1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 197 Another plan

"Is Wang's Dyehouse located on the main road leading to the West Gate?" Peng Gang asked.

During the day, he used a telescope to survey the entire city near Xiangshan. The main road outside the west gate was relatively straight.

Peng Gang just didn't know the exact location of Wang's Dyehouse. If Wang's Dyehouse was located on or near the main road...

Under the guise of negotiating peace, one could drive to the vicinity of the West Gate and use two methods—the number of wheel rotations and step distance measurement—to achieve relatively accurate distance measurement.

“Wang’s Dyehouse was a large dyehouse, located right next to the main road leading to the West Gate,” Lu Qin said after recalling the events.

“In that case, we can use the pretext of negotiating peace to drive straight to the West Gate and measure the distance from Wang’s Dyehouse to the West Gate by the number of revolutions of the wheels. If this fails, we can feign an attack on the West Gate to measure the distance from Wang’s Dyehouse to the West Gate step by step,” Peng Gang said, revealing his idea.

“Cao Xiepei’s posture clearly indicates that he is determined to fight to the death and has no intention of negotiating peace,” Chen Miao said after a moment’s thought.

"Isn't it too risky to go outside the West Gate? We don't know Cao Xiepei well enough, and we don't know his character."

“We have to take the risk. If we can destroy the city walls of Quanzhou by using the method of siege warfare, we can save the lives of many soldiers who are attacking the city.” Lu Qin stepped forward and volunteered.

"Your Highness, I am willing to go to the West Gate tomorrow to pretend to negotiate peace with the Qing army commander, and to measure the exact distance between the dyehouse and the West Gate."

The person who went to negotiate peace with the Qing army commander could not be of low status, otherwise it would be easy to be exposed.

Lu Qin believed that it was most appropriate for him to go and negotiate peace.

As one of the most senior battalion commanders, Lu Qin possessed a certain air of leadership, making it easy for him to slip through the cracks and successfully reach the west gate.

"Battalion Commander, you are the backbone of the First Battalion, let me go instead." Chen Miao wanted to take on the task for Lu Qin.

“You can’t even count from one to one hundred properly, you’ll easily mess things up if you go,” Lu Qin said, shaking his head. “It’s more suitable for me to go.”

"Alright, let's leave this matter to Lu Qin." Peng Gang hesitated for a moment, but still chose Lu Qin to carry out the task.

"Lu Qin, go prepare a carriage. Measure the circumference of the wheels with a rope. You can choose any horse you need to pull the carriage."

Lu Qin is steady and reliable, so Peng Gang feels more at ease having him carry out important tasks.

"Your Highness, I suggest using people instead of horses. People can pull the carriage, which will allow us to concentrate on measuring distances on foot," Lu Qin said, revealing his idea.

“Sure, you can choose any personnel from the other units except for the mountain-splitting artillery company,” Peng Gang nodded and said.

After Lu Qin left the Amitabha Buddha Hall to prepare the carriage, Peng Gang ordered someone to bring paper and pen, and gave seats to Chen Miao and eight Zuo Jun soldiers who were miners, allowing them to express their opinions and discuss the technical details of digging the tunnel.

The striking miners offered various suggestions and advice.

Of the eight, Liu Yonggu was the most quick-witted and had the most ideas.

Liu Yonggu suggested using a crank-handled centipede shovel, with cotton cloth wrapped around the shovel head and hemp rope wrapped around the wooden handle to prevent slipping.

Although this would reduce the efficiency of digging tunnels, it would reduce the noise during digging and decrease the probability of being detected by the Qing army.

Inspired by Liu Yonggu, another soldier who came from a mining background suggested that cotton quilts could be wrapped under the winnowing baskets and baskets used for transporting slag to reduce vibration and noise.

The miners' biggest concern was the low visibility in the two-zhang-deep tunnel. The tunnel, which was about two hundred paces long, was difficult to align accurately with the foundation of the western gate's barbican wall. The further they dug, the more likely they were to go astray.

This problem is not difficult to solve.

Three years ago, Peng Gang and Luo Dagang went to Guangdong to buy a compass, which can be used to determine the direction of tunneling.

Peng Gang meticulously recorded the suggestions of the eight soldiers, temporarily added an engineering company, and divided the tunnel digging work into detailed groups.

The people digging the tunnel were divided into four groups.

The tunneling team was specifically responsible for excavating the tunnel, and the team consisted of forty people.

The support team is specifically responsible for supporting the tunnel and preventing landslides. The team consists of twenty people.

The muck transport team is specifically responsible for the transportation and handling of slag and the drainage of tunnels. The team consists of thirty people.

The surveying team, consisting of six people, is specifically responsible for orientation and depth control.

After the groups were formed, Peng Gang temporarily appointed Liu Yonggu as the company commander of the engineering company, and the remaining soldiers as group leaders and deputy group leaders.

They were allowed to select soldiers with experience in tunnel digging from various units to form their teams and prepare for the next tunnel digging operation.

Apart from officers of company level and above, and artillery companies that split mountains, they could choose any personnel they wanted.

The eight soldiers, all former miners, were thrilled to have their skills recognized by the Northern King and entrusted with important responsibilities, giving them a chance to prove themselves.

Led by Chen Miao, they went to various military units to select suitable team members.

At dawn the next day, Lu Qin prepared the carriage and asked Peng Gang if he could go to the Wengcheng (outer city gate) at the west gate to persuade the Qing troops in Quanzhou City to surrender.

Peng Gang inspected Lu Qin's carriage and saw that Lu Qin had already marked the wheels and measured the circumference of the wheels with a rope to be 13 feet 7.5 inches. He also found that the people he had selected were all quick-witted and clever. He agreed to let Lu Qin go to the west gate to pretend to negotiate peace with the Qing army commander.

"Be careful and stay alert. If the Qing army does anything untoward, come back immediately, understand?" Before leaving, Peng Gang specifically instructed Lu Qin to be careful.

"Your Highness, rest assured, I have the task in mind and will complete it and return to report!" Lu Qin stood at attention, saluted Peng Gang, and resolutely climbed onto the convertible, whose roof had been removed to make it easier to observe the wheels.

Once seated, two robust soldiers of similar height pulled the vehicle toward the west gate with almost identical steps.

Inside Quanzhou City, Cao Xiepei, the prefect of Quanzhou, and Wu Changxian, the commander of the Xiang Army, learned that the Taiping Army's Left Wing Army wanted to negotiate peace with them.

The two were quite surprised, wondering what Zuo Jun was up to.

Cao Xiepei and Wu Changxian, accompanied by their attendants, hurriedly went from the government office to the West Gate.

When Cao Xiepei and Wu Changxian arrived at the West Gate, Lu Qin and his group of twelve had already reached the vicinity of the moat in front of the West Gate.

Lu Qin arrived near the West Gate under the pretext of negotiating peace, and his entourage was unarmed.

Therefore, the Qing soldiers and their comrades on the West Gate tower did not attack Lu Qin and his men, but remained on guard and monitored their every move.

"Where is Cao Xiepei, the prefect of Quanzhou? Does he dare to come out and say a word to me?"

Facing the dark muzzles of Qing soldiers' guns and cannons on the city wall, and the crossbows already loaded with arrows, Lu Qin showed no fear and calmly shouted at the West Gate tower.

Cao Xiepei, dressed in an official robe with horseshoe cuffs and slightly white hair, appeared on the West Gate tower. His expression was stern, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked down at Lu Qin, who was shouting from below the city, and responded in a cold voice.

"I am the prefect of Quanzhou. Who are you?"

Cao Xiepei's understanding of the Left Army mainly came from the intelligence on the religious bandits shared by Li Mengqun with local officials in various parts of Guangxi, as well as from his conversation with Jiang Zhongyuan when Jiang Zhongyuan led the Chu army through Quanzhou back to Xinning to recruit new soldiers.

Both Li Mengqun and Jiang Zhongyuan had limited knowledge of the Taiping Army.

Not to mention Cao Xiepei, who only had access to secondhand information about the Taiping Army.

Cao Xiepei only knew that the rebels were divided into the Long Hair and the Short Hair, with the Short Hair being the elite rebels and the left wing of the rebel armies.

The leaders of the short-haired cult were Peng Gang, a student from Guixian County, and Luo Dagang, a former ruthless bandit from the boat army.

Cao Xiepei knew little else.

“I am Lu Qin, the battalion commander of the First Battalion of the Left Army,” Lu Qin replied.

"What is the rank of battalion commander among your cult members?" Cao Xiepei probed. "Compared to Peng Gang and Luo Dagang, is your rank higher?"

"Below Vice Commander Luo, I am the highest-ranking officer," Lu Qin said casually to Cao Xiepei.

"Lord Cao, the entire city of Quanzhou has been completely surrounded by our Heavenly Army. Those who understand the times are the wise ones."

Lord Cao, as the parent of this state, you are in charge of hundreds of thousands of lives. We hope that you will have a benevolent heart and not sacrifice the lives of a city to gain a false reputation for loyalty!
"Our Left Army is a righteous and benevolent force. If Lord Cao opens the city gates and surrenders, we guarantee the safety of all the people in the entire prefecture and will not harm a single one of them!"

Cao Xiepei laughed loudly, then said to Lu Qin, "Lu traitor, do you know the tongue of Yan Changshan (Yan Gaoqing) who curses traitors?! And the teeth of Zhang Suiyang (Zhang Xun) who defends the city?!"

"All twenty thousand lives in my city share this will! All possess this courage! To breach this city? They'll have to step over my corpse and those twenty thousand bodies!"

Lu Qin is somewhat educated, but his knowledge of history is relatively limited.

Lu Qin didn't even know how many emperors there were in the Tang Dynasty, let alone Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun, two Tang officials who were not very well-known.

He was unaware that Cao Xiepei's words came from Wen Tianxiang's "Ode to Righteousness": "To be the tooth of Zhang Xun, to be the tongue of Yan Gaoqing." This ode praises two loyal and unyielding Tang officials who died for their country during the An Lushan Rebellion.

Cao Xiepei compared himself to Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun, clearly indicating that he wanted to become the Cao Quanzhou of the Qing Dynasty and leave a lasting legacy in history.

However, "Ode to Righteousness" was written by Wen Tianxiang when he was captured and imprisoned during his resistance against the Yuan dynasty.

Zhang Xun and Yan Gaoqing were also rebelling against the An Lushan and Shi Siming rebels, who had barbarian blood.

Cao Xiepei, who was loyal to the Qing Dynasty, compared himself to Zhang Xun and Yan Gaoqing by borrowing Wen Tianxiang's "Ode to Righteousness," which was somewhat ironic. I wonder what these three would think if they knew this in the afterlife.

Although Lu Qin didn't know who Yan Gaoqing and Zhang Xun were, he understood the second half of Cao Xiepei's sentence: Cao Xiepei was unwilling to surrender.

"Stubborn fool! Since Lord Cao is so unyielding and unwilling to surrender the city, then let your corpses pave the way for my Left Army to scale the walls! Let's see how many steps your corpses can take! Farewell!"

Having said his piece, Lu Qin feigned anger, turned the carriage around, and stormed back to camp.

"Fire!" Seeing Lu Qin turn to leave, Cao Xiepei ordered his men to fire sniper shots at Lu Qin and his group.

Lu Qin just said that his position in the Left Army was second only to Peng Gang and Luo Dagang, and he must be a big boss among the short-haired cult bandits.

Since the uprising of the God's Church, the government troops have suffered repeated losses, including two admirals. To date, the government troops have yet to capture or kill any of the God's Church's top leaders.

Watching Lu Qin's receding figure, Cao Xie Pei harbored murderous intent, wanting to kill Lu Qin to avenge the Qing army and boost morale.

“Lord Cao, in war, one should not kill envoys,” Wu Changxian advised, feeling that Cao Xiepei’s actions were dishonorable.

"An army? A bunch of traitors who have forgotten their ancestors and are devout believers in foreign religions. Do they even deserve to be called an army?" Cao Xiepei insisted on his opinion and ordered the cannons to be fired.

The Qing army had a poor reputation, and before their arrival, Lu Qin and his party were wary that the Qing army would not be martial and would attack the envoys.

As the group of twelve turned around, they did not forget to keep an eye on the Qing soldiers on the West Gate tower.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Qing soldiers on the West Gate tower raise their muskets and rifles, and the group hurriedly scattered and ran towards Xiangshan.

Lu Qin also quickly abandoned the vehicle and jumped off, running for his life.

"The Qing army is about to fire! Run!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a burst of gunfire erupted from the West Gate tower.

Even with some preparation and the formation already spread out, the Qing army's guns and cannons were densely packed and at relatively close range.

After a burst of gunfire, five or six of the twelve men were hit, and even Lu Qin was unfortunately wounded in the shoulder by a lead bullet fired from a musket.

"Damn it! These Manchu bastards have no manners at all."

Upon hearing the sound of gunfire coming from near the West Gate, Liang Zhen, the company commander of the mountain-splitting artillery company, anxiously looked at Lu Qin and his men. After Lu Qin and his group had run some distance away, Liang Zhen ordered them to open fire.

"Fire hard on the west gate tower to cover Battalion Commander Lu and his men's retreat!"

At Liang Zhen's command, all sixteen mountain-splitting guns on the position of the mountain-splitting artillery company fired simultaneously.

Sixteen solid iron bullets of varying sizes burst from the barrel and flew toward the west gate tower of Quanzhou City.

The two sides engaged in an artillery duel.

Amidst the thunderous roar of cannons, Lu Qin, wounded in the right shoulder, led five soldiers of the Left Army to successfully retreat, bringing back valuable data on the distance from the main gate of Wangji Dyehouse to the west gate of Quanzhou.

"Sixty-three and a half laps!"

One hundred and seventy-one steps!

One hundred and seventy-one steps!

One hundred and seventy-two steps!

"You did a great job. Go and rest to recover."

Peng Gang already knew that Cao Xiepei had ambushed Lu Qin and others with gunfire and cannons. Of the twelve Left Army soldiers who went to the West Gate to feign peace talks, seven were killed in action, and even among the five who returned, including Lu Qin, two were wounded.

"After the city falls, I will make Cao Xiepei and his men pay the price to comfort the souls of the fallen soldiers."

The data measured by Lu Qin and others has a large discrepancy with the data provided yesterday.

This was not a measurement error, but rather because the distance from the moat to the city wall was not taken into account.

There are still thirty steps between the moat and the city wall.

This distance is based on practical experience; for cities of the same level, the difference won't be too great.

The Ming Dynasty military treatise "Wubei Zhi" states that "the moat must be at least 35 feet wide."

Three zhang is the limit for an ordinary soldier to run across with a running start; five chi is the margin for swimming.

The design of the moat being thirty paces from the wall was to leave an extra ten paces beyond the maximum range of arrows.

Considering that arrows launched from the city wall would have a longer range, the actual margin would be slightly more than ten paces.

Based on the data brought back by Lu Qin and others, the distance from Wang Ji Dyehouse to the southern barbican wall of Quanzhou City should be 102.2 zhang.

Peng Gang ordered the provisional engineering company to work in two shifts, digging towards the west gate barbican at this distance.

The 1st and 5th Battalions took turns launching feigned attacks on the southern barbican of Quanzhou City to cover the engineering company's digging of tunnels.

Cao Xiepei has just launched a surprise attack on Peng Gang's peace negotiation team.

If Peng Gang doesn't react at all, it will inevitably make Cao Xiepei more suspicious.

Acting Battalion Commander Chen Miao of the First Battalion and Battalion Commander Chen Ajiu of the Fifth Battalion took orders, and the two battalions took turns launching a feint attack on Quanzhou City for a whole day.

"The Qing army in Quanzhou was well prepared and heavily guarded, with the moat lined with pits and caltrops."

The Qing soldiers defending Chengtoushan were also different from those elsewhere; their morale was extremely high. It's truly baffling what kind of spell Cao Xiepei cast on them! They were defending the city with exceptional fervor! Fortunately, it was just a feint attack; a direct assault would have resulted in heavy casualties.

After a nearly full-day feigned attack, Chen Miao and Chen Ajiu sounded the retreat and reported the day's siege to Peng Gang.

"What are the casualties?" Peng Gang inquired about the casualties of the First and Fifth Battalions.

"The houses outside Quanzhou City are very densely packed, and with the cover of the houses, the casualties are not very high. The two battalions suffered a total of eight dead and twenty-three wounded, most of whom were slightly injured," Chen Miao reported truthfully.

To be honest, the casualties from two battalions' feint attack lasting a whole day weren't that great.

However, both the First and Fifth Battalions were veteran battalions. After a day of feigned attacks, they suffered two and a half groups of casualties, which still pained Peng Gang.

Just now, Liu Yonggu, the company commander of the engineering corps, reported to him that, including the two-zhang-deep vertical tunnel, they had only dug eight zhang in six hours.

Considering that further digging under the moat would not only cause serious water seepage problems, but also require minimizing disturbance to avoid being detected by the Qing army inside the city, the digging speed would only slow down more and more.

Even at the ideal excavation speed of eight zhang per day, it would still take thirteen days.

The soldiers of the First and Fifth Battalions also have limited physical strength, and it is impossible to make them launch feigned attacks every day.

"Tomorrow, the First and Fifth Battalions will launch another feint attack. Let the soldiers rest well and prepare for tomorrow's feint attack," Peng Gang instructed Chen Miao and Chen Ajiu.

Peng Gang estimated the schedule and concluded that no troops should be able to arrive by tomorrow, but at least one provisional battalion should be able to arrive in Quanzhou the day after tomorrow.

Tomorrow, the 1st and 5th Battalions will still be responsible for the feint attack. The rotation will only begin after the other troops arrive in Jeonju the day after tomorrow.

As for Xie Bin's Third Battalion, Peng Gang kept it in reserve to guard against a sneak attack by Jiang Zhongyuan's Chu troops in the north. Peng Gang would not consider mobilizing Xie Bin's Third Battalion unless absolutely necessary.

Do the whole show.

The following day, the First and Fifth Battalions adopted a persistent and determined attitude.

Right under the noses of the Qing army garrison in Quanzhou, they cut down trees near Xiangshan Temple and dismantled the temple's timber to make siege weapons such as shield carts, trench bridge carts, battering rams, ladders, and straw and earthen sacks.

At the same time, they launched continuous attacks on the entire city.

Under the cover of shield carts and shields, and braving the Qing army's artillery fire and rockets, they cleared the traps set by the Qing army outside Quanzhou City and filled the moat.

In the evening, the left wing abandoned the attack and withdrew to its camp for rest and reorganization.

Cao Xiepei and Wu Changxian organized all the soldiers and local militia in the city to descend the city walls, set up new traps and obstacles, and cleared the moat that the left army had filled in during the day.

The left wing used cannons to fire from a distance, driving away the Qing troops who were leaving the city to rearrange traps and obstacles and clear the moat.

However, the density of artillery fire from the mountain-splitting artillery company became sparser day by day.

These days, the Qing soldiers and their militia, who had grown accustomed to the sound of cannons, were no longer as afraid of it as before.

After two consecutive days of fighting, both sides suffered casualties, but the losses were not significant and remained within the limits that both sides could bear.

The left army suffered two consecutive days of "failure" in its siege, displaying a frustrated and exasperated demeanor, while the defending Qing army seemed to have the upper hand.

Cao Xiepei, who was resting at the prefectural government office, felt smug about it: "Everyone says that the Short-Haired Rebels are fierce and difficult to control. In my opinion, although the Short-Haired Rebels are stronger than ordinary gangsters, they are nothing special."

The short-haired rebels may be skilled in open field battles, but they're still too inexperienced in siege warfare. You and I will hold Quanzhou firmly, and once Imperial Envoy Li leads his large army from Hunan and Sichuan south to Quanzhou, the day the rebels are annihilated will not be far off!

Wu Changxian was a veteran soldier, and in terms of leading troops and fighting battles, he was more experienced than Cao Xiepei.

Based on his observations over the past two days, Wu Changxian sensed something was amiss: "Lord Cao, the Short-haired rebels seem to have only launched a half-hearted attack on the city, appearing to have stopped short of full force. Lord Jiang once said that the Short-haired rebels are notoriously cunning. Is it possible that this is a feint attack by the Short-haired rebels, and that they have other plans?"

Jiang Daren is Jiang Zhongyuan, the same person as Chu Yong.

Jiang Zhongyuan was originally a county magistrate, but recently he was granted the title of prefect. It is rumored that many people in the court value Jiang Zhongyuan.

In Wuchang, it was not an exaggeration to call Jiang Zhongyuan "Lord Jiang".

"Is there another motive?" Cao Xiepei sat down in the West Flower Hall of the Quanzhou government office, holding a teacup in his hand. After pondering for a long time, he slowly spoke.

"Does the short-haired army have Lei Zhenzi and Tu Xingsun who can fly into Quanzhou City from the sky or crawl into the city from underground?"

“It’s nonsense to say he’ll fly into the city,” Wu Changxian said, taking the tea from Cao Xiepei’s family.

“I am worried that the short-haired rebels will launch an attack from underground. We are outnumbered and our army relies on the city walls. If the city walls are breached, the entire city will be difficult to defend.”

(End of this chapter)