The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 882: War on the Western Front

War is about to break out on the West Coast.

The incident happened too suddenly, and Jiang Bailing was confused. What if this was a trap carefully set by the cowboys?
What if the bounty hunters and the Spanish had colluded beforehand?

Is it in the interest of the empire to hastily go to war with the Spaniards without reporting to Tianxin City?

But now he has no time to think about these issues.

Because the arrow is on the string and must be shot.

Under Dong Shaowei's instigation, everyone around him was blinded by hatred.

The Spanish replaced the Qi people and committed heinous crimes on the west coast.

Therefore, it is reasonable for the people of Qi to take any means of retaliation now.

Martial spirit is the nature of the people of Qi, and in this strange country thousands of miles away, the law cannot restrain them.

When warriors lose their restraint, killing is inevitable!

The cowboys who were responsible for leading the way were now following the Qi people at a leisurely pace, and Lincoln even hummed the ballad he usually sang when herding cattle.

As I walked down the bay, towards noon,

Who else could I spy on except my dear companion?
Wrapped in flannel, his fate was so hard,
I walked up to him boldly and asked him kindly:

Why are you wrapped in such white flannel?
My body was wounded and disorganized with grief.

—The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

"That's enough! Stop singing!"

With the war approaching, the relaxed feeling emanating from Cowboy made the Qi people, who were on the verge of a fight, very dissatisfied.

Dong Shaowei angrily said to the interpreter, "If you take our gold, you have to work for us! You still have time to sing. Do you really think our gold is so easy to take?"

The interpreter chattered a while, and the relaxed cowboys suddenly became nervous. They looked serious and reluctantly pulled out the pistols hanging from the buttocks of their jeans. They lingered in front of the low wall.

Dong Shaowei glanced at the casual cowboy, pointed at a Gothic church behind the low wall and asked:

"What's that pagoda? Are there any monks in it?"

The interpreter whispered back, "Officer Dong, that's the foreign devils' church, where they hold mass and pray for confession."

Dong Shaowei grew up almost entirely in an inland army camp. As far as he could remember, he had rarely seen foreigners, let alone a church where mass was held.

"Who cares about the church? If the red-haired barbarians mount a few cannons on the top of the tower and command the enemy, the battle will be difficult to fight."

The professional officer raised his binoculars to observe the top of the church and said in the tone of a military strategist, "This group of foreign devils is well-defended, with trenches and tall buildings. If we attack rashly, many people will die."

He turned and asked Marston, "How many Spanish are there in this settlement?"

"About three thousand."

Dong Shaowei took a breath and asked again:
“How many settlements like this are there?”

The bounty hunter said casually, "At least a dozen."

Dong Shaowei was so shocked that his mouth opened wide, but he still pretended to be calm and ordered his subordinates to prepare for battle.

Seeing that he had failed to intimidate these revenge-seeking Khitans, Marston stepped forward and said in a low voice, "Dear Mr. Dong, my cowboy friends and I are only responsible for assisting you in disposing of the looted property. We will not participate in the killing, especially not of women and children."

Dong Shaowei pointed at the interpreter and asked him to translate. The interpreter was sweating and translated the meaning of the bounty hunter at the beginning and end. The young officer was furious when he heard it:
"What robbery? Do we look like bandits? We came here just to take back what belongs to us! What? You dare to bring me here, ambush with a large number of troops, and you are afraid that I will kill people and set fire to them?"

The atmosphere around suddenly became tense.

The remaining cowboys reached for their holsters, and the Qi soldiers raised their rifles at the same time. The bounty hunter took off his cowboy hat and placed his revolver inside the hat, signaling both sides to calm down.

"Misunderstanding, misunderstanding."

"Gentlemen, the cowboys have no grudge against the Spanish Governor. Besides, it was not our intention to bring you to Spanish territory. It was your commander who said he wanted to take a shortcut, and these settlements are the only way to get there..."

Dong Shaowei shook his hands impatiently, too lazy to listen to the bounty hunter's explanation.

"Since we're here, how can we leave empty-handed?"

As they were talking, the engineers carrying pickaxes and explosive tubes had already arrived at the front row, ready to carry out blasting under the low wall.

Dong Shaowei ran back to the rear, bowed before Jiang Bailing, and reported the battle situation to the commander. "The enemy has a church, high up, and surrounded by dozens of stone houses. It looks very sturdy. Fortunately, no artillery has been deployed nearby."

Jiang Bailing said worriedly, "Maybe they hid the artillery somewhere else."

"Didn't those cowboys reveal any useful information?"

Dong Shaowei shook his head decisively: "No, they don't even want to get involved in this matter."

Jiang Bailing's face darkened: "Then let them take the lead..."

~~~~~~~~~
There was a deafening explosion, and a section of chest-high wall was blown into the sky. The mixture of cement and granite turned into debris, which fell to the ground and hit the soldiers' helmets with crackling sounds.

White smoke enveloped the area around the explosion site, and the cowboys who were forced to the front with bayonets muttered something in a low voice.

Marston said, "Mr. Battalion Commander, don't you have any artillery? To fight a battle like this, you need at least two portable field guns!"

The Qi officer comforted the bounty hunter: "The artillery is still behind and will arrive at the battlefield later. The enemy doesn't seem to have any artillery either."

The bounty hunter knew that he could not wait for artillery support.

"You are more familiar with this settlement. Please lead the way. After the battle is over, I will ask the commander to double your bonus!"

Marston's face was gloomy and he didn't even raise his head.

At this time, the smoke finally dissipated. Dong Shaowei drew his command knife, pointed it at the location of the church, and shouted:

"kill!"

After a while, the settlers behind the low wall had discovered these uninvited guests.

The top of the Gothic church.

A disabled bell ringer stood in the attic, using all his strength to push the wooden hammer to hit the bell.

duang~duang
The loud bells rang out over the church.

A group of clergymen in black robes fled from the church.
The priests were running around like headless flies.

The bell ringer gestured with his hands laboriously to tell the priests what he had seen.

The clergy quickly calmed down. They stood facing the direction of the blasting of the low wall and each took out a musket from the sleeves of his wide black robe.

Without even aiming, he fired at the low wall.

The black-robed priest was shooting indiscriminately and shouting something.

Dong Shaowei hid behind a low wall, suddenly grabbed the interpreter by the collar, and shouted, "What are they shouting?"

"The priest is cursing us and sending us to hell."

Apparently, the Spanish mistook the pioneers for Indians. After all, they looked similar.

There was a lot of noise inside the low wall, and some residents joined the gunfight.

A burly woman joined the battle.

Dong Shaowei raised his telescope and saw the Western woman skillfully loading ammunition and aiming and shooting at him. He couldn't help but sigh:

"The Spanish are full of martial virtues, no less than the Great Qi."

Dense bullets landed on the low wall, sending brick chips flying on one side.

The cowboys at the front pulled out their revolvers and fired wildly.

Standing in Dong Shaowei's position, he could clearly see that most of the revolver bullets were shot into the sky.

Fortunately, the Spaniards in the settlement were armed with light weapons, and facing the pioneers who were armed to the teeth, they obviously had no better means of counterattack.

"Damn it! The foreign devils are all the same! Infantry provide cover! Send the grenadiers in! Blow them up!"

Teams of well-equipped grenadiers crossed the gaps in the low wall and broke into the settlement.

The infantry began to fire freely, and muskets outside the settlement fired one after another.

With the addition of two field guns, thick white smoke filled the air behind the low wall, and the endless screams of the Spaniards were heard from the settlement.

(End of this chapter)