There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 48: Chaos in Yichang
Yichang Prefecture.

This is the end of the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the only way to enter Sichuan through Hubei.

Not far from the city, the Qing army had just suffered a major defeat, and almost all the officers and soldiers were wiped out. Zeng Pangui, the general of Yichang Town, Wang Jiding, the garrison commander of Yichang Prefecture, and Wu Shangxian, the Miao defense commander of Hefeng Camp, were all killed in the battle.

Wang Yeshan, the prefect of Yichang, stood on the top of the city wall and saw the rebel soldiers and young men fleeing back to the city one after another, their faces already pale.

The Tongzhi of Yichang, who had also witnessed the entire defeat of the government troops, cursed loudly on the spot: "Idiots... idiots! Zeng Pangui, Wang Jiding and their ilk are all mediocre fools. They should all be killed! They deserve to be killed!"

The officials of Yichang Prefecture below also criticized him verbally and in writing.

"How could General Zeng be so desperate? These are five hundred elite soldiers! How could they be so utterly routed by a mere few hundred rebels?"

"I told you not to attack proactively. Now, what should we do if the White Lotus rebels take advantage of this great victory and attack the capital?"

"Master Futai, please come up with a decision quickly!"

"..."

Listening to the chattering and chaotic noise of the officials around him, Wang Yeshan took a deep breath and shouted angrily.

"That's enough, stop arguing!"

When the prefect spoke, all the officials shut up instantly, but their eyes were still anxious, waiting for the prefect to make a decision.

Make a decision? What decision could he make?
Wang Yeshan had a blank expression on his face, but his heart had already turned cold. The 1,000 Qing soldiers who were annihilated outside the city were all gathered by them at the beginning.

Yichang is not as good as Jingzhou. It is neither an important city for managing military supplies for the front line nor a thoroughfare connecting nine provinces. There is no bannerman governor in charge. The city is not even full and there are not even 300 Manchu soldiers. The only soldiers available for combat are the 50 personal soldiers under the command of the general of Yichang Town who died in the battle, and more than 100 Miao soldiers defending the Hefeng Camp.

He then gathered more than 300 young and strong laborers from the wealthy families in the city. He was only the prefect of Yichang Prefecture, not the governor of Hubei, and he had no Manchu soldiers at his command. Naturally, he was not as confident as those in Jingzhou when facing those wealthy families.

When it comes to raising money and grain, the big families are unwilling to give. He is just a small rebel in Changyang County. What does he have to do with the Yichang Prefecture?

Yichang Prefecture has tall and strong city walls, so why would it be afraid of a small rebel in a county town? Unless the rebels in Changyang County immediately march to the city gates, even if they do, these wealthy families will probably still make excuses.

Wang Yeshan didn't even dare to force him, because he also had to consider his own career. With so many wealthy and powerful families, who knew which one of them didn't have relatives in the government or the government.

Huiling was a bannerman governor and a senior Mongolian official. He was certainly not afraid of the Han officials in the court. In the eyes of bannerman ministers, the Han officials of the Qing Dynasty were nothing but dogs who were not even slaves.

But Wang Yeshan was also a Han official, so it was different. He had to consider his own career.

Then we can only compromise and each family will give some symbolic money and food and send a few people, then the mission will be completed.

Officials from top to bottom in Yichang Prefecture were also aware of this, and they simply turned a blind eye to each other. In their eyes, they were just ignorant men and women from a small county, hardly worthy of being considered rebels, and sending 500 people to suppress the bandits was more than enough.

But who could have thought that this traitor would not play by the rules!

Just a month ago.

Yichang Prefecture dispatched 500 officers and soldiers to Changyang County to suppress the bandits, but Zhang Zhengmo, who was entrenched in Changyang County, did the opposite. He decisively abandoned the ruined Changyang County to the Qing army that attacked from behind.

Then, like bandits, they circled around in the mountains for a long time and prepared to attack the city of Yichang.

This frightened Wang Yeshan of Yichang Prefecture and Zeng Pangui who sent troops to suppress the bandits.

All the combat-capable soldiers in Yichang Prefecture have been transferred away, leaving only a few city defense battalions as a facade. If the rebels really come to attack, how can they resist?
Zeng Pangui had no choice but to return to the rescue in order to keep his official hat and avoid being blamed. The Qing army chased for a day and a night and finally saw the rebels in Changyang.

After a wave of attacks, the rebels were defeated!
Zeng Pangui was very proud of himself and thought that the rebels were nothing special, so he decisively pursued them... As expected, he was ambushed.

Zhang Zhengmo had a Tianyun Army of as many as 10,000 men, including more than 2,000 strong and combat-ready soldiers. All of them were armed with fire bombs and rushed down the mountain to attack the Qing army camp. Hundreds of other men were sent to cut off the Qing army's food and fodder and civilians.

The Qing army under Zeng Pangui's command was already complex in composition and had few soldiers. Part of the force had to be allocated to transport food and supplies, so the maximum number of people who could actually fight was 300.

Three hundred men against two thousand, a gap of nearly ten times in troop strength. The Qing army had been attacking for a day and a night, and their men and horses were exhausted. However, Zhang Zhengmo's side had taken advantage of the situation and had been lying in ambush for a long time.

Not everyone can win with a smaller force. In history, there have been only a few battles where the smaller force truly defeated the larger force. When the difference in weapons and the quality of soldiers is not big, or even almost equal, whoever has more soldiers and better weapons and equipment will win.

With a tenfold advantage in military strength, they could even capture a city, not to mention an ambush in a field battle.

The Qing army was defeated!

Wang Yeshan had no choice but to watch the Qing army outside the city being defeated. Including the city defense battalion (security guards at the gate), there were only about thirty people left in Yichang City.

Such a small number of people are not even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth when facing the overwhelming number of rebels.

After thinking it over, Wang Yeshan couldn't think of any good solution, so he decided to give up and ordered the city gates to be closed, the outer moat bridge to be destroyed, and then go to the wealthy people in the city to ask for money.

Well, it’s just money. Whether the big guys give it to me depends on their mood.

Even in such a desperate situation, Wang Yeshan did not dare to resort to knife-force, or perhaps he still had the illusion that the governor would send troops to rescue him.

If he forced the wealthy to donate now, even if he managed to defend the city and destroy the rebels, the credit would not go to him. Instead, he would be jointly held accountable by these people.

In order to keep his official position, Wang Yeshan was ready to play dead.

If the people below are afraid, he will let them figure it out on their own, and it is none of his business if any problems arise.

The prefect was in a mess, and the officials in Yichang looked at each other in confusion, and then... nothing happened.

Nonsense, if the prefect doesn’t take responsibility, how can he expect these little guys to take responsibility?
Isn't this funny?
Outside the city of Yichang, Zhang Zhengmo spent three days cleaning up the battlefield and counting the spoils. He also discovered that the government was sending people out of the city to destroy and dismantle the city guard bridge.

Zhang Zhengmo reacted quickly and sent people to chase and stop them, and finally caught a few unlucky guys who didn't have time to escape.

After some detailed questioning, I learned that the officials in the city were now recruiting soldiers and raising food, and seemed to be preparing to "defend" Yichang City to the death.

Zhang Zhengmo was completely unaware that the Yichang officials' "die-hard defense" was just a show of weakness. After careful consideration and consultation with several old brothers, he gave up the original plan of storming the city.

The provincial capital is different from the county town. The walls of the provincial capital are really high and thick. If a real fight breaks out, even though the Tianyun soldiers under his command are numerous and powerful, their combat effectiveness is seriously uneven.

In the previous surprise attacks and ambushes, more than 2,000 people fighting against 300 people could achieve a casualty ratio of one to one or even two to one.

If we really forcefully attack the city, our secrets will be exposed immediately.

Zhang Zhengmo led the Tianyun Army to retreat. He then planned to turn south to meet up with his brothers in the church in Changle County.

Let’s turn the entire Yichang Prefecture upside down first!
(End of this chapter)