There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 423 Guangxi is not easy to fight

Yang Yuchun easily captured Lianzhou City. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the prefect of Lianzhou, Shi Jixin, committed suicide facing north to stay with the city.

This guy is really something else. He's from Jiangsu, and his hometown, Liyang County, has long been Han territory. Yet he stubbornly refuses to surrender and insists on defending Lianzhou City as a loyal slave to the Qing Dynasty.

To be honest, after raising dogs for 150 years, we still only have a few loyal dog servants left.

Yang Yuchun captured Lianzhou Prefecture and continued his westward advance.

Upon hearing the news of the fall of the prefectural city, Qinzhou and Lingshan counties were then informed that the arrival of Yang Yuchun, the god of war. They dared not resist in the slightest and quickly changed their allegiance, opening the city gates and surrendering.

The entire territory of Lianzhou Prefecture was basically under the control of the Han army.

"You're saying that under the rule of my Great Han, there is still an exclave of Annam?" Yang Yuchun asked the surrendered prefect of Qinzhou with a frown.

Facing Yang Yuchun, the prefect of Qinzhou dared not be negligent at all and answered cautiously: "General Yang, although most of the area to the west is under the jurisdiction of my Great Qing... no, my Great Han Qinzhou, there is a coastal peninsula called Jiangping. The island of Jiangping is inhabited by Annamite people and also harbors many pirates and bandits who are impossible to eradicate."

Yang Yuchun had heard that there was an Annamite enclave ahead and was wondering whether he should go and fight it.

Now that he heard that pirates were hiding and they were still being suppressed, he understood: "Since pirates are hiding, isn't that a pirate den? Why aren't you going to wipe them out? Are you just raising bandits to enhance your own power?"

The prefect of Qinzhou hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no, no, how could I dare to harbor bandits and make myself important! These pirates hiding in Jiangping are all vicious and ruthless. Let alone us, who are just prefects under the jurisdiction of the prefecture, even if the Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi came in person, these pirates would probably not take us seriously."

"However, although these Jiangping pirates are fierce and arrogant, Jiangping Island, where they are located, is a no-man's-land. This place does not belong to China, but is an island exclave of Annam. So let alone me, even the governor has no right to govern this island."

Yang Yuchun was speechless upon hearing this. What did he mean by having no right to govern? How could a great nation like China tolerate an exclave of Annam, and even allow it to become a hideout for pirates? Wasn't this a slap in the face?
Yang Yuchun decided not to rush north, but instead prioritized consulting with Chen Younian's headquarters via telegram.

To facilitate command, Chen Younian specifically assigned Yang Yuchun a radio and a team of Han army telegraph soldiers, so that any temporary strategic deployments could be coordinated by issuing orders at any time.

Seeing this radio station, capable of transmitting messages over thousands of miles in an instant and known in the army as "the ear of a thousand miles," Yang Yuchun finally understood that his defeat was indeed not unjust.

It's not that we're not good enough; it's just that the Han side is cheating.

With their superior intelligence, the Han army could always outpace the Qing army in deploying troops and mobilizing laborers and provisions.

As the saying goes, speed is of the essence in war. If the Han army can deploy troops and fight quickly enough, it can even offset the disadvantage of having too few troops and achieve the greatest results in fighting the Qing army.

Meanwhile, Yang Yuchun quickly received a reply, which consisted of only two sentences: "They're all pirates, so what's the point of all this nonsense? Just wipe them out!"
The reply was straightforward, which put Yang Yuchun at ease.

Although Jiangping Island is an island, it has gradually become connected to the mainland and evolved into a peninsula due to the long-term reclamation of land and the construction of dikes by the local people.

Historically, in another thirty years, this place would have been annexed by the Qing government, since it was now connected to Guangdong. It was impossible to continue to accept it as an exclave of Annam, and Annam didn't even send officials to manage Jiangping.

Jiangping Island is mainly composed of three islands: Wutou, Wanwei, and Shanxin. Shanxin Island is still an island, but it is very close to the mainland. Wutou and Wanwei are basically connected to the three towns of Sile, Songbai, and Dongxing.

With only a thousand men, Yang Yuchun effortlessly captured Wutou Island, and then Wanwei and Shanxin Islands in quick succession.

Within the three islands, including the Annamese and pirates, there were fewer than five thousand people.

Yang Yuchun casually picked up a pirate leader as a prisoner and coldly asked, "What's going on? Didn't you say this was your main base? Is this all the people you have at your main base?"

The pirate leader opposite him, having already heard that the man before him was Yang Yuchun, was trembling all over. He said, "The King of the East Sea... The King of the East Sea said that he would take his brothers to Annam to help the King of Xishan fight... He also said that if they win, the King of Xishan will give us a lot of gold and silver treasures, and also give us brothers titles. If we can't make it in the Qing Dynasty in the future, we can go to Annam to enjoy a life of luxury... Yes, enjoy a life of luxury!"

Upon hearing the news, Yang Yuchun was already horrified.

Wow, he actually caught a big fish!

These pirates from South China were actually colluding with the small kingdom of Annam and even helping the Annamite king fight wars. Yang Yuchun didn't know who the king of Xishan in Annam was, but he did know how serious the matter was that pirates were colluding with a vassal state.

Yang Yuchun dared not delay, and did not even dare to withdraw his troops from Jiangping. He hurriedly reported the news to Chen Younian, who then reported it to the central government.

……

Nanjing.

Nie Yu had already received the battle report from Guangdong, which first described the changes in the battle situation in Guangdong. The Third Division had captured the entire territory of Lianzhou Prefecture and had launched offensives against Yulin Prefecture, Wuzhou Prefecture, and Pingyue Prefecture in Guangxi.

Yulin Prefecture was very easy to attack. Yulin (Yulin) was located in southeastern Guangxi and was surrounded by the three prefectures of Gaozhou (Maoming), Lianzhou (Hepu), and Leizhou (Zhanjiang) in Guangdong. In the north, it was also sandwiched between the Darong Mountains, which blocked Yulin Prefecture from contacting other prefectures in Guangxi.

Wuzhou Prefecture was even easier to attack, as it was located right on the main channel of the Xijiang River (the main stream of the Pearl River).

The Han troops of the Third Division could travel by boat all the way along the river to Wuzhou Prefecture.

The prefect of Wuzhou originally wanted to hold out, but after being bombarded by two rounds of cannon fire, he was "invited" out by the gentry, officials and civilians in the city to open the city gates and surrender.

The prefect of Yulin was also a half-loyalist. The reason he was half-loyal was that he did not surrender, but he also did not insist on defending the city.

On the very day the Han army attacked, this guy rallied officials, civilians, and wealthy households throughout the city to recruit soldiers to defend the city.

On the second day, the officials of Yulin Prefecture could not find their prefect.

He was truly responsible; he even knew to arrange the defense of the city before he ran away.

I don't know if it was to show some "loyalty" one last time, or if he was afraid of being discovered if he ran away like this.

However, the battle for Pingluofu was not as easy as the Han army had anticipated. As mentioned before, the situation in Guangxi was very special, with the Zhuang people making up 50% of the province's population, the Yao people 30%, and the Han people 20%.

However, Pingluo Prefecture is different. There are very few werewolves in Pingluo Prefecture, but there are more Yao and Han people.

These werewolves from Pingluo Prefecture are also known as the werewolves who migrated eastward.

The villages inhabited by the eastward-migrating werewolves were basically located at the junction of Han and Yao settlements.

Although their settlements in wolf villages are generally near or near mountains, the farmland they are allocated is often more fertile than that of the Yao people, and the water source is also more abundant.

The reason for this is very simple: the eastward-migrating werewolves were essentially militarized immigrants placed in eastern Guizhou by the Ming Dynasty.

Since the Ming Dynasty, the Yao people in eastern Guizhou have frequently revolted.

The Ming Dynasty was increasingly troubled by the situation, compounded by the severe decline in the local military strength of Guangxi. The number of garrison troops, numbering in the tens of thousands at the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, dwindled to less than 20,000 by the mid-Ming period, and their fighting capacity was generally weak. Forced into a corner, the Ming Dynasty adopted a strategy of using one barbarian tribe to control another, relocating the equally threatening Langren to eastern Guangxi. They were allowed to live between the Han and Yao communities, occupying strategically important mountainous areas, and their lands in Sandong, Dongxi'an, Xianhui, and Gaotian were allocated to Langren chieftains for cultivation.

By utilizing the militarized settlements of werewolves, they aimed to isolate the Han and Yao people and reduce the likelihood of Yao rebellion.

Even if the Yao people did rebel, the eastward-migrating werewolves could use the terrain and their fighting strength to block the rebellious Yao people on the mountain.

However, the situation in Pingluo Prefecture changed from the late Ming to the early Qing Dynasty.

Many of the werewolves who migrated eastward gradually lost their deterrent effect on the Yao people due to survival pressures. Instead, they began to ease relations with the Yao people in the mountains, forming marriage alliances and sticking together for mutual support.

At the same time that the Heaven and Earth Society in Guangdong launched an uprising, the werewolves of Pingluo Prefecture, which was very close to Guangdong, also started a rebellion.

Although the Langyao people in Pingluo Prefecture were numerous, even more than the Han people, the number of Qing troops deployed there was still too small, totaling only a little over a thousand.

Such a small number of Qing troops were deployed in three separate locations: Pingluo Prefecture, He County, and Mailing Camp.

The rebellious Wolf and Yao tribes barely made a move before Ping Le Prefecture fell.

The prefectural city was captured, the prefect was killed, and Pingluo Prefecture became the territory of the allied forces of the Wolf, Yao, and Han ethnic groups.

That's right, this even involves the Han people of Pingluo Prefecture. The Han people were able to join in the rebellion because they could no longer tolerate the government's exploitation, which was so severe that even the Han people could not bear it.

After easily capturing Wuzhou Prefecture and Yulin Prefecture, the Han army of the Third Division was blocked in Pingluo Prefecture.

It's not that we can't take it down, it's just that it's too difficult.

The werewolves who migrated eastward lived up to their name; their fighting prowess was indeed formidable. Although they couldn't compare to professional soldiers like the Han army, the Han army could only disperse these werewolves, not truly defeat or crush them.

All the wolf soldiers who were scattered, excluding those who were captured, escaped with the Yao people and fled into the mountains to fight a guerrilla war against the Han army.

Less than a month after the Han army entered Pingluofu, the casualty rate of its soldiers was approaching three digits, which startled Chen Younian.

Although the casualty rate seems low, less than a hundred people, these are all real casualties. The werewolves, scattered by the attack, hid in the deep mountains and waged guerrilla warfare, occasionally firing sneak attacks, using traps, and their weapons and arrows were even poisoned.

Fortunately, the Han army had sufficient medicine, and most of the wounded were treated in time and were able to survive, but they were inevitably rendered unable to fight.

In less than a month, the Han army's fighting strength has been reduced at an alarming rate.

It should be noted that Chen Younian only brought a few thousand men into Guangxi, and the number of Han troops who marched into Pingluo Prefecture was even smaller.

The casualty rate and combat attrition rate are both approaching 50%.

In his battle report to Nie Yu, Chen Younian readily admitted his mistake. He had indeed underestimated the enemy, thinking that since the Qing army in Guangdong was so weak, the situation in Guangxi shouldn't be too difficult to overcome.

It was indeed not difficult to fight them; the Qing army in Guangxi was even weaker than the Qing army in Guangdong. But the Qing army here was not to be trifled with; the werewolves and Yao people were truly formidable fighters.

Even when they couldn't win and were scattered, they could still run into the mountains and continue guerrilla warfare with the Han army.

Guangxi is full of towering mountains, and the Han army was unfamiliar with the mountain roads, so they couldn't even catch the enemy's tail.

After reading the battle report, Nie Yu was not too surprised. Given the terrible terrain of Guangxi, even a modern army might not be able to do anything to the enemy.

Nie Yu shook his head, picked up his pen, and wrote a reply in vermilion ink: "No rush, take your time." After writing the reply, he added: "The Ministry of Personnel should expedite the placement of town heads, land distribution officials, and peasant associations to the newly occupied lands in Guangxi, where they will be distributed land and settled with the army."

Since they couldn't win the war, they decided to divide the land while continuing the war, using both kindness and force to sow discord among the various ethnic groups in Guangxi.

This was already a common tactic of the Han Dynasty: distributing land without a word. It was understandable if someone resisted before the land was distributed. After the land was distributed, those who wanted to live peacefully would obediently settle down. Those who continued to rebel and resist the Han army, well, the Han army would not be so lenient with them.

After appeasing Chen Younian's Third Division, Nie Yu then wrote back to Yang Yuchun, stating that the intelligence Yang had obtained was extremely important to the Han Dynasty.

Jiangping was actually the stronghold of the South China pirates. Nie Yu didn't really know such historical details clearly. Moreover, the main force of the South China pirates went to Annam to fight for the King of Tay Son.

If Nie Yu remembered correctly, the King of Xishan must have been defeated, and the main force of the South China pirates was most likely wiped out by the Annamese army.

In fact, it was precisely because this wave of South China pirates suffered such a crushing defeat, with even their pirate king being captured by the Annamite army, that the South China pirates were leaderless and thus split into multiple pirate groups.

Nie Yu's reply to Yang Yuchun: "Minister Yang has captured Jiangping Island, destroyed the pirates' lair, and learned that the Jiangping pirates are colluding with Annam. Therefore, I hereby appoint you as the commander of the first mountain garrison of the Great Han Army."

Although Yang Yuchun's official rank and treatment were similar to those of the previous general after he joined the Han Dynasty, he was not formally appointed and could only be considered as temporarily holding an official position (and was still outside the official establishment).

Now, Nie Yu has given a formal appointment, using the imperial edict. Although it is still the title of Commander, it is a direct appointment that bypasses the Ministry of War and the Governor's Office.

There is currently no so-called "First Mountain Town" in the organization of the Han army.

Yang Yuchun's First Mountain Town was the first military unit established in a mountain town, similar to Wu Liehu's in Jeju Island.

Wu Liehu's cavalry division was also the first divisional army to be purely cavalry-based.

Nie Yu's allocation of personnel to Yang Yuchun's mountain town was not a whim; it was preparation for a future invasion... no, it should be said, for the recapture of Annam.

Northern Annam is mountainous, so fighting there would be different from fighting on plains or water in the interior. Therefore, it is essential to have a force that is skilled in mountain warfare.

Fortunately, Yang Yuchun seems to be very good at mountain warfare based on his past achievements, so let's give him a position in a mountain town and let him train a Han army unit that is good at mountain warfare.

After thinking for a moment, Nie Yu added another military order to Yang Yuchun: "Nanning Prefecture must be captured within this year."

Nie Yu wanted Nanning Prefecture not only because Nanning was the capital of Guangxi Province in later generations, but also because Nanning Prefecture was located west of the Shiwan Mountains, bordering Annam to the south, and was a strategic location on the southern border of Guangxi.

Taking Nanning Prefecture would allow them to either defend the Guangxi border or serve as a strategic stronghold for the Han army's southward advance through Guangxi.

Compared to Guilin, Nanning is indeed more suitable as the capital of Guangxi Province in terms of strategic position.

Guilin is not only too far north, but also too wealthy.

……

(End of this chapter)