Chapter 214: The Overall Situation (Part 1)

From north of Changsha to south of Yanglousi, the Xiang Army was completely encircled by the Black Flag Army. The battlefield was a chaotic mess, with many Xiang Army units disrupted and scattered like headless flies.

Indeed, there were always those lucky ones—some astute battalion officers who realized from the start that retreating to Hubei was a futile endeavor, so they led their troops to Xiangxi or their hometowns, successfully escaping the Black Flag Army’s encirclement. Some units, with faster movement or better chosen routes, managed to break into Hunan. Later, the Qing forces in Hubei took in over 2,100 Xiang Army defectors, including two relatively intact infantry battalions.

But aside from these lucky ones, the entire Xiang Army was trapped in a tight siege. The Black Flag Army deployed their strongest forces, especially heavy machine guns—six or eight of them firing in unison could crush an entire Xiang Army battalion’s resistance.

The fighting grew increasingly intense and chaotic. All the commanders present agreed: “The ferocity of the Xiang Army’s resistance was unprecedented…”

The Qing forces, cornered, displayed remarkable combat strength. The battle lasted until the afternoon of the next day before largely coming to an end, but the Black Flag Army’s cleanup operation continued for 70 hours before finally concluding.

Yet no matter how brave their efforts, they could not change the outcome. Their opponents were the most combat-effective army in the entire Far East, equipped with Maxim machine guns, rapid-fire mountain guns, and bolt-action rifles. Their bravery only served to highlight the enemy’s strength.

With gunfire and artillery blasts incessant, Liu Yu saw large groups of Qing prisoners being led off the battlefield by soldiers. An officer reported the latest situation: “So far, we’ve captured over 2,500 enemies, and the number keeps rising…”

“According to preliminary reports from various units, more than 4,000 enemies have been killed or wounded on the battlefield. The chaos in Changsha is now completely under our control…”

“The heavy machine guns have arrived to join the fight, though some artillery units haven’t yet arrived. The entire battle is expected to end today…”

“Good…” Liu Yu felt as if he could shout to the heavens. “Now we can march to Hubei with peace of mind!”

With the capture of Changsha and the complete annihilation of the Qing forces in Hunan, the two main goals of the Xiang-E Hubei campaign were within reach. Could Wuhan still be far away?

He casually asked Jing Shiyi, who had just arrived to join the battle: “What’s the morale of the troops?”

Jing Shiyi, usually cautious, also appeared excited: “No problem! Absolutely no problem! We’re determined to claim the honor of capturing Wuhan’s First Regiment!”

Jing Shiyi’s reinforced unit was arguably the most exhausted among the Black Flag Army. They had marched thousands of kilometers from the borders of South Vietnam and China before reaching the battlefield, just in time for the Black Flag Army’s glorious battle.

“Good!” an officer said with a smile. “Then let’s see who will be the main force to march on Wuhan…”

The officers of the Black Flag Army were quite confident about capturing the Yangtze River region; the only remaining issue was the extent of resistance from the Qing forces in Hubei. As things stood, unless the Huai Army, Yi Army, Songwu Army, and other forces from the north launched a major offensive into Hubei, it was only a matter of time before the Black Flag Army succeeded.

Although Hubei had carried out a large-scale mobilization, with 36 battalions of “combat-ready” troops and an army of 18,000 men, there were many vacant officer positions. According to intelligence estimates, the actual number of combat-ready troops was no more than 13,000. These troops were at a dead end, facing all the same problems that had plagued the Eight Banners and Green Standard Armies. Yet the Qing government lacked leaders like Hu Linyi and Zeng Guofan who could turn the situation around.

The total number of combat troops in Hubei, including local militias, Green Standard Armies, and Eight Banners troops, was 40,000 on paper, but the actual number was only about 30,000. Of these, only 13,000 were truly combat-ready, and many of them were new recruits. Although heavy casualties and ammunition losses had occurred in the first phase of the battles in Hunan and Hubei, and some troops had to be left to guard Hunan, the Black Flag Army could still field only 40 to 50 companies. Yet everyone was determined to achieve a complete victory.

The French, however, were not entirely confident in the Black Flag Army’s offensive in Hunan and Hubei. As the new commander of the Far East forces, Rear Admiral Lu Le had reason to believe this was the moment to avenge past humiliations. “The British have decided to intervene. Governor, do you still object to this proposal?”
“Yes! I object. I believe that under the current circumstances, it’s better for us to focus on managing our colonies…”

This was at odds with French tradition. Historically, the French had always envied Britain’s colonial interests and tried to imitate its methods, but they rarely achieved success in colony management, preferring to focus on acquiring more colonies. However, over the past two years, France’s colonial strategy had suffered catastrophic failures. The prolonged battles in Vietnam had damaged France’s reputation, with tens of thousands of French citizens dying in battle. African indigenous infantry and foreign legions also suffered heavy losses.

The failure in Vietnam directly led to another defeat—no progress was made in the war in Madagascar. The biggest enemies of the French forces there were diseases and harsh weather, with 5,000 soldiers dying from illness. These defeats, combined with widespread panic caused by counterfeit money, had led to a series of government collapses in France. To date, six cabinets had been overthrown. Yet in France, there were always those who wanted to avenge their humiliation in Vietnam.

“This is the greatest defeat we’ve suffered since Waterloo and Sedan!” Rear Admiral Lu Le tried to persuade the governor. “If the British win, we will lose most of our interests in Indochina and China!”
“The most crucial point is that we can now confirm that the Black Flag bandits have moved most of their forces back to China. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

“Currently across Vietnam, although the Black Flag bandits still have tens of thousands of soldiers, their most combat-effective infantry regiments have been ordered to the north, leaving their forces filled with new recruits…”
“From what we have gathered so far, in Indochina they have withdrawn one-third of their troops, and in Central Vietnam they retain only half of their previous forces; North Vietnam has almost no old, combat-effective units…”
“Given such favorable circumstances, I believe launching a war would be advantageous for our negotiations with the Black Flag forces.”