There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 80: Intelligence is wrong
The Qing army could no longer hold back.

For several consecutive days, the cavalry scouts sent out encountered the Han army's scouts, and were either killed or injured. Only half of them escaped.

Not only was the morale of the Qing army crushed, but all kinds of rumors also spread rapidly in the Qing army camp without anyone noticing.

Some say that Han soldiers are all monsters, invulnerable to swords and spears.

There are also people saying that every Han soldier is born with supernatural powers and holds magical weapons, just like ghosts and gods descended to the earth.

Even worse, some people simply don't act it out at all, and directly say that the Han soldiers have three heads and eight arms and like to eat people...

Fortunately, Fu Zhina discovered it in time and arrested several militiamen who spread rumors. He beheaded them in public, and then issued repeated orders and offered money, food, wine and meat to appease the troops, and only then was the rumor barely stopped.

But it was only barely stopped, because Fu Zhina had no way to deal with the source of the rumors. He could kill the Han civilians who spread the rumors, but he could not kill the Manchu soldiers who were hiding behind the rumors.

It is true that Fu Zhi was a general of Fu Kang'an, but he was born in the Zhenghong Banner and was an ordinary person from the lower five banners. His status in the Eight Banners was not higher than these Manchu soldiers, and might even be lower than some of the Manchu officers among them.

Xing Zhao's original intention was to fear that Fu Zhi had too few soldiers and insufficient food to deal with the rebels in Jingzhou, so he transferred half of the Manchu soldiers to the other side. However, he completely ignored the possibility that these Manchu soldiers would not obey the orders of the other side, and even cause trouble at the critical moment.

Fuzhina continued to send out cavalry to test the combat effectiveness and movements of the Han soldiers, but the Manchu soldiers refused to go for fear of casualties.

Since the Manchu soldiers refused to go, the Green Camp cavalry had to go, but when they did go they started to work without putting in any effort.

Several waves of cavalry were sent out in succession, but there was not a single casualty. They all wandered around not far from the main camp and came back when the time was almost up.

No information about the Han soldiers was obtained, but a lot of horsepower was consumed.

Fu Zhina cannot be severely punished because there are too many people, and they are all cavalry. If he is severely punished without reason, it will easily affect the morale of the army.

The cavalry was useless. Fu Zhina now had two choices. One was to set up an ambush by the river and wait for the Han soldiers, or to take the initiative to attack and kill the Han soldiers by surprise.

It was an easy decision to make, because the food and supplies in Fu Zhi's hands would not last long, and he could not divide his troops to rob the food now.

If we divide our forces too little, we won't be able to capture those villages and towns. If we divide our forces too much, our strengths and weaknesses will be exposed.

Then let’s move camp eastward!
At this time, the Han army camp had basically locked down the location of the main force of the Qing army through the Han scouts' sweeps and withdrawals in the past few days, as well as the active provision of information by the captured prisoners.

Feng Xiuyong said, "General, Commander Bai's troops have already gathered and arrived. Together with the 6000-strong army we have marched south, our total force has reached over 7000. Our Han army has the upper hand in this battle!"

In fact, there were more than 7000 troops. These 7000-strong troops were all regular Han soldiers, as well as temporarily recruited young and strong militiamen. Among them, there were even civilians who took the initiative to come and help the Han soldiers fight.

It wasn't just that the Han army distributed land to them, but also that the Qing army caused trouble when they arrived in order to steal food.

Wherever they went, they would massacre villages, destroy towns and kill landlords. They killed not only the common people but also the landlords. This was really deadly.

The wealthy families in towns and counties didn't even suspect anything, because the foreign troops were indeed like this. They had just had their braids cut off by the Han soldiers, and all of them had the standard hairstyle of "execution of nine generations of their clan". What would happen if the Qing army broke in?
The Han soldiers can run away, but these people can't. They all have money to contribute, and people to contribute manpower. They work together to stop the Qing army that is trying to destroy our family.

Including the young and strong civilians who were used to confuse the Qing army, the total strength of the Han army has exceeded 10,000 people!
Bai Nan, who had just returned with his troops, stepped forward and said, "General, the Qing army is coming with great force this time, and they are a Manchu general who came from the Miao battlefield in Hunan. He must be a skilled fighter. Most of our army's food and fodder is at the riverside docks, so we must station troops there to prevent a surprise attack from the Qing army!"

Chen Younian said casually, "Why should we be on guard? I think we should just charge straight in. We know where the Qing dogs are anyway." Bai Nan shook his head and said, "The Qing army's looting of villages and towns means they must be running low on food. Now that the villages and towns are well-prepared, the Qing army can't continue to steal food. To steal food, they have to split up, and splitting up will reveal their movements. If they don't split up, they'll run out of food. So, the Qing army has no choice but to retreat or head east and engage in a quick battle with us, or at least inflict heavy damage on us."

In the final analysis, it’s all about food. The White Lotus Sect and the Miao people rebelled because they didn’t have enough food, and now the Qing army is also suffering from a severe shortage of food when suppressing the bandits.

Fu Zhina had rich experience in fighting, but he could not cook without rice. He was short of food and soldiers, which left him with little tactical room and forced him to take risky moves.

If the Han army was indeed the White Lotus Sect, then Fu Zhi might really succeed. Not to mention wiping out the White Lotus Sect, he could also take back Jingzhou first, alleviate the food shortage pressure in Hunan, and open up the water supply from Jingzhou to Changde.

But now, the Han army's fighting strength was beyond Fu Zhi's expectations. Even the scouts and cavalry were so elite. Moreover, all the Manchu and Han cavalry who escaped back insisted that the Han soldiers were invulnerable to swords and spears, and that the weapons they used were strange and powerful.

The troops were elite, invulnerable to swords and spears, and had strange armor. This was obviously different from the military situation in Jingzhou that Hui Ling had reported at the beginning.

Either Hui Ling was a fool who concealed the military intelligence of Jingzhou, or the combat effectiveness of the Han army had achieved a rapid improvement within a few months.

It’s hard to say for Fuzhi, but he thinks it should be half and half.

But it doesn't matter. He doesn't have much food now, so he can't confront and consume the Han soldiers. He has to find a way to fight first.

……

About a day and a half.

The Qing army, leaving behind their food and baggage, marched lightly along the Yangtze River and reached the Han army camp. The Han scouts were the first to discover their advance and quickly rushed back to the main camp to report.

"The Qing army has finally arrived!"

Nie Yu brought his generals and quickly came to the camp's watchtower, where they climbed up to look into the distance (through a telescope).

There are a lot of people, but not as many as 10,000. At most, there are 4,000 or 5,000 people, and their numbers are different.

Nie Yu recognized the armor of some Qing soldiers. They were all Manchu soldiers. There were two other groups that seemed to be from the Green Camp, but their armor and clothing were different. They must have belonged to different units.

Of course, about one-fifth of them did not even have standard armor and were only wearing ordinary uniforms. They were obviously newly recruited militiamen.

The war is about to begin!

The Han army assembled and lined up outside the camp, and the Qing army also discovered the Han army's camp from a distance.

Fu Zhina was holding a telescope in his hand, which was an imported item given to him by Lord Fukang Anfu in recognition of his bravery in battle and his meritorious service.

It is indeed very useful and can see thousands of miles away (exaggeration). It can be called a battlefield weapon.

Fu Zhina's face was filled with astonishment. "The army's steps are so uniform and orderly. Is this really something that the White Lotus thugs could practice?"

After just one look at the Han army's formation, Fu Zhi was certain that Hui Ling was definitely lying about military intelligence, and it was such important information.

The Han army in Jingzhou is no longer an ordinary rebel!
(End of this chapter)