Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

"Defend against the enemy!!"

A roar escaped Gao Tianxi's throat as he stared at the advancing musket team opposite him, his mind filled with huge question marks.

No, if you're going to raid a mountain stronghold, why bring musketeers, and why are your troops so well-organized? Is raiding a mountain stronghold really that expensive these days?

Chewing on the wheat ears, the rough texture made Sah's mind clearer. Although his naturally yellow face was always annoying, his treatment had been much better since joining the gun team than when he was forcibly conscripted from the tribe.

At first, they ate coarse cakes made of wheat bran mixed with wild vegetables and fruits. After being selected as musketeers, they began to eat naan bread, which they had never eaten before, and even meat.

In any case, in Sah's mind, ever since he picked up that musket, his life has been full of brilliance. Dumplings are the best food he has ever eaten in his life. He still savors that feeling every night, thinking about when he can have another bite.

Dumplings flashed through my mind. The musket on my shoulder was against my gray military uniform, and the "breastplate" hanging on my upper body didn't seem so heavy at this moment.

[As per Orlov's requirements, European-style breastplates were replicated, but the overall forging techniques remained those of Eastern armor, only thicker. Some officers even added breastplates to their musket breastplates for a second layer of protection.]

"Forward march!"

The squad leader on the flank was dressed in uniforms and plate armor similar to ordinary soldiers, but he did not carry a musket. Instead, he had a handgun purchased from a traveling merchant at his waist. Ironically, this handgun was not actually produced in the neighboring Russia or Dzungar Khanate, but in the Ottoman Empire.

Those traveling merchants purchased a batch for self-defense, but Li Yuanheng discovered it and bought it all, and then ordered another batch. The one they were carrying at this time was the second batch.

As for the hand cannons made by Jinshan Prefecture itself, it's not that they can't make them, but currently, in terms of craftsmanship, especially workmanship, they still lag behind the Ottomans.

"Halt!!"

With a few swishes, the entire column came to a stop. They were now extremely close to the Qing musketeers opposite them, essentially within firing range of their flintlock muskets.

"Attack! Kill those Turkic dogs!!"

The Qing troops on the other side clearly didn't have much patience. As soon as they got within range, the first rank of muskets opened fire.

The sound of gunfire filled everyone's ears, and the smoke from the front almost obscured the vision of all the Qing musketeers, making their various muskets somewhat unsteady.

The bullet traveled a distance and struck the breastplate, leaving a mark that it had pierced through but not completely. However, not all soldiers were so lucky; several unlucky ones were hit in the thigh or even the face and fell to the ground on the spot.

The group was in a panic for a few seconds, but then calmed down under the captain's sword.

"Raise your gun—"

The first row raised the muskets in their hands, and upon closer inspection, one could clearly see the three Chinese characters "飞镰铳" (Flying Sickle Gun), which was the most iconic product of Jinshan Prefecture's self-sufficiency in firearms.

"Fire!!"

Shoulder to shoulder, breath to breath, air flowing between everyone's nostrils, and then, at a command, the trigger was mechanically pulled.

"Bang bang bang!!!"

The barrage from the 7th Musketeer Squad of the 2nd Battalion was significantly more concentrated and deadly than that from the Qing troops opposite. As soon as the smoke began to clear, screams were carried by the wind to the ears of all the 7th Musketeer Squad.

The immersive feeling of carnage made even the men of the grasslands feel excitement and trembling, even though they weren't holding bows and arrows or scimitars.

After firing, the first platoon immediately crouched down to reload, treating everything as a routine task. The second platoon also quickly raised their guns and fired, giving the enemy no chance to catch their breath.

"Fire! Your muskets are useless! Fire already!!"

Gao Tianxi jumped up and down anxiously behind him, but his anxiety could not change the outcome of the musket exchange. As the Qing army fired a second shot in the chaos, the opposing seven teams had already completed their third volley. At the same time, the musketeers on other fronts also completed their third volley.

Without exception, the Qing army troops opposite everyone began to teeter on the brink of collapse, and some had even completely disintegrated. No matter how many heads were chopped off, once morale was broken, it was broken, and no amount of military law could salvage it.

"Fix bayonets and charge!!"

In unison, bathed in the afternoon sunlight, the bayonets, like gleaming silver magic weapons, gathered at the tips of the flying sickle guns. The chilling aura they exuded, even before the charge, caused the Qing army opposite them to panic even more, and even some of the still-standing units began to crumble.

"Archers, hold on! Hold on!!"

Gao Tianxi's call was destined to become a joke in this war. The musketeers at the forefront, who had already collapsed, were like a sandstorm that swept away the troops behind them. At this moment, the situation was no longer as simple as cutting off a few heads, but the complete shattering of the entire frontal battlefield.

"kill!!"

Like a swarm of piranhas, the second and third battalions wielded bayonets that resembled the sharp teeth of piranhas, relentlessly gnawing at the plump flesh of the Qing troops in front of them.

The frontal rout instantly calmed Wang Tingji, who had been in a frenzy, and what followed was unprecedented panic. At this moment, the only troops he could use were the cavalry of Yansui Town. However, looking at the Turkic cavalry that were like wolves and tigers, clinging to him like maggots, he simply could not make up his mind to fight to the death.

After all, they can still rely on artillery and armored infantry with long spears to block them. If they really send out their only mobile force, it would be fine if they win, but if they lose, they would all be doomed. After all, two legs can never outrun four legs. Even if they do nothing but harass with mounted archers, their so-called Yansui Town would collapse.

"General, the front lines have collapsed! A troop of cavalry has charged in and is heading straight for us!"

"What----"

At this moment, Wang Tingji disregarded his dignity and the prestige of a general. He mounted his horse, called to his personal guards, and retreated to the rear. However, he left a prudent thought behind: he left the general's flag in the central army. After all, if the soldiers could not see the flag, the vanguard might collapse, and the central army would immediately crumble.

"Let's go, gather the troops!"

Wang Tingji was in a terrible state on horseback. If he hadn't been wearing full cotton armor, his trembling body would have been easily noticed. Even so, he almost lost control of his galloping mount several times. If he hadn't practiced martial arts since childhood, most people would have fallen off long ago.

His departure, though leaving behind the general's flag, was a disaster for the local military leaders of Yansui. Without their commander's orders, they would have difficulty commanding even the hundred men before them, let alone a thousand.

The reason was simple: the battle was too chaotic. One moment musketeers would appear in front, the next cavalry would appear on the flank, and then there would be fleeing troops in front. Just gathering the fleeing troops was a waste of all their strength, so they had no ability to command the enemy.

In less than a quarter of an hour, the vanguard and the central army were completely routed.

Failure is contagious; it can even make it hard to tell whether the commander is dead or alive. After all, once you're lost in the chaos of a crowded battlefield, the commander's flag quickly disappears from sight.

The lower-ranking Qing soldiers were not well-educated. When far more soldiers ran back than charged forward, no one cared about fighting or not. Turning around and joining the fleeing crowd was the most important thing.

This is the nature of warfare in the age of cold weapons. Once a defeat occurs, most of the time it's not about sending reinforcements or making amends, let alone facing death without fear. The lowly soldiers, who have not received any formal education, don't have much of a glorious concept of defending their homeland.

Most people's idea was to join the army and earn a living. Even those Manchus who supposedly had their family's wealth and power were actually the same. Don't be fooled by their loud and boisterous performances in theaters and teahouses. In reality, they were all the same when they lost.

Organizational strength has always been a luxury for a few powerful armies. In the world, even in technologically advanced societies of later times, only a handful of armies can truly fight to the death. The majority of them simply suffer a much higher casualty rate than ancient armies, but their core essence remains unchanged.

The saying goes that a regular army is one that doesn't retreat even when one in ten soldiers are killed, and a strong army is one that still fights even when two in ten soldiers are killed. If a force doesn't retreat even when 30% of its soldiers are killed, well, sorry, our Qing Dynasty can't find any like that except for those barbaric Jurchen soldiers from beyond the Great Wall.

At this moment, the casualty ratio had just exceeded one, and the Yansui Garrison had already suffered a crushing defeat in the front and middle armies. Seeing that the flames of war were about to reach his own rear army, Wang Tingji directly issued the order:

"The cavalry must assemble and charge towards the valley entrance! Break through and carve a path to survival!!"

The cavalry of Yansui Town had gathered and their numbers were quite large. Although they had just lost several hundred riders, they still had more than three thousand riders. This number was actually quite significant. If this force were deployed in the southeast, it could even be used to conquer a province and establish a regional king.

"act recklessly!!"

Reining in his horse and brandishing his sword, Li Yuanheng looked at the Qing cavalry divided into four or five groups opposite him. Relying on instinct, he led his troops directly towards the largest group on the left.

At this point, the so-called mounted archery was just a trick to fool themselves. The two armies fired wildly for a few rounds before charging into battle.

"Be careful, Dalang."

Hu Wu spurred his horse forward and blocked a long spear that was thrust towards Li Yuanheng's side. The blade sliced ​​through the spear shaft, breaking it in two.

Most of the lances used by cavalry were made of disposable materials. After all, on the back of a horse charging at high speed, such a huge impact, if there is no buffer, will result in damage to the rider's entire arm, or even breakage.

"Assemble the troops, charge!!"

"Where is Lu Heng?"

"He's still chasing the enemy on the right."

"What's the point of chasing them? This Qing cavalry is the main force. The rest are at most a few hundred riders. If they escape, so be it. As long as we eliminate this force, Yansui Town will be ruined."

Lu Heng of the Third Battalion was a cavalry general whom Li Yuanheng greatly admired. He was skilled in archery and horsemanship, and his specialty was accurately leading his troops to attack the enemy's weakest point during a high-speed charge.

"Raise the flag! Get the troops this way and slaughter these stupid thieves!!"

As the banner symbolizing the character "Li" was unfurled, thousands of Turkic cavalrymen, mixed with steppe cavalry, gathered in the direction of Li Yuanheng.

Before the entire group could fully assemble, Li Yuanheng, who was at the forefront, charged straight to the front of the group. He carried the red-tasseled lance he had seized under his arm, and half of the precious sword at his waist was sticking out, ready to be drawn at any moment.

"General, change your helmet, it's too conspicuous."

Wang Tingji took the helmet handed to him by Gao Tianxi, hurriedly removed his own silver-and-gold-trimmed general's helmet, and put on the helmet worn by ordinary cavalrymen.

Just as I finished changing my hat, I heard another voice from my side:

"General, take off your cloak."

Taking off his snow-white mink cloak, Wang Tingji gripped the reins, wishing that this battle should have been fought by that bastard Zhou Kaijie in Yulin City. If Zhou hadn't given him the command of the army under the pretext of being stationed in Yulin, he would have been a deputy general in this defeat, at most he would have been blamed. But now, even if he returned alive, he would likely be imprisoned, and might even lose his head, along with his family.

"Whoosh!!"

An arrow whizzed past Wang Tingji, startling him so much that he bent down and spurred his horse, his right hand gripping the whip as if he wanted to whip the horse's rump until it bled.

"Block it, block it----"

Gao Tianxi led dozens of his personal cavalry in a charge, blocking the retreat of the main force. However, this seemingly heroic act lasted less than two minutes before being broken up, and Gao Tianxi himself died on the way.

Before his death, he was hit by several arrows, none of which pierced through his throat. However, he fell off his horse in the chaos of battle and was stabbed in the throat by a long spear, dying from his throat wound.

"Don't run!!"

Wang Tingji was so frightened that he rushed straight into the ranks of his personal guard. At this moment, the main force of the Yansui garrison, which could still be properly gathered together, numbered less than two hundred riders. Most of the cavalrymen had either been scattered by the chaotic army and taken prisoner, or died on the way to escape.

The cavalry of Yansui Town, known as the elite cavalry of Shaanxi, is actually mostly a boast. When they last fought against the Dzungar cavalry, they only used bows and arrows and did not engage in close combat many times. They relied entirely on ambush planning to earn their reputation.

In this confrontation with the elite cavalry of Jinshan, the brutal close-quarters combat style was extremely unaccustomed to the Yansui garrison cavalry, who were used to mounted archery, to the point that they had to retreat in every battle.

This is not only the case of the Yansui cavalry, but also the shortcoming of all Eastern cavalry in East Asia and even Central Asia: they are good at archery but not at melee combat, putting all their talents into bows and arrows and ignoring the bloodshed after close combat.

Once the troops were in good formation and the well-coordinated elite cavalry of Jinshan charged to the front line and scattered the cavalry of Yansui Town, the remaining steppe cavalry became the biggest straw in this cavalry melee.

"I am Wang Tingji, the commander-in-chief of Yansui Garrison in this battle, and my deputy commander. Fellow heroes of the frontier, I surrender, I surrender—"

With less than twenty riders left by his side, Wang Tingji directly surrendered to the gradually surrounding cavalry, which greatly displeased Lu Heng, who was preparing to gain more military merits. However, due to military discipline, he still granted him a chance to live.

When Li Yuanheng arrived, Wang Tingji had already removed his armor and sword, and cut off his queue, which made Hu Wu, who was standing nearby, exclaim in surprise:

"These Qing dogs are even more despicable than pigs and dogs!!"