There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 350 was too easy.
Luzhou.

"An army of 100,000? Where did this army of 100,000 come from?!"

Lu Quan, the prefect of Luzhou who had already given up, looked at the messenger from Shucheng who had risked his life to bring the news with disbelief.

The messenger looked anxious and fearful: "Your Excellency, it's true! It really is an army of 100,000, which has now surrounded Shucheng County. My magistrate is really unable to resist. Please, Your Excellency, send troops to rescue us as soon as possible!"

Sending troops to rescue them? What a load of rubbish!
If the Han army really sent 100,000 troops, let alone a small county like Shucheng, even the city of Luzhou would probably be unable to withstand them.

Lu Quan sent the messenger away and then immediately summoned all the officials of Luzhou Prefecture to a meeting to discuss what to do.

Even if we're just going to give up, the Han army has already reached our doorstep, and we can't pretend we can't see it anymore.

In a short while, all the officials, big and small, including Zhu Xiaochun, the Assistant Prefect of Luzhou, Wang Shixun, the Vice Prefect of Luzhou, and Xie Tai, the Magistrate of Hefei County, arrived at the scene.

Lu Quan briefly explained the situation, and everyone immediately looked astonished.

After the initial shock, no one spoke.

What the hell can he possibly say?
A hundred thousand troops!
It was still 100,000 Han troops. The Emperor in the capital probably didn't know the true strength of the Han army.
However, as officials from the south, while they might not be household names, their fame as officials of the Han Dynasty was still well-known.

The Han traitors number less than ten thousand, but are invincible if they number ten thousand!
This is a rumor circulating in the officialdom of the pseudo-Qing dynasty in Jiangnan, and it's even hard to say whether it's a rumor or not.

Now, the invincible Han bandits have come to attack their Luzhou, and they have mobilized an army of 100,000.

Ten thousand men are difficult to deal with, let alone one hundred thousand.

Li Changgui, the general of Shouchun who had been dismissed and punished by Emperor Jiaqing, had previously led an army of over 10,000 men, but they were all defeated by the Han traitors with only 2,000 men.

Now the Han traitors have brought an army of 100,000. They don't have 300,000 troops, so they'll probably have a hard time defending the city.

That makes perfect sense. The civil officials of my Great Qing Dynasty didn't understand warfare; they only knew how to compare battle records and combat strength.

Li Changgui led 10,000 men but was wiped out by the Han army with only 2,000 men. Now the Han army has arrived with 100,000 men. If not 100,000, then at least 50,000.

With an army of 50,000, they really felt they couldn't win without 300,000!

Seeing that no one was speaking, Lu Quan couldn't take it anymore.

He summoned these people to discuss a solution. Even if you want to surrender and join the enemy, you should at least say something.

If no one speaks, then we'll have to call on people by name.

Lu Quan casually pointed and asked Xie Tai, "Magistrate Xie, how do you think we should meet the enemy?"

Good heavens, of all people, why come to ask me, the magistrate of Hefei County, and a magistrate of a county attached to the city?

Xie Tai's face darkened, and he forced himself to say, "This humble official...this humble official believes...we should recruit soldiers to defend the city!"

That's utter bullshit!
Even a fool would know to recruit soldiers to defend the city, but the problem is, they can't hold it!

Lu Quan suppressed his anger and continued to ask, "I am asking how to defend the city? The Han rebels have an army of 100,000 pressing in, and Luzhou Prefecture is isolated and without support. We are short of troops and supplies. How can we stop the Han rebels' army of 100,000?"

Upon hearing this, Xie Tai immediately broke out in a cold sweat and stammered, "This...this...this humble official...this humble official..."

"Cough cough!"

The one who suddenly coughed was Zhu Xiaochun, the Assistant Magistrate of Luzhou. This guy was not only the second-in-command of Luzhou, but also a member of the Han Eight Banners. He was also the oldest and most senior official among the officials present. As soon as he spoke, Lu Quan immediately stopped bothering Xie Tai, who was anxiously stammering.

Zhu Xiaochun said, "Now the Han bandits are coming with great force, and I'm afraid both Shucheng and Lujiang counties are already lost. What Magistrate Xie said is not without reason. Our most urgent task right now is to recruit soldiers to defend the city, so that Luzhou will not fall as soon as the Han bandits arrive. After we have defended Luzhou, we will find a way to ask Fengyang and Jiangning prefectures for reinforcements!"

Upon hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

Wang Shixun said, "Lord Zhu's words are wise and insightful. Prefect Lu should not worry about other matters. Let's focus on defending Luzhou first."

The second and third-in-commands of Luzhou Prefecture spoke in succession, and the remaining officials of Luzhou followed suit, taking sides. "Yes, yes, Lord Wang's words make sense!"

"Lord Zhu is a wise and experienced strategist. Right now, we should first recruit soldiers to defend Luzhou."

"But what about the money and provisions for recruiting soldiers?"

"It's just a matter of money and grain; we can just have those wealthy households donate to help with the military expenses."

“Wealthy households can also recruit soldiers themselves. At that time, not only will they not have to spend a penny of money and grain, but the blame for recruiting soldiers privately can also be pushed onto the common people and wealthy households.”

"This is a way..."

The crowd chattered and made a ruckus, and Lu Quan's heart sank as he watched this scene.

This idea of ​​recruiting soldiers to defend the city is considered a good one, and he's also a seasoned strategist who plans for the country?
This Lu Quan is really something else. He was the prefect of Luzhou who sat idly by and watched the gentry and common people of Luzhou flee south to Han lands, giving up and refusing to care.

Now, seeing the Han army attacking, he too is terrified and wants to defend the city against the Han.

It could be said that they dared not truly surrender, yet were also afraid of going too far and offending the powerful Han.

They're fence-sitters, but not very firmly on their side!

The officials of the puppet Qing regime in Luzhou Prefecture held a meeting and discussed for a long time, but they couldn't come up with anything substantial. They only agreed on one thing: to recruit soldiers to defend the city.

Moreover, to avoid being held accountable later, the task of recruiting soldiers to defend the city was entrusted to wealthy and powerful families.

The government only dispatched 300 Green Standard Army soldiers from Luzhou Camp, plus several yamen runners, which totaled less than 400 people.

Just as the recruitment order was being issued to the wealthy families in Luzhou Prefecture, Lu Quan, in his capacity as prefect, personally went to Hengqu Academy (Luyang Academy) to offer sacrifices and seek the support of the gentry and powerful families in the city.

At the same time, he sent messengers to Fengyang, Lu'an, Chuzhou and other places to request troops and reinforcements.

In the southwest of Luzhou Prefecture, the two counties of Shucheng and Lujiang have just been captured!
It cannot be said that the city was breached, because the magistrate of Shucheng County only refused to surrender, sealed the city gates, and prepared to hold out. Then, just one day later, that very night, the county's wealthy families, together with the yamen runners and clerks, launched a rebellion, killed the magistrate, and opened the city gates to surrender.

I heard that Shucheng County fell in a single day, and the county magistrate was killed by wealthy families.

The magistrate of Lujiang County was terrified and hurriedly sent his trusted confidant to Shucheng, expressing his willingness to surrender the city and only asking to be spared so that he could retire peacefully.

Before the wealthy families of Lujiang could even begin to emulate the wealthy families of Shucheng in forming alliances, they were all unwittingly packaged and brought together by the Lujiang magistrate.

Bai Nan's army had only been marching north for three days when they captured Shucheng and Lujiang counties without lifting a finger.

The army suffered no casualties; only a few laborers slacked off on the march, drank some untreated river water, and got diarrhea.

News of the fall of Shucheng and Lujiang quickly reached Luzhou Prefecture.

The city was shaken to its core, and after the tremors subsided, there was nothing that could be done.

They dared not surrender, nor did they dare to send troops; they could only remain holed up in Luzhou Prefecture and watch helplessly.

Bai Nan's scouts even went so far as to circle around the city wall of Luzhou Prefecture to observe.

When the Qing army saw the Han scouts being so provocative, they didn't dare to leave the city and didn't even dare to fire an arrow.

The scouts quickly brought back the news, and Bai Nan immediately decided to divide his forces.

If the Qing army in Luzhou is so entrenched, then there's no need for him to continue running around aimlessly with 20,000 troops.

Bai Nan divided his army into four, sending them to attack Lu'an, Chuzhou, and Fengyang from three different directions, while he led the main force of four thousand Han soldiers to continue the attack and take Luzhou directly.

The Han army split its forces in such a grand and blatant manner, completely disregarding the Qing army in Anhui.

(End of this chapter)