Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 611 Let's have a showdown! My cannon isn't very big, only 203mm.
"so many people?"

Li Dianyuan, the deputy commander of Xunzhou, looked across the Xunjiang River with suspicion and uncertainty.

At the foot of the distant mountains on the opposite bank of the river, there was a sea of ​​people.

The air was filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, and the flags were waving in the wind, creating a lively and

Looking around, the dense crowd stretched as far as the eye could see.

"So many people!" Ni Tao, the magistrate of Pingnan County who had accompanied him, was greatly shocked. "At least over ten thousand!"

As the old saying goes, once the number of men and horses exceeds ten thousand, there is no end to the journey.

The sheer number of them is daunting.

Ni Tao was the magistrate of Pingnan County, which is next to Guiping County. Dayao Mountain is located in Pingnan County.

The reason the governor ordered Ni Tao to accompany Li Dianyuan to quell the bandits was that the magistrate of Guiping County had died in a fire.

Relying solely on the pro-independence camp is not enough; we also need to mobilize local elders.

This kind of work cannot be done by the pro-independence camp, because everyone knows what the pro-independence camp is like.

If the local elders file a lawsuit together, it will be very troublesome.

Therefore, the governor assigned Ni Tao to do the liaison and mobilization work that should have been done by the magistrate of Guiping County.

After all, civil officials are in charge of military affairs. Without civil officials, these military men could wreak havoc on the local area.

The scourge here comes from local gentry, not from ordinary peasants.

After all, in the eyes of Qing Dynasty officials, peasants were not even considered human.

"Inspector Zhang!" Li Dianyuan called out to Zhang Yong, the inspector of Qin Chuan, "Quickly contact the local gentry in various places and urge them to come and join us immediately."

Zhang Yong was the inspector of Pingnan County. Since Magistrate Ni had come to suppress the rebels, he naturally couldn't have come alone.

He brought all the county inspectors with him to protect himself.

Zhang Yong bowed, got up, and ran to call for help.

"Just wait."

Li Dianyuan frowned slightly. "We'll talk about it after all the distinguished villagers arrive."

He only had nine hundred men, who were real soldiers, not just soldiers on the military register who were paid without working.

After all, rebels don't care about the court's rules.
Having been stationed on the front lines of the Yao rebellion for a long time, Li Dianyuan's abilities were considered quite good among the Green Standard Army.

He knew perfectly well what kind of people his men were.

When it comes to harming ordinary people, they are all experts.

But when it comes to war~
Not to mention.

There are too few people now, he dares not cross the river.

Fortunately, local gentry from Guiping and Pingnan counties, who were willing to help suppress the bandits, gradually led their local militia to gather there.

Many people say that it was only after the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rose rapidly and defeated the Qing Dynasty's military power that the Qing court had no choice but to loosen its military control and allow Han landlords to form local militias.

This statement isn't wrong, but it's not comprehensive.

The reason is simple: it depends on the region.

In Guangxi, due to various intense conflicts, secret societies and factions proliferated.

Uprisings occurred almost continuously over the years.

However, the imperial court did not have much military strength in this area.

The reason there is no large army stationed there is that stationing troops and fighting wars require money.

Guangxi was extremely poor and had no means to support an army.

As for government funding, unless something major happens, the government would be crazy to throw money at such a barren place.

For this reason, with the tacit approval of all parties, local gentry gradually began to form their own militia.

Of course, it could never be compared with large military groups such as the Xiang Army, Huai Army, and Chu Army.

Those with insufficient funds can support a hundred or eighty people.

Those with greater resources can support three to five hundred people.

They were the core force suppressing the uprising at that time.

The local notables, who had been preparing for this, gradually gathered around.

The number ranged from dozens to hundreds.

Some people even brought quite a few boats with them.

The local gentry fought the rebels very hard because they knew very well that if the rebels gained power, they, the local gentry, would be the first to suffer.

Because no one knows better than them what evil deeds they have committed in their daily lives.

"General."

Magistrate Ni greeted Li Dianyuan, "Everyone's almost here~ What are you looking at?"

"There's a strange bird in the sky." Li Dianyuan, looking up at the sky, murmured softly, "What a strange bird~"

Magistrate Ni looked up.

Sure enough, there was a strange, large bird circling in the sky, its buzzing sound descending from above.

"Why aren't this bird's wings moving?"

"General." Magistrate Ni withdrew his gaze. "Forget about the birds, it's time to make a move."

Many people on the opposite bank were already looking towards the river, and Magistrate Ni was worried that delay might lead to unforeseen changes.

"Inspector Zhang."

Li Dianyuan called out to Zhang Yong, "Take your men and cross the river first!"

Looking at the densely packed crowd on the opposite bank, Zhang Yong's face was extremely ugly.

Those were all rebels, not peasants who could be bullied at will.

With just a few dozen people like him, do they even deserve to be at the forefront?
Zhang Yong, his eyes filled with pleading, looked at Magistrate Ni.

Unfortunately, his superior did not speak up for him; instead, he urged him to cross the river as soon as possible.

With no other option, Zhang Yong had to bite the bullet and lead his men onto the boat to cross the river.

The Xunjiang River is currently in its dry season.

The river is not deep, nor is it wide.

Trembling with fear, Zhang Yong, along with his men who were even more frightened than he was, rowed to the other side.

Unexpectedly, the people along the river fled in panic.

After all, they had only come to collect chickens. Seeing the menacing soldiers crossing the river, and even more fierce soldiers on the other side, they were naturally terrified and fled.

There is no doubt that both sides are afraid.

On the opposite bank, Li Dianyuan smiled. He could see that those fleeing peasants were genuinely afraid!
"Crossing the river~ Crossing the river~"

"Everyone, cross the river!"

It took a lot of effort for the Green Standard Army and local militia, totaling more than 3,000 people, to cross the Xunjiang River in a chaotic manner and gather on the bank.

"Hurry up, all of you!"

Li Dianyuan kicked and punched, roaring angrily, "Prepare immediately!"

Armed with knives, spears, and shields, carrying bows and arrows, and holding muskets, the Green Standard Army soldiers gathered haphazardly.

You can't blame them; they don't train much normally, so it's natural that they would have difficulty forming formations on the battlefield.

As for the local militia, let's not even talk about it; they were all a motley crew.

"Sigh~" Li Dianyuan sighed and instructed his subordinate captain to "pull the cannon up."

"After the cannons fired, the shotguns opened fire, and everyone rushed up to cover the attack."

Lacking proper training, the Green Standard Army was ill-equipped for positional warfare; they could only rely on firearms and artillery for intimidation and to scare away the rebels.

Then everyone rushed up in a swarm.

This is the only correct choice they can make at this moment.

According to regulations, the Green Camp's Thousand-Man Brigade is equipped with four Weiyuan cannons and six mother-and-child cannons.

Although it's not good for dealing with foreigners, it's more than enough for dealing with peasants.

Upon seeing the cannon being pushed up, the nearby civilians screamed and scattered.

Good heavens, they were just there to collect chickens.

Although we were all fired up before, it was all just talk.

Now, facing the imperial army's formidable forces, countless people are terrified.

This scene greatly pleased Li Dianyuan.

These rebels may seem numerous and powerful, but they are all easily defeated.

He even considered a direct ambush.

In the end, he held back and told the gunners to speed up.

This type of muzzle-loading cannon is very troublesome to use.

Because of a lack of maintenance, it needs to be cleaned first.

The next steps are adding grenades, loading bullets, and many other steps.

Li Dianyuan made up his mind, fired a round of cannon and musket fire, and immediately rushed forward to fire arrows in pursuit.

As I was lost in thought, I suddenly felt the earth tremble slightly.

"The earth dragon has turned over?!"

Li Dianyuan was so frightened that he lay down on the ground.

The loose soil before him and the pebbles on the riverbank seemed to leap and dance.

A terrified scream came from beside him.

A captain reached out and pulled him up, his expression filled with panic. "General, there's a monster!"

Only then did Li Dianyuan follow the captain's arm and look at the crowd opposite him.

The crowd, more than a hundred feet away, had already been forcibly dispersed by a group of men wearing headscarves.

Everyone was driven away into the distance.

Among the scattered crowd, one...
A colossal creature, defying description, slowly approached with an imposing aura, as if Mount Tai were pressing down upon it.

The strange object was enormous, much larger than any of the large carriages or sedan chairs Li Dianyuan had ever seen.

Under the sunlight, it gleams with a metallic luster.

"Iron?! Iron?!"

Li Dianyuan opened his mouth wide and screamed in disbelief.

"How could such a huge lump of iron move on its own?!"

A massive iron lump, with a long cannon barrel mounted on top of it.
The cannon barrel was very long, and the dark muzzle was also very large.

From Li Dianyuan's perspective, the muzzle of the cannon was even larger than the entire cannon barrel in his hand!
With a piercing metallic scraping sound, the behemoth came to a stop, and the trembling of the ground ceased.

But what happened next made Li Dianyuan gasp for breath.

The dark, gaping hole, like the muzzle of a cannon capable of holding everything, slowly descended.

Nearly ten years ago, Li Dianyuan, as a member of the reinforcements, followed the governor to Guangzhou to provide support.

At that time, he was just a centurion.

Once on the battlefield, I personally experienced the terrifying destructive power and firepower of the foreigners' massive cannons!

Back on the battlefield, all he knew was how to run away.

Now, that feeling is back!
Li Dianyuan displayed astonishing reflexes, darting away like a cunning rabbit to escape from the artillery position!

"You like having sex, huh?"

After loading and angle adjustment, the target forest road was locked in, and the guns bared.

"Then let's have a showdown!"

'Thump!!'

A thunderclap!
The 203mm caliber cannon, firing directly at the ten smaller tubes on the other side, was used for direct fire.

Blinding flashes of light, violent explosions, and thunderous roars.

In just a moment, the Green Standard Army's artillery positions were engulfed in flames and smoke.

This is the kind of bombardment from large-caliber heavy artillery, and it's a direct-fire type.

On the battlefield, even the Tiger tank couldn't withstand it!

An extremely powerful shockwave rippled outwards in a manner visible to the naked eye.

Shrapnel and debris rained down on everything around them.

The projectiles flew far away, even from a great distance, and crashed into the self-propelled artillery with a clanging sound.

Centered on the Green Standard Army's artillery positions, within a radius of over a hundred feet, the area was a scene of utter devastation.

There were even cannon barrels that were blown away, spinning and flying into the air.

After flying more than two hundred feet, it crashed heavily to the ground, knocking a local notable into the ground.

The bluish-gray intestines were all coming out.

Just one shot~
The Green Standard Army and militia members along the riverbank were all speechless!

(End of this chapter)