There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 455 Nanyang Town

(Just one more chapter, I'm on a date today...)
Xuzhou.

The former prefectural government office has been transformed into a temporary imperial palace and the front-line command post of the Han army. Nie Yu held a pre-battle military conference here.

Many people attended the meeting, including senior generals from various divisions of the Han army such as Yang Fang and Bai Nan, as well as secretaries and staff officers who came with the army. Even Hada, a Solon commander (a title bestowed by the emperor of the Han Dynasty), was allowed to attend the meeting as an observer.

Yang Fang carefully examined the map on the table, then picked up an ink stick and drew a line around Caozhou Prefecture: "Your Majesty, judging from the current situation in Caozhou Prefecture, and considering the intelligence report sent back by Director Chen (Xingye), it may be difficult for the Caozhou rebels to take the city of Caozhou, but the territory outside the city should not be a problem. Moreover, judging from the current scale of resistance from the Qing army in Caozhou and the speed of the rebels' advance, the intelligence report sent back by Director Chen should be reliable. The Qing army has indeed transferred all its troops away from their garrisons and concentrated them in Jinan Prefecture for defense."

Bai Nan scratched his head, somewhat bewildered: "What exactly is the Qing army thinking? They're transferring all their troops to Jinan Prefecture. Does that mean they don't want any other places besides Jinan?"

Yang Fang said, "What the Qing army thinks is not important. The key is how our army should fight next." After saying that, he turned to the emperor sitting in the seated position, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, the Qing army in Shandong has gathered its main forces in Jinan Prefecture. No matter what their intentions are, our army must take action. We cannot leave the Caozhou rebels to fight alone."

Nie Yu asked, "What is Yang Qing thinking?"

Yang Fang did not hesitate and immediately replied, "I believe that we should immediately send troops north. Our army is now strong enough, and our food and weapons are ready. It is the perfect time to go north."

He only said half the story, leaving the other half for Emperor Nie Yu.

With the emperor personally leading the expedition, Yang Fang, as a general, naturally could not overshadow the emperor, nor could he formulate a strategic plan without the emperor's permission.

“Hmm,” Nie Yu nodded and said, “Then let’s fight! Although I am personally leading the expedition this time, you will decide how to fight. Don’t worry that I will interfere or do anything reckless.”

This is how most true imperial expeditions are conducted in person.

The emperor simply moved his imperial carriage to the front lines to oversee the overall strategic direction, make decisions on key battles, boost morale, and ensure the army's logistics.

Apart from this, they generally do not interfere much with the command of the frontline generals and commanders.

After all, even if Nie Yu himself was born into a military family, when it came to commanding troops, he was definitely not as good as natural-born generals like Yang Fang, and even those who came from humble backgrounds like He Shunan and Chen Younian could only be considered mediocre.

With the emperor's approval, Yang Fang immediately presented his strategic plan: "Since the Qing army in Shandong is gathered in Jinan Prefecture, no matter what the Qing army wants to do, our army only needs to go north along the Grand Canal, take Nanyang Town first, and then take advantage of this opportunity to dominate the south of Shandong and cut off the north and south battlefields."

Upon hearing the name Nanyang Town, everyone quickly looked at the map and saw that it was a small town in the southern section of the Grand Canal in Shandong Province.

This town is located in the northeast of Yutai County. Unlike Nanyang Town hundreds of years later, the current Nanyang Town has a very disgusting terrain.

To its east lies Dushan Lake, and to its west lies Nanyang Lake. Nanyang Town is a narrow strip of land between the two lakes. The Grand Canal passes through the middle of Nanyang Town and connects to three tributaries of rivers to the north.

In other words, by capturing Nanyang Town, a strategic location, the Han army could divide the Shandong battlefield.

Caozhou Prefecture and Jining Prefecture were basically lost, and even Yanzhou Prefecture was difficult to preserve.

The Qing army had no way to attack the Han army. This was because the Qing army had no navy; its navy had long been wiped out or incorporated into the Han army, leaving it with no decent navy.

Without a navy, Nanyang Town could not be captured. If Nanyang Town could not be captured, the Han army could occupy Nanyang Town and attack any place near the southern part of the Grand Canal at any time.

He is indeed a born general!
He immediately recognized the importance of Nanyang Town. Compared to such a gifted general, the ordinary generals of the Han army were indeed no match and could only rely on experience and formulas.

Nie Yu reviewed Yang Fang's strategic plan, did not object, and finalized it at the meeting.

With the strategy finalized, the Han army marched north.

The Han navy did not need to be mobilized temporarily, because the Yangtze River navy had always been responsible for escorting the transport of military supplies, weapons and other miscellaneous tasks.

The escort mission has now been extended to the front line of Nanyang Town.

The Han army forces in Xuzhou consisted only of the main units of the 5th and 2nd Divisions, along with the newly formed 11th, 12th, and 13th Divisions. The 8th, 9th, and 10th Divisions had already been transferred to Henan and Anhui provinces respectively to reinforce Wei Xinrong's 7th Division.

……

Jining Prefecture.

"My lord, something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"

"What's happened now? Could it be that the rebel army from Caozhou has attacked?"

Zhang Tiren, the prefect of Jining, was in a panic. He had only recently learned that a large band of rebels calling themselves the Great Han Righteous Army had appeared in Caozhou Prefecture. Moreover, they had swiftly captured several counties in the southern part of Caozhou Prefecture, almost scaring him into abandoning the city and fleeing.

The messenger quickly shook his head: "No...it's not the Caozhou bandits, the Caozhou bandits haven't attacked."

Upon hearing that it wasn't the Caozhou rebels attacking, Zhang Tiren secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but then immediately his face contorted with anger as he shouted, "If it's not the Caozhou rebels, then why are you making such a fuss? What kind of behavior is this? It's not the Southern Army that's attacking!"

The clerk was taken aback: "Sir, how did you know it was the Southern army attacking?"

"..."

"what?"

It's unclear how long it took for Zhang Tiren to recover, but he finally came to terms with reality.

The Han army attacked, and although they didn't directly attack Jining, they captured Nanyang Town, which is south of Jining.

To be precise, it wasn't even captured, but rather the Han army's naval warships sailed to Nanyang Town. Then all the gentry of Nanyang Town surrendered, and even the government officials stationed in the town quickly knelt down and begged for surrender.

The loss of Nanyang Town not only severed north-south transportation by water, but also cut off the connection between Jining and the southern counties.

Even the city of Jining itself was exposed to the Han army's advance, which terrified Zhang Tiren so much that he almost surrendered on the spot.

The reason he hasn't surrendered yet is that he still has a Green Standard Army garrison in Jining Prefecture.

Jining Prefecture originally had four battalions stationed there. Yinghe transferred three battalions, leaving only one battalion, mainly because Jining Prefecture was located in the middle of the Grand Canal and its strategic position was relatively important.

Zhang Tiren was interested in joining the army. He was neither a member of the Eight Banners nor a bondservant, and he was from Shanxi.

He was appointed prefect of Jining simply because the imperial court was overwhelmed with other appointments, and Shanxi was in chaos. Apart from his concubines and their children, he had long lost contact with his wife, children, and relatives back home, so he had no qualms about surrendering.

He wanted to surrender, but the problem was that he couldn't figure out what the Qing army officers in Jining were thinking.

What if you want to surrender but the other side doesn't? Wouldn't that be like walking into a trap?

However, this guy still did some things. Since he didn't know whether he could invest or not, he simply decided to leave it for now.

He first reported the capture of Nanyang Town by the Han army to the governor of Jinan and Commander-in-Chief Yinghe. Then he stayed in Jining Prefecture, refusing to respond to any news from the outside world.

He waited to see how the Han army and the Qing army fought. If the Han army came to Jining Prefecture first, he would find a way to surrender no matter what.

When the Qing army arrived in Jining Prefecture, he would see when to switch sides.

In short, he had to surrender no matter what. He wasn't stupid; the Qing Dynasty was on its last legs, and he was a Han Chinese. There was still a way back; he couldn't go down with this sinking ship.

(End of this chapter)