Emperor of the Red Chamber

Chapter 171: Jianrui Battalion is a Mighty Army

Great Khan Tsereng ordered the outer Junggar army to approach the Great Zhou army under the crazy artillery fire from the three hundred artillery pieces of various types in the Great Zhou.

By the time the outer Dzungar troops were close enough for them to fight back with camel cannons and bows and arrows, they had already lost several thousand soldiers.

The truth is indeed within the range of the cannon!
Great Khan Tselen's heart seemed to be bleeding. Many of the thousands of Junggar soldiers who were killed by the artillery were elite soldiers, including several military generals.

The strength of the outer Junggar army dropped sharply from 30,000 to more than 20,000.

Outrageous!

The heartache intensified the anger of Khan Tseren, and he had realized that if he did not inflict a severe blow on the Zhou army today, the Dzungar Khanate would be in great danger in this great battle in the northwest.

So, the Great Khan Tsereng sat in the battlefield with a serious expression and gave orders in an orderly manner.

Under his command, hundreds of Junggar camel cannons fired and tens of thousands of archers shot, bombarding or shooting the Zhou artillery formations and soldiers in front of them.

The Great Zhou also used camel cannons and archers, and the artillery array consisting of 300 artillery pieces of various types continued to exert its power.

Even so, the Dzungar troops from outside continued to approach.

Closer, closer.

Khan Tsering, who was observing carefully with a telescope, could not help but become excited. He felt that the situation was about to be reversed and the rate of casualties among the Zhou soldiers was about to increase greatly.

Because according to previous combat experience, once the Junggar army and the Great Zhou army engage in close combat in the field, the Junggar army will have the advantage.

However, although the outer Junggar army was getting closer and closer to the Great Zhou army, it had already approached the range of the flintlock rifles!

But not only the Dragon Cavalry Battalion was equipped with flintlock rifles, almost all of the 2,000 soldiers in the Jianrui Battalion were also equipped with flintlock rifles.

The Jianrui Battalion had been gathering strength before, and now its commander Shi Ding saw that the time was ripe and hurriedly ordered an attack.

Following Shi Ding's order, 1,400 elite soldiers armed with flintlock rifles formed three rows and fired three rounds at the incoming Junggar troops.

At the same time, hundreds of elite soldiers controlled twenty artillery pieces and bombarded the enemy.

The Jianrui Battalion was also equipped with twenty artillery pieces, which were exclusively used by the Jianrui Battalion and were not deployed in the artillery formation of the Great Zhou army.

Now, the Jianrui Battalion used these twenty artillery pieces to cooperate with the flintlock formation.

The flintlock array consisting of 1,400 flintlock rifles, coupled with twenty cannons, immediately formed a strong line of defense, causing astonishing damage to the Dzungar army.

Dahan Celing, who had just been excited, was suddenly filled with shock and anger.

Although he had learned about the situation of the Great Zhou Dragon Cavalry Battalion through the messenger and understood the horror of the Great Zhou's improved flintlock rifle, he had not seen it with his own eyes.

Now he saw it with his own eyes.

It's truly domineering and powerful.

The Dzungar army was also equipped with a large number of muskets, but they were all matchlock muskets, which were much inferior to the flintlock muskets improved by the Great Zhou.

Even the Khan Tseren was panicked.

Why did we encounter the Great Zhou's flintlock rifle array here?
How many of these new flintlock rifles were equipped by the Northern Army of the Great Zhou Dynasty?

The more critical the situation is, the more we must not panic or get confused.

Khan Tsereng was shocked and panicked for a while, but he quickly calmed down and continued to give orders in an orderly manner with a serious expression.

He sent out a full 5,000 Junggar soldiers to attack the position of the Jianrui Battalion.

The Junggar soldiers were already brave, and the 5,000 soldiers sent by Khan Tseren this time were all elite troops under his command. Under normal circumstances, even tens of thousands of the Great Zhou army could not withstand the specialized and fierce attack of this elite Junggar force.

Although the defense line formed by the Jianrui Battalion's flintlock rifle array and twenty cannons was strong and had great destructive power, it could not withstand such a fierce attack from 5,000 elite Junggar soldiers.

Fortunately, the Jianrui Battalion had anticipated and prepared for this situation.

"Cavalry attacks!"

Following Shi Ding's order, five hundred cavalrymen from the Jianrui Camp advanced from both wings and drew their bows to shoot arrows at the elite Junggar soldiers.

These 500 Jianrui Camp cavalrymen are the most elite cavalry of the Great Zhou. Not only are they all brave, but most of them are also good at archery. They can do "one horse, three arrows" and circle left and right on horseback.

These five hundred Jianrui Camp cavalrymen are comparable to thousands of Great Zhou cavalrymen!
A formation of flintlock rifles, twenty cannons, and five hundred elite cavalrymen on both wings.

The Jianrui Battalion's trinity of guns, cannons, and cavalry archers not only blocked the fierce attack of 5,000 elite Junggar soldiers, but also continuously inflicted rapid casualties on the enemy.

Half of the 5,000 elite Junggar soldiers were quickly killed, and the remaining 2,000 or so became frightened and dared not continue the attack, and began to retreat.

If it were an ordinary Dzungar army, facing such a strong defense line and such terrifying lethality, it would have been defeated with less than 2,000 casualties.

At present, this elite Junggar army retreated only after losing half of its troops, and it is already strong.

The Great Khan Tsering's forehead was covered with sweat, and beads of sweat were sliding down his rough face. The sweat came from the heat, as well as the heartache and panic. He had never seen such a strong and powerful Great Zhou army.

Five thousand elite Junggar soldiers were unable to defeat a mere two thousand enemy soldiers in a field battle. It seemed as if they were not fighting a field battle but a siege against the Great Zhou.

Just at this time, the Junggar hot air balloon scouts passed on the military intelligence of the Junggar army in Lilu to the Khan Tseren.

The Dzungar army that broke through the Bokto Ridge for nearly 20,000 miles was besieged by 20,000 soldiers of the Great Zhou, 10,000 of whom attacked from the hills on both sides.

In less than an hour, the Junggar army in Lilu lost several thousand people, leaving only more than 10,000 people.

The Dzungar army in Lilu was already somewhat unstable and its morale was low. Suddenly it was subjected to such a fierce siege and suffered such terrible losses. The army was in chaos, and some Dzungar soldiers even fled in panic.

This dire battle situation was reported to Khan Tsereng by the Dzungar hot air balloon scouts outside.

Great Khan Tseren was undoubtedly heartbroken and panicked again.

Fortunately, he was still able to remain calm.

Moreover, although the outer Junggar army led by him failed to break through the defense line of Jianrui Camp of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it had already broken through other defense lines of the Great Zhou army.

He had originally planned to inflict heavy damage on the Great Zhou army today, because if he failed to do so, the Dzungar Khanate would be in great danger in this great war in the northwest.

But now, he had to temporarily change his strategy and decided that the goal of today's battle was to rescue the Junggar army in Lilu, rather than to inflict heavy damage on the Great Zhou army.

This requires prompt decision making and is also a heroic act.

If he insisted on making inflicting heavy damage to the Great Zhou army his combat goal today, then, judging from the current battle situation, even if the Great Zhou army suffered heavy damage today, the Junggar army would suffer even more serious losses, and it is even possible that the entire army would be wiped out here, and even he, the Khan, might be killed on the spot.

In this case, Dzungar would not be in danger, but would be completely destroyed.

Even though the Dzungars suffered a defeat today and lost many soldiers, they will be in great danger in the future. As long as they can maintain a certain amount of military strength, they may still have a chance to turn the tables.

With this in mind, Great Khan Tsereng did not hesitate any longer and, with a heroic spirit, issued a new military order to the outer Junggar army.

That is, the outer Junggar army passed through the broken Great Zhou defense line and headed towards Bokto Ridge with all their might to rescue the inner Junggar army that was besieged there.

As this military order was issued, the battle situation on the scene became more and more chaotic.

More and more Junggar soldiers engaged in close combat with the Great Zhou soldiers.

At this time, the flintlock muskets and artillery of the Jianrui Battalion could only play a limited role.

Commander Shi Ding also acted decisively and ordered Lieutenant General Fan Zhongfang to lead hundreds of elite soldiers to engage in close combat, including several battalion captains, and Ni Er was one of them.

Fan Zhongfang was a trusted guard during the reign of Prince Yuan Qingbai. He was brave, upright, and loyal.

Once upon a time, he often acted gentle and courteous in front of Prince Yuan Qingbai.

Once, he was scolded and beaten by Yuan Qingzhe, but he did not dare to fight back.

Now, Fan Zhongfang, the lieutenant general of the Jianrui Camp, was wearing armor and holding a spear. The spear was made of wrought iron, was 13 inches long (more than three meters), and the blade was nine inches long.

Fan Zhongfang held a spear and stabbed the Junggar soldiers with one shot after another. One after another, the Junggar soldiers died from his spear.

Ni Er was also wearing armor, holding two long and heavy whips in his hands, and led a group of elite soldiers under his command to engage in a melee with a group of Dzungar soldiers.

With a "bang", Ni Er hit a Junggar soldier on the head with his whip. The Junggar soldier's head was immediately broken and bleeding. He fell to the ground and was actually killed by the whip.

There was another "bang" sound, and Ni Er swung his whip at another Junggar soldier. Although the Junggar soldier was wearing armor, he was still unsteady on his feet and fell to the ground. Ni Er hurriedly whipped him again and beat him to death.

Whip after whip after whip...

In just a quarter of an hour, Ni Er killed more than ten Junggar soldiers and a Junggar general with his double whips in close combat.

Ni Er’s bravery is truly extraordinary!

Almost every soldier in the Jianrui Battalion is a brave warrior selected from hundreds, and in terms of physical strength and martial arts, Ni Er is outstanding in the Jianrui Battalion.

Hundreds of close combat soldiers from the Jianrui Battalion, including Fan Zhongfang and Ni Er, fought bravely. They united together and displayed unmatched momentum in close combat. Groups of Dzungar soldiers died at their hands.

Great Khan Tsereng paid special attention to the position of the Jianrui Battalion. Through the telescope, he saw hundreds of soldiers of the Jianrui Battalion engaged in close combat and was shocked by the Jianrui Battalion again.

"The Great Zhou has assembled such a formidable army!"

Great Khan Tseren sighed with fear in his heart.

Although he hated the Jianrui Battalion, he also believed that the Jianrui Battalion was a powerful army!

Unfortunately, the Jianrui Battalion has only a small number of troops, only two thousand in total.

If the strength of such a powerful army reached over ten thousand, the outer Junggar army led by Khan Tseren today would probably be completely wiped out, not to mention rescuing the inner Junggar army.

(End of this chapter)