1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 149 Eight Banners Soldiers

The Qing army camp near Sanlixu was completely unaware of the Taiping army's troop movements on the western front.

This was not because Xiang Rong did not send scouts and spies into Zijing Mountain to investigate and monitor the situation and movements of the Taiping Army.

Instead, the Taiping army had a tight defense, and the Taiping soldiers either grew their hair long, cut off their queues and left only stubble, or even went bald.

It was very difficult for Qing scouts and spies to infiltrate Dongxiang and even Zijing Mountain.

Even if Qing scouts and spies managed to infiltrate the crowd and sneak into Zijing Mountain, given the strict management of the Taiping Army's separate camps, it would be difficult for them to send intelligence out of Dongxiang.

Of course, the Taiping army's reconnaissance work against the Qing army was not perfect and there were also oversights.

The Taiping Army was unaware that Yiketanbu, the deputy commander of the Qingjiang Army in Guizhou, and Han Yongqi, the guerrilla commander of the Guzhou Town in Guizhou, led 2,000 Guizhou troops from the Qingjiang Army and the Guzhou Town to garrison Sanlixu and assist Xiang Rong's Chu Army and Zhengan soldiers in defending the Sanlixu position.

Yiketanbu, the deputy commander of the Qingjiang garrison in Guizhou, led the newly arrived Guizhou army to garrison Sanlixu, and also shouldered the important task of protecting the 488 Banner soldiers and the artillery battalion.

Accompanying the Guangdong artillery battalion as they entered the Sanlixu defense line were not only the heavy artillery they brought from Guangdong.

There were also 480 Manchu soldiers brought from Guangzhou by Ulantai, the Deputy Commander-in-Chief of Guangdong.

The 488 Banner soldiers, armed with cannons, demanded that Xiang Rong send people to take good care of their daily lives.

Xiang Rong relied heavily on heavy artillery to defend his camp and fortress, and dared not let his Chu army and Zhengan soldiers serve these Eight Banners lords.

Xiang Rong initially wanted to transfer a battalion of Yunnan troops from Li Nengchen, the general of Linyuan Town in Yunnan, specifically to serve the 48 Banner soldiers of Sanlixu.

Li Nengchen certainly understood Xiang Rong's intentions.
He refused Xiang Rong's transfer order, citing insufficient troops in the Yunnan Camp and the potential for gaps in the defense line if troops were transferred from the Yunnan Camp.

Although Xiang Rong held great power over the Qing army on the western front, he had recently had a falling out with Zhou Tianjue over the matter of Zhou forcibly allocating the Liuzhou Green Standard Army.

Although Xiang Rong was very annoyed by Li Nengchen's refusal, he managed to hold back his anger.

Li Nengchen knew about his discord with Zhou Tianjue.

If Xiang Rong were to push Li Nengchen too far and he were to abandon his post and lead three thousand Yunnan soldiers back to Wuxuan City to await Zhou Tianjue's orders, Xiang Rong would have no way to deal with Li Nengchen.

Left with no other choice, Xiang Rong could only assign the two thousand Guizhou soldiers from Qingjiang Brigade and Guzhou Town, who had just entered Guangxi, to the Eight Banners camp in Sanlixu.

It just so happens that the deputy commander of Qingjiang, Yiketanbu, is also a Manchu. Since the Guizhou army is not very useful anyway, let the Guizhou army serve and protect these Eight Banner grandfathers.

The newly arrived Qingjiang Xieqian Army and the 488 Banner Army jointly set up camp.

Although they were stationed in the same battalion, their living conditions were worlds apart.

After Peng Gang's left wing withdrew from Sanlixu, they carried out a scorched-earth policy in Sanlixu and the surrounding villages, leaving no houses behind.

The Qing troops stationed at Sanlixu, whether from the Eight Banners or the Green Standard Army, could only live in tents.

The Qingjiang guerrillas lived in muddy huts on the lower slope of the north side. After a night of wind and rain, their tents were all wet, and the mud was up to their calves.

The Guizhou Green Standard Army soldiers of the Qingjiang guerrilla force could only squeeze a few dozen men under an old oilcloth tent to shelter from the wind and rain.

The banner garrison was located on the slightly higher, drier southern slope.

The tents in the banner camp were two-layered cowhide tents with waterproof tarpaulins on the ground. Inside, there were beds, blankets, tables, chairs, cooking utensils, wine jars, and other complete items.

Not to mention the living quarters, even the stables of the Banner Camp were built to be more impressive and drier than the residences of the Green Standard Army.

Several Qingjiang guerrilla soldiers from the same battalion carried fodder to the stables of the banner camp to feed the horses.

Thinking about how he and more than thirty brothers had spent the night in a dilapidated oilcloth tent that was flooded and leaking wind and rain, he still managed to catch a cold in the middle of summer.

The Guizhou soldiers who were feeding the horses couldn't help but complain that their living conditions weren't as good as the livestock under Grandpa Man's control.

The complaints were heard by five bannermen who had just taken oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar from the Green Standard Army's warehouse and were starting a fire to cook dog meat.

When these banner soldiers saw that these Guizhou soldiers dared to gossip, they immediately became enraged. Led by their leader, the Eight Banner Commander Tulubu, they each grabbed a horsewhip and headed straight for the stables.

Without saying a word, he lashed out with his whip at the Guizhou soldiers who were feeding the horses.

Upon seeing this, Yang Huwei, the commander of the Qingjiang garrison in Guizhou, hurriedly stepped forward to plead for mercy, begging these unreasonable Eight Banner soldiers to show leniency in consideration of the careful service they had given them these past few days, and that he and the deputy commander of the Qingjiang garrison, Yiketanbu, were also Bannermen.

Hearing Yang Huwei mention Yiketanbu, the banner soldiers fought even more fiercely, joining in the attack on Yang Huwei, the centurion.

"Damn it! What the hell? The Green Standard Army officials think they can control us Eight Banners?"

"Give you face? Bah! You really think you're someone important?"

"What the hell? You dare to put your filthy name alongside Deputy Commander I?"

"Don't even mention it, you lowly dog! Even if Xiang Rong came, whether we'd give him face or not would depend on whether Grandpa was in a good mood!"

"Go and fetch Iktambu for me. I want to see whether Iktambu's side is with us Manchus or with you Han dogs!"

"Damn it! In Guangzhou, so many people would beg to be my servants and serve me, but they don't even have the honor of doing so! And here it's become a miserable job?"

"Beat him! Beat him! Beat this traitor to death!"

These Eight Banner soldiers were not making wild claims. The Qing military system was a dual-track system. The garrisoned Eight Banners were directly managed by the Manchu emperor and were not subject to the control of the governors-general and governors, while the Green Standard Army was managed by the Ministry of War and was subject to the control of the governors-general and governors. The two were not subordinate to each other.

Even if these five Manchu soldiers didn't give Yiketanbu and Xiang Rong any face, Yiketanbu being a Manchu was one thing, but Xiang Rong really wouldn't dare to do anything to these Manchu lords.

After beating the Guizhou soldiers, the group of violent Eight Banner soldiers acted as if nothing had happened and continued cooking dog meat.

Although it is customary for Manchus not to eat dog meat, these Eight Banner soldiers had been stationed in Guangzhou for nearly a century since their ancestors entered the pass more than two hundred years ago, and they did not care much about their ancestors' customs.

Our ancestors kept dogs for hunting. But with the garrison in Guangzhou, isn't smoking opium, walking birds, and frequenting brothels much more interesting than hunting? Who would still hunt?
Wuxuan is not like Guiping, the prefectural capital. The banner troops can't eat meat every meal. These Eight Banner soldiers basically eat whatever they can get their hands on.

Yang Huwei, whose body was covered in whip marks, got up with the help of several Green Standard Army brothers. He was about to return to camp to treat his injuries when he saw the dog meat stewed by the five Eight Banner soldiers and the familiar black and white dog fur by the stove.

Yang Huwei was taken aback. Ignoring the whip marks on his body, he frantically searched the entire camp for his hunting dogs.

"Slim dog!"

After searching for a long time without finding any trace of the greyhound, Yang Huwei's last hope was finally dashed.

The dog meat cooked by those five Manchu soldiers was indeed his greyhound.

The greyhound had been with him for seven or eight years and he had trained it very well. It would never run away from the camp without his permission.

Yang Huwei couldn't swallow his anger any longer, so he clenched his fists and went straight to confront Yiketanbu, the deputy commander of the Qingjiang garrison.

At this moment, Iktambu was drinking with a captain and a lieutenant of the Eight Banners garrison in Guangzhou.

He was already displeased to see Yang Huwei barge into the tent, and then he heard that Yang Huwei had come to him over such trivial matters as a few Guizhou soldiers feeding horses being beaten and his hunting dog being eaten by the Eight Banners soldiers.

Ikhtanbu flew into a rage and shouted at everyone, "You Han dog, you don't know your place! If it weren't for the Eight Banners protecting the country, where would you even have a chance to breathe? Men, throw him out! Put an arrow in his throat and parade him through the camp as a warning to others!"

Yang Huwei was immediately bound by Iktanbu's personal guards, had arrows stuck in his throat, and paraded through the camp as a warning.

Disheartened, Yang Huwei passed by the camp gate during a parade and saw newly arrived Green Standard Army soldiers carefully carrying water into the camp.

The Green Standard Army soldier carrying water was so focused on fetching it that he didn't watch where he was going and bumped into a drunken Manchu bannerman, spilling water all over the ground. "You Han dogs, are you blind? You dare walk without giving me any space?"

The Manchu soldier who spoke was none other than Tulubu, the Manchu leader who had led the attack on his greyhound that morning.

Turubu was short, with small eyes and a pointed mouth. He had a silver-decorated scimitar hanging at his waist and was not wearing armor. Perhaps he had drunk too much that morning, because he walked unsteadily.

The four Manchu soldiers next to Tulubu had already snatched the water bucket, gulped down a few mouthfuls, and then casually splashed the remaining water all over the Green Standard Army soldiers' faces.

In fact, not all four Eight Banner soldiers around Tubulu were Manchus. Only two were genuine Manchus, while the other two came from the Mongol Eight Banners and the Han Banner respectively.

The Guangzhou garrison of the Eight Banners was first established in the 22nd year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign (1683), after the suppression of the Rebellion of the Three Feudatories.

The original Guangzhou garrison was not composed of Manchu and Mongol banners, but rather entirely of Han Chinese banners, originating from the former troops of Geng Jingzhong in Fujian.

Emperor Kangxi's decision to send the Han Banner troops, former subordinates of Geng Jingzhong, to garrison Guangzhou was not due to a lack of trust in the Han Banner troops. Rather, after suppressing the Three Feudatories, he was busy with the campaign against Galdan and had just recovered Ryukyu, so the situation was not yet stable.

Furthermore, the Manchus and Mongols were not Black and found it difficult to adapt to the climate of Lingnan, so they were unwilling to be stationed in the hot and humid Guangzhou.

Emperor Kangxi had no choice but to settle for second best and select Han Chinese bannermen from Fujian to garrison Guangzhou.

In the twenty-first year of Qianlong's reign (1756), after the Qing dynasty's rule was consolidated, Qianlong, in order to strengthen control, immediately transferred Manchu and Mongol bannermen to replace half of the Han troops. As for the 1,500 Han bannermen who were replaced, they were reprimanded and directly exiled to the Western Regions to cultivate land, without even asking whether these Han bannermen were adapted to the arid climate of the Western Regions.

By the Daoguang era, there were 32 banners stationed in Guangzhou, with the Han Banner having the most banners, 16 banners with 2,100 soldiers, the Manchu Banner having 12 banners with 1,800 soldiers, and the Mongol Banner having 4 banners with 600 soldiers.

The 1,500 Guangzhou garrison Eight Banners that Ulantai brought to Guangxi to suppress the God God Society were composed of half Han Eight Banners and half Manchu and half Mongol Eight Banners.

Although in principle the artillery battalion of the Eight Banners stationed in Guangzhou had to be Manchus, the Eight Banners soldiers were really unusable, and the gunners in the artillery battalion were actually mostly Han Chinese.

"Hurry up and go fight the new one! I need to take a bath! Go get some clean water!" Tuburu kicked over the Green Standard Army soldier's bucket and urged him on.

The Green Standard Army soldier could only lower his head, cup his hands, and smile obsequiously: "Yes... please wait a moment, sir, I'll go and choose some more."

The Green Standard Army soldier had just turned around when a whip lashed out from behind, striking his back and tearing his flesh.

As Turubu smoked, he cursed, "Slow and steady, I can tolerate you going hungry, but Grandpa can't go without water to take a bath!"

Outside the camp, along the Yinjiang River, a line of Green Standard Army soldiers had already formed to fetch water, but the river had been occupied by the Eight Banners soldiers.

The Eight Banner soldiers rolled up their trousers to their knees, or frolicked in the cool river water, or scrubbed themselves with military blankets, making the nearby water surface filthy.

The Green Standard Army soldier carrying water glanced at the Eight Banners soldiers frolicking in the water, and then at Yang Huwei, the centurion who had been paraded through the camp with arrows stuck in his throat.

No one dared to express their dissatisfaction, fearing that if they said something wrong, they would be beaten and whipped again, ending up like Yang Huwei.

They could only swallow their anger and take a detour to fetch water from further upstream.

When the evening camp tour ended and it was time for dinner, Yang Huwei's personal guards brought him steaming hot rice.

Yang Huwei smelled the aroma of meat and wine wafting from the Eight Banners soldiers' tents, and then looked at the old rice mixed with chaff that had been distributed to their Guizhou camp. It was half-cooked and there wasn't a drop of oil in it.

Yang Huwei grew angrier the more he thought about it. He, a dignified sixth-rank commander, had been bullied to this extent by a mere Eight Banners commander.

Even his superior, the deputy general of Qingjiang Xie, Yiketanbu, not only didn't say a word of justice for him, but also, without any explanation, had him paraded through the camp with arrows stuck in his throat.

The Eight Banners' "Chief Collectors" had no official rank; they were low-ranking officials within the Eight Banners, appointed by the Zuo Ling (military commander), with five appointed per Niru (military unit). Their duties included collecting grain and military pay and maintaining registers.

After finishing his meal in a huff, Yang Huwei found a few old Guizhou soldiers who had been released by Short-haired Mao and who kept secretly praising him, wanting to find out some information about Short-haired Mao.

However, Yang Huwei was a centurion, and no matter how he asked, the old soldier from Guizhou refused to say anything.

Helpless, Yang Huwei could only send his soldiers, who had been beaten during the day, to inquire about the Short-haired Mao from the old Guizhou soldiers who had been prisoners of war. Finally, they managed to get some information from them.

Upon learning that the group of old Guizhou soldiers had not suffered any beatings or scoldings under Duan Mao's command and were eating better than they had in the Green Standard Army, Duan Mao even arranged for the army's opera troupe to perform for them. Before they left, he also gave them two qian of silver and a dou of rice as travel expenses.

Yang Huwei found it incredible, but he didn't understand why those captured old Guizhou soldiers would come back if Duanmao's place was so good.

"Those old Guizhou soldiers, are they trying to trick us? Shorty's place is so good, why would they come back?" Wang Zhi, a battalion commander under Yang Huwei, had the same question, thinking that the old Guizhou soldiers were deliberately trying to deceive them.

"They said the short-haired soldiers only wanted young and strong men, and those old men wanted to keep them but didn't want to take them in, so they gave them some money and food and sent them away," said a soldier from Guizhou.

That makes sense, but Yang Huwei remained skeptical and undecided.

In the end, he simply told his soldiers to keep their mouths shut and not to let anyone know what happened tonight.

After dismissing his soldiers, Yang Huwei, still seething with anger, fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, the rain finally stopped, the sky was no longer as gloomy as lead, and the sun was seen peeking out from the clouds.

Outside the camp gate, on the banks of the Yinjiang River, dozens of Manchu soldiers took off their shirts, their lean or fat bodies exposed, and frolicked and bathed in the river. Some plunged their heads into the water, while others floated on their backs, humming off-key tunes, looking very happy and carefree.

It's as if they're not here to fight a war, but rather to go on vacation.

Yang Huwei, who was leading his troops to the stables to feed the horses of these Manchu nobles, saw this scene and couldn't help but mutter a curse under his breath: "Wash, wash, wash all day long. It would be better if the heavens sent a great flood to wash away and drown all of you damned devils!"

Yang Huwei's mouth was like it had been blessed; not long after he finished speaking...

From the nearby mountaintop came a thunderous roar, startling birds and beasts in the forest into flight.

The Yinjiang River, which had been flowing gently, suddenly swelled, and a dark shadow rushed rapidly from the distant mountains and valleys.

The flash flood, like a wild beast unleashed, roared down the mountain, carrying mud, sand, gravel, and dead branches.

The Eight Banner soldiers playing in the river were unaware of what was happening and continued to laugh. Someone splashed water at their companion, but suddenly there was a strange wind overhead, as if the mountains were howling.

The next moment, a black wave several meters high suddenly surged up from the end of the river ahead, carrying withered branches, boulders, churning mud, and dead fish, like an angry dragon breaking through the sky, crashing down.

The wall of water rushed in instantly, and the naked Eight Banner soldiers didn't even have time to turn around before being swallowed up by the giant wave along with the water.

The screams lasted only a moment in the churning mudflow before being swallowed up. Some tried to struggle to swim ashore, only to be struck on the head by a tumbling tree trunk and tumbled back into the water. Others had just grabbed onto a rock and, before they could even climb out of the water, were struck from behind by a second wave, their fingers slipping as they were swallowed by the flood.

The armor and flags on the shore were whipped up by the gale and submerged in mud and water, then rolled away with the flood.

Dozens of lives were lost in an instant, swept away by the waves and vanished without a trace.

"Flash flood! Flash flood!"

Yang Huwei ran back to camp and called his brothers to run together to a slightly higher spot on the south slope to avoid the flash flood.

Yang Huwei just couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't a flash flood, even though it was the rainy season in Guangxi and it had indeed rained in the last few days.

However, the rain in the past few days was not heavy enough to cause flash floods.

Xiang Rong, who was inside the command tent, shared the same idea as Yang Huwei.

Xiang Rong suspected that the God Society bandits had stored water in the upstream area and then released it to flood his camp at Sanlixu.

He walked outside the tent and looked at the soldiers and villagers struggling to survive in the vast mudflats. A bad feeling welled up in his heart: "The water came strangely and mysteriously, it doesn't seem like a flash flood."

(End of this chapter)