There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 428 Chongzhen Script
At the fourth watch of the night (1-3 AM), the officials in Huai'an Prefecture were the first to realize that something was wrong.

Wang Gu, the prefect of Huai'an, was initially puzzled. The two governors had led their troops out of the city for a night raid, but after so long, the Han army camp had not yet made a move.

not good!

Wang Gu instantly realized that something was terribly wrong. He wasn't stupid; at this point, he understood that this so-called night raid was clearly just a ruse to escape with his troops out of the city.

Wang Gu hated Kang Jitian and Tie Bao to the core. These two had led their troops out of the city and fled, completely disregarding his life or death as the prefect of Huai'an.

Without Kang Jitian and Tie Bao taking away the Green Standard Army along the rivers and canal, the remaining laborers and local militias were formed.

They look convincing, but in reality they're all a bunch of rabble, only good for intimidating others and boosting morale. They'll immediately reveal their true colors when a real fight breaks out.

What to do? What else could he do? Both governors had abandoned Huai'an and fled. He, a mere prefect, couldn't possibly fight to the death to defend the city, could he?

Even if he dared to defend the city at all costs, it was hard to say whether these canal workers' militia would listen to him. Moreover, even if he could risk his life to defend the city and die for his country, it was estimated that Tie Bao and Kang Jitian would still pin the blame for the fall of Huai'an City entirely on him.

Don't ask him how he knew; it's just a traditional skill of the Qing Dynasty officialdom.

Losing cities and territories is not terrible; what is terrible is having no scapegoat to shift the blame onto.

Standing atop the city wall, Wang Gu swiftly issued orders to his subordinates: "Quickly, immediately dispatch an envoy out of the city to the camp of the Southern Army... no, the Great Han Royal Army, to surrender and submit to the Royal Army!"

The officials of Huai'an Prefecture surrounding him, including Zhang Zhuo, the Assistant Magistrate of Huai'an, and Chen Chang, the Magistrate of Shanyang County, were all taken aback upon hearing this.

The crowd quickly warned, "Your Excellency, the two commanders have just launched a night raid on our camp. If we surrender now, what if..."

Wang Gu immediately cursed, "What a load of rubbish about a night raid! The two commanders have already fled. If it were a real night raid, how could there be no movement by now?" After saying that, he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly added, "Quickly, have the soldiers set fire to the city walls again. The bigger the fire, the better. We must make the royal army believe that we are truly surrendering and not just pretending!"

When it came to surrendering, the officials and soldiers of Huai'an Prefecture acted swiftly.

Before long, a raging fire broke out on the city wall of Huai'an.

In the Han army camp, the Han soldiers on night patrols captured several messengers sent by Huai'an Prefecture to surrender and deliver messages.

"Your commander ran away?" Yang Fang asked in surprise.

The messenger replied, "They've fled! Both governors and generals have fled! The prefect sent me to inform the general and request that the imperial army take over Huai'an Prefecture."

Yang Fang's face immediately darkened. He had considered that the Qing army might launch another night raid on his camp, or even make a desperate gamble by leaving the city to fight him. At the very least, he would try to break out of the siege.

But to my complete surprise, after such a fierce battle during the day, which gave him the illusion that he was prepared to defend to the death, he actually took advantage of the darkness and fled with only a small number of his main forces in the middle of the night.

Yang Fang didn't think too much about it and said, "Let your prefect wait. I need to go catch those two fish that slipped through the net first."

The Fifth Division of the Han Army attacked Huai'an Prefecture using the traditional strategy of besieging two sides while leaving the other two open.

Because Huai'an Prefecture was a prefecture city built along the Grand Canal, the Grand Canal was a natural road blocked, leaving the Han army with a land route for the Qing army to escape.

Yang Fang was putting on his armor almost as he walked, and the entire Han army camp was being mobilized at a rapid pace, with torches and figures moving everywhere.

Even though it was still late at night, there wasn't much chaos, and they were still able to form a limited formation.

In contrast, the Qing troops who were still fleeing had been running for an unknown amount of time and were still not out of the Han army's encirclement.

In reality, many Qing soldiers had fallen behind, and they had to run away in the middle of the night without torches. They also had to avoid the Han army's sentry patrols and couldn't even get close.

Many Qing soldiers suffered from malnutrition and night blindness, and could not see anything at night, so they would fall behind while running.

Kang Jitian and Tie Bao did not suffer from night blindness, but due to the burden of their soldiers, they could only walk very slowly.

There was no other way; if they moved quickly, they could escape, but the entire army would have to be left in Huai'an Prefecture.

Losing Huai'an Prefecture was already a major crime; if the army were also lost, who knows how Jiaqing would deal with them when they returned to Jiangbei.

The two had already made up their minds to flee, and naturally, they had made thorough preparations.

In these chaotic times, it's uncertain whether the Qing Dynasty can withstand the pressure. Therefore, preserving strength and protecting the army is the right path.

With the army in hand, no matter how angry Jiaqing was, he had to be cautious.

It's really starting to resemble the Chongzhen Emperor's story more and more.

"Woo! Woo! Woo!"

The two were still leading their troops in a flight when they suddenly heard bugle calls coming from all around them.

They couldn't understand what the bugle call was, but experience and intuition told them they had definitely been exposed.

Without any hesitation, he immediately ordered the entire army to light torches and flee towards the canal bank at a faster pace.

Although the Han army surrounded two sides and left two gaps, they also left guard posts along the canal.

"A Qing dog has been spotted!"

"The Qing dogs are trying to run towards the canal! Stop them!"

"Kill the Qing dogs!" Amidst shouts of battle cries, the Han army's pursuing troops were rapidly encircling the Qing army's torches.

The distance between the two armies closed rapidly, and it became clear that the quality of ordinary Qing soldiers was inferior to that of the Han soldiers.

The Han army consisted of modern professional soldiers, unlike the Qing army, which was a feudal army and quite corrupt.

The Han soldiers suffered from night blindness caused by malnutrition, but they did not have this disease at all.

Furthermore, the Qing army was sneaking away under the cover of night, so the entire army was on high alert.

Now, the two sides were chasing each other, and the Qing army, due to exhaustion, was quickly caught up, and the taut string finally snapped.

What if the string breaks? Of course, the whole army will be thrown into chaos.

The Qing soldiers were already terrified in the middle of the night, and now they hadn't run far before the Han army caught up with them. From the garrison commanders to the lowest-ranking officers and soldiers, everyone panicked.

It was still dark, and the Han army couldn't possibly engage in close-quarters gunfights. If the Qing army dared to take a gamble, they still had a chance to break through and shake off the Han army's pursuit.

Unfortunately, no one dared to take the risk, because even if they did, the Qing army would certainly suffer huge casualties.

The gap in combat strength cannot be bridged by mere bravery, especially since the Qing army had little bravery left.

They ran away because they didn't want to die and wanted to live. Now you're telling them that if they want to run away, a bunch of people have to die first. Who the hell would be willing to do that?

The Qing army, caught off guard, fell into chaos. No one dared to engage the pursuing Han army in close combat. The Han soldiers, holding torches in the darkness, seemed to the Qing army to be deadly demons.

"Run! The rebels are coming!"

"Wait for me, help!"

"I surrender, I surrender, please don't kill me!"

There was absolutely no way to fight them; the Qing army's rear guard almost completely collapsed and scattered.

The collapse happened so fast that Kang Jitian and Tie Bao didn't even have time to react before the army was in such disarray that it was difficult to command.

"Don't run, don't make a scene!"

"Anyone who dares to run away will be killed without mercy!"

Kang Jitian and Tie Bao tried to stop the army from becoming further chaotic, but to no avail.

Half of the Qing army was in complete disarray, and the remaining half was also affected, with their morale and fighting spirit plummeting to rock bottom.

There's no way to fight anymore; even maintaining formation is a challenge.

The darkness did indeed make it easier for the Qing army to escape. To avoid accidentally injuring friendly forces, the Han army dared not use muskets or cannons indiscriminately, and instead all used cold weapons to pursue them.

However, once it gets dark and the army starts to fall into disarray, even a modern army like the Han army, which is known for its strict discipline, would have a tough time quelling the rioting soldiers in time.

This is normal. The fear of the dark is a deep-seated code etched into human genes, and it cannot be easily overcome through long-term practice.

If the Han army couldn't overcome it, how could the Qing army, such a trashy army, possibly succeed?

Seeing that the army was in complete chaos and beyond repair, Kang Jitian decisively said to Tie Bao, "Commander Tie, we can't worry about the army anymore. While the southern troops haven't finished encircling us, let's immediately join forces and head north to break through. We can't take the canal anymore; let's go to Qinghe County first, and then find a way to seize boats to cross the river!"

Tie Bao hesitated upon hearing this. This was an army of over ten thousand! If they were to abandon them all and then flee back to Jiangbei, they wouldn't have the strength to withstand the Emperor's wrath.

However, Kang Jitian didn't give Tie Bao any time to hesitate and left with several hundred of his personal guards.

Tie Bao was terrified and couldn't care less about anything else at the moment. If he didn't run now and was left behind by the Han army, even Kang Jitian could surrender in the face of battle, while he, the Manchu governor, would definitely be piled up like a mound of corpses.

Run! Run right now!
Kang Jitian and Tie Bao led only a small number of their personal guards, totaling no more than one-tenth or one-twelfth of the entire army. They broke away from the chaotic main force and fled northwards.

To ensure a successful breakout, they even extinguished their torches and focused solely on rushing north.

Although the Han army was aware of the situation, they were also tied down by the Qing army's main force in disarray and could only send a small number of troops to pursue them.

Because it was too dark and there were too few Han soldiers pursuing them, Kang Jitian and Tie Bao, being very experienced, simply used half of their elite guards as bait, successfully holding back the Han soldiers' pursuers and covering their own escape.

When Yang Fang received the report from the pursuing troops, she was not angry about it.

The Qing governor-general fled, but the main force of the Qing army remained. More than 10,000 Qing troops were left behind, and with the addition of tens of thousands of laborers and militia in Huai'an Prefecture, the Qing army's defenses in the Huai'an area had completely collapsed.

Without regular troops and with two governors gone, they still have a few hundred personal guards at most.

What can such a small number of people do?

Kang Jitian and Tie Bao, let's not talk about how to deal with Jiaqing's wrath.

Yang Fang has achieved such great results, and is now ready to carry forward the fine traditions of the Han army.

We launched an ancient version of a blitzkrieg against the Qing dynasty, pressed our advantage, crossed the Yellow River into Hebei, and swiftly recovered all the prefectures and cities north of the Yangtze River.

(End of this chapter)