1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 365 Devastated
Mid-April 1853.

As the Han River rose slightly, Peng Gang, with Lu Qin, the commander of a regiment, led his troops in two separate routes to Xiangfan.

One force, the main force for this campaign against Xiangfan, was led by Commander-in-Chief Lu Qin. After assembling in Hanchuan County, they sailed up the Han River, first taking Anlu Prefecture, and then Xiangfan.

This army was entirely drawn from troops stationed in the three towns of Wuhan and its surrounding areas.

The combined land and naval forces numbered four and a half regiments, totaling nearly 14,000 men.

The only drawback is that nearly 60% of the troops participating in this operation are new recruits, with the Army Division alone having two full regiments of new recruits.

To ensure the smooth logistics of this large army, more than 30,000 civilian laborers accompanied it.

The other army was a detachment led by Xie Bin, the deputy commander of the expedition to Xiangfan and commander of the third regiment.

Xie Bin's detachment consisted of three battalions of veteran soldiers from the Third Regiment and two battalions of new recruits from Jingyi, totaling more than 3,600 men.

The total number of laborers providing logistical support for the detachment was nearly five thousand.

According to the established battle plan, Xie Bin's detachment set off from Jiangling City, the capital of Jingzhou Prefecture, and headed north by land to capture Jingmen Prefecture.

After capturing Jingmen Prefecture, this detachment headed to Zhongxiang, the capital of Anlu Prefecture, to join Lu Qin's main force.

At that time, if Lu Qin had already captured Zhongxiang, the capital of Anlu Prefecture, the two armies would have joined forces and continued their advance upstream along the Han River towards Xiangfan.

If Lu Qin fails to capture Zhongxiang, the capital of Anlu Prefecture, then they will attack Zhongxiang together.

In the first month, both the main force and the auxiliary forces advanced smoothly.

The lower reaches of the Han River are wider and deeper, and the current is relatively gentle, allowing the large ships of the Northern Palace Navy to move freely on the lower reaches of the Han River.

Less than twenty days after the troops set out, Lu Qin advanced by land and water, easily capturing the three counties of Tianmen, Jingshan, and Qianjiang in the western and southern parts of Anlu Prefecture. He eliminated the Green Standard Army's outposts in the three counties and wiped out the main local militia forces within them.

By mid-May, Lu Qin's main force had arrived at Zhongxiang, the capital of Lu'an Prefecture.

Xie Bin's detachment of Jing Yi's troops also advanced very smoothly.

In addition to the territory of Jingmen Prefecture, it governs two counties: Yuan'an County and Danyang County.

The magistrates of Yuan'an County and Danyang County fled upon hearing the news, and the county seats of the two counties fell without a fight. Xie Bin's troops did not encounter any resistance from the local Green Standard Army or local militias, not even sporadic resistance.

After capturing the county towns of Yuan'an and Danyang, Xie Bin left a company of troops in each county town to maintain order before continuing his advance towards Jingmen Prefecture.

When attacking the city of Jingmen, Xie Bin's detachment encountered resistance from the Qing army for the first time.

The city of Jingmen covers an area of ​​0.74 square kilometers, making it a relatively large prefecture city in terms of its city walls.

Jingmen Prefecture originally had five gates, but the Beichen Gate on the north wall collapsed and became blocked, so only four gates were actually in use.

Jingmen Prefecture has a long history. In the second year of Shaoxi in the Southern Song Dynasty (1191), Lu Jiuyuan began to build a brick city, which was rebuilt in the second year of Baoyou.

It was rebuilt as a stone city in the early Ming Dynasty. In the fourteenth year of the Hongzhi reign, a mountain flood destroyed the northwest part of the city, which was later repaired.

In the seventh year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, Li Zicheng attacked this city for three days without success. Subsequently, the prefect Shi Zhuoyu reduced the city's siege and reinforced and repaired the city walls. The repaired walls provided a more robust defense, but the city was still breached by Li Zicheng in the fifteenth year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign.

After this battle, the city walls of Jingmen were almost completely destroyed, and nearly all residential buildings were also destroyed.

The city of Jingmen Prefecture before Xie Bin was rebuilt during the reign of Emperor Shunzhi of the Qing Dynasty. In the ninth year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, a torrential rain caused more than twenty sections of the city walls on the east, west, and north sides to collapse, and they were not repaired until the fourteenth year of Qianlong's reign.

The most recent major renovation of Jingmen Prefecture was in the 18th year of the Daoguang Emperor's reign. After the Taiping Army entered Hubei, the prefectures, counties, and districts in the remaining Qing territory of Hubei either voluntarily or under orders repaired the city walls and gates.

Prefectural cities generally have the capacity to repair both city walls and gates, while counties with limited financial resources can only focus on repairing and reinforcing the city gates of their respective prefectural and county seats.

The city gates of Jingmen Prefecture were just repaired and reinforced last year.

The Qing troops inside Jingmen Prefecture believed that they could hold out until reinforcements from Xiangfan arrived, relying on the city's natural defenses, so they fortified their position and held their ground.

However, the Third Regiment quickly shattered the illusions of the Qing soldiers in Jingmen Prefecture.

After Xie Bin spent six days using the method of siege warfare to create a breach more than ten feet wide, the five hundred Green Standard Army soldiers of the Jingmen Camp, under the command of the Huguang Naval and Land Forces Commander, along with six or seven hundred local militia members, lined up in unison to surrender to Xie Bin.

During the six days that the short-haired army besieged the city, the garrison of Jingmen Prefecture fired more than three shots. Regardless of whether they hit the short-haired army, it was enough to repay the emperor's kindness, to be worthy of the imperial salary they had received over the years, and to have a clear conscience.

After occupying Jingmen Prefecture, Xie Bin left a company of soldiers to garrison the city and guard the prisoners.

He himself continued to lead his troops toward Zhongxiang, the capital of Anlu Prefecture, to join forces with Lu Qin.

By the time Xie Bin's vanguard arrived in Zhongxiang City, Lu Qin had already captured it.

Anlu Prefecture's capital, Zhongxiang City, was located in Yingzhong Street, the seat of Zhongxiang City in later generations. The prefecture governed four counties.

The four counties, from south to north, are Qianjiang County, Tianmen County, Jingshan County, and Zhongxiang County.

Zhongxiang was formerly known as Yingzhou and had a stone city, which was successively expanded during the Qiandao and Chunxi periods of the Song Dynasty.

In the fifteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty's Zhiyuan era, it was upgraded to Anlu Prefecture. In the early Ming Dynasty, it was downgraded to Anlu State, and the city was expanded.

During the Hongzhi reign, the Prince of Xing, the father of the Jiajing Emperor, established his fief here, and the city walls were extended northward by several tens of feet.

After Jiajing entered Beijing and ascended the throne, in the tenth year of his reign, Anlu Prefecture was upgraded to Xingdu Chengtian Prefecture, becoming one of the capitals of the Ming Dynasty, along with Shuntian Prefecture in Beijing, Yingtian Prefecture in Nanjing, and Fengyang Prefecture in Zhongdu. During the Chongzhen era, the city walls were heightened. In the third year of the Shunzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Anlu Prefecture, and the city walls were rebuilt in the first year of the Kangxi reign.

Although Zhongxiang City was a prefectural city, its city wall area was not large, only 0.95 square kilometers, which was only slightly larger than the city of Jingmen Prefecture.

As for the number of troops garrisoning the city, the Green Standard Army only had one battalion under the command of the Huguang Naval and Land Commander Anlu, and it was a small battalion with just over two hundred men.

There are about a thousand local militia members in Zhongxiang.

However, this mere thousand or so defenders were no match for Lu Qin's army of over fourteen thousand, and Zhongxiang City was captured by Lu Qin in less than five days.

Upon learning that Xie Bin had led the vanguard of the Third Regiment to the outskirts of Zhongxiang City, Lu Qin was overjoyed and personally went out of the city to welcome Xie Bin into the Anlu Prefectural Government Office.

Xie Bin, the deputy commander of this campaign against Xiangfan, led a detachment whose forces were less than a fraction of the main force.

However, Xie Bin brought mostly veteran soldiers, almost an entire 3rd Regiment, which was an indispensable military force for the upcoming attack on Xiangfan.

"Commander Xie, you've had a long and arduous journey! Commander Xie marched north from Jiangling City to Jingmen Prefecture with unstoppable momentum, clearing the flanks for our main force. Your contributions are invaluable!"

Lu Qin smiled and stepped forward, giving Xie Bin a firm pat on the shoulder.

Although Xie Bin was not a senior general from the first class of Pingzaishan Honglianping, he had known the first class members for a long time. In addition, Lu Qin had fought alongside his old brothers from Pingzaishan to wipe out Zhang Zhao, a bandit from the Heaven and Earth Society who came from the sea. They had a life-or-death friendship.

Therefore, although Xie Bin comes from the Green Camp, he has a good relationship with several former leaders who are also from the first batch of members.

The officers from the Northern Palace, who came from the Green Camp, also recognized Xie Bin, the most senior among them and the one most trusted by Peng Gang, as the leader of their circle.

Even though Xie Bin was only a battalion commander when he joined Peng Gang's forces, Chang Sheng, Li Rui, and others were either deputy generals of the Sichuan Camp or generals of the Guizhou Camp.

Xie Bin was a general who was well-connected with both the senior officers from the Northern Military Academy and the officers from the Northern Military Academy who had surrendered from the Green Standard Army.

Hou Jiyong, on the other hand, often mingled with Peng Gang's students when he was in Shangdongtang, and became even closer to the officers who came from the military academy.

Hou Jiyong, an officer who was a surrendered Green Standard Army officer, was only close to his former superior Xie Bin. He was merely a nodding acquaintance with other surrendered Green Standard Army officers from the Northern Palace and did not get very close to them. On the contrary, he deliberately kept his distance.

Xie Bin laughed and said, "Commander Lu, you flatter me. It was all thanks to the soldiers' bravery. It was Commander Lu's main force that swept through cities and captured Zhongxiang in just five days. That is the real achievement!"

As the two were exchanging pleasantries, a series of hurried and forceful footsteps came from outside the Anlu Prefecture government office.

Then, the naval regiment commander Chen Miao, along with several staff officers including Zhang Ze, Zhang Handai, and Zhuo Huayu, strode in.

For this campaign against Xiangfan, Peng Gang assigned half of his staff to Lu Qin and Xie Bin.

In mid-to-late May, central Hubei was already quite hot, and Chen Miao and his team were out and about, conducting real-time on-site surveys of the navigation conditions on the Han River.

Their overcoats were already soaked with sweat.

Chen Miao is doing well. As the commander of the Sixth Regiment, he spends most of his time leading the navy on missions.

The staff officers rarely went outdoors, and compared to the last time we met, their faces were somewhat tanned from the river wind and scorching sun.

Chen Miao and several staff officers frowned, their expressions grave. Judging from their expressions, it was clear that they had brought back bad news.

"Commander Lu, Commander Xie!" Chen Miao greeted Lu Qin and Xie Bin with clasped hands.

"I have just returned from personally leading a team to explore the section of the Han River upstream of Zhongxiang City in a small boat."

Although Chen Miao was also a regimental commander, he held the same rank of colonel as Lu Qin and Xie Bin.

However, Lu Qin and Xie Bin, one appointed by Peng Gang as the commander-in-chief for this campaign against Xiangfan and the other as the deputy commander, have higher authority than Lu Qin.

Furthermore, Lu Qin was the team leader when he was in Honglianping, Pingzaishan. Xie Bin was almost a decade older than him, so Chen Miao didn't feel like he was at a disadvantage by referring to himself as a subordinate in front of the two of them.

Seeing Chen Miao's expression, Lu Qin's heart sank slightly, and his smile faded somewhat. He gestured, "Commander Chen, you've worked hard. What's the specific situation of the Han River waterway? Please speak freely, Commander Chen." Chen Miao walked to the Han River basin map spread out on the desk in the West Flower Hall, pointed heavily at Zhongxiang, and then traced upstream: "The situation is not optimistic. The Han River waterway upstream from Zhongxiang is much worse than we expected!"

Zhuo Huayu, who was standing nearby, added: "This section of the Han Riverbed is relatively shallow and narrow, with numerous sandbars. What's even more troublesome is that it has not been dredged for many years, resulting in severe siltation."

We measured several key sections of the river. Even though the flood season is approaching and the river level has risen, the water depth in most of the navigable channels is only a little over four feet, and the river is winding, making navigation extremely difficult.

Chen Miao looked up at Lu Qin and Xie Bin and said the conclusion he least wanted to say: "Our steam paddle steamers, apart from the Baling, Pingjiang and Linxiang, the three shallowest and smallest paddle steamers, which can barely try to continue sailing upstream, the other larger paddle steam warships will probably have difficulty passing through this waterway. If they force their way through, there is a very high chance that they will run aground."

The officers who were recruited in the first term were all highly educated, even though Chen Miao had not attended a private school in his childhood and had little cultural foundation.

However, more than five years have passed since Shang Ping began his advanced studies at Shan Honglianping in 1848.

When Peng Gang was in Pingshan, he entrusted Luo Dagang to purchase a set of metric system weights and measures from Guangzhou and bring it back to introduce and explain the metric system weights and measures to the first batch of students.

Chen Miao, Lu Qin, and others are all quite good at math. They can calculate area and volume, understand the concept of tons, and are now used to measuring the size of a ship in tons.

The three paddle steamers, Baling, Pingjiang, and Linxiang, were purchased by Peng Gang later and were only delivered in mid-December last year.

Compared to the steam paddle steamers originally purchased from French and American trading companies, the Baling, Pingjiang, and Linxiang were a size smaller.

The earliest purchased steam paddle steamers, such as Jiangxia, Hanyang, and Huanggang, were relatively small, with a displacement of around 400 tons.

The displacement of the Baling, Pingjiang, and Linxiang ships is between two and three hundred tons.

Although the Baling, Pingjiang, and Linxiang were still giant ships on the Han River, their deterrent power and carrying capacity were obviously much weaker than those of larger ships like the Jiangxia and Hanyang.

This news was like a bucket of cold water, leaving Lu Qin and Xie Bin feeling somewhat disappointed.

"Only three ships can get on?" Xie Bin asked, frowning.

He had originally hoped that by relying on the firepower and transport capacity of the navy, he could quickly approach the walls of Xiangfan.

In retrospect, that was too idealistic.

Although Lu Qin did not speak immediately, his tightly pursed lips betrayed his inner resentment and regret.

After a moment of silence, Lu Qin slowly spoke, his tone tinged with reluctance: "Commander Chen, are you sure there are no other options? Such as finding local fishermen familiar with the waters to guide us, or reducing the weight of the large ships, so that our large ships can continue sailing upstream?"

Chen Miao shook his head helplessly, but said with certainty, "Commander Lu, I have carefully questioned the captured sailors and local fishermen, and also discussed this issue with the ship's captain and first mate."

Even if we ask fishermen familiar with the local waters to guide us or reduce the weight of the ships, the risks remain very high. In another month or two, after the next heavy rain, our large ships will be able to barely navigate upstream.

"Just to wait for a few large ships, we'll be delayed for a month or two. I'm sure His Highness wouldn't want us to go through that."

"This is the first time we've led troops alone, and we absolutely cannot let Your Highness down." Xie Bin was older and had experienced more trials and tribulations, so he quickly recovered from his disappointment.

"Isn't it just that large steamships can't participate in the battle for the time being? We fought in Guangxi and Hunan before without steamships, and the battles were still fought well. Besides, with three steamships available for the battle, the Qing navy in Xiangfan is weak, and our navy still has an overwhelming advantage over the Qing navy in Xiangfan."

Lu Qin paced back and forth in the West Flower Hall for a few steps, pondered for a long time, and then his gaze fell on the map again: "In that case, the large ships should not advance rashly. Regiment Commander Chen, you should immediately coordinate the three ships, Baling, Pingjiang, and Linxiang, to carefully explore the upstream waterway with small boats, and conduct reconnaissance as far upstream as possible to ascertain the enemy's situation and the water conditions."

All other large ships that could not pass through were converted into logistics transport vessels, responsible for transferring some of the grain and military supplies from Hanchuan to Zhongxiang City.

"Your subordinate obeys!" Chen Miao solemnly accepted the order. Although he was reluctant that the large ships could not participate in the battle for the time being, this was the safest arrangement at present.

If a large ship is forced to sail upstream, it could run aground and suffer damage, which would cause even more trouble and greater losses.

Although Beidian now has a shipyard and has a certain capacity for repairing paddle steamers.

However, since the shipyard was located in Hanyang, the only way to repair the ship was to tow it back to Hanyang.

After giving Chen Miao the order, Lu Qin looked at Xie Bin and said, "Commander Xie!"

"Here!" Xie Bin replied loudly.

"The three regiments will select one old battalion to stay in Zhongxiang City, rely on Zhongxiang City to establish a stable supply station, and ensure that Zhongxiang City is safe and the logistics supply line is unobstructed after our main force moves north!
Order all units to rest for two days outside Zhongxiang City! Quickly unload the provisions and supplies from the large steamships and transfer them to smaller boats. Requisition all available laborers and mules; two days later, march on Xiangfan.

"Yes!" Xie Bin accepted the order and left Xihua Hall to begin arranging matters for those left behind.

Lu Qin has eliminated the main Green Standard Army outposts and large local militias within Anlu Prefecture.

The First Battalion of the North Palace, at full strength, numbered around seven hundred men. Leaving behind an old battalion of the Third Regiment to be responsible for the defense of Zhongxiang City was sufficient. Lu Qin's arrangement was not inappropriate.

After arranging the defense of Zhongxiang City, Lu Qin, Xie Bin, Chen Miao, Zhang Ze and others wrote to Wuchang to report the latest developments in the battle to Peng Gang.

The Qing army in Changsha, upstream of the three towns of Wuhan, is currently the Qing army that poses the greatest potential threat to the northern palace.

Therefore, the telegraph line from Wuchang to the Yuelushan camp was a key telegraph line that the Wuchang Telegraph Bureau was currently building.

Two other major telegraph lines are being constructed: one from Wuchang to Dehua, the capital of Jiujiang Prefecture, and the other from Hanyang to De'an.

One road was erected just to Huanggang City, and another just to Hanchuan City.

Lu Qin and Xie Bin could only use fast horses to deliver the letter to Hanchuan County, and then the telegraph office in Hanchuan County would send a telegram to Hanyang.

After receiving the telegram from the Hanchuan Telegraph Office, the Hanyang Telegraph Office carried the telegram across the river and delivered it to the Wuchang Telegraph Headquarters, which then translated it and delivered it to the Northern Prince's Palace.

"Li Ruzhao, urge Jardine Matheson to ask when the gutta-percha we entrusted them to purchase will arrive."

Before even opening and checking the telegram, Peng Gang frowned and said...

Guta gum is a natural latex material extracted from the solidified latex of the Guta gum tree. Its Chinese translations are also known as Eucommia gum and Malay latex.

This material was widely used as the core material for the insulation layer of submarine cables in the mid-19th century, and it is still used in industrial fields such as non-metallic hoses and waterproofing of suitcases.

Guttas rubber was hailed as the plastic of the Victorian era, but it gradually faded from mainstream view at the end of the 19th century with the widespread use of rubber and the invention of synthetic plastics.

The earliest golf balls were also made from gutta-percha.

Peng Gang didn't buy gutta-percha from the Englishman because he wanted to play golf. He wasn't a general from the peninsula, and he didn't have many strange hobbies that were detached from the masses.

Peng Gang purchased the guta adhesive to lay underwater cables so that the telegraph lines in the three towns of Wuhan could be directly connected.

Although Hanyang and Wuchang are separated by only a river, and sending telegrams by hand wouldn't take much time, Peng Gang still felt that the efficiency was too low.

Furthermore, while the cost of setting up a telegraph station is low, the cost of laying and maintaining the lines is high.

Peng Gang hopes that the telegraph can be put into commercial use as soon as possible, gradually reducing the telegraph's operation and maintenance costs, so as to achieve the goal of generating profits to support the government.

The low efficiency of information transmission is a problem that Peng Gang finds unbearable. He also dislikes the practice of simply piling up manpower whenever a problem arises, relying on low labor costs.

While this approach may temporarily solve the problem, it can easily lead to path dependency.

“Your Highness, I have urged them several times, but the people from Jardine Matheson said that there is no stock of Gutagua in Hong Kong, and they will have to go to Southeast Asia to purchase it,” Li Ruzhao replied.

When the English were mentioned, Li Ruzhao couldn't help but frown.

As the Palace Attendant of the North Hall, Li Ruzhao had no choice but to come into contact with foreigners when dealing with foreign affairs.

After nearly a year of interaction, Li Ruzhao found that he preferred dealing with the French and Chinese people who were more approachable and easier to communicate with.

I don't like dealing with arrogant, overly cunning, and calculating Englishmen.

For example, Li Ruzhao had been urging the Englishman to deliver the gutta-percha since the beginning of the year, but there was still no response by the end of May.

"Damn it! The East India Company's opium can be transported from Bangladesh to Shanghai in two months, but the gutta-percha we need can't be transported from Malaysia to Wuchang in ten months!" Peng Gang said with a gloomy face.

“Tell Matichen that we rushed to purchase the gutta-percha from him at a price higher than the market price. If I don’t receive the gutta-percha within two months, the order will be void, and we can simply forfeit the deposit.”

Since they're hiding it and dragging their feet, unwilling to deliver, and England isn't the only country with gutta-percha, I'll just send someone to Batavia to buy it from the Dutch!

Peng Gang purchased high-end gutta-percha from Jardine Matheson at a price of six shillings per pound, or £0.30, which was high. He was essentially ripped off by the Englishmen.

High-end gutta-percha is priced at £0.20 per pound in the European market and around £0.25 per pound in the American market.

Logically, Wuchang, being closer to the production area of ​​Gutajiao (a type of traditional Chinese medicine), should have lower transportation costs and therefore be cheaper.

But the British, relying on this as their bottleneck raw material, and the fact that only Britain and the Netherlands currently possess gutta-percha, are demanding exorbitant prices.

Peng Gang could tolerate the high price for now; he could always get his revenge in the tea, silk, and porcelain trade and make a little more money from the Englishmen.

Peng Gang could no longer tolerate the delayed delivery; his patience had its limits.

If it weren't for the fact that Japan is the core area of ​​Dutch interests in East Asia, and that almost all Dutch people in East Asia operate in Japan with very few in the Chinese market, Peng Gang would have contacted the Dutch long ago to buy Guttas rubber from them.

Damn it, once we take over Malaysia, we'll make sure the English can't sell their gutta-percha or grow rubber.

(End of this chapter)