The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 777 The Decisive Victory of the Lu Army
Ireland was not a good place, even in later Europe.

This small island, which is right next to Britain, has a climate very similar to that of Britain, both being temperate maritime climates with mild winters and cool summers.

Similarly, Ireland, like Great Britain, is located at a very high latitude.

Dublin, the capital of Ireland, is at a higher latitude than Mohe in China, and is roughly the same latitude as Nikolayevsk-on-Amur in Northeast China and the northernmost point of Sakhalin Island.

Furthermore, Dublin is on the island of Ireland, and it is not the northernmost part of the island.

In terms of latitude, without the North Atlantic Current, this place would be a frozen wasteland, but the North Atlantic Current has made Ireland relatively livable.

Of course, this only refers to the fact that the temperature is relatively comfortable for people to live in.

In terms of agricultural production, despite the presence of the North Atlantic Current, the extremely high latitude causes a fierce collision between cold air from the north and the warm current. This intense clash between ice and fire creates a very strange phenomenon on the land of Ireland.

In terms of temperature, this place should be suitable for farming, but in reality, it is not like that at all.

The mountains surrounding the island have a cold climate, similar to the Arctic. The vast central lowlands suddenly warm up, causing large amounts of cold, humid air to sink and form a terrifyingly cold swampy area.

These swamps, similar to the vast cold-temperature swamps in northern Germany and Ukraine, are extremely dangerous and have virtually no potential for agriculture. Only after hundreds or even thousands of years of continuous human transformation can they become arable land.

But this is the most tragic part of Ireland: the cold marshes of northern Germania and Ukraine. Because the locals were able to control their own destiny, every dynasty tried its best to transform and cultivate them.

However, the English nobles in Ireland wished for the Irish to remain small and on the verge of starvation forever, so they would never undertake any transformation or land reclamation.

This meant that even in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, Ireland was still full of peat bogs where peat could be dug out, making it suitable only for grazing and virtually impossible to farm.

Of course, the situation has changed now, because potatoes from the New World are so well-suited for growing in Ireland.

This led to a rapid increase in Ireland's population, and the large scale of this rebellion is largely related to this population explosion.

"Too many, too many! It's all the potatoes' fault, otherwise the Irish wouldn't have so many!" On the banks of the Shannon River, Lieutenant General Gerald Lake, the Lord Lieutenant-General of Ireland, said to Mo Gongze beside him:
"Your Highness, Jean Joseph Humbert currently commands four thousand French soldiers, twelve thousand Irish allied troops, and over ten thousand militia."

We only have four thousand garrison troops, two thousand militiamen, and your six thousand men. Are we really going to fight them to the death?

The Shannon River is the longest river on the island of Ireland, located in the central part of the island. It stretches for nearly 500 kilometers from north to south. The place where Moggance chose to fight against the French and Irish rebels was called Carrick-a-Channon, located in the middle reaches of the Shannon River.

"Let's fight here, General. I'm more worried about the impact of the rebels entering the outskirts of Dublin than about their numbers."

The Kingdom's rule in Ireland was already precarious; if all the Irish people believed we would be defeated, then we really would be defeated.

As Mo Gongze spoke, he gave Lieutenant General Gerald Lake, the Governor-General of Ireland, a deep look.

The governor bears a great deal of responsibility for the instability of English rule in Ireland.

This man came from a family of town councilors who were not even considered minor nobles. His career advancement came from his experience serving alongside the Prince of Wales, the future George IV. His brother, Warwick, is currently serving as a groom, a close confidant of the Prince of Wales.

Of course, this doesn't mean Gerald Lake lacks ability; it's just that his background and the label of "Lucky" made him too eager to improve and do things well, resulting in him overexerting himself and achieving the opposite of his intended goal.

For example, in dealing with the Irish rebellion, he not only issued an order not to take prisoners before defeating the rebels, but also ordered that throughout Ireland, anyone suspected of being a rebel could be arrested at will and subjected to severe torture.

This terrifying policy of "making chaos before the enemy arrives" instilled fear in everyone, causing many who had no intention of rebelling to grit their teeth and join the rebellion out of fear of being implicated.

Hearing Mo Gongze's words, the Irish governor Gerald Lake was very displeased, but he dared not show his anger.

Because the man before them was a member of two royal families and was about to become the prince consort of the kingdom—one of the most elite nobles in Europe.

More importantly, Prince Karl commands 10,000 elite troops; he is no weak or incompetent prince.

"The French made a huge mistake by trying to go to Munster to support the rebels, which delayed their journey to Dublin and left a large number of onlookers waiting to see what would happen."

Without the support of the vast majority of Irish people, they had no chance of taking over Ireland, because they were fighting alone and would be finished if they lost even once.

Even if we suffer a defeat in this battle, as long as we are not completely defeated, we can still retreat to Dublin to prepare for the next battle.

Mo Gongze was simply somewhat disgusted by Governor Gerald Lake's excessive cruelty, but he did not want to provoke or humiliate him, so he offered an explanation.

“Yes, that’s true. We can lose once, twice, or even three times, but they’re finished if they lose once.” Gerald Lake quickly chimed in, seizing the opportunity.

"Then, Your Excellency, you may have people spread rumors that the reason the rebels welcomed the French was entirely for religious reasons, and that the Catholics on the island, with the support of the French Catholics, were persecuting Protestants."

Remember, the more gruesome the depiction, the better.

Although most Irish people are Catholic, they are not particularly fanatical and generally do not support brutal religious killings.

Moreover, although the Protestant population in Ireland was small, they were very concentrated, and most of them lived in Northern Ireland. It was thanks to these Irish Protestants that Britain was able to retain Northern Ireland in later generations.

Therefore, stirring up panic among Irish Protestants helped stabilize northeastern Ireland, a crucial transit point for supplies transported from Great Britain.

. . . .

A cool breeze swept across the banks of the Shannon River, causing the green flag with a gold Irish harp, a symbol of the Republic of Ireland, to flutter in the wind.

Thirty thousand French-Irish troops crossed the Shannon River in an orderly fashion from the west, heading towards the ten thousand men commanded by Mochütz on the other side.

The Irish were divided into three parts: the French army and the main Irish force in the middle and left wing, and Colonel Bartholomew Thieling's three thousand men on the right wing.

On the British side, 5,000 Lu troops formed the main force in the center, while the Irish Governor-General Gerald Lake led 3,000 men on the left wing, and another Major General, Harry Hutchinson, led 1,000 British troops and 2,000 Northern Irish militia on the right wing.

The three sides were about five to six miles apart, but they had very few cavalry. Only Mo Gongze had a Transylvanian cavalry regiment of one thousand men.

Before the decisive battle, the Irish had occupied all the fords near the Shannon River. The only place the English could control on this stretch of the Shannon was the isolated town of Carrick-on-the-Lake on the northeast bank.

Although the English could field at least 14,000 men, including Mo Gongze's troops, they couldn't afford to be like the rebels on the other side who barely defended towns; they had to leave a certain number of men to guard various locations.

“General, the man in the purple shirt and white trousers should be from the Belgian army,” said Bartholomew Thieling, an Irish colonel deeply influenced by the French Revolution and an assistant to Jean-Joseph Humbert, pointing into the distance.

Since they were dressed in the uniforms of the Belgian army, they couldn't be too unconventional. They even wore the uniforms of the Great Yu army in Europe. Therefore, the uniforms of the Lu Fan army in Europe were very down-to-earth.

Jean-Joseph Humbert raised his telescope and saw the golden sun and moon emblem in the center of the red-white flag symbolizing the Mo family.

This is composed of the red, white, and red coat of arms of the Habsburg family and the sun and moon emblems of the Mo clan of the Great Yu Dynasty, or rather, the emblems that originated from the Ming Dynasty and were taken over by the Great Yu Dynasty.

"The Belgian army is very strong, but we should not attack them first. Instead, we can focus our attacks on the English troops on both flanks."

These Belgians might not necessarily fight to the death for England, let alone on Irish soil. I think if we don't provoke them, they won't fight us to the death.

General Jean-Joseph Humbert of France made a huge mistake as soon as he went to the battlefield. Because of his low rank, he was unaware that Moggonze had been pursuing Princess Mary of England, let alone that he had succeeded.

The current Belgian prince is also an English nobleman, and he may very well receive a vacant title from the English royal family, such as the Duke of Cambridge, because of his military achievements.

Therefore, not only will Mo Gongze go all out, but the Belgian army that follows him will also go all out.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Carrick-en-Provence on the banks of the Shannon River, Mogongze stood atop a protruding rock on a hill, and with a glance through his binoculars, he immediately understood General Jean-Joseph Humbert's intentions.

"The French artillery began to move frequently, and the central army was full of banners and looked very large, but the square formations were too thin and not as thick as the flanks. It seemed that their main target was the English troops on the flanks."

This is an innate skill. Mo Gongze didn't have much battlefield experience, but after watching for a while, he was able to discern the enemy's maze and see through their intentions.

"Inform General Gerald Lake that they should prepare for a bloody battle with the rebels. Of course, I allow them to retreat if they cannot hold out."

Zog, prepare your cavalry for a surprise attack on the center of the French-Irish coalition forces opposite.

Liu Rongqing ordered all officers and soldiers of the Three Guards to take off their European-style uniforms and put on mandarin duck battle robes and vermilion helmets with the character "勇" (yong, meaning bravery) on them, so that they could appear dazzling.

Jean-Joseph Humbert, who was some distance away, also saw Mo Gongze's actions and immediately smiled.

“Prince Karl seems to understand what I mean. They have actually changed into magnificent Seres dresses on the battlefield and have 10,000 men guarding them. As long as they do not take the initiative to attack, we will not attack them.”

Yes, the mandarin duck battle robe and the vermilion helmet with the character "勇" (yong, meaning brave) were actually the combat uniforms of the 16th Army of the Great Yu Capital Garrison. However, in Europe, because Mo Gongze rarely used them, they were usually only worn by soldiers on special occasions to display military bearing. They did become a kind of formal dress, which led many people to have the misconception that this uniform was not conducive to combat.

The battle first took place on the left flank between the French-Irish allied forces, namely the rebels and the English army. As expected, Jean-Joseph Humbert moved most of his artillery to the flanks to attack the English army.

Colonel Bartholomew Thilling led three thousand men in an attack as soon as the gunfire ceased.

This man was a staunch Irish independence advocate. Born into a wealthy merchant family, he had a promising future in the English army, but he dedicated everything to the cause of Irish independence.

He was a man of conscience; he couldn't stand England's appalling treatment of Ireland, which is why he chose to revolt.

In the earlier Battle of Colune, in which Gerald Lake was defeated, Bartholomew Thieling charged into the English artillery positions single-handedly, killing six English artillerymen with a musket and a dagger, and forcing the gunners to turn around and bombard the English, causing two to three hundred casualties and turning the tide of the battle.

At this moment, he was still at the forefront, and behind him, a large number of Irish people from the United Irishmen Association and the Defenders, a secret folk church of the Irish Catholic Church similar to the Chinese White Lotus Sect, also roared and launched their charge.

Because of the great misdeeds of the English on Irish soil, these Irish people who hated the English were not good at fighting others, but they fought very hard against the English.

Hundreds of shells rained down on the English positions in a very short time. The English infantry, who had just suffered a major defeat more than two months earlier, began to clamor and their formation began to fall apart.

Two hundred meters away, the Irishman, jogging over, pulled the trigger, and the battlefield was instantly filled with smoke.

The English garrison in Ireland was not particularly elite to begin with, and having just suffered a crushing defeat, they were in a state of panic. When they heard the Irish firing their guns, the sound of which shook the rooftops, they immediately tensed up. It is unclear who fired the first shot, but the others followed suit.

That's how it is when line infantrymen are shot in formation. The pressure is immense, and ordinary soldiers often have difficulty estimating distances. They usually just follow the officers' orders to fire.

However, if training or morale is insufficient, it can easily lead to a chaotic situation where one person fires and everyone else follows suit with indiscriminate firing. As soon as the gunfire rang out, smoke filled the English side as well, making it even harder for the soldiers to hear orders or see flags. In the midst of the tension, they fired one shot after another, recklessly and indiscriminately.

On the other side, most of the Irish actually stopped attacking after firing one round, remaining stationary under the command of Colonel Bartholomew Thieling.

The colonel held his pocket watch, and after seeing that three minutes had passed, he drew his sword and was the first to rush forward.

"For our Irish mothers, onward! For freedom, onward! Onward, my brothers and sisters!"

Bartholomew Thieling's cry ignited the passion of all Irish people, who charged toward the British army with hatred in their hearts.

In an instant, after four or five rounds of fire, only some English troops who had disobeyed Bartholomew Thieling's orders to the Irish had actually been killed. The tense atmosphere did not dissipate because of the firing; on the contrary, it became even more tense because not many people had been killed.

Just then, the Irish army suddenly emerged from the smoke. Without any exchange of fire, they immediately engaged in hand-to-hand combat. The British army's panic was amplified to the extreme. They fought and retreated, and within ten minutes, the three thousand men were routed.

On the other right flank, the situation was even worse, with 1,000 British troops and 2,000 Northern Irish militia facing 4,000 French troops.

These British troops were second-rate.

The Northern Irish militia was even weaker, because anyone with a conscience wouldn't act as a lackey for the English, so what fighting power could a puppet army have?

The three thousand British troops on the left flank were still holding on, but the right flank had been completely breached. They cried out and turned to run back into Carrick, while the French winged hussars pursued them, slaughtering them with their sabers.

French Major General Jean-Joseph Humbert was extremely excited to see this scene. His adrenaline surged and his ecstasy made him forget how terrifying the Belgian army was.

He said to Wolf Tone, a key figure in Irish independence and founder of the Union of Irish People, who was standing beside him:

"We can defeat the English and their lackeys very soon, but instead of attacking Carrick immediately, we should move all our forces here to defeat the Belgian army and force them to surrender."

Belgian farmers are now staging a massive uprising against the revolutionary army, simply because they feel the Belgian princes treat them better.

"If we can capture the Belgian prince, then the farmers who are hoping for the return of the Belgian prince and his family will cease their rebellion out of despair."

The twelve-year rule of Mozi Rong and his son Mozi Rong in Belgium was not without effect. Historically, Belgian farmers who launched small-scale uprisings against the French annexation of the Lower Netherlands have now launched a larger-scale rebellion.

The banner they raised was a banner to drive out the invaders and welcome back Prince Karl and his son.

Wolf Tone was also pleased. In his view, the defeat of the British forces on the left and right flanks was a foregone conclusion. In less than half an hour, they could surround the Belgian army of 5,000 with 30,000 men. With a ratio of six to one, Prince Karl had no choice but to surrender.

“The time is almost right, Zog. You go in yourself, and I’ll use all the cannons to clear the way for you. After you’ve scattered these Irishmen, don’t chase after them. Instead, quickly circle back and deal with the French winged hussars.”

Looking at the situation on the battlefield, Mo Gongze saw the English being slaughtered in disarray. On the left wing, Clark Lake was leading his remaining troops desperately toward him, while on the right wing, Harry Hutchinson had already fled into Carrick City in disarray.

“Yes, Your Highness! I will show these Irishmen what real cavalry is!” Rakoc Zog replied loudly.

His ten million cavalrymen were not recruited from Transylvania, but retired after the Great Yu's campaigns in the south and north. Half of them were Hungarians, and the other half were 'retired' from the Great Yu Imperial Guards.

In the center, commanding a small number of French troops and about ten thousand Irish rebels, was French Major General Jean Hardy.

He rode a white horse, wearing an indigo silk military uniform and a tall hat with a red tassel, making him very conspicuous.

At this moment, hearing the shouts and cheers in French coming from afar, General Jean Hardy seemed impatient. He kept saying to his adjutant, "The balance of the battle has shifted. The 70th Half Brigade is about to make a great contribution."

As he spoke, he spurred his horse to the front and used his binoculars to observe the Belgian army about a kilometer away once again.

"Prince Karl is still not moving. Is he waiting to die? Wait, no!" Major General Jean Hardy suddenly exclaimed.

"Get ready to take cover from the artillery! The Belgians have brought out their field guns!"

He had barely finished speaking, and before he could even spur his horse to run away, a thunderous roar erupted, and a deluge of cannonballs rained down upon him.

General Jean Hardy was too careless. He was also misled by General Jean Joseph Humbert's claim that the Belgians would not fight for the English, so much so that he did not send out his two hundred most experienced French soldiers to monitor the Lu Fan army on the mountain.

As for the more than 10,000 Irish rebels, one can easily guess that these troops, which were able to organize so quickly under the supervision of the English, were basically drawn from the rural swamps.

They lacked not only guns and cannons but also battlefield experience, so they had no idea of ​​the importance of reconnaissance in front of the enemy.

Meanwhile, Mo Gongze on the hillside was also a ruthless commander. He first covered the cannon with a layer of cloth and moved it slowly. If you didn't look closely, you couldn't tell at all.

Moreover, General Jean Hardy's bad luck was not over yet; the Lu Fan army on the mountain had a total of fifteen cannons, and three of them were fired within two minutes.

These forty-five shells hit the general who had come to the front to scout during the second round.

A seven- or eight-pound shell, accompanied by a sonic boom, struck General Jean Hardy directly.

Amid the screams of the surrounding French soldiers, General Jean Hardy's upper body was completely severed, and his warhorse was crushed, its spine broken, and it tumbled to the ground like a rag doll.

Almost simultaneously, Rakoc Zog, sword in hand, led his ten million cavalrymen down the hillside. In less than a kilometer, the horses covered the distance in an instant, wielding carbines at sixty meters and throwing bombs at forty meters.

Without a commander, the Irish insurgents, who were just a motley crew to make up the numbers, only fired a few shots haphazardly from the front row before falling into chaos.

After a large number of insurgents opened fire, they tried to run back. A small number of brave men did not notice that the people around them were moving backward, and instead rushed out with a roar.

This back-and-forth movement further disrupted the formation.

The brave ones who charged out suddenly realized that only a minority had made it out when they were about to encounter the Lu Fan Wanhu cavalry, and many of them thought of fleeing back.

As a result, the battle turned into what seemed like a 10,000-household cavalryman driving Irish rebels back into their own lines.

'Boom'

A bomb exploded among a dozen Irishmen, instantly killing three or four. Before the others could recover from the violent explosion, the cavalry arrived.

The sharp saber easily severed the Irishman's neck, blood spurting everywhere. All the Irishmen around forgot to resist, and in their immense fear, all they could do was run away.

Moreover, these Irish rebels were mostly from the same country and knew each other. If one person panicked and shouted to run away, he would immediately lead a group of people to run away.

This caused the ten million cavalrymen to be like a raccoon dog rushing into a swarm of rats among the ten thousand Irish rebels, indiscriminately hunting and killing, and charging around. Within minutes, the ten thousand men were scattered into a mess.

On the hillside, as Mo Gongze gave the order, the four thousand Lu soldiers, inspired by the stirring drumbeats of the military band, marched forward in silent, continuous steps, like solid city walls.

They were advancing in the same direction that the main French force was chasing.

At this point, Gerard Lake had only a few hundred men left. Amidst the roar of the French army in pursuit, they suddenly spotted the Lu army ahead.

Upon seeing the gleaming bayonet, Gerald Lake wisely avoided charging head-on and instead circled around it from both sides.

The pursuing French troops were stunned when they saw the Lu troops in red uniforms and helmets. Because they had been chasing so fiercely, their organization was in disarray, and in these crucial minutes, not a single person came forward to take command.

But Mo Gongze was not going to be polite. The Lu army immediately marched forward, and a group of skirmishers dispersed in advance. Hundreds of rifled muskets with long bullets immediately inflicted heavy casualties on the French army.

"Charge! Charge! Don't fire! Engage in hand-to-hand combat!" Vanguard officer Liu Rongqing roared, ordering the line infantry to overtake the skirmishers and give chase.

Now it was the French army's turn to run away. They were disorganized and dared not engage in gunfire or hand-to-hand combat.

Thus, the French soldiers who had just been in pursuit became the fleeing ones, and they were relentlessly pursued and killed by the Lu Fan army.

But soon, Jean-Joseph Humbert realized something was wrong. He raised the military flag, beat the drums to summon the soldiers to assemble, and prepared to fire three volleys at the pursuing Lu Fan troops in a line formation.

However, the Lu army was far superior to these second-rate French troops. Although they were in pursuit, their organization remained intact. When they saw the French troops gathering, they did not rush forward rashly, but instead began to gather themselves and wait for reinforcements.

Both sides were racing against time. Line infantry began to assemble, while skirmishers moved forward to engage in a marksmanship contest, with men constantly being hit and falling to the ground.

But none of these are decisive; what is decisive is the cannon.

Both sides' field artillery were positioned in the rear. Whoever got there first could bombard the enemy's dense infantry and thus win the battle.

At the critical moment, a part of the French Third Winged Cavalry Regiment arrived.

General Jean-Joseph Humbert originally intended for them to intercept and kill the Lu Fan army's artillery, but before the order was given to the cavalry, the cavalry charged suddenly towards the assembled Lu Fan army infantry.

“That works too, if they can break through the enemy line infantry,” Jean-Joseph Humbert thought.

But he was soon dumbfounded. The Lu army's line infantry quickly changed from a horizontal formation to a square formation, forming a steel hedgehog with bayonets.

General Jean-Joseph Humbert broke out in a cold sweat because the enemy's tactical change was too rapid, something his French troops could not do, indicating that the enemy's combat strength was far superior to his.

Sure enough, seeing the infantry form a steel hedgehog, the Third Wing Cavalry Regiment only tried twice before giving up. As long as the infantry didn't panic, the cavalry couldn't break through before they ran out of energy.

Colonel Henry of the Third Winged Cavalry Regiment prepared to turn and charge the skirmishers in front of the line infantry, still forgetting that he should intercept the Lu army's artillery at this time.

Just as he was about to move over and slaughter the stragglers, Lacocz Zog's 10,000-man cavalry arrived. The 10,000-man cavalry attacked from the flank, catching the French Winged Hussars off guard. They could only fight passively and were quickly cut into several pieces.

The two sides were evenly matched, but the 10,000-household cavalry was stronger and had the advantage of striking first, quickly scattering the Third Wing Cavalry Regiment.

General Jean-Joseph Humbert closed his eyes in anguish, his heart pounding. This was bad; if the Third Wing Cavalry Regiment were defeated, it would be disastrous, because the enemy cavalry would surely intercept and kill his artillery.

"Retreat, retreat! We retreat to the hill where the British were, the artillery is there."

This was the only option General Jean-Joseph Humbert could make: before the Winged Hussars were completely defeated and the opposing line infantry dared not charge, he should take the initiative to join up with the artillery.

(End of this chapter)