Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

The guards brought by Zaidun were all selected from the Guards Department. They were very skilled in martial arts. Even if they could not be said to be first-rate, they were very capable. At least they were not much inferior to the soldiers of the Firearms Battalion.

However, when two armies clash, it's not just about skill! It's obvious that after Liu Ye's careful training over this period of time, the Firearms Battalion's coordination in fighting has become much more sophisticated. When they just stretched out their hands, the guards were able to hold on. But after less than a quarter of an hour, the guards couldn't hold on any longer and fell to the ground one after another.

Seeing victory was in sight, the soldiers of the Firearm Battalion became even more rude, punching and kicking, and constantly attacking the guards.

In front of the gate of the Firearm Battalion, there were extremely miserable shouts. The soldiers of the Firearm Battalion almost punched the guards in the flesh. What's more, they raised their boots and kicked the guards hard in the face. In the blink of an eye, the guards were bruised and wailing.

The most unlucky one was a guard who had just gotten up from the ground when Gao Qi kicked him in the heart, sending him flying and landing right on Zaidun's horse.

Zaidun was stunned. These were his own personal guards, carefully selected from the Imperial Guards. As the Emperor's personal troops, they were quite capable. Yet, they were defeated so quickly by the Firearms Battalion! And they didn't rely on their numbers; they were usually just over ten men strong!

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the guard's body bumped into the warhorse. The warhorse was frightened, neighed, and raised its hooves high, knocking the huge Prince of the State off the horse. Zaidun, who was used to a life of luxury, did not have as good skills as Liu Ye, and fell heavily to the ground. The screams immediately drowned out the wailing of everyone else.

Gao Qi was also stunned. Damn it, he couldn't be so mean. I just wanted to beat up these guards to vent my anger. Damn it, why are you rushing forward, Prince of the State? Look carefully, it was your guards who knocked you down. It has nothing to do with me!

The fighting stopped and the guards rushed forward to help Zaidun up.

It took Zaidun a long time to recover from this breath. Now he was still the imperial envoy, and beating the imperial envoy was a more serious crime than the last time!

Zaidun said bitterly, "Okay, okay! You, you bunch of dogs and slaves, actually dared to beat up the imperial envoy, beat up the prince of an entire country! You are really going to rebel!"

Gao Qi quickly shouted, "My Lord, please see clearly. It was your guards who unhorsed you. I have nothing to do with this. All the soldiers present can attest to this! Rebellion is your servant's business. We are the elite of the Qing Dynasty. Defending our country is our duty. Who would rebel?"

We must hold this accountable. Once the charge of assaulting the imperial envoy is brought against us, I'm afraid none of these brothers will survive!

Gao Qi is not stupid at all, he holds on to this point tightly and refuses to let go!

Zaidun took the imperial edict from the hand of the bystander with resentment and shouted, "Alright, I will announce the edict now! The imperial edict has arrived, everyone in the Firearms Battalion, please accept it!"

Gao Qi did not dare to delay and quickly asked the people around him to kneel on the ground.

"Liu Ye, the commander-in-chief of the Firearm Battalion, has allowed his subordinates to besiege the county seat, assault imperial officials, burn farmers' homes, and intimidate imperial envoys. He has disregarded imperial laws and is reckless and lazy. I hereby remove him from his title of admiral, expel him from his position as commander-in-chief of the Firearm Battalion, and fine him one year's salary. He will retain his position as the general of Baoding Town and will immediately take up his post in Baoding upon receiving this order. I have also appointed Zaidun, Duke of Fuguo and Minister of the Imperial Guard, as the commander-in-chief of the Firearm Battalion, commanding part of the Firearm Battalion. He must work diligently and not disappoint me!"

What! You stripped the military commander of his title of admiral, fired him as the commander of the firearms battalion, and fined him a year's salary?

The dozens of soldiers kneeling on the ground immediately became furious. They stood up one by one and roared, "What? On what grounds? Why are you dismissing our commander? On what grounds are you removing him from his post? I refuse to accept this! This imperial edict is fake!"

The enraged soldiers of the Firearms Battalion roared in anger, alarming the soldiers at the camp gate. They all rushed to the camp gate to investigate what was happening. By the time they figured out what was going on, the entire Firearms Battalion was in an uproar. Some of the more ferocious ones stripped off their Qing army uniforms on the spot and said, "I quit! Damn it! You've dismissed such a good general, and you still expect us soldiers to have a good life? Whoever does it will do it!"

Groups of people gathered together, shouting, "I quit! I don't want to do this anymore!" Of course, this was only part of the argument. Another group was even more outrageous. They only saw the imperial envoy announcing the decree, but what about the general? Wouldn't he be thrown into prison by the damn emperor and his officials?

When a few of them started shouting, the firearms camp became even more chaotic!

Several leaders looked at Zaidun with unfriendly expressions. Gao Qi said in a deep voice, "Duke, where is our General? Why didn't he come with you? Even if you are the new commander-in-chief, you still need to complete the handover of the Firearms Battalion before it counts! You can't issue orders until our General has arrived! Do you think we in the Firearms Battalion are all pushovers? If you don't see our General return safely today, forget about returning to the Forbidden City!"

Zaidun's face changed and he shouted, "What did you say? What do you mean? I am the commander of the Firearms Battalion. No one in Tong County, let alone the Forbidden City, dares to restrict my whereabouts!"

Gao Qi sneered, "Even if you're the General, I don't recognize you! If the General returns safely today, fine. If not, we brothers will put you under house arrest and then bring the matter to court! Why should our brothers suffer such great injustice? Why should the General take the blame when corrupt officials are beaten? Even if we have to take the blame, the entire Firearms Battalion of 800 brothers will shoulder it together! Come on, surround this place and serve the Duke!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers below surrounded Zaidun and his group. In a one-on-one fight, the guards from the Imperial Guard Department were no match for them. Now, two or three hundred people from the Firearms Battalion came out in one breath and surrounded them. Even if they were given a pair of wings, they couldn't fly away!

Zaidun now realized that he had really hit a rock. These big-headed soldiers were not to be trifled with! Damn it, forget about being domineering. If Guo Ye hadn't come, I'm afraid I would have suffered!

Gao Qi, standing by, was too busy to care about that. He waved over a Qing soldier and shouted, "Go, get all the captains and captains to come to the camp gate immediately. We need to discuss something. Something's happened to our army!"

The Qing army did not dare to delay. Seeing Captain Gao's expression, they knew that he was going to make a big fuss, so they immediately ran inside!