1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 273 Jingzhou City
In the latter half of August 1851, one of the two Taiping armies attacking Mancheng in Jingzhou set off from Baling, the capital of Desheng Prefecture (Yuezhou Prefecture).

Led by Luo Dagang, Chen Xuyuan, Lin Fengxiang, Li Kaifang and others, a total of 23,000 troops marched up the river.

Luo Dagang and his men advanced with unstoppable momentum, capturing Jianli County, Huangjiaxue, Tashikou, Shishou County, Ouchi Town, Haoxuekou and other counties and towns along the Yangtze River, reaching Shashi and heading straight for Jiangling City, the capital of Jingzhou Prefecture.

The Qing soldiers along the way fled at the mere sight of them, and the Taiping army moved as if they were in an empty field.

The other route was led by Lu Qin, consisting mainly of the elite troops of the Northern Palace, with the main force being a regiment. The number of troops increased to nearly 5,000. They set off from Hanchuan County and went upstream along the Han River, a tributary of the Yangtze River.

Lianke County encompasses towns along the Han River, including Makou, Maiwang, Xiantao, Yuejiakou, and Xinglong, as well as the capital of Mianyang Prefecture and the county seat of Qianjiang County.

They then set off from Xinglong Town, a major town along the Han River, and marched overland. On September 13th, they joined forces with the main force of Luo Dagang, Lin Fengxiang, and others who were attacking Mancheng in Jingzhou, at Jiangling, the capital of Jingzhou Prefecture.

When Lu Qin arrived in Jiangling, Luo Dagang and Lin Fengxiang's forces had finally captured Xicheng after suffering nearly a thousand casualties.

Jiangling City is a large prefectural city, roughly rectangular in shape, with a total area of ​​4.6 square kilometers. It is divided into east and west cities, with the east city being the Manchu city, covering an area of ​​1.3 square kilometers, accounting for about 28% of the total city area.

The western city was defended by the local Green Standard Army, militia, and some Han Banner troops. The eastern city was defended by the Manchu, Mongol, and Han Eight Banners.

The prefect of Jiangling and the magistrate of Jiangling (Jiangling County was an attached county of Jingzhou Prefecture) were killed instantly when one of them was shot down by Chen Xuyuan's heavy artillery battalion while organizing local militia to defend the city. The other, after the city fell, hanged himself and his family to die for the Qing dynasty.

Currently, only the eastern part of Manchu City remains unconquered. General Tai Yong of Jingzhou is leading nearly three thousand Manchu Banner soldiers stationed in Manchu City and organizing and mobilizing the Banner soldiers within the city to put up a stubborn resistance.

"The Eight Banners are still capable of fighting? Even when we attacked Wuchang, we didn't lose so many brothers." Lu Qin was quite surprised when he learned about the attack on Jiangling City and the casualties of the troops in the North and West Palaces.

Lu Qin's troops fought their way from Hanchuan to Jingzhou in nearly a month, where they joined forces with Luo Dagang, Lin Fengxiang, and Li Kaifang. They conquered cities and territories along the way, and their combined combat and non-combat casualties were less than three hundred.

“The Eight Banners are nothing to worry about, but the local militia in Jingzhou are a real problem. Jiangling City is a garrison of the Eight Banners, with many heavy artillery pieces and fierce firepower,” Luo Dagang said.

"Most of our casualties were caused by the heavy artillery of Jiangling City and the local militia defending the city. The Eight Banners troops defending the city collapsed at the first contact, which was really unacceptable. We captured more than 500 Han Bannermen in the western city."

Compared to the Eight Banners troops stationed there, Luo Dagang was more troubled by the local militia and civilian guards defending the city.

Thanks to the Qing government's relentless propaganda and smear campaign against the "Long-haired Rebels" and "Short-haired Rebels," the people of Jiangling City even believed absurd claims such as the Long-haired and Short-haired Rebels eating children and sharing wives.

As a result, the local militia in Jingzhou were highly motivated to defend the city. Even after the Taiping Army entered Jiangling City through Anlan Gate, a small number of local militia in Jiangling City built barricades to resist stubbornly.

Fortunately, Luo Dagang, Lin Fengxiang and others brought enough troops to quickly suppress the sporadic resistance in the city, transfer the residents to the outside of the city, and completely control the situation in the western city.

"If the western city falls, the eastern Manchu city will be easier to attack," Lin Fengxiang interjected. They were currently attacking the eastern Manchu city from the western city.

"When our Heavenly Army stormed into the western city, the Green Standard Army soldiers, local militia, and civilians inside the city were all running towards the new gate and the north gate of the western wall of the Manchu city. Little did they know that General Tai Yong of Jingzhou had already ordered the city gates of the Manchu city to be closed, forbidding Han people from entering. Even the Han soldiers of the western city were unable to escape into the Manchu city, which can be described as cutting off their own arm."

The Manchu people in the East City were of very high purity. Based on his experience fighting against the Eight Banners soldiers in Jiangling City, Lin Fengxiang judged that it would be easier to attack the Manchu city if the Manchu people were pure Manchus.

Lin Fengxiang had seen Manchu prisoners of war. He couldn't believe that those Manchus, who were panting heavily just climbing the city wall, with hands so calloused they couldn't even find a single callus, and skin whiter than a woman's, could guard the entire city.

If we could keep this up, even sows could fly.

Of the Eight Banner soldiers killed or captured by the Taiping Army when they stormed the western city, apart from the artillerymen of the Han Banner Army, not a single one was on the front line defending the city; they were all supervisory troops.

“We have already begun digging tunnels within the city leading to the western wall of Manchuria. Once the tunnels are completed, we can bombard the city wall and the entire city will fall in no time,” Li Kaifang said.

“The western part of the city is densely populated with many two- or three-story buildings. Some residents have dug tunnels for cover. The artillery inside the city can’t do anything to us, so they can only fire randomly at the western part of the city to bolster their courage.”

"His Highness sent me with two engineering battalions to dig tunnels. We can have the engineering battalions dig the tunnels. Everyone has their own specialty, and the brothers in the engineering battalions will be able to dig the tunnels faster," Lu Qin suggested.

Upon learning that Lu Qin had brought his Tu Camp soldiers with him on the expedition, Luo Dagang was overjoyed and excitedly rubbed his hands together, saying, "If we can capture Mancheng quickly, we can also reach Hanyang sooner to join up with the main force."

With the addition of the earthen camp, the tunnel excavation speed increased.

This freed up more manpower for Luo Dagang, Lin Fengxiang, and others to confiscate the property of wealthy families in Jingzhou.

In just seven days, three of the five tunnels that were dug reached the western wall of Mancheng, while the other two failed to reach the western wall of Mancheng in Jingzhou as scheduled.

After discussion, Luo Dagang, Lu Qin, Lin Fengxiang and others decided that increasing the dosage of medicine would be sufficient for the three tunnels, and there was no need to wait for the other two tunnels.

Before attacking the Manchu city, in order to prevent the Manchu people inside the city from escaping, Luo Dagang, Lin Fengxiang and others deployed troops outside the moat on the north, south and east walls of the Manchu city.

With preparations complete, the three thousand elite troops from the North and West Palaces who were attacking Mancheng had assembled at the assembly point inside the West City, waiting only for the Tu Camp soldiers to set fire to blast a breach in the West Wall of Mancheng.

Accompanied by three earth-shattering muffled thuds.

Two large breaches, each over four zhang in length, suddenly appeared in the west wall of Mancheng, Jingzhou.

Of the three detonation points, only the one near the new gate failed to collapse the city wall for some reason. It only caused a large section of the blue bricks covering the wall to peel off, leaving several thigh-thick cracks on the rammed earth wall.

But that's irrelevant now; two gaps are enough!
The battalion commander of the First Battalion of the First Regiment was originally a musketeer in the Green Standard Army in Shangdongtang. When Zhou Songqing was attending classes at the Honglian Village School, he heard Peng Gang recount many of the atrocities committed by the Manchus when they entered the Central Plains.

After joining the Left Army, starting as a group leader, Zhou Songqing often told his subordinates about the humiliating history he had heard at the Honglian Village School.

Now that the opportunity for revenge was right in front of them, Zhou Songqing and the soldiers of the First Battalion of the First Regiment felt their blood boiling and were extremely excited.

Zhou Songqing took the lead and led the soldiers of the First Battalion of the First Regiment to be the first to rush into Mancheng.

Following closely behind were countless Taiping Army soldiers from the Western Palace under Lin Fengxiang, clad in red and yellow robes and waving sacred banners, who surged into the city of Jingzhou with thunderous battle cries. At first, the banner soldiers and guards on the city walls were throwing stones and timber at the breach, attempting to fill it.

Unfortunately, the Taiping Army soldiers in the North and West Palaces, filled with hatred, charged too quickly.

As more and more Taiping soldiers rushed into the city.

The banner soldiers and their men throughout the city either fled or were so terrified that they could not walk and huddled in the corners, trembling like leaves.

General Tai Yong of Jingzhou, who was overseeing the battle from the west wall, watched helplessly as the Taiping army surged into Mancheng like a tidal wave. Terrified, he lost all composure, his liver and gallbladder trembled, and he coughed up blood and died on the spot.

The Eight Banners troops were already incompetent, and with the death of the General of Jingzhou, they had another reason to flee.

All the Eight Banner soldiers, along with the two deputy commanders in the Manchu city of Jingzhou, fled in disarray.

The entire city of Jingzhou was leaderless and unable to mount any effective resistance.

Amidst the billowing dust, tattered satin banners of various colors were abandoned on the ground by the banner bearers.

Countless pairs of boots and straw sandals trampled over these Eight Banners banners, turning these once-powerful banners into tattered rags.

When the Taiping army stormed into Manchuria, the descendants of the Eight Banners, whose ancestors had suffered so much when they entered the pass two hundred years ago, no longer possessed the fighting spirit of their ancestors and were terrified out of their wits.

These Manchu soldiers, who were usually too lazy to even practice their skills, knew that the entire city of Jingzhou was already surrounded by the Taiping Army and there was nowhere to escape. Yet they still abandoned their armor and fled like headless flies.

They would sneak into woodsheds, pigsties, rice bins, and even hide in filthy latrines.

The arrogance they once displayed—the humiliation of bullying the common people, gambling, patronizing prostitutes, drinking, and fighting crickets—has vanished without a trace.

The more astute Eight Banner soldiers and their men, realizing they couldn't escape, dropped their weapons and immediately knelt down.

“I am originally a Han Chinese, but my ancestors joined the Eight Banners, which was not my intention! I am willing to offer three thousand taels of silver to atone for my sins!”

"Yes, yes, we are all from the Han Banner Army! Bah! We are Han people too."

“We know which households are Manchu and Mongol, and that will guide the rebel leader!”

"We also believe in the Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Brother. May the Heavenly Father and the Heavenly Brother live forever!"

"This lackey is willing to return to the right path, worship God as his father, and never be a Qing dog again!"

The resilience and agility of the Manchu bannermen in Jingzhou were an eye-opener for Zhou Songqing and the soldiers of the First Battalion of the First Regiment who were the first to storm into the city.

These Eight Banner soldiers are even more shameless than the Green Standard Army.

Zhou Songqing felt increasingly disgusted and nauseous towards these Manchus. He said impatiently, "Your ancestors surrendered to the Eight Banners, so you have been traitors for generations, recognizing the Manchus as your fathers and acting as their henchmen. You are more hateful than the Manchus! Bah! Execute you all!"

As soon as Zhou Songqing finished speaking, the musketeers in the front row gripped the muskets and fired, executing more than a hundred surrendered Manchus.

After four volleys of gunfire, more than a hundred Manchus in the streets and alleys fell down.

Zhou Songqing was afraid that some of these Manchus were faking their deaths or were not truly dead and would not be able to meet their ancestors, so he ordered the spearmen and shieldmen in the back row to finish off each corpse with a knife or a gun.

Little did they know that these Han Chinese bannermen living on the outskirts of the Manchu city were just an appetizer. As they stormed into the Manchu city, absurd things began to happen one after another.

Some Manchu heads of households, along with their families, held up cloths with the words "Repentance and Admitting Sins" still wet in ink, knelt in front of their doors, holding incense burners, and pleaded for forgiveness.

His family members, disheveled and kneeling on the bluestone street, slapped themselves and cried out, "We were blind and ignorant, we did not know God or the righteous army. Today we are willing to repent and change our ways!"

A Manchu deputy commander with a red belt around his waist took out his ancestral tablet and smashed it in front of the Taiping army. He grabbed the trouser legs of the Taiping soldiers and wept bitterly, claiming that he had long been a believer in the God Worshipping Society and that he had no choice but to serve the Qing Dynasty. He even cursed his own ancestors.

One Mongol commander even pushed his wife and daughters out the door, grinning shamelessly, and said, "My wife and daughters are quite beautiful. I am willing to offer them up to redeem my life."

The wives and concubines of these Eight Banner officers, who usually acted arrogantly and domineeringly, also removed their jewelry and silk clothes, and wore mourning clothes, saying that they were mourning for the grandmother of the "Heavenly King of Taiping" in order to seek a way to escape punishment.

Some Manchu women, after applying makeup, claimed they were willing to become maids, even abandoning their maiden names, and forcefully threw themselves into the arms of officers.

The absurd situations throughout the city were too numerous to mention.

The Manchu people of Jingzhou, who once considered themselves noble, are now as lowly as ants and dust, their dignity utterly lost, only seeking to eke out a living.

Peng Gang and Yang Xiuqing had given prior orders: the entire city must be captured, but the Manchus would not be spared. No matter how many times the Manchus kowtowed, shed a few tears, or how pragmatic they were, it would be useless.

The soldiers of the North and West Palaces searched and killed every living thing they could see in Jingzhou, house to house. The Manchus who were lowered down the city walls were also wiped out by the soldiers of the North and West Palaces who had been waiting outside the city for a long time.

Thus, none of the 4,000 Manchu bannermen stationed in Jingzhou, along with their 25,000 family members and servants, escaped.

After cleaning up Mancheng, Luo Dagang, Lu Qin, Lin Fengxiang, and others looted all the valuables in the city, loaded them onto ships, and then set fire to Mancheng in Jingzhou.

He then took the eight or nine thousand new recruits he had gathered in Jingzhou Prefecture and sailed down the river to Hanyang.

(End of this chapter)