Nevermiss#1723
Chieftain
- Joined
- Nov 18, 2016
- Messages
- 1
The year was 1790 and the mighty chinese empire had grown to encompass nearly all the territory on the continent they called Australis. They had learned early on that they were far from the only civilization on this continent but they were the only civilization intent on extending its influence abroad and increasing the size of its borders.
Over the centuries of its existence the Chinese empire had grown to include six cities. Xi'an, Taiyuan, Chengdu, Wuhan, Shandong, and Shanghai. The Chinese had neighboring states on Australis. They were all to the North of the Chinese Capital of Xi'an and called themselves Geneva, Stockholm, and Valletta. Throughout the centuries Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi had worked tirelessly to build relations with these states and establish reliable trade routes. They had worked together numerous times to fight back barbarians and rebel groups that had emerged from the wilds of Australis and this also had the effect of tying them closer together.
Due to the relative peace on Australis, the Chinese had largely focused their efforts on technological advancement and the propagation and development of their culture. They had maintained only a small military force and with the exception of a few small tribal invasions maintained peace. This was until 1790.
In July of 1790 reports reached the desk of Liu Bengdu, the emperor's minister of defense, that scouts to the far south in the jungles beneath Taiyuan had spotted "a sizeable rebel force moving north through the jungle" this movement came as a total surprise to the Chinese government as the only rebel force known in this area had been crushed in 1250 A.D. after they had attempted to raid Xi'an. The initial invasions in 1230 were relatively successful as the chinese had maintained a bare bones military and had not constructed any type of military fortifications along Xi'an's southern edge. Small invasions continued for some five years before the Chinese military had managed to form up some sort of military and they marched southward at the emperor's command. The force was swiftly repelled by a determined force of rebels who had dug into a defensive position and founded a small encampment at the edge of a massive jungle. The emperor was forced to reconsider his approach. He ordered the construction of a massive wall lining the southern edge of Xi'an at the banks of the Jade River and began training warriors to fight on horseback.
During the next ten years the rebels continually came but the chinese military managed to keep them from crossing the Jade into Xi'an proper. Once the walls were completed in 1245 the Emperor ordered his new modernized military, primarily atop horses, to push southward once more. From the tops of the so called "Great wall" Chinese archers pummeled rebel forces below that had begun gathering outside a few months after the walls completion. Shortly afterword the gate flew open and out poured Chinese Horsemen. The horseman and the archers proved to be too much for the rebels who fled back into the mountains to the south. The horseman were ordered to pursue and that they did. They engaged several bands of rebels to considerable success but once they reached the jungle their luck changed. The rebel leaders had anticipated this. Large numbers of rebels wielding strange weapons and outfitted in hard armor emerged from the jungles and dealt the horseman a deadly blow. The horseman force by now dwindled down to a mere fifty retreated all the way back to the Great Wall in late 1246. The emperor, still impressed at the Horseman's initial successes, ordered the training of more.
Some time later the rebel forces appeared before the Great Wall once more. The emperor had reinforced the wall with more archers and more importantly with baseline Chinese warriors. These forces held for sometime but the Horseman would be needed to repel the assault. After a week of fighting the horses again emerged and once again to devastating effect. The rebel forces worn down by a week of continuous combat were taken completely by surprise by an attack from the side. The horses pursued only to be met with more rebel reinforcements. This conflict went on for another three years and the horsemen earned the title "The Stonewall Ponies" due to them later adopting a strategy of hit and run attacks revolving around retreating back to the Great Wall. Eventually Chinese forces purged the rebel encampment in early 1250 and never looked back. During this conflict the chinese had noticed the plethora of life and materials present in the southern jungles and along the mountain range and had decided to found the city of Taiyuan in 1264. The city was slow to grow but when roads were established with Xi'an the settlement flourished. in 1320 the great Taiyuan Campus was constructed. This campus was to become renown not only in China but across all of Australis as the premier facility for education and scientific learning. Peace was maintained from 1264 up until the letter had reached Liu Bengdu's desk in July 1790.
In response to this Threat, Liu Bongdu, ordered the Archers stationed in Xi'an to go to Taiyuan accompanied by a small force of spearman. This force proved to be too little and shortly after the rebels arrived in late 1790 the entire Taiyuan campus and a neighboring mine were razed to the ground and looted. The rebels completely wiped out the spearmen regiment and began assailing the city. The countryside was essentially in a state of occupation and farmers fled to the city centre. The Emperor recalled the famous Stonewall Ponies, who had become a political force all their own after their heroics in the late 1240's as well as their work putting down an uprising to the north in Chengdu aided by the latest chinese invention: the musket. The Ponies arrived in late 1792 after a lengthy journey and found a dire situation. They cleaned up the countryside best they could but alone they were not strong enough to push the rebels back.
Some five months later reinforcements arrived from Xi'an in the form of Musketmen. Together the Stonewall Ponies and the Musketman managed to send the occupying force fleeing south east. The forces were ordered to pursue and that they did. They arrived along the coastline and were mortified when they came upon an advanced encampment. Worse yet, the rebels must have stolen the plans for the chinese muskets when they burned the Taiyuan campus to the ground years ealier as rebel musketmen trained near the encampment. They charged in and were swiftly forced to flee. The Musketmen were entirely annihilated and the stonewall ponies did what they did best: retreated and planned for another ambush. During this period the campuses up north in Shandong had uncovered some significant improvements on the now dated chinese musket.
By 1793 these new guns had gone into use and the first Chinese infantry unit was sent south to Taiyuan to hopefully put an end to the rebel threat once and for all. These new firearms carried more ammunition, were far more accurate, and could be fired at a rapid rate. The Stonewall Ponies joined the Infantrymen in an advance back into the dense jungles. Any resistance they encountered on the way to the encampment was laughably one sided as the infantrymen, fighting using guerilla tactics, proved to be more than a match for the rebel musketmen. The Stonewall Ponies proved to be a far more useful scouting tool that anything because in the jungles their mobility was of little use against the firepower of the rebel muskets. When the Chinese forces emerged from the jungles months later they began their siege of the rebel encampment. The Stonewall Ponies, free of the dense jungles, used their mobility to run behind and flank musketmen while the Infantry distracted them from the front. This combinated wore the rebel numbers down. If things continued in this manner the Chinese would have conquered the encampment by the end of the month. They did not. War waged for another year before the Chinese managed to finally subdue the remaining rebels in large part due to the rebels retreating into the nearby mountains and engaging in hit and run tactics.
The southern threat was finally over and the Taiyuan campus had been reconstructed and even modernized. Plays were devised to retell the heroics of the Stonewall Ponies and the infantrymen and culture flourished again until a mysterious sea going vessel approached Taiyuan in 1801. This boat ushered in a new era for the Chinese in which they were forced to accept they weren't the only empire on this planet and that there was a larger, more dangerous world outside of Australis...
Over the centuries of its existence the Chinese empire had grown to include six cities. Xi'an, Taiyuan, Chengdu, Wuhan, Shandong, and Shanghai. The Chinese had neighboring states on Australis. They were all to the North of the Chinese Capital of Xi'an and called themselves Geneva, Stockholm, and Valletta. Throughout the centuries Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi had worked tirelessly to build relations with these states and establish reliable trade routes. They had worked together numerous times to fight back barbarians and rebel groups that had emerged from the wilds of Australis and this also had the effect of tying them closer together.
Due to the relative peace on Australis, the Chinese had largely focused their efforts on technological advancement and the propagation and development of their culture. They had maintained only a small military force and with the exception of a few small tribal invasions maintained peace. This was until 1790.
In July of 1790 reports reached the desk of Liu Bengdu, the emperor's minister of defense, that scouts to the far south in the jungles beneath Taiyuan had spotted "a sizeable rebel force moving north through the jungle" this movement came as a total surprise to the Chinese government as the only rebel force known in this area had been crushed in 1250 A.D. after they had attempted to raid Xi'an. The initial invasions in 1230 were relatively successful as the chinese had maintained a bare bones military and had not constructed any type of military fortifications along Xi'an's southern edge. Small invasions continued for some five years before the Chinese military had managed to form up some sort of military and they marched southward at the emperor's command. The force was swiftly repelled by a determined force of rebels who had dug into a defensive position and founded a small encampment at the edge of a massive jungle. The emperor was forced to reconsider his approach. He ordered the construction of a massive wall lining the southern edge of Xi'an at the banks of the Jade River and began training warriors to fight on horseback.
During the next ten years the rebels continually came but the chinese military managed to keep them from crossing the Jade into Xi'an proper. Once the walls were completed in 1245 the Emperor ordered his new modernized military, primarily atop horses, to push southward once more. From the tops of the so called "Great wall" Chinese archers pummeled rebel forces below that had begun gathering outside a few months after the walls completion. Shortly afterword the gate flew open and out poured Chinese Horsemen. The horseman and the archers proved to be too much for the rebels who fled back into the mountains to the south. The horseman were ordered to pursue and that they did. They engaged several bands of rebels to considerable success but once they reached the jungle their luck changed. The rebel leaders had anticipated this. Large numbers of rebels wielding strange weapons and outfitted in hard armor emerged from the jungles and dealt the horseman a deadly blow. The horseman force by now dwindled down to a mere fifty retreated all the way back to the Great Wall in late 1246. The emperor, still impressed at the Horseman's initial successes, ordered the training of more.
Some time later the rebel forces appeared before the Great Wall once more. The emperor had reinforced the wall with more archers and more importantly with baseline Chinese warriors. These forces held for sometime but the Horseman would be needed to repel the assault. After a week of fighting the horses again emerged and once again to devastating effect. The rebel forces worn down by a week of continuous combat were taken completely by surprise by an attack from the side. The horses pursued only to be met with more rebel reinforcements. This conflict went on for another three years and the horsemen earned the title "The Stonewall Ponies" due to them later adopting a strategy of hit and run attacks revolving around retreating back to the Great Wall. Eventually Chinese forces purged the rebel encampment in early 1250 and never looked back. During this conflict the chinese had noticed the plethora of life and materials present in the southern jungles and along the mountain range and had decided to found the city of Taiyuan in 1264. The city was slow to grow but when roads were established with Xi'an the settlement flourished. in 1320 the great Taiyuan Campus was constructed. This campus was to become renown not only in China but across all of Australis as the premier facility for education and scientific learning. Peace was maintained from 1264 up until the letter had reached Liu Bengdu's desk in July 1790.
In response to this Threat, Liu Bongdu, ordered the Archers stationed in Xi'an to go to Taiyuan accompanied by a small force of spearman. This force proved to be too little and shortly after the rebels arrived in late 1790 the entire Taiyuan campus and a neighboring mine were razed to the ground and looted. The rebels completely wiped out the spearmen regiment and began assailing the city. The countryside was essentially in a state of occupation and farmers fled to the city centre. The Emperor recalled the famous Stonewall Ponies, who had become a political force all their own after their heroics in the late 1240's as well as their work putting down an uprising to the north in Chengdu aided by the latest chinese invention: the musket. The Ponies arrived in late 1792 after a lengthy journey and found a dire situation. They cleaned up the countryside best they could but alone they were not strong enough to push the rebels back.
Some five months later reinforcements arrived from Xi'an in the form of Musketmen. Together the Stonewall Ponies and the Musketman managed to send the occupying force fleeing south east. The forces were ordered to pursue and that they did. They arrived along the coastline and were mortified when they came upon an advanced encampment. Worse yet, the rebels must have stolen the plans for the chinese muskets when they burned the Taiyuan campus to the ground years ealier as rebel musketmen trained near the encampment. They charged in and were swiftly forced to flee. The Musketmen were entirely annihilated and the stonewall ponies did what they did best: retreated and planned for another ambush. During this period the campuses up north in Shandong had uncovered some significant improvements on the now dated chinese musket.
By 1793 these new guns had gone into use and the first Chinese infantry unit was sent south to Taiyuan to hopefully put an end to the rebel threat once and for all. These new firearms carried more ammunition, were far more accurate, and could be fired at a rapid rate. The Stonewall Ponies joined the Infantrymen in an advance back into the dense jungles. Any resistance they encountered on the way to the encampment was laughably one sided as the infantrymen, fighting using guerilla tactics, proved to be more than a match for the rebel musketmen. The Stonewall Ponies proved to be a far more useful scouting tool that anything because in the jungles their mobility was of little use against the firepower of the rebel muskets. When the Chinese forces emerged from the jungles months later they began their siege of the rebel encampment. The Stonewall Ponies, free of the dense jungles, used their mobility to run behind and flank musketmen while the Infantry distracted them from the front. This combinated wore the rebel numbers down. If things continued in this manner the Chinese would have conquered the encampment by the end of the month. They did not. War waged for another year before the Chinese managed to finally subdue the remaining rebels in large part due to the rebels retreating into the nearby mountains and engaging in hit and run tactics.
The southern threat was finally over and the Taiyuan campus had been reconstructed and even modernized. Plays were devised to retell the heroics of the Stonewall Ponies and the infantrymen and culture flourished again until a mysterious sea going vessel approached Taiyuan in 1801. This boat ushered in a new era for the Chinese in which they were forced to accept they weren't the only empire on this planet and that there was a larger, more dangerous world outside of Australis...
Last edited:
