The Second Master of the Red Chamber

Chapter 733 Damage

It's past the fourth watch and the sky is about to brighten.

Jia Lian rode his horse on the flat ground of Tiewang Mountain.

Although the white horse's hooves were very careful, they still inevitably stepped on some weapons and corpses.

The corpses were lying next to each other, some human and some horse.

Princess Zhaoyang rode up to Jia Lian's side and saw that he looked gloomy. She couldn't help but say:

"The Cavalry Battalion was built by my grandfather with all the power of the country, and is recognized as the strongest force in the Imperial Guard.

It is rumored that even if it is just light cavalry, the armor of all the soldiers is carefully made of rhinoceros skin, and ordinary swords and knives can hardly cause fatal injuries to the cavalry of the Cavalry Battalion.

It can be said that if an ordinary army encountered a charge by the cavalry of the Cavalry Battalion on flat ground, it would be a one-sided massacre.

Erlang was able to defeat thousands of soldiers from the infantry camp with only two thousand musket soldiers without relying on the power of artillery, and also wiped out hundreds of light cavalry from the cavalry camp. Such a record is already brilliant enough. "

Jia Lian sighed, looked at Jia Yu who had come to his side without him noticing, and asked, "How is it?"

Jia Yu's expression was more serious than Jia Lian's. He said in a deep voice: "Reporting to the Marquis, a total of 234 people of the musketeers were killed and 408 were injured in this battle..."

Although he had expected this, Jia Lian still couldn't help but feel a tightness in his heart when he heard the number of casualties.

Although the firearms battalion he had worked so hard to build had a total of 5,000 men, its actual combat sequence only consisted of 4,500.

Among them, there were 3,000 musketeers.

It can be said that these three thousand people were trained and cultivated by him personally and carefully.

It can be imagined that in the future, it would be difficult for him to spare so much time and energy to personally train the grassroots soldiers.

So, these three thousand people are the spark!

Perhaps in the future, each of them will be an instructor-level figure.

However, this time, he lost more than 20% of his strength in just one battle...

The situation was urgent before, and he could no longer follow the previous plan and slowly push the mountain with a hundred Zhenyuan cannons.

Therefore, he could only leave one thousand musketeers to protect the artillery troops on the mountain, while he led two thousand musketeers and several thousand surrendered soldiers to climb the mountain quickly.

After separating from Princess Zhaoyang, he was actually very cautious and did not rashly attack the enemy troops surrounding Emperor Ning Kang's palace.

After a simple sneak attack that attracted the enemy's firepower, he began to retreat, moving the battlefield to a relatively flat area with enough room for "pulling" before starting a head-on confrontation with the enemy.

At the beginning, the battle situation was indeed not much different from what he expected. As part of the imperial guards, the Imperial Guards Cavalry and Infantry were more elite than the Beidaying, but their strength was limited.

Moreover, they also lack the will to fight!

When they encountered the "flintlock muskets" which were arranged in formation, they were as stunned as the soldiers in Beidaying.

Even after charging several times under the encouragement of their generals, they were all defeated by the common but unbreakable tactics of "enemy advances, we retreat" and "enemy retreats, we advance".

As a result, the infantry camp almost lost its will to fight.

Just when all the musketeers were relaxing and felt that the Guards were nothing special.

A feint attack, accompanied by hundreds of elite cavalry coming from both sides...

Although the musketeers were prepared for this type of surprise attack, they quickly changed their formation and opened fire.

But they were soon surprised to find that the previous scene of the enemy troops being frightened and defeated and trampling on each other after several rounds of shooting did not occur.

Those cavalrymen under the cover of night, like zombies, galloped towards them despite the hail of bullets!

If it wasn't a critical moment, the generals would have shouted "Shoot the horses, don't shoot the people", but they might not be able to shoot down many people when the enemy arrived.

But how fast were the cavalry? Just this moment of distraction gave the enemy an opportunity to engage in close combat.

As a last resort, the musketeers at the front had to follow the final plan, throw away their muskets, draw the swords at their waists, and fight the enemy in hand-to-hand combat with their equally sophisticated equipment.

Almost all the casualties occurred in this short period of less than half an hour.

If it weren't for the hundreds of cavalrymen who were roaming around the periphery and joined forces to strangle them, if it weren't for Princess Zhaoyang leading reinforcements to arrive in time and cut off the follow-up enemy troops, if it weren't for the limited cavalry strength of the Cavalry Battalion...

The casualties of the musketeers will definitely increase exponentially, and there is even a risk of the entire army being annihilated.

Taking a deep breath, Jia Lian became alert but did not feel discouraged.

The combat effectiveness of the musket army has been proven through the battles with the Beidaying and the Guards Infantry Camp.

As for the huge losses caused by the Cavalry Battalion...

  How many armies in this world have the same sophisticated equipment and fearless courage as the Cavalry Battalion?

Perhaps it can be said that the Cavalry Battalion was unaware of the characteristics and strength of the Musketeers. Next time, if they equip their horses with armor of the same quality, it will be difficult for the Musketeers to inflict enough damage at a long distance.

  Or if they just replace them with heavy cavalry, the musketeers will not be a match for the Cavalry Battalion?

But don’t forget, the Cavalry Battalion did not exert its full strength this time, and the same is true for the Firearms Battalion.

Night combat was not the strong point of the Firearms Battalion, and the lack of visibility at long distances gave the Cavalry Battalion the opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

Moreover, the strongest form of the firearms battalion is the cooperation between the musket army and the artillery army to advance together!

After this lesson, I believe that future musketeer generals will never easily give the enemy such an opportunity again.

"Princess, Marquis Zhenyuan, His Majesty has summoned you." An eunuch came to convey Emperor Ning Kang's oral order.

Jia Lian and Princess Zhaoyang nodded. They both knew that the battle at the palace was over, otherwise they wouldn't be so leisurely here to count the damage.

……

"They're all trash!"

Inside the palace of the retired emperor, the old retired emperor seemed extremely furious.

Bad news came one after another, but there was no good news at all, which could not but make the old emperor angry and ashamed.

Under normal circumstances, he would have been so angry that he would have ordered the beheading of the defeated generals kneeling before His Highness as a warning to others.

Your Highness, several of your generals are also feeling aggrieved.

The army was originally outnumbered, and the prince was so incompetent that their defense line was breached so quickly, and thousands or even tens of thousands of enemy troops were released up the mountain.

The key point is that they mobilized almost one-third of their combat power to suppress the mere two or three thousand musketeers that appeared behind them, but they only caused some damage to the enemy and then were suppressed in return.

Their fighting power is so fierce that it is frightening.

In such an extremely unfavorable battle situation where they were attacked from both sides, it was a blessing from heaven that they were able to survive.

In order to save their lives, they naturally did not dare to hide anything, and they explained all the situations and details of the previous battlefield to the emperor one after another.

At this time, they did not dare to attack each other, and even covered for each other, saying how hard they had tried.

The retired emperor took a deep breath. Although he suspected that Shi Ding and others were exaggerating to evade responsibility, he finally listened to some of it.

"You mean, the first person to attack the mountain was Zhenyuan Marquis Jia Lian? And the firearms battalion under his command has extremely strong combat effectiveness?"

"Reporting to the Emperor, it is indeed so.

Originally, our ministers were working together to storm the palace, capture... and bring Your Majesty to the Emperor to apologize.

Unexpectedly, Jia Lian suddenly led his troops to attack from the rear, not only interrupting our offensive, but also putting us in a situation where we were attacked from both sides.

We saw that Jia Lian only had a few thousand soldiers and horses, so we wanted to concentrate our best troops to defeat him in one fell swoop, but who knew..."

"Who knew that you would be defeated by the other side?"

The emperor sneered, but he believed it more. Although he was very dissatisfied with the prince, he had more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, but he couldn't even defend a mountain. He was rushed up so quickly!

However, the fact that Jia Lian's troops were able to break through the prince's defenses and reach the mountain so quickly was a testament to their strength...

After thinking for a moment, the emperor asked his attendants, "What is the situation outside now?"

"Replying to the old emperor, ever since the defeat of the Cavalry Battalion and the Infantry Battalion, they quickly sent a large army to guard the palace, saying that it was to protect the old emperor's safety."

"Haha, this rebellious son, now he doesn't even bother to cover up?"

The emperor sneered.

When Emperor Ning Kang launched the abdication campaign yesterday, he did not dare to disrespect him at all. He just wanted to trick him into imprisonment.

Now, they dared to send troops directly to his palace.

"Who are these soldiers and who is leading them?"

"Reporting to the old emperor, it is mainly the troops of the Guard Camp, led by Feng Sheng, and the deputy commander is Tian Qu. In addition, there are some troops of the Personal Army Camp, and the Firearms Camp..."

The emperor retired pondered.

Although he was reluctant to admit it, he understood that he had lost the battle on the mountain.

Now there are only two choices before him. Either he stops fighting and believes that his rebellious son will not dare to do anything to him.

Or, he could use the only fighting force in the palace to protect him down the mountain...

He even thought about the direction of retreat, which was only from the west. Because the prince in the west should still have a certain number of troops, and if they joined forces, they might be able to delay the enemy.

  As long as we wait another half a day and wait for the first army to come to rescue and quell the rebellion, it will be possible to reverse the situation again!

After thinking for a long time, the emperor suddenly looked up at Shi Ding and said, "I heard that the four great families of Jia, Shi, Wang, and Xue are closely related. I guess you and Jia Lian are also acquainted with each other?"

Shi Ding, who was kneeling on the ground, was stunned and said quickly: "Reporting to the emperor, the Jia and Shi families have been on good terms since Taizu, and even in recent years, the exchanges between the two families are still close.

Actually, Jia Lian should call me uncle.

However, I separated from my brother a long time ago, and we have had little contact in recent years... Therefore, I am not very familiar with the Marquis of Zhenyuan."

The retired emperor snorted. As one of the deputy commanders of the Cavalry Battalion, he naturally knew about Shi Ding's past.

It’s just that the two brothers are not on good terms, or even have a grudge against each other.

He was too lazy to pay attention to these, and just said softly: "Since you are my uncle, you can pass on my will for me."

……

The sky gradually brightened and the smoke on the mountain temporarily dissipated.

But the chaos is not over yet.

Not to mention the princes and nobles on the mountain who were like frightened birds, there were still more than a thousand elite cavalry soldiers and a large number of defeated troops in the palace of the retired emperor.

At the foot of the mountain, the prince still had thousands of troops under his command.

However, these remaining forces are naturally nothing in front of the current Emperor Ning Kang.

Originally, even if they broke into the palace of the retired emperor in one fell swoop, it would not be a big deal. Anyway, they had already completely torn their relations apart, and even the fig leaf had been torn off by the retired emperor himself.

But Emperor Ning Kang may not want to consume any more military power.

When he learned that Jia Lian had brought a hundred Zhenyuan cannons this time, he immediately ordered Jia Lian to transport them up quickly.

He wants to give his father a big blow.

Jia Lian did not dare to neglect it.

He also knew that the retired emperor had ordered troops from all over the country to come to the capital to defend the emperor yesterday.

No one knows when the enemy's first wave of troops will arrive, so we must not delay.

"General Jia! Lord Zhenyuan, help me..."

While directing the placement of the Zhenyuan cannons at the appropriate locations, he suddenly heard a shrill cry.

When Jia Lian heard the sound and looked in the direction, he saw several miserable-looking scholars being escorted away by officers and soldiers under Pei Fengnian.

The shrill scream came from one of them.

Jia Lian glanced at him twice, turned around to explain the situation, and slowly rode over.

"My Lord, I'm Han Zhe, the Minister of the Crown Prince's Mansion. We've met before! At the beginning, my Lord made a bet with the eldest son of the Zhou family and asked the Crown Prince to be his guarantor. He won 10,000 taels of silver. It was I who personally delivered the silver to my Lord's Mansion..."

Seeing that Han Zhe really knew Jia Lian, the officer from the Northern Camp who was about to slap him immediately stopped and trotted to Jia Lian's horse, saying flatteringly:

“Reporting to the Marquis, these are people from the Crown Prince’s Mansion. They tried to escape during the chaos but were caught by us.

I was just about to send it back to General Helian for his fate... But if the Marquis knows him..."

The lieutenant colonel winked and the men around him immediately nodded in understanding, the meaning was self-evident.

They are just a few insignificant minor characters.

If the Marquis wants to protect them, they will naturally be willing to behave themselves and pretend that they have not caught anyone.

Jia Lian looked at Han Zhe, who was full of hope, and said with a smile: "Of course I know him..."

Han Zhe's smile suddenly brightened, and he was about to say something nice, when Jia Lian continued, "However, the Crown Prince is guilty of treason, which is extremely unrighteous. All those involved should be dealt with by Your Majesty personally. How dare I, the Marquis, take the initiative?"

When Jia Lian said this, Han Zhe's face naturally turned pale, but the soldiers in the North Camp all showed expressions of admiration.

As expected of him, he is the person that His Majesty relies on and trusts the most. His awareness is beyond words.

At the same time, they couldn't help but feel fortunate that their deputy commander was wise and changed his flag in time. Otherwise, they would be like Han Zhe and others, anxious about their bleak future. How could they become the victors and even act tyrannically like they are now?

Jia Lian smiled and ignored Han Zhe.

This was just an insignificant little character, and Jia Lian was 80% to 90% sure that the two thousand taels of silver that disappeared from his pocket were swallowed up by this person.

It was impossible to save him.

The reason he came here was because he saw another person.

But after hesitating for a moment, he ignored it and rode away.

Among the prisoners, there was a man with a bad complexion and a mediocre appearance. Looking at Jia Lian's majestic back, the glimmer of hope that had just risen in his eyes quickly faded.

  He is a descendant of a truly noble and famous family, and his family has produced several Hanlin scholars!

He himself also won the title of a scholar, and therefore was fortunate enough to catch the prince's eye and was able to often be around the prince.

  He originally thought that following the prince to Tiewang Mountain to participate in the hunt was an honor, but who knew that he would be involved in such a turmoil and inexplicably become a rebel?

Jia Lian knew it, and he knew even more that there was some connection between him and the other party.

He has a fiancée, who is rumored to be living in the Jia Mansion now. It seems that the Xue and Jia families have been friends for generations.

He also heard that although his fiancée was still young, she was extremely beautiful.

He was actually interested in meeting her, but the elders said that the Xue family was of declining status and that she was a concubine and was totally unworthy of the Mei family!

They came all the way to Beijing to discuss marriage, but their family wouldn't even let them see them.

Knowing that he was in the wrong, he naturally felt embarrassed to take the initiative to get close to Jia Lian.

Especially after seeing that Jia Lian was too lazy to pay attention to Han Zhe, he gave up the idea of ​​struggling and followed the soldiers obediently.

The young and naive boy probably didn't know what he was getting into. He thought that if he just endured it for a while, his father and the elders in the clan would definitely save him...