There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 456 Yinghe's Adventure
Because Jining Prefecture was located along the Grand Canal, Zhang Tiren, the prefect, was able to send messages relatively quickly.

In just two days, Yinghe, who was in Jinan Prefecture, learned that the Han army had marched north and captured Nanyang Town, a strategic location in the southern section of the Grand Canal.

Having already experienced a defeat, Yinghe was not too flustered. Instead, he quickly convened a meeting of military officers to discuss the matter.

A large group of people were gathered at the Shandong Provincial Governor's Office.

They were led by Yinghe, the Governor-General of Jiangbei and concurrently the Commander-in-Chief of Jiangbei, and included Wang Bingtao, the Governor-General of the East River (East River), Yue Qi, the Governor of Shandong and concurrently the Commander-in-Chief of Shandong, Quan Bao, the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shandong, Ce Dan, the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner of Shandong, Guan Ming, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Qingzhou (stationed with the Eight Banners), Tian Yonghe, the General Commander of Yanzhou, and Feng Jiangong, the General Commander of Dengzhou.

Oh, and there are also Kang Jitian and Tie Bao, two corrupt governors with no troops or power, who will temporarily serve as British and his entourage.

Just by looking at their names, you can tell that apart from the two generals who are Han Chinese, the rest of them are all Manchus or Mongols. The only one, Wang Bingtao, the Governor-General of the Eastern River, is from the Han Eight Banners.

The two Han generals were truly irreplaceable.

Civil officials are easy to replace, but military generals are hard to find!

Tian Yonghe, the general of Yanzhou, came from the military in Gansu, while Feng Jiangong, the general of Dengzhou, was a military scholar from Jiangsu. Both of them were skilled in martial arts.

Forcibly replacing commanders would not only leave no suitable candidates, but would also easily disrupt and undermine the local military defense system.

Wang Bingtao spoke first: "Commander, news from Jining reports that the Southern Army has captured Nanyang Town. The southern section of the Shandong Canal has been cut off. What should we do now?"

His words were less of a request for advice and more of an interrogation, his tone full of aggressiveness.

This guy was just staying at his own post when he was suddenly summoned to Jinan by Ying and Yi, who also took away all the Donghe military governors.

Now, the Grand Canal, which he was in charge of as the Governor-General of the Eastern River, was captured by the Han army shortly after he left.

Even if he manages to retake it later, he will still inevitably face repercussions from the imperial court.

After all, he was a Han Eight Banners member, while Yinghe was a legitimate Manchu Eight Banners member, and even one of the Upper Three Banners. The blame should not be placed on the Manchu Eight Banners members; it should be placed on the Han Eight Banners members.

Therefore, Wang Bingtao would naturally harbor resentment.

Moreover, this is considered good; being able to recapture Nanyang Town and drive away the Han army is just a minor setback.

But what if we can't drive away the Han army...

Yinghe remained silent.

Instead, Kang Jitian pointed to the map and said, "A few days ago, a band of rebels appeared in Caozhou Prefecture and have captured all the counties in the southern part of Caozhou Prefecture. If we let this go unchecked, Caozhou Prefecture will surely fall. If Caozhou Prefecture falls, then Jining Prefecture and Yanzhou Prefecture will also be lost. Yanzhou Prefecture has Qufu County, and Qufu County has the Duke Yansheng's Mansion."

Tie Bao also said, "Yanzhou Prefecture cannot be lost, nor can Qufu County. The Southern Army is now advancing into Nanyang Town. With the current garrison strength of Jining Prefecture, it is basically impossible to stop the Southern Army's attack. Therefore, we must quickly eliminate the enemy in Nanyang Town, otherwise Caozhou Prefecture, Jining Prefecture, and Yanzhou Prefecture will all be implicated."

"Easy for you to say, but the question is how do we actually do it?" Wang Bingtao said irritably.

No one understands Nanyang Town better than him, the Governor-General of the Eastern River. Without a navy, even if they had an army of 100,000, they would not be able to take Nanyang Town.

If they fail to capture Nanyang Town, the Han army can cross the Grand Canal at any time and attack any prefecture in Shandong without having to worry about logistics.

Yinghe is now in a difficult position. His initial reason for gathering troops was simple: to concentrate superior forces to deal with the Han army's large-scale northern expedition.

He had previously led an army of 50,000 south, but they were all defeated by the Han army.

Although the Han army's unexpected victory was partly due to the fact that it was nighttime combat, which amplified the casualties, it still shocked Yinghe, making him realize that the Han army was indeed no ordinary rebel force.

He was able to conquer most of the south and even establish an imperial regime, so he couldn't possibly be some trash.

According to Yinghe's idea, if the troops were not gathered together and were allowed to be scattered in various prefectures and counties of Shandong, they might be able to put some resistance against the Caozhou rebels.

However, once the main force of the Han army moves north, it will inevitably lead to widespread collapse. Moreover, with the Qing army forces in Shandong so dispersed, they simply cannot hold out for long and will easily be defeated and eliminated piecemeal.

It would be better to concentrate our forces; perhaps then we still have the strength to fight.

Now, the Han army commander-in-chief, for reasons unknown, actually used the advantage of his naval forces to seize Nanyang Town.

This has now put Shandong in a difficult position.

Alternatively, Ying and He could defeat the Han navy and recapture Nanyang Town.

Alternatively, they would have to change course and take a detour to attack the rear of the Han army.

However, if they tried to take a detour, the canal was blocked by the Han army. He could force his way around it, but the Han army would easily block his supply lines, leaving him unable to advance or retreat. Yinghe studied the map for a long time, but still couldn't come up with a solution.

He was still too young and lacked experience in battle. His previous victories against the Shanxi rebels and the White Lotus Rebellion in Henan were not only crushing defeats, but the terrain was also different from Shandong. For example, the Grand Canal was not there, so there was no strategic reference value.

Just as Yinghe was in a dilemma, someone stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Commander Ying, this humble general has some thoughts."

Yinghe turned his head and saw that it was Tian Yonghe, the general of Yanzhou, who was speaking.

Tian Yonghe raised his hand to the map and said, “General Ying, please look here. This is Jining Prefecture, which is not far from Nanyang Town. If I were the Southern Army, after taking Nanyang Town, I certainly wouldn’t attack Jining first. Nanyang Town is just a town, and it’s located in the center of the two lakes and four rivers, so it can’t be used as a strategic base. Therefore, the Southern Army will definitely use Nanyang Town as the center and prioritize capturing Guting Town (now Yutai County) to the south, as well as Yutai County and Jinxiang County, to ensure that the flanks of the army are secure. At the same time, it can also join forces with the rebel army in Caozhou Prefecture, so as not to be attacked from both sides.”

After Tian Yonghe's explanation, everyone looked at the map for a moment and realized that it was indeed true.

Taking Nanyang Town is certainly not enough; we must also seize Guting Town, Yutai County, and Jinxiang County to the south.

This was the only way to ensure the safety of the Han army's flanks while also allowing them to join forces with the rebel army in Caozhou Prefecture.

The Jinan Prefecture authorities had some knowledge of the origins of the rebel army in Caozhou Prefecture; they believed it was a group of rebel forces that had submitted to the Han army.

Because the rebel army in Caozhou Prefecture used Chinese characters as their banners, from the Qing court's perspective, anyone using Chinese characters as their banners was considered part of the Han army force.

This is why the Qing court has finally taken the Han people seriously. Although there are still many relatively independent rebel forces, most of these rebels are fighting the Qing army under the banner of Han characters.

Even the White-Haired Army of Shanxi, while wearing white headscarves, carried a blue flag with Chinese characters and called themselves the "Jin-Han Army".

Yinghe nodded slightly, having basically understood, and immediately asked, "Then how should this battle be fought?"

Tian Yonghe said, "If the armies of various towns have not yet assembled in Jinan, then naturally we should gather the forces around Jining, block the canal, cut off the Southern Army's navy from supplies, and then seize the opportunity to march south and launch a surprise attack on the Southern Army's rear. The Southern Army's northward advance to capture Nanyang Town is certainly not a small-scale operation, and its rear will inevitably be vulnerable. Our army only needs to launch a surprise attack on the rear, and even if we cannot achieve great results, we can still make this Southern Army that is marching north an isolated force."

After saying that, he shook his head and said, "But now that the army has assembled in Jinan Prefecture, it will be difficult to cut off and block the canal. Even if we can make it in time, the Southern Army will definitely find out and stop us in time. Therefore, I think that since we can't take Nanyang Town now, we should change our strategy."

“We can first send 10,000 Green Standard Army troops to Jining Prefecture to deceive the Southern Army into thinking that we are going to fight a decisive battle with the Southern Army in Jining. But in reality, our main force will go directly south by detouring and cross the He River (Wanfu River) in batches to attack Feng County and Pei County.”

"The Southern Army has only recently occupied these two counties, so their foundation is definitely unstable and they won't have many troops stationed there. If we take these two counties, we can cut off the Southern Army's supply lines, turning Nanyang Town into an isolated force. At the same time, we can move further south and launch a surprise attack on Xuzhou Prefecture."

"Once Xuzhou is captured, the tide of the war can be turned!"

Good heavens, no wonder he's a general who came from Gansu, his ideas are ruthless enough.

While the Han army was still securing strategic locations and advancing steadily, this guy actually decided to launch a feint attack, leading the main Qing army force south again to attack Xuzhou.

Qingzhou Deputy Commander Guanming immediately rebuked, "We are discussing how to stop the Southern Army from advancing north, not how to launch a surprise attack on the Southern Army's rear. How can General Tian spout such nonsense?"

Tian Yonghe said, "Commander Guan, we can't stop them. We don't have a strong enough navy, and we don't even have many warships. As the old saying goes, 'Southern boats and northern horses,' we can't beat the Southern army on the river. Once the Southern army takes Nanyang Town, there's nothing we can do."

Guanming continued, "But didn't we just say that the Southern Army would attack Yutai County and Jinxiang County first to secure their flanks? What if we rashly charge in and run into the Southern Army?"

Feng Jiangong laughed and said, "Then it's a good time to have a decisive battle with the Southern Army. We'll see just how capable they really are."

These words were quite arrogant and presumptuous, almost showing no regard for Yinghe, the commander-in-chief.

The Qing Dynasty is not what it used to be, and it is already quite remarkable that these Han Chinese military generals are still willing to fight for the Qing.

Yinghe shouldn't be too harsh on them.

Moreover, this area did not actually belong to his defense zone; he only had temporary overall command authority, which was granted to him by Yue Qi, the governor and admiral.

Seeing that Yinghe remained silent, Guanming, the lowly deputy commander of the Eight Banners, didn't dare to say anything more, but he still pointed out that Tian Yonghe's plan was too risky.

"It's risky, but not entirely impossible," Tian Yonghe suddenly added, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect. "Commander, the Southern Army has already captured Nanyang Town, and our army has lost the initiative. We certainly cannot continue to let the Southern Army run rampant. Moreover, it will definitely be easier for our main force to march south and attack places like Yutai and Fengxian than to take Nanyang Town. If we can truly win this battle and recapture Xuzhou, the Southern Army will have no choice but to retreat, no matter how unwilling they are. Even if things don't go well, our army can cut off the Southern Army's supply lines and try to gain as much of a fighting opportunity as possible."

Tian Yonghe's additional remarks finally convinced Yinghe to make up her mind.

Kang Jitian and Tie Bao, who were also serving as "staff" of Yinghe, nodded in agreement, thinking that this was a viable strategy.

Even if someone has a large army and wants to be powerful, they can't completely avoid fighting; they still have to fight the battles that can be fought.

Otherwise, if the Han army were allowed to advance all the way north and actually destroy the Qing Dynasty, what would become of Yinghe?

(End of this chapter)