There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 84 What to do next?
It took several days from the encounter to the decisive battle between the Han army and the Qing army. The two sides tested each other back and forth, but it only took less than two hours to finally determine the outcome of the battle.

Post-war statistics have preliminarily calculated that more than 300 Han soldiers were killed, 400 were seriously injured, and more than 200 were slightly injured.

The casualty rate is close to one in ten!

The Qing army was not much better off. Almost all the Green Camp Qing soldiers were wiped out, and the Zhenxiang soldiers were not much better off. Only 20% to 30% survived, and they were all in a miserable state.

Chen Younian ordered that officers be identified and executed, but in reality there were only a few officers left.

The ones who actually survived the most were the militiamen who hardly participated in the war from beginning to end.

Nie Yu was shocked by the casualty statistics after the battle, because these Qing soldiers were so good at fighting that they were able to achieve a casualty ratio of nearly three to one despite being so poorly equipped.

Moreover, even with such heavy casualties, they were still able to hold on without collapsing. Where did these elite Qing troops come from?

It is true that they are elite troops. The 1500 Zhenxiang soldiers brought back by Fu Zhina from Yongsui were indeed the few elite troops among the Qing soldiers.

Poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people!

They are a group of unruly people living together with Han and Miao people. After joining the army, they have fought on the Miao battlefield. Naturally, their combat power is not comparable to that of ordinary Green Camp soldiers.

It was precisely because he was confident enough in the Zhengui soldiers under his command that Fu Zhina dared to lead a thousand people and go straight in to raid the Han soldiers' lair.

However, the errors in intelligence about the Han army, and even the misleading deliberate false reporting of military intelligence by Hubei Governor Hui Ling in order to escape the blame, led to his devastating defeat!

Han soldiers who are invulnerable to swords and guns, hand-held fire grenades with extremely powerful power, and crossbows with power comparable to pistols at close range, can Han soldiers with such combat power be easily touched?
The Qing army was defeated completely, with only one in ten combat-capable soldiers left.

The Han army was cleaning up the battlefield and counting the spoils. The Han army suffered heavy casualties in this battle, but the spoils were also huge.

The clothes and armor stripped from the corpses of the Qing soldiers could be used to arm thousands of militiamen.

Militiamen do not need to be incorporated into the regular Han army. They can be directly added to local villages and towns, trained during the slack season, and can be directly recruited to serve in the army during wartime, saving a lot of time on recruitment and training, and not consuming too much of the General's Office's financial resources for maintaining the army.

Because he could issue an order that anyone who came to serve as a militia would have some tax exemptions for their families, and would be provided with food rations during training.

It was modeled after the Tang and Ming dynasties' fubing system and weisuo system, with the only difference being that militiamen had to train during the slack season and accept dispatch from the general's office during wartime. Those unwilling to do so would no longer be given tax exemptions, and the militiamen were not considered regular soldiers, and were not as dependent as the Tang and Ming dynasties. Even if they became corrupt later on, they would not be completely as corrupt as the regular army.

After the Han soldiers had almost completely stripped away the spoils of war and the bodies were cremated and buried, it was time to deal with the prisoners who surrendered after the war.

There is no need to kill those militiamen and local militiamen. Nie Yu is short of land, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want people.

Those militiamen who were willing to surrender were disbanded and registered on the spot; those who were unwilling to surrender were sent to Jingzhou to become tenants of the official fields of the General's Mansion.

The tenants of government-owned fields are currently surrendered soldiers, family members of convicted officials, and landlords who are dissatisfied with the distribution of land and whose properties have been confiscated. These people are helping to cultivate and weed the government-owned fields.

In short, Nie Yu will not let anyone go. Will he let someone come back to be a guide?
Are you mentally ill, or is he? It's a good thing he didn't chop everything off with one blow.

Once the militiamen were disbanded and became civilians, it became easier to deal with the Qing soldiers. The Manchu soldiers and captives mixed in with them were all identified one by one and beheaded.

The Green Camp was slightly better. They simply identified the officers and then gave each of them a knife. Anyone who wanted to survive would be stabbed with a knife.

No Qing soldier dared to hesitate, because behind them were Han soldiers holding long spears and were invulnerable to swords and spears.

Anyone who dares to hesitate will be stabbed by several spears.

By the time all the surrendered soldiers had been hacked to pieces, the few Qing officers who had been identified had been chopped into pieces. Burying them was too troublesome, so they could only be burned.

These surrendered soldiers submitted their pledge of allegiance and cut off all their braids, and were finally spared from death. However, although they could escape the death penalty, they could not escape the punishment of living punishment.

The surrendered soldiers were not incorporated nor disbanded as civilians. A temporary camp was set up for them, and they did not even have their uniforms and weapons changed.

Nie Yu set up camp on the spot and discussed the next strategy.

Thousands of troops came out in full force, using their best weapons such as artillery, hand grenades, crossbows, and so on, and mobilizing so much food and supplies. They certainly couldn't just fight a battle and then retreat.

Especially now the casualties of the Han soldiers are not too great. Excluding the more than 300 people who actually died in battle, and those who were seriously injured and difficult to recover, and lost their combat effectiveness in a short period of time, the casualties ratio of the Han army may be less than one-tenth.

After all, the Han army was not the Qing army. If the Qing army encountered so many casualties, it was likely that all the casualties would die. Because of the poor medical conditions in the army, the wounded were often lucky if they could survive.

But the Han army was not afraid. Not to mention the fully mature industrial penicillin, even the most primitive antibiotic, allicin, Nie Zi had a complete preparation method in his hands, and it could be purified and produced using local materials such as garlic.

On the riverside, the Han army camp.

Feng Xiuyong was pointing at a map and talking excitedly, "General, the Qing army suffered a crushing defeat in this battle, suffering heavy casualties. According to the testimony of the surrendered soldiers, the Qing troops we encountered this time were elite troops dispatched from Hunan by the Puppet Qing Dynasty, and they were also the few forces that could be mobilized to suppress the rebellion."

"Now, these elite soldiers of the pseudo-Qing Dynasty have been completely wiped out by our Han army in one battle. Even the pseudo-Qing general Fu Zhina has fled and his whereabouts are unknown."

"After this battle, our Han army will have completely leapt over the dragon gate, and the general will be like a flying dragon in the sky. The kingly way is expected!"

"Congratulations to the general! Congratulations to the lord!"
Although they were discussing military affairs, he did not miss any opportunity to flatter the general.

The key point is that the flattery was well-reasoned. Even Feng Xiuyong's secretary colleagues had to admire him. He would flatter whenever there was a chance, and would flatter whenever there was no chance.

No wonder he could be the chief secretary. Not only did he need the talent of a strategist, but he also had to flatter the general at all times. His flattery could not be too stiff, but had to be skillful so as not to make the general feel uncomfortable.

"Your servants congratulate the General! Congratulations to the Lord!"

Even though they thought so, Feng Xiuyong had already taken the lead in flattering others, so naturally everyone had to follow suit.

It is not easy to say that they have taken over. They are the core team of the Han army and have been tied to the interests of the Han army for a long time. Now that Feng Xiuyong has reminded them, they really feel that the Han army is on the rise and the great general is expected to rule the country!
First it was the Governor of Hubei, then the entire Jingzhou Prefecture, and now it is the pseudo-Qing army transferred from Hunan to suppress the rebellion, led by Fu Kangan's trusted and powerful generals.

Without exception, they were either captured by the Han army, conquered by the Han army, or completely wiped out.

Sure enough, the decision he and others made was correct, and the Han army really had the ability to accomplish something.

"Cough cough!"

Nie Yu coughed lightly twice. He had already developed a thick skin, so he did not feel embarrassed at this moment and spoke immediately.

"We can discuss the future of the kingly way later. The most urgent matter is that the Qing army that suppressed the rebellion has been defeated and annihilated by us. Only one Manchu general escaped."

"So now, what should we do?"

"Should we continue fighting, or withdraw our troops now? If we continue fighting, how should we fight? Where should we attack?"

(End of this chapter)