There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 68: Betrayal again!

Outside the city, the Han army camp.

"Tell me! How should we attack Huarong County?"

He Shunan summoned several captains under his command to discuss how to break into the city.

Although Huarong County was just a small county town and the Han army attacked suddenly, leaving no time for the officials of Huarong County to prepare or seek help, this does not mean that Huarong County was easy to attack.

On the contrary, as an ancient county town that appeared in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", Huarong County is almost as difficult to attack as Jingzhou Prefecture.

Because Huarong County is located in the Dongting Lake Plain and is right next to Dongting Lake, this means that Huarong County is plagued by floods from Dongting Lake all year round. In order to prevent floods from harming the county town, it is necessary to build the county town high and thick.

It is just a county town, but its city wall is 7 meters high and the wall foundation is close to 9 meters thick, which is not much different from the Jingzhou city wall which is only 9 meters high.

In a county like this, if there were 500 regular Green Camp soldiers or Manchurian soldiers in the city, He Shunan would not have to fight and could just retreat back to Shishou!
Among the generals gathered in a circle, one of them, Captain Wu Feng, was the first to speak up: "From a distance, Huarong County doesn't look big, but the walls are incredibly high. They're not much lower than those of Jingzhou. I'm afraid it won't be easy to attack!"

Another captain, Qi Sheng, shook his head upon hearing this and said, "Not only is it difficult to attack, but the walls are so tall, and most of our troops are new recruits. If we storm, even if we manage to take it, we're bound to suffer heavy casualties."

"There is always death in war." Another captain named Huang Si also joined the argument.

Seeing an argument brewing, He Shunan raised his hand and said, "Alright, alright. This commander has taken a quick look through the telescope. There aren't any Qing soldiers on the walls of Huarong County. There are only a few young and strong civilians, and a few wandering around. Judging by their attire, they must be the third shift of yamen runners from the county government office in the city."

The meaning of this statement is very simple. Those responsible for defending the city are all young and strong civilians, with at most a few third-shift yamen runners added in. Their combat effectiveness is almost negligible.

If the defenders are so weak, the casualties during the siege can be greatly reduced.

Hearing the commander's words, Wu Feng, who had spoken first, thought for a moment and said, "The walls of Huarong County are very high and difficult to attack, but there's nothing to fear from those young and strong civilians. Although we are all new recruits, we are fully equipped. We can feint and attack a few places first. The defenders in the city will definitely not have time to defend. Then we can concentrate our attack on a section of the wall and we should be able to take it down..."

"But in this case, the casualties will still be huge!" Qian Zong Qi Sheng shook his head and said.

Huang Si was a little overwhelmed at this moment: "This is a war, the commander said to train the soldiers' courage, so how can there be no casualties?"

Wu Feng nodded in agreement and said, "Commander-in-Chief, I also think what General Huang said makes sense. There are always casualties in war. If we want to train our soldiers' courage, we shouldn't be so fussy and hesitant!"

He Shunan glanced at everyone, then looked down at the map. He first pointed at Huarong County, then compared it with Dongting Lake in the middle of the county, and then to Changde Prefecture in the south.

"Then let's do it!" He Shunan suddenly laughed. "Pass the order down. Surround three gates and leave one open. Make a feint to attack several gates, then open another. At the same time, speed up the construction of siege equipment. The louder the noise, the better."

The military order was issued and the Han army surrounded the city, but they still surrounded it on three sides and left one side open, surrounding it without attacking.

Instead, there were more noises of felling trees and demolishing houses, and many more civilians came to help. These civilians had received money and food from the Han army, and were semi-forced to demolish their houses by the Han army. Because they had nowhere else to go, they simply surrendered to the Han army.

They first helped the Han army to attack the city. The Han army had promised them that after they captured the county town, they would take them to fight the landlords and divide the land. They would also help them write off the high-interest loans they owed to the landlords and the government.

Under such coercion and inducement, the Han army also provided food and wages, so the civilians were very motivated.

In just a few days, the houses under the city were almost demolished, and a large number of wooden ladders and cloud carts for siege were hastily produced.

The young and strong civilians on duty on the city wall saw this and some of them started to riot and wanted to go home, not wanting to guard the city in fear anymore.

Because there were too many people and they had to rely on these civilians to defend the city, Luo Shixuan was forced to personally appease them. He also gave everyone a resettlement allowance and promised to provide them with full meals every day. This temporarily suppressed the dissatisfaction.

But even if he suppressed the money, most of the money and grain in Luo Shixuan's hands were gone, and he could only raise funds from the wealthy families in the city. This time, it was not as smooth as before.

Previously, those wealthy families were forced to donate a lot of money and grain thanks to Fu Zhina, a member of the Eight Banners of the Manchuria, and the power of the prefect. Now they are asked to donate as well. Even the fattest pigs and sheep cannot withstand such plucking!

The wealthy people in the city said they had no money, and they were not lying. At least at this stage they didn't have much money or food left. If they gave it all away, they might have to tighten their belts next year.

Luo Shixuan had no choice. He knew the situation. Even if the wealthy families were rich, he was just a county magistrate. How could he force them too much?

The pressure is too great. What if the big players rebel?
Unable to raise money from the wealthy, Luo Shixuan simply gave up and didn't care.

He still has money in his hands, but this money was earned through hard work and every penny was embezzled. How could he give it away casually?

"Huarong County can no longer be defended!"

He Shunan put down the telescope in his hand. He had been using the telescope to observe the situation on the city wall these days. Seeing the civilians on the city wall in turmoil, he alarmed the county magistrate and had to come out to appease them.

Although they were temporarily appeased, He Shunan keenly discovered that those young and strong civilians who had previously patrolled twice as a pretense were now not moving at all.

Especially at night, under the torches on the opposite city wall, you can't even see a single person's head, only a few people walking here and there.

The army's morale is unstable and the city is about to fall!

He Shunan thought so in the military camp outside the city, and the clerks and wealthy families in the city also thought so.

"It seems that Huarong County cannot be defended. What should we do now?" asked the clerk who had tried to persuade the registrar but failed.

Another clerk said without hesitation: "What else can we do? The Secretary and the Master want to die, we can't accompany them to die!"

"That's right, Master Si and Master Tai, their families are all in other provinces. Of course, they dare not surrender. Even if they die at the hands of the rebels, they can keep their families rich and prosperous. But it's different for us. Our small fortune is all in this county town. If the rebels really break into the city, I'm afraid we'll all be killed!"

"Dry?"

"Done!"

"..."

At the same time, the wealthy families in the city were also plotting and discussing.

Moreover, their actions were faster and more decisive than those of the clerks. Just as the clerks had made their decision and were preparing to go and arrange to incite the three shifts of yamen runners and the young and strong civilians guarding the city to revolt.

Those wealthy families had already brought their own slaves and servants, and without caring about anything else, they simply set fire to houses, created chaos in the city, and bribed and recruited vagrants and thugs to join them in the rebellion.

These wealthy families were well-informed and knew that the rebels outside the city came from Jingzhou. Others thought that the rebels in Jingzhou were burning, killing and looting, but they had business dealings with Jingzhou, so how could they not know the tricks of the rebels in Jingzhou?

As long as they handed over their land and released their slaves, they could keep their property.

Then who would accompany the county magistrate to his death?

My brain is spinning!
(End of this chapter)