Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 714 A Loose Plate

In a contest of raw power, the rebels have no chance of winning, even though they outnumber the enemy. This was clear from the very first battle, when they were still equipped with rifles that used paper bullets and had no automatic weapons.

The rebels had few options: one was to abandon the towns and flee north to join Tsarist Russia; the other was to fully utilize their mobility to attack the enemy's supply lines while implementing a scorched-earth policy.

Jia Shi's current approach is to hand the opportunity to the rebels, asking them if they dare to attack Balkhash, their logistical supply base.

On the fourth day after leaving Balkhash, Jia Shi's troops continued northward, seemingly without encountering any danger. Small cavalry reconnaissance teams ahead spotted nothing alive, except for animals on the steppe.

They advanced another fifty kilometers that day, but still encountered no enemy activity.

Interestingly, upon waking on the morning of the fifth day, having received no news from Balkhash, Jia Shi was overjoyed. He ordered his troops to remain encamped and dispatched a small cavalry unit south to contact the reinforcements that had previously gone south. In fact, four days after the main force left Balkhash, rebel scouts appeared outside the city.

The supply regiment remaining in Balkhash calmly reinforced its fortifications. The regiment comprised two supply battalions, a mortar company, a machine gun company, an infantry company, and a cavalry company, totaling over 2,500 men—a reinforced regiment. The supply troops were also armed, primarily with rifles.

Balkhash is backed by a lake, so it only needs to defend three sides, which greatly reduces the pressure.

Before dusk that day, a large group of rebels appeared in the binoculars, at a distance of about four kilometers. On the foundation of the demolished earthen wall, a breastwork had been built using sandbags. A trench had also been dug outside the breastwork, although it was only two meters wide and one meter deep, which warhorses could easily leap over at high speed, but they could not go any further over the breastwork.

Once the rebels understand the situation, they won't be foolish enough to use cavalry to attack the city; they'll only use infantry. The well-equipped supply corps is not afraid at all.

The following morning, rebels, carrying flintlock muskets and lined up in neat rows, appeared outside the city, along with six muzzle-loading cannons. The origin of the rebels' artillery was not difficult to guess; it could only have been provided by Tsarist Russia. In fact, this rebellion, which had spread throughout Anxi, was instigated by Tsarist Russia behind the scenes.

From the perspective of the central empire, wasn't Tsarist Russia's coveting of Anxi a sign of its ambition to invade the new province? That's why it needed to send troops to Anxi as a precaution.

From the perspective of Tsarist Russia, the Central Empire's encirclement of Tsarist Russia from the Ottoman Turkish direction and Central Asia was certainly not well-intentioned; it couldn't have been an attempt to deliver a gift, could it?

Of all the countries in the world, only this country calls itself the Central Empire. People say that the Tsarist Russians are arrogant and barbaric, but the attitude of the Central Empire is the real arrogance.

Regimental Commander Fang Ziqiang came from a poor family. He studied martial arts and literature in his youth and later entered the Royal Army School. After graduation, he was assigned to the Shenji Battalion. Starting as a platoon leader, he rose to the rank of regimental commander in fifteen years. This was not a normal promotion, but rather because he volunteered to join the newly formed Anxi Division as the battalion commander of the First Division of the Imperial Guard after the transformation of Shenji Town.

Promotions are difficult; that's the reality of the army. Officers with connections and an unwillingness to endure hardship are unwilling to come to Anxi to suffer. Those who are willing to come to Anxi are all hoping to seize the opportunity and secure a future.

"Pass down the order: no firing without permission." Fang Ziqiang observed the enemy situation from his high vantage point and discovered that the enemy's main force was to the west, and their artillery was also deployed to the west.

As the rebels slowly advanced in line formation, six cannons opened fire at a distance of one kilometer.

The soldiers hiding behind the earthen wall reacted in different ways. The veteran was very calm and told the new recruit next to him: "These are solid shot. Just hide behind the wall and you won't lose a single hair."

The new recruits were tough, saying they weren't afraid, but their legs were trembling.

From the rebels' perspective, facing the approaching line formation, the enemy troops behind the fortifications remained completely still, deathly silent. Based on past experience, this was not a good sign.

After three rounds of shelling, the bombardment stopped. The company commander blew his whistle, and after three sharp whistles, the soldiers stood up from the ditch, raised their rifles, and aimed forward.

Artillery firing solid shot posed little threat to this army.

"Machine guns ready!" Fang Ziqiang gave the order, and a machine gun was set up approximately every hundred meters on the western front.

"200 meters, fire!" The red flag was waved vigorously!

Suddenly, flames erupted from the position, and two heavy machine guns formed a crossfire network. The machine gunners pulled the triggers and fired wildly.

For machine gunners, the line formation of rebels was a sitting duck, especially against flanking fire. The flames sprayed like scythes reaping wheat, mowing down swathes of rebels, leaving behind a brief cloud of blood mist. Riflemen were also firing wildly; at this distance, it was difficult to hit skirmishers, and shooting at a line formation was like hitting stationary targets.

The rebels, caught off guard, were momentarily stunned. They had never seen anything like it before, and didn't even have time to be afraid. They simply followed their instincts and continued forward, only to be killed or wounded by bullets.

The people behind continued to advance. The machine gun briefly stopped to change ammunition belts before resuming its killing spree.

When did the rebels become afraid? About ten minutes after the initial burst of gunfire, the remaining rebels realized what was happening and turned to run.

"Mortars, take out the rebel artillery!" Fang Ziqiang gave the order, and the mortar company, which had been hesitant to fire, finally couldn't hold back any longer.

Boom boom boom, a continuous barrage of shells fired at the pre-set firing parameters.

The mortars had a rapid and intense rate of fire; in just ten seconds, each mortar fired six shells – a rapid-fire technique.

The rebels treasured their artillery, so they hid it at a distance of over a thousand meters. They never expected that at this distance, they would be targeted by the city's artillery, with such a dense barrage of shells that exploded upon landing.

After the propellant was hit, a secondary explosion occurred, with a series of loud booms and a violent shockwave that sent the 500-kilogram cannon flying two meters into the air.

"Cease fire!" When there were no more rebels standing within a 300-meter radius, Fang Ziqiang ordered a ceasefire.

After the mortars destroyed the artillery positions, the rebel leaders led the retreat, which immediately triggered a mass retreat.

The rebels, numbering at least 20,000, suddenly went out of control once they began their retreat.

This situation prompted the house to implement strict measures, so why did it suddenly become chaotic on its own?
The truth is that the two Russian advisors were directing artillery when they were caught in a barrage of mortar fire and were killed instantly.

Unfortunately, the indigenous people in Central Asia simply couldn't find gunners who could operate cannons accurately. The two advisors had to step in themselves, and tragedy ensued.

The enemy came with great force, but within an hour, they were thrown into disarray and the troops scattered.

It may seem absurd, but it's actually quite normal. The local indigenous people are composed of tribes of varying sizes. They are more like tribal alliances than armies.

The real reason for our united rebellion was that we couldn't stand the actions of the White Lotus Sect. We've lived here for hundreds of years, and now you come here and expect us to believe in the White Lotus Sect? If we don't, we're kicked out! That's utterly unreasonable.

There are no rational alien races in this world. Even so-called beacons of civilization, once weakened, naturally revert to their primal instincts in order to recover. They frantically prey on targets they can exploit, regardless of any previous relationship with that target. Their so-called civilization was nothing more than a fig leaf. Why fight when they can profit immensely without lifting a finger?
The nomadic tribes in Central Asia still adhere to the principles of nomadic culture: the strong prey on the weak, and survival of the fittest.

They didn't want to endure the oppression of the central empire, so naturally they would resist. But once they discovered that resistance meant a terrible death, kneeling down was just as easy.

This rebellion was originally unlikely to have occurred, but since it involved their beliefs, these tribes had no choice but to take the risk. After all, a thousand years ago, when the Tang Dynasty's iron cavalry arrived, they didn't believe in this religion either. They converted to it later; they had no choice, with a scimitar at their throats.

Fang Ziqiang stared at the scene before him in disbelief. Only when the dust settled did he remember: "Cavalry company, pursue them! Be careful of your own safety, don't overtake them."

The cavalry pursued the enemy out of the city, while other units emerged from their positions to clean up the battlefield.

The wounded are not spared; all are helped to alleviate their pain.

In fact, the soldiers in the supply regiment, whether new recruits or veterans, were seeing the horrific sight of heavy machine guns firing in a barrage of beams for the first time.

The casualty figures from the 15-minute-long barrage, combined with rifle fire from the positions, were simply unbelievable.

Six heavy machine guns fired in less than fifteen minutes, resulting in the deaths of more than 3,300 rebel soldiers.

These rebels were able to march in formation thanks to the "elite" training they received from Tsarist Russia. In this battle alone, they wiped out 3,300 of them. The natives must be heartbroken.

An hour later, the pursuing cavalry brought back news that the cavalry regiment and the three regiments of mounted infantry that had marched south overnight had blocked a group of rebels and were conducting an encirclement and annihilation operation.

Taking advantage of the terrain, the rebels scattered and fled, and the reinforcements heading south likely gained little.

In reality, the two regiments that came south to reinforce directly blocked a rebel force of about 5,000 men. With a combination of volleys of gunfire and machine gun fire, the rebels were thrown into complete chaos, and the cavalry regiment charged and pursued them.

The battle ultimately resulted in the annihilation of just over seven thousand rebels, all of whom were able-bodied young men. For some tribes, this was a catastrophe.

The biggest gain from this battle was the horses. More than 8,000 horses were captured, mainly 5,000 of which were seized from various camps. The owners of these horses were likely the elite troops in the line formation.

The newly formed division's officers and soldiers looked down on flintlock muskets, but they couldn't just throw them away; these things could still kill people. Collecting them for civilian use was a viable option.

Jia Shi received the news a day later, on the afternoon of the sixth day after leaving Balkhash.

Zhen Yaoyao, who was standing next to Jia Shi, couldn't help but ask, "Why did you launch an attack on Balkhash when you could have simply held your ground?"

Jia Shi had gotten used to this glamorous woman's presence around him, and when he was in a good mood, he would patiently explain, "Because I want to win."

Zhen Yaoyao understood that once Balkhash was captured, our army, without supplies, would naturally have to retreat. Our infantry-based army, under enemy pursuit, was destined to suffer heavy casualties.

Of course, this is the normal logic of war; the defeated side often suffers casualties during the retreat.

From a military perspective, retreating is more difficult than attacking. That's the point.

When a retreat turns into a rout, Captain Chang, the racing legend and micro-management expert from Gaoliang River, has something to say.

The former fled in a car in front of the battle, while the latter refused to retreat voluntarily in Shanghai and Songhu. Only when they were at risk of being surrounded and annihilated did they hastily order a retreat, and with almost no resistance, hundreds of thousands of troops collapsed.

Jia Shi ordered the troops behind him to escort the supplies and catch up, while the main force continued to advance north at full speed.

The initial daily march was increased from fifty kilometers to sixty kilometers. With the enemy's morale completely shattered and no longer worried about being ambushed, they naturally advanced at full speed.

After accelerating, the advance regiment arrived in Karaganda in just ten days. They then relayed news that chaos had broken out on the enemy positions, and that our forces had launched an attack.

There are several high points outside the main Karaganda position, and the advance regiment is targeting these high points.

Under the cover of mortars, they held their ground with machine guns and launched attacks in units of infantry companies. They captured the position in a single charge with negligible casualties.

After capturing three high points in succession, the vanguard regiment ceased its attack, regrouped, and looked down upon Karaganda, which was in complete chaos.

The vanguard was brave but not reckless. Realizing that it was still early and there were still two hours until dark, they immediately ordered a battalion to launch a probing attack.

It wouldn't have mattered if we hadn't attacked, but once we did, we figured out the enemy's strengths and weaknesses. The resistance on several positions was negligible, and the sparse firing caused sporadic casualties. Under the fierce fire, the rebels on the positions either died or fled. The vanguard regiment easily broke through the main defensive line, and the enemy was completely routed, thrown into chaos, and scattered in all directions.

The truth is that after news of Balkhash reached them, the leaders of the various large tribes stationed there ordered an immediate retreat to Astana. Because they hadn't notified each other beforehand and ran into each other during their escape, mutual trust completely collapsed, causing a new wave of chaos.

The tribes here are divided into three levels: large, medium, and small. Those besieging Balkhash were mainly from the medium and small tribes. Upon learning of the defeat, the leaders of the large tribes were only thinking of returning to plunder the property of the medium and small tribes; they had no intention of continuing the fight. As for Astana, whoever wants to defend it can defend it.

Originally a group of tribes forced to unite, they scattered like birds and beasts after suffering heavy losses, which is also in line with the habits of nomadic tribes.

Whether we win or not is not important; preserving our strength is the most important thing.

Thanks to this cement road, which took two years to build, the newly formed division was able to maintain its marching speed.

After the troops entered Karaganda, they unexpectedly discovered thousands of slave women and children, who were tribal people who had surrendered to the Central Empire.

After understanding the situation, Jia Shi handed the man over to Zhen Yaoyao to deal with. Zhen Yaoyao didn't hold back. These inter-tribal feuds were far more ruthless than those against external enemies; anyone as tall as a cartwheel was slaughtered, leaving women and children as slaves. A true legacy of Genghis Khan.

(End of this chapter)