Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

On the left flank of the Dongning Army, Cavalry Captain An Jingyuan wrapped the reins around his hand.

His 600 cavalrymen were positioned on both flanks, 300 on each side.

This was all the cavalry the Dongning Kingdom had here; the rest were about a hundred scouts.

When the two Jin cavalry battalions dispersed to harass the artillery, An Jingyuan decisively led his cavalry out to attack.

The two sides kept harassing and pulling at each other.

The Later Jin cavalry attempted to attack the artillery units, but under the threat of An Jingyuan's cavalry, they had to prioritize self-defense.

An Jingyuan divided his troops into several groups and had them circle around at a great distance.

Once the Later Jin cavalry approached, they would rush forward, harass them, fire a round of musket shots, and then immediately run away.

Just as the Later Jin cavalry were about to give chase, a second wave of cavalry arrived with muskets.

This back-and-forth struggle continued, with them circling the Later Jin army like a pack of wolves.

However, there was a price to pay, even though An Jingyuan carefully controlled the distance.

But things on the battlefield are never that simple, and the Jurchen cavalry seized every opportunity to fire arrows and counterattack.

"Fire!" An Jingyuan roared, and then the thirty-odd cavalrymen accompanying him simultaneously raised their flintlock muskets and fired.

At close range, sparks flew, and several Jurchen cavalrymen at the forefront fell from their horses. Two other horses were hit in the neck and rolled over, neighing.

The Dongning cavalry did not linger in the battle; they withdrew after the fighting, but the Jurchen cavalry turned around and fired fiercely at the rear of their ranks.

Two Dongning cavalrymen were instantly struck by arrows and fell from their horses.

The Jurchen cavalry were about to pursue when a group of three-pound cannons on their flank suddenly turned.

The gunner then suddenly waved his hand.

"fire!"

boom!

Dozens of small lead bullets were ejected from the cannon muzzle, sweeping across the flank of the pursuing cavalry.

The riders at the very front of the charge crashed into an invisible wall, falling over simultaneously.

The Jurchen cavalry scattered instantly, and even while fleeing, they did not forget to shoot arrows at the gunners.

One of the artillery loaders was shot before he could run back to the gun shield of the gun carriage. He screamed and fell to the ground.

Upon seeing this, the gunner next to him braved the rain of arrows and rushed over to drag him behind the gun shield.

"Quick! Fire another shot!" the gunner roared!

Just as an artilleryman was about to stand up and fire, an arrow flew and struck him squarely in the chest.

The Later Jin soldiers also arrived at a few dozen paces in front of the artillery group and were using arrows to suppress it.

"Damn it! You dare to fire at me? I'll blast you to smithereens!" The gunner looked around and found that all the gunnery crew members were wounded, but he himself was unharmed.

So he grabbed a shield to cover his head, then got up and used his body strength to move the three-pound cannon to the side.

Upon seeing this, the Jurchen soldiers opposite the three-pound cannon changed their expressions drastically and hurriedly dodged to the side.

But the gunner grinned maliciously and shoved the torch into the firebox.

"boom!"

The three-pound cannon sprayed lead bullets all over the area in front of them, and three Jurchen soldiers fell to the ground.

The gunner let out a loud laugh and continued loading ammunition by himself, completely ignoring the Jurchen stragglers.

Upon seeing this, the Jurchen soldiers immediately tried to shoot the gunner with arrows, but after a few gunshots, bloody holes appeared all over the Jurchen soldiers' bodies.

Chen Erfu stood up the flintlock pistol he had just fired and began to reload it.

He was a scout belonging to the 1st Guards Battalion, one of the most accurate shooters in the entire battalion.

Chen Erfu joined the soldiers relatively late, but thanks to his excellent archery skills, he quickly stood out and was later selected into the hunters.

The flintlock pistol in his hand was also extraordinary, with two rifling grooves engraved inside, which made it far more accurate than an ordinary flintlock pistol.

The only downside is that, in pursuit of accuracy, the bullets must fit perfectly, making loading very difficult and sometimes even requiring the use of a hammer.

This is the weapon Lin Hao created for the hunters, which can completely suppress the enemy in skirmishes with its advantages in range, accuracy, and lethality.

As for the problem of loading rifled guns, Lin Hao actually knew the historical solution: using Minié bullets.

Change the bullet from a spherical shape to a cone shape, and leave the bottom empty.

Before firing, the Minié bullets could be easily loaded from the muzzle because their diameter was smaller than the barrel caliber.

When fired, the propellant gases expand the hollow part at the rear of the bullet, making it fit tightly against the barrel. The bullet then embeds itself into the rifling and begins to spin, perfectly solving many problems of early rifled guns.

Thus, the Minié rifle, which was twice as accurate and had twice the range of a smoothbore flintlock musket, was born.

Moreover, compared to the spherical bullets fired by old-fashioned smoothbore guns, Minié bullets undergo violent deformation after entering the human body, causing devastating damage to the soft tissues and bones.

But Lin Hao directly locked down this technology.

The most crucial point is that the Minié bullet is easy to learn; once the technology of rifled gun manufacturing is mastered, it can be mass-produced.

If this information were leaked, the biggest beneficiaries would not be Lin Hao, but the Westerners.

They will be able to conquer the world even faster with more advanced firearms.

As for Lin Hao, the flintlock musket was powerful enough, and the Minié rifle was completely unnecessary. If the Minié rifle became widespread, it would actually cause a sharp increase in the casualty rate of line infantry.

At the same time, the increase in accuracy will also reduce the requirements for formation and soldier quality.

This is actually a disadvantage for the sparsely populated Dongning Kingdom.

After the Dongning Kingdom's hunters joined the front lines, the Jurchen scattered troops began to be suppressed.

Although the Jurchens' arrows were still fast and accurate, it was difficult to kill a hunter in one go unless a vital spot was hit.

But if the hunters hit their target, the Jurchens would surely die.

After the threat of the Jurchen skirmishers diminished, the artillery began to play a role again, turning its lines of fire towards the Jurchen army formation, and the artillery continued to tear apart the enemy's formation.

On the main battlefield, the surrendered soldiers, pushing their shield carts, had already advanced one hundred and twenty paces.

The six-pound cannons on both flanks continued to bombard the shield vehicles steadily, and in this time, more than half of the shield vehicles had been destroyed.

As they closed the distance, the three-pounder began to reload.

The gunners took out packets of small lead pellets wrapped in thin cloth from the ammunition boxes and then stuffed them into the breech.

Subsequently, lead pellets began reaping lives on the Later Jin front.

Wang Liu, a surrendered soldier from Gaizhou, carefully huddled behind the shield cart.

There were only six shield vehicles left on the field, and the one he was in charge of miraculously survived.

But he felt no relief. One by one, people around him fell down. Some had their legs broken and were crying and screaming on the ground. Some had half their faces missing and collapsed next to Wang Liu after swaying a couple of times.

Wang Liu's mind went blank. He was originally a military household in Gaizhou Guard, but he surrendered to the Later Jin more than a month ago. He was then forced to follow the Later Jin army south.

He didn't know who he was fighting; he only knew that the Jurchen swords behind him were being swung faster and more ruthlessly.

He gritted his teeth and advanced under the cover of the shield vehicle.

But the area behind the shielded vehicle wasn't safe either, as the enemy had several artillery pieces mounted on its sides.

Even if the cannon doesn't hit the shield vehicle, it can still blast a bloody path through the taxi soldiers behind it.

"boom!"

Another cannon shot rang out, accompanied by a creaking sound.

Wang Liu discovered that the shield cart on his right had also been destroyed, leaving only five shield carts. Without the shield carts, he would have to use his own body to withstand the artillery fire.

Some of the surrendered soldiers began to flee, but they were quickly killed by the Jurchen Tartars.

The Jurchens intimidated the surrendered soldiers with their exceptionally ruthless military discipline.

One hundred paces later, another shield cart was destroyed, exposing even more surrendered soldiers to the enemy's three-pound cannons.

At this point, the scattered troops on both sides also lost their fighting space and began to withdraw.

But at this moment, the Dongning camp remained completely silent. Wang Liu stared at the Dongning soldiers standing in neat rows in front of him.

He kept praying in his heart, "Please shoot! Please shoot! Once you've finished shooting, the Jurchens can charge in."

However, the Dongning soldiers remained motionless, coldly watching the surrendered soldiers slowly approach.

At this point, some of the surrendered soldiers couldn't help but open fire.

The chaotic sounds of matchlock guns filled the air, and arrows continued to be fired at the Dongning position.

In the Dongning army camp, a few people fell, but soon someone from the back row stepped forward to replace them.

As the wounded soldiers were carried away, the Dongning front line instantly returned to normal.

Wang Liu was even more frightened; he would rather the other party just start attacking randomly right now.

But they just wouldn't fight, and the more they refused to fight, the heavier Wang Liu's worries became.

"Enemy, sixty paces away!"

The first rank of the Guards battalion crouched down, the second rank stood up, and the third rank extended their gun muzzles over the shoulders of the second rank.

At the Dongning front, the central army flag was suddenly lowered.

A swan-like horn sounded, and the artillery crew members in the front row instantly dropped to the ground.

Then the three rows of flintlock muskets fired in turn.

Although the Later Jin army outnumbered the Dongning army by more than double, the Dongning army's lines were much wider than the Later Jin army's because they were only three ranks thick.

Therefore, the Dongning Army was actually a slightly curved semicircle, encompassing the Later Jin army in the very center.

More than 2 flintlock muskets fired in a short period of time, sending more than 2 lead bullets hurtling towards the Later Jin army in the center.

Lead bullets tore through everything in their path. Except for a small number of Later Jin soldiers behind the three remaining shield carts who were able to evade the bullets, the rest of the exposed Later Jin soldiers were hit.

Those surrendered soldiers, especially those placed at the very front, suffered the greatest damage in an instant.

At this moment, their will finally collapsed, and they no longer cared about the supervising team behind them.

Screams of people fleeing for their lives rose and fell; the horrific scene before them had driven them to utter madness.

Wang Liu stumbled and ran backward with the others.

He watched helplessly as his companion's head was ripped open, his brains splattering all over him, causing him to tremble uncontrollably.

He would rather turn back and face those fierce and menacing Jurchens than take their lead bullets with his body.

"Run!"

"Run!"

The surrendered soldiers fled in all directions, their elite troops already suffering heavy losses in the night raid.

The remaining men had already endured immense pressure from the previous rounds of shelling, and now, after three salvos, the front ranks collapsed. They could no longer hold on.

The Jurchen guerrillas fought and slaughtered indiscriminately, but they still could not stop the rout.

Degerai stood at the rear, his face ashen as he witnessed this scene. He hadn't expected the surrendered soldiers to collapse so quickly, but it wasn't unexpected; the real battle shouldn't rely on these surrendered soldiers.

They have absorbed the most intense firepower, and now the Later Jin warriors will take over everything.

He drew his knife and pointed it forward.

"The cannon fodder have drawn the enemy's fire. Now, the entire army will attack, with the Bayara warriors following behind. I will personally lead the team to break through their lines from the center."

In an instant, the entire Later Jin army accelerated and charged toward the Dongning army that was loading ammunition!