There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 322 Easily Taking Ningguo
With the Han army having captured Anqing, Chizhou, and Huizhou, half of this year's strategic goals have been achieved.

Next, only Lu'an, Chuzhou, Hezhou (He County), and the three prefectures and three counties of Luzhou (Hefei), Taiping (Ma'anshan), and Ningguo (Xuancheng) remain, which the Han army needs to conquer one by one.

The main force of the Qing army in Anhui had already been decimated by Bai Nan's Third Division in the Battle of Anqing. General Li Changgui of the Qing army fled back to Shouzhou in disarray with only a hundred or so cavalrymen. It was estimated that it would be impossible for them to march south again this year, and it was even uncertain whether they could keep their official positions if the battle report reached Beijing.

Seeing such a great opportunity, Yang Fang immediately sent a telegram to Jingzhou, believing that they could take advantage of the situation to seize the entire Anhui province.

Nie Yu had indeed seriously considered this suggestion and even consulted with his cabinet ministers. In the end, he had no choice but to postpone the advance and focus on taking control of the area south of the Huai River.

There was no other way; it wasn't that Nie Yu lacked ambition, but rather that the Han Dynasty was indeed short of funds.

The Han Dynasty was out of money. It's not that they were completely broke, but they simply didn't have enough money for the Han army to continue conquering the entire Anhui province. They were even struggling to advance south of the Huai River.

Despite the fact that the Han Dynasty now has a large territory spanning four provinces—Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, and Anhui—and controls nearly three provinces, the actual situation cannot be calculated that way.

First, let's talk about Jiangxi. The only territory that the Han Dynasty can actually control is northern Jiangxi, and even that is not completely under their control. The local officials only arrived a month ago, and even the land distribution officials are still slowly sorting things out.

There are not enough officials, and the territory is newly occupied. It will be difficult for Jiangxi to provide the Han Dynasty with a lot of money, grain and taxes this year.

Without the revenue from Jiangxi, the Han Dynasty was essentially using only the finances of Huguang Province to support the frontline army's expansionist wars against Jiangxi and Anhui.

After a while, money and food supplies were inevitably insufficient. It was already quite an achievement that they were able to conquer northern Jiangxi and Huainan.

Meanwhile, the Han army dispatched three divisions to Anhui. Bai Nan's third division was stationed in Chizhou and Anqing, with 6,000 regular soldiers and 4,000 militiamen, totaling 10,000 troops.

Yang Fang led his Fifth Division and the Sixth Division (not part of the regular army) to Huizhou, where they were currently stationed. The regular army numbered about 18,000 men, and the militia numbered 8,000, for a total of 26,000 men.

Meanwhile, the Han navy was also traveling back and forth on the Yangtze River, responsible for transporting the army's provisions and supplies, and at the same time blocking the Yangtze River waterway.

Chen Yongfu, the Anhui Provincial Governor who was supervising the training of local militias in Ningguo Prefecture, was stunned by the series of bad news that came his way.

Even now, he still doesn't quite understand how the three prefectures of Anqing, Chizhou, and Huizhou could be lost in just three months.

Even the governor was captured. When did this traitor become so capable of fighting?
Chen Yongfu desperately wanted to flee, but he was afraid that fleeing would bring disaster to his family. So he could only stay in Ningguo Prefecture, anxiously waiting. At the same time, he sent messengers across provinces to seek help from the General of Jiangning.

Of course, his plea for help was destined to be nothing more than psychological comfort; Jiangning Prefecture would never send troops.

According to the established regulations of the Qing Dynasty, without a special order, the army could not arbitrarily send troops across provinces; otherwise, it would be considered an overstepping of the rules, and the worst consequence would be losing one's official position.

There will definitely be problems under such a system.

For example, if a rebellion breaks out in a province, the local army may find it difficult to suppress, and troops from other provinces may not be allowed to cross provincial borders. By the time local officials report to the imperial court and the court issues an edict, the rebellion may have already been quelled or may have grown to the point of being uncontrollable.

In response to this situation, the system of governors and viceroys was created. The governor could control the troops of a province and could immediately assemble a large army to suppress any rebellion.

If the governor is unable to suppress the rebellion, the viceroy can directly mobilize troops from other provinces to quell the rebellion without going through the imperial court.

However, the current situation is that the Governor-General of Liangjiang, Li Fenghan, has been killed in battle, and the new governor-general has not yet taken office.

Ningguo Prefecture and Jiangning Prefecture are almost right next to each other. If troops are dispatched from Jiangning, it will only take two or three days to reach them by water.

But even at such a close distance, Jiangning Prefecture could not send troops, and General Jiangning dared not send troops either. If they did, no matter how the battle turned out, both he and Chen Yongfu would lose their official positions.

If he were unlucky, and if Emperor Jiaqing had held a grudge, he might have ended up in prison.

Fortunately, Chen Yongfu's ordeal did not last long.

Yang Fang spent half a month finally resolving the mutinous troops in Huizhou Prefecture and appeasing the affected people of Huizhou.

After finishing the chores, it's time to fight.

……

Ningguo.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, something terrible has happened!"

"What happened? Has the Han traitors' army attacked?"

Chen Yongfu immediately stood up from his chair and questioned Chen Yangyuan, the prefect of Ningguo, who was completely flustered.

Chen Yangyuan's face was full of fear, and he stammered, "The Han traitors... the Han traitors have mobilized 100,000 troops and are heading north to attack our Ningguo Prefecture. Taiping County and Jing County have already fallen, and they are expected to arrive in Ningguo soon."

Good heavens, Chen Yangyuan's words left Chen Yongfu completely dumbfounded.

One hundred thousand troops? Where did these one hundred thousand troops come from?
If he really had an army of 100,000, what was the point of him fighting?

Unfortunately, Chen Yangyuan couldn't answer his question; the man had been terrified by the Han army.

All they could do was linger around Chen Yongfu, anxiously asking, "Your Excellency, what should we do?"

"Your Excellency, please make a decision quickly!"

"The Grand Chancellor..."

"stop fighting!"

Annoyed by the noise, Chen Yongfu couldn't help but shout at Chen Yangyuan, who immediately fell silent and dared not ask any more questions.

Chen Yongfu had no time to offer words of comfort. After racking his brains for a while, he finally remembered the few military books he had read and said, "Issue the order to immediately seal off the entire city, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving. Also, order all the gentry and wealthy households in the city to provide manpower and funds to assist the government in defending the city. Open the treasury to recruit local militia and prepare the necessary supplies for the defense!"

After receiving a series of orders, Chen Yangyuan was slightly taken aback.

Seeing that the other party was actually in a daze, Chen Yongfu was immediately enraged again and shouted angrily, "What are you still standing there for? Go now! If you miss the opportunity, I will hold you accountable!" "Yes, yes, this subordinate will go and do it right away!"

Chen Yangyuan retreated in fear.

Two days later, while Ningguo Prefecture was still busy recruiting soldiers and preparing for war, the vanguard of the Han army had already reached Hanting Town, more than ten miles outside Ningguo Prefecture.

Although Chen Yongfu was very flustered, he still forced himself to remain calm and sent out scouts to find out how many Han traitors had come.

More than a dozen Qing scouts rappelled down the city wall, swam across the moat, and prepared to head to Hanting Town to gather information.

Halfway there, they encountered Han cavalry.

The dozen or so Qing spies immediately turned and fled, but how could a man's legs outrun a horse's legs?

In no time, three of the dozen or so Qing scouts were killed, and the rest were all taken prisoner by the Han cavalry.

Two cavalrymen escorted the prisoners back to camp, while the rest, carrying the corpses of three Qing scouts, went to Ningguo Prefecture to show off their power.

Chen Yongfu stood on the city wall, his face so gloomy it seemed to drip water. The scouts he had sent out two hours ago had returned as corpses.

Seeing the dozen or so swaggering Han cavalrymen outside the city, Chen Yongfu immediately ordered his men to fire arrows.

"Shhhhhh!"

The arrows rained down, but they couldn't hit anything; they were out of range.

"Hahaha!"

The Han cavalry laughed loudly, their voices audible even from the city walls. The three corpses were thrown down on the spot, and then the cavalry rode away.

Chen Yongfu was furious but had nowhere to vent his anger, so he could only turn and leave.

Later that evening, the main force of the Han army marched north from Hanting Town and set up camp three miles outside Ningguo Prefecture.

Those Qing scouts had already revealed most of the true situation of Ningguo Prefecture to Yang Fang.

In the entire Ningguo Prefecture, there were only two Green Standard Army units, Ningguo and Guangde, with a combined strength of less than 800 men.

On the contrary, there were quite a few local militia and laborers in the city, roughly estimated to be more than 20,000.

Twenty thousand local militia may sound impressive, but their actual combat strength is negligible. Moreover, when defending a city, more troops are not necessarily better.

The 20,000 local militiamen of Ningguo Prefecture had not undergone any training, let alone seen blood on the battlefield.

If they are hastily deployed like this, they will be less than cannon fodder in a real battle. Moreover, if they lose control and collapse, the eight hundred Green Standard Army soldiers of Ningguo Prefecture alone will definitely not be able to stop them.

The next morning, the Han army deployed ten red-coated cannons.

The soldiers guarding the city wall of Ningguo Prefecture were terrified when they saw the cannons pushed out by the Han army. The cannons had such long barrels that they had never seen before. The soldiers were immediately panicked.

The commander of the Ningguo Battalion, who was in charge of commanding the city walls, was terrified and was about to go to Chen Yongfu and Chen Yangyuan for instructions.

"boom!"

The Han army didn't give him time to find someone; after a quick aim and range test, they fired a cannon at the city wall.

Amidst the deafening roar of cannons, a single shot struck the enemy's soul, the shell hitting the city wall directly.

Under the enormous impact, the parapet was smashed to pieces like tofu, but the power of the shells remained undiminished.

Duo Yong charged wildly at the Qing soldiers hiding behind the parapet.

In the blink of an eye, three Qing soldiers on this section of the city wall died, two were seriously wounded, and the rest scattered and fled.

They ran while shouting incoherently.

"The traitors have opened fire!"

"What a powerful cannon!"

"Run!"

Amidst a few shouts, another salvo of artillery fire erupted from the Han army outside the city. Although they weren't so lucky this time, with not a single shell hitting its mark, the deterrent effect was still maximum.

The Qing troops defending the city walls had completely collapsed, and those who hadn't collapsed were also dragged down with them.

A Qing army captain from Guangde Battalion tried to lead his troops to stop them, but he couldn't stop them at all. Once inside, they were overwhelmed by the tide of fleeing soldiers and didn't even make a ripple.

Chen Yongfu arrived late and was stunned by the chaotic scene on the city wall.

My 20,000 troops, where are my 20,000 troops?
It hasn't even been half an hour, and it's already over?
Ningguo Prefecture was easily captured by the Han army in less than two hours, including the time it took for the Han army to occupy and control the city walls and government offices and maintain order in the city.

The good news was sent back to Jingzhou that same day, and the Jingzhou Prefecture Postal and Communications Department wrote it up overnight and published it in the latest issue of the "Great Han Imperial Gazette," which was printed in an emergency.

The Han army had never fought such a successful siege before, taking the city in just two hours, even with a high-ranking official from the puppet Qing dynasty in charge.

Officials in the Ministry of Posts and Communications deliberately downplayed the impact of previous battles, especially the loss of Shouchun Town in the Battle of Anqing, which left the Qing army in Anhui province depleted. They emphasized the fighting strength and power of the Han army, which frightened the morale of the army in Ningguo Prefecture, leading to the collapse and fall of the city.

It's all political propaganda, nothing to be ashamed of!
(End of this chapter)