Wenhan, Mashali and others who hurried back to their camp were panicked and also felt very resentful towards Senggelinqin.

If Senggelinqin had not said that he had an imperial edict and could have lifted Zhao Wuji's military power, they would not have made clear negotiations with Wu Yan's top scholar army on this plain.

"I'm so stupid, really." Masali said in regret: "I've guessed that Zhao Wuji would rebel long ago. Why do you still believe that Zhao Wuji would follow the imperial edict and remove his military power?"

Wen Han also regretted not that he believed Senggelinqin's nonsense and said, "Where is our fault? It is obvious that Senggelinqin said that he could control Zhao Wuji's generals. The martial arts master was not there. There were 20,000 people in Jiangbei and Pingnan. Even if the top scholar camp listened to Zhao Wuji's words, we could solve Zhao Wuji with us."

The martial arts master has been defending the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. When he went to Songjiang Prefecture in the middle, the Pingnan Master defended it on his behalf.

So this time Wu Yan brought only the Zhuangyuan Camp, Pingnan Division and Jiangbei Division, with a total of 25,000 people.

Considering Senggelinqin's guarantee and the imperial edict they saw with their own eyes, it is understandable that they dared to come.

"What should I do now?" Masali looked at the military formation opposite with concern.

Without any surprises, even though Senggelinqin had his confidant and so-called masters, he was all taken down when they ran back to their camp.

Mashali and others could even see that Senggelinqin had been escorted to the rear of the military formation, and Zhao Wuji was riding a horse and wandering around several military formations, constantly shouting at the more than 20,000 soldiers who seemed a little panicked but were actually steadily forced.

When Zhao Wuji shouted, the left and right sides of the coalition forces were blocked, and even people rushed towards their retreat.

"They have cavalry, we can't escape." Charles, the commander of the coalition forces, is a retired general in the UK and a British business representative in Songjiang Prefecture. He said: "If you forcefully retreat, you will pull the front line and give the top scholar a chance to break one by one. Our advantage is that although most of our coalition forces are mercenaries, they are well-trained. Everyone has guns and ammunition is enough to fight this battle. So, my decision is to defend on the spot."

Unlike the street fighting in the warehouse area in the city before, holding a machete also has a great chance to kill the musketeers. On such plains, the combat effectiveness of the musketeers can be greatly exerted.

Wenhan asked hesitantly: "What if they surrounded us and didn't attack?"

Charles said: "I have arranged a backup plan, and the top scholar can't stop them. Now they must have gone back to call for reinforcements. Although we have no right to declare war on the Qing court directly, our regular army has no problem protecting us. Even if someone pursues it later, I think we can definitely settle it with our energy."

Wenhan, Mashali and others were relieved when they heard this.

The coalition of 15,000 people is almost all regular troops. Including these 5,000 people, the number of troops is no less than Zhao Wuji's existing troops.

In addition, even though the 1st Principal Battalion had seized three or four thousand muskets and a lot of ammunition before, the proportion of musketeers was only 4 to one, with 40,000 soldiers who could fight, and only 10,000 had muskets.

Everything was decided, Charles commanded five thousand people to set up a formation on the spot, and the soldiers were all equipped with ammunition directly, ready to deal with the charge of the top scholar at any time.

On such a plain, if you want to rush to them, at least five or six thousand people would have to be killed or injured.

In terms of the number of people in the top scholar's army at this moment, the casualties were so heavy that even if there was no mutiny and deserter, the morale would be depressed, which would have a great impact on Zhao Wuji's subsequent rebellion.

"Do you think Zhao Wuji will ride alone as before?" Wen Han asked.

Charles laughed and said, "If he treats us as Taiping Army, then I will let him know what it means to die without a burial place. It would be a pity. I didn't bring artillery this time, otherwise I would kill them now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Charles's face changed drastically, as did the rest of the people, and the noise also sounded in the coalition camp. Many of the coalition soldiers who were raising guns had even put away their muskets and looked like they were preparing to escape.

The reason for all this was that the top scholars on the opposite side had launched more than 50 small cast iron parquet cars, and these cars had muzzles, which were the most advanced mother-child cannons in the Qing court at present.

Compared to their musket range, the cannons must be farther, and if they rely on the cannons to rush forward, their defense advantage will be gone.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid."

Charles shouted: "That was a cannon from two hundred years ago. It has been lagging behind the times for a long time. It is still solid bullets, and it has no lethality at all."

Such shouts were translated into multiple languages ​​by the rest of the people and others, and were constantly conveyed among the coalition forces. But even though Charles was telling the truth, these coalition forces, which were mostly mercenaries, had their morale dropped to freezing point.

The mother-child cannon is actually a Franco cannon that was improved from the Ming Dynasty. The Franco cannon was a type of artillery popular in Europe in the late 15th century and was introduced to China by Portugal.

Logically speaking, since it is an improved product, it must be much more advanced, but the Qing court had very strict control over artillery and even burned down many books on the Ming Dynasty to make firearms. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, the Qing court's artillery was even a little backward.

As early as the last century, Britain had already begun its first industrial revolution. Machines replaced manpower and began to use machine tools to drill gun barrels. Compared with the Qing Dynasty, low-end mold casting methods were used to make gun barrels. Not only was the efficiency higher than several levels, but the range, accuracy, power, stability of the gun also exceeded a lot.

In another ten years, Europe will begin its second industrial revolution, from the machine age to the electrical age.

But on the Qing court, the backward mother-child cannons were exclusive to the Eight Banners Army. Not to mention the others, they would be punished even if they were used. Wu Yan was able to get these mother-child cannons, which was a benefit to Jiangbei Camp.

But no matter what, the power of the mother-child cannon is still there.

Seeing that more than fifty mother and child artillery were getting closer and closer to them and had already entered the effective range, the artillery soldiers of the top scholar army had already begun to load ammunition.

However, their muskets cannot hit so far. Even if they can hit them, their hit rate will be nearly zero.

The coalition forces were completely in chaos, and no one stood in the array, and they were afraid that they would be hit by artillery.

"A bunch of waste." Charles was furious. He actually looked down on these mercenaries. Even if most of them were retired regular soldiers, they gradually became loose after losing the military discipline. However, the merchants could only lead mercenaries.

"what to do?"

This is the biggest problem now. After several rounds of volleys of guns on the opposite side, they will suffer heavy casualties.

"Do you want to charge?"

"No, when we were guarding them, our muskets were not as accurate as they could, and they could still fire."

When they charge forward, they shoot, but who is squatting there and aiming and waiting for the shooting?

This is also their confidence before, but now it has become their most feared thing.

“Back?”

"Not even, the mother-child cannon is not heavy, and the movement speed is not slow when there is a frame. We can't run, their cavalry is already in place."

Five thousand people run together, and running alone is completely different concepts. When people are crowded, no one can run fast.

"What the hell do?"

"Or...we surrender?"

Death is even more terrifying than the humiliation brought by surrender.

Especially Wenhan, Mashali, Charles and others, their power has no meaning on the battlefield. When facing the enemy, they will even be killed with great attention because of their high status.

Ordinary soldiers may not have to die, but they are likely to die in chaos.

While hesitating, the sound of cannons had already sounded.

More than fifty mother artillery fired at the same time, and the black shells spanned nearly a hundred meters and hit the coalition forces.

It was not what Charles said to be the solid bomb. Although the Qing court opened the switch, he looked down on the Qing court too much. As early as 1717, the mother-child cannon changed from solid bombs to explosive bombs. Unfortunately, it has not made any progress for more than a hundred years.

In a blast, hundreds of people were killed or injured before the coalition forces could fire.

There is another advantage of the mother-child cannon, which is that compared with other artillery artillery in the Qing court, the rate of fire was much faster.

After only a few screams, the shells had been reloaded over fifty mother cannons there.

Another round of volleys without hesitation, and the coalition forces were completely in chaos.

So they did not notice that a total of 53 female artillery fired in two rounds, and one of them was already exploded, and the artillery next to them died on the spot.

Wu Yan saw it, so his face looked ugly.

If you use this kind of artillery to fight against the coalition forces, if you really encounter a regular army with advanced artillery, his top scholar army will also end up with these coalition forces.

You should know that at this time, the United Kingdom had developed the Armstrong gun. Although it was not the Armstrong gyro-accelerated jet gun and was mainly used on warships, its industrial capacity was hundreds of years ahead of the Qing court.

The same is true for field guns.

During the Napoleon era, French shotgun cannons, or explosion bombs, could hit four or five hundred meters.

"After the founding of the country, we brought all the people and equipment from Yuetuo Island, and it was time to start developing new artillery."

When Wu Yan had this idea, the coalition camp opposite had already raised the white flag.

"Ceasefire."

Wu Yan raised his hands and issued an order, not because he was reluctant to kill these coalition forces, nor because he was for some ransom, but because he didn't want these mother-child cannons to be destroyed again, and he still wanted to keep them to fight against the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom and the Qing soldiers.

"Let them all put down their weapons, and everyone squatted down with their heads with their heads in their arms."

Some cavalry rushed over and shouted. Although they were shouting Chinese, some of the coalition forces were people who knew Chinese, especially British Minister Wen Han, American Minister Mashali and others.

They who survived from death did not dare to make any small moves and surrendered one after another.

So Wu Yan had more than 4,000 prisoners, more than 4,000 muskets, and a large number of ammunition.

"Sure enough, it's the best way to make a fortune in war."

Wu Yan saw that although he had won the battle and had a great victory, the top scholar soldiers who were still a little panicked, began a full-armed training.

"I, Zhao Wuji, have been open and honest for the past half of my life, and have made great contributions to the Qing court, but the Qing court wants to kill me."

"I, Zhao Wuji, have a patriotic heart and want to resist the barbarians for the land of China, but the Qing court only knew how to sell the country and seek temporary stability."

"I, Zhao Wuji, love soldiers like my sons, repay the money that the Qing court forced you to donate, and even mentioned your money that you paid from 1 tael a month to 5 tael a month, but the Qing court said you are not worthy and you are not worthy."

At this time, although the prestige of the Qing court had not yet dropped to freezing point, it was not much different. Before, Wu Yan broke up and reorganized Jiangbei Daying and Wuying in order to allow those who had rebelled with the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to convey the idea of ​​not recognizing the court but only recognizing generals.

This also caused that even the Eight Banners soldiers who were Manchu might not be willing to obey the Qing court. After all, not all the Eight Banners children can enjoy wealth and glory, otherwise, why should they join the army?

When Wu Yan captured Senggelinqin, who was holding the imperial edict, these people did not rebel against him, so they would not rebel against him at this moment.

"To this day, I, Zhao Wuji, have to rebel, and I have to rebel."

"Those who do not want to follow me can leave today. I, Zhao Wuji, guaranteed my life and did not attack my brothers. If I meet on the battlefield in the future, it would be life and death."

"As the saying goes, wealth and honor have a destiny. Those who wish to follow me, Zhao Wuji, to make achievements should not believe in the destiny of heaven. Wealth and honor are all in me."

"From today, I, Zhao Wuji, will fight against the Qing Dynasty and restore the Ming Dynasty, quell the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebellion, and be majestic in all directions!"
Chapter completed!