Chapter 204: Guilin (Part 1)

“I toast to you!”
“Thank you!”
At the banquet table, Tang Jingsong responded to Pan Dingxin’s enthusiasm with lukewarmness, while Pan Dingxin, like a neglected young wife, kept forcing a smile: “Brother Jingsong, then I’ll drink on my own!”
There was no trace of the awareness befitting a provincial governor in his demeanor. These days, he had deliberately avoided taking extra steps or speaking more, acting strictly according to the script laid out for him by Liu Yu.
His face still wore a professional smile, but his inner emotions were in turmoil.
The pace of the war developments was faster than Pan Dingxin had imagined. Even when the Taiping Army broke through Wuchang and advanced toward Changsha, sweeping through Jiangnan, things hadn’t changed as rapidly as they were now.
Just 21 days after breaking through the defenses, the Black Flag Army had captured 34 counties and prefectures in succession—averaging two counties per day. Nearly half of Guangxi fell under their control within those 20 days, and they also captured Nanning and Liuzhou.
The battle at Zhenan Pass seemed to have drained the Guilin army’s last reserves of fighting spirit. After that, there were only a series of minor battles, and Pan Dingxin had grown numb to such good news.
Just one or two infantry companies, along with one or two small cannons, could capture a county guarded by hundreds of Green Standard Army troops and local militia after a swift assault.
The Black Flag Army, with their extensive combat experience and military skills comparable to those of European powers, gave the Qing army a thorough lesson, achieving almost invincibility along the way.
Unintentionally, they achieved what the U.S. military sought in another timeline—“zero casualties.” The losses in battles where hundreds or even thousands of Qing troops were annihilated were surprisingly low.
All this still wasn’t enough to fill Pan Dingxin with confidence in the Black Flag Army. After all, he had seen some fiercely fought battles, such as the siege of Liuzhou. As the headquarters of the Guangxi governor, it was fortified with numerous Green Standard Army troops, local militia, and defected soldiers, along with ample supplies, so the battle lasted three days.
Yet even in a city like Liuzhou, the Black Flag Army used just one infantry regiment and, within three days, breached the city walls using field guns. The defending troops suffered massive casualties, with less than one in ten surviving. If Pan Dingxin were to lead the attack, it would take months to break through Liuzhou’s defenses.
During the Taiping era, cities of Liuzhou’s scale—such as Anqing, Nanjing, and Changzhou—required years of siege warfare to gradually break through their dense defenses, unlike how easily the Black Flag Army captured them.
It seemed the Black Flag Army was conducting a logistics exercise. Field guns and light mountain guns blasted any moving target on the city walls, snipers fired day and night, and 250-kilogram explosives blew apart large sections of the city walls.
This simple attack and defense battle dealt the Qing army its heaviest losses. In just 21 days, according to Pan Dingxin’s estimates, regular troops like the Green Standard Army and the Eight Banners lost no less than 6,000 men, while local militia and volunteer forces lost over 10,000—though most of these losses came from those who surrendered directly to the Black Flag Army, not including those who scattered.

All this shows that, regardless of the ultimate fate of the Black Flag Army, it is now rising in southern China like a newly risen sun, while Pan Dingxin faces an increasing number of rivals. In just these few days, he has dealt with hundreds of such documents and met countless anxious disciples from Guangxi. Guangxi has always been poor; throughout the Qing dynasty, it relied on subsidies from other provinces and produced many famous officials and generals. Yet there were countless talented individuals from Guangxi who remained unrecognized, not to mention the remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Tiandihui, and Dachengguo who left their mark in the province. Even after the fall of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, numerous remnants continued to live in exile between Guangdong, Guangxi, and Southeast Asia. Notable figures like Yang Fuqing kept trying to revive the kingdom until he was captured and killed in Fujian in 1874. The last remnants of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom even joined the Xingzhonghui, hoping to use revolutionary forces to overthrow the Qing dynasty’s rule. Now, just twenty years after the fall of the dynasty, and even less than a decade since the demise of the Nian rebels and Dachengguo, those who had been defeated and scattered across the countryside were resurfacing. But for Pan Dingxin, what was more significant was the defection of many local militia groups. These people were directly responsible for the failure of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, and in fact, they would also be the biggest obstacle to the Black Flag Army’s conquest of China. Yet now, as they flocked to join them without hesitation, he was forced to acknowledge the strength of the Black Flag Army once again. With these people, the Black Flag Army could control both cities and rural areas. Coupled with the cadre trained by Liu Yu, even if they couldn’t take control of all of Guangxi, they could at least defend themselves. Thinking of this, his enthusiasm soared, and he said to Ye Chenglin, “Brother Chenglin, this time when we attack Guilin, the Crow Camp will be the vanguard…” Although Ye Chenglin wasn’t part of the core ranks of the Black Flag Army or the Xiliu Camp, he was more open-minded than Tang Jingsong. “I still need the provincial governor to back me up!” It had to be admitted that Pan Dingxin’s status as provincial governor was very useful. Many people, wary of the Black Flag Army and wanting to play both sides, came to join this suspiciously positioned governor of Guangxi. The Black Flag Army was happy to let things slide for now. Their top priority was to take control of all of Guangxi and capture Guilin. As long as these local forces acknowledged Pan Dingxin’s authority, received a commission, and remained friendly toward the Black Flag Army, they could continue as before. But any attempt to attack them would be swiftly crushed. After all, the Black Flag Army had now dispatched nearly fifteen companies of infantry from Northern Vietnam to the north. Although these troops weren’t as experienced as those who had fought countless battles, they were more than enough to deal with local militias. In fact, the Black Flag Army’s leadership was already sharpening their weapons, ready to strike at any moment. Pan Dingxin also wanted to establish his authority beneath the walls of Guilin. “Brother Chenglin, there’s no problem! Although Guilin is currently held by rebels, I’m still the legitimate provincial governor of Guangxi, a second-rank official. It’s no trouble to give some orders!” “Could we pull out a troop from the city?” Liu Yu suddenly spoke up. “Even just one squad would do!”

For a city as large as Guilin, Liu Yu certainly wouldn’t dare underestimate it. Moreover, according to intelligence, Guilin had more defenders and firearms than expected. “Brother Qinxuan, if you can help me take Guilin, you will be credited with the greatest achievement in pacifying all of Guangxi!”
Meanwhile, inside Guilin, Xu Yanxu was laughing maniacally. “Great! The Black Flag rebels have arrived? That’s perfect! This is my chance to serve the Great Qing!”