Editing First Opium War (section)

==== British ====
The British military superiority during the conflict drew heavily on the strength of the Royal Navy.<ref name="victorianweb-1839" />

British warships carried more guns than their Chinese opponents and were manoeuvrable enough to evade Chinese boarding actions. Steam ships such as the ''[[Nemesis (1839)|Nemesis]]'' were able to move against winds and tides in Chinese rivers, and were armed with heavy guns and [[Congreve rocket]]s.<ref name="victorianweb-1839">{{Cite web |title=The Nemesis – Great Britain's Secret Weapon in the Opium Wars, 1839–60 |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/history/empire/opiumwars/nemesis.html |access-date=30 May 2017 |website=www.victorianweb.org}}</ref> Several of the larger British warships in China (notably the third-rates HMS ''Cornwallis'', [[HMS Wellesley (1815)|HMS ''Wellesley'']], and [[HMS Melville (1817)|HMS ''Melville'']]) carried more guns than entire fleets of Chinese junks.<ref name="Hall-1846" />{{Primary source inline|date=November 2022}} British naval superiority allowed the Royal Navy to attack Chinese forts with very little risk to themselves, as British naval cannons out-ranged the vast majority of the Qing artillery.<ref name="Hall-1846" />{{Primary source inline|date=November 2022}}

British soldiers in China were equipped with [[Brunswick rifle]]s and [[Brown Bess musket|rifle-modified Brown Bess muskets]], both of which possessed an effective firing range of 200–300&nbsp;metres.<ref name="Opiumwar blog-2014">{{Cite web |date=22 November 2014 |title=Warfare technology in the Opium War |url=https://opiumwarexhibition.wordpress.com/2014/11/22/warfare-technology-in-the-opium-war/ |access-date=30 May 2017 |website=The Opium War, 1839–1842}}</ref>{{better source needed|reason=this is a wordpress blog that uses total war center, a forum dedicated to a strategy video game, as a source|date=November 2021}} British marines were equipped with [[percussion cap]]s that greatly reduced weapon misfires and allowed firearms to be used in damp environments. In terms of gunpowder, the British formula was better manufactured and contained more sulphur than the Chinese mixture.<ref name="Opiumwar blog-2014" />{{better source needed|reason=this is a wordpress blog that uses total war center, a forum dedicated to a strategy video game, as a source|date=November 2021}} This granted British weapons an advantage in terms of range, accuracy and projectile velocity. British artillery was lighter (owing to improved [[forging]] methods) and more manoeuvrable than the cannons used by the Chinese. As with the naval artillery, British guns out-ranged the Chinese cannon.{{citation needed|date=March 2020}}

In terms of tactics, the British forces in China followed doctrines established during the [[Napoleonic Wars]] that had been adapted during the various colonial wars of the 1820s and 1830s. Many of the British soldiers deployed to China were veterans of [[British conquest of India|colonial wars in India]] and had experience fighting larger but technologically inferior armies.<ref>Jackson, Major Donovan (1940). ''India's Army''. London: Low, Marston. pp. 1–8. {{ISBN|8187226374}}</ref> In battle, the British [[line infantry]] would advance towards the enemy in columns, forming ranks once they had closed to firing range. Companies would commence firing volleys into the enemy ranks until they retreated. If a position needed to be taken, an advance or charge with [[bayonet]]s would be ordered. [[Light infantry]] companies screened the line infantry formations, protecting their flanks and utilising skirmishing tactics to disrupt the enemy.<ref name="Luscombe" /> British artillery was used to destroy the Qing artillery and break up enemy formations. During the conflict, the British superiority in range, rate of fire, and accuracy allowed the infantry to deal significant damage to their enemy before the Chinese could return fire.<ref>Kim Joosam "An Analysis of the Process of Modernization in East Asia and the Corresponding changes in China and Japan after the Opium Wars", ''Asian Study'' 11.3 (2009). ''The Korean Association of Philippine Studies''. Web.</ref>{{full citation needed|reason=cites web without url|date=November 2022}} The use of naval artillery to support infantry operations allowed the British to take cities and forts with minimal casualties.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Welcome to Zhenhai coast defence history museum |url=http://www.zhkhfsg.com/en/about.asp |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054623/http://www.zhkhfsg.com/en/about.asp |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=30 May 2017 |website=www.zhkhfsg.com}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=September 2021}}<ref name="Hederic">Hederic, p. 234</ref>{{Failed verification|date=September 2021}}

The overall strategy of the British during the war was to inhibit the finances of the Qing Empire, with the ultimate goal of acquiring a colonial possession on the Chinese coast. This was accomplished through the capture of Chinese cities and by blockading major river systems.<ref name="Cone">Cone, Daniel. [http://history.emory.edu/home/documents/endeavors/volume4/Cone.pdf An Indefensible Defense:The Incompetence of Qing Dynasty Officials in the Opium Wars, and the Consequences of Defeat] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170828210706/http://history.emory.edu/home/documents/endeavors/volume4/Cone.pdf |date=28 August 2017 }}.</ref> Once a fort or city had been captured, the British would destroy the local arsenal and disable all of the captured guns.<ref name="Hederic" />{{Failed verification|date=September 2021}} They would then move on to the next target, leaving a small garrison behind. This strategy was planned and implemented by Major General Gough, who was able to operate with minimal input from the British government after Superintendent Elliot was recalled in 1841.<ref>Hoiberg. pp. 28–30</ref> The large number of private British merchants and East India Company ships deployed in [[Singapore]] and the India colonies ensured that the British forces in China were adequately supplied.<ref>''Bulletins of State Intelligence'' 1841, p. 348</ref><ref name="Farooqui-2005" />{{page needed|date=September 2021}}
<gallery class="center" widths="355px" heights="355px">
File:Attack on war junks.jpg|A Royal Navy steamship destroying a Chinese junk with a Congreve rocket. Lightly armoured Chinese warships were decimated by heavy guns and explosive weaponry.
File:Joss House, Chapoo 1842.jpg|British line infantry advancing on a Chinese position.
</gallery>