There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 364 A City for Free
The Qing army was still discussing whether to go upstream and attack Nanjing.

The Han army, however, had already sailed down the river and was heading to attack Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Nie Yu wasn't a puppet Qing official; he didn't think that once Nanjing was captured, he could secure half of the southern territory.

To control the south, at the very least, Zhenjiang and Yangzhou need to be moved further south; otherwise, the Southern Dynasty's control of half of the country will be unstable.

Since ancient times, guarding the Yangtze River has always meant guarding the Huai River!
The long Yangtze River defense line, let alone relying on ancient methods, is completely indefensible even with modern military capabilities.

The Yangtze River is over 6000 kilometers long and has hundreds of crossings of varying sizes. Even if the Han army were to expand its forces tenfold, it would still be impossible to defend it completely.

Historically, only two Southern Dynasties emperors were able to defend their empires by relying on the Yangtze River defense line: the Southern Wu and the Southern Chen.

The situation of Sun Wu was unique. Cao Wei could not capture Hefei, and even if they did, they could not hold it, so they strategically abandoned it. Sun Wu's national strength was too weak to spare enough troops to defend Hefei. Therefore, the Huai River defense line system with Hefei as the core was abandoned by both sides as a strategic buffer zone.

The Southern Chen dynasty was different. Chen Baxian was a tactical master who managed to turn the tide and push back the Northern Qi army even after the fall of Nanjing.

Therefore, it was not safe for the Han Dynasty to take Nanjing. They still needed to go further north to capture Zhenjiang and Yangzhou, and then connect with Luzhou (Hefei) and Xiangyang to form a unified territory. In that case, the southeastern half of the country would be within easy reach.

Nie Yu dared not stay in Nanjing for even a moment longer, slaughtering all the Manchu bannermen in the city, and even the Jiangning General Fu Chang was beheaded as a sacrifice to the bannermen.

Afterwards, two thousand militiamen were left to guard Nanjing, while the remaining twenty-eight thousand main troops marched north down the river to attack Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Zhenjiang.

Kang Jitian and Tie Bao have just decided to send troops to attack Nanjing.

Of course, the so-called military expedition was actually a probe, and the troops would be withdrawn immediately after the probe was completed.

Avoid major wars if possible. Fighting a major war doesn't guarantee victory, and there's a high probability of defeat. Avoiding war allows us to preserve our strength and avoid the risk of defeat.

In their apology to the Emperor, they were able to better deflect blame and demonstrate that they had already tried their best, but unfortunately, General Fu Chang of Jiangning was incompetent and lost Nanjing first.

However, while the idea was good, they hadn't even had time to plan their troop deployment.

"Something terrible has happened! Governor Kang, Lord Tie, the Han traitors, the Han traitors are attacking!"

"..."

Upon hearing the anxious report from Zhenjiang Prefect Cha Chun, Kang Jitian and Tie Bao exchanged a silent glance.

They remained silent, but Cha Chun had no choice but to speak. Ignoring their expressions, he hurriedly asked, "Your Excellencies, the Han rebels' army is attacking, and even the false Han king has come in person. What should I do? Please give me your instructions!"

Kang Jitian and Tie Bao, one the Governor-General of the Waterways and the other the Governor-General of the Grand Canal, were not originally responsible for defending Nanjing.

If Emperor Jiaqing wanted to blame someone, he could only vent his anger on them. Nanjing had already been lost, so losing Zhenjiang wouldn't be a big deal.

Ke Chachun, as the prefect of Zhenjiang, was also a member of the Han Eight Banners, a type of person most hated by the Han people, even more detestable than simple Manchu or Mongol bannermen.

If Zhenjiang falls, it would be a blessing if this guy could die peacefully.

By the way, the reforms carried out by Emperor Jiaqing that expelled the Manchu bannermen and forced them to fend for themselves were mostly Han Chinese from the Eight Banners. The Manchu and Mongol bannermen were the lifeblood of the puppet Qing dynasty, and they couldn't be expelled arbitrarily.

The Manchus and Han Chinese are truly one family!
Kang Jitian thought for a moment and said, "Prefect Cha, pass on my order to immediately seal the city gates, have the canal laborers and civilians go up the city walls, and prepare supplies such as kerosene and rolling logs for the defense of the city. We must defend Zhenjiang to the death. Jiangning was lost because Jiangning's troops were insufficient and General Fuchang of Jiangning neglected his duties. Now that I and Commander Tie have arrived, and we have 40,000 troops (30,000 canal laborers), it is enough to hold Zhenjiang. When the Han rebels' army is exhausted and running out of food, that will be the time for our army to launch a counterattack and recapture Jiangning."

These instructions were clear and concise, and immediately appeased Cha Chun, the prefect of Zhenjiang.

He hurriedly obeyed the order and withdrew to prepare various strategic materials needed for the defense of the city, as well as to have the tens of thousands of laborers and canal workers brought by Kang Jitian and Tie Bao prepare for the defense.

Tie Bao watched as Cha Chun took his leave, and was about to ask Kang Jitian how he planned to defend the city.

Kang Jitian suddenly said, "Commander Tie, time is of the essence. You and I should immediately gather our troops and take away any supplies and provisions we can. Burn everything that can't be taken. We don't need to worry about the tens of thousands of canal workers. We should immediately evacuate Zhenjiang City."

"?"

Tie Bao was stunned, almost thinking he had misheard: "Kang Shuai, what's this...?"

Kang Jitian said calmly, "Commander Tie, don't forget that we only brought 10,000 troops, and less than half of them are capable and willing to fight. The Han bandits have 30,000 troops and have just captured Jiangning City. Their morale is high. Fighting the Han bandits now is no different from sending them to their deaths." Upon hearing this, Tie Bao immediately fell silent.

Kang Jitian continued, “Now we’ll trick the Zhenjiang prefect into defending the city, and those 30,000 canal workers will be our rearguard. We’ll immediately lead our main force back to Yangzhou… No, Yangzhou is still not safe. We must retreat to Huai’an and submit another memorial to His Majesty, saying that the Han traitors are really powerful. We have tried our best, but we still couldn’t take back Jiangning. We can only force a breakout and retreat back to Huai’an to hold the Yellow River and ask the court to immediately send a large army south to suppress the Han traitors.”

This guy's thought process is truly remarkable. He believes that as long as his main force is not lost, it doesn't count as a defeat. On the contrary, he has preserved the court's fighting strength.

As for the loss of 30,000 canal workers?
Are canal workers considered human beings?
Moreover, the loss of 30,000 canal workers can also be considered their battle losses, highlighting the power of the Han traitors.

Furthermore, with Nanjing, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou all lost, the Grand Canal was essentially rendered useless. The million canal workers were no longer obedient subjects of the Qing Dynasty, but rather an unstable factor that could explode at any moment. It would actually be a good thing if more of them died.

The Zhenjiang Prefect Cha Chun, that unlucky fool, never expected that no sooner had he gone to arrange the defense of the city than Kang Jitian and Tie Bao, the main force of the defense, would lead their personal guards and flee at full speed.

Cha Chun climbed the city wall and was still observing the Han army's landing situation when his subordinates rushed over to report.

"My lord...my lord, something terrible has happened! The two governors from the north...the two governors have fled with their troops!"

"what?"

……

Nie Yu personally led his army to Zhenjiang Prefecture. He had just disembarked from the naval flagship and was looking at the city walls of Zhenjiang Prefecture with binoculars.

Within two minutes, a huge white flag was suddenly erected in the most conspicuous location in the city and was being waved back and forth.

White flags were used exclusively for surrender; in ancient times, white flags were also used to signify surrender.

Nie Yu was still in a daze when Yang Fang walked over and said, "Your Majesty, it seems that Zhenjiang Prefecture wants to surrender. I request that you send out the vanguard to attack and probe!"

“Hmm,” Nie Yu came back to his senses and nodded slightly, “You can decide on the fighting yourself. I won’t interfere or give orders.”

Although Nie Yu was also a powerful leader who raised his own army, his military skills were only average. He believed that professional matters should be handled by professionals, and he only needed to focus on the general direction and strategy. He had logistics, civil instructors, and land distribution to manage the military affairs.

If a general ever manages to amass power and become influential, it only proves that the integrity, execution, and other aspects of Nie Yu's rule have become utterly corrupt.

Upon receiving the order, Yang Fang immediately dispatched over a thousand vanguard battalions to attack the city.

It was called a siege, but in reality, they just pushed cloud carts up to scale the city walls, without even cutting or destroying the city's moat bridges.

More than a thousand Han soldiers on the vanguard scaled the city wall without encountering any resistance or obstruction. Not many of them even surrendered to the Qing, indicating that most of them had fled.

Zhao Daniu, the centurion of the vanguard battalion, was about to ask where the official in charge was when he was led to the city tower by the magistrate of Dantu County, who had surrendered with his troops.

The city gate tower was filled with the stench of blood, and there was bloodstains all over the ground.

The prefect of Zhenjiang, Cha Chun, and the assistant prefect, Heng Fu, had already committed suicide by drawing their swords. One was a member of the Han Eight Banners and the other was a member of the Manchu Eight Banners. They knew that they would not have a good end if they surrendered.

There's no point in defending the city anymore. Kang Jitian and Tie Bao have both run away. If they don't surrender soon, they might not even have the chance to commit suicide and preserve their dignity.

Oh, and there's also the prefect of Zhenjiang who escaped the calamity because he didn't take responsibility for defending the city. He's already taken advantage of the chaos to disguise himself and run away.

Seeing this situation, Zhao Daniu didn't know what to say, so he could only lead the surrendered soldiers and the surrendered magistrate of Dantu County to open the city gate.

Just as we arrived at noon, the gates of Zhenjiang Prefecture were wide open.

The Han army landed and didn't even have time to set up camp before entering the city.

Even the granaries were well preserved. Kang Jitian ordered them to be burned, but no sooner had he set them on fire than the people and the officials in charge of guarding the granaries led men to put out the fire.

There was no other way; they ran too fast, and the fire they started wasn't very big to begin with. The Qing army wasn't just burning military rations, but also the grain of the people of Zhenjiang Prefecture, so of course they had to save it.

Before a single battle was fought, the Qing army ran away, giving away a city for nothing.

(My blind date went fairly well today (●ˇˇ●))

(End of this chapter)