1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 45 Sneak Attack
"Apo ate goose, Buddha drank chicken. Coke, Poqi Ristel."
"What utter nonsense! These charcoal burners are still chanting incantations so late at night!"

After lying in wait for three hours, Nong Guangzong gradually lost patience. He took an arrow from the empty quiver, where the rust on the bottom of the quiver was visible, and nocked it on his small bow.

The charcoal burners in Honglianping are really weird. During the day, instead of burning charcoal properly, they just stand around in the charcoal burning yard with a gun in their hands.

They finally waited until sunset, then damn it, they closed the door and gathered together, chanting incantations over and over again, making it impossible to find a chance to strike.

“I’ve endured three hours already, what’s a little more time?” Zhang Zhao remained calm.

The charcoal burning area was surrounded by rammed earth walls about ten feet high. The gates on the east and west sides were made of several heavy and sturdy hardwoods, layered and twisted like armor, impervious to axes and arrows. Behind the gates was a simple guard tower for surveillance and observation of the surrounding area.

Zhang Zhao's years of experience as a bandit told him that the charcoal burners in Honglianping were no ordinary charcoal burners; they were very wary.

Under such circumstances, a direct assault is not a good strategy. It would be better to wait until they are asleep and then launch a surprise attack under the cover of night to minimize casualties.

Zhang Zhao had two archers by his side, Nong Guangzong and Nong Yaozu, brothers who were hunters.

Although Nong Yaozu lost his bow and arrows during his breakout, Nong Guangzong had all of them.

With Nong Guangzong around, it wouldn't be difficult for them to sneak up to the edge of the charcoal burning area and take out the enemy's sentry with a single arrow without anyone noticing.

After about an hour, the charcoal burning area gradually quieted down. Zhang Zhao felt that the time was right, so he gave Nong Guangzong a wink, signaling him to use his bow and arrow to take out the charcoal burners' sentries.

Nong Guangzong understood and cautiously approached the sentry post.

Nong Guangzong walked very carefully, watching his step at all times, but he still almost stepped on a string of bamboo sticks. He moved his foot away and couldn't help but curse inwardly.

"A bunch of stinking charcoal burners! They tricked me with bamboo skewers! Wait till I storm the charcoal yard and use those skewers to pry open your fingernails!"

Having narrowly escaped danger, Nong Guangzong reached within twenty-four or twenty-five steps of the watchtower. He stopped in place, arched his back, tucked his shoulders in, and pulled his thumbs to the bowstring. He raised both palms to hold the arrowheads, the bowstring pressed against his face as if kissing him. Holding his breath and concentrating, he completed the release with fluid and graceful movements.

A sudden gust of night wind arose, and the arrow had already left the bowstring.

Although Nong Guangzong had been starving for many days and it was difficult for him to draw his bow fully, he had been using a bow and arrow for more than ten years. At a distance of twenty-four or twenty-five paces, he was not far from missing the target, but his shot was slightly off-target.

The arrow was aimed at the other person's heart, but it struck their shoulder instead.

The sentry in charge of night duty at the East Gate guard post tonight is Hu Daniu.

Before Hu Daniu could recover from being shot, he let out a muffled cry, lost his balance, and fell from the 1.5-foot-high guard tower, causing quite a commotion.

Lu Wanli, who was on guard duty, thought that Hu Daniu had fallen from the watchtower because he couldn't hold on any longer, so he rushed over to check on him.

Upon seeing an arrow stuck in Hu Daniu's shoulder and hearing him repeatedly mutter the words "thief" and "enemy attack," Lu Wanli was stunned with disbelief. After realizing what was happening, Lu Wanli's trembling hands grabbed the gong and began to beat it frantically.

Suddenly, the loud and urgent clanging of gongs echoed throughout the mountain area, breaking the tranquility of Honglianping.

After two months of torment.

I can't count how many times I was scolded, or how many times I was hit with a bamboo stick.

The young men in the Honglianping coal yard had developed a conditioned reflex to the sound of the gong; they grabbed their rifles and ran to Peng Gang's house to line up and assemble.

Awakened by the gong, Peng Gang grabbed his musket and medicine bag, and without even putting on a piece of clothing, rushed out of the house shirtless to the stove to light the fire rope.

Just as the fuse was lit, Peng Gang clearly heard the shrill screams of those who had won the lottery and were stepping on the caltrops outside the East Gate.

Needless to say, thieves have broken into the mountain area.

When the gong first sounded, the young men were able to instinctively assemble and line up.

They could sense that thieves were attacking the charcoal factory, and the young men were suddenly filled with fear, turning pale with fright.

Without the baptism of blood and fire, their true nature remains that of ordinary civilians, lacking the courage of soldiers. Some things can only be understood and truly transformed through personal experience; they cannot be taught through words or deeds.

Even Peng Gang had never experienced such a scene.

To say that he wasn't afraid at all when an unknown number of bandits came to his door is definitely self-deception.

"Carpenter Qin! Blacksmith Wu! You damn well better carry our mountain-guarding cannon to the east gate!"

There wasn't much time for Peng Gang to hesitate or think; he quickly took command and made arrangements.

"Everyone else, grab your guns and follow me!"

As for the aunts and Wei Changgong's family, who were wandering around like headless flies in the twilight, trying to escape the charcoal burning plant with their children and hide in the mountains to escape for their lives, Peng Gang had no time to care about them.

As long as the two groups of young men haven't broken up, there's still hope.

When Peng Gang rushed to the east gate with his musket, two agile thieves had already scaled the wall and entered, attempting to open the gate from the inside.

Startled, Lu Wanli stood frozen near the East Gate, repeatedly ringing the gong. He instinctively tried to escape but was shot down by Nong Guangzong, who had climbed over the wall.

Peng Gang picked up his musket and fired at Nong Guangzong, who was nocking an arrow five or six steps away, and gave the order.

"Thrust—!"

The command to thrust the spearhead forward and enter a combat readiness state is called "Thrust the spear."

The command "suddenly raise your gun" is more commonly used by the Northern Green Camp, while the Southern Green Camp prefers to shout "show your teeth," which is a metaphor for the gun tip being exposed like an animal's teeth.

The roar of muskets, accompanied by Peng Gang's roaring command, echoed throughout Honglianping.

Nong Guangzong, shot in the chest, collapsed instantly, blood gushing from the coin-sized hole in his chest.

After a brief moment of shock and panic, the trembling young men mechanically moved their right thumbs forward three inches, gripped the middle of the gun barrel, and pointed the gun tip at the gate.

However, the gun tips were uneven, and the standard requirement taught to them during training—that the gun tips should not be higher than their eyebrows and not lower than their hearts—had long been forgotten by them.

"These charcoal burners have firearms!"

A sudden, thunderous gunshot from inside the charcoal burning yard greatly startled the thieves outside the door.

The thieves were momentarily stunned when they heard the gunshot.

They hadn't expected that this group of charcoal burners from Lianhuaping would have firearms. Judging from the sound, they seemed to be standard-issue matchlock guns used by the Green Standard Army, not homemade guns used by civilians.

There are two bird guns in Honglianping, both of which Peng Gang obtained from Xie Bin.

Peng Gang used one club himself, while his other club was given to his uncle, Xiao Guoda.

Xiao Guoda hurriedly finished loading the gun, pointed the muzzle at Nong Yaozu who had run to the east gate bolt, gripped the breechblock, but the musket in his hand did not react.

Oh no! In the panic, I forgot to light the fuse!

However, it was too late to light the fuse. Ignoring the grief of his older brother being shot to death, Nong Yaozu seized the opportunity, gritted his teeth, and pulled off the bolt with all his might.

The latch was removed.

Led by Zhang Zhao, more than twenty remnants of the Heaven and Earth Society, who had been waiting for their turn behind the door, surged into the charcoal burning area like a flood bursting its banks.

(End of this chapter)