Global colonization began with Ming Dynasty pirates.

Sangguji was born deep in the mountains and had hardly ever seen a boat in his life.

Not to mention his knowledge of ships; in his mind, a ship that could carry a dozen or so people was a remarkable large ship.

He naturally couldn't imagine the convenience of transporting troops by ship.

In his view, it was impossible for Dongning Kingdom to arrive here so quickly, given that he and several hundred men had traveled day and night.

Unfortunately, he was very wrong. It's only a hundred nautical miles from Jinzhou to here. Along the coast, ships can travel day and night without needing to rest.

In fact, the Dongning Kingdom arrived a day earlier than them.

The consequences of this misconception are also very serious.

One of the Jurchen cavalrymen in the vanguard seemed to have suddenly stepped on something, and a very faint metallic clang came from under the horse's hoof.

Click.

The sound was almost inaudible, but then a huge explosion came from beneath the horse's hooves.

The warhorse's right leg snapped instantly, its massive body collapsed to the ground, and the rider was thrown high into the air by the shockwave before falling to the ground, his fate unknown.

The massive explosion instantly threw the group into chaos, with the horses fleeing in terror.

Then the horses' escape triggered a chain reaction, with more horses stepping on landmines and causing explosions.

Sangguji's expression changed drastically.

He had heard that the Ming army had a type of fire bomb, and had even seen samples in their warehouse.

However, this thing was not common on the Liaodong battlefield, mainly because it was really ineffective.

The Ming army's gunpowder bombs required fuses to ignite, but some did not. However, those were very expensive and often misfired, so even the Ming army itself did not use them.

He never imagined that he would encounter this thing.

However, things didn't stop there.

Suddenly, large sections of camouflage were lifted from the hillsides on both sides.

The straw mats, withered branches, and mud cloth were torn off, revealing the dark muzzles of the cannons.

Four three-pounder cannons on each side were already mounted on the hillside gun emplacements.

The artillery commander gave the Later Jin army no chance to react.

"fire!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Eight cannons roared simultaneously from both sides.

The mountain path was narrow, and the cannon was struck by the slopes on both sides, the booming sound like thunder rolling over everyone's heads.

The iron bullets from the three-pound cannon pierced the Later Jin army's formation, shattering both men and horses.

The horses became even more panicked and trampled each other.

Immediately afterwards, drums resounded from both sides of the hillside.

Countless Dongning soldiers appeared on both sides, holding flintlock muskets, lined up and aimed at the Later Jin troops.

boom! boom! boom!

The sound of flintlock muskets firing volleys rang out, and the Later Jin troops suffered heavy casualties.

There were landmines in front, muskets and cannons on the side, and the pontoon bridge that they had burned down behind them.

Sangguji was in despair.

"Uphill!"

Sangguji roared hoarsely, wanting only to die with some dignity.

"Charge forward and scatter them!"

However, the Later Jin troops were already easily frightened, and now faced with such a chaotic situation, only about 20 people managed to catch up with Sangguji.

Sangguji led 20 men toward the Dongning Army's flintlock musket position.

However, they were hit by a second volley of shots just halfway through their advance.

A lead bullet struck Sangguji squarely in the chest. Sangguji screamed and fell backward.

"Truly pathetic." Lin Jiu shook his head dismissively on the hillside.

All bravery is futile in the face of firearms.

The moment Sangguji died, the last of the Later Jin cavalry completely lost their will to fight.

Some of them ran desperately toward the minefield ahead, hoping for a stroke of luck, while others turned around and fled, trying to find another way out.

Fear completely took over the remnants of the army, and the Dongning army, right behind them, resumed their familiar pursuit.

A few fierce Jurchen soldiers were still fighting desperately.

Some of the white-armored soldiers, especially those who had lost their way, frantically fought back with bows and arrows. Unfortunately, it was all in vain. They were quickly riddled with bullets by muskets.

Half an hour later, the battle in the valley was basically over.

The Dongning army pursued them for a distance before withdrawing.

Without the assistance of cavalry, it is too difficult for infantry to pursue enemy cavalry.

......

In Gaizhou Garrison City, Yang Yuwei, the Gaizhou guerrilla commander, stared with a grim face at the remnants of the Later Jin army entering the city.

Starting that evening, defeated Later Jin soldiers began to enter the city one after another, all of them in a sorry state.

From these defeated soldiers, Yang Yuwei also learned a terrible piece of information: the 2000 men that the Later Jin sent to Jinzhou had been almost completely wiped out.

Degelai was captured, and Sangguji was killed in battle.

Meanwhile, the army that claimed to be from the Dongning Kingdom had already reached a point more than 30 li south of Gaizhou City.

"General, what should we do? Should we..." Yang Yuwei's subordinate looked at the disheveled and defeated Tartar soldiers and made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Nonsense, stop this nonsense!" Yang Yuwei quickly stopped him.

"I am now the General of the Gaizhou Garrison of the Great Jin Dynasty. How can I betray the Great Khan?" Yang Yuwei refused righteously and firmly, and then added, "This is a time of crisis for the Great Jin Dynasty, and it is precisely the time for us to show our abilities. How can we have any disloyal thoughts?"

His subordinates stared wide-eyed at Yang Yuwei. Good heavens, you didn't say that when the Later Jin came.

"General, your loyalty and righteousness are truly admirable," the subordinate said obsequiously, then added with a worried expression:

"General, but the enemy has defeated the Tartars. How can we stop them?"

"It's alright." Yang Yuwei waved his hand confidently.

"According to those who escaped back, the other side only numbered three thousand, and this place is hundreds of miles away from Jinzhou."

The enemy's campaign, though undertaken from afar, will be difficult to sustain, while our city of Gaizhou is fortified and well-defended; it may not be impossible to hold out."

Yang Yuwei understood very well that although the enemy had defeated the Tartars, they had only defeated a detachment of troops.

There are still tens of thousands of elite Tartar troops in Liaoyang. The disparity in strength between the two sides is obvious. Naturally, he would choose the ultimate winner. Moreover, if he could hold Gaizhou amidst the complete defeat, he might be able to seize the opportunity to rise through the ranks.

"Immediately summon all the city's garrison troops to prepare for the defense, and get all defensive equipment ready. Also, organize the city's residents to be ready to support the city walls at any time."

We'll make sure these Dongning troops never return.

It took the Dongning army quite a while to capture the prisoners scattered across the mountains and fields, and it was already the third day by the time they arrived at the city of Gaizhou.

"General, it seems the enemy is determined to hold their ground," Zhang Dong said to Lin Jiu.

Zhang Dong was originally a prisoner of the government troops who accompanied Shen Wangshu in attacking Dongluo Island.

Later, he was granted a pardon by Lin Hao for repeatedly test-firing muskets, and is now a company commander.

In the battle a few days ago, he hadn't gotten a chance to fight as a member of the reserve team, but this time he finally got his wish.

Seeing Gaizhou City adopt a defensive posture, he was actually quite excited, which meant there would be another battle to fight.

Lin Jiu raised his telescope and looked around. He saw banners waving on the walls of Gaizhou City, a large number of soldiers running back and forth, and various defensive weapons being set up.

"Have the troops all crossed the bridge?" Lin Jiu asked.

"Reporting to the general, everyone, including the cavalry under Lieutenant An, has crossed the river."

There is also a river to the south of Gaizhouwei, which is wider than the Shahe River, and the pontoon bridge over it was dismantled by the people of Gaizhouwei in advance.

However, this could not stop Lin Jiu's progress, as the Dongning Kingdom's army possessed a complete engineering system.

Although the number of engineers brought north this time is not large, it is still enough to build a pontoon bridge.

"How much longer until the artillery arrives?" Lin Jiu continued to ask.

At this moment, one of his staff officers replied, "General, we have already ridden to the sea and made contact with the fleet."

The six-pound and twelve-pound cannons will be transported by small boat; according to their reply, they should arrive before noon.

Lin Jiu nodded. "That's good. Let's go. I want to see what they're capable of that dares to stop us."