In these days, spies from the Wanjiaping bandits appeared one after another on the road leading to Liuliba Mountain, but they all fled far away, driven by the guards. The bandit's so-called ten-day limit had passed long ago, but unusually there was no movement. When something goes wrong, there must be a monster. The mountain bandits have not been seen for a long time, which makes the impatient Cao Ergou and others unable to hold their breath and curse loudly. The militiamen also went from waiting for the bandits to attack, to feeling uneasy. Ouyang Xuan can calm down. If the bandits don't come to Liuliba, they can develop quietly. If the bandits come to attack, he is confident that he can give them a head-on blow. As for Xiong Ben's secret schemes, he was not afraid, because Liuliba had already built iron cannons and prepared enough grenades for the Jinghou bandits. Of course, if the Wanjiaping Bandits never come and Liuliba develops for a while, more industrial and mining products will be produced, militia training will be more adequate, and new firearms will be more powerful, Liuliba will naturally come back. go.
Ouyang Xuan's confidence comes from the newly successfully trial-produced artillery, although due to limited steel production, only one artillery can be used now. During the trial production, two of them were cast. One of the larger cannons was overcharged during the test, and cracks appeared in the barrel after a few shots. Fortunately, the barrel was reinforced with several iron hoops and did not explode. , but it was no longer usable and had to be recast. Since the gun barrel needs to go through many processes of polishing inside the barrel after it is cast, it cannot be expected to be used for a while.
This cast artillery is more than 2 meters long, has a caliber of nearly 100 millimeters, and consumes more than 1,000 kilograms of steel. It should be said that this weight is really not suitable for field use and can only be used for fixed purposes. Ouyang Xuan asked people to install it on the wall of the village. This gun has a star in front and a rear sight. It can be loaded with two kilograms of powder and has a range of up to two miles when loaded with three kilograms of iron bullets. However, because the mountain road was curved and the shooting range was not too long, Ouyang Xuan reduced the charge by half a kilogram and increased the weight of the iron bullet to five kilograms based on the test results. In fact, it is best to use lead bullets as cannonballs, but since there is no lead mine in Liulizhai, scrap steel from the steelmaking process is used. The projectiles made of these waste materials are as big as pigeon eggs and as small as soybeans. As for the power, Ouyang Xuan is not worried. During the test of the cannon, he used the aforementioned shotgun and charge to break a tree the size of a bowl one mile away. This kind of shotgun may not be able to deal with city defenses, but when used against soft targets like the human body, flesh and blood will definitely be eroded wherever it hits. Even soldiers holding shields and armor are not immune. In order to facilitate loading and prevent the projectiles from slipping from the muzzle, Ouyang Xuan also asked people to package the gunpowder particles and projectiles in oil paper, slightly smaller than the bore diameter, to increase the loading speed.
After waiting for several more days, the bandits from Wanjiaping slowly appeared on the mountain road leading to Liuliba. This time the formation of the bandits was huge. In addition to the bandits in front, there were also a large group of civilians transporting baggage behind. The mountain road leading to Liuliba is wider than the rest of the mountain road due to the gentle terrain, but it is only more than three meters wide at its widest point, so the large group of bandits marched along the winding mountain road, which was more than a mile long. According to reports from the scouts, the bandits who invaded this time were estimated to have more than 300 soldiers, and the civilians also had this number. It seemed that the Wanjiaping bandits were out in force. The scouts also reported that at the end of the bandit queue, the civilians were transporting not only water, arrows and other baggage, but also a large number of long ladders, giant shields, and even several small catapults and ballistae. It turns out that this is the reason why the bandits have not attacked yet. They are building siege equipment and preparing to take Liuli Village in one fell swoop.
Faced with the large-scale incursions of bandits, Liuliba did not interrupt production activities. According to Ouyang Xuan's arrangement, except for the 50 officers and soldiers of the grain collection team - now changed to the capture team, plus 200 newly trained militiamen, the rest are responsible for farming, mining, and production. Preparations for the battle have long been in place, and war supplies have also been prepared. Moreover, the newly built Liulichai Wall is only more than 300 feet long, and no matter how many people come, it cannot stand. Since Ouyang Xuan did not know how to march and Yu Zhu was not well in health, Huang Dagen was responsible for commanding the battle. He divided the 250 people into three teams and prepared to take turns to stand on the wall to fight against the bandits. Of course, Ouyang Xuan and Lu Dezhi also arrived at the scene of the battle. They accompanied Yu Zhu, who was lying on the chair, to enjoy the shade under a big tree more than 200 meters away behind the village wall, and closely observed the battle situation.
There is only 20 miles of mountain road from Wanjiaping to Liuliba, but the bandits from Wanjiaping took half a day to walk. It was almost noon when the bandits arrived half a mile in front of Liuli Nanzhai Wall. This was not a long march and the scorching sun in May made the marching queue of the bandits become crooked. While the bandits were arranging their queues, they sent people holding flags to the gate of Liuliba Village. These bandits came to the gate of the village carrying flags, saying they wanted to meet the leader of the village. Because they did not carry weapons with them, Huang Dagen ordered the basket to be tied with a rope, and the bandit leader was hoisted into the stronghold and escorted to Ouyang Xuan and others. In the face of this battle, Huang Dagen, who is calm by nature, did not open the village gate. He had to be careful of the bandits' intrigues.
It is said that the bandit envoy who entered the stronghold was also a clever and courageous person. After Da Lielie met Ouyang Xuan and others, he pointed to the word "bear" on the flag he was holding and said: "I am here to guide the people of Liuliba on the orders of Mr. Xiong, the envoy of Wanjiazhai Town. Now Mr. Xiong personally leads the way. Thousands of elite soldiers are here to punish you and others for their rebellious crimes. If you repent in time, punish the rebellious people on your own, and reward the army with all Liuliba's property, Lord Xiong may be merciful and save you from waiting to die, but if not... "
"So what?" While the bandit envoy was talking incessantly, Lu Dezhi's face turned red with anger and he couldn't help but say.
"If we don't break the stronghold, we will definitely go on a killing spree, leaving no chickens or dogs behind..."
"Humph, are our officers and soldiers afraid of you and other bandits? Humph, how dare a fugitive bullshit bandit leader call himself the envoy of the town? Well, he dares to knock on the door! You go back and tell Xiong Ben that if you want to fight, fight! He's here to do it Save me the trouble of going to Wanjiaping to find him. Today I will wipe out you and other gangs and restore peace to the mountains." Ouyang Xuan interrupted him. The bandit envoy was obviously frightened by Ouyang Xuan's momentum, and his voice was quiet. Go down.
"Lord Xiong will be so angry that he will drive the army to crush Liuli Village into powder with thunderous force..." The bandit envoy was still speaking harshly.
"Get out of here now, or you'll be served with swords!". Yu Zhu yelled while lying on the chair.
Seeing that he had aroused the anger of the people, the bandit envoy kept silent. He was also afraid that everyone would kill him in anger. These mountain people did not talk about the principle of "when two countries are at war, they will not behead the envoys." He naturally understands the principle that "one who knows things well is a hero." Of course, for the cowardly people here, they must add fuel and jealousy to retaliate against Master Xiong, and let the angry Xiong Ben vent his anger for himself. He is fully confident in his language expression ability and believes that exaggerated and modified descriptions can make Mr. Xiong's nose become angry.
