Chapter 216: Watering the Horses (Part 2)

Wang Debang spoke with firm conviction, “We didn’t join the Black Flag Army like Pan Qinxuan—already that shows we’ve done enough for the Aisin Gioro family!”
The group of officers exchanged glances, too afraid to speak, but after a while, they burst into laughter. “Well said!”
“Let’s follow Lord Wang Debang’s plan!”
The Aisin Gioro family had lost half of their territory to the Black Flag Army—how could they spare the effort to deal with them now? Wang Debang said bluntly, “Since the Qing entered the pass, all those titles and honors are worthless. After fighting for tens of thousands of miles, I don’t seek any royal titles or noble positions. I just want to enjoy a moment of glory—to establish my own domain. Will you guys follow me on this quest?”
These young officers were from noble families. Wu Dazheng’s standard for selecting officers was that dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes to phoenixes, and rats to burrowers. Raised hearing the legends of their ancestors, they may not have great skills, but their ambition far exceeded anything normal. Hearing Wang Debang’s words, they became eager. “Where shall we go? We can’t stay in Hubei!”
“How about Jiangxi? There aren’t many elite troops there. With a few thousand of us united, we can easily take it over!”
“Let’s go to Shaanxi! Our old Hunan army has many connections there. Gathering ten thousand troops shouldn’t be a problem!”
Wang Debang, however, had a clear plan: “As long as we withdraw like this, anywhere will do. With these few thousand elite soldiers, what’s there to fear?”
“The Black Flag Army is fierce, but think about it—since breaking through Zhenan Pass, they’ve fought their way thousands of miles from Guangxi all the way to the Yangtze River. Even the strongest men need time to rest. I believe after watering their horses by the Yangtze, they’ll need months to recover. This is a golden opportunity for us to achieve something great!”
Wang Debang’s reasoning made sense. The Black Flag Army’s long campaign was comparable to the Taiping Rebellion’s journey from Guilin, through Hunan and Hubei, all the way to Nanjing along the river. Though they had far better control over the region than the Taiping forces, they indeed needed time to regroup.
“If they continue their advance, they’ll surely head south along the Yangtze, sweeping through the southeast!” Wang Debang spoke boldly, unafraid of eavesdroppers. “Our top priority is to cross the Yangtze first. Once we get hold of boats, once we’re in the north, we’ll have endless possibilities!”
Wang Debang’s speech boosted the morale of this wandering Hunan army, accelerating their retreat northward. Whenever they encountered small groups of Qing troops or supplies, they simply seized them all.
But in retreating like this, they didn’t even give a notice, leaving the eighth battalion of Hubei troops trapped. Those Hubei troops foolishly remained in their positions, trying to stop the encircling Black Flag Army. They still thought the Hunan army was fighting there, believing the two forces could hold off the Black Flag Army for a few days. They encouraged each other, “Don’t worry! The governor won’t abandon us. Dozens more battalions are on their way!”

Even more encouragingly, the Black Flag Army in front of them didn’t seem as strong as imagined. After spending three days defeating the ten battalions ahead, they seemed to have suffered heavy losses. Now, only the Hubei troops tasked with monitoring their eight battalions were there to prevent them from breaking away from the front line.

They were unaware that the Black Flag Army was centuries ahead of them in terms of communication. Through field telephones and telegraph networks, the Black Flag Army had already learned about the Xiang Army’s retreat to the north earlier than they did.

This advanced communication network brought about tactical advantages. Although the Black Flag Army’s headquarters couldn’t directly command the battalions via wireless networks, at Liu Yu’s order, two infantry regiments rushed toward the huge gap left by the retreating Xiang Army.

Liu Yu shouted loudly over the phone, “Flank them! Flank them! We must not let them escape!”

These eight battalions of Hubei troops were considered the strongest Qing forces south of the Yangtze River. If they could be defeated, then the regular Qing forces south of the Yangtze would be nothing but insignificant remnants. “Every company, give it your all! The weather is extremely cold—we Southerners aren’t used to it, but we are the Black Flag Army!”

The cold of December made it difficult for these men, who had spent years in the tropics, to adapt. But Liu Yu made a decision that excited his troops: “From now on, it will depend on which unit becomes the first to cross the river…”

In front of the Black Flag Army, the Xiang Army’s defense line had almost no defenders. The hundreds of local militia troops stationed there had all raised white flags: “The righteous army, you’ve worked hard! We are all loyal people willing to serve as your vanguard!”

They and Wang Debang were both shrewd. Wang Debang had left them with just a few hundred broken guns to hold off the Black Flag Army’s attacks, and they didn’t want to be cannon fodder either, so they made a wise choice right away.

Under normal circumstances, such units would have been disbanded and reorganized. But since they had already pledged loyalty, the Black Flag Army was willing to give them a chance to prove themselves: “Once Wuhan is taken, you will be heroes!”

At that moment, the eight battalions of Hubei troops remained in place, still unaware of the developments in the battle. Several battalion officers were busy writing reports of their victories, exaggerating themselves as unparalleled heroes. As for the losses suffered by the Black Flag Army, they claimed, “Every day, tens of thousands of enemies are killed. After two days of fighting, tens of thousands of enemy leaders and soldiers have been slain…”

In their eyes, the Black Flag Army was nothing but a name with no real strength. Their eight battalions had withstood the attacks for two days, and the Black Flag Army’s assaults seemed weak, sending at most a hundred soldiers each time to cope, allowing them to hold off the attacks with little effort.

Moreover, they had received promises from the governor-general—six new battalions were on their way from Wuhan to reinforce them. Once those four battalions moved, together with the twenty battalions of the Xiang Army on the left flank, they could launch a counterattack against the Black Flag Army.

By now, the Black Flag Army’s flanking units, two entire infantry regiments, had successfully penetrated their positions.

“Reporting to the commander—twenty-four companies in total!” An officer quickly wrote down the battle report on paper: “I order…”

As he wrote, another officer rushed over: “Enemy detected!”

As the brigade commander, Deng Putao immediately put down his pen. “How many? In what direction? What are their intentions?”
His deputy promptly reported, “The enemy, numbering about two to three thousand, is advancing from north to south. Their formation spans about five kilometers. They’re fully equipped, but with only a small vanguard. There are no cavalry, a few cannons, and our troops haven’t been detected yet…”
“The troops could encounter the enemy at any moment!”
“We have two regiments at hand—what’s there to worry about?” Deng Putao quickly wrote down his orders on paper: “In a head-on clash, the brave shall prevail. The entire brigade must immediately launch an attack!”