1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 47 Cutting out the roots
Peng Gang and Zhang Zhao had met once.

Zhang Zhao is a bastard.

It was the product of a one-night stand between a Chinese pirate who roamed the Guangdong coast during the Jiaqing era and a Western prostitute in Macau, a mixed-race offspring of Chinese and foreigners.

Zhang Zhao has a distinctive appearance, with brown braids that make him easily identifiable.

Peng Gang examined all the bandits' bodies one by one and confirmed that Zhang Zhao was not among them and was still alive.

This is not good news.

Thirty-six old bandits from Zhang Zhao's Heaven and Earth Society boatmen.

One of them was stabbed to death as he rushed through the gate.

Peng Gang killed an archer and a musketeer, Huang Dabiao stabbed one to death, and Xiao Guoda killed one with a musket.

Four people were injured by bamboo skewers in the pits before and after being shot.

In the end, six were killed or wounded by a single blast.

A total of sixteen of Zhang Zhao's old bandits were killed. Although there was an element of luck involved, it was still a very impressive achievement.

Our own casualties were also considerable.

Lu Qian, the deputy leader of Group One, was shot in the chest and is now hanging on by a thread; there's a high chance he won't survive.

Lu Wanli, a sentry at the East Gate, was shot in the forehead by an arrow from a bandit archer and died on the spot.

Three others were killed by the bandits' musketeers.

Two others were injured.

Lan Guisheng, a young man from the Zhuang ethnic group in the second group, suffered a graze injury to his left arm from a lead bullet. With careful care of the wound, he is expected to recover without major complications.

Hu Daniu, the sentry at the east gate of the second group, was shot in the right shoulder with an arrow. The injury was neither serious nor minor.

Of the twenty-four young men, five were killed in the battle, including the deputy leader.

Such a huge loss was heartbreaking for Peng Gang.

Despite not being related by blood, Peng Gang had poured all his heart and soul into spending three months with these young men, and he had long regarded them as his own children.

The packages carried by these old bandits were heavy, probably containing a lot of gold, silver and valuables.

At this moment, Peng Gang had no intention of inventorying the gold and silver valuables. He simply instructed Peng Yi and Peng Min to temporarily pack up the gold and silver valuables they had found.

"The bandits confessed that Zhang Zhao was a vengeful person."

Within a radius of thirty or forty miles, besides our charcoal burning site, only Shangdongtang can provide a large quantity of grain and salt.

They won't let this go easily.

Suppressing his grief, Peng Gang calmly analyzed their current situation.

Zhang Zhao's team included an old bandit from Pingzaishan who was very familiar with the situation there.

They must know that Xie Bin from Shangdongtang is not someone to be trifled with.

When they arrived, none of the thirty-six old bandits dared to attack Shangdongtang. Now that only twenty remain, it is even less likely that they would choose to travel all night to turn back and attack Shangdongtang.

The Honglianping charcoal burning plantation remains their primary target.

The number of people still capable of fighting at the Honglianping charcoal burning site is roughly the same as the number of remnants of Zhang Zhao's bandits.

Defending the charcoal burning plantation using the terrain advantage was already a stretch; to think of launching an attack to annihilate them was wishful thinking.

“We have three wooden cannons, one on the east and one on the west, and the remaining one is aimed at the mountaintop to prevent them from coming down from the mountaintop to attack us and ensure the safety of our charcoal burning plant.”

Xiao Guoda, who had just achieved a great start, showed no discomfort or lingering fear. On the contrary, he was unusually excited, as if something deep within him had been activated.

This was not the first time Xiao Guoda had killed someone. Due to the pressure of survival, Xiao Guoda had participated in more than a dozen Hakka-Tumen armed conflicts, either voluntarily or involuntarily.

With three lives on his hands, Xiao Guoda couldn't remember how many people he had injured in the brawls.

"To ensure the safety of the charcoal burning plantation, we must eliminate Zhang Zhao and the remaining old bandits." Peng Gang summoned several adults from the charcoal burning plantation to discuss the matter.

Apart from Wu the blacksmith, who had long since disappeared from the charcoal burning area, all the other adults were still inside. Peng Gang not only managed the mountain area meticulously, but his composure and skill in dealing with the enemy, his perfect aim, and his heroic performance in killing two old bandits in succession were also evident to all.

Although Peng Gang was only seventeen years old, no one looked down on him as a mere kid anymore, and they all listened attentively to his speech and arrangements.

"Uncle, Uncle Qin, do you know how to get to Shangdongtang? While the remaining bandits are all near the East Gate, you can go out from the West Gate and take a detour to Shangdongtang to ask Xie Waiwei for assistance."

Tell Xie Waiwei that I'm giving him a bright future. Zhang Zhao and his five old bandits are stuck in Honglianping. Whether they can seize this opportunity and get a proper seventh-rank officer's hat depends on whether they have the guts to come and claim it.

Xie Bin was willing to give up 10% of the mountain farm's dry shares to help him deal with the nearby semi-civilian, semi-bandit mountain households in exchange for a 60% discount on charcoal, so he seemed like a trustworthy person.

But this time they were facing the old bandits under Zhang Zhao's command of the Heaven and Earth Society's boat army, whose fighting strength was far beyond what the half-civilian, half-bandit mountain dwellers could match.

Xie Bin's Shangdongtang only had eleven soldiers. They told Xie Bin the truth: there were twenty old bandits in Honglianping. Xie Bin might not necessarily risk his life for them.

"understood."

Xiao Guoda and Qin the carpenter were not fools; they understood Peng Gang's intention in underreporting the number of bandits.

However, there was still one thing Xiao Guoda didn't understand. He fiddled with the musket he had seized from Zhang Zhao's old bandit, opened the medicine pouch at the curved handle, and glanced at the almost empty medicine pouch.

“Zhang Zhao and his old bandits are short of food and ammunition. The food in our charcoal kiln can last for half a month, and we don’t lack gunpowder or lead. Even if we just wear them down, we can wear them down.”

"Now that we've worn them down, do you think they'll give up?" Peng Gang shook his head and said.

"Zhang Zhao will come back for revenge sooner or later. Only by completely eliminating them and cutting off the roots can Honglianping live in peace."

"Understood, I'll go!" Having figured out the key points, Xiao Guoda didn't hesitate and swapped the wood-chopping knife on Xiao Guoying's body for the bird gun in his hand.

“I’m going to deliver a message. The musket needs a matchlock to work, and carrying it would easily expose me and attract thieves. I’ll use my brother’s machete instead.”

Zhang Ze, standing on the west gate watchtower, carefully observed the surroundings and, after confirming that no one was near the west gate, opened it to let Xiao Guoda and Qin the carpenter out of the charcoal burning area.

Meanwhile, Yang Heng, who had narrowly escaped death, gritted his teeth and endured the pain as he pulled out the bamboo skewer embedded in the sole of his foot. With lingering fear, he analyzed, "Could Honglianping be a charcoal burning plant run by Chen Xingwang and Xie Bin? And are there garrison troops stationed here?"

Only this explanation can make sense of why these charcoal burners in Honglianping not only had muskets, but also cannons.

Regardless of whether Yang Heng's analysis was right or wrong, the loss of fourteen old brothers in one battle and the huge loss made Zhang Zhao hate the charcoal burners or Green Standard Army guards in the Honglianping charcoal burning plantation with a vengeance.

These people are his old brothers who have followed him for many years. Many of them are old brothers who followed him in Guangzhou in the early days, not new brothers who just joined the group after drinking incense ash and wine.

Zhang Zhao could not swallow this insult no matter what.

Furthermore, they are starving and must find a way to get something to eat.

Damn it!
Once I storm the charcoal kiln, I'll chop off your heads to honor my fallen brothers, and dig out your hearts and livers to eat with my wine!
"I should have known better than to provoke those charcoal burners."

"Who knew that this bunch of charcoal burners not only had muskets, but also cannons!"

"If I had known this would happen, I would have attacked Shangdongtang directly on the way here."

"Is Xie Bin from Shangdongtang easy to mess with? Two years ago, Wang Ermazi and his gang were wiped out by Xie Bin."

"Wang Ermazi? That bastard isn't even worthy of carrying our shoes!"

"What's the point of making sarcastic remarks now that it's hindsight?"

After this crushing defeat, the morale of Zhang Zhao's old bandits plummeted, and they began to blame and argue with each other.

"How about we just break up? I want to go back to Qianjiang and continue my fishing business."

Disheartened and seeing no way out, Shi Huwei began to consider quitting and even suggested disbanding the group.

The words "break up" triggered Zhang Zhao's nerves. He drew his goose-feather knife from his waist and held it to Shi Huwei's neck: "Don't forget the oath we made before Lord Guan, and don't forget who brought you the gold and silver in your bags! If anyone mentions breaking up again, don't blame me, Old Zhang, for being ruthless and showing no brotherly affection."

"Big brother, I'll listen to you! How should we fight?" Nong Yaozu's eyes were full of ferocity.

He grew up with his older brother, who had always protected him, but his brother was shot dead by a shirtless man. He remembered the man's face and vowed to skin him alive to avenge his brother.

Filled with hatred for the murder of his brother, Nong Yaozu, who hadn't had a proper meal for over half a month, surprisingly didn't feel so hungry.

Zhang Zhao, who was furious, quickly calmed down. He stared at the charcoal burning site, and after a moment, he scanned his surroundings to observe the situation.

After pondering for a while, he suddenly felt enlightened and had an idea.

(End of this chapter)