1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 373 Nanxiang is one

In early July, Peng Yong led a detachment into Yunyang Prefecture in northwestern Hubei. After capturing Yunxian County, the capital of Yunyang Prefecture, and Yunxi County, he marched south, his forces heading straight for the four counties of Zhuxi, Zhushan, Fangxian, and Baokang in the south-central part of Yunyang Prefecture, to clean up the remaining battles in Hubei.

The main force of the Qing army in Hubei had already been wiped out in the Battle of Xiangfan.

Although Yunyang Prefecture was one of the best sources of soldiers in Hubei, the availability of such a source of soldiers did not necessarily mean that the Qing army troops in Yunyang Prefecture were highly capable in combat.

No matter how good the recruits are, if they are not properly trained, they are at best just ordinary young men who are better at fighting.

Furthermore, the Yunyang Garrison Green Standard Army was one of the earliest Green Standard Army units from Hubei to enter Guangxi to suppress the Taiping Rebellion. Its elite forces had already been decimated in Guangxi and Hunan by its predecessor, Zhou Fengqi, the commander-in-chief of the Yunyang Garrison. Only one or two out of ten returned.

When Peng Yong entered Yunyang Town, the Yunyang garrison he faced consisted mostly of the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled who remained behind, as well as newly recruited Green Standard Army soldiers who had recently been assigned to Yunyang Town.

These Yunyang garrison troops, facing more rigorous training, better equipment, and higher morale, were naturally no match for Peng Yong's six battalions of troops sent to conquer Yunyang North Palace, who had veterans leading new recruits.

Within the territory of Yunyang Prefecture, the Green Standard Army militia either surrendered or fled, having no intention of holding out at all.

The city of Yunyang Prefecture only held out for eight days before falling after Peng Yong used a siege tactic of burying explosives to breach a section of the city wall more than two zhang wide.

In just one month, Peng Yong swiftly occupied five counties within the territory of Yunyang Prefecture, a feat that can be described as sweeping across the entire region.

During the time that Peng Yong was campaigning in Yunyang Prefecture, Lu Qin, Xie Bin, Chen Miao and others were not idle. They kept sending out scouts and intelligence agents to infiltrate Nanyang Prefecture, north of Xiangyang Prefecture, to spy on the enemy and gather intelligence on southwestern Henan.

The sudden appearance of the short-haired guerrillas in Henan Province caused widespread panic among the Qing government's Henan authorities, even more so than when the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Wei Changhui and Lin Fengxiang passed through Henan.

Officials in Henan were also aware that the Taiping Rebellion's Northern Expeditionary Army was merely passing through and had no intention of staying.

The short-haired tribe is different; they will stay in a city once they take it.

Last year, Lu Yinggu, the governor of Henan, fought against the Northern Expeditionary Army led by Wei Changhui, Lin Fengxiang, and Li Kaifang in Huaiqing Prefecture and other places in Henan in order to prevent the Taiping Army from advancing north. He was not completely ignorant of military affairs.

Shorthair scouts appeared in southwestern Henan. Lu Yinggu predicted that after the battles in Xiangyang and Yunyang, the Shorthair would move north to Henan.

Lu Yinggu was extremely anxious about this.

The Qing government's defenses in Henan were also not optimistic.

Two years ago, when Imperial Commissioner Sai Shang'a traveled south through Henan, he dispatched some of the Henan Green Standard Army militia to join forces with the Shaanxi-Gansu troops to fight in Hunan.

In particular, the Henan soldiers under Wang Lin, the general of Hebei Town in Henan, were almost entirely drawn away by Sai Shang'a. In the Battle of Changsha, Sai Shang'a even sent the Henan battalion of Hebei Town to the Shaanxi-Gansu Green Standard Army as cannon fodder, wiping them out completely.

As for those who were not transferred by Saishang'a and remained to guard the camp in Nanyang Town, Henan.

They either perished in last year's battle to stop the Taiping Rebellion's northward advance, or this year they were successively transferred by Senggelinqin and others to Zhili to defend the emperor.

To put it nicely, they were loyal to the emperor; to put it bluntly, they were cannon fodder for Senggelinqin's Mongol cavalry.

The period during which Henan organized local militias was relatively short. The Qing government focused its efforts on organizing militias in provinces along the Yangtze River, such as Hunan, Jiangxi, Hubei, and Anhui, and provided very little support to the Henan militias. Furthermore, the Henan governor, Lu Yinggu, had extremely limited military resources at his disposal.

Lu Yinggu strictly ordered Qiu Lian'en, the general of Nanyang Town in Henan, to stop associating with Yuan Jiasan, Zhang Guoliang and others in suppressing the Nian bandits in Runing Prefecture and Guangzhou, and to stop using the Nian bandits for training and military merit. He ordered Qiu to immediately concentrate the troops of Nanyang Town to protect the vital Nanyang in southwestern Henan and prevent the Nian bandits from advancing north.

General Qiu Lian'en of Nanyang Town also heeded Lu Yinggu's advice, distinguished between priorities, and quickly transferred troops from Nanyang Town in Henan back to Nanyang to reinforce the defenses of Nanyang.

At the same time, Lu Yinggu was well aware that the old, weak, sick and disabled people left behind in Henan could not stop the fierce short-haired army. He sent an urgent message to the capital, stating that the short-haired rebels intended to march north and pleading with the court to send reinforcements to Henan as soon as possible.

Upon receiving the urgent message from Lu Yinggu, the governor of Henan, Emperor Xianfeng appeared somewhat hesitant.

Didn't Su Shun say with absolute certainty that the Short-haired Rebels wouldn't head north? But judging from the urgent message Lu Yinggu sent from Henan, the Short-haired Rebels seem poised to head north.

Unable to make a decision, Emperor Xianfeng summoned Sushun and asked him directly for clarification.

Su Shun still insisted on his judgment, firmly believing that the short-haired Mao had no intention of fleeing north to the capital, and advised Emperor Xianfeng that the short-haired Mao's rebelliousness was not the same as the long-haired Mao's.

Unless most of the field troops near the capital are sent to Henan, sending a few thousand troops to reinforce Henan will be of no use. Not only will it not stop the short-haired rebels, but it may also bury these precious field troops of the Qing Dynasty in Henan.

Instead of dwelling on the gains and losses in Henan, we should concentrate our efforts on dealing with the rebellious Taiping rebels in the eastern suburbs of the capital.

Emperor Xianfeng hesitated for a long time, but finally adopted Su Shun's suggestion. He only ordered Lu Yinggu, the governor of Henan, to guard Henan strictly and not to send troops to Henan.

With the two prefectures of Xiangyang and Yunyang secured, Lu Qin, Xie Bin, Zhang Ze, Chen Miao, Peng Yong, and others discussed whether to send troops to Nanyang.

"Before setting out for Xiangfan, His Highness instructed us that after capturing Xiangyang and Yunyang, whether to head north to Nanyang would depend on the specific situation," Lu Qin said.

"Although the Green Standard Army of Nanyang Town has recently sent reinforcements to Nanyang City to strengthen its defenses, in terms of the current situation, we are still stronger than the enemy."

Lu Qin believed that although the Qing troops in Nanyang Town were constantly rushing to Nanyang from Runing Prefecture, Guangzhou, and even Xiangcheng in the rear, the Qing troops in Nanyang Prefecture were still relatively weak in general.

There were two Green Standard Army (BSA) towns in Henan: one was the Hebei Town BSA, and the other was the Henan Town BSA.

The Hebei Garrison Green Standard Army is now defunct in name only. The Henan Garrison Green Standard Army suffered heavy losses last year while defending against the Northern Expeditionary Army. With the capital in dire straits, it is inevitable that some Henan Garrison Green Standard Army troops will be transferred to Zhili to fight.

Based on this, Lu Qin and others concluded that the Qing army forces remaining in Henan were very limited.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have made no move when attacking Xiangyang and Yunyang.

After the battles in Xiangyang and Yunyang ended, they could muster at least two and a half regiments to attack Nanyang.

"Our army has not been bogged down in a prolonged battle in Xiangyang and Yunyang prefectures. The ammunition consumption is not high and the casualties are relatively small. At present, our army has won one battle after another and the morale is high. The Qing army in Henan is short of troops and the morale is low. I agree with Marshal Lu's point of view. Nanyang can be attacked," Chen Miao seconded.

Chen Miao also felt that because the battle of Xiangfan was not a long and drawn-out war, the intensity of the battle was not very high, the consumption of ammunition was not large, and the loss of personnel was relatively small.

With the ammunition they brought, along with the ammunition captured in Xiangyang and Yunyang prefectures, and given the current grain reserves in Xiangfan and Fancheng, they are fully capable of heading north to Nanyang and engaging in another major battle with the Qing army in Henan.

Weakening the Qing army's strength in Henan will greatly reduce the defensive pressure on Xiangfan.

“Nanyang is adjacent to Xiangyang and can serve as a buffer for Xiangyang. If we can take Nanyang, we can push the battle line northward, directly into Henan Province, which would be the best outcome.” As Xie Bin spoke, he turned his head to look at Peng Yong.

"Your Majesty, you were the last among us to leave Wuchang. When you left Wuchang, did His Highness specifically mention Nanyang to you?"

Taking the Nanyang Basin could provide Xiangyang with a greater strategic buffer, and Xie Bin was also inclined to attack Nanyang.

If the Nanyang Basin existed, even if Wei Changhui and Lin Fengxiang failed in their Northern Expedition, the Qing army in the north would be able to free up resources to move south.

At that time, the front-line battlefield will be in Nanyang, not Xiangyang, so they can focus on managing Xiangyang as a rear base to support the war effort at the front.

Nanyang and Xiangyang are geographically located in the Nanyang Basin, and have close cultural, linguistic, and economic ties. Rivers originating from the mountains surrounding the Nanyang Basin, such as the Tang River, Bai River, and Dan River, eventually flow into tributaries of the Han River in the center of the basin, rather than the main water system flowing outward into Henan Province.

However, since the establishment of provinces in the Yuan Dynasty, the Nanxiang Basin has been deliberately divided into two parts, belonging to two different provincial-level administrative regions: Henan and Hubei.

There are two main principles governing China's provincial-level administrative divisions. One is based on geographical features and terrain.

This means dividing boundaries according to natural geographical units such as mountains and rivers. Most of the administrative divisions in the Tang Dynasty were based on this principle.

The biggest advantage of using this principle for administrative division is low management costs and high administrative efficiency within the division.

The disadvantages are also obvious: relatively independent and complete geographical administrative units are prone to the formation of local separatist forces.

The second is interlocking like canines.

This means that administrative divisions break down natural geographical boundaries, allowing the boundary of one administrative region to be inserted into another geographical unit, creating a situation where each is intertwined with the other, and there is mutual checks and balances. The provincial system since the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties has basically followed this core principle.

The division between the Hanzhong Basin and Xuzhou is a typical example.

Geographically and culturally, the Hanzhong Basin belongs to the Sichuan Basin system, but it has been under the jurisdiction of Shaanxi since the Yuan Dynasty.

Thus, the northern gateways of Sichuan, such as Jianmen Pass, no longer belonged entirely to Sichuan. The central government could directly control Sichuan from Shaanxi, making it much more difficult to bring chaos to Sichuan before the rest of the country was in turmoil, and to bring order to Sichuan only after the rest of the country had been brought to order.

Xuzhou is geographically located in the Huanghuai Plain, but it has long been part of Jiangsu Province, like a dagger inserted between Shandong, Henan, and Anhui. Therefore, Xuzhou is a strategically important location at the crossroads of five provinces, and controlling Xuzhou would give a strong hold on the entire East China region.

The same principle applies to the division of the Southern Xiangyang Basin. If only Xiangyang is taken and not Nanyang, the Qing government could use Nanyang in Henan to control the waterways of the Han River tributaries, thus strategically restricting Xiangyang and even Hubei Province. This is equivalent to controlling a tap leading into Hubei.

The Nanxiang Plain was a key point for the exchange of boats from the south and horses from the north.

Limited by natural geographical conditions, the Northern Palace Navy's advantage in the Nanxiang Plain is no longer as great as it is in Changsha, Jingzhou, Wuhan, and Jiujiang.

On the contrary, the disadvantages of the Northern Palace cavalry will be magnified.

If the Northern Expeditionary Army's expedition fails and is hastily concluded, the Qing army in the north will be able to free up its forces. At that time, the Qing army can station troops in Nanyang, and the Qing cavalry can advance unimpeded, frequently raiding southwards and even attacking cities within the territory of Xiangyang Prefecture.

If Nanyang Prefecture were in the hands of the Northern Palace, the situation would be completely different.

The basin is surrounded by the Funiu Mountains, Tongbai Mountains, Dahong Mountains, Wudang Mountains and other mountain ranges, forming a clear and closed geographical unit.

Only at the gap between the Funiu Mountains, Waifang Mountains, and Tongbai Mountains in the northeast corner is a strategic passage connecting the Central Plains and the Jianghan Plain: the Nanxiang Pass (also known as the Nanyang Corridor).

By occupying Nanyang to resist the Qing army, the Northern Palace only needed to garrison a few key passes such as Luyang Pass to relatively easily block most of the southward-bound Qing army from entering the Nanyang Basin.

Even if a small number of Qing troops crossed the mountains and infiltrated the Nanyang Basin to harass the area, without establishing reliable transportation and logistics lines, these small groups of Qing troops would not amount to much and would not pose a significant threat.

Guarding a few passes is far more difficult and costly than guarding the entire plain and setting up defenses everywhere.

Xie Bin believes that if Peng Gang were to personally lead the expedition, he would certainly not hesitate to send troops north to Nanyang under such circumstances.

However, Xie Bin, being from the pro-independence camp, inevitably picked up some of the bad habits of pro-independence officers who were unwilling to take the lead or take responsibility.

Without Peng Gang's explicit instructions to send troops to Nanyang, Xie Bin was unwilling to shoulder the greatest responsibility for sending troops to Nanyang alone and hoped to involve Peng Yong.

Although Peng Yong is still the deputy regimental commander for the time being, he has the special status of being a national leader.

By involving Peng Yong, even if Peng Gang blames him later, the punishment will be lenient considering Peng Yong's involvement.

"His Highness only ordered me to attack Yunyang Prefecture. If you all want to attack Nanyang, I will follow your arrangements and am willing to be the vanguard," Peng Yong stated.

Peng Yong had contact with several former regimental commanders and deputy regimental commanders.

Compared to senior officers from the first and second terms of military service who had relatively clean backgrounds before joining the army, senior officers like Xie Bin, who came from the Green Camp, tend to be more cunning.

Peng Yong knew that Xie Bin was only asking him, a deputy regimental commander, for his opinion in order to drag him into the mess and share the responsibility of sending troops to Nanyang.

Based on the intelligence gathered so far, Nanyang's defenses are indeed quite weak, making it an easy target.

The high-ranking officers of the Northern Palace present also overwhelmingly supported attacking Nanyang. He couldn't afford to be timid or vague.

Furthermore, major battles are rare, and Peng Yong, being relatively inexperienced, also hopes to prove himself through more real-world combat experience.

“It will take some time to advance from Xiangfan to Nanyang. While we are sending our troops, we can also send a joint letter to His Highness. If His Highness does not approve of sending troops to Nanyang, we can withdraw our troops then,” Zhang Ze said.

Zhang Ze was even more meticulous and thoughtful. Long before Lu Qin, Xie Bin, and others dispatched scouts north to Nanyang to investigate, he had already sent a letter and telegram to Peng Gang. However, due to other reasons, Zhang Ze couldn't tell them. Perhaps before even reaching Nanyang territory, they would receive Peng Gang's orders.

The senior military officers in the North Hall of the Xiangyang City Government Office thought Zhang Ze's words made sense, and jointly wrote to Peng Gang, requesting instructions to attack Nanyang.

The troops brought by Peng Yong were the ones who conquered Yunyang Prefecture. The Northern Palace Army stationed in Xiangfan was already resting and ready to be deployed at any time.

After requisitioning some small boats and donkeys to transport grain and military supplies, Xie Bin, Chen Miao, Peng Yong, and others selected ten battalions to travel north along the Tangbai River, a tributary of the Han River.

The Tangbai River is well navigable because it is fed by the Tanghe and Baihe Rivers.

The Baihe River, which flows through Nanyang City, is navigable by boats on the Han and Mian Rivers. Downstream to Xiangyang in Hubei Province, wooden boats with a carrying capacity of over ten tons can pass through, and navigation conditions are still acceptable during the flood season.

The Tang River is narrow and shallow, with a rapid current, making navigation difficult. Even during the flood season, navigation conditions in the middle and lower reaches are not very good, and only small boats can pass. Furthermore, some sections of the river are extremely narrow, requiring a sufficient number of boatmen to pull the boats along.

This was within the expectations of Xie Bin, Chen Miao, Peng Yong, and others.

The Qing government neglected to dredge the Han River, let alone the Tang River and the Bai River.

Passing the confluence of the Tanghe and Baihe rivers, Xie Bin, Chen Miao, Peng Yong, and others split up according to the established plan.

Chen Miao led three battalions upstream along the Tang River to capture Tanghe County and Biyang County.

Xie Bin and Peng Yong will lead the main force of seven battalions, and after taking Xinye County and Dengzhou City and removing the southern barrier of Nanyang, they will take Nanyang Prefecture City.

Perhaps due to insufficient troops in Henan, both armies made good progress.

The Qing army not only deployed troops to defend the border area between Xiangyang and Nanyang, but also left the county towns of Xinye, Dengzhou, and Tangxian undefended.

Less than six days after leaving Xiangfan, Xie Bin, Chen Miao, Peng Yong and others successfully captured Xinye County, Dengzhou Prefecture, and Tang County.

The progress has been so smooth that it would be more accurate to describe it as a takeover rather than a conquest.

As for Biyang County, located west of Tang County, on the banks of the Bi River, a tributary of the Tang River.

Wei Changhui and others attacked this city during their Northern Expedition. The city was in ruins, and it was only a matter of time before they took it.

(End of this chapter)