1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 152 Second Defeat to Xiang Rong
“What short-haired! That’s the God Society’s rebel army!” Yang Huwei corrected.

"The waves are high, and the hold is full of fish. There's a big difference between pledging allegiance now and pledging allegiance after the rebel army has stormed in! Losing your head is just a scar the size of a bowl. Eighteen years later, I'll be a hero again. Brothers who are willing to fight for me and make a fortune, come with me to the fort. Those who are not willing to follow me, leave now! I, Yang, will not stop you."

Although his words were eloquent, Yang Huwei's hand was already on the hilt of his goose-feather saber, ready to draw it at any moment.

Yang Huwei made his move at this time after careful consideration.

When the Taiping army first launched its attack, it was too far from the Sanlixu camp, and the defeats of the Chu army and Zhengan troops were not yet apparent.

If we rashly attacked and seized the fort at that time, we would probably have captured it no sooner than Xiang Rong sent troops to take it back.

If the fort is captured only after the Taiping army has stormed into the Sanlixu camp, its value will be greatly reduced.

The Taiping army has now reached the camp walls. The Chu army and Zhengan soldiers are entangled with the Taiping army and are gradually losing ground. Signs of defeat are already evident. The local militia and Guizhou army behind the Chu army, who have been watching closely, are restless and ready to flee at any time.

Seizing the fortress at this moment to pledge allegiance is perfectly timed, neither too early nor too late.

Yang Huwei's Guizhou army did not simply decide to seize the fort and surrender to the Taiping Army because they were bullied by the Eight Banners soldiers and couldn't stand it.

As a veteran soldier with fifteen years of service and no special background, Yang Huwei had been bullied by more than just the Eight Banners soldiers over the past decade.

Yang Huwei's patience isn't that low.

Freezing three feet is not a day's cold.

Those Eight Banner soldiers who bullied him were merely the last straw that broke Yang Huwei's back and these Guizhou soldiers.

"A man lives for his pride! I'll fight Qian Rong!" Wang Zhi gritted his teeth and said, "Even if a man dies, he'll face the heavens; if he doesn't, he'll live forever!"

The remaining soldiers of the Guizhou Army, whose clothes were tattered, whose faces were haggard and who couldn't even afford a pair of straw sandals, all expressed their willingness to fight Yang Huwei.

"Alright! Follow me!" Yang Huwei, full of heroic spirit, waved his hand and charged aggressively onto the gun emplacement.

The group of Guizhou soldiers behind Yang Huwei, whose backs were usually hunched over like mantis shrimps and who were usually meek and obedient, finally straightened their backs and followed closely behind Yang Huwei.

"You've come at the right time. Go and move some shells for me. I'm exhausted." The Han army gunner on the gun emplacement, panting heavily, didn't notice anything amiss. As usual, he bossed these Guizhou soldiers around, ordering them to move the shells.

"Move shells? I'm not moving shells today, I'm moving your head!" Yang Huwei didn't waste any words. Before he finished speaking, his knife was already out of its sheath, and a cold light flashed across the neck of the Han army artilleryman.

The Han army artilleryman collapsed against the earthen wall of the gun emplacement, clutching his neck where blood was gushing out. He stared incredulously at Yang Huwei and the menacing Guizhou soldiers behind him, escaping from his throat with broken, bubbly sounds: "You...you want to rebel?"

Yang Huwei had no time to waste words with a dying man. Without saying a word, he led his soldiers to swiftly and decisively eliminate the unsuspecting gunner.

Having captured the fort, Yang Huwei quickly completed his deployment, preparing to defend it to the death and provide cover for the Taiping army outside the camp walls to attack.

With ample ammunition on the gun emplacement, Yang Huwei directed his Guizhou soldiers to move the scorching 700-pound cannons and aim them at the location of Admiral Xiang Rong's banner.

"Who knows how to fire a cannon?" After moving the cannon, Yang Huwei realized that he had only ever seen people fire cannons, but he had never fired one himself. He asked his men if anyone knew how to fire a cannon.

“Qianrong, I’ve fired a mountain-splitting cannon before! I can give it a try,” a soldier from Guizhou volunteered.

"Alright! Big Pillar, you're the one! Come here and fire the cannon! Aim at Xiang Rong's command flag and give it your all!" Yang Huwei said.

Dazhuzi had never fired a heavy artillery piece before, so he didn't know how much or how many ounces of propellant it contained, or how many units of propellant were safe to use.

They were about to arrest a gunner for questioning when, in a moment of madness, they slaughtered all the artillerymen on the gun emplacement, leaving no survivors.

The soldier named Dazhuzi could only rely on his experience to shakily load the ammunition, borrow a matchlock from the musketeer, and ignite the flintlock.

Fearing that a single shot would kill all the men on the gun emplacement, Dazhuzi was very conservative with the amount of explosives loaded, loading too little.

When using the heavy artillery for the first time, Dazhuzi forgot to adjust the gun's elevation angle. The gun's elevation angle was too high, but the small amount of propellant compensated for the excessive elevation angle.

The shot landed only ten zhang away from Xiang Rong's command flag.

"Big Pillar, you fucking hit too far!"

Yang Huwei stamped his foot and sighed, regretting that the shot hadn't killed anyone.

Although that shot just now landed in the mud not far from Xiang Rong's banner, it didn't kill anyone.

A large iron lump crashed nearby, giving Xiang Rong quite a fright.

Xiang Rong, who survived the ordeal, always felt that the cannon shot was strange. Judging from the direction from which the sound came, it didn't seem to be fired by Duan Mao.

Xiang Rong turned his head away and looked toward the dark cannon muzzle pointing at his command flag and the dozens of Green Standard Army soldiers on the platform wearing Green Standard Army uniforms. He suddenly realized that someone had mutinied on the eve of battle.

Xiang Rong knew something was wrong and quickly ordered two hundred Chu soldiers to recapture the artillery position.

Seeing that the Chu army had discovered them, the large pillar on the gun emplacement frantically searched for shotgun shells, but unfortunately, the emplacement only had solid shot, not shotgun shells.

Finally, Da Zhuzi's peripheral vision fell on the bowls, plates, and teacups on the table. He hurriedly smashed the bowls and plates into pieces, took off his uniform, wrapped the broken pieces of porcelain on the ground, and stuffed them into the cannon barrel to use as shot.

With a loud bang, countless shards of porcelain scattered above the heads of the Chu soldiers, and five or six Chu soldiers were immediately hit by bullets and fell into the muddy ground.

Big Pillar was about to fire a second shot, but it was too late.

Before the second cannon was fully loaded, nearly two hundred menacing Chu soldiers had already stormed to the foot of the cannon platform.

The thirty-odd musketeers guarding the artillery ladder fired a volley at the Chu soldiers climbing the ladder before instinctively retreating. Seeing that the musketeers couldn't hold off the Chu army, Yang Huwei waved his hand and personally led his personal guards and shield bearers to the front: "Shield bearers, follow me!"

Long spears were difficult to use effectively on the narrow gun platform, so Xiang Rong sent two hundred Chu soldiers, who were also sword and shield bearers in the Chu army, to recapture the platform.

Yang Huwei's Guizhou army swordsmen, wielding rattan shields, fought and retreated, but the Chu army was numerous and powerful, and the Guizhou army was gradually forced into a corner by the Chu swordsmen.

Just then, Da Zhuzi gritted his teeth, grabbed the gunpowder barrel and a matchlock rope, and charged forward, glaring angrily, shouting, "Everyone back off! If anyone dares to move forward, I'll set the gunpowder barrel on fire!"

The Chu army was terrified, fearing that the tall Guizhou soldier in front of them might accidentally set the powder keg on fire in a moment of impulsiveness, and instinctively retreated.

Just as the Guizhou soldiers who had defected were struggling on the artillery platform.

The 11th Provisional Battalion had already broken through the Zhengan soldiers' long spear formation blocking the breach in the camp wall and stormed into the Qing army camp at Sanlixu, with the 10th Provisional Battalion and the 1st Provisional Battalion following closely behind.

Witnessing that all three battalions had already stormed into the Sanlixu camp, Peng Gang, standing atop the mound, waved his command flag and deployed the fourth battalion, which had been used as a reserve force, into the battle, hoping to seize the Qing army's Sanlixu camp in one fell swoop.

Although the Qing army had shown signs of defeat, it was not short of troops at this time.

As long as Yiketanbu and Han Yongqi's 1,000 Guizhou soldiers and 2,200 local militia are willing to step in, they can buy the Chu army and Zhengan soldiers a chance to catch their breath and give Xiang Rong time to regroup.

The situation for the Qing army was not irreversible, and they were not destined to be defeated.

However, Xiang Rong could not command all his troops as easily as Peng Gang could.

The Guizhou army under Yiketanbu and Han Yongqi, consisting of 2,200 militia members from various ethnic groups, was capable of fighting when the tide was high, but once the battle turned against them, they fled even faster than the Chu army and the Zhengan soldiers.

Seeing that Xiang Rong's Chu army and Zhengan soldiers could not stop Duan Mao, Duan Mao had already stormed into the Sanlixu camp and was chasing after the Chu army and Zhengan soldiers.

Inside the Sanlixu camp, the sounds of gunfire, shouts of battle, and the clanging of weapons filled the air.

The 1,000 Guizhou soldiers and 2,200 local militiamen, who were still in good physical condition, set off towards Wuxuan City.

The Chu army and Zhengan soldiers, who had been fighting bitterly, were exhausted and barely had any messengers left around Xiang Rong.

Amidst the blood and fire of Sanlixu, Xiang Rong, half-undressed and covered in dust and mud, stared at the right flank of the position.

That area was originally intended as a support point for the Guizhou army and local militia. Logically, the Guizhou army and five hundred local militia should have been sent up to cut off the enemy's advance when the main force of the Taiping army was advancing.

But now, when Xiang Rong turned around to look back, all he saw was a horrific scene of escape.

Two officers from the Guizhou Army, Yiketanbu, deputy commander of the Qingjiang detachment, and Han Yongqi, guerrilla commander of Guzhou Town, waved and led the way in fleeing.

The Guizhou soldiers and local militia behind them scattered in panic, abandoning their helmets, armor, and weapons. Some of them who couldn't run fast enough were even knocked down and trampled by their own men.

The Qing army's rear guard was in disarray, with flags falling and drums falling silent. The panicked and disorderly retreat was like a burst dam, rushing headlong towards Wuxuan County.

Both the Guizhou army and the local militia collapsed before the battle even began!

“General Xiang! They’ve run away…they…they’ve all run away…” Upon seeing this, Deng Shaoliang knelt down in front of Xiang Rong and said in a trembling voice.

"This is...this is the reinforcement the court gave me? Ha, ha, ha...Is this battle just for me?" Xiang Rong's lips twitched, and he laughed as if someone was choking him.

The Chu army and Zhengan soldiers in front of Xiang Rong were forced to retreat in disarray by the Taiping Army's left wing.

The Zhengan soldiers and the Chu army also began to retreat. Some soldiers cried out as they retreated, while others simply threw down their weapons and fled.

The originally held positions were forced to slide backward, and the shouts of the Taiping army grew closer and closer, the sound of cannons shaking the ground.

Xiang Rong drew his sword and roared, "Retreat?! Retreat my ass!! I've fought all my life, and if I'm going to die, I'll die on the edge of a blade! Assassins! Kill the deserters!"

Before he finished speaking, another surge of people rushed in.

Even the assassins who were supervising Xiang Rongqin couldn't withstand the attack and turned to run away.

Xiang Rong was jolted by the crowd and stumbled, falling off his horse.

"Hurry up and get to the commander's position!" Deng Shaoliang grabbed Xiang Rong's arm and pulled him up. "If we don't leave now, we'll really be surrounded and killed by the short-haired rebels! As long as we're alive, we can always fight again!"

Xiang Rong stared blankly at the endless line of defeated soldiers. He had thought he could fight for a chance to turn the tide with his blood, but he never expected that the Guizhou army and the local militia would be so useless.

Despite having a numerical advantage and being well-prepared for battle, the Qing army still suffered such a crushing defeat.

Xiang Rong's trembling old hand sheathed his sword, and his warhorse, which had been with him for many years, neighed and pawed the ground restlessly. Xiang Rong hesitated for a moment, but finally, he gritted his teeth and leaped onto the horse.

"……withdraw."

When Xiang Rong uttered the word "withdraw," his voice was so low it was almost inaudible.

After speaking, Xiang Rong mounted his warhorse and turned around. Behind him, the fleeing soldiers still surged like a tide, mud splashed, corpses littered the ground, and military flags and weapons were scattered everywhere, but no one cared anymore.

Xiang Rong spurred his horse and galloped away, disappearing into the tide of the defeated soldiers.

He was a veteran of the imperial court and the face of the Green Standard Army. At this moment, Xiang Rong was just the old soldier who fled the fastest among the defeated troops, and he gradually caught up with Iktambu and Han Yongqi, who had taken the lead in escaping.

(End of this chapter)