1848 Great Qing Charcoal Burners

Chapter 48 Come down here if you dare!
“The charcoal burning site is located on the mountainside. Although the charcoal burners built two rammed earth walls, each ten feet high, on the east and west sides and set up guard towers, it is not considered a particularly dangerous place.”

Zhang Zhao pointed to the mountaintop and expressed his thoughts.

“There are no rammed earth walls at the foot of the mountain to the north and at the top of the mountain to the south. The enemy has guns and cannons, and they can't gain an advantage if they fire from the foot of the mountain to the middle of it. We can climb to the top of the mountain and fire down from there.”

As a former sea pirate, he was exceptionally sensitive to direction and could deduce east, west, south, and north based on the time and the positions of the moon and stars.

Ordinary thieves, let alone at night, are rarely able to correctly distinguish east from west, south from north, east from west, even during the day, once they leave their comfort zone and lose their familiar landmarks.

Zhang Zhao was absolutely certain that the group of guys in the charcoal factory were charcoal burners, not members of the pro-independence camp.

Based on his years of experience fighting against the DPP militia and his understanding of the DPP during his time in exile.

There are some DPP members who, despite being outnumbered, can still withstand close-range attacks from his old comrades.

The Green Standard Army that could possibly achieve this were mostly the standard battalions of governors-general and commanders, as well as the personal guards of deputy generals and their battalions.

In the battle of Jiangkouwei, not a single standard battalion was deployed.

As for the personal guards of Li Dianyuan, the deputy commander of Xunzhou, it was even less likely that they would be here.

Furthermore, when Zhang Zhao raised his gun to fire, he was only a few steps away from the enemy's gun emplacement, and he could see their faces clearly.

They were all teenagers.

Since he was born, whether in Guangdong or Guangxi provinces, whether in the Green Standard Army or the Navy, he had never seen such a young Green Standard Army unit.

These people cannot be from the pro-independence camp; they must indeed be a group of charcoal burners.

"If you ask me, it would be simpler to just burn the whole mountain down!"

One of his accomplices, rubbing his cramping abdomen, looked up at the towering mountaintop and suggested something.

Normally, climbing a mountain over two hundred feet high would not be difficult for them.

The problem is that they have been starving for days and have just fought a battle, so their physical strength has reached its limit.

"Foolish! Have you lost your mind from hunger?" Zhang Zhao cursed.

"Once the fire starts, it can be seen from hundreds of miles away. Do you think we're unlucky enough and want to attract the government troops searching for us as well?"

Zhang Zhao had considered setting fire to the mountain area to force the charcoal burners out of the charcoal burning plantation.

However, burning it would easily expose the fire.

Secondly, it has rained recently, so the vegetation is damp and the wildfire may not be able to start.

Thirdly, the trees around the charcoal burning area were cut down, forming a firebreak, and there were also rammed earth walls to block the fire, so the fire might not be able to reach the charcoal burning area.

Most importantly, the reason they attacked the charcoal burning plant in Honglianping was for grain.

What if the grain is also burned? Wouldn't all our efforts have been in vain?

Zhang Zhao made the final decision, and the remaining bandits said no more. They dug pits to bury the heavy and cumbersome gold and silver, marked the pits, and then, lightly equipped, gritted their teeth and followed Zhang Zhao up the mountain.

Despite being extremely careful along the way, the poor visibility at night meant that two robbers accidentally stepped on barbed wire and injured their feet.

"There are traps and barbed wire everywhere. Those rotten charcoal burners are damn cunning!"

One of the remaining bandits, who had stepped on the barbed wire, clutched his foot and forced himself not to cry out.

Yang Heng pulled up a string of iron caltrops strung together with hemp rope, as if pulling a thread. He wondered if these charcoal burners had the ability to foresee the future and predicted that someone would attack the charcoal burning site from the mountaintop.
By the time the bandits cleared away the traps, bamboo spikes, and barbed wire and circled around to the mountaintop, dawn was breaking.

Suddenly attacked by bandits, the charcoal burning plant was almost breached.

Everyone in the charcoal burning yard was on edge, not daring to relax for a moment, and they couldn't sleep all night.

Peng Gang realized early on that the mountaintop was a weak point in the defense of the Lianhuaping charcoal burning plantation. He not only laid a dense array of traps on the mountaintop early on, but now the northern mountaintop is also a key area for their defense.

The largest weapon in the Lianhuaping charcoal burning plant, an elm wood cannon with a barrel bigger than his fist, was already loaded and facing the mountaintop.

"They managed to sneak up to the top of the mountain without making a sound; they really are a group of ruthless bandits."

As the dawn grew brighter, Peng Gang was able to see the remaining bandits lurking around the mountaintop.

Fortunately, the trees on the north slope of the charcoal burning area had been cut down beforehand, so the view was unobstructed; otherwise, we would have had to wait until the bandits got much closer before we could spot them.

"Damn it! They managed to dodge so many traps and pitfalls?" Xiao Guoying was somewhat disappointed.

With the lives of his entire family threatened, Xiao Guoying, who was usually honest and unassuming, underwent a dramatic change in temperament and picked up a musket to protect the charcoal burning plant.

“They are seasoned bandits who have learned from their mistakes with traps, so naturally they will be on guard,” Peng Gang said calmly.

Traps can only be effective if they are cleverly set up and the enemy is caught off guard.

The remaining bandits were already on guard, so it was naturally difficult for them to achieve much success.

However, the traps set on the mountaintop were not in vain.

These traps did serve their purpose of disrupting and delaying the attack, successfully buying them considerable time. Without them, the remaining bandits would likely have launched another surprise attack on the charcoal burning site from the mountaintop before dawn.

Peng Gang assembled his troops and lined them up, leaving only two men on the watchtower to keep watch and observe, in order to prevent the remaining bandits from using a feint attack.

From the mountaintop, the remaining bandits, about 110 or 120 paces away, had already spotted Peng Gang, who had assembled his troops.

Peng Gang no longer concealed his intentions and ordered the cannons to be fired.

"fire!"

Holding a torch, Zhang Ze lit the fuse at the breech of the elmwood cannon.

A solid iron bullet, slightly larger than an adult's fist, shot through the air, flew towards the mountaintop, and crashed into the bushes about twenty paces away from the remaining bandits, splashing up a cluster of red mud flowers mixed with bits of grass.

Despite their impressive display, they posed no threat to the remaining bandits.

Wooden cannons are hardly of any practical use.

Peng Gang glanced at the somewhat deformed iron cannon barrel and the slight cracks at the muzzle.

This elmwood cannon has only been fired three times since it was built, and the amount of propellant it carried was not very large. The iron barrel and elmwood cannon were already starting to wear out.

As for accuracy, that's hard to describe.

Even the remaining bandits on the mountaintop couldn't help but laugh, "These charcoal burners' artillery skills are terrible!"

Their artillery skills were truly terrible; even the Green Standard Army's artillery couldn't have hit that off target at a distance of just over a hundred paces.

Although they were far apart, Peng Gang couldn't hear exactly what the remaining bandits on the mountaintop were saying, but he could still sense their mockery and sarcasm from their body language.

Peng Gang stopped Zhang Ze, who was about to load solid iron bullets into the elm cannon, and told Zhang Ze to replace them with a bag of shotgun shells wrapped in rags.

"Zhang Zhao! You bastard born of a Western whore but raised by one, I'm standing right here waiting for you!"

Peng Gang raised his voice and shouted loudly towards the mountaintop, afraid that Zhang Zhao wouldn't hear him.

This statement not only insulted Zhang Zhao's mother but also exposed Zhang Zhao's shortcomings.

Zhang Zhao was puzzled upon hearing this.

How did the charcoal burner down there know that his mother was a Western prostitute and that he was a bastard?

When he was a pirate in Guangdong, his mixed-race identity brought him many advantages, allowing him to move freely between the Guangdong government and foreigners.

He wasn't so bothered by his mixed-race identity; on the contrary, he was somewhat proud of it.

But in Guangxi, Zhang Zhaoping hated it most when people mentioned his mother, whom he was ashamed of, and his mixed-race identity.

Enraged by having his shortcomings exposed in front of so many people, Zhang Zhao's face turned bright red, and he flew into a rage.

He raised a brown-bess flintlock pistol, which he had bought years earlier from an Indian deserter in the Ceylon Infantry Regiment stationed in Hong Kong, and fired it toward the mountain area.

"Beat them! Beat them hard! Beat these sons of bitches of charcoal burners to death!"

The remaining bandits opened fire with their two muskets one after the other. Peng Gang, not to be outdone, led Xiao Guoying and Peng Yi to fire their muskets towards the mountaintop.

At a distance of 160 or 170 meters, the smoothbore guns were not very accurate, and both sides fired in vain.

Peng Gang did not expect that the three crudely made Green Standard Army muskets could hit the remaining bandits at a distance of 160 or 170 meters.

Instead, they used this valuable opportunity for real combat to train Xiao Guoying and Peng Yi in the use of muskets.

At the same time, they took the opportunity to use up the remaining gunpowder and lead bullets of the bandits.

After firing a couple of shots and satisfying his craving, Peng Gang lent his musket to Li Qi, who was watching eagerly from the side.

He continued to shout insults at Zhang Zhao: "You foreign bastard! Come down here if you dare!"

"Big brother! The guy shouting is the charcoal burner who killed my brother! I'd recognize him even if he were ashes, let alone with his clothes on!"

With his excellent eyesight, Nong Yaozu recognized Peng Gang, who stood out from the crowd. He clenched his fists, his swollen eyes fixed on Peng Gang, wishing he could devour him alive.

Enraged by the insults, Zhang Zhao, who had almost lost his temper, was about to continue stuffing lead bullets into the muzzle of the gun when he discovered that the ammunition pouch was empty. He jumped up and down in anger.

He grabbed the binoculars hanging from his waist and peered into the charcoal burning area. He was shocked to find that the man looked somewhat familiar. Suddenly, a memory he had almost forgotten came to mind three months ago when he went down to Qianjiang to Jiangkou Market: "You son of a bitch! If I had known three months ago, I should have chopped you up and thrown you into the Qianjiang River to feed the fish!"

"Why don't you come down and chop me up! Your big head is full of mush, you don't even know who your own father is, you crawled out of a stinking, oozing cunt, all you do is spout nonsense!" Peng Gang didn't back down and exchanged insults with Zhang Zhao from a distance.

Zhang Zhao is only talking the talk but not walking the walk, clearly having already used up all his ammunition.

Unable to hit him or out-argue him, Zhang Zhao paced anxiously. He had never suffered such humiliation when he was recruited by Wang Huafeng, the magistrate of Pingnan County.

Peng Gang's every word was like rubbing salt into his wounds. Too many pirates had slept with his mother, and he truly didn't know who his father was.

Zhang Zhao grew angrier the more he thought about it: "Kill them all! I swear I'll cut this brat into a thousand pieces and feed him to the dogs!"

(End of this chapter)