Xie Lanzhi: ......
Meanwhile, Arna traveled by boat to the State of Lu. Before he even reached the military camp, he listened to the Xiongnu soldiers who were escorting him.
Their group of three hundred men drove refugees into the border of the State of Lu and then disappeared.
Another hundred people were killed by Lu state using homemade cannons.
Al-Na had never encountered such a situation before. He never expected that so many people would die in such a short time if he wasn't watching them closely enough.
Arna immediately issued an order: "Have Banatu immediately change camps, guard them strictly, and keep an eye on any activity within 300 meters of the camps."
"Remember this, Xie Ying is in the State of Lu, and Xie Ying is most skilled at launching surprise attacks!"
"Our people must not become arrogant and complacent just because they have silver shields, and neglect their defenses!"
The silver shield is actually a white-painted cannon.
The Hun soldiers immediately took him to their camp. Meanwhile, after Banatu finished supervising the gunners' maintenance of the cannons, his men were quite pleased with their catch and began roasting it on the spot. The pride of annihilating the Xiong Kingdom in a single day seemed to have filled many with a sense of smug satisfaction.
Chapter 212 Si Xitong's Secret Weapon
Unfortunately, she only saw two cannons in the military camp ahead. The cannons had white-painted barrels and were two-wheeled, somewhat similar to the mechanisms of the green-painted cannons.
The Northern Hu and Xiongnu copied the green-painted cannon? Xie Lanzhi pondered. The Mo family apprentice Aza, whom she had picked up, had said that he had made a model based on the diagram.
Could it be that the white-painted cannon predates the green-painted cannon? If so, does that mean Tianjing plagiarized? But considering that Aqina knew the plot, it's not impossible that he poached talent beforehand.
Perhaps the green-painted cannons were the original weaponry. It's just that the Hun's silver shields were more powerful than the green-painted cannons.
It looks a bit like the Anro Cannon?
The military camp had a total of over a hundred people, with ten men armed with firearms stationed in each blind spot.
Xie Lanzhi ordered her men to continue scouting. While the soldiers in the camp were having a barbecue, she took a shortcut, rushed out, and slashed a Hun soldier with her sword.
The Hun soldiers screamed in agony, and the Hun soldiers on the barbecue pile immediately picked up their broadswords before they could even react.
A shadowy figure moved eerily among the green leaves, and two figures emerged from the pile of leaves, each holding a long halberd.
Banatu thought he had encountered some mountain spirit or monster, so he immediately drew his flintlock pistol and shouted, "Who goes there?!"
In response, the Green Leaf Man swiftly flicked his wrist, and with a bang, shot and killed Banato.
The ten gunners in the barracks immediately opened fire on Green Leaf.
Unexpectedly, the green leaf jumped into the grass and quickly disappeared.
The gunners quickly gave chase.
Xie Lanzhi took cover while firing, attracting the attention of ten gunners who gave chase.
Then Xie Lanzhi and her fifty men rushed into the military camp and began a massacre.
Enraged by Banatu's death, the Hun soldiers drew their swords and slashed at Xie's troops. In truth, the Hun soldiers' melee weapons were far superior to Xie's—sharpened steel blades, incredibly sharp. But they were no match for Xie's small formation of five men; a small team against a lone Hun. A sure victory was assured.
The Xiongnu soldiers suffered a setback and hastily formed a formation, just like Xie Bing. However, Xie Bing completely inherited Xie Lanzhi's unexpected fighting style.
Once the Xiongnu soldiers had formed a group, one of the soldiers took off his backpack from the green leaves on his back and pulled out the fuse. A fuse immediately hissed and caught fire, which he then threw into the Xiongnu ranks.
Boom! Dozens of Hungarian soldiers were instantly blown to pieces.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xie Bing stabbed the stunned but not dead Xiongnu soldier several more times. Of the hundreds of Xiongnu soldiers, only twenty or so remained, and they all fled back to their main camp.
The ten firearmsmen who were chasing Xie Lanzhi only realized it was a diversionary tactic when they heard an explosion in the military camp, and immediately went back to provide support.
Following the tactic of advancing when the enemy retreats, Xie Lanzhi seized the opportunity to chase after them and shoot them down one by one.
The gunman turned and shot at her again. Xie Lanzhi began to hide again.
They outmaneuvered the gunner until he was helpless. Finally, the gunner learned his lesson and hid in the bushes, but it was too late.
Xie Bing reinforced from the direction of the gunfire. They pushed out the second silver shield of the gunner and fired a shot at the approximate location. The shot hit the grass around the gunner, causing branches to fall.
The gunners were so frightened that they scattered in all directions.
Xie Lanzhi immediately whistled. One shot took down one person. Seeing the gunners running around in four directions, she fired five shots, taking down four more.
As she reached for the lighter, a gunner suddenly leaped out of the bushes and charged at her.
Xie Lanzhi leaped up and delivered a powerful flying kick with one foot, sending the man crashing into a tree. He didn't get up for quite a while.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Xie Lanzhi pulled out a knife and finished off the other party.
Five gunners remained, but they were surrounded and killed by Xie's reinforcements. Several gunshots rang out, and five of Xie's soldiers also died. In addition, ten of Xie's soldiers died in the raid on the camp.
The raid was a great success, with the loss of fifteen men and the capture of two silver-shield cannons.
To avoid any unforeseen complications, Xie Lanzhi led thirty-five people in an immediate retreat.
When Arna arrived, he found the bodies on the ground had been cleared away, leaving only his own men. Banatu's body lay across his face.
Arna staggered, never imagining that he was only a step too late. Banatu had already been killed.
"Xie Ying! It must have been Xie Ying who did it!" Al-Na looked around, his expression furious.
But there was no one around, and Xie Lanzhi had even taken the corpse with her.
Having succeeded, Xie Lanzhi immediately pushed the silver shield cannon to the main palace of Lu State and summoned Li Li. Li Li happened to be accompanied by an Anlu gunner named Smith.
Li Li heard that she had returned. He hadn't expected her to bring back two cannons. For a moment, he felt a strange sense of disorientation, as if the battles fought by the marshal himself were effortless.
Xie Lanzhi, of course, had no idea what he was thinking. If she had known, she would have definitely corrected Li Li, saying that war is not as simple as it seems on the surface.
"Marshal, is this the Silver Shield?"
Xie Lanzhi looked at Smith and said, "Yes, these are two cannons that came through reconnaissance. I think they are similar to the Green Paint Cannon, but this cannon is more powerful and has a longer range."
Li Li asked Smith to take a look. Smith touched the cannon, and his expression immediately changed.
He said, "Miss Marshal, this cannon is a weapon that Anluo discarded three years ago. How did it end up in the Central Plains?"
Anluo currently has no direct trade with the Central Plains. Furthermore, Anluo doesn't trade firearms with other countries; instead, it sells outdated firearms to smaller nations. If it weren't for the large quantities supplied by these smaller countries, Anluo might have forcibly opened a market. Therefore, it's impossible for smaller nations to purchase cannons.
Xie Lanzhi immediately guessed that the cannon was a modification of Aqina's design. She remembered that during Aqina's chaotic warlord era, his troops used outdated weapons. It's possible that a crude cannon that Anluo is now discarding was still in use during the warlord era. A cannon spanning two hundred years, its technology is far behind, but it was obviously cheaper for internal warfare. That's why it was used in later generations.
Xie Lanzhi increasingly felt that the future was truly hopeless. Their weapons were two hundred years behind.
Xie Lanzhi deliberately said, "Weapons that were phased out three years ago still have an advantage in the Central Plains."
Smith's eyes suddenly lit up. This would be a great service for him and Zuo Wuchang; as long as they reported the situation in the Central Plains to King Anluo, they would surely be given important positions.
Xie Lanzhi quickly added, "The new Tianjing possesses a repeating cannon that is twenty years more advanced than the Silver Shield."
Smith's eyes suddenly dimmed, which puzzled Li Li. She felt that the Anro people weren't exactly benevolent either.
Smith asked, "Since New Tianjing already has such advanced cannons, why not use them sooner?"
"You don't know this, but the people of the Central Plains are skilled in military strategy. No matter how powerful a weapon is, it still needs to be operated by a person." Xie Lanzhi said, "The idea of putting people first has been engraved in our genes since ancient times."
Smith fell into deep thought. In his mind, this was something a marshal had told him personally. A marshal couldn't possibly lie.
Moreover, Zuo Wuzhang also needs to curry favor with the Marshal to gain a foothold in the Central Plains.
Xie Lanzhi immediately had someone send Smith back.
Then she sighed, "Anluo's weapons have advanced to such an extent that if the Central Plains were to face Anluo now, they might not have a chance of winning."
Moreover, Anluo was the biggest beneficiary of the subsequent Haikou incident. Anluo seized the opportunity to open the gates of the Central Plains and reap profits.
Li Li was immediately shocked upon hearing this: "But didn't you say that there are already weapons more advanced than the Silver Shield?"
Xie Lanzhi spread her hands, looking quite irresponsible: "I was just saying it to scare that Anluo man and make him think twice before he gets any other ideas."
Li Li was already exhausted from dealing with the Northern Hu and Xiongnu, and now the marshal suddenly hinted that the Anluo people were also eyeing the Central Plains people. He quickly became even more tired.
He didn't believe the marshal would do anything reckless. This indicated that the Anro people across the sea did indeed have such thoughts. Especially that Anro man, Smith, who clearly wanted to gather intelligence about the Central Plains.
Li Li thought about it and realized that since Anluo's weapons were so advanced, it might follow the example of the Northern Hu and Xiongnu in the future.
His eyes immediately turned fierce.
Xie Lanzhi noticed his thoughts and reminded him, "The current Left Minister of the Central Plains, Marilyn, is considered a relatively friendly Anluo person. The fact that the Anluo people have sent friendly envoys to explore the way shows that they were not coming with the intention of invasion from the beginning."
"But if the Central Plains ever declines, perhaps then it won't be envoys they send, but warships."
Li Li's expression turned even uglier.
Xie Lanzhi patted him on the shoulder at the end, signaling him not to be nervous.
"Our current enemy is the Xiongnu, so don't be nervous."
For Xie Lanzhi, the current civil war between the Northern Xiongnu might not be a bad thing. Wartime can spur the upgrading of weapons.
The fact that Anro is upgrading so quickly now might be because they're facing a war, which is why they're upgrading their weapons so fast.
She needs to find out about Anluo's situation when she has time.
Xie Lanzhi did not allow Smith to continue disassembling the Silver Shield Cannons. She had already made her statement, and naturally wouldn't contradict herself. Neither of the two Silver Shield Cannons had a cannon; she planned to send them to the new Tianjing (Beijing) for the Ministry of Works to disassemble and replicate.
Soon there was movement from New Tianjing.
Si Xitong silently observed the Northern Hu and Xiongnu's covetous gaze upon various countries, intending to give them a bloody warning. However, small nations rarely learn from their mistakes. Some still harbored delusions about the Northern Hu and Xiongnu.
They fantasized about converting to the Northern Hu and becoming part of the powerful.
The Central Plains of today are no longer the same as they were twenty years ago, a Central Plains of unyielding spirit and indomitable will. In just twenty short years, so many people have degenerated and become barbaric. They have become so obsessed with strength that they have lost the resistance that humanity should have.
Si Xitong sighed in Jianzhang Palace: "If Lanzhi knew, she would probably be disappointed too."
Zhang Changle felt that admiring strength was not wrong, but when it came to the survival of a race and a civilization, it was a regression. If the superior system of the Central Plains were to be overthrown by a country that was still semi-feudal and semi-slave, it would be a complete step backward.
Now is no longer the time to win over other countries; they are beyond saving. Your Highness gave them a chance to save themselves, but not one of them cherished it.
Zhang Changle was referring to the fact that after witnessing the Xiong Kingdom being destroyed by the Northern Xiongnu in a single day, various countries secretly began to surrender to the Northern Xiongnu. Some rulers had even sent women and princesses to discuss matters with the Lord of Anshan.
By the time the spies delivered the intelligence to Jianzhang Palace, Si Xitong had already extinguished his last illusions about his allies who had received the Central Plains' blessing.
Si Xitong slightly flicked her sleeve: "Chang Le, deliver it to Lan Zhi."
A note from the author:
Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2022-02-13 20:00:00 and 2022-02-14 20:46:29!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the landmine: Hongyan (1);