1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 376 Broken City
With Yuyang Village captured, the Northern Palace army was only seven or eight zhang away from the main city of Nanyang.

There are two main methods to attack the main city of Nanyang: one is to continue digging tunnels and blow up the southern city wall of the main city of Nanyang.

The second option was to directly fill in the last seven or eight zhang (approximately 33-40 meters) of space between Yuyang Village and the main city of Nanyang to launch a strong attack on Nanyang City.

Although Xie Bin and his team were more familiar with the method of blasting from underground, it was also the safest siege tactic with the least expected casualties.

This time, Xie Bin did not choose to continue using blasting to breach the city walls, but instead opted to fill in the city walls and launch a strong attack.

After the capture of Nanyang, this year's war came to an end, and the large tracts of newly liberated land needed time to be integrated.

Given Wuchang's style of operation, it is unlikely that large-scale military operations will be launched in the short term, at least not this year.

After capturing Nanyang, Nanyang will become the front line for the Northern Palace to directly confront the Qing army from the north.

If conditions permit, Xie Bin still hopes to capture a completely intact Nanyang city and preserve the city's defenses as much as possible.

Although damaged city walls can be repaired later, the damage to the foundation of the city walls caused by blasting is irreversible.

South of Nanyang City, on the northern edge of Yuyang Village.

The smoke from the battle to capture Yuyang Village had not yet completely cleared when an even fiercer battle was about to break out.

The short stretch of land, only seven or eight zhang wide, between Yuyang Village and the south wall of Nanyang's main city has now become the area where the two sides' forces are most concentrated and the fighting is most intense.

Both sides were well aware of what that final short distance of seven or eight zhang meant.

The soldiers of the Northern Palace knew that once they captured the main city of Nanyang, the situation in the entire Nanyang Prefecture would be just like when they captured Xiangfan, easily sweeping through the remaining prefectures and counties within Nanyang Prefecture.

The Qing troops inside the main city of Nanyang also knew that once the short-haired rebels filled this gap, they could easily breach the south wall of the main city of Nanyang.

"Fire! Suppress the Qing troops on the city walls!"

Peng Yong personally went to the rammed earth wall north of Yuyang Village to direct the battle from the front line.

As soon as the order was given, nearly a thousand flintlock muskets, over a hundred matchlock muskets, and sixty or seventy light mountain guns deployed at the breaches and tops of the stockade wall roared simultaneously.

Bang Bang Bang!
boom! boom!
For a time, smoke filled the southern wall of Nanyang's main city and the northern wall of Yuyang Village, lingering for a long time.

The smoke rising from the gunfire was so thick that it almost completely obscured everyone's vision.

Neither side could even see the enemy's figures seven or eight zhang away; they were simply firing their machines in the direction of the enemy.

At such close range, neither side's musketeers nor gunners used solid shot; instead, they all switched to shotgun shells.

In an instant, countless lead pellets, iron filings, gravel, and ceramic shards rained down on each other.

The firepower was so intense that lead pellets and iron pellets collided head-on in mid-air, sparking out.

The battlements were battered, sending dirt and stones flying everywhere.

The southern wall of Nanyang's main city was more than ten feet higher than the earthen wall of Yuyang Village. This allowed them to attack from a higher position, and the close-range shooting with shotguns placed very low demands on the accuracy of their firearms.

Logically, this situation should have been highly advantageous for the Qing army, which was on the defensive.

However, there were many cowardly firearms soldiers in the Qing army. Even with the protection of battlements and shields, many Qing soldiers still fired cannons and guns into the air in a trembling manner to get by.

Only a few brave and courageous Qing veterans dared to risk being hit by stray bullets and aimed their cannons, muskets, and arrows at the back of the north wall of Yuyang Village before setting fire.

Despite occupying advantageous firing positions, the Qing troops failed to capitalize on their roughly equal numbers.

They quickly fell into a disadvantageous position, suppressed by the North Palace firearms soldiers in unfavorable firing positions, making it difficult for them to raise their heads.

Under the cover of this fierce barrage of fire, hundreds of new recruits from the Northern Palace roared as they took bags of sand and baskets of bricks from the laborers and climbed the northern wall of Yuyang Village.

When conscripting laborers, Wuchang promised them that they would not have to go to the battlefield.

Xie Bin currently has enough soldiers under his command, so there is no need to send the accompanying laborers to the battlefield.

Instead, laborers were made to load sand and collect bricks and stones inside Yuyang Village and transport them to the vicinity of the north village wall.

Then, the soldiers of the Northern Palace, who were waiting near the northern wall, would carry the goods up the wall by hand or by lowering them onto a frame, in order to save the soldiers' energy.

Meanwhile, the shield soldiers on the stockade wall had already tied cotton quilts to their shields and door panels and poured water on the quilts.

They held up heavy shields to cover the soldiers who were carrying sand, soil, bricks, and stones as they threw sandbags and bricks over the stockade walls.

In an instant, sandbags and bricks rained down.

With the coordinated cover of the attacking soldiers, the soldiers responsible for carrying and throwing sand, soil, bricks and stones became more and more adept at it.

As time went by, the sandbags and bricks thrown over the stockade walls gradually increased in height, soon reaching the same level as the stockade walls.

If they wanted to fill the wall with sand and bricks further, they would have to take even greater risks by moving the bags full of sand and bricks out of the wall stack to fill it.

At this moment, the wall became a bit of a hindrance. Ding Yi, the new group leader from Macheng County who was promoted to group leader because of his bravery and ability to write his own name, actually grabbed a shovel and started to dig up the wall in a moment of panic.

"Are you out of your mind? Why are you arguing with the wall?" Peng Yong, who was directing the battle next to Ding Yi, slapped Ding Yi hard on the back of the head and shouted.

"Sir, the wall is in the way. It's hard for the brothers carrying bags of sand and bricks weighing over a hundred pounds to climb it," Ding Yi reported loudly.

"You blockhead! With so many sandbags readily available, why don't you use them to build a few steps up there?" Peng Yong rolled his eyes at Ding Yi.

Ding Yi suddenly realized: "It's the superior who has the idea, isn't it?"

After speaking, he immediately glanced at the shovel in his hand and began moving sand and soil to build steps.

Not far away, Qiu Lian'en, who was personally supervising the battle from the south wall, could vaguely see through the smoke of gunpowder that short-haired soldiers were climbing out of the Yuyang stockade wall and throwing earth and stones forward in succession. He was extremely anxious.

"Damn it! Quick, fire the arrows! Aim carefully before you fire! Stop them! If the short-haired bastards manage to fill the main city with earth and stones, we're all doomed!"

Qiu Lian'en kept urging the Qing soldiers around him to open fire.

Under Qiu Lian'en's coercion, some of the more valiant Qing musketeers and archers risked being hit by shrapnel and leaned out to fire arrows downwards.

puff!

A new recruit from the North Palace, who was throwing a bag of dirt forward, was shot in the thigh by an arrow and fell to the ground with a scream.

The veteran next to him immediately raised his shield to shield himself, while another comrade braved the hail of bullets and arrows fired by the Qing army to carry the wounded soldier back to the relatively safe rear of the stockade.

On the Qing army's side, Qiu Lian'en's worst fears came true.

The Qing army's inferior firearms, with reduced gunpowder, were only good for occasional cannon shots and musket fire to pass inspections; to cope with high-intensity warfare was nothing short of a pipe dream.

Even though Qiu Lian'en instructed before the battle that the guns should be loaded to 40% capacity, as the fighting dragged on, the Qing army's muskets and even cannons exploded more and more frequently.

The Qing soldiers wounded by exploding weapons either covered their faces and hands or rolled on the ground, emitting pig-like screams.

This had a significant negative impact on morale.

More and more Qing soldiers were unwilling to risk firing their weapons, fearing they might explode, and even when they did, they became hesitant and timid. The only soldiers who dared to use their weapons with confidence were a small number of archers and crossbowmen.

As the battle dragged on, the firepower of the Qing soldiers defending the city gradually diminished.

On the other hand, the firepower of the North Palace remained undiminished.

Before the battle, Xie Bin, Peng Yong and others had considered that the captured Qing army firearms were unreliable, prone to exploding, and could not be used continuously for a long time.

The soldiers of the Northern Palace who went up the north wall of Yuyang and exchanged fire with the Qing army were mostly armed with better flintlock muskets. Even the musketeers who used matchlock muskets used muskets made by the Hanyang Arsenal, rather than the matchlock muskets captured from the Green Standard Army.

As for the mountain-splitting guns, each artillery group was equipped with at least three mountain-splitting guns for replacement.

With their overwhelming firepower, the soldiers of the Northern Palace did their utmost to suppress the city walls, buying every second for their comrades who were filling in the earth and stones.

The teams filling the ditch, like worker ants, tirelessly passed sandbags, bricks, and timber into the seven- or eight-zhang-deep ditch.

As wave after wave of people surged forward, the open space in front of them began to be filled in at a visible rate.

Qiu Lian'en watched from the city wall, his eyes bloodshot with rage. Now, he was powerless to do anything; he could only watch helplessly as the chasm of death gradually receded and flattened before his eyes…

From dawn to noon, in just a few hours, after suffering more than 300 casualties, the three rough slopes paved with earth bags, bricks, and wood between Yuyang Village and the south wall of Nanyang's main city finally crossed the last seven or eight zhang (approximately 33-40 meters) and were firmly attached to the sturdy south wall of Nanyang's main city.

"It's filled in! It's filled in!"

A deafening cheer erupted from the Northern Palace army.

Peng Yong drew his sword sharply, pointed it at the nearby Nanyang city wall, and roared like thunder: "The time to make a name for ourselves has come! Charge into Nanyang! The first to scale the walls will be rewarded with three thousand taels of silver and promoted three ranks! Kill—!"

The North Palace has always bestowed generous rewards upon the brave warriors who have made the first move to scale the walls.

The reward money was not discounted; it was said to be three thousand taels, and the actual amount paid was three thousand taels. Promotions were also instantaneous.

In the Battle of Xiangyang, Feng Zicai, who made a great contribution by being the first to scale the walls, had already received a reward of three thousand taels of silver. His military rank was also promoted from platoon leader to deputy battalion commander, thus moving from a junior officer to a mid-level officer.

"kill!!!"

Peng Yong's trusted confidants, including Wang Yinan and Luo Bangyi, were like tigers finally freed from their chains. They launched a massive all-out attack on the city of Nanyang, following the slope paved with their lives, along with their old brothers from Leiyang County and the new recruits from Macheng and Huang'an.

Peng Yong's military achievements during the campaign against Yunyang Prefecture were enough for him to be promoted to a full regimental commander or even a higher military rank.

In this battle, Peng Yong gave the opportunity to Wang Yinan, Luo Bangyi, and other brothers from the Simenzhou Coal Mine who had spent many years with him in Leiyang.

Three ramps made of sacks, bricks, and timber blocked the Nanyang city wall, like the tentacles of a giant beast biting into the south wall of the main city of Nanyang.

The charging soldiers of the Northern Palace advanced up these steep passages, raining down lead bullets, arrows, logs, and stones from the city walls. People screamed as they tumbled down the slope, only to be pulled back by their comrades behind them.

"Fourth Company, Group One! Shields up, follow me!"

Wang Yinan's team leader from Macheng reacted quickly, pulling a new recruit from his platoon back from the brink of death as he tried to avoid a rolling log.

He immediately raised a heavy elm shield in his left hand and gripped a fish-head knife tightly in his right.

boom!
A boulder crashed down beside him, and the flying pebbles cut his cheek.

Ding ignored the burning pain in his cheek.

His eyes were fixed on the approaching figures of Qing archers behind the crenellations of the south wall of Nanyang's main city, and he could clearly hear the hysterical shouts of Qing officers.

Just then, a dense rain of arrows poured down.

Ding Yi held the shield firmly above his head.

The clanging sound of arrows piercing the wooden shield and the vibrations from the impact did not deter Ding Yi from retiring. He continued to advance without hesitation, already prepared to fight to the death.

He was originally a poor farmhand in Macheng. For the first ten years of his life, he lived worse than an ox or a horse until he joined the army and was able to eat his fill and live a life like a human being.

He will always remember the day he received his first paycheck; it was the first time in his life he had his own money.

Holding that heavy tael of silver in his hand felt like a dream to Ding Yi, who couldn't even afford coarse grains last year.

During his time as a recruit, the monthly military pay of one tael was enough to make him happy for several months, allowing his parents to have food during famine years. If he were to make a meritorious contribution by being the first to scale the walls and receive a reward of three thousand taels of silver, his whole family would never have to worry about food and clothing again for the rest of their lives.

As for death, these young farmers from Macheng are not even afraid of poverty, so why would they be afraid of death?
Moreover, even if he dies, Ding Yi will have no worries, as his pension will be enough for his parents to live out their old age.

As Ding Yi advanced, a muffled groan came from behind him. He didn't need to turn around to know that one of his brothers had been hit by an arrow.

Crossing the last few meters felt like crossing the line between life and death.

People kept falling, but the survivors continued to climb over the corpses of their companions.

Ding Yi felt a burning pain in his lungs and his legs felt like lead, but the city wall was right in front of him!

He gritted his teeth, held up his shield riddled with arrows, and stubbornly continued to push forward.

Amidst countless arrows and rolling logs, this young man from a farming family in Macheng finally leaped onto the brick wall of Nanyang City! He felt the solid texture of the bricks beneath his feet!
Before Ding could think too much, relying on the quick reflexes he had developed from participating in armed battles since he could remember, he instinctively swung his shield to block the waist knife that a Qing army officer was wielding.

The Qing soldier's captain used too much force, and the shield, which had a nick in its blade, gripped his sword tightly. Ding Yi seized the opportunity and swung his sword fiercely at the enemy's neck.

With a soft splatter, warm, foul-smelling blood sprayed all over Ding Yi's face, but he didn't have time to wipe it away. The battlement where he was standing instantly became the center of attention.

The Green Standard Army soldiers from the nearby Nanyang Town Standard Battalion rushed frantically toward the battlement.

"Team One! Hold this position!"

Ding Yi leaned against the edge of the stack and shouted at the top of his lungs.

Several groups of brothers successfully scaled the city walls and quickly formed a small circular formation around him, using their shields to hold off the Qing army's counterattack.

"Kill! Kill all these short-haired rebels!" A Qing army captain, wielding a goose-feather saber, charged forward and delivered a powerful slash to Ding Yi.

Ding Yi skillfully raised his shield to parry, his left hand going numb from the impact, and the shield almost slipped from his grasp.

Fortunately, they withstood the attack.

Subsequent troops continued to scale the city walls along the breach opened by Ding Yi. Wang Yinan led a squad of musketeers with bayonets fixed, firing a volley at the town's standard-bearers who were confronting Ding Yi, and then charged forward with bayonets fixed.

The Nanyang Town model soldiers, who had initially shown some fighting spirit, were shot down in a single volley, with more than a dozen falling to the ground. The surviving town model soldiers immediately scattered.

Seeing that some soldiers had already climbed the main city wall, Qiu Lian'en led more than a hundred personal guards to carry eight or nine still-usable mountain-splitting cannons to make amends.

Before they could even fire their cannons, the soldiers of the Northern Palace who had already scaled the city walls reacted quickly, risking the cannons exploding, and loaded the two cannons left behind by the Qing army, turning them around and firing them.

With two loud bangs, one cannon exploded, while the other successfully scattered the rubble, tiles, and porcelain fragments from its barrel at the Qing army.

The dozen or so guards protecting Qiu Lian'en were immediately swept away.

Before the smoke had even cleared, Qiu Lian'en could vaguely glimpse through the bluish-white smoke that more than twenty short-haired musketeers had raised their muskets, nocked swords, and pulled the triggers.

(End of this chapter)