DGNT
November 6th, 2006, 06:49 AM
(OOC:
Bit of background beforehand.
Essentially, the Taiping are being replaced by the resurgent Ming dynasty. Ever since the Qing took over, a lot of Chinese people have resented being ruled by short, smelly Manchurians. The Ming have a large following.
In this lovely timeline, Mr. Hong passed his civil service exams and is collecting taxes. He never met any Christian missionaries and avoided having delusions of grandure.
So, instead of Taiping fighters, you have Ming fighters. Essentially the war has gone roughly the same, lots of bloody stalemates, lots of dead people. However, the Ming are pulling slightly ahead and their leader is not slowly going mad.
Oh, and a certain concubine choked to death on a fish bone two years ago. Everybody was very sad.)
Emperor Han Tzu went out amoung the troops. He would have none of this silly 'Invisible Emperor' nonesense. That was half the reason the Qing were so unpopular now. Of course, he would be sure to thank Xianfeng for being a shutaway and not bothering with the condition his country was in.
Han Tzu wondered how much irony you could cram into one reign, and which god deemed it amusing to have the reign of 'Universal Prosperity' marked by the deaths of twenty million Chinese.
It had all been very complicated from the start, involving several palace uprisings and an appeal to the Green Banner. Of course the appeal to the Green Banner wasnt intended to force them to the side of the rightful rulers of China, but it had the desired effect. Half the Green Banner deserted their posts or started to fight the other half, resulting in quite a lot of confusion amoung the Qing military. This culminated with an assault on the Forbidden City by the largest group of Green Banner Ming supporters, who were all promptly massacred.
And with that the real fighting began.
Ming supporters had rallied across the country to various calls, mostly issued by dedicated supporters of Han Tzu. The rest, the not-so-dedicated supporters, were simply doing what they deemed wise, and least likely to get them executed.
But nothing was certain in this environment. The Mandate of Heaven was in question now, as the Qing had clearly lost it when they were forced from Beijing. But nobody had Beijing at present, and no truely 'great' victories had been won.
Han Tzu planned to change that today.
His army had many advantages over the Qing banners. First and foremost, his army was loyal. One day a soldier had complained that it was immpossible to sleep on ground like this.
The Emperor promptly took over the soldiers own tent and had the solider sleep in his.
The next morning the solider swore that the Emperors bed was the worst in the world, and the Emperor thanked the solider for the first good nights sleep he'd had in weeks.
This sort of thing got around. Many were annoyed with the Qing. They were forigners, they were excessive beyond any right. They were arrogant towards all. A very few Chinese had heard the rumous about the Qing Emperor who had refused British help in modernizing their country years ago, but had offered to allow the British king to travel to Beijing and pay homage.
Of course nobody doubted that China was the greatest nation in the world, the oldest empire standing and the source of all things good, but really, there was no cause to be rude.
The second advantage Han Tzu possessed was in his weapons. He had made significant effot and expended much money to purchase, from various sources, repeating firearms and modern percussion cap weapons, as well as a few of the new 'gatling guns' which he put to good use. It saddened him to watch his people mown down like so much grass, but it would sadden him more to see the Qing in power for any longer than was required. Of course, not all of his men were armed as such, but compared to the Qing army his own was positivly bristling with guns.
It had been a challenge to keep this arrangement hidden from the Qing, and not all the weapons had gotten to the right place.
What he lacked was numbers.
Of course the Ming Army was far larger than any other army, save perhaps that of the Russians, but its mere million men did not compare with the Qing forces, which were now reaching towards six million once again.
And, from Han Tzu's perspective, many were standing across the ridge to the north of his encampment. Official estimates put the number at roughly one hundred thosand, but that was still a lot. Especially compared to his own mere twenty thosand men.
This had to be planned very carefully.
But the Qing, the stolid, predictable Qing, choose the obvious strategy, and made all planning moot. Instead of attempting to preserve the lives of their soliders, they planned on winning this battle by attrition.
Thus it was that a hundred thosand peasants, armed with farm impliments and a few firearms, hurled themselves across the divide between the armies. They were closely followed by the more disciplined Qing troops, those in proper uniforms with training in musketry.
The result was, as to be expected, a bloodbath.
The Ming riflemen poured accurate and rapid fire into the approaching Qing. The gatling gun by the Emperor cut down scores, hundreds, maybe thosands of men. The cannon to his left and right had turned the field seperating the two armies into a muddy, bloody, soup of corpses and vegetation.
When the two armies met, chaos ensued. Those skilled in various martial arts employed them to great effect, those who werent did what they could, but it was the discipline of the Ming that won the day. The Qing troops attempted to start duels, soldier on soldier, but the Ming held a line of bayonettes against them. It meant that, as individuals, they were less effective, but it also meant that the martial arts of their enemies was effectivly nuetralized. Kicking the gun out of one opponents hand often resulted in a bayonette to the kidney, and those troops with swords and other mellee weapons found themselves shot or speared.
What truely outraged Han Tzu was the total disregard of the Qing troops for the peasants who were giving their lives to the cause of the Qing Emperor. They were firing into the backs of their own troops, wasting ammunition and peasants, and damaging the moral of their fighters.
The vicious close range combat lasted nearly twenty minutes though, before the peasants broke and began to flee, choosing the Qing volleys and bayonettes over those of the Ming. Of course, the Qing musketeers ignored them, right up until the point where the peasants started to kill them. They werent fighting for the Ming of course, but for themselves. That would change later.
Once the killing was done, Han Tzu went to the enemy camp. Theoretically, this was suicide. But he did it with a hundred of his own men and the assurance that he would not be harmed while under the hospitality of the honourable enemy.
He was not at all suprised to see a peasant in front of the commanders tent.
Appearances had to be maintained, so the peasant bowed, scraped and said all the right things, and the Emperor decided that he would allow the peasant to be escorted into the commanders tent, which was actually HIS tent for any who cared to listen.
Once inside, this facade vanished. Surly peasants in Qing China. Who would have thought it?
Sitting, without bothering to offer the Emperor a chair, the peasant produced a mug of something, presumably alchaholic, and took a deep draft.
"I hear that you are different."
Han Tzu took this as an invitation to sit, "Different from who? I have ten fingers and ten toes. Two eyes, last I checked. Have I grown an extra ear, perhaps?"
The peasant glared at him, "You dont need to be rude."
"You seem to."
"I have an instinctive distrust of emperors." He made the lack of a capitol letter very clear.
"Ah. Well, if you mean the Imperial Self, then yes, I am not Qing. I have none of their flilthy Manchurian habits."
"My mother was Manchurian."
"I am sorry for her."
"Dont be. I never liked her anyway."
"Since your going to force me to ask, does your army wish to join with our cause? Restoring a true Chinese Emperor? Dethroning the Qing Manchurian dogs?"
This brought a slight smile to the mans face, "They were not doing so badly fifty years ago, so it seemed."
Perhaps not a peasant after all. He was dressed as one though.
The man caugh the look on Han Tzu's face, "I was part of the civil service until recently. I knew how to read and made sure to employ my skill on anything that looked important. Of course this means that I earned approximatly eight million death sentences, but somehow nobody found out."
"I shall have to reconsider those death sentences, should you choose to join with us."
"I myself have my doubts, but the men dont. They plan to sign on with your cause whether I say yes or no. Once they saw the Qing Imperial troops shooting them in the back, they came around."
The Emperor nodded. Most people changed their minds in those circumstances. "Then tell them to return to Nanching. They will be rearmed there, and receive training. We do not hurl our troops into battle without them knowing how to use the weapons they are givin. You, however, seem to be capable enough. They gave you a rifle."
"The only shot this rifle fired in the course of this battle was at the oaf commanding those musketeers."
"But you hit him." Han Tzu indicated the helmet hanging from the tents supports. It had a very clean hole in it, and several dents on the sides.
"Does that mean I get a promotion?"
"You can have all the shiney buttons you like."
"Will they mean anything?"
"In this army? No. But if you ever go into the Civil Service you may well outrank the Emperor. Ill also give you this." The Emperor pulled a patch from his robes and handed it over, "That will give you far more authority than the largest red button we can presently make, at least on the battlefield."
The story got out, of how the Emperor himself had personally gone to the enemies camp and fought a ravening ogre of an officer before making a speech which, by its sheer beauty and grace, converted the entire remnant of the Qing army in a single day. And before that he had fought in the Battle of Hangzhe, where he slew and entire regiment with the ferocity of his gaze.
What was not mythology, however, was the fact that the Ming forces had killed fourty six thosand Qing troops and lost only approximatly a thosand of their own. To many, this was the final blow to the Qing. A decisive battle won by the Ming, and the final evidence that the Mandate of Heaven had passed from the Qing.
None of the Ming high command was going to admit endangering their entire campaign by concentrating nearly all of their best troops into one battle. Nobody was going to admit to the six other large battles which, although not all were lost, didnt go nearly as well.
The only thing they would admit to was a mighty triumph, and they made sure everybody else damn well heard it to.
EDIT:
On closer inspection of Wikipedia, please disregard all mention of gatling guns http://209.85.12.234/html/emoticons/tongue.gif)
Bit of background beforehand.
Essentially, the Taiping are being replaced by the resurgent Ming dynasty. Ever since the Qing took over, a lot of Chinese people have resented being ruled by short, smelly Manchurians. The Ming have a large following.
In this lovely timeline, Mr. Hong passed his civil service exams and is collecting taxes. He never met any Christian missionaries and avoided having delusions of grandure.
So, instead of Taiping fighters, you have Ming fighters. Essentially the war has gone roughly the same, lots of bloody stalemates, lots of dead people. However, the Ming are pulling slightly ahead and their leader is not slowly going mad.
Oh, and a certain concubine choked to death on a fish bone two years ago. Everybody was very sad.)
Emperor Han Tzu went out amoung the troops. He would have none of this silly 'Invisible Emperor' nonesense. That was half the reason the Qing were so unpopular now. Of course, he would be sure to thank Xianfeng for being a shutaway and not bothering with the condition his country was in.
Han Tzu wondered how much irony you could cram into one reign, and which god deemed it amusing to have the reign of 'Universal Prosperity' marked by the deaths of twenty million Chinese.
It had all been very complicated from the start, involving several palace uprisings and an appeal to the Green Banner. Of course the appeal to the Green Banner wasnt intended to force them to the side of the rightful rulers of China, but it had the desired effect. Half the Green Banner deserted their posts or started to fight the other half, resulting in quite a lot of confusion amoung the Qing military. This culminated with an assault on the Forbidden City by the largest group of Green Banner Ming supporters, who were all promptly massacred.
And with that the real fighting began.
Ming supporters had rallied across the country to various calls, mostly issued by dedicated supporters of Han Tzu. The rest, the not-so-dedicated supporters, were simply doing what they deemed wise, and least likely to get them executed.
But nothing was certain in this environment. The Mandate of Heaven was in question now, as the Qing had clearly lost it when they were forced from Beijing. But nobody had Beijing at present, and no truely 'great' victories had been won.
Han Tzu planned to change that today.
His army had many advantages over the Qing banners. First and foremost, his army was loyal. One day a soldier had complained that it was immpossible to sleep on ground like this.
The Emperor promptly took over the soldiers own tent and had the solider sleep in his.
The next morning the solider swore that the Emperors bed was the worst in the world, and the Emperor thanked the solider for the first good nights sleep he'd had in weeks.
This sort of thing got around. Many were annoyed with the Qing. They were forigners, they were excessive beyond any right. They were arrogant towards all. A very few Chinese had heard the rumous about the Qing Emperor who had refused British help in modernizing their country years ago, but had offered to allow the British king to travel to Beijing and pay homage.
Of course nobody doubted that China was the greatest nation in the world, the oldest empire standing and the source of all things good, but really, there was no cause to be rude.
The second advantage Han Tzu possessed was in his weapons. He had made significant effot and expended much money to purchase, from various sources, repeating firearms and modern percussion cap weapons, as well as a few of the new 'gatling guns' which he put to good use. It saddened him to watch his people mown down like so much grass, but it would sadden him more to see the Qing in power for any longer than was required. Of course, not all of his men were armed as such, but compared to the Qing army his own was positivly bristling with guns.
It had been a challenge to keep this arrangement hidden from the Qing, and not all the weapons had gotten to the right place.
What he lacked was numbers.
Of course the Ming Army was far larger than any other army, save perhaps that of the Russians, but its mere million men did not compare with the Qing forces, which were now reaching towards six million once again.
And, from Han Tzu's perspective, many were standing across the ridge to the north of his encampment. Official estimates put the number at roughly one hundred thosand, but that was still a lot. Especially compared to his own mere twenty thosand men.
This had to be planned very carefully.
But the Qing, the stolid, predictable Qing, choose the obvious strategy, and made all planning moot. Instead of attempting to preserve the lives of their soliders, they planned on winning this battle by attrition.
Thus it was that a hundred thosand peasants, armed with farm impliments and a few firearms, hurled themselves across the divide between the armies. They were closely followed by the more disciplined Qing troops, those in proper uniforms with training in musketry.
The result was, as to be expected, a bloodbath.
The Ming riflemen poured accurate and rapid fire into the approaching Qing. The gatling gun by the Emperor cut down scores, hundreds, maybe thosands of men. The cannon to his left and right had turned the field seperating the two armies into a muddy, bloody, soup of corpses and vegetation.
When the two armies met, chaos ensued. Those skilled in various martial arts employed them to great effect, those who werent did what they could, but it was the discipline of the Ming that won the day. The Qing troops attempted to start duels, soldier on soldier, but the Ming held a line of bayonettes against them. It meant that, as individuals, they were less effective, but it also meant that the martial arts of their enemies was effectivly nuetralized. Kicking the gun out of one opponents hand often resulted in a bayonette to the kidney, and those troops with swords and other mellee weapons found themselves shot or speared.
What truely outraged Han Tzu was the total disregard of the Qing troops for the peasants who were giving their lives to the cause of the Qing Emperor. They were firing into the backs of their own troops, wasting ammunition and peasants, and damaging the moral of their fighters.
The vicious close range combat lasted nearly twenty minutes though, before the peasants broke and began to flee, choosing the Qing volleys and bayonettes over those of the Ming. Of course, the Qing musketeers ignored them, right up until the point where the peasants started to kill them. They werent fighting for the Ming of course, but for themselves. That would change later.
Once the killing was done, Han Tzu went to the enemy camp. Theoretically, this was suicide. But he did it with a hundred of his own men and the assurance that he would not be harmed while under the hospitality of the honourable enemy.
He was not at all suprised to see a peasant in front of the commanders tent.
Appearances had to be maintained, so the peasant bowed, scraped and said all the right things, and the Emperor decided that he would allow the peasant to be escorted into the commanders tent, which was actually HIS tent for any who cared to listen.
Once inside, this facade vanished. Surly peasants in Qing China. Who would have thought it?
Sitting, without bothering to offer the Emperor a chair, the peasant produced a mug of something, presumably alchaholic, and took a deep draft.
"I hear that you are different."
Han Tzu took this as an invitation to sit, "Different from who? I have ten fingers and ten toes. Two eyes, last I checked. Have I grown an extra ear, perhaps?"
The peasant glared at him, "You dont need to be rude."
"You seem to."
"I have an instinctive distrust of emperors." He made the lack of a capitol letter very clear.
"Ah. Well, if you mean the Imperial Self, then yes, I am not Qing. I have none of their flilthy Manchurian habits."
"My mother was Manchurian."
"I am sorry for her."
"Dont be. I never liked her anyway."
"Since your going to force me to ask, does your army wish to join with our cause? Restoring a true Chinese Emperor? Dethroning the Qing Manchurian dogs?"
This brought a slight smile to the mans face, "They were not doing so badly fifty years ago, so it seemed."
Perhaps not a peasant after all. He was dressed as one though.
The man caugh the look on Han Tzu's face, "I was part of the civil service until recently. I knew how to read and made sure to employ my skill on anything that looked important. Of course this means that I earned approximatly eight million death sentences, but somehow nobody found out."
"I shall have to reconsider those death sentences, should you choose to join with us."
"I myself have my doubts, but the men dont. They plan to sign on with your cause whether I say yes or no. Once they saw the Qing Imperial troops shooting them in the back, they came around."
The Emperor nodded. Most people changed their minds in those circumstances. "Then tell them to return to Nanching. They will be rearmed there, and receive training. We do not hurl our troops into battle without them knowing how to use the weapons they are givin. You, however, seem to be capable enough. They gave you a rifle."
"The only shot this rifle fired in the course of this battle was at the oaf commanding those musketeers."
"But you hit him." Han Tzu indicated the helmet hanging from the tents supports. It had a very clean hole in it, and several dents on the sides.
"Does that mean I get a promotion?"
"You can have all the shiney buttons you like."
"Will they mean anything?"
"In this army? No. But if you ever go into the Civil Service you may well outrank the Emperor. Ill also give you this." The Emperor pulled a patch from his robes and handed it over, "That will give you far more authority than the largest red button we can presently make, at least on the battlefield."
The story got out, of how the Emperor himself had personally gone to the enemies camp and fought a ravening ogre of an officer before making a speech which, by its sheer beauty and grace, converted the entire remnant of the Qing army in a single day. And before that he had fought in the Battle of Hangzhe, where he slew and entire regiment with the ferocity of his gaze.
What was not mythology, however, was the fact that the Ming forces had killed fourty six thosand Qing troops and lost only approximatly a thosand of their own. To many, this was the final blow to the Qing. A decisive battle won by the Ming, and the final evidence that the Mandate of Heaven had passed from the Qing.
None of the Ming high command was going to admit endangering their entire campaign by concentrating nearly all of their best troops into one battle. Nobody was going to admit to the six other large battles which, although not all were lost, didnt go nearly as well.
The only thing they would admit to was a mighty triumph, and they made sure everybody else damn well heard it to.
EDIT:
On closer inspection of Wikipedia, please disregard all mention of gatling guns http://209.85.12.234/html/emoticons/tongue.gif)