1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 160 The Bereaved Dog
The North Gate was captured at great cost by the soldiers of the Provisional Seventh and Eighth Battalions.

If the Qing army were to retake it, not only would the blood of the fallen soldiers have been shed in vain, but it would also be much more difficult to capture any city gate in the future.

The north gate is not open, and obstacles inside the city gate and near the inner gate need to be cleared.

The Qing army's reinforcements also needed to be intercepted.

"Commander Xiao, you Eighth Provisional Battalion, focus on clearing the North Gate. As for the Qing reinforcements, leave them to our Seventh Provisional Battalion!"

Faced with the Qing army's aggressive advance and their attempt to retake the North Gate, Cheng Dashun, the commander of the Provisional Seventh Battalion, led more than two hundred soldiers of the Provisional Seventh Battalion who had already entered the city to meet the enemy.

As dusk fell, Cheng Dashun had no idea how many Qing troops had come from the south, which Qing army unit they belonged to, or how many men they numbered.

All that could be seen was a large number of Qing soldiers, a dark mass that completely blocked the streets and alleys.

The Qing troops that came to the aid of the North Gate were more than 400 Qingjiang corps soldiers under the command of Yiketanbu, the deputy commander of the Qingjiang Corps in Guizhou. The Qing arquebusiers began firing from a distance, praying that the lead bullets they fired would hit the target and kill or even defeat the religious bandits who had stormed into the city.

The 7th Provisional Battalion was mainly trained with long spears, and before the battle, they were equipped with swords and shields to facilitate sieges. There were no ranged units in the battalion.

Upon hearing the Qing army fire their muskets, Cheng Dashun, a veteran general who had fought against the Qing army many times, knew that the Qing army was most afraid of close combat. So he took the lead and led more than 200 soldiers of the Provisional Eighth Battalion to charge towards the Qing army.

The Qingjiang Assistance Guizhou Army, which engaged the Provisional Eighth Battalion, collapsed at the slightest contact. The Provisional Eighth Battalion fought with increasing ferocity, and more than 200 men chased after more than 400 Guizhou soldiers and hacked them down a street.

It wasn't until Deng Shaoliang arrived with 600 Zhengan and Liuzhou soldiers to rescue the Qingjiang Xieqian Army, which had been defeated by the Provisional Seventh Battalion, that the situation was resolved.

Cheng Dashun's Provisional Seventh Battalion went through the battles of scaling the city walls, capturing the North Gate, and pursuing the Guizhou Army in Qingjiang.

At this point, the soldiers of the Provisional Seventh Battalion were gradually losing their strength, and coupled with their significant numerical disadvantage, even with their desperate resistance, they were still no match for the Qing army, which outnumbered them three to one.

Cheng Dashun had no choice but to lead the Provisional Seventh Battalion to retreat towards the vicinity of the North Gate while fighting.

At this time, the inner gate of the North Gate was still not cleared, and the soldiers of the Left Army outside the North Gate were unable to enter the city through the North Gate to support the soldiers of the Left Army inside the city.

Lu Qin, the battalion commander of the First Battalion, who had just climbed the long ladder erected over the moat to reach the gate, heard that the battle inside the city was urgent and that the inner gate of the North Gate was difficult to clear in time. So he led the soldiers of the First Battalion to climb the long ladder and enter the city to provide support.

The artillery company that came with its cannons could only watch helplessly.

Although the siege was carried out with small siege cannons weighing only one or two hundred pounds, the cannons used were all small siege cannons.

However, they couldn't carry the 100-200 jin (50-100 kg) cannons up the city wall, so they could only enter the city through the city gate.

"Company Commander Ma, there are cannons and ammunition on the city wall. All you need to do is send your men up."

Upon climbing the city wall, Lu Qin saw the Qing army's mountain-splitting cannons and ammunition stacked on the wall and thought that the new mountain-splitting cannon company commander, Ma Guan, was a bit inflexible.

Instead, he just stood there in front of the city gate, holding the broken mountain cannons he had brought with him.

The Qing army's mountain-splitting cannons on the city wall could not be used.

The battle situation inside the city was urgent. In order not to miss the opportunity, Lu Qin hurriedly called Ma Guan to bring his mountain-splitting artillery company up.

After Lu Qin's reminder, Ma Guan suddenly realized!
That's right! I can go straight into the city and use the Qing army's cannons!
Seeing that the Zhengan soldiers and Liuzhou soldiers brought by Deng Shaoliang were gradually forcing Cheng Dashun's Provisional Seventh Battalion to the vicinity of the North Gate.

The Provisional Eighth Battalion, which was still clearing away the debris piled up near the North Gate, had to abandon their work and, under Xiao Maoling's command, turn around to assist the Provisional Seventh Battalion in repelling the enemy.

The Zhengan and Liuzhou troops under Deng Shaoliang's command cooperated well.

The Zhengan soldiers, using their long spears, formed a dense spear formation that blocked the street, slowly forcing the left wing soldiers of the Provisional Seventh and Eighth Battalions toward the city gate, thus compressing their space for maneuver.

The musketeers of Liuzhou soldiers hid behind the spearmen and fired their muskets at the left-wing soldiers of the two battalions near the north gate.

In a short time, the soldiers of the Provisional Seventh and Provisional Eighth Battalions suffered heavy casualties.

With each inch longer, they were stronger. The knives and rattan shields they carried were unable to break through the tight gun formation of the Zhengan soldiers, let alone threaten the Liuzhou Green Standard Army arquebusiers behind the Zhengan soldiers' gun formation. They could only passively take hits.

Seeing the critical situation below the city, the soldiers of the First Battalion and the Left Army of the Mountain-Splitting Artillery Company, who had just climbed the city wall, disregarded the fact that they were not fully manned.

A company of soldiers from the 1st Battalion, who had already climbed the city wall, fired their guns at the aggressive Zhengan and Liuzhou troops.

The artillery company quickly turned the cannons on the city wall around, loaded them with shrapnel, and rained bullets down on the Qing army formation from their high vantage point.

Iron and lead rain fell simultaneously, pelting down on the dense Qing army formation.

The arquebusiers of Zhengan and Liuzhou suffered heavy casualties.

As more and more soldiers from the First Battalion and the artillery company of the Left Army joined the battle, the tide of battle turned instantly. The Zhengan and Liuzhou troops were driven back.

The soldiers of the Left Army gained a foothold near the North Gate, finally cleared away the obstacles near the inner gate of the North Gate, removed the bolt from the inner gate, and opened the inner gate of the North Gate.

The north gate of Wuxuan City was opened wide!

A steady stream of Taiping soldiers poured into Wuxuan City from the north gate.

The situation in Wuxuan City is now settled!

At the Wuxuan County government office, Zhou Shaoliang, who had just returned from his defeat, informed them that the main force of the Taiping Army had already entered the city and was advancing fiercely.

Zhou Tianjue, Xiang Rong, and the others didn't care about anything else.

The group hurriedly rushed out of the back gate of the county government office and stumbled as they fled towards the west alley.

Just across the street from them was the Taiping Army, surging into the city like a raging torrent.

Torches lit up the streets and alleys, and cries and shouts filled the air.

Everywhere people are calling for the arrest of Zhou Tianjue, Xiang Rong, and Li Mengqun.

Zhou Tianjue, Xiang Rong, Li Mengqun and their group were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat and their legs trembled, fearing that they would be found and captured alive by the Taiping Army.

"Quick! Let's go through the west gate! The west gate is closer to the dock!"

In a flash, Xiang Rong, covered in sweat, gritted his teeth and growled, making the decision to leave through the west gate and head to the dock to evacuate Wuxuan.

Li Mengqun's eyes were bloodshot, and he had long lost his former elegance.

Li Mengqun's official robes were torn to shreds during his escape. He clutched his official seal, staggered, panting heavily, and cursing under his breath.

Zhou Tianjue's face was ashen. He had personal guards protecting him, and his official robes were neat, but he had lost his official hat at some point. His old face was as pale as paper in the firelight.

Zhou Tianjue stumbled and fell onto a prepared sedan chair, urging, "Hurry! Hurry up! If we are captured by the cult bandits, I would rather be dead!"

The three men's personal guards rampaged through the streets and alleys, causing the people of Wuxuan City to scatter and flee, crying out for their parents. Suddenly, someone recognized Zhou Tianjue and pointed at him, roaring, "You corrupt official! Still trying to run! Righteous soldiers, come quick! Zhou Tianjue is in the west alley!"

Upon hearing that Zhou Tianjue, Xiang Rong, and others were in West Alley, the Taiping soldiers nearby quickly moved towards the vicinity of West Alley to search for Zhou Tianjue, Xiang Rong, and others.

The shouts and curses from the people of Wuxuan, along with the footsteps of the Taiping Army, terrified the three men, who dared not linger.

Outside the west gate, the firelight illuminated the moat in a crimson glow, and the drawbridge, which had long been lowered, creaked under the footsteps of the fleeing soldiers.

The Taiping army's artillery kept firing at the west gate, and Qing soldiers who were fleeing were constantly hit and killed by the flying six or seven-pound iron balls, leaving behind incomplete corpses.

"Quick! To the dock! There are still boats at Ximen Dock!"

As Xiang Rong exited the West Gate, he spotted another boat near the West Gate dock and roared loudly.

At this point, he no longer cared about appearances, supporting a personal guard with one hand and pressing the wound on his waist with the other.

Ironically, Xiang Rong's waist wound wasn't inflicted by the Taiping Army, but rather he was nearly shot during the melee, wounded by an archer from the Wuxuan militia.

Unfortunately, it did not hit any vital organs.

At the Ximen Wharf, several large official ships were moored precariously. The boatmen on the warships were in a panic, while the defeated Qing soldiers below the warships scrambled onto the sampans, and some were even cutting the mooring lines.

Intermittent shouts echoed from the darkness: "Hurry! The cultists are catching up soon!"

Zhou Tianjue and Li Mengqun jumped onto the first large ship under the protection of their personal guards, while Xiang Rong brought up the rear. Several of his personal guards had already been shot and fallen to the ground.

However, at this moment, Xiang Rong's personal guards were already too busy to help themselves, and no one dared to risk going to help their fallen and injured comrade.

Boarding the ship, Xiang Rong glanced back at Wuxuan City, which was already engulfed in flames, his face ashen, and said with boundless indignation, "This battle was truly a complete and utter defeat!"

As the last cable was cut, the official boats swayed and disappeared into the deep twilight, several meters from the shore.

On the night Wuxuan City fell, two high-ranking officials, along with their remaining troops, fled by boat, looking like stray dogs.

(End of this chapter)