There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 349 The Army of 100,000
Nie Yu personally led the 7th Division of the Han Army to Anqing, taking over the garrison of the Han Army in southern Anhui, and at the same time temporarily supplemented the 2nd Division, which was short of troops.

With everything in place, the Han army officially launched its offensive against Jiangnan.

The Second Division of the Northern Route Army —

Bai Nan set out from Anqing, deploying all 8,000 troops under his command. He also added a garrison from the 7th Division (2000 men), restoring his forces to a strength of 10,000.

Another 8,000 laborers followed them north, bringing the total strength of the army to nearly 20,000.

The strategic objective of the Northern Han Army was simple: to march north and first attack Luzhou Prefecture, capturing this strategic location in Huainan.

Then, centered on Luzhou Prefecture, they swept across the entire Huainan region, pushing the battle line all the way to the Huai River.

Then, they advanced from Huainan to attack Guangzhou in Henan Province, thus connecting the entire southern defense line.

The Sixth Division of the Southern Route Army —

The commander of the Sixth Division was named Wu Jun. He once led a thousand men in Anren County and defeated the tens of thousands of troops of Shajinwang in one battle. He also scared away the bandit leaders under Shajinwang when attacking You County. He rose to the rank of commander of the Sixth Division through his military achievements.

Having followed Yang Fang in the Jiangxi campaign for almost a year, he had learned the basic military strategies of a major general and had even been influenced by Yang Fang's risky fighting style.

According to the strategic plan formulated by the Army Commander-in-Chief's Office, the Han Army of the Sixth Division would first pass through Huizhou and then advance to attack Yanzhou Prefecture.

Taking advantage of the uprisings in central and eastern Zhejiang, which left the Qing army in Zhejiang unable to attend to the Han army, the Qing army swiftly captured Yanzhou.

After occupying this confluence of three rivers, they will use it as a springboard to advance by land and water with Cai Qian and launch a combined attack on Hangzhou Prefecture.

If Hangzhou falls, the overall situation in Zhejiang will be settled.

The Fifth Division of the Eastern Route Army —

Nie Yu personally led the army, serving as the commander-in-chief, with Yang Fang as his deputy commander.

In addition to Yang Fang's 5th Division of 10,000 men, the Eastern Route Han Army also included the main fleet of the First Division of the Great Han Yangtze River Navy, a militia battalion of 10,000 men brought from Hubei, and two garrison troops from the 7th Division.

The total strength of the Eastern Route Army has reached nearly 30,000 troops.

The 30,000-strong Han army advanced by land and water, with a clear strategic objective: first capture Nanjing, then seize all the prefectures south of the Huai River.

The Han army, including civilian laborers, mobilized more than 60,000 troops for the three eastward offensives mentioned above.

This does not even include the troops sent to Sichuan and Guizhou provinces in the west, or the upcoming local offensive against Guangdong in the south.

If all of these are added together, the Han army that has mobilized this year could truly be counted as 100,000 troops.

With 100,000 troops mobilized for the first battle, given the current logistical capabilities of the Han Dynasty, it's not so much that there's pressure, but rather that the pressure is immense.

Fortunately, the Han armies that went on the western and southern expeditions were not at full strength.

Moreover, the Han army that marched west to Sichuan could travel by the Yangtze River, which greatly reduced the logistical burden, and the Ma family of Shizhu provided support in terms of laborers and carts.

Ma Youzhao really went all out to please the Han Dynasty. He Shun'an looked down on his Shizhu soldiers and incorporated them all into the labor camp.

Not only was he not angry, but he also took the initiative to take charge of the laborers' food supply and provided a lot of carts and horses to help the Han army transport grain.

He Shunan traveled south along the Yangtze River, and wherever he went, people surrendered without him even having to fight. He was finally stopped in Chongqing.

Zhang Ruiyuan, the prefect of Chongqing, was such a scoundrel. When the Han army attacked, he didn't dare to fight back and simply sealed off the city gates to defend Chongqing to the death.

Chongqing Prefecture was known as the "Mountain City." Protected by the natural defenses of Sichuan, the Han army could hold out for a long time even with heavy bombardment from siege cannons.

Having no other option, He Shunan simply set up camp in Chongqing Prefecture and sent troops to attack Xiyang.

If the Qing army wants to wear him down, then let them wear him down!
In the Guizhou direction, the Fourth Division led by Xu Yuanrang also did not engage in battle.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, plans can't keep up with changes. The Han Dynasty had already prepared for a battle in Guizhou.

It wasn't a war with Zhong Miao, but a war with Le Bao, the Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou.

This guy is no pushover. If he were still in office, knowing that the Han army had entered Guizhou and joined forces with Zhong Miao, he would definitely have sent troops to stop the Han army from entering Guizhou.

Unfortunately, even though the Han Dynasty had prepared strategic contingency plans, they couldn't withstand another round of micromanagement by Emperor Jiaqing. Jiaqing felt that Le Bao had been in charge of Yunnan and Guizhou for five years without achieving anything, and that Zhong Miao had instead gained power. Therefore, he decided that Le Bao was unusable and replaced him with a new governor-general.

(Note: I didn't write this out of thin air! Emperor Jiaqing did indeed do this in history...)
how to say?

Anyway, after receiving the news, Nie Yu pondered for a long time but still couldn't figure out how the pseudo-Qing dynasty, with its micromanagement skills, managed to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion.

They're really going to exhaust the nation's resources and force their way through, wearing down the White Lotus Sect until it's dead!
In Guangdong, the Han army has decided to send troops from Jiangxi, and they will even divide their forces into two routes.

Zhu Wu, the Great General of Southern Jiangxi in the Han Dynasty, has already received the decree from Nie Yu conferring upon him the title of Marquis.

Upon seeing the imperial decree, Zhu Wu couldn't help but burst into a tirade, cursing Nie Yu, the Prince of Han, for going too far and treating him like a monkey!
then……

That was the end of it, because Chen Younian led four thousand Han soldiers south from Nanchang Prefecture, still taking the Gan River waterway, and directly broke through the defense line sentry posts set up by Zhu Wu on the Gan River.

Those old bandit soldiers he had planted on the Gan River to block the Han army's southward advance—not one of them dared to resist.

One second Zhu Wu was still clamoring that he would rebel against the Han Dynasty if necessary, and the next second, he saw Chen Younian's Han army landing openly outside his stronghold, Ganzhou.

Zhu Wu was quite courageous. Although he was already somewhat hesitant, he still insisted on taking a gamble.

However, he wanted to take a gamble, but his old comrades didn't want to. Several trusted generals and even his most valued strategist, Zhou Ji, couldn't help but advise him to quit while he was ahead.

The King of Han has already granted him a marquisate. Continuing to confront him head-on would be counterproductive. It would be better for him to accept the imperial decree and go south to become the Marquis of Chaozhou, where he can gradually build up his strength for future plans.

The plot was a lie; in reality, Zhou Ji had already been developed into an informant by the Han Dynasty's intelligence agency, and there was no complicated game or exchange involved.

The intelligence officers on the Han side, who were in charge of liaison, successfully turned Zhou Ji into an inside agent after only a brief contact.

Times have changed. Zhou Ji is not stupid; he can see that the Han Dynasty is getting stronger and stronger. On the other hand, his "lord," Zhu Wu, has nothing in common with the Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, except for the surname Zhu and their similar backgrounds.

He even came to southern Jiangxi. At first, things were fine, and people were willing to listen to him and work hard to improve the situation. However, the conflicts between the local people and the Hakka people in southern Jiangxi kept recurring and could not be resolved.

Zhu Wu began to indulge in pleasure and became complacent, no longer caring about the issue of the local people and the Hakka people. As a result, the conflict between the local people and the Hakka people not only did not ease, but became more and more serious.

This is why the Great Han was in such a hurry to take over Nangan; Zhu Wu had already done what he needed to do. The landlords and Hakka people who resisted fiercely in Nangan had been dealt with, and what remained were just minor problems that Zhu Wu couldn't solve, so the Great Han was to take over.

Zhu Wu then continued on to Chaozhou to resolve the issue of the local Hakka people there, and incidentally, to take over Fujian as well.

Compromise is either zero times or countless times. Zhu Wu didn't dare to fight in Ji'an Prefecture, so he chose to show weakness to the Han Dynasty and fled to Nan'gan after withdrawing from Ji'an.

Now, the Han Dynasty even wants to take Nangan, so they drive him to Chaozhou and give him the nominal title of Marquis of Chaozhou.

Zhu Wu desperately wanted to fight, but reason told him that a head-on fight would likely result in his death, either at the hands of the Han army or at the hands of his own people.

"Heh heh, I really thought this guy would dare to go head-to-head with my Han army!" Chen Younian sneered as he looked at Zhu Wu's army heading south out of the city.

Zuo Guanlan said, "This is a good thing. It's rare that Zhu Wu hasn't been causing trouble in southern Jiangxi and has even helped us solve some problems. If a war really breaks out, even if our army doesn't put Zhu Wu in their hands, Ganzhou Prefecture is still in their hands, and it's the people who will suffer!"

"Hehe," Chen Younian laughed, "I was just saying, but Zhu Wu is quite sensible. He knows he can't fight us head-on, and he's taken Ganzhou Prefecture intact. We'll leave Southern Ganzhou to Governor Zuo. We still need to lead the army south to join forces with the Heaven and Earth Society and the Eight Yao in Guangdong to attack Guangzhou!"

Zuo Guanlan solemnly said, "General Chen, please rest assured that you are heading south. The military equipment and provisions will be handled by the Governor from the rear!"

Zuo Guanlan's official position has now been promoted from Prefect of Nanchang to Governor of Southern Jiangxi.

The situation in southern Jiangxi is unique. Compared to the rest of Jiangxi, its terrain is relatively closed off, with many mountains and few plains. There are many Hakka immigrants who are almost on par with the native inhabitants of southern Jiangxi.

Although the Han dynasty recovered southern Jiangxi, the cabinet unanimously decided that southern Jiangxi should not be immediately merged into Jiangxi. Instead, a governor should be appointed to southern Jiangxi to clarify all issues related to the indigenous people, clans, and land distribution in the region.

To put it simply, Zuo Guanlan's position as governor is only temporary. Once the issues in southern Jiangxi have been resolved, the governorship will be abolished and the region merged with Jiangxi.

Of course, although he was a temporary governor, his power was astonishing.

To put it simply, Jiangxi has both a governor and a provincial administration commissioner, while Southern Jiangxi has no provincial administration commissioner, only a governor of Southern Jiangxi.

Zuo Guanlan took office in Ganzhou that day. Due to the special circumstances in Ganzhou and the ongoing war in Guangdong, he did not immediately distribute the land, but instead clarified the basic situation in southern Ganzhou.

Chen Younian left a whole town's worth of troops in Ganzhou City, and took only 2,000 Han soldiers and 1,500 militiamen, a total of 3,500 men, before heading south to attack Guangdong.

(End of this chapter)