1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 170 Entering Xiangzhou
The order was given that the six battalions responsible for attacking Xiangzhou City, along with the mountain-splitting artillery company and the heavy artillery company, would travel by boat to Wuxuan County to assemble, with a total force of up to 5,000 men.

After assembling in Wuxuan County, Peng Gang personally led 5,000 troops in a grand procession, advancing by both land and water along the Qianjiang-Liujiang waterway, heading towards Xiangzhou City.

Such a massive display of force could not possibly escape the notice of the Qing army.

News that the short-haired cult bandits were marching towards Xiangzhou quickly reached the city.

For a time, the people of Xiangzhou City were filled with panic.

Xiangzhou City is located on the right bank of the Liujiang River.

The city wall was about three li in circumference, about two zhang high, with a base width of one zhang and five chi (about 4.8 meters) and a top width of eight chi (about 2.5 meters).

There are four city gates in the east, west, south, and north, each with a gate tower and a barbican.

The city wall is surrounded by a moat formed by diverting water from the Liujiang River. The moat is about two zhang wide and one zhang deep.

In terms of city defense specifications, Xiangzhou City was not much better than Wuxuan County City except that its city walls were slightly higher.

Even in terms of troop deployment, Xiangzhou City was inferior to Wuxuan County.

Xiangzhou was a scattered prefecture, with an administrative level between that of a prefecture and a county.

Xiangzhou was under the jurisdiction of Liuzhou Prefecture, and the city defense of Xiangzhou was assigned to the Liuzhou Green Standard Army.

However, Xiangzhou did not have an independent city garrison, but only a Xiangzhou outpost with a meager 83 soldiers.

The Green Standard Army soldiers were also divided into ranks, from highest to lowest: cavalrymen, combat soldiers, and garrison soldiers.

The garrison soldiers were the lowest-ranking, worst-paid, and least combat-effective soldiers in the Green Standard Army.

These pitiful eighty-three garrison soldiers of Xiangzhou.

Thirty-three soldiers were to be stationed at key passes such as Shilong and Yunjiang, while only fifty soldiers remained in Xiangzhou to guard the city.

Considering the issue of embezzlement, the Green Standard Army stationed in Xiangzhou City usually only numbered around thirty men.

With such a small number of soldiers, let alone defending the city, they would struggle to maintain order in Xiangzhou City even if they were just used as security police.

The defense of Xiangzhou City actually relied more on the thirty-odd yamen runners in the city and two or three hundred local militiamen.

If it weren't for Li Nengchen, the general of Linyuan Town in Yunnan, who led 3,000 remnants of the Yunnan army to Xiangzhou City after the defeat at Sanlixu, the situation would have been completely different.

To Zuo Jun, Xiangzhou City was now essentially an undefended empty city.

The prefect of Xiangzhou is Yu Sizhao, a native of Jiangxi, who only took office at the beginning of this year.

They learned that several thousand cult bandits, all elite short-haired bandits, were heading towards Xiangzhou City.

Yu Sizhao hurriedly wrote to Guiping, Liuzhou, and Guilin to ask for help.

Yu Sizhao knew exactly what kind of defenses Xiangzhou City had.

Yu Sizhao was not an inactive local official.

Since taking office, Yu Sizhao has personally supervised the training of 600 local militia members in Xiangzhou to defend against the Heaven and Earth Society bandits.

However, as the war in Wuxuan became more urgent, the little bit of Xiangzhou militia that Yu Sizhao had painstakingly trained was almost entirely used up by Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong who had drawn them into Wuxuan.

Now, there are only two hundred militiamen left in Xiangzhou City, and they are all the old, weak, sick, disabled, and misfits that Zhou Tianjue and Xiang Rong rejected. They are completely useless.

Yu Sizhao knew that Xiangzhou alone could not possibly defend the city.

Even the distant water from Guiping, Liuzhou, and Guilin cannot quench the immediate thirst of Xiangzhou City.

Before reinforcements arrived, Yu Sizhao could only place his hopes on Li Nengchen's three thousand Yunnan soldiers.

If Li Nengchen's three thousand Yunnan soldiers could defend the city wholeheartedly, Xiangzhou City could hold out for a while longer.

Yu Sizhao, clinging to his last glimmer of hope, went to the Yunnan army camp outside the city to find Li Nengchen.

As a garrison commander, Li Nengchen had a clearer and more thorough understanding of the current situation than Yu Sizhao.

Xiang Rong and Zhou Tianjue were defeated, and I heard that Zhang Bilu, the governor of Guangxi, is now dead.

Xiang Rong's Chu army and Zhang Bilu's Guizhou and Sichuan soldiers were already the ceiling of the Southern Green Standard Army's combat power.

These two Qing Dynasty elites were defeated one after another by the short-haired religious bandits in a short period of time.

Where can Guiping find reinforcements in a short period of time?
As for Liuzhou and Guilin, they are too busy protecting themselves to send reinforcements to Xiangzhou.
A person should know his own limitations, and Li Nengchen knew exactly how much his three thousand Yunnan soldiers were worth.

Upon learning that the short-haired cult bandits had marched towards Xiangzhou, Li Nengchen fled to Liuzhou overnight.

Even after arriving in Liuzhou, Li Nengchen still lacked a sense of security.

Xiangzhou is the southern gateway to Liuzhou, and it is certain that Xiangzhou cannot be defended.

With the loss of Xiangzhou, Liuzhou was the first to be affected.

With this in mind, Li Nengchen used the excuse that the Heaven and Earth Society bandits in Guilin Prefecture were causing trouble and that he needed to rush to Guilin to help suppress the Heaven and Earth Society, and continued to run towards the provincial capital of Guilin.

Of course, the so-called assistance in suppressing the Guilin Heaven and Earth Society was just an excuse.

Two months ago, He Chun, a military officer promoted to the rank of Central Army Commander in Hunan, and Xiang Jixiong, the son of Xiang Rong, killed the Heaven and Earth Society troops of Chen Yagui, who had been active in Guilin Prefecture for a long time.

Even the leader, Chen Yagui, died at the hands of He Chun and Xiang Jixiong.

Emperor Xianfeng was deeply troubled by the chaos in Guangxi when the two men's good news arrived at the Imperial Study.

Emperor Xianfeng was overjoyed and praised the Eight Banners soldiers, saying that there were still capable men among them. Although Xiang Rong was a wicked father, he had still produced a tiger cub.

He Chun was directly promoted to general, and Xiang Jixiong also received the title of acting commander.

At present, in the entire Guilin Prefecture, only Chen Yagui's younger brother, Chen Shiqing, is leading four or five hundred remnants of the Heaven and Earth Society, fleeing from the Qing army's pursuit. They are no longer a threat.

Lao Chongguang, the Guangxi Provincial Governor who was stationed in Guilin, the provincial capital, was quite capable and did not indulge in the joy of suppressing the Heaven and Earth Society in Guilin.

Lao Chongguang judged that with the successive defeats of Xiang Rong and Zhang Bilu, the rebel forces were growing stronger and stronger. Tens of thousands of rebels would not stay in the deep mountains to wait for death for long, and would definitely come out of the mountains to find food.

Since the religious bandits were likely to march north and invade the provincial capital, the local militia was organized on a large scale to prepare for the invasion.

Li Nengchen's arrival in Guilin greatly benefited the city's defenses. Lao Chongguang not only accepted Li Nengchen but also allowed Li Nengchen's Yunnan troops into the city.

However, after the Yunnan army entered the city, Lao Chongguang forbade them to leave.

With Li Nengchen gone, Yu Sizhao's last hope was shattered, and he returned to the government office in Xiangzhou City, disheartened.

As if things weren't going to go wrong, when Yu Sizhao returned to the prefectural office, his family informed him that his two assistants, the Assistant Prefect of Xiangzhou and the Vice Prefect of Xiangzhou, had also fled.

Xiangzhou City has no soldiers to defend it, and the people's hearts are not to be trusted.

Knowing he was powerless to change the situation, Yu Sizhao hanged himself with his entire family.

Peng Gang thus captured Xiangzhou City without firing a single shot, without shedding a drop of blood.

The first battalion to enter the city was the first battalion.

The soldiers of the First Battalion, dressed in uniform light blue cross-collar short jackets and carrying muskets, entered Xiangzhou City in high spirits and with orderly steps.

No one made loud noises, and no one disturbed the peace.

Although the Taiping Army, especially the Left Army which had been fighting in Wuxuan for a long time, had a very good reputation among the local people.

Many Wuxuan people who came to Xiangzhou to visit relatives and friends had received kindness from Zuo Jun. When they heard that Zuo Jun was going to enter Xiangzhou, they spread the word about Zuo Jun's good deeds, saying that everyone would have porridge to drink after Zuo Jun entered the city.

However, apart from the Xiangzhou militia who fled back from Wuxuan, most Xiangzhou people had no direct contact with the Left Army, and they had doubts about the claims of their relatives in Wuxuan, as well as reservations about the Left Army.

The people of the city quietly gathered on both sides of the street, not daring to make a sound. Their expressions were hesitant and wary as they stared at the group of people who did not wear queues, were dressed in strange clothes, and had leg wraps.

The old man stood hunched over in front of the door, leaning on his cane, his eyes fixed on the front, as if confirming something.

The woman, holding her swaddled infant, huddled under the eaves, whispering to each other.

The children either lay on the doorstep or pressed against the window, peeking out half their faces and curiously watching the approaching procession from afar.

As for the able-bodied adults, many of them fled Xiangzhou City in advance for fear of being coerced into joining the "bandits".

By the time the Left Army entered the city, only three or four out of ten able-bodied men remained in Xiangzhou.

Peng Gang entered Xiangzhou City, surrounded by a group of battalion and company commanders.

Besides the two hundred or so Wuxuan people who had fled to Xiangzhou, who lined both sides of the road to welcome Zuo Jun into the city.

Most of the people in the city were rather indifferent to the entry of the Left Army, and there was no scene of welcoming the royal army with food and drink.

"Li Nengchen ran really fast! He didn't even see the Yunnan army this time!" Li Qi exclaimed, marveling at Li Nengchen's swift escape.

I thought that attacking a prefecture city for the first time would take some effort, but I didn't expect to take Xiangzhou City so easily.

"Do they really think everyone in the DPP is like Xiang Rong or Zhang Bilu?" Xie Bin laughed.

"Xiang Rong and Zhang Bilu were the best in the Green Standard Army. Most of the generals in the Green Standard Army were like Li Nengchen and Li Dianyuan."

"Doesn't that mean that attacking cities in the future will be as easy as attacking Xiangzhou?" Li Qi asked happily.

"What unrealistic dreams are you having?" Peng Gang did not want this underestimation of the enemy to spread among the battalion and company commanders.

"Li Nengchen was able to run because he had a way out. If he had no way out, he would have defended the city to the death."

Even if it were people like Li Nengchen and Li Dianyuan who were holding the city, they would still cause us a lot of trouble.

At the beginning of the year, when Li Dianyuan was defending Guiping City, didn't we also fail to take Guiping City?

"The general is right. Even a rabbit will bite when cornered." Xie Bin nodded and said, "Since ancient times, sieges have always been the most difficult battles. We were just lucky this time, and we won't be so lucky every time."

One must remain calm in adversity and clear-headed in prosperity.

Such leaders are rare.

Xie Bin increasingly felt that his choice was wise and that he had not followed the wrong person.

After entering the city, Peng Gang went straight to the Xiangzhou government office and had the remains of Yu Sizhao's family collected. He would be working there from now on.

Peng Gang's first impression of Xiangzhou was that it was poor, even poorer than Wuxuan.

Perhaps because the wealthy families had fled in advance, Peng Gang didn't see many well-dressed people on his way into the city.

Of the ten people from Xiangzhou I saw on the road, seven or eight were starving people with pale, emaciated faces.

This is the wealthiest prefecture city in the entire state.

If the capital city is in such a state, the situation in other places is self-evident.

They found the Yellow Register of Xiangzhou and the Blue Ledger of the Official Granary, and took over the city's granaries and treasuries.

This confirmed that Peng Gang's intuition was correct.

The combined grain reserves of the Changping Granary and the She Granary in Xiangzhou were not even enough to raise 1,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).

There are no wealthy families in Xiangzhou as large as the four major families of Wuxuan.

Xie Liting, the top landlord in the prefecture, owned no more than 2,400 mu of land and stored no more than 1,400 shi of grain.

Even so, after Xie Liting fled to escape, the Xie family's granary was looted by tenant farmers and rioters who took advantage of the chaos, losing more than 600 shi (a unit of dry measure), leaving them with less than 800 shi of grain.

It is said that the Luo family, another wealthy family in the state, only had a little over a thousand bushels of grain in storage.

Apart from these two, there were no more households with a thousand bushels of grain left; only small and medium-sized landlords with less than a hundred households remained.

It's unclear whether Xiangzhou was originally poor, or whether it had been thoroughly exploited by Zhou Tianjue, Xiang Rong, Li Nengchen, and others, which led to its current dire state.

Or perhaps it's a combination of both; Xiangzhou is truly impoverished to an absurd degree.

Because Yu Sizhao, the prefect of Xiangzhou, hanged himself before the city was established, order had been lost and people were looting grain everywhere.

Peng Gang ordered the various battalions that had already entered Xiangzhou City to maintain order within the city.

Troops were dispatched to guard the granaries of the landlords in Xiangzhou and to register them to prevent the granaries from being looted by starving people.

After taking inventory of the official granaries and state treasuries, Huang Bingxian pushed aside the vast, starving crowd gathered in front of the Xiangzhou government office, and entered the main hall of the office to ask Peng Gang, "General, shall we continue to distribute porridge?"

The reason they were able to distribute porridge in Wuxuan was because the grain in Wuxuan's official granaries and community granaries was much more abundant than in Xiangzhou, and there were also relatively wealthy households in Wuxuan who could eat.

Even if they distributed porridge to all the people in the city, they would still have a surplus of food.

If porridge is distributed in Xiangzhou, the Left Army will probably have to use up its own grain reserves.

This is a matter of great importance. Huang Bingxian and others dared not make a decision on their own regarding whether to set up soup kitchens to distribute soup, so they came to ask Peng Gang for instructions.

(End of this chapter)