There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 293 War begins

The fifth day of the first lunar month this year.

In the Henan direction, the Qing army officially dispatched troops, mobilizing the generals of Daming, Tongyong, and Tianjin garrisons from the five garrisons of the Zhili Green Standard Army, totaling more than 30,000 troops. In addition, there were more than 5,000 Zhili Eight Banner troops, along with more than 40,000 able-bodied laborers, bringing the total force to nearly 80,000.

Hu Jitang, the Governor-General of Zhili, was already seventy-one years old, but he still insisted on personally leading the army south to suppress the bandits.

Upon hearing the news, Henan Governor Woshibu immediately mobilized the remnants of the Hebei and Nanyang garrisons and recruited many able-bodied men and local militias, quickly assembling an army of 20,000 to march north and join forces with Governor-General Hu Jitang.

This is going to be interesting.

The commander-in-chief of the Qing army, Hu Jitang, the governor-general of Zhili, was an old man in his seventies. Moreover, his military talent was not very good. The reason he was truly recorded in history was that he was the first to impeach Heshen.

The governor of Henan, Woshibu, was similar. He was capable, but not much, and he mainly focused on education and historical research. His most outstanding achievement during his tenure was compiling a county gazetteer. He once said, "Without a county gazetteer, there is no record of historical events."

By the way, Hu Qilun, whom Jiaqing lamented was only slightly corrupt and a rare exception compared to the corrupt officials across the country, was the very same guy who was ordered to investigate while serving as the Governor-General of Huguang. However, fearing trouble, he pushed all the problems onto the Provincial Treasurer, Zu Zhiwang.

The Qing army assembled 100,000 troops. Regardless of their actual combat strength, their sheer numbers were quite intimidating.

Nanyang, the prefectural government office.

"Master, an urgent military intelligence report has arrived from the Ruzhou branch."

"Bring it here quickly."

Liu Zhixie sat in the grand chair of the former prefect of Nanyang, snatched the military report delivered by his subordinate, and was already greatly shocked before he even finished reading it.

The military report was very simple: the White Lotus Sect in Ruzhou discovered that the Qing demons had gathered a large force in Kaifeng. The exact number was unclear, but it was at least 100,000 troops.

Good heavens, an army of 100,000!
This completely baffled Liu Zhixie. In fact, the Han Dynasty had already sent a messenger to him before the new year to give him a special reminder.

At that time, Liu Zhixie had only recently taken over Nanyang Prefecture and was still dreaming of becoming emperor, so he didn't take the messenger's words to heart at all.

"Master, since the Qing demons have indeed attacked, our White Lotus Sect is not afraid of them. This disciple requests to lead 50,000 brothers and sisters to aid our brothers and sisters in Ruzhou!"

While Liu Zhixie was still pondering, someone quickly stepped forward.

The man who stepped forward was named Li Jie, a direct disciple of Liu Zhixie.

Because Liu Zhixie has no son and is over fifty years old this year, it is highly likely that he will not be able to have another child. Therefore, Li Jie has been secretly showing signs of succeeding the position of leader among the followers.

With Li Jie, the next leader, taking the lead, all the managers and generals under Liu Zhixie immediately stepped forward, their expressions frenzied.

"Yes! When the Qing demons come, we'll fight them."

"So what if they're 100,000 Qing demons? We also have tens of thousands of followers, we're not afraid of them."

"Kill, kill, kill!"

"Kill all these Qing demons!"

"A vacuum hometown, a birthless mother!"

"..."

Seeing the frenzy of his followers, Liu Zhixie was at a loss. If it were just the local Green Standard Army of the Qing Dynasty in Henan, he would not be afraid.

But these Qing troops are clearly from Zhili, and they come in a force of 100,000.

An army of 100,000 is not 100,000 pigs. Even though he already controlled two prefectures and could forcibly raise 100,000 followers, he was still somewhat apprehensive.

What if we can't beat them?
If you can't beat them, then run away!
But here's the problem: Liu Zhixie was reluctant to run away. As the saying goes, it's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality.

When he first raised his army, Liu Zhixie was indeed quite bold and determined to make drastic cuts if things went wrong. But now that he had captured a prefecture and a county, and could be considered a minor warlord with some influence, he was really reluctant to give up his territory.

Liu Zhixie even harbored the fantasy that he could touch the emperor's dragon throne in his lifetime and see what it was like to sit on it.
Liu Zhixie hesitated.

He neither wanted to abandon his territory and business and run away, nor did he want to lose to the Qing army if a real war broke out. He was afraid that he would be no match for them and would suffer a crushing defeat.

After pondering for a long time, Liu Zhixie still couldn't make up his mind. He could only order, "Immediately send a messenger to Ruzhou to find out how many Qing demons have come, what they are here for, and whether they are here to attack Ruzhou."

They captured the city with an army of 100,000, led by the Governor-General of Zhili himself, with the Governor of Henan assisting. If they weren't here to fight Liu Zhixie, did they think they could use Henan as a route to invade the Han Dynasty?
There was nothing they could do; the leader had given the order, and the followers had no choice but to obey.

The messenger was only sent out for two days when news came back.

The message wasn't brought back by the White Lotus Sect's own messengers, but by a messenger sent by the Han Dynasty to make contact.

Upon seeing Liu Zhixie, the messenger immediately presented the King of Han with a handwritten letter: "Master Liu, this is a personal letter from my king to you!"

Liu Zhixie was slightly displeased that the messenger didn't treat him with much respect, but he didn't show it. He took the letter, opened it, and read: "Brother, how have you been? I heard that the puppet Qing army is marching south, and I was so worried about your situation that I fell ill. I wish I could go there myself, but I'm currently fighting the puppet Qing and can't spare the time. I can only provide you with some cannons and firearms, all of which are good items captured from the puppet Qing. I hope they can help you defeat the Qing dogs. When we conquer the world, you will be king in the north, and I will rule the south. We brothers can share the throne. Wouldn't that be wonderful!"

It was a simple handwritten note, indeed written by Nie Yu himself. His subordinates from the Ministry of Rites had offered to polish it, but Nie Yu refused.

Because Liu Zhixie was a rough man who had only read a few books and knew a few words, he was uncultured at heart. Therefore, Nie Yu's letter, which was also uncultured, was just the right letter for Liu Zhixie to understand.

To ensure he matched Liu Zhixie's identity and avoid arousing suspicion, Nie Yu even copied down some of the letters that Sha Jin Wang had written to him.

Throughout the entire piece, it's practically blatantly groveling to Liu Zhixie.

Many young officials from the Ministry of Rites felt that the Prince of Han's letter lacked authority, but Nie Yu silenced them all with a casual remark: "You've already sent someone to their death for you, so what's wrong with saying a few flattering words?"

Nie Yu felt that he had done well, because he was aiming to kill Liu Zhixie, while Zhu Yuanzhang was still writing letters to Emperor Shun of Yuan to flatter him on the eve of the Northern Expedition to unify the country!

As for whether this handwritten letter had any effect?
Liu Zhixie quickly finished reading it, and without even reading it a second time, he burst out laughing: "Hahaha! Brother Nie is indeed a loyal friend, so naturally I, Liu Zhixie, cannot show any weakness."

"Someone come here!"

"The disciple is here."

Li Jie immediately bowed and stepped forward.

Liu Zhixie waved his hand: "Take the envoy down to welcome him and wash him off with good wine, meat and beautiful women."

The messenger responsible for delivering the letter quickly shook his head: "Thank you for your kindness, Master Liu, but my King of Han said that as soon as Master Liu finishes reading the letter, I must go back to report. At the same time, please send someone south to Xinye immediately, and we will send cannons and firearms to Xinye."

"Good, good, good, my brother is so righteous! With your firearms and cannons, we are confident that we can have a go at those Qing demons." Liu Zhixie laughed again, his thoughts no longer concealed.

Below, including Li Jie, many of the White Lotus Sect's generals and managers' eyes lit up when they heard that the Han Dynasty was going to provide them with cannons and firearms. Although they already controlled a prefecture and a county, the previous war and looting had caused too much damage. The loss of people and money was secondary; the more important thing was that almost all the artisans had fled.

This resulted in Liu Zhixie's followers and rebel army being extremely lacking in firearms and gunpowder; the only firearms they could use were landmines and firecrackers.

This is also why Liu Zhixie hesitated earlier.

In terms of troop numbers, if the Qing army came with 100,000 troops, he could also pull out 100,000 followers. Moreover, the followers were blessed by the Hunyuan Ancient Buddha (Liu Zhixie was a member of the Hunyuan sect), and each of them was fearless and could not be compared to an ordinary rabble.

What Liu Zhixie feared most was that the Qing army would use cannons. Even if one were truly blessed, one could not withstand such a thing!
Fortunately, the Han army also provided him with artillery, and it sounded like there were quite a few. With these artillery pieces, Liu Zhixie finally had the confidence to fight the Qing army head-on.

Liu Zhixie was completely unaware that the Han were setting a trap for him, so that he would willingly hold off the Qing army in Henan.

Even if he realized this, he was reluctant to give up his current territory and foundation. Instead, he planned to use the firearms provided by the Han Dynasty to first defeat the Qing army, then take over the Central Plains, and finally emulate the Han Dynasty by ascending the throne and becoming king.

The Han dynasty called itself the King of Han, so Liu Zhixie should call himself the King of Wei!
There's nothing I can do about it; this is what happens when you're uncultured. All I know is the King of Wei, and even that comes from the opera and storytelling of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

……

Jiangxi, Jiujiang.

Yang Fang had just received a telegram from Jingzhou, which was still an imperial edict of condolence from the King of Han.

After reading the document briefly, Yang Fang immediately summoned all the generals in the army for a meeting.

"Gentlemen, His Majesty has just sent an oral decree to Jiujiang via telegram," Yang Fang began.

The commanders and staff officer Xia Yongqian all held their breath and stood upright.

Yang Fang spoke with great solemnity: "By the King's decree, all of you soldiers are far away in Jiujiang, fighting for the Han Dynasty and for me. You have truly worked hard!"

"Your subject dares not complain of hardship!"

No one dared to be negligent, and they quickly bowed and clasped their hands.

Yang Fang then composed himself and continued, "His Majesty has given us everything he can. He provided reinforcements, money, provisions, and ammunition as needed, and even sent several imperial edicts of condolence. Now that the festival is over, I don't need to elaborate on what to do next; you all understand!"

Upon hearing this, everyone felt a slight chill and understood what they should do next.

The king has already been more than kind to them and has given them all the favors they deserve. If they still can't take Jiangxi next, these generals should probably atone with their deaths.

With the pre-battle tone set, and seeing the murderous intent in the eyes of his generals, Yang Fang said with satisfaction, "We've finished celebrating the New Year, and the Qing army's good days are almost over. It's time to send them on their way."

After Yang Fang finished speaking, Xia Yongqian finally interjected, "Our army's morale is high in this battle, and the entire army is looking forward to fighting. Meanwhile, the puppet Qing army has been trapped in Hukou for several months and has suffered repeated defeats, losing many soldiers and generals. Their morale must be low. As long as the decisive battle begins, the Qing army is very likely to collapse without a fight!"

Xia Yongqian's words were meant to further boost the morale of the generals present.

Yang Fang nodded slightly, and then began to make pre-battle preparations.

Although the final battle has not yet begun, the outcome of the battle is essentially already determined.

The Qing army actually still had nearly 70,000 troops, but the regular troops were less than half of that number. Meanwhile, the Han army, after several mobilizations and reinforcements from Jingzhou, had nearly 40,000 troops.

Although half of them were laborers, they were also Han militiamen who would train during the off-season and were no less capable than regular Qing soldiers. Even their military equipment was almost replenished, all made from high-quality steel cast in new furnaces.

Fortunately, the Han Dynasty has already taken over Daye, so there is no shortage of iron ore. Daye has even built several arsenals to smelt iron and cast weapons on the spot.

Forty thousand high-spirited Han soldiers fought against seventy thousand demoralized Qing soldiers.

Moreover, the Qing navy had been almost completely wiped out, and the Yangtze River channels had been cut off and blocked by the Han navy, leaving the Qing army with no way to retreat by water.

Hukou, the Qing army camp.

Li Fenghan is currently in his command tent, urgently summoning all the generals in the army for a meeting.

"Ahem...ahem!"

Before he could even begin speaking, Li Fenghan coughed heavily a few times. Coupled with his pale face and thin figure, Wang Bing felt a chill run down his spine.

Wang Bing quickly said, "Governor, please don't overwork yourself. You should rest and recover. It's really not worth ruining your health for the bandits."

Li Fenghan shook his head and waved his hand: "The bandits are just a few miles away on the other side of the river. How can I rest easy and recuperate? Let's continue the discussion. Don't worry about me... cough cough cough!"

Lee Bong-han's miserable state was not an act; he was genuinely ill.

After all, he was a civil official by birth and a member of the Eight Banners (Han Chinese Bannermen). He was used to a life of luxury and was not used to military life when he suddenly had to lead troops into battle. He was also subjected to a series of shocks, and it just so happened that it happened to be the coldest time of winter. He accidentally contracted typhoid fever.

The military doctors couldn't cure him at all, so Li Fenghan had to bear it all on his own.

As he endured the illness, it worsened, and a few days ago he even vomited blood on the spot.

In modern terms, this guy has tuberculosis, which is definitely incurable. Even in later generations, it would be difficult to cure.

Coincidentally, this guy also died of illness in February of this year, so this time it's just a month earlier.

Wang Bing had no choice but to take over from Li Fenghan and preside over the meeting.

The Han army was preparing to launch a decisive battle, and the news could not be kept secret from the Qing army. Of course, the Han army did not intend to hide it either, so they made a big show of it and openly told the Qing army that they were about to take action.

“Our sentry towers on the riverbank discovered yesterday that the Han rebels’ warships were frequently moving around, and there were even a large number of Han rebel scouts rowing to the opposite bank where our army was located to spy on our military situation.”

As Wang Bing spoke, he pointed to the map on the table, his gaze appearing particularly heavy.

"The traitors of Han are probably preparing for a decisive battle!"

Upon hearing this, everyone frowned. They had long anticipated that there would be a battle with the Han traitors after the New Year.

After all, this dragging on isn't a solution; they can't afford to wait, and neither can the Han traitors. They just didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

The New Year has just passed, and the Han traitors are already preparing for war, showing no intention of resting at all!

In this battle, Wang Bing had no good options, because they were surrounded by the Han rebels, unable to travel by water or cross the river.

(End of this chapter)