Great Qing Dynasty talker

Chapter 373 Qianlong: All the people in Jiangsu are rebellious! They all deserve to be killed!
After the gunman joined,

At least the Qing army gunners did not dare to stick their heads out and aim recklessly, for fear of having their faces hit by iron sand.

On the battlefield,
A dragon roared,
The heavy artillery finally opened fire.

The 320-pound artillery shell whizzed and hit the Anqing city wall.

It was visible to the naked eye that a large area below the battlement collapsed, and more than a dozen Qing soldiers fell into the city.

An irregular gap appeared in the city wall, 3 meters wide and 2 meters high.

The Wu army cheered collectively.

The gunners nervously reloaded, first breaking open the powder bag and pouring out half a pound of gunpowder.

Then continue bombarding at the original angle and position.

It is worth noting that

The latest siege artillery has a fixed firing angle.

The gun barrel and the gun carriage are a whole.

It is a nightmare to temporarily adjust the angle of such a huge thing, so it is better not to adjust it and make it into an iron lump.

……

A special spoon will reduce half a pound of gunpowder for every flat spoonful of gunpowder scooped out, and the corresponding landing point of the shell will be a little lower.

The intervals between reloading the heavy artillery were unbearable.

Mingliang quietly left the city wall and asked the people in the city to prepare knife-carrying vehicles and chevaux de frise to block the gap.

The second shell arrived as expected.

Like a train crashing into the gap below.

Broken bricks and tiles flew everywhere, and smoke and dust billowed.

The Anqing city wall was broken! A trapezoidal gap with a width of 4 feet at the bottom and 11 feet at the top was shocking.

"Deputy Commander, are you going?"

"No, wait a minute."

It was Zheng Hean's first time to command the battlefield alone, and he was surprisingly calm.

The art of war says that if the enemy's force is 10 times greater than yours, you should besiege the city.

Your own military strength may be even smaller than that of the Qing army in Anqing, so you must remain calm.

The ancients surrounded three and lacked one.

I am surrounded by one thing and missing three.

The goal was to disperse the Qing army and capture Anqing as a stronghold in Jiangbei, rather than enter the city and engage in street fighting and attrition.

Landing in Jiangbei,

The two sides will surely engage in a fierce battle with the largest scale of troops in history. But the time is not now, and the place is not in Anqing, but in the Huaiyang area.

……

The third shell expanded the results of the battle.

The Anqing city wall is like a person who has lost a tooth, and the surrounding teeth also lose their support.

The gap doubled.

After that, the heavy artillery fell silent.

One is to cool down the situation, and the other is that Zheng Hean has other plans.

Under the scorching sun,
The Wu army lined up in neat battle array and began to approach the city wall.

The Qing army concentrated all their musketeers on this side of the city wall.

They engaged in a crazy shooting match with the Wu army.

Zheng Hean gathered all his guns, up to 600~
Both sides were ruthless and fought to the death.

Casualties soared dramatically.

Suddenly, three trench bridges lined up and rushed towards the city wall.

The Qing army was no stranger to this siege weapon specifically used to cross the moat.

"Quick, blow them up."

The Eight Banners soldiers supervising the battle on the city wall roared at the top of their lungs.

……

The Qing troops in the city carried chevaux de frise to block the gaps in the city wall.

Multiple sections of chevaux de frise were connected with hemp ropes to prevent the Wu army from breaking through the gap.

at this time,

The long-silent heavy artillery once again showed its power.
The amount of gunpowder was reduced by half a pound again.

The shell weighing 320 kilograms hit the bricks and rubble, bouncing forward.

On the path, walls collapsed and houses fell down, and the chevaux de frise were blown away like pieces of paper.

There happened to be a group of Qing soldiers pushing a door-blocking knife cart, and they didn't have time to dodge.
A horrible red meat paste was left on the ground, and everyone's psychological defenses collapsed.

Someone shouted and everyone dropped their weapons and ran away.

……

Wu Jun used a push rod to lift up the other half of the bridge deck that was folded on the trench bridge, and its length instantly doubled.

then,

Rushed into the moat fiercely.

The length is just right, and the moat is no longer an insurmountable obstacle.

3 trench bridges, 2 perfect!
Another one failed to achieve its goal and unfortunately fell down on the way to the charge.

Zheng Hean glanced at Yang Yuchun:

"Xiao Chunzi, cheer up and don't embarrass our Second Army."

Yang Yuchun put down his mask and raised his long knife:

"kill!"

The armored battalion led the charge, followed closely by two musket battalions.

Zheng Hean didn't move. As a commander he needed to stay calm.

After a while,
The armored battalion rushed into the gap by walking on the trench bridge.

There were no Qing troops blocking them nearby, so they all escaped.

Yang Yuchun's armored battalion is fully armed with sophisticated plate armor, chain mail gloves, and hollow iron masks.

……

A group of Eight Banners cavalrymen reined in their horses and drew their bows and arrows.

According to the Qing army's system, there were three quick arrows on the outside of the quiver for the knight to use quickly in an emergency.

The main arrows are 9 plum needle arrows.

The armored soldiers were not afraid at all and charged towards the rain of arrows.

The arrows hitting the armor made a crisp sound, like elegant music.

6 consecutive waves of arrows,

The Eight Banners soldiers collapsed, thinking that they had encountered some kind of monster.

The leader shouted:
"Withdraw~"

Everyone fled as if they had been pardoned.

If you don't run away, you will be stabbed off your horse by the spears in the hands of those tin can guys.

……

Mingliang kept receiving bad news, and sweat was pouring down like a waterfall.

"Master, Master, what should I do?"

He suddenly shuddered:
"Retreat, everyone, retreat from the east gate and conserve your strength."

Since the coach said so, the subordinates naturally followed his instructions.

The Wu army surrounded one side and left three sides open, so escaping through the East Gate was naturally possible.

The cavalry took the lead, and the infantry followed closely.

Since they were running for their lives, they naturally tried to pack as light as possible. They threw away the heavy matchlock guns, the swords and spears that got in the way, and the straw hats that affected their vision.

Developed to the end,
Yue Xiong also threw away the uniform with the word "soldier" printed on it, and retreated shirtless, losing weight to the extreme.

Veterans know this.
To put it simply, retreat is a life-and-death race.

You just need to run faster than your companions and you won't die.

……

Of course Yang Yuchun's armored battalion could not catch up, and after fighting for half an hour, they were almost exhausted.

Combined with the scorching sun, it was like torture.

Everyone leaned against the wall in the shade waiting for military orders.

Without military orders, you must not take off your armor even if you die of heat.

1 lightly armed musket battalion pursued slowly and shot the lagging deserters~
After chasing for 10 miles, the officer stopped them:
"Don't chase me anymore, let's go back to the city."

In this battle, the Wu army achieved a perfect strategic victory.

The actual number of enemies killed was not large, with less than 1000 Qing soldiers killed or wounded, and not even as many as the number of prisoners taken.

Mingliang fled like a lost dog, taking more than 3000 soldiers with him, with many soldiers missing along the way. No one knew whether his destination was Luzhou or Yangzhou.

……

Jiangpu County, 500 miles away,

General Hu Zhihuang still lives a comfortable life. He has soldiers, money, popularity, a lovely wife, maids, and village girls from the hot springs.

Everyone in the Dong family knew that the son-in-law was a playboy. If nothing unexpected happened, Hu Zhihuang would have two or three more children.
He would also feel sad when he thinks of the several children he has in Suzhou.

It’s such a headache to decide who will be the wife and who will be the concubine in the future.

However, the trouble will only last for a while.

Lao Hu is open-minded. At most, he can buy a few more houses to separate the residents. Out of sight, out of mind.

Run more and try to get equal treatment.

As a man, it's normal to suffer a little and be tired.

One day,
The army marched north and occupied Henan.

He could return home proudly in glory, renovate his ancestral tomb, and tell his ancestors who had been living in poverty in the underground world how well his unworthy descendant Hu Zhihuang was doing now.

He had many wives and concubines and many children.

We will hold sacrifices on Qingming Festival in the future.

There are gold foil paper money, pig and sheep heads, fruits and cakes, as well as paper houses, sedan chairs and furniture.

There will also be a grand buffet, allowing the villagers to eat and take as much as they want.

If you don't let your fellow villagers take advantage of you, who can prove that you are really rich? Who will be willing to brag about you?

……

While eating stewed noodles at a breakfast shop.

The shopkeeper took the time to convey the latest instructions from above to him:
"Your Majesty is preparing to completely destroy the Jiangbei Camp and control Yangzhou and Anqing. General Hu, you have two tasks. First, quickly and deeply bind yourself to the Jiangpu gentry, and be ready to tear off the disguise of a loyal official after the war, transform yourself into a warlord, and obey the orders of the Qing court. Second, find a way to be incorporated into the Jiangbei Camp, and be the first to flee in the decisive battle, leaving a gap."

Hu Zhihuang was so excited that it was finally his turn to perform.

He ate his noodles in small bites and began to think about how to tie himself up with the local gentry. Should he find a few cheap fathers-in-law?
No!

A cold light suddenly flashed in his eyes, and he had an idea.

As for His Majesty's request:
He mixed himself into the decisive battle sequence, and when the two armies were about to start fighting, he took the lead in shouting "Defeat, defeat", and then led his troops to escape, giving the friendly forces a little shock.

This story is quite familiar.

The maid read it to me during my nap, and it seemed to be called The Battle of Feishui.

……

The news that the imperial court might withdraw troops from Jiangpu Town spread like wildfire.

Hu Zhihuang sent people to spread the news, deliberately testing the reactions of the gentry.

really,

Visitors were constantly arriving at the gate of Dong's mansion. Gentry, merchants, and scholars all came to inquire about the truth of the news.

Hu Zhihuang was dressed in military uniform.
With a solemn and nervous expression, he personally confirmed that the news was at least 6% true.

He could see that no one wanted him to leave.

During the war,

How important is a familiar and safe military umbrella for wealthy people.

The people of Jiangpu enthusiastically tried to keep him, and even decided to pool money to help smooth things over and try to keep Jiangpu Town.

The county magistrate was even more active in campaigning.

……

Hu Zhihuang quietly did two things.

The first thing was to send his confidant to the Jiangbei camp to meet the commander-in-chief Hailancha and ask for battle.

The second thing was that he secretly embezzled the reward money allocated by the Ministry of War for "encircling and annihilating Su's 2 tribes" and complained to his trusted officers that the court was unfair, as it only gave 1 cents of silver for beheading one level of people.

First prize silver,

It has always been the most important thing for the soldiers.

There was an uproar in the military camp and everyone was indignant.

All kinds of extreme words were poured out, and he was almost shouting out something as outrageous as "5 cents of silver, what's the point of playing with your life?"

No one doubted General Hu because he had such a good reputation in the army.

He hardly exploited his soldiers, provided them with the best food, provided them with quite good accommodation conditions in the barracks, and rewarded his subordinates for their merits. He was a "good superior" that was hard to find even with a lantern.

A team of Eight Banners soldiers supervising the battle in Jiangpu Town was quite embarrassed, and they also felt that the Ministry of War was too careless in its work.

However, due to his status, he still whipped the two soldiers who spoke rudely.

Aji Ga, a cavalry captain of the Bordered Yellow Banner, suggested that Hu Zhihuang go to Jiangbei to ask for more reward money.

Hu Zhihuang remained silent.
I jointly signed with him to ask for it from Huai'an Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture.

The officials and gentry in Huaiyang, from top to bottom, had no time to think about this. They were all busy dealing with the aftermath of the "burning of the imperial envoy".

Although there were joint signatures from the governor of the grain transport department, the grain director, and several prefects, proving that it was the Wu thief who set fire to the granary, causing the death of the imperial envoy! But this matter was really too big.

Everyone is unsure.

Who has the time to care about the injustice of the damn Jiangpu Town?

……

When the Grand Council received the urgent report from Huai'an, Zhang Jing, who opened the letter to read it, was almost scared to death.

Rushed to the next room,
He handed it to Heshen tremblingly:

"My Lord, something big has happened."

He Shen watched it for a few seconds and felt dizzy. He still hadn't recovered yet.
Here comes another more important piece of urgent news.

Hu Zuoyou, the governor of Yangzhou, reported urgently:

The four major salt merchants in Yangzhou defected with their property, confidants and family members and defected to the pseudo King of Wu in Jiangnan.

……

Yu Minzhong heard the noise and came over too.

My hair stood up in surprise.

"This, this, this~"

He didn't know what to say, and his mind wandered in awkward silence.

His son was the grain supervisor in Huai'an.

Several hundred members of the Yu family temporarily settled in the north of Huai'an.

Decades of ups and downs in his official career told him that there must be something fishy about this matter, and his son Yu Yunhe must be involved in it to some extent.

Heshen also took a deep look at this cunning senior.

He said something meaningful:
"Jiangbei, there's going to be an earthquake~"

"It's a troubled time, hey, hey~"

……

The Hall of Nourishing Heart,
When the two of them came together, the chief eunuch Qin Si's face changed instantly.

He Shen lowered his voice:

"Father-in-law, please inform me that something has happened."

Qin Si whispered:

"My Lords, please wait a moment."

In the West Warm Pavilion,

Qianlong read the urgent report three times and looked at the two important ministers kneeling on the ground in disbelief.

"The imperial envoy I sent to investigate the case died again?"

"The salt merchants of Yangzhou are back, and they are turning against us en masse and joining the Wu bandits?"

Yu Minzhong whispered:
"There was also a fire in the Fengji Warehouse, which had a million tons of grain stored~"

The eunuch Qin Si felt the urge to urinate and could hardly control himself.

no way.

After getting cut, I became timid and couldn't hold my urine when something happened.

He cursed in his heart:
The local officials of our Qing Dynasty were really too much and too crazy. Killing Qian Feng was not enough, they also burned Zheng Jinsheng to death and set the warehouse on fire.

This is really~
……

"How dare you!"

Qianlong shouted angrily. Qin Si suddenly felt a surge of heat. It was over. He couldn't hold on after all.
In the West Warm Pavilion,

It was filled with Qianlong's angry and silent sneer.

Yu Minzhong's heart sank when he heard this, and he suddenly said:

"Your Majesty, the officials and gentry in Jiangbei have become a clique. My son once wrote to complain about their domineering behavior. They are so powerful that they can't get rid of them. They can't get into the business of Jiangbei. Even the capital~"

"That's enough~"

Qianlong's hands were trembling, a sign of his rage and loss of control.

He pointed at Heshen and Yu Minzhong:

"I have been on the throne for more than 40 years, and I have been lenient and generous to officials and scholars. Because I don't want to be like my father, I have harsh policies and imposed taxes on everyone, which has caused complaints from the people all over the world and has destroyed all civility."

"I am probably too lenient, too lenient."

……

"In the past, I always thought that poor mountains and bad waters produced unruly people, but I was wrong! Beautiful mountains and beautiful waters also produce unruly people! Jiangsu! Haha, it's really a good place. Half of it is rebelling, and the other half is equivalent to rebellion."

He and Yu didn't dare to look up.

I only heard one sentence:
"I guess the officials and gentry in Jiangbei must have cleared all the evidence, right? Maybe their people are already active in the various palaces and government offices in the capital, looking for someone to exonerate them?"

He Shen raised his head:
"I have overstepped my authority. Your Majesty, please punish those responsible."

"Tell me, how do we make a list of relevant people?"

(End of this chapter)