1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 135 Ceasefire! Continuing the fighting will only lead to the Qing army's defeat!
The two teams, one heading east and the other west, moved in opposite directions.

The two sides soon met as scheduled at Mocun, which was only fifteen miles away from the Dongxiang camp.

Peng Gang and Lin Qirong walked to a gentle slope near Mocun and saw the Qing army troops two or three miles away.

The Qing army's marching column resembled a broken hemp rope, dragging along the winding north bank of the Dongxiang River.

Looking into the distance, the military trains were in disarray, the banners were askew, and the flags were mottled and filthy, like tattered rags that hadn't been washed for years, shivering in the wind.

The Qing army standard bearers chuckled and walked along lazily. Some of the lazier standard bearers simply stuck their flags at the back of the carts and sat down on the already overburdened oxcarts and mule carts.

The soldiers were scattered in small groups, not in a line. Some staggered, some staggered, and some Green Standard Army soldiers were mixed in with the local militia's supply wagons. Some carried guns and rifles like firewood, while others, finding it too tiring, directly threatened and coerced the local militia members in the procession to carry their guns and rifles for them.

It was June, the sweltering summer heat was unbearable.

The Qing soldiers and local militia stationed in Sanlixu were well prepared before their expedition, wearing sun hats, straw hats, and even umbrellas for sun protection.

Later, the Qing soldiers and local militia didn't even have a chance to rest in Wuxuan City before Zhou Tianjue drove them to Dongxiang, where they had nothing to shelter from the sun.

These Qing soldiers and local militia who arrived late and had no sun protection went to snatch the sun hats, straw hats, and umbrellas from the other soldiers and local militia.

Guizhou soldiers robbed Yunnan soldiers, Green Standard Army soldiers robbed local militia, and veterans robbed new recruits, creating a chaotic scene even more lively than the pre-battle market at Sanlixu.

The soldiers who had their straw hats taken away cursed and wrapped their leg wraps around their heads to make do with sun protection.

The oxen, horses, donkeys, and mules used by the Qing army to pull the carts were thin and bony, their heads drooping as they slowly crawled along the muddy ground, dragging the heavy cart frames.

Occasionally, a cart would overturn and its wheels would get stuck in the mud. The soldiers and villagers around would not offer a helping hand; the person escorting the cart would just sit aside, panting and staring blankly into the distance.

Every now and then, thirsty Qing soldiers and local militia would break away from the ranks and rush into the Dongxiang River. They would lie down on the shallows and drink deeply of the murky water, oblivious to the muddy mess on their faces. After drinking, they would look up at the sky, panting and shouting with delight. It wasn't until officers, unable to bear it any longer, ran to the riverbank and herded them back into the ranks.

Some even went so far as to immerse themselves directly in the river to cool off, while others vomited on the bank, or loosened their belts and squatted down to relieve themselves by the river or roadside, behaving in a completely indecent manner.

A grain cart's grain sack had torn open at some point, spilling rice all over the ground. No one was cleaning it up; instead, it attracted a swarm of soldiers who rushed forward, using their helmets, grain sacks, and clothes to scoop and collect the rice, cursing as they did so.

At the rear of the column, several animals broke free of their reins and ran rampaged across the road, overturning a cart of gunpowder and scattering dust everywhere. Several people fled in panic, and the column fell into even greater disarray.

Most outrageously, Peng Gang witnessed several Qing soldiers who appeared to be officers removing their armor and lying on supply wagons, smoking pipes or even opium, seemingly lost in a trance, completely oblivious to the chaotic ranks around them.

If Peng Gang hadn't known beforehand that this group was a Qing army coming from the direction of Wuxuan City, he would have thought they were refugees fleeing from war.

Of the entire force, only the governor's ceremonial guard and the three or four hundred personal guards around the two generals' flags were somewhat presentable and resembled an army.

Last time, when we fought Min Zhengwen's Guiliu troops at Dateng Gorge, Min Zhengwen came by boat and had no chance to see how the Qing army marched.

Seeing the Qing army marching in such a large force was quite an eye-opener for Peng Gang.

Not to boast, but the women's battalion of the Left Army moved to a new location, and their ranks were more orderly and respectable than the Qing army in front of them.

Although the Qing army was significantly larger in number than them.

However, the march lacked any sense of momentum. Most of the regular soldiers of the Left Battalion that Peng Gang brought had participated in actual combat.

Faced with the chaotic and disorganized Qing army, no one felt fear; instead, they found it somewhat amusing. Some officers even couldn't help but laugh.

Even Xie Bin, who had been immersed in the Green Standard Army for many years, felt that this Qing army's march was too chaotic and outrageous.

It's unclear who gave Zhou Tianjue the courage to lead such a rabble deep into enemy territory and attempt to suppress Dongxiang.

Even if their left wing were not there, Lin Qirong's 1,200 men in the central army could still defeat them.

"Commander Xie, you take two long-range riflemen and, together with Commander Lin, take the mountain path and shortcuts to raid Sanlixu and cut off the Qing army's retreat."

Upon confirming that the Qing army's marching formation was so chaotic and disorganized that it didn't seem like a performance, Peng Gang quickly made arrangements.

"The rest of the troops, follow me and form ranks to meet the enemy!"

Mocun is located in the Dongxiang River valley. The terrain along the riverbank is relatively flat and open, and a few thousand troops can still carry out a major battle.

"As ordered!"

Xie Bin, of course, needs no introduction; he was Peng Gang's subordinate.

Lin Qirong also obeyed Peng Gang's orders, leading 300 regular soldiers and 400 soldiers from the central army to lead the way to Sanlixu.

Two miles away, Zhou Tianjue, inside his official sedan chair, also noticed the unusual movements of the Taiping Army. Pointing his pipe at them with a contemptuous and disdainful expression, he sneered, "Our army hasn't even set up battle formation yet, and the God Society bandits have already fled at the mere mention of it. What a rabble!"

Li Rui, the general of Guzhou Town who had been stationed at Sanlixu for more than a month, felt that something was not right. The God Society bandits who had sneaked into the mountains did not seem to have collapsed in the face of battle.

Mocun has a mountain road that leads directly to Sanlixu. Zhou Tianjue has basically transferred all the soldiers from Sanlixu away, leaving only one hundred Guizhou soldiers and two or three hundred local militia to train for defense.

Li Rui, the general of Guzhou Town, worried that the "defeated soldiers" of the God Society mentioned by Zhou Tianjue were not actually fleeing, but were heading towards Sanlixu behind them, so he boldly stepped forward to ask for instructions.

“Your Excellency, these God-worshipping bandits seem to be fleeing towards Sanlixu. Sanlixu is poorly defended, and all our army's food and supplies are stored there. If we let these bandit 'deserted soldiers' go unchecked, we fear they could become a 'Wuchao' threat. I am willing to lead four hundred elite soldiers to pursue and annihilate these bandit 'deserted soldiers'!”

Perhaps they were genuinely worried about problems at Sanlixu, perhaps they wanted to pursue the fleeing enemy and expand their gains, or perhaps they felt that the God Society bandits in front of them, whose numbers were smaller than theirs, were not a threat.

Zhou Tianjue, who was usually stubborn and unwilling to listen to the opinions of his subordinates, surprisingly agreed to Li Rui's request this time, allowing Li Rui to lead two hundred Guizhou soldiers and two hundred local militia to pursue the "rout" of the God Society bandits in order to ensure the safety of Sanlixu.

Peng Gang personally led the musket battalion, a battalion and a half of pikemen, and an artillery company to form ranks on a gentle slope near the entrance of Mocun village to meet the enemy.

Two years of marching drills were not for nothing. In just five minutes, the musket battalion and artillery company were in position, ready to engage the Qing army.

In contrast, the Qing army's Guizhou and Yunnan soldiers were poorly trained, and the local militias from various ethnic groups were hastily recruited.

It took a full quarter of an hour for them to finally form a crooked, ugly line that looked like earthworms, amidst the shouts and beatings from officers and regimental commanders.

In other words, Peng Gang wanted to expand the gains and buy time for Lin Qirong and Xie Bin to launch a raid on Sanlixu.

Otherwise, Peng Gang would have already launched an attack and routed the Qing army during the thirty-odd minutes it took for them to regroup.

This time, he didn't want to defeat them, but to annihilate them. Not all Qing army officers were incompetent fools.

Qin Dingsan was the second-place finisher in the military examination in the ninth year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign. He had fought in many battles, suppressed countless bandits, and participated in the Opium War, so he was a man of the world.

Based on his many years of experience in suppressing bandits, bandits who could form ranks were extremely rare.

This was the first time Qin Dingsan had ever seen bandits so well-organized and orderly, far surpassing even the government troops.

This group of bandits involuntarily reminded him of the British troops he encountered in Guangzhou in the 21st year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign, and his heart was filled with unease.

Despite these thoughts, Qin Dingsan still didn't believe that God could teach bandits to train a strong army deep in the mountains of Guangxi. Perhaps it was just a facade, something to scare people.

The Qing army advanced slowly, like a tortoise crawling, under the pressure of the governor's and general's personal guards.

Riding on his green horse, Li Mengqun gradually made out the enemy's command flag.

It was a brand new flag bearing the character "Peng" that fluttered in the wind.

Li Mengqun had some knowledge of the Taiping Army's organization, and it is no exaggeration to say that he was the official in Guangxi who knew the Taiping Army best.

In Li Mengqun's mind, the leaders of the God Society bandits were Peng Gang from Honglian Village in Pingzaishan and Wei Zheng from Jintian Village.

The Taiping Army had six armies, among which Peng Gang's Left Army was the most valiant and skilled in battle, and the most difficult to deal with.

Look at the Qing army's chaotic and disorganized formation, barely maintained by the personal guards of the governor and general, and then look at the enemy's brightly colored, neatly arranged formation, like tofu blocks.

Li Mengqun was flustered, and even his green horse became somewhat unruly.

When the two armies were about a mile apart, the Qing army's mountain cannons opened fire first.

The range of the mountain-splitting cannon was already limited, and the Qing army artillerymen dared not load it with full powder because they were afraid that the cannon would explode. In addition, the quality of the Qing army's gunpowder was already extremely poor.

At a distance of one mile, the mountain-splitting cannons are basically inaccurate; you can only hear the bang.

Since Peng Gang's left wing artillery company did not return fire, the Qing artillerymen gradually became bolder and began to slowly move forward, trying to reach Peng Gang's army formation.

In fact, the Qing army did not expect the mountain-splitting cannons to hit targets a mile away. The Qing army had two purposes in firing the mountain-splitting cannons.

First, it is to boost morale and embolden one's own people.

Secondly, it scared away the bandits.

Ordinary bandits could indeed be frightened away by the Qing army's display of fire from just a dozen or so mountain cannons.

Peng Gang's left wing was also equipped with mountain-splitting guns.

When the artillery company was practicing firing cannons, the musketeers and riflemen would often go to watch and see what was going on.

They knew exactly how far the mountain-splitting cannon could fire.

Therefore, the Qing army did not worry at all that the mountain-splitting cannons would hit them when they fired them from a distance of one mile.

The fact that the God Society's bandit army could withstand the artillery fire and remain unmoved secretly alarmed Qin Dingsan, who had spent most of his life in the military.

When the Qing army artillery was still 370 or 380 meters away from their own artillery positions.

Peng Gang ordered the flag signalman beside him to raise the command flag, signaling Chen Xuyuan's artillery company to fire.

The sixteen artillery groups of the artillery company began firing calibration one after another, adjusting the trajectory by placing graduated wooden wedges under the gun barrels.

After the calibration was completed, the artillery battery's firing accuracy gradually improved.

After only eight or nine rounds of artillery fire, the Qing artillerymen were scattered and fled, not daring to fire back. Even the Qing officers could not suppress the fire.

Even with knives held to their necks, these artillerymen refused to return to fire, because the God-worshipping bandits' artillerymen were specifically targeting them.

In fact, after eight or nine rounds of shelling, Peng Gang's artillery company did not kill many Qing army artillerymen.

After all, the upper limit of a mountain-splitting cannon is what it is.

No matter how much ammunition Peng Gang fed the artillerymen in the artillery company, or how good their artillery skills were, they still couldn't hit exactly where they pointed.

The Qing artillerymen were simply cowardly and scared off.

"Sixteen cannons in total! The God Society bandits have been fed so much by the Guangxi Green Standard Army!" Qin Dingsan mocked his Guangxi colleagues in a cold voice.

The God Society bandits before him not only had more firepower than their government troops, but their artillerymen were also more well-trained, far exceeding Qin Dingsan's expectations.

Li Mengqun also silently expressed his agreement.

Peng Gang did a good job of keeping the Honglian Village arsenal a secret.

Li Mengqun was unaware that the Taiping Army had its own arsenal and could manufacture its own cannons.

At the beginning of the bandit uprising, the Xunzhou garrison took stock of the military equipment and found that many guns and cannons were "missing" from both the left and right battalions.

Li Mengqun also believed that the guns and cannons used by the God Society bandits, especially the Left Army of the God Society bandits, were all purchased by Peng Gang from the Xunzhou Green Standard Army during his tenure as the head of the Zijingshan gang.

With the Qing artillery silenced, Chen Xuyuan then ordered his artillery company to turn their cannons around and fire at the Qing army's musketeers, pikemen, and shield bearers.

At this time, the artillery positions were only about 300 meters away from the Qing army's formation.

At this distance, the mountain gun has a certain accuracy, and its target is a relatively densely packed military formation.

The Qing army suffered a sudden increase in casualties and gradually showed signs of collapse.

"Quickly order the artillery company to cease fire! If we keep fighting, the Qing army will collapse!" Peng Gang urgently ordered the artillery company to cease fire.

(End of this chapter)