The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 86 Battle of the Prefectural City
That night.

A militia of 100,000 displaced people marched in a mighty procession toward the prefectural city.

They called themselves the "righteous army".

It is an army whose purpose is to eliminate violence and maintain order.

From the moment they entered Sweetwater County, the rebel army grew quite rapidly.

They destroyed two military garrisons and eight county offices in succession.

Now all that's left is to plant the rebel army's banner on the city gate tower of the prefectural city!

The weapons seized from the two thousand-household garrisons and eight county offices were simply not enough to arm the entire army of 100,000.

One-third of the rebel brothers had no choice but to take up hoes and go to the battlefield.

Despite such rudimentary conditions, they were not intimidated by the Qing soldiers who were equipped with firearms.

Before the operation, the strategist told everyone:

"They call them 'pure soldiers' to put it nicely, but they're just a bunch of eunuchs who don't even have testicles! They're not even considered men!"
Despite their impressive armor and muskets, they have never been on the battlefield and are even less capable than the regular soldiers.

Are you saying that our 100,000 men can't take down these 50,000 Qing soldiers? Brothers, as soon as we take them down, we'll immediately equip you with armor and weapons!

Many corrupt officials are hiding in the prefectural city. Just think of these dog officials! Apart from making us pay taxes and perform corvée labor, have they ever done anything of real value for us?

Today, those eunuchs can arrest our village chief and clan elders without asking any questions. Tomorrow, they can drag away your wives and daughters without any restraint!
"Tell me, shouldn't these eunuchs and corrupt officials be killed?"

"Should!"

"Should!"

"Should!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

With united will, their fighting spirit is unstoppable.
Chou Chu (01:00 AM).

The guards patrolling the city gate towers at night were all struggling to stay awake.

This is one of their daily tasks after taking over the security of Nanhe Prefecture.

They came with high morale, but now they haven't even seen a trace of the rebels.

Everyone was wondering if the refugees from Nanhe Prefecture had fled after hearing the news of the arrival of the Jing army.

Although they had been training for several years, the reversed day and night schedule was still taking a toll on them.

Some people can even fall asleep while leaning against the city wall.

The deeper the night, the heavier my eyelids feel.

At this moment, several dark figures were approaching the front and back city gates from inside the city.

Those were locksmiths who had recently joined the rebel army!
The artisans and merchants in the prefectural city had mixed feelings about the arrival of the Jing army.

The imperial treasury was empty.

Emperor Beiwen then granted Grand Commander Nian the right to raise military funds independently in Nanhe Prefecture.

Good heavens, this is his first day in Nanhe Prefecture.

The people of the prefectural city were first skimmed off a layer of oil.

Merchants with any shop were forced to "donate" military funds to the Qing army!
Whether their personal safety can be protected remains an open question.

However, it has already drained the savings that locksmiths, who are lowly craftspeople, had painstakingly accumulated over the past six months.

Who doesn't have elderly parents to support and young children to raise?

You can imagine how resentful they were!

The rebel spies seized the opportunity to turn several locksmiths against their cause.

It came in very handy tonight.

The lock you made yourself, you naturally know best how to open!

"Squeak."

"Squeak."

The heavy sound of doors opening rang out one after another.

The night watchmen, who were in the midst of their revelry, were all awakened.

When they looked towards the city gate, they were terrified and turned pale.

Shout loudly:

"Oh no! Someone has colluded with rebels to open the city gates!" "Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Rebels have broken in!"

The sirens blared intermittently.

Along with these commotions, dark figures surged into the inner city like a tide from both the front and rear city gates.

With fewer than a thousand men on night duty, how could the 100,000-strong rebel army possibly stand a chance?

After putting up a few brief resistances, he was quickly chopped into mincemeat!
The rebels at the forefront were all local residents from the vicinity of the prefectural city, and the city's topography was already etched into their minds.

Led by them, some went to the camp of the Jingjun (a type of corrupt official) and others rushed to the government office to arrest the Jingjun leader and corrupt officials!
The higher the rank of the official killed, the greater their reward.

This principle applies to both soldiers and thieves!

Although the Grand Commander had no experience in leading troops, he had recently been studying military books late into the night.

The night raid by the chaotic troops was not unexpected.

Arresting and torturing people during the day was his way of escalating conflict and forcing the displaced people to show themselves.

Sure enough, the refugees couldn't wait to spend the night.

Well done, perfectly timed!
The firearms they brought from Shangdu are about to rust if they are not used!
Initially, the young eunuch attending the Grand Commander was concerned for his safety.

He was advised not to stay in the center of the battle, but to hide in a secret passage.

He even received a severe reprimand from the Grand Commander.

The main reason was that the Grand Commander was very confident in the more than two thousand muskets he had brought.

He believed that with preparations made for an ambush, they would be able to turn the chaotic troops into human sieves!
At first, the mutinous troops were indeed suppressed by the muskets of the Qing army.

These people all lay prone on the walls of the government office, using the walls as cover, and fired wildly at the chaotic troops outside the walls.

The shooting posture is very cool, and the sound of the musket is also very intimidating!
It was only when used on the actual battlefield that it was discovered that the effective range of the musket was only within fifty meters.

In the pitch black of night, accuracy is even more limited.

They could only fire their guns randomly in one direction.

Unexpectedly, before ten rounds had been fired, gun barrels began to explode one after another.

Several musketeers were even killed in the explosion!
Subordinates would come in every now and then to report:
"Grand Commander, seven musketeers have been killed!"

"Grand Commander, another twenty-three muskets have been fired!"

"Grand Commander"

Before long, the conversation shifted to:
"Grand Commander, you must leave immediately! There are simply too many rebels; we can't possibly kill them all!"

They can’t kill them all, they can’t kill them all at all!

One hundred thousand people, one batch fell and another was brought in.

After suffering several defeats, the rebels quickly discovered the drawbacks of the muskets.

Taking advantage of the moment when the musketeers were loading gunpowder, the archers launched a counterattack.

From time to time, screams could be heard from the musketeers on the wall.

The young eunuch in attendance became even more anxious:

"Grand Commander, please hurry into the secret passage! We'll run out of ammunition in another quarter of an hour!"

As for the remaining Qing soldiers...

Running away was not an option. After running out of ammunition, the short-handled long knife also came in handy.

This is when true cold weapon warfare begins.

The rebel army, filled with rebellious fervor and wielding hoes haphazardly, faced off against the well-trained, disciplined, and battle-hardened Qing army, who, despite having never been on the battlefield, aspired to merit, promotion, and glory for their ancestors.

What will happen?
Half a catty equals eight taels!
The war is at a stalemate.

An hour later, both sides were exhausted.

The rebel army won because of its large numbers and the fact that they could take turns fighting.

While killing the Qing soldiers, they also found the county officials hiding in the Nanhe Prefecture government office.

As the number of casualties among the Blue Army increases.

Unwilling to lose his entire fortune, Commander Nian continued fighting while arranging for his elite troops to escape through the secret passages of the government office.

More than 10,000 corpses of the Qing soldiers remained in the inner city.

The power of the muskets in the early stages caused the rebels to suffer twice as many casualties as the Qing army!
That alone is enough for them to sing songs of triumph!

At this point, Ruzhou Prefecture and Nanhe Prefecture, two of the ten prefectures in Zhongzhou, had completely fallen into the hands of the rebel army.

(End of this chapter)