There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 104 The troops are divided into two groups
One hundred and fifty years ago, in May of the first year of the Hongguang reign.

The Qing army crossed the river and marched south, conquering the Southern Ming Dynasty which had just been established for a year and capturing the licentious and immoral Emperor Hongguang alive. At the same time, they wrote in great detail in the "History of Ming Dynasty" that the Qing Dynasty had completed its march south to capture the dragon, and the Han dynasty no longer existed!

The three emperors of the Southern Ming Dynasty, the regent, the Western Army Shun Army, and the Ming Zheng were all false titles and were all rebellious separatist forces.

Back to today, May of the first year of Jiaqing.

The Han army vowed to march south, and a vanguard force disguised itself as a passing passenger ship on Dongting Lake and landed at Linzikou, north of Xiangyin County.

Xiangyin County was completely unaware of this because the Han army in the north had completely stopped after taking over Yuezhou Prefecture and had not moved south for several months.

Xiangyin County Magistrate Xu Hong initially received orders from the Governor Zheng Yuanjun, and he was also afraid of the rebels who were so close, so he still went about recruiting soldiers to defend the city.

Well, it really is just a facade. After being extorted from all levels of government, there is not much left in the hands of the soldiers.

Then don't expect the soldiers to train well, just make sure they look passable.

then……

After waiting for a long time, the Han army did not come, so they were too lazy to train the soldiers. Training soldiers costs money, and although it was the government's money, the pain was felt by County Magistrate Xu.

So what to do?

It was very simple. Xu Hong simply made up a lot of excuses and levied a military training tax and a city entry and exit tax in the county. The tax required people to pay a certain amount of money to enter the city, another amount of money after entering the city, and another amount of money to leave the city.

I have spent so much money and food to recruit soldiers and train the army, but in order to protect the entire Xiangyin County, you, the wealthy and low-class people, should naturally contribute money if you have money, and contribute food and manpower if you don't have money.

In short, all the money spent by the government office must be recovered and put back into my own pocket.

In the north of Xiangyin County, Linzikou was controlled by the Han army almost at the speed of light. The people here were originally very frightened, but when they heard that the soldiers coming were Han soldiers, they were no longer afraid. Instead, they rushed to ask the Han army to lead them to fight the local tyrants and divide the land.

Such was their reputation. Even though local officials kept threatening and slandering them, they still exploited them endlessly, while foreign merchants and travelers kept telling stories about how the Han army loved the people like their own children.

Distance creates beauty, and coupled with the people's own rebellious psychology, even if the Han army is really bad, it will become good in the people's imagination.

"Master, it's just ahead."

Wu San, a villager from Linzikou who volunteered to act as a guide, pointed to the Xiangyin County ahead and said.

Song Zimo nodded slightly. He was one of the Song clan members who had joined the army after the new tax law was issued some time ago. However, he wasn't from the main clan, so he had the status of a student. Since the land distribution had basically been completed, he joined the Army Department and became a clerk. Now, he had volunteered to help with the battle to capture the city.

Song Zimo was dressed in an extremely elegant and luxurious manner. He wore a round-top melon-shaped hat on his head, with a fake ponytail stuck to the back of the hat to cover it up. He looked like a young master from a wealthy family.

Beside him, there were more than ten soldiers from the vanguard camp led by Huang Gouzi, all of whom had disguised themselves as his slaves and servants, and were carrying two loads of book boxes.

"What are you doing?" a gatekeeper shouted.

The guide Wu San was immediately startled and subconsciously wanted to shrink and hide, but was grabbed by Huang Gouzi.

Song Zimo spoke slowly, gently waving his folding fan. "I am from the Song family of Yiyang, and have come here to visit my uncle. Why are you trying to stop me?"

The guard was frightened by the aura and immediately nodded and said, "Sir, please allow me to report this. The master has issued an order that all people entering and leaving the city gates must be checked to prevent any traitors..."

"hehe."

Song Zimo sneered, and Huang Gouzi, who was acting as his personal servant next to him, immediately understood and threw a handful of silver.

Mr. Song just told them that if they sneered, they should throw the change away.

The silver was not much, probably only two or three taels, but it still attracted the gatekeepers to scramble for it. Even the gatekeeper who was nodding and bowing did not care about licking Song Zimo and joined the team to grab the silver.

There was chaos at the city gate, but Song Zimo walked into the city laughing loudly, and no one suspected or cared about him.

Shortly after entering the city, I carefully observed the guards at the city gates. They were all extremely lax, either running off to grab the silver or lazily sleeping. "Go! Kill!"

Huang Gouzi opened the bookcase and took out the Tang sword from it.

More than a dozen Han soldiers from the vanguard camp hacked indiscriminately at the city gate. The Qing soldiers at the gate were completely unprepared and were killed in an instant.

The gate of Xiangyin County was captured. The Han soldiers who were lying in ambush at Linzikou rushed out to reinforce after receiving the news.

Seeing that the Han soldiers were few in number, only a dozen or so, the Qing soldiers near the city gate had considered putting up a fight and trying to retake the gate. But when they saw another army approaching, numbering at least a hundred men, all of them aggressive, their courage, which had been hard-won, immediately evaporated.

The remaining Qing soldiers gave up resistance and chose to abandon the city and flee, taking off their uniforms and weapons as they ran.

Without any proper fighting, the more than 100 Han soldiers from the vanguard camp who came to reinforce had almost no chance to draw their swords and attack anyone. When they arrived, they encountered an empty city wall occupied by a dozen of their comrades.

Such a large county, with the Xiang River flowing through it and very close to the provincial capital Changsha, was captured by the Han soldiers without any effort.

The Qing soldiers guarding the city fled in a swarm, and Xu Hong, the magistrate of Xiangyin, also fled, and they fled very quickly. The Han soldiers rushed to the government office as soon as possible, but they were nowhere to be seen when they arrived.

Official seals, official uniforms, and archival maps were left behind and displayed in the lobby of the county government office. The garden in the inner courtyard was also dug up, and the silver and banknotes hidden there must have been taken away.

If we don’t catch the county magistrate alive, then we don’t catch him!

It doesn't matter anyway.

The wealthy people in the county would be lying if they said they were not surprised when they saw that the Han soldiers had taken over the county town in less than half a day. This was a big county, not a remote and poor place. It would take some effort and struggle for them to win.

Moreover, there were only more than a hundred Han soldiers, and they were just the vanguard. The main force had not arrived yet, and even the Han general had not come.

I am speechless!
They had to surrender, and several Xiangyin gentry, led by the Zuo family, surrendered to the Han army vanguard battalion that occupied the county town and helped maintain order in the county's chaos.

About a day later, Nie Yu arrived in person with the main force of 20,000 Han troops.

After all, it was an army of 20,000, plus the accompanying civilian laborers, mule carts and other baggage, so the marching speed certainly could not be fast.

Nie Yu did not stay in Xiangyin County, but only stationed two thousand troops there, turning Xiangyin into a logistics supply center, connecting it with Dongting Lake and Xiangshui River. Then he led his army south along the river and directly took Changsha Prefecture.

Of course, before the army marched south, Nie Yu made a special trip to meet with some wealthy families who surrendered from Xiangyin County, but he failed to meet Zuo Zongtang's biological father, Zuo Guanlan.

It's normal not to have seen him. Zuo Guanlan is just a member of the Zuo clan, not the main branch of the Xiangyin Zuo clan. His family is very poor. He even has to go to the county school as a student, otherwise he can't even afford to go to school. He should have entered Yuelu Academy to study by now, so he is not in his hometown of Xiangyin.

Xiangyin is very close to Changsha, with a straight-line distance of only more than 30 kilometers, and the Xiangjiang River runs through it.

Once Xiangyin was broken, Changsha Prefecture completely lost its gateway and could only be slaughtered by the Han soldiers.

Nie Yu didn't care about Yiyang, Anhua, Liuyang and other counties in the east and west, and the army of more than 20,000 people marched south in such a mighty manner.

It's not that he didn't want to take a boat, but there were not enough boats. With an army of more than 20,000 civilians and countless food, supplies, and artillery, there was really no way to fit them all. Later, boats would also be needed to travel back and forth between Dongting Lake and Yuezhou Prefecture.

Fortunately, Xiangyin and Changsha are not far from each other. By using civilian laborers to transport food and fodder and getting some ships to carry artillery, the marching speed is not too slow.

The strategic point of the Han army's southward march was very simple:
First, Nie Yu personally led an army of 20,000, leaving 2,000 troops in Yuezhou Prefecture, and sailed south across Dongting Lake, directly attacking Changsha, destroying and occupying the political and economic center of Hunan Province.

Second, Bai Nan and Xu Sanlang of Lizhou gathered 8,000 troops and left 2,000 behind. They also headed east via the Dongting Lake waterway and landed directly to attack Changde Prefecture. They did not seek to capture it immediately, but to make it difficult for the Qing army to take care of itself and return to Changsha for support.

The troops were divided into two groups and advanced simultaneously. Changsha Prefecture was bound to be captured.

After taking Changsha and then Changde, the Han army would be able to swallow up Hunan.

…………

Let me show you an abstract
(End of this chapter)