Chapter 001: Good Gun!

  Winchester M1894, lever-action rifle, 11mm caliber, plum-red stock, orange-yellow receiver, and jet-black barrel all blended together, in the misty rain of early morning, like an unfortunate fallen princess from a previous dynasty.

  "What a great gun!"

  Zhou Xuanzhang crawled in the wet grass, looking at Yao Xi under the pine tree to his left front, gritting his teeth and sighing hatefully.

  Yao Xi's hand grasped a Winchester rifle, while Zhou Xianzhang's hand held a German 1988 Commission Rifle.

  The German Commission Rifle of 1888 was a whole generation behind the Winchester M1894!

  Even the most advanced Arisaka rifle of the Japanese army was far inferior to the Winchester M1894 in performance.

  The Winchester single-shot rifle is superior to the Murata rifle in both mechanical construction and gun body shape. The Winchester single-shot, the Murata single-shot; the Winchester loads 15 rounds, the Murata loads 8 rounds; the Winchester has an effective killing range of 800 meters, the Murata has an effective killing range of 400 meters, only half that of the Winchester...

  The only thing that can rival Winchester is its barrel length and weight, which are the same as Winchester's, 1.1 meters and 4.5 kilograms. However, Murata is too plain and when placed alongside the almost luxurious Winchester, Murata looks like a firewood stick!

  Zhou Xuanzhang stared at Yao Xi's back, filled with regret and despair.

  "No matter how good a gun is, if it's in the hands of an idiot, it's just a fire poker. No, even worse than a fire poker!" Zhou Xuanzhang sighed heavily.

  The whole camp had five hundred people and five hundred guns, but only one Winchester rifle, which happened to fall into the hands of Yao Xi, that fool. No, it was in Yao Xi's arms!

  Yao Xi tightly hugged Winchester, just like hugging a naked woman, and to make matters worse, the guy's butt was raised high, occasionally rising and falling, making people suspect that he was feeling up Winchester's gun muzzle!

  Yao Xi has just married a wife, and it's not the time to be patient. However, no matter what, there is still an essential difference between a gun barrel and a woman's body! This damn Yao Xi has reached the point of being desperate for food!

  Zhou Xuanzhang really couldn't understand why Captain Shang would give the best gun in the whole squad to an idiot!

  Zhou Xuanzhang shook his head helplessly, avoiding Yao Xi's nauseating buttocks with his eyes, scanning the scene. At this glance, he finally understood why Shangguan would hand over Winchester to a fool.

  The reason is simple, all the soldiers in the whole army are idiots!

  Twenty-four soldiers ambushed at Anchengdu, one more ferocious than the other!

  Lai Chuanwu, with a thick beard, leaned against the rock with a German Mauser rifle in his arms. He picked his nose and wiped it on the gun's stock. On the battlefield, one's rifle is their life! This guy treats his own life so cheaply, he's undoubtedly the biggest fool of all time!

  The skinny monkey, Hu Wengua, stood on the barren high ground, drenched by the rain like a drowned rat. A shiny British Schneider rifle shook back and forth in his chicken-claw-like hands. The Schneider rifle was also a good gun, unfortunately it had fallen into Hu Wengua's hands and could only be used as a rolling pin now.

  The flag bearer, Na Ha Wu, was crouching in a pit with his legs bent, carrying a French Kassburg rifle on his shoulder. His teeth were clenched and making cracking sounds. No wonder, squatting like this for so long would cramp anyone's legs before even seeing the Japanese. This guy is said to be a descendant of Kangxi Emperor's eldest brother, but after just a few generations, he has degenerated into an idiot. It seems that the fate of the Qing dynasty has reached its end.

  ……

  Twenty-four soldiers' postures were varied and strange, but none of them had a correct sleeping posture.

  These twenty-four soldiers were ordered to set up an ambush! According to Naha Five's words, it was to give the Japanese a headache.

  At this rate, even if these guys managed to land a lucky punch on the Japanese, the Japanese would still be able to bite back hard and tear off a big chunk of flesh!

  Zhou Xuanzhang wiped the rain from his face and shifted his gaze away from those twenty-four soldiers who made him anxious.

  At the foot of the mountain, a small river with an unknown name flowed silently in the misty rain. The river was 25 meters wide, and its two banks were steep cliffs. A small stone bridge spanned the river from north to south. The bridge had been damaged for years, its body broken and its railing incomplete. The bridge was narrow, only allowing two people to pass shoulder-to-shoulder.

  After crossing the Yalu River, Zhou Xuan Zhang had seen many such mountain bridges. Korea is a mountainous country with streams and rivers crisscrossing between mountains, often with small bridges spanning over the valleys, hidden among green hills and verdant cypress trees. This scenery would be an excellent subject for landscape paintings if it fell into the eyes of scholars and poets. But in Zhou Xuan Zhang's eyes, it represented dead horses, crippled soldiers, dwindling food supplies, and the hunger that followed.

  From a purely tactical point of view, this was an ambush with all the advantages on one side.

  In terms of terrain, Zuo Zongtang's 24 battalions occupied the absolutely advantageous ambush terrain, overlooking and blocking the only way the Japanese army had to pass - Anchengdu. The Japanese could only launch a strong attack on the stone bridge to reach the south bank of Anchengdu, but there was no cover on the small bridge that spanned 25 zhang, and the Japanese soldiers who rushed onto the stone bridge would become live targets for the Qing army.

  As for the weapons, the rifles in their hands were American Winchester, German Mauser, British Schneider and French Kassburg, all of which outperformed the Japanese Arisaka rifle and could control the bridgehead 300 meters away.

  In terms of combat effectiveness, the Qing army was stationed locally and waited for the enemy to become exhausted, while the Japanese army had been marching long distances and was physically exhausted.

  However, Zhou Xuan Zhang was completely uncertain in his heart.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang occupies a strategic location with geographical advantages and superior weapons, but he doesn't have a single qualified soldier.

  Zhenglian Army is a regular army of the country, with the highest military pay and the best weapons, but their training level is not even comparable to that of the local militia.

  What's even more exaggerated is that sixty percent of the soldiers in this battalion, just like Yao Xi who held onto his Winchester rifle and thought of his wife, were newly recruited before going abroad. In fact, many people weren't even recruited, but were forcibly conscripted!

  The implicit rule of the Qing army is to eat empty salaries, and a full-strength battalion actually only has 200-300 people. When the imperial court gives an order to go to war, the officials panic, scrambling to assemble a decent-looking army by any means necessary.

  Na Ha Wu is a veteran, but this guy doesn't even understand the basic principles of shooting in a kneeling position. Heaven knows where the bullets will fly!

  Such a major expeditionary operation abroad, and yet the Qing Empire sent out such an army!

  Such an army can't even beat bandits with long spears and big knives, how can they fight against the Japanese? The Japanese have the Village Tree style rifle, although its performance is not as good as Winchester, it's still a proper rifle!

  What's worse, the morale of these soldiers is extremely low. Korea has almost no official roads, and it's been nearly two months since we entered Korea, with endless mountains and rivers to cross every day. This army, which was originally composed of a group of fools, had its morale worn out by the continuous high mountains and rapid rivers.

  Such soldiers can't stand the sight of blood, and when a comrade's body starts bleeding, they completely lose their remaining courage. At that time, it's every man for himself, and whoever runs the fastest will survive.

  Zhou Xunzhang did not expect these troops to be able to stop the Japanese, and setting up an ambush at Anchengdu was just a reconnaissance in force. If they could gain an advantage, that would be best; if not, they wouldn't force it, and after firing, they would retreat to avoid casualties and maintain morale.

  The key battle took place in Chengwan, where the Qing army had built a solid fortress equipped with Gatling guns and strong firepower.

  It's easy to say, but hard to do. It requires coordination between the front and back, gradual withdrawal, covering fire and alternating retreats. If everyone runs away like a swarm of bees, they will all become live targets for the Japanese.

  So, Zhou Xuan Zhang did not require these twenty-four soldiers to have standardized postures, standardized shooting postures, reasonable individual combat tactics and scattered cooperation. These simple individual combat tactics were really too high for these mobs.

  Zhou Xuzhang only asked them to do one thing: all actions must be commanded! No command, no talking; no command, no shooting; no command, no running; no command, no shitting or pissing!

  However, Zhou Xuanzhang is worried that even this point may not be achievable for them.

  A rustling sound came from behind, Zhou Xuan Zhang was very annoyed, and didn't know which careless guy dared to leave his post.

  A little soldier climbed up behind Zhou Xuanzhang and said in a low voice: "General, everything is ready, let's teach the Japanese a lesson they'll never forget!"

  Zhou Xuan Zhang forcibly suppressed a bellyful of anger.

  Xiao Muzi's name was Zhao Xiaoman, who had just turned 15 years old. At that time, the government ordered each household to send one able-bodied man for labor service to transport military supplies. The Zhao family had three people: his sister, mother and himself. Having no choice, the underage Zhao Xiaoman had to take on the task and became a porter, carrying grain, grass and ammunition as he followed the troops across the Yalu River.

  The troops had crossed the river and arrived in a foreign land, their morale was getting worse day by day, deserters were increasing, plus those who fell behind due to illness and hunger, some sentry teams lost up to 30% of their personnel, which was not good for discipline. Commander Ye Zhi-chao actually ordered that the coolies be drafted into the combat troops to fill the gaps. In this way, Zhao Xiao-man, carrying a Mauser rifle almost as tall as himself, inexplicably became a regular soldier.

  The Qing army is not short of guns, but short of men.

  Zhou Xuan Zhang couldn't scold a fifteen-year-old kid, even if he was wearing the uniform of the Qing army.

  Moreover, Zhao Xiaoman is considered to be one of the smarter ones among these twenty-four soldiers.

  Zhou Xuanzhang assigned the task of setting up an ambush upstream of Anchengdu to Zhao Xiaoman. This task was the key to success or failure in this operation, and such a crucial task, Zhou Xuanzhang did not dare to assign to Yao Xi, Na Ha Wu or other fools.

  "Get back to your position!" Zhou Xianzhang said with suppressed anger.

  "Reporting to Master, I want to pee." Zhao Xiaoman said solemnly.

  "Shut up!"

  "I can't hold it in anymore!"

  "Get back to your position!"

  "Roger!" Zhao Xiaoman responded, exerting himself to climb. This kid was climbing really fast, and in the blink of an eye, he had climbed 7 or 8 meters. Just as he was about to disappear into the forest, Zhou Xianzhang hastily shouted: "Zhao Xiaoman!"

  "General End is here!" Zhao Xiaoman had never been a soldier, he didn't know that the "End General" on the stage was either the Commander-in-Chief or the Provincial Military Governor. A small soldier dared to call himself the End General, if the camp officer knew about this, his head would be in danger.

  "Remember, never fire the shot!"

  "What if they start shooting?"

  Zhao Xiaoman had only seen battles on the opera stage, and in the military camp he could only understand the opera script. Zhou Xuanzhang had no choice but to use opera stage language to issue orders: "You can't fire your gun, violators will be beheaded!"

  "Ah!"

  "Get out!"

  Zhao Xiaoman disappeared into the thicket.

  Zhou Xuanzhang let out a soft sigh. Zhao Xiaoman was not a soldier, he was still just a child, and once the shooting started, he wouldn't be able to hit the enemy, but would instead attract the accurate fire of the Japanese army, putting his life in danger.

  Zhou Xuanzhang only hoped that the war would end soon, and he could send Zhao Xiaoman back to his hometown safely, handing him over to his mother and sister.

  But this hope is very slim.

  Because Zhou Xuanzhang knew that in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Qing Empire would surely lose!

  The Qing army will pay a heavy price! Many people will stay in the mountains and valleys of Korea, never to return to their homeland again!