Chapter 825: War Begins!

Zhongling Pass.

With the arrival of the final batch of Qin-style Rifles, war was imminent.

Ordering the officers to distribute the Qin-style Rifles, Chang Wei summoned Qin Shan, Guan Tong, and Lv Chang.

The Qin-style Rifles were primarily distributed to the soldiers under the three men's command.

But those who took the Qin-style Rifles had to take on the task of storming the fortifications.

"For a month, the soldiers have basically mastered the firing points and corresponding tactics of the Qin-style Rifles. Is there any problem with taking Zhongling Pass this time?" Chang Wei said, staring into the eyes of the three.

Guan Tong stood straight as a ramrod. Among the three, he was the most talkative, and he spoke up first: "When we had the Front-loading Rifled Muskets, this subordinate could have led the troops to capture Zhongling Pass, let alone now that we are equipped with Qin-style Rifles. This subordinate is willing to lead the Third Army of the Prince's Personal Army to be the first to scale the walls of Zhongling Pass."

After the military reorganization, he and the two men, Qin Shan and Lv Chang, no longer held the title of Captain, but had been promoted to Zhenwu General, each commanding three Captains and thirty thousand men.

However, because the Wu army had reached the south bank of the Jiujiang, one Captain from his command and one from Qin Shan's had been dispatched to the north bank of the Jiujiang.

Currently, there were seventy thousand men at Zhongling Pass.

Except for the soldiers under Lv Chang, which were at full strength, both he and Qin Shan were short by ten thousand.

But even so, he wanted to snatch the first-attack mission.

"If there is to be a first attack, it should be our First Army. One and three—can't you count?" Qin Shan glared at Guan Tong upon hearing this.

The three had a good private relationship, but on the battlefield, he would not yield to Guan Tong.

"Oh, stop arguing, you two. There's nothing to argue about. Isn't it obvious who should get the first-attack mission?" Lv Chang spread his hands. "Whoever has more troops now gets the first attack."

Guan Tong and Qin Shan exchanged a look and cursed in unison: "So what if you have thirty thousand? Your thirty thousand aren't necessarily a match for our twenty thousand."

"Heh, the two of you are acting like you're in the same pair of pants now. What, not convinced? Want to spar?" Lv Chang rolled up his sleeves. "Both of you come at me together; if you can beat me, the first attack is yours."

As his voice fell, Chang Wei slammed the table. "What are you doing? Is fighting a war like buying groceries? Haggling here—if you keep arguing, all of you can go patrol the north bank of the Jiujiang. There are plenty of officers who want to fight; I'm not short of the three of you."

Chang Wei was angry.

The three, Qin Shan and the others, immediately became obedient, each putting on a grinning face. "Whatever the General says, goes."

With a huff, Chang Wei said: "This time, attacking Zhongling Pass, you are all on the first attack. I give you five days to take Zhongling Pass. If you can't take it, I'll strip you of your ranks and send you all back to the North Camp to feed the pigs."

"Yes, General." The three stood at attention and gave Chang Wei a military salute.

After giving these orders, Chang Wei walked out of the tent and looked toward Zhongling Pass, six miles away.

Just half a month ago, they were still stationed two miles from Zhongling Pass.

But unexpectedly, in the middle of the night, they suffered bombardment from the enemy's Artillery.

During the withdrawal, he discovered that the effective range of the enemy's Artillery reached about fifteen hundred meters.

This was clearly not the effective range that Shizu Artillery should have.

Therefore, there was only one possibility: there were Artillery from the Ross nation on the walls of Zhongling Pass.

After all, through reconnaissance by the Hot Air Balloon Troop, a large number of Northern Di soldiers had been discovered at Zhongling Pass.

According to their intelligence, this was the army of Ashuer, the younger brother of Mule Hongzhen.

During this period, the Ross nation had sold quite a few firearms and Artillery to the Northern Di.

To deal with this situation and reduce losses, he ordered the digging of Trenches during the soldiers' training.

Trench fortifications were constructed beneath the walls of Zhongling Pass.

Discovering this, the Shizu Army and Northern Di army at Zhongling Pass also began to dig Trenches.

Both sides thought of digging fortifications.

Consequently, now, within a range of three hundred meters from the city gate, it was all Shizu Trenches.

Their Trenches were blocked at three hundred meters away.

"Ashuer, let's have a contest this time." Chang Wei clenched his fists.

He knew of this Ashuer's reputation; in the Northern Di, besides Mule Hongzhen, Ashuer was the most capable at fighting and winning battles.

Moreover, the soldiers under Ashuer were more familiar with firearms, and it was said that they were also extremely fierce in hand-to-hand combat.

This could be seen from the fact that he was able to conquer Tibet in a short time.

But even so, he remained full of confidence in his own soldiers.

In every war, the officers and soldiers under his command had been tempered by blood and fire.

On the battlefield, their individual martial prowess was not inferior to the Northern Di, and perhaps even slightly superior.

Not to mention that this time they were equipped with the terrifying Qin-style Rifles.

As an officer who commanded in battle, he was naturally very sensitive to changes in firearms.

After the first Qin-style Rifle arrived in the army, he was convinced that the Qin-style Rifle was the future of firearms.

First, compared to the Front-loading Rifled Musket, the Qin-style Rifle was very flexible.

On the battlefield, after firing one shot with a Front-loading Rifled Musket, a soldier had to stand up to reload the Bullet.

This would expose the soldier to danger.

Moreover, although the Bullet of the Front-loading Rifled Musket was conical and easy to load, it still required the soldier to use a Ramrod to ram the Bullet in, and the loading steps were cumbersome.

But the Qin-style Rifle completely lacked this flaw.

Soldiers could load the Bullet in any posture; they could even load while lying prone.

Furthermore, loading was very convenient; one only needed to pull open the Breech Bolt, insert the Bullet, and close it.

Precisely because the loading was simplified so much, the Qin-style Rifle could fire ten times in one minute, almost twice that of the Front-loading Rifled Musket.

Of course, there was one more important point: because their Front-loading Rifled Muskets were modified based on flintlocks, the effective range was only about four hundred meters.

Although Yan Wang said the Front-loading Rifled Musket still had potential and could reach nine hundred meters.

But compared to the previously equipped firearms, the effective range of the Qin-style Rifle had increased, reaching six hundred meters.

With excellent soldiers paired with such excellent rifles, not to mention Ashuer, even if the armies of the Ross nation and Britain came in person, he could still beat them to a pulp.

Thinking of this, he walked through the camp and went to the temporary Drill Ground.

At this moment, the soldiers were training.

The content of this training was mainly the techniques for using the Qin-series rifle.

For instance, at this moment, there were soldiers crawling forward on the ground while holding Qin-series rifles.

There were also soldiers holding Qin-series rifles to practice standing, kneeling, and prone shooting postures.

There were also small squads, organized by banners, practicing tactical point-capture operations.

After inspecting the results of the soldiers' training, Chang Wei was very satisfied.

Without a doubt, from now on, the combat style of the Prince's Personal Army had completely changed.

Three days later, after the last batch of soldiers equipped with Qin-series rifles finished their adaptation training, Chang Wei issued the order to attack.

Under the commanders' orders, the soldiers carried their Qin-series rifles and entered the trenches.

The artillerymen quickly set up positions for the howitzers and rifled cannons.

They aimed the muzzles at the walls of Zhongling Pass.

The unusual movements of the Prince's Personal Army immediately alerted the garrison commander of Zhongling Pass.

This garrison commander was none other than Ashuer.

Beside Ashuer was an officer from the Ross nation.

It was Aersiji, who had fought against the Ningjin Army alongside the Copper Bull Royal Tent last time.

This time, he was under orders from Ivan to assist Ashuer.