1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 103 The Fall of Wuxuan City
Before the submarine crews set off, Luo Dagang repeatedly reiterated discipline to his subordinates.

"This attack on Wuxuan County is different from the past. This time, we are not only robbing the rich to help the poor, but also doing something great and ambitious. We are going to conquer the country!"

We are no longer wandering knights or bandits; we are a righteous army! Anyone who disregards discipline and harms the people after entering the city, do not blame me for being ruthless!

After lying low for two years, this was the first time Luo Dagang had attacked a city with such thorough preparation, such a clear objective, and such meticulous planning.

After spending a long time with Peng Gang, Luo Dagang's thinking underwent a preliminary transformation. He was no longer satisfied with just being a Robin Hood-like knight-errant.

His experience as a wandering knight-errant in the first half of his life also made Luo Dagang realize that being a wandering knight-errant and the leader of the Heaven and Earth Society could not save the millions of people who came from the same poor background as him.

Luo Dagang took this operation very seriously and had high expectations for it.

Wuxuan City was first built during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in the 22nd year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty (1683). In the early Qing Dynasty, Wuxuan Camp was established to defend against the Yao chieftains, but it was later abolished. The city wall had a circumference of 720 zhang.

According to the Qing dynasty system, one li was equal to 180 zhang, which is equivalent to four li. There were 600 crenellations.

The moat of Wuxuan County draws water from the Qianjiang River. The moat is about 6.4 meters wide and 3.3 meters deep, forming a complex defense system with the city wall.

Due to the prolonged drought, when Peng Gang and his group arrived at the moat, the moat was only a little over ten feet wide and its depth was estimated to be less than half a foot.

Under the cover of night, the group bundled dry grass and branches into bundles and threw them into the river. Luo Dagang and Chen Ajiu took the lead, leading the boatmen who were skilled in swimming to quietly walk down into the moat and use their bodies to stabilize the bundles of dry grass and branches, forming a temporary floating base.

Then, planks were laid on the temporary floating base of straw bundles and branches to make a simple floating bridge.

The group crossed the moat on a makeshift pontoon bridge laid by the boatmen and made their way to the base of the city wall near the south gate of Wuxuan County.

Peng Gang noticed that the water in the moat was probably less than half a meter deep, and the tall boatmen were standing upright in the moat, with their shoulders showing.

Before long, the coffin containing gunpowder was carried to the city gate by the crowd.

Peng Gang nervously looked up at the city wall, but it was still deserted, as if he were dreaming.

Did they get to the edge of the city gate so easily?
Perhaps the situation in Xunzhou was worse than he had imagined, and even worse than Xie Bin and the others had told him.

There was no movement at all in the city, and Peng Gang was unsure whether this was a good or bad thing.

How are Qiu Ersao, Xiao Guoying, and Huang Dabiao doing? Is the operation going smoothly?

The hour hand on the pocket watch had already pointed to twelve o'clock, and in the long wait and torment, the minute hand was getting closer and closer to the tenth mark.

If the city gate fails to open in two minutes, Peng Gang will have no choice but to use the gunpowder in the coffin to blow it up.

Fortunately, his worries were unnecessary. As the creaking of the iron chain winch came from inside the gate, the drawbridge attached to the city gate slowly descended.

The crowd waiting anxiously outside the city felt excited and thrilled.

It was impossible for the Qing troops inside the city to lower the drawbridge in the middle of the night.

The lowering of the drawbridge indicates that Qiu Ersao, Xiao Guoying, Huang Dabiao, and their group had carried out their operation smoothly and quietly, capturing the South Gate without alerting the Qing patrolling troops or engaging in combat!
Immediately afterwards, the iron city gate was also pushed open.

Lighting a torch, Peng Gang crossed the city gate and spotted several familiar figures waiting for him inside the city.

"The nine gatekeepers at the south gate were completely drunk and have already been killed by us."

Qiu Ersao wiped the blood off her short dagger and pointed to the scattered corpses of Qing soldiers not far away.

"The Green Camp's headquarters are located at Gulou, while the militia's headquarters are located near the Confucius Temple."

Xiao Guoying also led eight or nine of his Xiao family retainers, whom he had raised over the past year, to participate in the operation to seize the South Gate.

He lived in Wuxuan County for more than a year and was quite familiar with the situation there.

Wuxuan County is a small town, and there are no dedicated Green Standard Army camps in the town.

The Green Standard Army camp responsible for the defense of Wuxuan County was originally located near the North Gate Wharf outside the city.

After Chen Yagui's uprising, the cowardly Green Standard Army was unwilling to continue stationing in the military camp outside the city. They all moved into the county town and requisitioned several houses near the Drum Tower as Green Standard Army camps in the city.

With the drawbridge lowered, about two hundred boats deployed by Qiu Ersao near the South Gate Wharf entered the city.

"Brother Luo, you lead your men to the Confucian Temple and wipe out the local militia in the county town."

Second sister-in-law, your men should go straight to the county government office and quickly occupy it.

"All members of the God Society, follow me to the Green Standard Army's stronghold at Gulou!"

Peng Gang quickly made targeted arrangements.

Led by Xiao Guoda's clan, the three groups of men had a clear objective and split into three routes to attack the Drum Tower, the Confucian Temple, and the County Government Office respectively.

The first to encounter the enemy were Qiu Ersao's team heading straight for the county government office. Four or five night patrol officers from Wuxuan County stared blankly at the huge crowd that suddenly appeared before them. Before they could react to what was happening, Qiu Ersao and her boatmen hacked them to death.

Luo Dagang's submarine force advanced unimpeded.

Although his group occasionally had seasoned veterans who couldn't resist leaving to plunder.

But most people remained in the group; Luo Dagang's team did not disband.

Luo Dagang led his troops directly into the unsuspecting militia camp, like wolves entering a sheepfold.

Many militia members were still asleep when the boatmen who stormed into their garrison killed them.

Peng Gang's side also found out the Green Standard Army's camp near the Drum Tower.

The first to discover them were not Green Standard Army soldiers, but donkeys and horses in the stable that suddenly started neighing.

The neighing of donkeys and horses quickly woke up several light sleepers from the Green Standard Army. Huang Can, the highest commander of the Wuxuan Green Standard Army, was a womanizer and often did not spend the night in the camp. Tonight was no exception. He was probably still in some brothel, sleeping with a prostitute.

Huang Can was not at the camp. The highest-ranking Green Standard Army officer at the Drum Tower Green Standard Army station was a commander named Chen Nanshan.

Chen Nanshan was awakened by the neighing of livestock. He looked out through the hole in the window paper, following the sound.

As he saw the massive crowd marching rapidly toward the Drum Tower, Chen Nanshan was instantly jolted awake. Without even putting on his clothes, he jumped out of bed, grabbed the waist knife from beside his pillow, and rushed out of the room, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

By this time, about twenty or thirty Green Standard Army soldiers had woken up in a daze, wandering around aimlessly like headless flies.

"Free Fire!"

The squad leaders of the first and second companies issued the order to fire freely. They had already rushed into the Green Standard Army's encampment. The Green Standard Army soldiers, who hadn't even had time to put on their clothes and were running around shirtless, were only a dozen steps away from them.

At this distance, even a Green Standard Army musket would be quite accurate, not to mention their firearms were far superior to the Green Standard Army muskets.

A burst of gunfire, like popping beans, rang out, and more than a dozen Green Standard Army soldiers fell to the ground.

The two artillery crews set up the two 120-pound mountain-splitting cannons that had been brought into the city, stuffed the shotgun shells into the barrels and tamped them down, and then unleashed a barrage of fire on the Green Standard Army soldiers near the Drum Tower.

Amidst the thunderous roar of gunfire, Chen Nanshan led four or five of his personal guards to retrieve gunpowder.

He kicked open the wooden door of the gunpowder depot, only to find Liu, the duty officer, curled up in the corner, clutching half a jar of Guilin Sanhua wine tightly in his arms, sleeping like a log, unresponsive even to the sound of gunfire.

Chen Nanshan was so angry that his eyes were practically spitting fire, and he kicked Liu Waiwei awake with a hard kick.

Just as he was about to ask the sleepy, dazed Liu Waiwei to fetch gunpowder, a personal guard barged in: "Qianrong! The brothers outside are starting to surrender!"

"Oh shit!"

Upon hearing that some people had begun to surrender, Chen Nanshan knew that the situation was hopeless and there was no way to organize a counterattack. So he gave up resistance, not even bothering to put on his clothes, and fled with seven or eight of his followers.

"The bandit Chen Yaogui has stormed into the county town?"

One of Chen Nanshan's close followers who fled with him thought that the one who had entered Wuxuan County was Chen Yagui of the Heaven and Earth Society.

"Chen Yagui's bandits prefer to use knives and guns, but the group that stormed into the city prefers firearms even more than our Green Standard Army. Their formation is even more orderly than that of General Min's standard battalion. They absolutely cannot be Chen Yagui's men."

As Chen Nanshan searched for a way to escape the military camp, he spoke.

He had fought against Chen Yagui before, and Chen Yagui's Heaven and Earth Society armed forces did not have this kind of fighting style. Their discipline and organization were also far inferior to the enemy group that attacked their camp.

Luo Dagang's submarine force?

Besides Chen Yagui, the only armed force Chen Nanshan could think of nearby capable of attacking Wuxuan County was Luo Dagang.

But then I thought about it again and realized that it didn't make sense; Luo Dagang's submarine force didn't have this kind of fighting style.

If it were Luo Dagang, he would have rushed into the barracks and killed them long ago.

"Damn it, all the ways out are blocked!"

The area around the Drum Tower was already completely surrounded, and Chen Nanshan was very discouraged after failing to find a way out.

He now faces two paths: one is to retreat to the Drum Tower and hold out with his seven or eight personal guards until reinforcements arrive.

One option is to surrender.

The enemy has already breached the city, and they even have cannons. Defending to the death is a dead end.

Without much internal struggle, Chen Nanshan shoved his sword aside and ordered his men, "We surrender! We surrender! You bastards! We surrender too!"

After losing about thirty soldiers, the Green Standard Army surrendered and gave up resistance.

The pro-independence camp was relatively lucky, as they encountered Peng Gang's team.

The local militia near the Confucian Temple were truly unlucky; Luo Dagang's boatmen were more murderous and less willing to surrender.

Of the 130 militia members stationed there, only about 30 were left after being killed by Luo Dagang's boat troops.

As for Qiu Ersao, who went straight to the county government office, she encountered almost no resistance and easily took over the Wuxuan County government office after killing more than a dozen yamen runners.

Wuxuan County is a small town. Peng Gang checked the time and found that they had taken control of Wuxuan County in less than an hour.

The progress is even smoother than expected.

Inside the city, cannons and guns were being fired, waking the people of Wuxuan County.

They had all heard about Zhang Jiaxiang's massacre of the county seat after he occupied it, and were terrified, their souls nearly leaving their bodies. They shut themselves in their own courtyards, praying for the protection of their ancestors.

May they be protected and escape this calamity.

Peng Gang ordered all the captured Green Standard Army soldiers to be tied up and escorted to the county government office for centralized custody.

Upon arriving at the county government office, Peng Gang saw Qiu Ersao shoving a middle-aged man, dressed only in an undergarment and with a northern appearance, who was bound with a white silk ribbon in front of him.

When the city fell, Liu Zuosu, who had been awakened by the urge to urinate, was about to hang himself to repay the emperor's kindness when Qiu Ersao arrived too quickly. Liu Zuosu did not die, but was captured alive.

"This is Liu Zuosu, the magistrate of Wuxuan County!" Qiu Ersao said excitedly to Peng Gang.

"This is the first time I've ever caught a county magistrate."

(End of this chapter)