Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 629 Although we lost, we might even even things out.
"Commander Yang".

With a solemn expression, Cao Xiepei questioned Yang Yinghe, the military commander of Quanzhou.

"Commander Yang, tell me honestly, how many men do you have under your command?"

"This~"

Before Commander Yang could respond, Cao Xiepei rudely interrupted him, saying, "I know all about your Green Camp stuff. Now I want to hear the facts!"

"Now Xiang Junmen's army has been routed, and Xiang Junmen's whereabouts are unknown."

"The enemy army has besieged the city; what is there that cannot be said now!"

"Yes, yes." Yang Yinghe, sweating profusely, hurriedly replied, "Lord Cao, my entire prefecture camp still has three hundred men left."

"what?!"

Cao Xiepei was shocked: "Isn't it a thousand? Even if it's just a ghost employee, it should be at least five or six hundred, right?"

It is common knowledge that members of the pro-independence camp are receiving salaries without working.

In the eyes of civil officials like Cao Xiepei, even the most corrupt Green Standard Army generals could only collect half of their salaries without actually working.

I never expected that they would eat two-thirds of it.

Yang Yinghe lowered his head and dared not speak.

Cao Xiepei took a breath and looked at Wu Xianchang, the commander of Baoqing Prefecture in Hunan, whom Xiang Rong had left behind. "Commander Wu, how many troops do you have?"

"Reporting to Lord Cao," Wu Xianchang hurriedly replied, "The department has four hundred men, that's the exact number!"

In reality, he originally only had two or three hundred men, but after receiving the order to send troops to support Guangxi, he forcibly conscripted a group of local thugs and hooligans to make up the number four hundred.

"The number of yamen runners and inspectors in the city combined is no more than a hundred."

"The number of students in the state and county schools is less than one hundred."

"Even if you include all the men and horses, there are still less than a thousand people."

Cao Xiepei took a deep breath, his face solemn. "Issue the order: recruit militia members within the city, with each family contributing one able-bodied man, and the gentry supervising them, to assist in the defense."

"Inform all the people in the city that if the bandits break into the city, they will surely massacre and plunder the people's property."

"With the officials and the people of the entire city united as one, we stand atop the city wall and vow to defend it!"

Many people were forcibly conscripted to the city walls and placed under the command of scholars and gentry.

The people remained indifferent to Prefect Cao's heartfelt words.

What do you mean by "officials and the people are of one mind"? When you were exploiting the people to the death in the past, why didn't you say that officials and the people were of one mind?
They also said that if bandits breached the city, they would plunder the people's wealth.
We poor wretches, where would we get any wealth from the people?
Those who have money are all you gentlemen!

Cao Xiepei was a capable man, and he could see the indifference of the able-bodied men.

He instructed the gentry in the city to contribute money and grain, first distributing silver to the able-bodied men, and even cooking rice for them.

They received the silver and were able to eat rice.

Only then did the able-bodied men's complexion and morale begin to improve.

Cao Xiepei rushed back to the yamen to handle some business. No sooner had he left than the Green Standard Army thugs rushed up, punching, kicking, threatening with weapons, and robbing all the money that had been distributed.

The local militias organized by the gentry also rushed forward and took the rice, pot and all.

Several hot-blooded students shouted and stepped forward to stop them, but they were beaten until their heads bled.

The young men, whose eyes had just begun to ignite with hope, lost their sparkle once more.

They huddled at the foot of the city wall, watching indifferently as the Green Standard Army distributed money and the local militia ate rice.

'Whoosh whoosh whoosh~~~'

Strange sounds came from the sky.

I subconsciously looked up and saw many black dots flash by in my field of vision.

‘Boom~’

The mortar group that had previously destroyed Xiang Rong's army launched a fierce artillery bombardment from outside the city towards Quanzhou City.

Shells rained down, and the deafening explosions were deafening.

The Green Camp, which distributed silver, and the local militia, which ate rice, disappeared one after another amidst the roar of explosions.

More than twenty miles away, on the top of Taipingdian Mountain.

"Fire a base number, then adjust the firing parameters to provide fire coverage for Zone B."

He gave instructions to Luo Dagang, who was in charge of the mortar group, via walkie-talkie.

Standing on the forest path at the top of the mountain, I glanced at the footage of Jeonju City transmitted back by a drone on a screen to the side.

He immediately turned around and instructed Shi Dakai and the others who were busy, "Hurry up, haven't you eaten yet?!"

Shi Dakai and the others dared not delay. They worked together to use large iron clamps to lift the heavy shells and put them into the cannon barrel.

Once the firing preparations were complete, Lin Dao went forward to verify and check the firing coordinates once again.

There were many Taiping soldiers besieging the city; if we missed, it would be disastrous.

"One test shot~"

"Ready—Fire!"

‘Boom! ’

It was truly deafening, like thunder exploding in my ears.

The 203mm shell flew more than ten kilometers and crashed into Quanzhou City.

"Ah~~~"

Cao Xiepei, who was on his way to the yamen, suddenly felt the earth shake and a huge force swept over him, knocking him and his sedan chair to the ground.

His ears were ringing.

Struggling to stand up, he found his limbs too weak to move.

He lay there on the filthy street, staring in astonishment at the government office in the distance.

To the left of the yamen, where the Changping granary was located, was already covered by towering flames and smoke.

This is a terrifying scene unlike anything I've ever seen before.

Cao Xiepei, who was half-lying on the ground, was stunned for a moment.

My vision blurred and my ears rang; only my heart was pounding like a drum.

The top of Taipingdian Mountain.

"It's veering off course, turn right 100 meters!"

By monitoring the forest trails on site using drones, the firing parameters were immediately calculated and adjusted using a computer.

"Hurry up!"

He finished his adjustments, but Shi Dakai and the others were still huffing and puffing as they carried the shells. Their slow pace was infuriating Lin Dao.

He gets angry when he's in a war and can't stand delays or mistakes.

He strode over and shoved Shi Dakai and the others aside.

He bent down and reached out his arms to pick up the shell.

This scene left Shi Dakai and the others dumbfounded.

The weight of 203mm caliber shells varies slightly depending on the model.

In any case, the weight of a single shot is at least over 200 pounds!

Two hundred pounds may not seem like much, but the shell is cylindrical and slippery, making it difficult to exert force.

However, Lin Dao picked him up with ease!
"He's incredibly strong!"

‘Boom! ’

Another shell flew out and crashed heavily into the government office.

The explosion struck the horse stable, engulfing it and simultaneously destroying the nearby land shrine, the Horse King Temple, and even the county government's eastern office.

Such terrifying power, in the eyes of everyone in the city, especially Cao Xiepei, was like a heavy hammer falling from the sky and hitting their hearts hard.

The psychological shock is far more terrifying than an earthquake.

Wow~~~

Pale-faced Cao Xiepei suddenly vomited bile, vomiting incessantly.

A sedan chair carrier ran past him screaming, stepping on Cao Xiepei's hand. The pain made him scream, but he also choked on bile.

I was in so much pain from all the torment.

Just as they were recovering, the terrifying horn sound reappeared in the sky, just like it had appeared twice before.

A terrifying sound tore through eardrums, whistling as it fell from the sky and slammed heavily into the government office.

This time, the shot hit the bullseye.

It landed between the second hall and the main hall, near the entrance to the yamen kitchen.

The powerful force of the explosion leveled all nearby buildings.

Those working in the government office are mostly doomed.

Even if someone is lucky enough to survive, they'll probably be a crazy or stupid person whose eardrums have been shattered.

Even so, Lin Dao still did not stop.

He fired three more shots at the government office.

The two sides, one side and one side, completely razed this symbol of the power of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to the ground.

"Come again!"

Lin Dao, caught up in the excitement, readjusted his firing parameters and began bombarding the Green Standard Army barracks, warehouses, county schools, state schools, and other buildings within the city.

Wherever the heavy artillery shells went, everything was destroyed.

Although Quanzhou is the capital of the prefecture, it is not actually a famous or major city.

Having endured an unprecedented and devastating bombardment, the city was completely unrecognizable.

When the bombardment finally stopped, the Taiping soldiers cautiously advanced to launch their siege, only to encounter no resistance whatsoever.

Apart from the wounded and the dead, there was not a single soldier on or at the base of the city wall.

As soon as the shelling began, everyone—whether they were conscripts, Green Standard Army soldiers, or local militia—started running.

The able-bodied men had a destination in mind, and each ran home.

But the others were running around aimlessly.

As a result, when a large number of people gathered, Lin Dao, who was busy firing cannons but had time to watch videos, noticed them.

After reviewing the pre-calculated floor plan and firing area coverage map on the computer, Luo Dagang was informed via walkie-talkie to conduct coverage firing on a certain area.

The Taiping army's artillerymen couldn't do math calculations, but Lin Dao provided them with reference diagrams.

He gave the order to fire on zone B, and the gunners would adjust the firing parameters according to the reference diagram.

It sounds complicated, but in reality, what's written on the drawing is just the specific number of rotations.

It's a clumsy method, but it works.

At least when the Taiping army entered Quanzhou City, which had suffered a devastating bombardment, they encountered virtually no resistance.

The fiercest resistance came from a dozen or so young students wearing rusty iron helmets and moldy, tattered leather armor, wielding rusty sabers as they charged forward.

After all, they were young, and had not yet entered the court to be corrupted. When their passion got the better of them, they didn't even care about their lives.

Then~
They would really lose their lives.

Lin Dao had already made this very clear to his soldiers when the Taiping Army was being reorganized.

No matter who it is, no matter what their status is, even if they are foreigners.

As long as they stand on the side of Mite Clear, they are the enemy!

Treat your enemies with the same ruthlessness as the winter wind!
So the young students' passionate counterattack, though seemingly inspiring, was met only with cold lead bullets.

After a battle of cannons—a one-sided bombardment—the entire city of Quanzhou fell completely into the hands of the Taiping Army.

Including the losses from the ambush outside the city, the Qing Dynasty lost at least 10,000 soldiers in this battle.

These are the actual figures. However, if Xiang Rong, who fled to Yongzhou Prefecture, took the opportunity to write off the books, the reported loss of troops would be at least 30,000.

As for the money, grain, and military supplies transported from various places to prepare for the counterattack on Guangxi, that's even more unpredictable.

Similarly, the advantage is that it allows for open and blatant accounting practices at all levels.

Even many long-standing debts can be settled under this pretext.

For these officials, the Taiping Army was their lucky star, their angel of justice.

Unaware that he had been demoted to an angel, Lin Dao stood before the ruins of the Quanzhou government office, sizing up the captured Prefect Cao Xiepei.

Once Cao Xiepei recovered from his shock, he began to curse loudly, probably hoping to gain a reputation for cursing the thief and dying.

Lin Dao grinned and gave Yang Xiuqing some instructions.

"Organize the people to go and watch."

“Drag this mite-clearing lackey up the city wall, find the biggest cannon, and tie it to the muzzle.”

"Execute by cannon fire!"

(End of this chapter)