guy talks about going south, he's planning to go south after spring, since there's basically no fighting in winter anyway.

In addition, conscripting laborers and raising money, grain and supplies would take a lot of time. He was not as hardworking as the Han army, who came by boat in the dead of winter.

All these factors combined mean that no matter how fast Zhu Gui, the governor of Anhui, acted or how much power he wielded, his efficiency in gathering troops was definitely not as fast as that of the Han army.

Bai Nan had a general understanding of the situation in Anhui and immediately made strategic plans. The Han army he brought was not large, with only 4,000 regular soldiers and 6,000 militiamen as supply troops, for a total force of 10,000.

These troops should be more than enough to attack Anqing Prefecture, which was unprepared.

Bai Nan then disbanded most of the able-bodied laborers recruited by Lin Yong, and the remaining ones were selected as elites and reorganized into the labor camp.

The current Han army force in Susong County, including the 10,000 he brought, the 2,000 Lin Yong troops, and the local laborers and able-bodied men, is estimated to be between 14,000 and 15,000, which rounds up to 20,000.

With 20,000 people crammed into such a small county town, the consumption of food and supplies was indeed becoming unbearable.

Bai Nan first laid off some of them, and the rest were sustained by the military rations he brought.

Once the year-end is over, we must immediately begin the battle to alleviate the pressure.

……

Jiujiang.

Li Fenghan, the Governor-General of Liangjiang, is now in a predicament where he cannot back down.

He amassed an army of 100,000, claiming to have 200,000, and marched south along the Yangtze River, intending to wipe out the Han army in Jiujiang Prefecture in one fell swoop. However, so far he has not even been able to enter Poyang Lake, and his navy has been completely decimated, while the Green Standard Army he brought with him has also suffered more than 10,000 casualties.

The losses shouldn't have been this great, but this guy panicked when he learned that the Han army had captured Susong County and made a series of foolish moves.

Li Fenghan first ordered the navy, which had recently suffered a major defeat, to force a crossing of Jiangzhou Town (the largest island in the Yangtze River where the three provinces meet), and then ordered the main army to cross the river and attack Meijia Island and Dagutang.

This means they can't win with tactics and strategies, so they're going to forcefully crush and overwhelm them.

It's a pity that if he had attacked like that from the beginning, Yang Fang's forces were insufficient and he couldn't defend every aspect. There was also the threat of the Qing navy, so there was almost nothing he could do.

But things are different now. After several defeats, the morale of the Qing army has plummeted. It would be difficult for them to fight even if they were all together, let alone split into three groups at once.

To win a battle by dividing the army into three routes, the commander-in-chief's command ability must be extremely high.

On the Han army side, only Yang Fang possessed such command capabilities, while the Qing army had roughly half such a commander: the veteran general Tian Yongyi. Unfortunately, Tian Yongyi had suffered too many defeats, and then Susong County was suddenly lost.

Enraged, Li Fenghan dismissed and imprisoned the man, intending to deal with him after the battle was over.

How to deal with it?

Of course, if you win, you settle the score; if you lose, you just shift the blame.

This is a common tactic in officialdom: using euphemisms to whitewash the truth. When the whitewashing fails, the blame falls on military officers drawing salaries without working, neglecting training, and causing military equipment to fall into disrepair, which is why they can't win.

Anyway, it has nothing to do with him, the Governor-General of Liangjiang. He only took office last year, less than two years ago. He embezzled less than a few hundred thousand taels of silver. He only finalized the strategic policy of the army marching south and personally commanded several major battles. What does it have to do with him?

With no capable generals to command, Li Fenghan personally took charge of micro-management, leading his troops in a three-pronged attack on Jiujiang.

As expected, they lost this battle.

They suffered a particularly crushing defeat; in the dead of winter, it even snowed on the Yangtze River that day.

The Qing navy was almost completely wiped out. Not only were the warships sunk, but most of the remaining four thousand sailors also perished at sea.

The Qing navy suffered a crushing defeat on the battlefield, and the Green Standard Army, which crossed the river from both sides, also fared poorly.

Li Fenghan devised a three-pronged strategy, but completely overlooked the fact that the Han army also had a navy, which was not only intact but had also just captured more than a hundred light warships from the Qing army, further expanding its strength.

It was no longer possible for the Qing army to cross the river safely.

Faced with the attack of the Han army's navy, the Qing troops who were crossing the river in fishing boats and sampans were caught off guard and were like prey that had fallen into a trap, struggling in vain.

One wave of attacks completely stunned Li Fenghan.

“Han traitors…where did the Han traitors get their navy?” Li Fenghan’s face was filled with shock.

Wang Bing immediately cupped his hands and advised, "Your Excellency, we cannot continue fighting. If we continue, our Green Standard Army will be without a navy, and our crossing of the river will surely result in a major defeat!"

Instead of listening attentively as usual, Li Fenghan turned around sharply and glared angrily, saying, "The battle has reached a critical point. The soldiers crossing the river are fighting with their lives. How can I retreat so easily? If Commander Wang dares to suggest retreat again, I will execute you for disrupting morale!"

These words nearly made Wang Bing's nose twist with anger.

Good, good, good. Does he really think he can't see that you, the governor, have been completely stunned by the traitors?
Faced with the traitorous Han navy, they actually ordered their soldiers to blindly cross the river.

What's the difference between this and giving away someone's head?
Wang Bing wanted to abandon the matter, but he was the Governor of Jiangnan. If this battle resulted in a complete rout, he, as the Governor of Jiangnan, would be held responsible.

Just as he was about to grit his teeth and try to persuade him again, he realized that he was, after all, the Governor-General of Jiangnan. Even if Governor-General Li Fenghan was insane, he wouldn't go so far as to kill him, a mere governor, on the battlefield.

"Report!"

"The Right Battalion of the Jiangnan Navy was ambushed by Han rebels at Guanpaijia. Eighteen of their warships were sunk. Lieutenant General He led the remaining eight warships to break through the encirclement and is now anchored and resting at Jiangzhou Town!"

A Qing soldier messenger rushed back anxiously to report, and collapsed from exhaustion on the spot after finishing the report.

Li Fenghan and Wang Bing were shocked, as if struck by lightning.

Wang Bing reacted even faster: "Governor-General, the navy is already finished. We can't let the DPP be finished too. Let's retreat now! It will be too late if we don't retreat now."

After he finished speaking, Li Fenghan remained silent.

They neither mentioned withdrawing the troops nor cutting off the royal handle.

"Your Excellency, this battle is over..."

Wang Bing had just raised his head and was about to say half a sentence when he saw Li Fenghan suddenly roll his eyes back and fall straight down.

"Governor-General! Governor-General!"

"Quickly summon the army doctor! Someone come here! Someone come here!"

In the direction of the Qing army camp, tens of thousands of Qing troops retreated after the Viceroy of Liangjiang, Li Fenghan, suddenly fainted.

In reality, the battle was almost over; they couldn't even get past the Han army's naval defenses. Many Qing officers simply went through the motions without putting in any real effort. Initially, they sent their own Qing soldiers across the river, but later they sent local militia and laborers instead, thus depleting the Han army's ammunition and arrows.

The Qing army retreated, and the Han army did not pursue them. This was not due to the weather, but because they needed to clear the floating corpses from the river and finish off any Qing soldiers who were still alive.

Even if someone falls into the river in the dead of winter and survives, they are unlikely to live and are more likely to bring plague to the Han army's territory.

It was possible to cure them, but it would be a waste of medicinal materials. The Han army didn't have enough medicinal materials to give to the Qing soldiers and prisoners, so they had no choice but to kill them all and leave no prisoners.

(End of this chapter)