When a cannon is fired, gold is worth ten thousand taels. This is not nonsense. The rifles, cannons, bullets and shells used by the volunteers, military uniforms, armed belts, various tools, medical supplies, as well as cement, steel bars, and various wood parts used in construction fortifications.
Coupled with the soldiers' food, drink, diarrhea and disability pensions, Xiao Letian's preliminary military budget for this campaign in the Far East is between 600 million silver dollars and one billion silver dollars.
To put it bluntly, this wealth has drained all of Xiao Letian's financial surplus, and he even has to rely on debt to live. Not to mention that he has also been experiencing small-scale inflation when he issued banknotes in recent years. I'm also secretly overdoing it, otherwise I really won't have the money to fight.
Of course, Mr. Long would not tell the truth to Lao Shentou, but after drinking, he gave a little discount and revealed a little. He did not reveal too much and only quoted a figure of 500 million. This was actually an attempt to borrow from Lao Shentou. To cheer up the entire Far East remnants is to tell them how rich the Chinese people are.
Lao Shentou was almost scared to death. The number "billion" had exceeded the mathematical concepts he usually used. In that era, people could understand tens, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands, but once the number increased to hundreds of thousands or even millions, People just don't have enough brains.
They couldn't form a concrete concept of millions in their minds. How many millions of silver coins were piled together? How about millions of silver ingots? What about millions of people? How about millions of kilograms of grain? The concepts of these images do not exist in their minds.
They just thought that this number was so big that they couldn't even imagine it. But today, Master Long directly threw out a unit of 100 million. Old Shentou was completely stunned. He couldn't understand it at all, but he knew that Master Long was not a liar. people.
At that moment, he could only regard the Prime Minister and the Chinese world where the Prime Minister lived as paradise, a place beyond the reach of mortals.
Rubbing his cold face, Lao Shentou brought his thoughts back to reality. He raised his hand and gave the brat of his grandson a brain-shattering blow. "Why are you asking so many questions? You can understand after I tell you? Hurry up and lead the horse."
"I can tell you how much it will cost. If we fill up all the rooms and granaries in our village, and they all have to flow down, it's not even finished!"
Wow! The eyes of a group of young men turned blue. "I have thought about it. In two years, I will join the army. I will also go to the south to visit the place where the Prime Minister lives. Why are they so lucky?"
"Let's go, let's send the gifts up quickly. If the hunters from Tumen Mountain get there first, our favor will be compromised." A group of people excitedly urged their horses to move forward, but at this moment, a group of hunters on the west side of the mountain road Suddenly, there was a heavy sound of horse hooves in the dense forest.
"Is there a fast horse? Who is this person? Black Sky is riding like this in the forest? Don't worry, spread out and take a closer look!" Old Shen gave the first order, and the young men picked up their bows, arrows, and muskets and started to spread their guard.
At this time, the sky was already getting a little bright. People squinted their eyes and looked at the woods with the faint light. Sure enough, four war horses suddenly sprang out of the forest and headed straight for Vladivostok.
"Huh? Military uniform, look, the military uniform is the uniform of the Volunteer Army! The light blue one, rush up to greet him!" The old ginseng head didn't look old, but his eyes were really bright. He jumped out from the hiding place behind the tree, holding both hands Wave "One of our own, which part of the volunteer army is opposite?"
The war horse rushed in front of Lao Shentou and his group. The leading knight fell off his horse into the snow without saying a word. Everyone was frightened and hurriedly gathered around.
This knight was obviously the leader of the group. The remaining three soldiers jumped down as soon as they saw the commander fell off his horse. Without saying a word, they took off their rifles and lay down on guard.
"Rescue sir, the enemy is right behind, it's a Rakshasa ghost!"
Lao Shen Tou picked up the unconscious officer, took out the wine gourd from his arms, bit open the cork, and poured it into his mouth. This was not ordinary strong liquor, but Lao Shen Tou Pao's ginseng wine. The wild ginseng used is very powerful.
After two mouthfuls, the officer coughed and woke up. Seeing that the old man looked very familiar, he knew he must be a local survivor. "Old man, please inform the general that the Rakshasa Cavalry Regiment is in the west and their reinforcements are taking a shortcut to kill them."
"Oh, this is the Fuso Samurai!" You can't miss the accent as soon as you hear it. Only the Fuso Samurai can have this tone.
"Wake up, what's your name? What happened?"
"I am Master Kirigakure's cavalry company commander Maeda Yujiro. Don't worry about me. There are 20,000 Cossack heavy cavalry behind me! They have circled the land of the Qing Dynasty and came from our belly."
ah! Lao Shentou screamed and turned pale with fright, "What are you talking about? How can we go around the back? That is outside the pass of our Qing Dynasty! Even if the enemy comes, they have to come from the north! How can they come from the west? "
"We were betrayed. The Qing Dynasty betrayed us. They let the country go and let these cavalry detour!"
"I'm an ancestor of his! You're such a bastard, you're not as good as your mother." Lao Shen was so angry that veins popped up on his forehead. The children present scolded them with all their strength. Who would have thought that these bastards could do such a thing? Immoral things.
The old ginseng head burst into tears, "Does this really mean they don't want us anymore? Does the Qing Dynasty really don't want us anymore? They threw us here to be killed by Rakshasa ghosts back then, and now they actually cooperate with these beasts to kill us. They expect us so much." Die? Is this still the human heart?"
"Fight them! Grandpa, don't cry. We are here to stop them. We also have guys in our hands. Let's fight them with all our strength!"
"Baga," Yujiro Maeda gathered all his strength and shouted, "Do you know how many times we have fought against each other along the way? How did I get this injury? I have more than a hundred brothers in my company! Now there are only four of us left. "
"How many brothers who all died in the battle rushed forward without hesitation and died with the enemy in order to buy me time to report the news!"
"That's an elite cavalry regiment from Central Asia. It's not an ordinary army! They have sharp guns and fight bravely! They are not something you can resist. I beg you, report the news quickly, as long as the information can be sent over! The enemy is now ten miles away outside"
Lao Shentou burst into tears and shouted, "Cut the rope, throw away all the gifts, burn them on fire, and everyone is ready to mount the horse."
"Our horses are too strong and can't run fast at all. The enemy will catch up soon. Now the only way is to set fire. There are many people in the volunteer army who understand, and they will definitely understand!"
At the critical moment, Lao Shentou made the right choice. Thomas couldn't outrun the war horse no matter what. There was still twenty miles away from Vladivostok. If he just ran away blindly, he would be overtaken by the enemy soon.
Only by setting off the smoke, all the volunteers can see it clearly from a distance of twenty miles. Although they don't know what happened to the west, they can at least know that there is something going on here.
It’s okay to buy a limited time and let them form a temporary battle formation! Better than being defenseless!
Fatty dried meat and game were piled on the ground, spirits and fat were poured over them, fires were lit, and precious animal skins were even thrown on top.
Soon the smoke shot straight into the sky, and the sky and the earth were filled with darkness.
...
