"So this is the Great Wall? Truly a magnificent sight — but it won't stop my finest men. Give the order: blow it open!"
"Yes, sir!"
With a thunderous blast, a gap tore through a wall that had stood for a thousand years.
The red-haired devils had passed through the gate.
Twenty thousand of them, clad in blue uniforms, shouldering long rifles, poured through the breach like starving wolves onto the heartland of China.
"What a rich and bountiful land this is! The Tsar will reward me handsomely for this!"
"Men, now let us march on the steppe people's imperial capital and see whether their horses are swift enough to carry their whole city away with them!"
The capital fell into chaos once again.
Countless people fled with their children in tow.
Once, the court had fled from this place.
Then the Ming emperor had fled from this place.
Now, the Manchu people were fleeing from this place too.
Truly a city cursed by misfortune.
"Go — go to Dragon City! There is no safer place in the world!"
"White Tiger City will do as well — it has concrete walls that can hold back any enemy who dares attack."
"Moving too slowly? No matter, I'll send carriages to carry you out!"
"Your Honored Majesty the Empress Dowager, please take the carriage with the Emperor!"
The capital, which at its peak had housed nearly a million souls, had only recently recovered to three or four hundred thousand.
The moment news spread that the red-haired devils were marching on the city, half the population vanished in an instant!
Well done, you red-haired devils. We owe you our thanks!
Half a month later, the twenty-thousand-strong foreign army arrived beneath the walls of the capital. The sight of those towering ramparts did not discourage them. They had explosives now — why should they fear a mere wall?
Waves of fearless red-haired soldiers rushed toward the base of the walls from every direction, only to be picked off one by one by the defenders above, who had borrowed a consignment of steel crossbows from the Wolf Corps.
Just as the attackers found themselves at a loss, the earth began to tremble.
"Cavalry!" a soldier cried out in despair.
"Hold steady, men — surely we aren't afraid of a few steppe horsemen? Form ranks! Prepare to fire!"
The foreign musketeers arranged themselves into three rows, one behind the other — the first rank prone, the second kneeling, the third standing.
The classic three-rank volley.
Thunderous gunfire erupted, powder charges detonating in rapid succession. The bullets advanced like a wall of metal.
Even the Wolf Corps could not withstand it unscathed; many riders in the front ranks were thrown from their horses, their fates unknown.
The red-haired soldiers were confident they could shatter the charging cavalry — they had proved it time and again against steppe horsemen. Volley fire was not only devastatingly lethal, but could also terrify the enemy's horses; the closer the range, the greater the effect.
This time, however, they had miscalculated.
The Wolf Corps had studied them thoroughly — one might even say they had studied them inside and out.
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles. The Wolf Corps' horses had their ears plugged!
Boom!
"Loose!"
The Wolf Corps' crossbows returned fire, and a swath of the foreign soldiers fell.
One side shooting crossbow bolts, the other discharging firearms — both took losses.
Boom!
The Wolf cavalry crashed into the foreign ranks.
"Why won't they break!" cried one of the foreign soldiers — and before he could say another word, a blade took off his head.
The Wolf Corps numbered only one regiment: four thousand men.
But behind them rode thirty thousand Manchu cavalry.
Sending the Manchu riders in first would not have worked — one ill-timed volley could have shattered them. But when it came to riding down a fleeing enemy, every last one of them was a master.
The twenty thousand foreign troops collapsed entirely.
Most were on foot and could not run far — they were either cut down or forced to surrender. The few thousand on horseback bled away steadily as they fled. In the end, even the army's commanding officer was taken prisoner.
The post-battle count showed that of the four thousand Wolf cavalry, five or six hundred had been unhorsed — but only just over a hundred had died. Many of those deaths were the result of bad luck: broken necks, or the misfortune of being trampled by their own horses.
The Wolf Corps' armor had proven itself: it could stop a musket ball.
Of the foreign army's twenty thousand men, roughly five thousand were killed. Very few escaped; the overwhelming majority were captured and marched under guard to White Tiger City.
Foreign prisoners of war: a one-year probationary period.
—
The battle report was dispatched to Dragon City, and a copy sent to Guangzhou.
This engagement startled the nations of the world.
The red-haired power was itself one of the players now carving up the globe — yet it seemed a new player had appeared on the board.
Outside the Mingxin Prince Regent's mansion, a line of carriages stood waiting.
Inside one of them, the young emperor sat fidgeting, stealing glances at the mansion's gate. Why hadn't his mother come out yet? She had said she had important matters to discuss with Prince Regent Mingxin — but what could they possibly be discussing?
When the red-haired devils had attacked a few days before, the young emperor and the Empress Dowager had been escorted to White Tiger City in preparation for crossing the river to Dragon City. But the Empress Dowager had changed her mind. After spending a few days at White Tiger City, word arrived that the Wolf Corps and the Manchu army had combined to defeat the foreign invaders. She had insisted on returning to the capital, and her attendants were indifferent; no one else felt it was their place to stop her.
Now, in Mingxin's bedchamber.
Empress Dowager Sarilang sat in a chair, her face cold as frost, her eyes fixed on Mingxin.
"He is still so young — and you want to send him to Dragon City as a hostage? That would ruin his entire life!"
"And staying here, with five prince regents above him, you think he wouldn't be a puppet?"
"It's not the same. If he stays here, he still has a chance!"
Mingxin gave a scornful laugh. "With me here, what chance could he possibly have?"
Seeming to tire of this tedious subject, he rose and walked toward the door. "See the Empress Dowager to her carriage."
The doors swung open and two powerfully built female guards stepped inside.
"Mingxin — no!" Sarilang dropped to her knees and flung her arms around Mingxin's thigh as he passed.
"Mingxin, give me a chance. Give him a chance!"
"What are you two staring at? Do you want to keep your positions or not? Take the Empress Dowager out of here!"
The two guards approached, trembling with fear, and began to pull at Sarilang.
"Mingxin! Then let me ask you one last question!"
"Ask it." Mingxin waved his hand, and the two women who had been tugging at the Empress Dowager immediately let go.
"Mingxin — did you ever love me?"
Mingxin was taken aback, then laughed aloud. "Given where we both stand, you're really asking me that?"
Just as despair closed over Sarilang, she heard Mingxin say: "You were my first woman. I will never forget you."
"Go now. I will see to it that he grows up safely. To be born into circumstances like these and live as an ordinary child — that may not be such a bad fate after all."
"Very well. I trust you to keep your word."
Sarilang rose on her own, held Mingxin's gaze for a long moment, and walked out of the room.
Mingxin stood where he was for a long time.
Forgive me. It is not that I don't love you — only that there is something I love more, and I must protect it.