Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 628 You like playing with cannons, huh? Then let's have a gunfight!

"I heard that Quanzhou is quite good at artillery."

"I'm here this time to learn a thing or two."

Historically, when the Taiping army passed through Quanzhou, after failing to capture the city, the entire army had already moved north. However, the defending troops bombarded the rear of the column, directly hitting Feng Yunshan.

Enraged, the Taiping army launched a fierce attack on Quanzhou to avenge Feng Yunshan.

This could probably be considered a case of "being too greedy and courting death."

Quanzhou is located northwest of Guilin, about 200 li away.

The entire region remains a typical mountainous terrain typical of Guangxi, with the main population and villages concentrated along the banks of the Xiangjiang River, which meanders through the mountains.

Out of respect for Admiral Xiang, Lin Dao personally led the troops out.

Traveling along the road from the banks of the Li River, one arrives at Xing'an County in Guilin.

Upon reaching this point, following the upstream source of the Xiang River, the Haiyang River, downstream, it merges with the Lingqu Canal at Fenshuitang, and from here it begins to be called the Xiang River.

Then, going downstream, it eventually reaches the territory of Quanzhou.

"The whole way is through mountains and ridges."

"Growing crops in Guangxi is really difficult due to its geographical environment."

There are just too many mountains here.

It really is a mountain range stretching from one peak to another, big and small, everywhere you look.

Living here, it's entirely understandable that conflicts would erupt over land.

"War is a good place."

"It's a pity we ran into a powerful Qing demon, wasting the terrain."

In this mountainous terrain, the main mode of transportation relies on water transport and traveling along river channels.

Once the location is chosen, setting up the trap is a piece of cake.

Unfortunately, Xiang Rong didn't fall for it, so Lin Dao had no choice but to come looking for him.

As the Taiping army gradually approached, the Qing army quickly prepared to fight.

Xiang Rong mobilized his troops, preparing for a direct confrontation with the Taiping Army.

"General!"

"The Imperial Gazette of the Capital"

"The originally appointed Imperial Commissioner, Lord Lin, was unable to travel due to his worsening illness. The court reassigned Grand Secretary Sai Shang'a as Imperial Commissioner to Guangxi to oversee the suppression of the rebels."

Holding the notice in his hand, Xiang Rong closed his eyes and remained silent.

He wanted to swear, but he couldn't bring himself to say it, since they were all important people.

This feeling of unease is nagging at my throat.

"How long has it been?"

"We've been trying to get an imperial envoy to come, but he keeps changing positions. You're sick and he's on his way, and he still hasn't left the capital!"

"The traitor's knife is almost at my throat!"

Xiang Rong was feeling extremely uncomfortable, so he scratched his scalp and paced back and forth.

"The military situation is dire!"

"It's rare that the enemy army doesn't move, so they disperse their forces to carry out some kind of land redistribution."

"Such a great opportunity, but we didn't seize it at all."

"It takes months to select an imperial envoy? That's hilarious!"

He knew, of course, that the imperial court was notoriously inefficient.

But now we're dealing with the suppression of rebels, and such a major task is being handled with such low efficiency. An imperial envoy has been appointed, but he hasn't even taken office yet.

Xiang Rong was so angry he laughed.

"General."

Cao Xiepei, the prefect of Quanzhou, clasped his hands in a salute and said, "The enemy army that came was only a small detachment."

"A large army has gathered here in Quanzhou. Why not take this opportunity to wipe out a portion of them?"

Although he was only a fifth-rank official, he was a civil official.

As the admiral, Xiang Rong had to explain, "These bandit troops are very strong and should not be underestimated."

"Wuzhou, Guilin and other places were all lost in a single battle, and in several field battles, the entire army was wiped out."

“It’s not easy to fight.”

"Hahaha~" Cao Xiepei stroked his beard and laughed, "No matter how good a thief is at fighting, he's still just a thief."

"Moreover, the terrain here in Quanzhou is difficult to traverse and is mostly mountainous. Why doesn't the General choose a place that they must pass through and ambush them?"

Xiang Rong disagreed with Cao Xiepei's earlier remarks.

A thief who can fight isn't a thief.

It should be noted that even the formidable Guizhou Green Standard Army suffered a complete annihilation when it went up against the tide.

However, the later mention of setting up an ambush is something that could be considered.

After all, the terrain here is indeed very suitable for setting up an ambush.

Seeing that Xiang Rong was tempted, Cao Xiepei spoke again, "The general has set up an ambush to strike the enemy. I will personally defend Quanzhou City!"

After careful consideration, Xiang Rong nodded.

"Then fight!"

Regardless, we still have to fight.

After all, he was the Governor of Guangxi, and now only Quanzhou remains in the entire Guangxi region.

There weren't many Taiping soldiers who came, so we had to test their mettle.

Changzheng Village is located more than 20 li south of Quanzhou City, on the banks of the Xiangjiang River.

Standing on the forest path by the river, gazing at Taipingdian Mountain several miles away, he smiled broadly.

"I intended to ambush the Qing demons, but they didn't come."

"Now that I've come here, Qing Yao wants to ambush me instead."

"The chosen location is even called Taiping Palace~"

"Interesting, really interesting."

Xiang Rong chose Taipingdian Mountain as the location to ambush the Taiping Army.

However, there was not much vegetation on the mountain, and the Qing army was of very poor quality.

Even if Lin Dao didn't use drones, they had already exposed their tracks.

"Head."

Shi Dakai, who had been specially summoned to accompany the army, stepped forward and asked, "Shall we charge up the mountain?"

The most important aspect of an ambush is to remain undetected. Once detected, the ambush loses its greatest advantage: surprise.

For the Taiping army, whose morale was high, it was not difficult to fight back and climb the mountain.

However, Lin Dao refused, saying, "An attack from below the mountain would result in too great a loss."

"Let them break down on their own, then follow up and kill them."

"The leader is right," Shi Dakai outwardly agreed, but inwardly he disagreed. The leader was too soft-hearted and treated the soldiers too well.

Now is the time for soldiers to fight bravely, why bother with such pampering?

This is because different times lead to different perspectives.

In Lin Dao's eyes, every one of his own people is precious, and he wants to do everything he can to keep them alive.

In the eyes of people in this era, human life is not that important.

There was no other way; this was an era where a few bushels of rice could buy a life, and starving corpses were a common sight on the roadside.

At dawn, the Qing soldiers on the mountain were already exhausted and fast asleep, and even those on guard duty were hiding and dozing off.

Only Xiang Rong, with red eyes, gazed at the riverbank.

He felt very uneasy.

"They've arrived, why don't they continue?"

"Could it be that they've already discovered it?"

"Yes, they must have discovered an ambush."

"These thieves are really hard to deal with."

"We will withdraw our troops tomorrow, hold off the bandits in Quanzhou City, and wait for reinforcements to arrive."

“The main road is right outside Quanzhou City. If the bandits want to go north, they must go through the area outside the city.”

"We'll just bombard them then!"

While pondering, I was astonished to see many scattered lights appearing on the upper reaches of the Xiang River.

At first, he didn't realize what was happening.

When those points of light headed straight for the government troops' fleet that had blocked the river, Xiang Rong finally realized what was happening.

"Enemy attack~~~"

Fires were lit on Taiping Temple Mountain, and the piercing sound of gongs and drums rang out.

But none of that worked.

To prevent the official boats on the river from being swept away by the current, they were not only anchored but also chained together.

Faced with the attack of the arsonist ship, there was nowhere to run except to endure it.

Dozens of arson ships, laden with hay, gunpowder, sulfur, and kerosene, collided with the official ship that had not yet unchained itself and set sail.

Flames began to burn on the river.

At Yeji Ferry on the banks of the Xiang River, Lin Dao instructed Shi Dakai to arrange for men to meet the crew of the arson ship who were swimming towards the shore.

He then turned his gaze toward the bustling Taiping Temple Mountain.

"It's your turn."

First deal with the Qing demons on the river, then deal with those on the mountain.

As for the solution, there was a mortar position not far from Lin Dao's side.

Compared to artillery that requires a lot of mathematical knowledge, mortars have significantly fewer operational requirements.

Especially regarding shooting parameters, Lin Dao was mainly responsible for handling them.

The Taiping army's artillerymen's main job was loading shells.

"High-explosive incendiary bomb, Admiral. I hope you like it."

A total of thirty-two mortars, plus hundreds of boxes of high-explosive incendiary bombs.

In order to deal with this famous general who could see through his plans and even wanted to ambush him, Lin Dao gave him a high-level treatment.

If the terrain weren't unsuitable, he would have liked to bring out the Father's Heavy Hammer and blast it.

‘Dong-dong-dong! ’

As the shells left the barrel, dozens of them roared into the night sky with a high-pressure sound before crashing down onto the mountain.

Dozens of densely packed points of light bloomed on the hillside, making them quite eye-catching.

Lin Dao nodded in satisfaction and raised his arm, pointing towards Taiping Temple Mountain.

"Fire all the shells!"

The Qing army, which already lacked fighting spirit, collapsed without a doubt when it was hit by high-explosive incendiary bombs in the darkness.

However, due to night blindness, even if there is firelight everywhere, things are still blurry.

This collapse quickly led to enormous chaos.

The command structure completely collapsed, and no one could gather the troops.

Everywhere you looked, there were fleeing soldiers running around like headless flies.

"General!"

The guards rushed up and dragged him down the mountain.

Xiang Rong was a Han Chinese, and he only had personal guards by his side, not his personal guards.

By this time, the sky was beginning to lighten, and the Qing soldiers, now with some visibility, were running down the mountain.

As expected, Taiping soldiers were lying in ambush in various places at the foot of the mountain.

They first fired with muskets and light artillery, then charged forward with shields and weapons.

In a direct confrontation on the battlefield, although the Qing army was inadequate, it could still inflict some losses on the Taiping army.

However, at this moment they were in a state of disarray and fleeing, and no one was thinking about fighting back. Everyone was just running away with their heads in their hands.

The Taiping army, which pursued and killed them, suffered almost no casualties.

They chased each other for dozens of miles, and by daybreak, they had reached the outskirts of Quanzhou City.

The people inside the city vaguely sensed the commotion on the river and mountains last night, but they didn't open the city gates at all.

No matter how much the defeated soldiers outside the city pleaded, the defending troops remained indifferent and refused to open the city gates.

The routed soldiers jumped up and down, cursed, and cried out in all sorts of ways.

The pursuing Taiping army arrived, and the defenders on the city wall fired cannons one after another, forcing the pursuers to retreat, but they still refused to open the gate.

The defeated soldiers, having regained some strength, set off to flee north.

Around noon, the main force of the Taiping army, advancing by both land and water, finally arrived outside Quanzhou City.

Lin Dao went to the makeshift wounded camp to visit the wounded soldiers who had been hit by artillery fire from the Quanzhou garrison.

Several of the wounded were clearly very badly injured, with perforated intestines, ruptured abdomens, and missing limbs; they were beyond saving.

"Give them sedatives."

"Already used~"

"Increase the dosage!" Lin Dao hissed the medic. "When they leave, make sure they don't suffer so much!"

After leaving the temporary wounded soldiers' camp, which reeked of disinfectant, Lin Dao took a breather.

His gaze fell upon Quanzhou City, which was not far away, his eyes burning with rage.

"You like having sex, huh?"

"Then let's have a showdown!"

(End of this chapter)