Kangxi: Galdan, get down!

Forced into a corner, the old craftsman trembled as he took the telescope and examined it carefully for a full quarter of an hour before putting it down, revealing a meticulous expression.

"General, this must have involved wrapping a large amount of gunpowder inside linen, but linen alone would leak gunpowder and gas, and wouldn't produce such an explosion. So we need to try it repeatedly to know for sure!"

Upon hearing this, Tu Hai released the old craftsman. As long as the research could be completed, it would be of great help to the Qing Dynasty. At the very least, it would be a good tool for defending cities, especially for fortified cities like those in Hubei.

"Take this man to the artisan camp. If these artisans cannot develop the product within a month, their entire families will be executed!"

After the craftsman was taken away, Tu Hai waved his hand!

"Issue my order: sound the retreat!"

Tu Hai's desperate siege was carried out on the orders of Emperor Kangxi, who was determined to force the Han army to use gunpowder bags at any cost, hoping to get the artisans to imitate them.

The easy capture of Zhangjiakou and Juyongguan led to the inability to defend Beijing, causing Emperor Kangxi to develop a great fear of this unknown firearm.

After giving the order, Tu Hai noticed that the other Eight Banner generals all looked puzzled, while others stroked their beards and showed smug expressions.

"Back then, the Ming Dynasty's artillery was incredibly powerful. Now, our Great Qing Dynasty also possesses it, and uses it even better. Today's urgent battle is merely to discern its strength, so as to launch a counterattack against the Han traitors!"

"However, we Eight Banners must not forget horsemanship and archery!"

The Manchu Eight Banners generals all nodded in approval, but the Mongol and Han Eight Banners generals rolled their eyes, saying, "When firearms and cavalry archery are acquired by you Manchus, you'll be nothing!"

……

With the sudden retreat of the Manchu troops, Galdan on the city wall figured out what had happened.

The Qing dynasty's high command probably just wanted to see the gunpowder packs so they could imitate them; otherwise, why would they retreat as soon as they used them? That's not normal at all.

However, this flying thunder cannon was merely a last resort for soldiers in later generations when conditions were insufficient, and it was not actually that miraculous.

If the Han Dynasty wanted to conquer the world, it still needed large-scale coordinated cavalry, infantry, and artillery operations; this is the mark of a great power.

At this time, Zhao Liangdong had already arranged for the 10,000 men guarding the city to rotate shifts, with veterans leading new recruits to familiarize themselves with the 5,000 flintlock muskets brought by Galdan.

This can be considered a different kind of training exercise. Most of the soldiers have already used the new flintlock muskets. If they can return alive, they will be the seeds of the new army.

Time flies, and half a month has passed in the blink of an eye. The Qing troops still attacked the city on time.

Since a large number of Green Standard Army soldiers came from the southeast, Tu Hai was actually training troops. The 30,000 to 40,000 Green Standard Army soldiers were divided into ten echelons, and they retreated after two or three hundred soldiers were killed in battle.

The Han army, on the other hand, continued with the same old tactics: using gunpowder packets filled with molten gold. By now, they had used up a pound of primer and started dismantling the gunpowder packets weighing ten or twenty pounds each, repackaging them into smaller packets weighing one or two pounds each, and filling them with sharp stones or tiles.

On the third day of the seventh month in 1674, Galdan and Zhao Liangdong were still eating dog meat with cheap barley wine, and they were enjoying their meal.

Just then, the familiar sound of siege drums rang out again, indicating that the Qing army was about to attack the city once more.

"Your Majesty, look! That's the Yellow Dragon Banner! I never expected Kangxi would actually dare to come. And I don't know where he came from, but he's also brought in over 30,000 Green Standard Army soldiers. With these two armies combined, we probably have a force of 100,000!"

The sharp-eyed Zhao Liangdong immediately spotted a huge flag of the Qing army's central command a mile away, and his expression turned incredulous.

Galdan had already seen it, and upon hearing this, he shook his head.

"Kangxi was extremely concerned about his reputation. When I called him a bastard in Beijing, I chased him for dozens of miles, forcing Kangxi to abandon his Eight Banners family and Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang and flee."

"As the saying goes, a gentleman doesn't leave a grudge unavenged. I'm stuck here, and if Kangxi doesn't come, I'll look down on him! But to gather this 100,000 troops, it seems they've drawn troops from the border."

Perhaps knowing there were no heavy cannons on the city wall, Kangxi led three hundred guards and the Yellow Dragon Banner directly to the city wall. Fearing that Galdan could not hear him, he shouted with almost all his might.

"Galdan, I am currently besieging Pei County with 100,000 elite troops. If you surrender today, I will grant you the title of Banner Prince and will certainly not make things difficult for you!"

That ambiguous smile, that ambiguous anger, made Galdan a little uneasy. He was certain that if he were captured alive by Kangxi, he would be in a situation where he would rather die than live.

Since he had already made an enemy of Kangxi, he might as well make more enemies, otherwise he would be at a loss. With that thought, Galdan stuck his head out of the arrow sack and showed a mocking expression.

"Kang Mazi, have you forgotten that you were chased by me for dozens of miles, abandoning all the families of the Eight Banners, and even your grandmother ran away—no, it should be your mother, Bumbutai. You could do such a despicable thing, and now you still have the nerve to make promises to me? Who would believe you!"

"Why don't you come up here? I promise I won't harm you!"

"how?"

Damn... Shameless!

When Kangxi heard Galdan bring up his identity again, his face turned red with anger, and the guards beside him were afraid that Kangxi would die of anger.

"Galdan, you yourself are nothing but a scoundrel who falsely claims ancestry. If Liu Bang knew he had such a beastly, fake descendant, he'd probably crawl out of his grave!"

After hurling a string of random curses, Emperor Kangxi seemed to remember something, so he let out a long breath, raised his right hand in a gesture of swearing, and spoke almost word by word.

"By imperial decree, whoever captures or kills Galdan alive shall be granted the title of Prince, with a fiefdom to govern a province forever!"

"I will never break my promise!"

"If I break this oath, may I be struck by lightning!"

The guards beside Kangxi were all gleaming with envy, wishing they could fly to the top of Pei County, capture Galdan, and become a prince with their own fiefdom.

Seeing that the guard was still in a daze, Kangxi lashed him with his whip and then scolded him.

"You scoundrel, why aren't you conveying my imperial edict?"

As the guards rode swiftly to spread the word, the reward promised by Kangxi spread almost throughout the entire area surrounding Pei County, giving all the Green Standard Army generals a jolt of excitement.

Kangxi was still young and would live at least another twenty or thirty years. With such a solemn oath to be made as a prince, the chances of him going back on his word were extremely low. That meant he could remain a prince for twenty or thirty years.

The temptation was so great that it immediately ignited the fighting spirit of the entire army, and everyone began to shout.

"Long live the Emperor! Galdan has been captured alive!"

"Long live the Emperor! Galdan has been captured alive!"

……

The shouts, like a tidal wave, almost covered the entire Pei County, and Galdan's expression changed.

"It seems Kang Mazi has completely gone mad!"

"Minister Zhao, immediately arrange for the most elite soldiers to defend the city. Make sure we hold out until today. Tell the soldiers that reinforcements will arrive tomorrow!"

No sooner had Galdan finished speaking than his army surged forward like a tidal wave, pushing a massive number of siege ladders with the speed of an engine.

Almost all four walls of Pei County were guarded by 20,000 troops waiting to attack, while the main force of 20,000 Eight Banner troops remained stationed behind to oversee the battle.

These Green Standard Army generals, under the reward offered by Emperor Kangxi, were filled with boundless fighting spirit, just like the Three Feudatories of yesteryear. In fact, there was no need for them to supervise the battle.