Chapter 208: Determination (Part 2)

A few thousand troops from Guangxi, including the Gui Army, Gui Yong forces, local militia, and village soldiers, still remained along the Xiang-Gui border. After several attacks by the Black Flag Army, they were terrified. Now, they had retreated into their fortresses, hoping to use the walls to withstand the Black Flag Army’s assault.

“Let’s start betting! How many shots until they surrender?” As soon as the artillerymen positioned their guns, people began arguing. “How many?”
“One shot!”
“Three shots!”
“I think five shots!”
The dark barrels were already aimed at the fortress gates. Four 47-mm mountain guns seized from the French were set up there, ready to fire in unison and crush the morale of the defenders inside.

The fortress walls were crowded with heads—perfect targets for the artillery fire. Yet every Qing soldier hiding behind the walls felt a chill in their hearts. The yellow flag, once fluttering in the wind, had been torn in two by an unknown bullet. Now, only the bare pole remained, greatly demoralizing the defenders.

But the Qing soldiers didn’t dare raise the flag again. Three brave men who had rushed forward for money were killed by Black Flag Army bullets before they could even touch the pole. They collapsed to the ground, never to rise again.

Since the battle began, they had fired hundreds of bullets, yet they saw no casualties among the Black Flag Army. On their side, over thirty soldiers had been killed or wounded by their opponents’ marksmen. The Black Flag Army’s marksmen were ruthless, targeting officers and artillerymen. So far, more than a dozen officers had been killed or wounded, usually by a single shot. As for the artillery units, after setting up their guns three times, the gunners were killed or wounded, leaving them abandoned on the walls.

Now, things had gotten even worse. The Black Flag Army had set up cannons opposite the fortress gates, ready to fire. This reminded the ordinary Qing soldiers of strange legends. According to those legends, the Black Flag Army fired cannons like rain—tens of thousands of shells at once, capable of leveling even the strongest fortresses in an instant. Some veterans who had survived under their fire trembled as they said, “I’ve seen them use machine guns. Dozens of battalions were wiped out in just one salvo—none survived!”

“Not a single survivor…”

The Black Flag Army’s artillerymen were ready to fire when suddenly a white flag appeared on the fortress wall. The defenders shouted, “Stop shooting! Don’t fire! We surrender! Stop!” Their voices were filled with heart-wrenching despair. A few officers and artillerymen raised their hands in frustration. “They surrender without even firing a shot! Yesterday’s fortress held out after three rounds of artillery fire before surrendering!”

Groups of prisoners were taken away, while officers and veterans sorted through the loot. The better firearms would be used by the Black Flag Army’s secondary forces. Liu Yu, who brought two entire regiments of officers, selected strong, honest, and reliable soldiers from among the prisoners. “Is there anyone willing to join our Black Flag Army? We offer good treatment—no wage cuts, free meals…”

For these Qing soldiers who hadn’t seen their pay in months, it didn’t matter which side they fought for—after all, the Black Flag Army seemed to offer better treatment. Boiling pots of hot pork rib soup were ready for these new recruits to enjoy, and in the following weeks, they would undergo training completely different from before. Unlike the war against France, the Black Flag Army grew stronger as the battle went on, making full use of the many spoils left by the Qing army. They would instill a sense of honor in these captured Qing soldiers, telling them about the humiliation and suffering over the past two hundred years, allowing them to experience rare dignity. Moreover, with fewer deductions by their officers, these captives found that their income from joining the rebels was nearly double that of the government army, not to mention the brand-new uniforms. These captives, along with the older Black Flag Army soldiers and the newly trained recruits from Guangxi and North Vietnam, formed a solid backbone for Liu Yu’s campaign in Hunan and Hubei. Although they had various shortcomings and their combat strength paled in comparison to the Black Flag Army’s veteran units, many of them later became high-ranking officers in this army. The most significant impact at the time, however, was that the Black Flag Army had largely cleared out the remaining Qing forces along the Hunan-Guangxi border. The small groups of defeated soldiers left had no chance to operate in large numbers; they could only move around in groups of thirty to fifty or even just ten to twenty, posing no threat to the Black Flag Army in the short term. … A few Qing soldiers in uniform, carrying muskets, lazily gazed at the mountains in the south. The gunfire in the south had no effect on them; what concerned them was whether they could get by another day. It was a pretty good life—except for the day they set out on campaign, when hundreds of women and children cried and wailed, scaring them to death. They received two months’ worth of pay at once, the rice no longer contained sand, and there was suddenly meat in their meals. It was perfect to gamble or play cards with their comrades, go to the fields to pick some vegetables or catch a chicken. They stretched themselves and then asked each other, “How about a game?” Military discipline had vanished completely, and there was no trace left of the former vigor of the Hunan army. They were just pitiful people trying to survive: “A few shots would be enough to drive away those Black Flag bandits…” Dice and cards lay on the ground as the old soldiers played joyfully, with even some young recruits eager to join in. Just as they were having fun, an old soldier suddenly picked up his rifle and shouted, “Come out! I’m shooting!” “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! We’re all brothers—don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot!” Not far from them, a large group of people in uniform suddenly appeared, many of them injured, supporting each other: “Brothers, we’re all fighting for the Qing dynasty. It would be the most unjust thing to die at the hands of those Black Flag bandits rather than our own!” “Yes! Considering we’re all serving the Qing dynasty, please let us pass!”

All the sentinels had now stood up, with gambling props scattered on the ground. They could see clearly now—there was a large group, probably no less than three or four hundred people, all Qing soldiers in uniform. But these Qing soldiers were all unarmed, in a miserable state; many even had missing limbs, relying on each other for support, not to mention those with injuries. They cried out, “Old brother, let us pass! I’ll remember your kindness for life!” Some with injuries rolled on the ground, saying, “It hurts so much! I’ll be a useless person even when I go back! Guys, since we’re all paid by the emperor, please shoot me! Please shoot me!” These defeated soldiers lacked any trace of military bearing. Seeing them covered in mud and blood, the defenders’ hearts softened. “Did you escape from the south?” “Escape? Ha!” said an older officer leading them. “If the Black Flag rebels really wanted to kill us, they would have done it ten times already! We’re from the Hezi Camp, with over thirty years of combat experience. We’ve never seen fiercer rebels. This time, we just want to go home and farm honestly, without any more wild thoughts!” As soon as he said this, an old soldier asked, “You’re from the Hezi Camp? I’m from the Hezi Camp too! Who are you? Lao Chong? How is it you?” Upon meeting an old friend, tears welled in both their eyes. “Come on! Get something to eat for Lao Chong quickly! We’ve known each other for over thirty years, since under Commander Zeng! Did you make a mistake this time?” “Old brother, it’s pitiful!” They were in tears and sweating. “I really have no face to see you. Forty-seven of us from our county went out this time, and less than a third survived!” He began to describe the battles with the Black Flag army and what happened after they were captured. “The able-bodied were either added to their ranks or became their laborers. As for those of us with injuries, disabled, or old, they gave us discharge papers and let us lead a group back to Hunan…” These old, weak, sick, and disabled people were considered worthless by the Black Flag army, but Liu Yu put them to use. “The Black Flag rebels are terrifying! We’ve known each other for over thirty years—be honest! Go home! Don’t leave these old bones in a foreign land!” “Are the Black Flag rebels that strong? Lao Chong, I’ve seen the world too! Don’t fool me! I’ve even received merit medals and fought against the rebels in Guangxi!” Lao Chong couldn’t catch his breath and started crying. It took him a while before he could speak again. “Just ask these brothers! We Hunan people are tough!” “The Black Flag rebels are strong—what makes them strong is their advanced weapons. In every battle, they have thousands of rear-loading rifles, firing bullets like rain, leaving no place to stand!” “That’s right! Our entire battalion, though large in number, can’t compare to their firearms. When our battalion charged against one of their groups, after only about a hundred steps, only half of us were left!” “Their foreign rifles are rear-loading guns, with a firing rate dozens or even hundreds of times faster than ours, and their power is immense. When they fire, it’s like our mountain-crushing cannons going off!”

The defeated soldiers chattered excitedly, “That’s right. Our foreign cannons are only comparable to theirs, but when it comes to power, their rapid-fire cannons are truly terrifying!”
“The Black Flag rebels always bring hundreds of large and small rapid-fire cannons to battle, each one equivalent to our 100-pound cannons. Once those cannons fire, it’s like having fire snakes everywhere. Cities like Guilin were completely leveled by their cannon fire!”
“The rebels also have deadly weapons that can fire hundreds of shells per minute, like rain. Our entire regiment was wiped out by just one such cannon!”
The defeated soldiers shared everything they had seen and heard, leaving the defenders pale with fear and too scared to speak. Finally, someone shouted, “Lao Chong, we’ve been friends for over thirty years. You surely won’t deceive me, right? Let’s go home together!”
“Go home!”
“If we can’t win, let’s just go home!”