1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 370 General Shao, where's your braid?

Based on the information they had gathered about the garrison in Xiangyang, Lu Qin, Xie Bin, Zhang Ze, and others discussed the matter and ultimately decided to take advantage of the navy's strength to launch a direct attack on the outer city of Xiangyang from the Han River and capture it first.

Zhuo Huayu asked in bewilderment, "General Lu, Hai Ying and Shao Heling have already sent letters expressing their willingness to surrender. Why don't we sit back and reap the benefits, wait for them to make a scene first, and then take advantage of the chaos to attack Xiangyang City?"

Zhuo Huayu felt that since Hai Ying and Shao Heling were inclined to surrender, it would be better to wait for Hai Ying and Shao Heling to fight Luo Raodian, and then take advantage of the chaos in Xiangyang City to attack Xiangyang City, which would surely be twice as effective with half the effort.

"Warfare is based on deception; what is real is made to appear unreal, and what is unreal is made to appear real," Lu Qin said, shaking his head slightly.

"Although Hai Ying and Shao Heling have the intention to surrender, their sincerity is not very strong. While we are waiting for internal strife to break out in Xiangyang, Hai Ying and Shao Heling are also watching and waiting for us to attack the city. If we don't put some pressure on Xiangyang, it is unlikely that the city will fall into chaos."

Hai Ying and Shao Heling, these Qing officials with wavering stances, were sophisticated egoists. Lu Qin did not expect that Hai Ying and Shao Heling would dare to fight Luo Raodian and voluntarily hand over Xiangyang City without putting pressure on them.

Lu Qin was always cautious. Before Hai Ying and Shao Heling actually raised their flags to surrender, he decided to prepare for the worst and assume that they had not surrendered but were feigning surrender.

When the Northern Army captured Fancheng, they seized more than 600 sets of cloth armor in relatively good condition. Most of these cloth armors were taken from Bao Qibao's personal guards and Green Standard Army officers, and a very small number were found in the Fancheng armory.

With the idea of ​​making the best use of resources and in order to minimize casualties, Lu Qin ordered these cloth armors to be distributed to the troops attacking the city.

Most of the soldiers in the Northern Palace did not have the habit of wearing armor.

They felt that the cloth armor offered very limited protection against musket fire at close range, and would actually hinder their movement, so it was better not to wear it at all.

However, Li Rui, Chang Sheng, Feng Zicai, and other former Qing army Green Standard Army officers and soldiers who had surrendered from the Qing army liked to wear armor. Upon receiving the news, they went to the Fancheng Armory to collect their armor.

To avoid accidental injury during the siege, Xie Bin specially prepared an extra red scarf for these armored soldiers to wrap around their helmets, so that they could easily distinguish friend from foe and avoid accidental injury.

With preparations complete, Lu Qin finally issued the order for the general offensive. Following the established strategy, the main attack was launched on the outer city of Xiangyang, which bordered the Han River.

"All troops, listen to my command!" Lu Qin stood on the command deck of the Baling and issued the order with great enthusiasm.

"All naval artillery fire, concentrate on bombarding the line from Linhan Gate to Zhenhua Gate! After the infantry lands, we must take the outer city in one fell swoop!"

"Understood!" Chen Miao clasped his hands in acceptance, turned around, and shouted.

"All gun positions, load solid shot! Target: Zhenhua Gate, outer city of Xiangyang!"

Meanwhile, Xie Bin personally led three regiments and a heavy artillery company equipped with six twelve-pound Napoleon cannons to array themselves on the south wall of Xiangyang. This created the illusion of a main attack on the south gate, aiming to confuse and distract the Xiangyang defenders.

"fire!"

With Chen Miao's command, cannon fire roared across the Han River.

The cannons on the sides of the three paddle steamers, Baling, Pingjiang, and Linxiang, fired in unison, and solid iron bullets whistled as they crashed into the outer city wall of Xiangyang.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of modified gunboats joined the artillery battle, their firepower covering the entire outer wall of Xiangyang City.

boom! boom! boom!
In an instant, bricks and stones flew everywhere outside the city of Xiangyang, and smoke and dust filled the air.

Since this bombardment was aimed at attacking the outer city of Xiangyang, the firepower was much stronger than that used in previous bombardments of Xiangyang.

The outer city wall of Xiangyang shook violently under the intense artillery fire, some of the battlements collapsed, and the defending troops were pinned down by the heavy bombardment.

The Qing troops defending Xiangyang had never participated in such an intense battle or suffered such fierce artillery bombardment before.

Many Qing soldiers and civilians involuntarily retreated from the city walls, wanting to escape into the city to hide.

"Those who retreat will die!"

Luo Raodian had anticipated this and deployed nearby supervisory teams to kill more than twenty deserters on the spot, finally managing to stabilize the situation and drive the deserters onto the city wall.

At the same time, a messenger reported that the short-haired army outside the south wall of Xiangyang was also bombarding the Wenlu Gate of the south wall with heavy artillery, seemingly intending to attack the city from the south gate. He requested Luo Raodian to send reinforcements to support the south wall and the Wenlu Gate.

Despite the deafening roar of artillery fire all around, Luo Raodian remained clear-headed.

In a flash, Luo Raodian quickly made a judgment, believing that the short-haired army would not abandon the easy path and seek the difficult one, giving up the huge advantage of the navy to launch a main attack on Xiangyang from the Wenlu Gate on the south wall. He firmly believed that the north wall along the Han River was the short-haired army's main attack direction.

Luo Raodian only sent two hundred soldiers to Wenlu Gate on the south wall, and did not commit most of his reserves to the battle on the south wall.

"Landing team, move out!"

Under the cover of naval gunfire, hundreds of fast boats sped out from the middle of the river.

Each fast boat was filled with several to a dozen Northern Palace soldiers.

Among the many Clippers charging forward, the one leading the charge stood out.

A young officer holding a sword and shield stood at the bow of the fast boat.

This man was Feng Zicai, who was captured during the Battle of Yuezhou and then served the Northern Palace.

"Brothers, speed up!" Feng Zicai shouted at the soldiers on the ship, brandishing his goose-wing saber. "Let those old brothers see that we surrendered soldiers are not cowards!"

"Don't worry, Platoon Leader! We'll be the first to scale the walls of Xiangyang today and claim the credit for being the first to scale them!" The soldiers behind Feng Zicai responded in unison.

Most of the soldiers under Feng Zicai's command were surrendered soldiers from the Qing army's Green Standard Army. They were all eager to make meritorious contributions and prove themselves.

Compared to the Green Camp, whose promotions heavily rely on connections and financial backing, the Northern Army, which is still in its expansion phase, not only has more opportunities for promotion, but its promotion evaluation criteria are also much fairer than those of the Green Camp.

Although some Northern Palace officers and soldiers with impeccable revolutionary backgrounds may have prejudices or even discrimination against those Northern Palace officers and soldiers who were originally surrendered soldiers of the Green Standard Army.

However, in terms of specific promotions, due to concerns about being sent to a military court by the military police, officers would prioritize promoting the soldier with the better background, unless two soldiers from different backgrounds had the same merit.

In other cases, soldiers from the Northern Palace who were originally surrendered soldiers of the Green Standard Army would not be treated differently when being promoted.

There are many examples of soldiers from the Green Standard Army who were surrendered and rose through the ranks from common soldiers to company commanders and even battalion commanders through military merit.

Making merit can indeed lead to promotion, and it's a quick promotion without needing to bribe anyone or wait a long time for a real position.

This was something that the Northern Palace soldiers, who had been surrendered soldiers of the Green Standard Army, could never have dreamed of when they were in the Green Standard Army.

Therefore, Feng Zicai's old subordinates were willing to follow him and charge to the front, showing great enthusiasm.

The Clippers quickly reached the shore under the cover of artillery fire.

Feng Zicai was the first to jump into the knee-deep river, raising his goose-wing saber and roaring, "Brothers, follow me!"

Feng Zicai led his entire platoon of soldiers, who were disembarking one after another, and, holding shields, braved the sporadic bullets and arrows fired by the Qing army on the city walls to advance forward without hesitation.

Seven or eight musketeers took turns firing at the Qing troops on the city wall from behind their shields to suppress them. "Long ladders! Quickly set up long ladders!" Feng Zicai urged, waving his goose-wing sword.

But then a soldier carrying a long ladder was unfortunately hit by a stray bullet fired from the city wall.

Seeing this, Feng Zicai disregarded everything else, sheathed his sword, and personally took the place of the soldier who had been shot. He carried the ladder with one hand and held a shield with the other, carrying the ladder to the foot of the city wall and setting it up.

The other soldiers not far behind Feng Zicai saw that he had already set up the long ladder. They tacitly organized the musketeers and cannonmen to fire at the Qing troops on the city wall, providing cover for Feng Zicai's ascent.

Feng Zicai pulled out his goose-wing knife, put it in his mouth, and took the lead in climbing upwards.

Several arrows whistled past Feng Zicai's ears, and two of them even struck him.

One bullet hit Feng Zicai's helmet, making his head buzz, and another hit his shoulder.

Fortunately, the Qing army's military equipment had long been neglected, and there were now many Qing archers equipped with bows of four or five strength, but very few Qing archers could draw hard bows of more than ten strength.

If the Qing archers who shot him earlier had been strong enough, and had used a Qing bow with a draw weight of over ten jin (approximately 500 kg) and a heavy arrow, it's hard to say whether the arrow in his head would have penetrated, but the arrow in his shoulder would certainly have pierced his armor.

Despite being hit by two arrows, Feng Zicai did not back down and continued to climb upwards despite the arrows.

Just as they were about to climb onto the city wall, a pot of boiling hot golden juice was poured in their face.

Feng Zicai suddenly turned to the side, and the scalding liquid slid down his shoulder, sizzling on the cloth armor.

"Platoon leader!" exclaimed the soldiers under Feng Zicai, breaking out in a cold sweat for him.

"I'm fine!" Feng Zicai took the goose-wing knife from his mouth, roared, and leaped onto the city wall.

Three or four Qing soldiers immediately surrounded them from the city wall.

Feng Zicai showed no fear, wielding his goose-wing saber with ferocious skill.

With a flash of the blade, blood splattered, and in the blink of an eye, a Qing soldier was cut down.

"Kill!" Feng Zicai, like a tiger among sheep, led the soldiers who were climbing the city walls to scatter the surrounding Qing troops in order to facilitate the subsequent assault troops.

More and more soldiers from the North Palace climbed the long ladders to the top of the city wall, and Feng Zicai led them to continuously expand the breakthrough.

"Advance! Capture the city gate!" Feng Zicai, covered in blood, fought with increasing ferocity.

The goose-wing knife in his hand had already been slashed with several notches, but the speed of his swing did not decrease at all.

Upon hearing that the short-haired army had already climbed the north wall of the outer city of Xiangyang, General Shao Heling of Xiangyang Town hurriedly led more than a hundred of his trusted personal guards to cut their braids.

"Those who want to live, cut off your braids with me! Let the Heavenly Army and Holy Soldiers enter the city!"

Without realizing it, Shao Heling himself didn't even notice that he had changed the way he was addressed.

Just a few days ago, he had scornfully referred to the Northern Palace Army as short-haired and rebellious, but now they have become the Heavenly Army's holy soldiers with silky smooth skin.

These hundred-odd guards were Shao Heling's most trusted confidants. Upon hearing that cutting off their queues could save their lives, they did not hesitate for long. They immediately cut off their queues, put on their helmets and hats, and hurriedly followed Shao Heling toward the north wall of the outer city.

On the way, Shao Heling ran into a militia leader.

The militia leader was initially pleased to see Shao Heling leading troops to provide reinforcements, thinking Shao Heling was very loyal. However, he quickly sensed something was amiss and pointed at Shao Heling's empty back, asking, "Commander Shao, where's your braid?"

"I've cut off my queue and surrendered!" Before the militia leader could react, Shao Heling killed him with a single stroke.

With the leader of the militia dead, the dozens of militiamen around him dared not stop Shao Heling and his more than one hundred menacing guards, and immediately scattered like birds and beasts.

Before long, Shao Heling arrived near the Zhenhua Gate tower.

As Shao Heling approached the Zhenhua Gate tower, he was astonished to see a group of people dressed in Qing army cloth armor with red headscarves on their helmets chasing after the Qing soldiers on the Zhenhua Gate tower in a fierce battle.

He wondered to himself: Could it be that there are people in Xiangyang who surrendered even faster than me?

But Shao Heling quickly realized that these people wearing Qing army cloth armor and red headscarves on their helmets must be the Heavenly Army soldiers who were attacking the city.

He, as the garrison commander of Xiangyang, knew all too well the nature of the Qing soldiers in Xiangyang City. There were absolutely no Qing soldiers or militias who were so capable and brave in close combat.

Seeing a group of soldiers under the command of a centurion about to fire muskets and small cannons at the soldiers of the North Palace, Shao Heling joined the battle without saying a word, slashing and stabbing, and scattered the group of Qing musket and cannon wielders.

Feng Zicai was surprised to see the Qing troops on the city wall fighting amongst themselves. Just as he was about to rush forward to continue the attack, Shao Heling immediately removed his helmet and headgear: "I am Shao Heling, the General of Xiangyang Garrison! I surrender! I'm one of them! One of them!"

As soon as Shao Heling took off his helmet, his personal guards also removed their helmets and hats, revealing their cut-off braids.

Feng Zicai and a company commander who had already climbed the city wall were skeptical but dared not be careless.

Only Shao Heling and a few Qing soldiers who looked like officers were ordered to stay behind to lead the way to capture the inner city. As for the remaining personal guards, they were disarmed and kept under guard on the spot.

Shao Heling was also quite sensible and ordered his personal guards to cooperate obediently if they wanted to live.

After capturing Zhenhua Gate, subsequent attacking troops continuously scaled the walls and entered the city.

The outer city of Xiangyang was very small, occupying only a corner of the northeastern part of Xiangyang. The Northern Army quickly occupied the outer city of Xiangyang.

Upon learning that the short-haired army had entered the outer city, Luo Raodian immediately led all the troops he could still mobilize to launch a counterattack on the outer city, attempting to recapture Xiangyang's outer city.

The Qing army in Xiangyang was no match for the Northern Palace army when it was defending the city, so it was wishful thinking to try to take back the lost outer city from the Northern Palace army.

The Northern Palace troops that entered the outer city quickly repelled the counterattack of the Qing army and established a foothold in the outer city.

The disheveled Luo Raodian led the remnants of his army, who had been defeated in the counterattack from the outer city, back to his residence, preparing to reorganize his forces for a counterattack and recapture the outer city of Xiangyang.

At this moment, Hai Ying, the prefect of Xiangyang, led a group of trusted militiamen and yamen runners to Luo Raodian's residence after learning that Luo Raodian had returned to his residence.

The guards recognized Haiying and, seeing that the visitor was the prefect, did not stop him.

"Prefect Hai? You've come at the perfect time!"

When Luo Raodian saw Haiying arrive, he didn't suspect anything; on the contrary, he felt as if he had found an ally.

"Quickly, assist me in gathering all available troops within the inner city to retake the outer city of Xiangyang. Xiangyang cannot be lost. If anything happens to Xiangyang while it is in our hands, we will both be sinners for all eternity..."

(End of this chapter)