Chapter 169: Attack and Defense (VIII)

The 600 Governor-General's standard troops Hu Guoli had brought were beneath Shang Kexi's notice, but the 500 Plain Yellow Banner Han troops Geng Zhongde had brought received orders to assist in the assault.

Upon hearing the order, Geng Zhongde showed no hesitation and no resentment; he silently led his men off to prepare. Hu Guoli waited a while, and seeing that Shang Kexi had not called upon him, felt puzzled but was glad enough to take it easy.

In war, who didn't die?

He had seen with his own eyes how Lin Shanzhi had led the Green Standard against the city earlier, and judging by the Taiping Army's performance inside the walls, this time even if the Prince of Pingnan's own household troops went up, they would likely come away with broken heads and bloody faces.

Before leaving, the Governor-General had repeatedly instructed him to obey the Prince of Pingnan's commands without any objection or complaint, because Xinhui was far too important — it had to be brought back under Qing army control, and the Taiping Army must not be allowed to hold it long, lest the situation spin out of control and draw Li Laohu, who had only left at the start of the year, back down upon them with his troops.

But it was not that he was unwilling to obey orders and risk his life; it was that the Prince of Pingnan simply had not called on him. In that case, he might as well sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight.

In his heart of hearts, Hu Guoli wished the Shang family's soldiers would die in droves — even to the last man would suit him. Who told Shang Kexi to look down on him, while the Governor-General who valued him could not see eye to eye with Shang Kexi?

To say something truly cutting: if Guangdong were rid of the Pingnan and Jingnan feudatories, then he, Hu Guoli, the Governor-General's foremost fierce general, could truly rise straight to the clouds and fulfill his ambitions!

Shang Kexi, campaigning in person with the dignity of the Prince of Pingnan, had brought far more than just his own battle-hardened elite.

Besides the 3,000 crack troops directly under the Pingnan feudatory, there were 600 Governor-General's standard troops, 500 men under the Prince of Jingnan's feudatory, 4,000 Green Standard troops garrisoning Guangzhou, 2,600 soldiers from the Guangzhou prefectural battalions, and more than 5,000 laborers and able-bodied men mobilized by Guangzhou Prefecture for this campaign, along with a great quantity of provisions, fodder, and requisitioned mules and horses.

Unfortunately, the army had brought no artillery — not because Shang Kexi, the man most skilled with firearms, was unwilling to bring cannon, but because he could not.

Guangzhou had no fewer cannon than Xinhui; there were several dozen red-barbarian cannon weighing thousands of catties each.

Most of these had been purchased by the former Ming government from Macao, and their powder charges and power were greater than the guns made by the former Ming Ministry of Works and the Southern Suppression Commission.

Unfortunately, they were too heavy — like the red-barbarian cannon on the walls of Ningyuan back then, they could only be used for defending a city, not for field battle.

If they insisted on taking these guns down from the walls and hauling them to Xinhui, it would cause enormous delay; there was no way to bring them over in just a few days.

The big cannon could not be brought, but a batch of small field guns had come along: there were crouching-tiger small cannon used by the Ming army, long-pole cannon, and the small guns Kong Youde had made for the Qing army after surrendering to the Jin.

The artillery was formed into its own battalion, with seventy or eighty small guns of various types, and the gunners were mostly of Han Banners origin.

But now the Taiping Army was holed up inside Xinhui, holding the city and defending it, with no sign they dared come out for field battle — so these small guns were of no use either.

The Green Standard's first assault had failed, and the small guns were useless. At this point, there was nothing for it but to spend lives.

Fortunately, the Taiping Army in the city looked to be at the end of its strength too — otherwise Shang Kexi would not have committed his own household troops.

Say what you will, the Prince of Pingnan was no fool; if a battle could not be won even by spending lives, His Lordship would never have fought it. His Lordship had seen clearly that once his household troops went in, Xinhui was certain to fall!

The moment the Prince of Pingnan's great banner was raised, Lin Shanzhi's heart began to pound. The Green Standard's assault had failed with over a thousand casualties, and as the commanding officer, he could not help but tremble with fear.

Who knew whether the Prince of Pingnan would vent his fury and take his head?

After all, losing over a thousand men in a single action was an outright defeat. To be sure, the Taiping Army's fierce resistance and Xinhui's overly strong fortifications were factors, but as the commanding general, he had not been without errors on the field.

If the higher-ups truly laid blame, what could a surrendered general like him do? Could he dare cry injustice before the Prince of Pingnan and shift responsibility for the defeat onto the heir?

Fortunately, the Prince of Pingnan had not rebuked him, but the order to assault again still made Lin Shanzhi's heart lurch. The corpses below the walls of Xinhui were piled high, and his men's morale had long since been beaten out of them by the Taiping Army.

To attack again now — it was impossible not to be afraid.

"Sir, what do we do?"

Lin Shanzhi's subordinate, Mobile Corps Commander Guo Guangquan, was not at all willing to assault the city again. In the attack just now, his men had charged at the very front and suffered the heaviest losses.

Anyone with eyes could see that the Taiping Army in Xinhui was no rabble of bandit soldiers, but a strong force at least not inferior to the Green Standard, and the defense on the walls was well ordered.

If they forced another assault, the Green Standard's losses would surely be heavy again.

The soldiers under him had already suffered more than half casualties; if they truly threw themselves forward again, even if the city fell, he, a Mobile Corps Commander, would be left with no one to command.

Lin Shanzhi glared at Guo Guangquan and said irritably, "What can we do? The Prince says fight, so we fight!"

With that, his brow furrowed deeply. This time the Prince of Pingnan had even committed his own household troops — clearly the Prince was determined to take Xinhui, and their Green Standard was in for a rough time.

The Prince of Pingnan's household troops ordinarily carried themselves like bannermen lords, swaggering and arrogant toward the Green Standard. Now that they were attacking in person, would they spare the Green Standard any hardship?

The Prince of Pingnan's order said the household troops would assault the city themselves, but when the fighting actually started, would it not still be the Green Standard charging in front?

Did anyone really think those bannermen lords would be put on the front line as cannon fodder?

Damn it all!

Lin Shanzhi cursed inwardly. At this point he had no way out; he could only grit his teeth and drive his brothers forward.

"Sir, fight we must, but we can't really spend all our brothers to the last man..."

Guo Guangquan knew they had no choice but to go up, but he did not want his men truly wiped out, leaving himself a Mobile Corps Commander with no corps.

"Hm?"

Lin Shanzhi raised an eyebrow, hesitating, wondering whether he should secretly hold back some strength to avoid being completely spent.

Just then, the Prince of Pingnan's guards came galloping over with orders. The lead guard rode up and, without dismounting, shouted from horseback: "Regional Commander Lin!

The Prince of Pingnan commands: when the city falls, there will be no sheathing of blades! Half the women and wealth in the city go to the Green Standard!"

"Ah?! No sheathing of blades?! Half for us!"

The order stunned the Green Standard officers for a moment, and then some of them flushed red. Lin Shanzhi's worried frown and his little schemes were swept away by those words; he became invigorated, raised his whip, and shouted to his men on both sides: "Did you all hear that?

The Prince of Pingnan says when the city falls, there will be no sheathing of blades! This is a gold mine His Lordship is bestowing on us Green Standard!

Brothers, rouse yourselves! Even if you have to crawl, crawl up onto the walls of Xinhui!

Once the city falls, the women are yours for the taking — after you brothers have had your fun, this old man will have his!"

Hearing Lin Shanzhi's crude words, the Green Standard officers all began shouting with excitement.

More than half of them had experience sacking cities, and they knew that once the higher-ups gave the word not to sheathe blades, the pleasures after the city fell would be immense — women and silver, everything in abundance!

"Brothers, charge! Take Xinhui, and the women are ours to pick!"

A Green Standard Company Commander drew his blade and ran toward Xinhui. The moment he ran, over a thousand scattered soldiers who had fled the walls began shouting and charging at the city again.