Chapter 5

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Chapter 5: Ming Dynasty Rules the World!

Major General Hans successfully opened the doors of Japan, forcing the shogunate to sign an unequal treaty. Prussia’s interests in the Far East were satisfactorily achieved.

England faced strong resistance in the war against the Ming Empire.

The expeditionary force achieved a great victory at sea, sinking over a hundred Ming Empire warships, mostly small ships of around a hundred tons, and destroying the Ming Empire’s southeastern naval defenses.

Upon landing, they initially won four consecutive major battles.

The regular Ming army was weak in combat strength, had outdated equipment, a century gap in light and heavy weapons compared to the British army, and severely outdated tactics and strategies.

The British infantry steadily advanced in line formation, fired three volleys at a distance of one hundred meters, then launched a bayonet charge to easily defeat the enemy.

However, the battles at this stage were with irregular militia, the Ming army dressed haphazardly, without a unified uniform, and appeared malnourished, clearly not a regular army.

Actually, these were indeed the regular troops of the Ming Empire’s local guard units… The weak local guards of the Ming Empire, compared to the British second-line troops and colonial forces, suffered a fifty to one casualty ratio, losing four humiliating battles.

As the British army reached Guangzhou City, the Battle of Guangzhou began, presenting a tough challenge for the British forces.

Guangdong, Fujian, and the provinces of Huguang were all territories of King Chu. King Chu ordered the Governor of Guangdong, Lin Zexu, and the Admiral of the naval forces, Guan Tianpei, to expel the barbarians, staunchly fight back, and sent his own personal guards to assist in the battle.

Compared to the weak soldiers in the guard post, King Chu’s trained militia were much stronger, with over 10,000 well-prepared musketeers who could stand their ground against the British soldiers in close combat. However, King Chu’s troops lacked cannons and cavalry.

Colonel Mantofel from the Prussia Military Observation Team, stationed on a hill on the battlefield’s flank, was recording the ongoing battle.

The Ming army unit has over 10,000 soldiers, all equipped with muskets. Most have matchlock guns, while a small number have huge guns requiring three people to operate, similar to small cannons.

The British army’s battle formation tactics were textbook examples, while the Ming army used square formation volley tactics, which seemed odd. However, both sides were evenly matched in shooting from a hundred meters away, with the Ming army maintaining stable morale despite losses.

The Ming army’s square formation suffered heavy losses under the British artillery fire. The Ming army commander began to reorganize the formation, attempting to elongate it. However, the Ming army’s reorganization became chaotic, and the British cavalry took advantage to launch a charge.

The Ming army uncovered some grass curtains, revealing that they had set up over a dozen cannons, appearing to be… eagle cannons? The Ming people had made modifications to the eagle cannons, using brass at the muzzle of the smaller cannon, with coarse threads to enhance airtightness, showing quite a creative idea.

However, the modified eagle cannons did not perform well. During the charge of the British cavalry, the Ming army’s larger guns showed a more obvious killing effect.

The British cavalry had charged into the chaotic enemy lines to start harvesting, but suddenly, the Magical Energy Department unit of the Ming army finally appeared.

Just as the British cavalry were happily harvesting, King Chu’s elite guards with magic energy rushed out, having hidden behind the back of a low hill. They successfully ambushed the British cavalry.

King Chu’s Magical Energy Department team is heavily armored foot soldiers. Their thick padded armor seems to be made of multiple layers of plates, and they also carry long spears that are almost eight feet long, which is very effective against cavalry.

The British cavalry underestimated the situation, they were scattered and lost their impact. Caught off guard, they were defeated by these magical energy heavy foot soldiers from the Ming army. There were over nine hundred soldiers from the Ming army’s magical energy heavy foot soldiers, while the British cavalry had just over six hundred.

After that, the Ming army launched an attack.

The Ming army’s musketeers rarely had bayonets, so they used a simple makeshift close combat weapon, a blade. The well-trained British soldiers who were used to using bayonets theoretically had a huge advantage in close combat. However, seeing their own cavalry being defeated, and facing a large group of powerful magic energy experts from the enemy, their morale began to falter.

The British gradually retreated and bombarded with artillery fire. Due to the dense formation of the Ming army’s magical energy heavy foot soldiers, they suffered considerable losses. Both armies decided to withdraw for now and fight another day.

British Commander George Elliot: Oh no…

In this battle, the Ming army lost about three thousand men, including around one hundred from the Magical Energy Department team. The British lost over a thousand men, with almost their entire cavalry unit wiped out.

Mantofel told his colleagues in the observation team that the British Commander Elliot would probably be relieved of his duties because his underestimation led to the defeat in this battle, and the cavalry charge was too reckless.

The Ming army’s strength was relatively weak compared to European regular army units in terms of tactics, weapons, soldiers’ physical fitness, and morale. However, the Ming army was not weak and could not be underestimated. The expeditionary force suffered a defeat in Guangzhou City and had to pause their offensive.

First, they waited for Hans’ troops to return from Japan. The British cavalry was defeated, so they had to rely on Poland’s gun cavalry next.

Second, they continued to recruit more soldiers from India. The Ming Empire had strong resistance, and the allied forces needed more troops.

Third, they transferred frontline troops and the Magical Energy Department from the mainland. The Ming Empire’s magic energy army was powerful, with even a small prince able to summon many magic energy soldiers. If they reached the north, Emperor Ming’s Magical Energy Department would be unstoppable.

Before the Far East campaign began, the Westerners lacked accurate knowledge about the Ming Empire. Some thought the Ming Empire was invincible, while others believed it was just a facade.

When the Far East campaign started, the British navy won a great victory in sea battles, defeating the Ming Dynasty’s guard troops four times in a row, thinking it was easy.

In the battle at Guangzhou City, everyone found out that the Ming Empire was actually quite strong and not easy to bully.

Mantofel believed that to force the Ming Empire to sign a trade agreement, the allied forces needed to deploy at least fifty thousand troops for the Far East campaign. It might be easier to pressure a few small princes of the Ming Empire instead. King Chu was a tough nut to crack, so they could explore other options nearby.

The overall commander of the expedition, Elliot, couldn’t agree because the queen tasked him with making the entire Ming Empire open for trade. Just pressuring a few small princes to open trade wouldn’t be enough to report back to the queen.

"No, I must bring another ten thousand soldiers from India to continue the fight for Guangzhou City," Elliot said.

Mantofel, "Whatever you say."

Prussia had no demands on the Ming Empire. If the English wanted to continue fighting, let them. Prussia only had a few troops sent to the Far East, mainly Polish mercenaries.

The situation in India was not fully under control. English only held coastal regions. If too many troops were withdrawn from India, it would likely lead to uprisings and unrest. This would not only make it difficult to conquer the Ming Empire, but also put India at risk.

If the Ming Empire was an easy target, they could increase their efforts. However, as the Ming Empire was not weak, achieving the goal of establishing trade relations would be difficult. Sending forces from their homeland would be time-consuming and draining. Sending forces from India would leave India vulnerable. There was little benefit in fighting the Ming Empire in the Far East.

Mantofel understood this, but the overall commander of the expedition, Elliot, had not realized it yet.