There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 356 Slaughtering Through Zhejiang (Part 2)

Lanxi County.

"Report! The general has sent an urgent telegram. Hangzhou has been taken, ordering our army to seize the opportunity to move eastward and contain the Qing army in Jinhua Prefecture, preventing them from leaving Jinhua. The general will then lead the main force south to cooperate with the Red Turban Army in eastern Zhejiang and the Eighteen Righteous Army in central Zhejiang to jointly encircle the Qing army!"

Upon hearing the urgent telegram translation delivered by the telegraph soldier, Wu Liehu raised his hand and replied, "Reply to the general, saying that my troops have received orders and the Qing army in Jinhua Prefecture cannot escape."

The telegraph operator hurriedly withdrew and ran off to send a reply telegram.

Lanxi County Magistrate Wang Tingxian stepped forward at the opportune moment, flatteringly saying, "This humble official congratulates the Great Han army on capturing Hangzhou. With Hangzhou down, Zhejiang is basically secured. The puppet Qing governor of Zhejiang, Ruan Yuan, and the admiral, Li Changgeng, are merely putting up a desperate struggle in Jinhua Prefecture!"

Contrary to Ruan Yuan's expectations, he believed that Lanxi County could not withstand the Han army's attack and was thus captured. However, on the very day the Han army divided its forces and marched south to Lanxi, the county magistrate, Wang Tingxian, cut off his queue (traditional Manchu hairstyle) and voluntarily surrendered the city.

This guy's idea is very straightforward. He had just been appointed as the county magistrate before the new year, and the first thing he did after taking office was to finalize the regulations for compiling the county annals.

It could be said that he didn't even have time to embezzle, nor did he commit any evil deeds. Surrendering would not be a crime; on the contrary, it would be considered a great achievement.

Moreover, Ruan Yuan, the governor of Zhejiang, led the Zhejiang army to Jinhua Prefecture to quell the rebellion, but his performance was truly dismal.

They're just a bunch of ignorant rebels, yet they've put in so much effort, and the problem is they still haven't won. It seems the Qing Dynasty is truly finished; they'd better surrender quickly to save their lives, and perhaps they can even gain merit by following the new dynasty.

To put it bluntly, he was a complete opportunist. He hadn't served as an official under the puppet Qing regime for more than two years, so he had no sense of belonging to the Qing court. Plus, he was from Jiangsu.

Wang Tingxian saw it very clearly: the Han dynasty had almost conquered Zhejiang, and Jiangsu would probably fall soon as well.

If I vote now, not only will it not bring disaster to my family, but my family will even have to thank me!
Two days later, Wu Liehu was already ordering the procurement of military provisions and supplies, and preparing the army for battle.

The puppet Qing forces had only just received the news, which was far slower than the Han army's.

Ruan Yuan and Li Changgeng were both afraid of something happening in the whole city, so they could no longer care about the peasant army in Jinhua Prefecture and the Han army entrenched in Lanxi County. They even abandoned Wenzhou Prefecture and immediately returned to Hangzhou to provide support.

However, Wu Liehu, who had long been preparing for battle, learned of the Qing army's unusual movements through his scouts.

Wu Liehu drew his sword and shouted, "Pass down the order: the Qing army is trying to escape! The entire army, give chase and kill the Tartars!"

"Kill the Tartars!"

"Kill the Tartars!"

Although Wu Liehu's Han army consisted of only two garrisons, it also had over 6,000 militiamen, bringing the total strength to nearly 10,000.

The militia battalion's combat strength is not as good as the regular soldiers' elite troops, but the Han army's militia trains during the off-season for farming, and they train in proper war formations. Even if they join the army to fight, they are paid military pay, and their food and weapons are all provided.

Compared to the Qing army's Green Standard Army, which was severely lacking in training, provisions, and pay, this was like heaven and earth; their combat strength was naturally incomparable.

Without sufficient provisions and pay, it is impossible to maintain a fighting force.

This was also the main reason for the sharp decline in the fighting strength of the Qing army's Green Standard Army. Corruption and decadence in the local areas were too serious, and even some of the Eight Banners troops did not have enough food and pay.

The Eight Banners army in Fuzhou had rioted several times over unpaid wages and even killed several Fuzhou generals.

Ruan Yuan and Li Changgeng led tens of thousands of Qing troops, having just left Jinhua Prefecture, preparing to rush to the aid of Hangzhou.

"Report!"

"Commander, General, something terrible has happened! The Han traitors! The Han traitors have attacked from Lanxi County!"

The Qing army had barely left the city a few miles when the scouts and rangers they had sent out hurriedly returned to report.

Upon hearing the scout's report, Ruan Yuan and Li Changgeng exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat helpless and indignant.

They knew it wouldn't be easy to retreat, but they didn't expect the Han army to act so decisively. The moment they made a move to retreat, the Han army attacked directly.

Moreover, judging from how quickly they attacked, they were clearly prepared in advance.

Li Changgeng said with a solemn expression, "This Han rebel detachment in Lanxi County should already know about the news from Hangzhou. If we don't wipe them out or defeat them, we won't be able to leave, and we might even be surrounded and attacked by the Han rebels."

Ruan Yuan, unfamiliar with military affairs, could only ask, "Does the General have any confidence?"

That's a question for him. Before any major battle begins, how can a general be 100% certain of victory? At most, he can only consider whether the odds of winning or losing are greater.

Ruan Yuan immediately realized that his question was inappropriate and changed his words, saying, "General, just do your best. The Han bandits in Lanxi County are just a detachment of the Han bandits. To take Hangzhou, the Han bandits will definitely use all their main forces. The Han bandits in Lanxi County are definitely not strong. It would be best if we could defeat them, but if we can't, we shouldn't get entangled with them."

"We will fight to the death." Li Changgeng cupped his hands in greeting.

Knowing that the Han army was coming, the Qing army simply stopped and waited for the Han army to attack from Jinhua Mountain. They would ambush the Han army if possible, and fight head-on if they couldn't.

With tens of thousands of troops, they might not be able to defeat the Han rebels of equal strength, but they should be able to barely manage to defeat the Han rebels' detachments.

The scouts sent back news in the morning, and by noon the vanguard of the Han army had already reached the outskirts of Jinhua Mountain, less than two miles away.

The vanguard of the Han army stopped and did not continue forward. Instead, they circled around Jinhua Mountain to block the way out.

Li Changgeng knew he had been discovered. After all, it was an army of tens of thousands, and it was indeed difficult to hide when launching an ambush.

Then we shouldn't ambush them. Ambushing would ignore our numerical advantage, so it's better to fight head-on.

At noon, the sun was at its zenith.

Both sides' soldiers had already eaten their rations in advance.

The Qing army first deployed several hundred Weiyuan cannons and mother-and-child cannons. These Qing soldiers were indeed not strong in combat and their equipment had not been updated for a long time. However, most of the Green Standard Army troops in the province were here, so they were able to put together several hundred cannons and several thousand matchlock guns.

As for the red-coated cannon?

This thing is too expensive. The Qing army did have the capability to cast cannons, but it was completely unnecessary!
To defeat a peasant uprising army, which is just a bunch of rabble, the Weiyuan cannon is enough. At worst, we can just concentrate our fire and fire. Why should we be afraid of losing to a mob?
The Qing army didn't have cannons, but that's alright, the Han army did.

Wu Liehu glanced at the Qing army's artillery through his binoculars. He didn't laugh at it. The Qing army's artillery was indeed inferior, but its advantage lay in its sheer number. Several hundred Weiyuan cannons were still quite powerful when firing.

Wu Liehu said, "Pass down the order to have the artillery battalion fire a few shots at the Qing army's positions to teach the Tartars a lesson!"

It wasn't just about giving the Tartars a heads-up; it was also about boosting the morale of their own troops.

Wu Liehu had fought many battles and even captured a Tartar general alive. He was also deeply impressed by the Prince of Han, which is why he was promoted to the Sixth Division as a garrison commander. However, apart from his personal guards, the rest of his soldiers were all raw recruits.

His limited combat experience came from following Yang Fang and fighting for a year, but he didn't actually fight any real tough battles.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Han army's artillery positions fired first.

Ten red-coated cannons were all aimed at the Qing army's position and fired in unison.

The Qing army noticed the deafening roar, which was as loud as thunder, but noticing it didn't mean they could react in time, let alone have time to dodge.

This is a cannon, not an ordinary red-coated cannon. At close range, bombarding a human defense position is just like hitting soft cotton.

All ten shells hit their targets with perfect accuracy.

The Qing army's positions were too densely packed, making it difficult to miss. Even if a shot did miss, the spherical shape and the immense impact of the shell would allow it to bounce and kill.

Ten shells bouncing up are incredibly powerful.

The Qing army's dense artillery positions were instantly ripped open by the Han army's shells, leaving several bloody furrows.

The cannonballs hit the Qing army's Weiyuan cannon and the mother-and-child cannon. The mother-and-child cannon was smashed to pieces on the spot, while the Weiyuan cannon was slightly better. Only the cannon carriage was damaged, and the main body of the cannon barrel was not seriously damaged.

A commotion broke out at the Qing army's artillery position. A quarter of the Qing artillerymen were so frightened that they abandoned their cannons and fled to the rear of their own positions.

Li Changgeng was so angry his nose almost twisted. He drew his sword and roared, "Supervisory team, execute the deserters! Anyone who dares to run away will be punished along with the entire team!"

The Qing army's supervisory team quickly moved forward and began indiscriminately killing the artillerymen who had fled back, wielding knives and spears.

The Qing soldiers who had fled were killed so badly that they dared not run anymore. They could only muster their courage again and run back to operate the cannons to advance.

Unfortunately, the courage gained from wielding a sword was useless against the Han army's cannons.

It should be said that the flesh and blood of the Qing soldiers were ultimately no match for the toughness of cannonballs.

"Boom boom boom!"

Another round of cannon fire ensued.

Alongside the cannons, over a hundred mortars were also firing wildly.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The mortar's range was too short; of the more than one hundred shells fired, less than a third hit.

However, the explosive shells were filled with iron shot and steel needles, which were also embedded in each shell. When they were all blown out, the Qing soldiers in the front row were instantly covered in blood and gore, while the Qing soldiers in the back row were also blasted to a gruesome state by the cannon fire.

Good heavens, now both the front and back rows are being bombarded by the Han army's artillery fire.

These Qing troops had previously fought peasant armies, which lacked artillery and were even poorly equipped with bows and arrows and other melee weapons. They were used to bombarding peasant armies with cannons; they had never seen themselves reduced to such a wretched state by Han army cannons.
The key issue is that, up to this point, the Qing artillerymen closest to the Han army are still at least a mile away.

How are they supposed to fight now?
"Boom boom boom!"

"Bang bang bang!"

While the Qing artillerymen were still trembling with fear, the Han army's mortars fired again.

More than ten Qing artillery pieces had moved up, and the range of the Weiyuan and Zimu cannons was almost within reach of the Han army. It was purely because the Qing artillerymen were inexperienced that they hadn't fired yet; the Han artillerymen certainly couldn't give them a chance to react.

This volley of mortar fire destroyed seven or eight cannons, leaving the Qing soldiers with relatively few casualties, but the scene was quite frightening.

Among the Qing soldiers in the front row, few were intact; some were missing limbs, while others had their exposed skin scraped clean by the iron pellets from the explosive bombs, revealing the mangled flesh beneath.

The problem is that it hasn't died immediately yet; it's still wailing and screaming in agony.

Alright, now we don't need to fight anymore.

"The Han traitors know sorcery; their cannonballs will explode!"

"The traitorous Han traitor knows sorcery! Run!"

It doesn't matter who first shouted "the Han traitors know sorcery," because the Qing army's artillery positions were beginning to collapse in large numbers.

It can only be said that the Han army truly benefited from the regional advantage this time.

During the mid-to-late Qianlong period, in Deqing County, Zhejiang Province, which is very close to Hangzhou, a "witchcraft" case that swept across twelve provinces of the Qing Dynasty broke out.

In other places, people may have forgotten about "witchcraft" and become less sensitive to it, but in Zhejiang, this "witchcraft" is still passed down orally by the older generation.

Even among these Qing army artillerymen, many were from Hangzhou or even Huzhou, and they knew a great deal about the "witchcraft" of Deqing.

As soon as someone said that the Han traitors knew "sorcery", the other Qing soldiers from Huzhou and Hangzhou immediately thought of the "sorcery" in Deqing. They were so frightened that they wished their parents would give them two more legs.

The Qing army's artillery positions collapsed completely without firing a single shot.

Seeing this, Li Changgeng knew that the supervisory team was useless. Fortunately, he not only had artillery, but also several thousand muskets. Moreover, he had already seen the weakness of the Han army in the previous battle, which was that they had too few artillery pieces, with only a little over a hundred heavy and light cannons combined.

The fact that the shells could explode did surprise him, but they weren't completely useless.

With over a hundred cannons, the casualties they could inflict were still too limited.

He had tens of thousands of troops, several thousand arquebusiers, and more than two thousand hastily assembled cavalry, which he could easily afford to fight.

Li Changgeng ordered the supervisory team to disperse the deserters to the flanks, then moved the arquebusiers to the front, with shield bearers and spearmen assisting in the protection, and the army pressed directly towards the Han army's position.

Forget about any defenses or probing; when paths cross, the brave will prevail!

Wu Liehu saw the Qing army's formation change through his binoculars and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips: "The Qing army is pressing forward, so we'll press forward too!"

"Dudududuwuwuwuwu~~~~"

As the Han army's bugle sounded, four thousand Han soldiers led the way, followed by six thousand militiamen, forming an infantry square and advancing towards the Qing army's formation.

Upon seeing this scene, Li Changgeng should have been happy, but for some reason, he felt a strange unease.

Li Changgeng suppressed his unease and continued to command the army to advance.

His forces were superior, several times the size of the Han army, and it was a pure infantry battle. He had more muskets than the Han army, so there was no reason why he couldn't win.

As long as the army doesn't panic...

Li Changgeng was still silently reciting in his heart when he suddenly saw the Han army formation stop, exactly about a hundred meters away, which was outside the maximum effective range of the matchlock musket.

Li Changgeng was still wondering when he saw strange objects suddenly being erected by the front ranks of the Han army.

The object looked like a bamboo tube, which they carried on their shoulders, with a fire rope attached to the back.

Fire rope!?
not good!

Li Changgeng instantly realized something, but before he could react, the Han army's rockets had already been ignited.

"Shhhhhh!"

"Boom boom boom!"

One round of fire, more than a hundred rockets, all of them were fired.

Given the high speed of the rockets, even if Li Changgeng reacted in time and gave a timely warning, the Qing soldiers would not have been able to dodge them.

They couldn't escape their fate; being bombarded by over a hundred rockets at once, they certainly didn't die a pleasant death.

At most, it'll just be a sudden pain, a ringing in the ears, and then I'll lose consciousness.

The Qing soldiers further back could only see their allies in front suddenly explode and be engulfed in flames.

When the explosion ended, all that was left on the ground were piles of friendly debris, some of which were still burning, emitting a strong smell of burning flesh.

The Qing soldiers in the back were terrified, not even given time to shout or run around.

After that volley of rockets retreated, another wave came up.

"Shhhhhh!"

"Boom boom boom!"

The second round of explosions came.

The Qing army's vanguard positions were completely destroyed by the bombing.

Some Qing soldiers considered the previous mortars to be "witchcraft," but others were more rational and thought they might be some kind of firearm.

But this rocket is just too outrageous. How could such a weapon even exist?
Even if it's not "sorcery", how could a human possibly fight against such powerful firearms?

There's no fighting left, there's no fighting left now!
"Shhhhhh!"

"Boom boom boom!"

The third round of rockets was launched.

Wu Liehu's allocation of rockets was almost completely used up, and any more rockets could only be resupplyed from the rear.

After all, these things are currently in short supply. Most of the rockets are supplied to the first five divisions of the main force. The Sixth Division doesn't have many rockets available, and a lot of them were taken to Hangzhou by Wu Jun, but they haven't been used.

But that was more than enough; three hundred rockets fired had caused at least several times the casualties of the Qing army.

Even so, the Qing troops were positioned too densely, and many of the rockets caused repeated damage, failing to achieve their maximum destructive power.

Before the Han army could even unleash their rifled guns and grenades, the Qing army began to rout in droves.

The musketeers were the fastest to flee, because at least 20% of their previous group had died.

With casualties reaching 20%, this exceeds the casualty limit that a qualified army can withstand.

Moreover, these 20% of casualties were particularly gruesome.

Li Changgeng was completely stunned. He had thought he might lose, but he hadn't even touched the Han army before he was defeated.
That's an army of tens of thousands!

Enraged and feeling humiliated, Li Changgeng, realizing he couldn't possibly fulfill his duty, led his thousand or so cavalrymen, whom he had barely managed to gather in the chaos, in an attempt to forcefully charge the Han army's position.

We don't need to turn the tide, but at least we should draw!
The Han traitors have no organized cavalry. If I charge at them with my thousand-plus cavalry, they will surely avoid my advance. In this way, I can safely retreat with my remaining troops, still have the strength to fight later, and even redeem myself through meritorious service.

The idea is good; if it were a conventional army, they might actually have been able to drive him back.

However, he encountered the Han army!

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

With the sound of hooves, more than a thousand Qing cavalry charged toward the flank of the Han army's position.

"Raise your guns, form ranks!"

The Han soldiers on the flanks, under the orders of their officers, quickly raised their spears, held up their shields, and formed a defensive formation.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

As the horses' hooves drew closer, the Han soldiers, though showing signs of tension, remained completely still.

"Brothers, those Qing dogs are just paper tigers! They won't dare to charge! Even if they do, their horses won't be able to break our shields, and their warhorses will be riddled with holes by our spears!"

"So, don't be afraid. We are the Han army, and they are the Tartars. They are the ones who should be afraid!"

"Kill the Tartars! For the Han Dynasty! May the Han Dynasty be victorious!"

"I too hold a spear! I am with you!"

Several instructors, holding long spears, stood among these Han soldiers with long spears, constantly shouting to boost morale.

Li Changgeng was completely dumbfounded. His cavalry was about to crash into them. Weren't these Han traitors' soldiers afraid?

Of course they were afraid, but the Han army had discipline honed to the point of muscle memory, ample supplies of food and pay, and compensation for those who died in battle, in addition to the spiritual and ideological guidance provided by their instructors every day.

Under the three-pronged approach, the Han soldiers had reached a point where, despite their fear, they still dared to take up arms and fight.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

"Uh-huh!!!"

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

The Qing cavalry did not dare to charge forward. Just seconds before they were about to collide, they quickly reined in their horses and turned around.

If we don't turn around now, we'll really crash.

Just as the Han army instructor said, cavalry warfare is often based on intimidation; for cavalry to actually charge infantry is pure idiocy.

Only heavy cavalry and ironclad infantry, specifically designed for charging into enemy lines, are capable of forcefully charging into infantry formations.

Even so, they would only launch a forceful attack if the overall situation was already settled.

Moreover, after the Southern Song Dynasty developed heavy infantry in the mid-period, the Jin Dynasty's Iron Pagoda troops no longer dared to charge into infantry formations.

Heavy cavalry and heavy infantry. Heavy infantry is powerful, but only in terms of mobility, heavy infantry cannot keep up with cavalry.

Li Changgeng led his cavalry to circle back, hoping to find another opportunity, but he had already missed his chance.

"Raise your gun!"

"Aim, fire!"

"Bang bang bang!"

More than two hundred rifled guns were urgently brought in from the flanks, allowing them to aim and fire directly without using a fuse.

Of the more than 1,000 Qing cavalrymen, more than 100 fell on the spot.

More than two hundred cavalrymen, their horses startled, were thrown from their horses instantly.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Changgeng wanted to lead his troops to flee far away.

"Aim, fire!"

"Bang bang bang!"

The rifled gun had a much faster rate of fire than the matchlock gun, and a second round of fire followed immediately.

Li Changgeng was completely unprepared, and even if he had been prepared, it wouldn't have mattered. The distance was too close, and his cotton armor couldn't stop the hollow bullets from the rifled gun.

Moreover, the clothes this guy was wearing clearly indicated that he was a Qing army general.

Almost a dozen rifled guns were firing at him at the same time, and even his warhorse was hit several times.

The dignified Zhejiang Provincial Commander of the Qing Dynasty was killed by a hail of bullets from the Han army!

The corpse fell heavily from the horse, and the warhorse, riddled with bullet holes, ran wildly in all directions.

With the admiral killed in battle, the remaining hundreds of Qing cavalrymen, leaderless, scattered and fled in an instant.

Zhejiang is finished!

(End of this chapter)