Chapter 218: The Start of War (Part 2)

Good and bad news have arrived from Guangdong. The good news is that Guangzhou has fallen into the hands of the Black Flag Army. In fact, the Black Flag Army is prepared for a tough battle, even anticipating being attacked from both fronts, but they must carry out Liu Yu’s orders and seize Guangzhou at all costs. To this end, they have stockpiled hundreds of thousands of kilograms of explosives and enough ammunition for a major battle, ready to engage the Qing troops defending Guangzhou. Zhang Zhidong is also determined, having gathered over 30,000 troops in Guangzhou with ammunition sufficient to last three months, aiming to fight to the death against the Black Flag Army.

However, Zhang Zhidong has always been inconsistent in his actions, changing orders frequently and lacking perseverance—something particularly evident in his attempt to hold Guangzhou. Initially, inspired by British intervention, the defenders of Guangzhou were highly motivated and could fight the Black Flag Army. Even if they couldn’t hold the city, they could at least inflict heavy losses on them. In the two battles outside the city, the Qing troops performed well, but at critical moments, this governor of Qing origin lost his composure. He repeatedly asked, “When will the Black Flag Army attack the city?”

He thought deeply about the situation, and someone else said, “Your Excellency, we’re fighting to the death against the Black Flag Army, but if we lose all our troops, will the imperial court still recognize us?” This hit right at Zhang Zhidong’s concerns. If he lost all his troops and ran out of supplies, even if the British intervened, would they still acknowledge him as the governor of Guangdong and Guangxi? What would he do then? Once one has worries, they lose the will to fight bravely, and failure is inevitable. Seeing that Guangzhou hadn’t been completely surrounded, Zhang Zhidong ordered his personal guards to lead some supplies southward, preparing to retreat and preserve a core force.

As soon as these two infantry units left the city, chaos erupted in the north as tens of thousands of people fled in disarray. Everyone knew staying in Guangzhou was a death sentence, as the governor had already led his troops in retreat. At this point, no matter how authoritative Zhang Zhidong was, he couldn’t control these military leaders. Moreover, being a scholar-general without a reliable army, tens of thousands of officials and civilians fled south along major roads. Even the Bannermen and Green Standard Army troops, who had lived in Guangzhou for centuries, fled with their families.

The Black Flag Army didn’t expect the Qing troops to have no intention of holding out in Guangzhou. Seeing the massive crowd and Qing soldiers in uniforms everywhere, even machine gun fire couldn’t stop the surging tide of people. They used six cannons, two heavy machine guns, and hundreds of rapid-fire rifles, but these could only create gaps in the crowd, which quickly filled back up. Still, the results were significant: nearly 10,000 enemies were captured, 4,000 killed or wounded, and enough food and supplies for half a year were seized. But then, bad news came. Almost simultaneously with the battle for Guangzhou, the Black Flag Army engaged the British forces for the first time.

The British troops in Hong Kong never expected the Qing army to collapse so easily. Upon hearing news of the Black Flag Army attacking Guangzhou, they were slowly organizing a brigade of British troops to send aid to Guangzhou.

But before they could leave Kowloon, tens of thousands of Qing troops arrived from the north, causing them endless trouble. They were forced to take in these allied troops who had fled in such a hurry that they had even lost their pants, and they had to provide food for over twenty thousand people from their own reserves. Each commander declared himself omnipotent, claiming to have thousands of subordinates and demanding all the supplies they thought they deserved; their nominal strength was much greater than their actual strength before the war. However, shocked by the fall of Guangzhou, the British agreed to give full support to Governor Zhang Zhidong—a decision they later deeply regretted. Although the Qing troops retreating near Hong Kong numbered only over ten thousand combatants, they brought with them more family members than combatants, thousands of bags of staple and non-staple foods, as well as large amounts of pay, which pushed the finances of the Hong Kong colony to the brink of bankruptcy. An even bigger problem was the massive corruption in the distribution process—a bottomless pit that drained the funds meant to sustain an entire British brigade. To accommodate the retreating Qing troops, the British advance slowed down, so much so that it was not until three days later that they engaged in battle with small groups of Black Flag troops north of Shenzhen. These Black Flag troops had been sent to ambush the British vanguard moving north, but after waiting in vain for a week and capturing only a few hundred Qing prisoners without seeing the British arrive, they were forced to take the initiative and confront the British. During this time, they incorporated various mixed armed groups and allied with some local forces sympathetic to the Black Flag troops, but their total strength still fell short of a thousand, with less than four hundred being Black Flag troops. They were faced by two Indian battalions and one Sikh battalion, which, under British officer command, charged immediately, leading to a brief but fierce battle. After identifying their opponents, the Black Flag troops launched two counterattacks, but the British quickly deployed another Indian battalion, forcing the Black Flag troops to withdraw from the battle. Relatively speaking, the British, being on the offensive, suffered greater losses—seventy or eighty men were killed or wounded—and they lost the will to advance further, staying put temporarily while waiting for the Japanese army to arrive. But instead of the Japanese, they received bad news: their supplies had been given to the retreating Qing troops. Upon learning that the British provided food, shelter, full pay, as well as clothing and equipment, the people of Guangdong were outraged! What wonderful foreigners these were! Especially after hearing that the Black Flag troops would not stop people from leaving the region, thousands of refugees, unafraid even of British bayonets, rushed over in droves to join the various Qing retreating forces at the Hong Kong border. The British were overwhelmed by such enthusiasm—perhaps it was the smoothest advance in British history. More than a dozen military camps had been established along the Hong Kong border, with the current governor of Guangdong and Guangxi leading these hundred thousand soldiers and civilians. Given enough time for training, they had the determination and courage to retake Guangzhou.

Moreover, more and more refugees are arriving from the north. Their demands are not high: a salary sufficient to sustain life (at British standards), enough staple and non-staple foods, along with clothing and other necessities for survival. What moves the Britons even more is that these refugees have an innate fondness for Britain. Although they don’t understand English, they repeatedly suggest going to Hong Kong Island or even immigrating to various British colonies, and all of them request to become British citizens!