Lou Gao gathered all his cronies together to plan a big event.
The blacksmith Kuxing Luo Jiuyi heard about this, and several loyal apprentices immediately decided to follow him.
Lou Gao's preparations are divided into three steps. The first step is to intercept the armaments. This requires a group of craftsmen to reasonably intercept the armaments built in the past two weeks and return them to the factory for repairs on the grounds of defective products. In fact, it is his own Hiding it, if there is no news for too long, then return these armaments to the empire.
The second step is to gather about two hundred absolutely loyal craftsmen to start making these street fighting weapons, professional anti-soul master hand cannons. Fortunately, the production process is not complicated. If a few hundred can be made, then the Blacksmith Association will have There is greater certainty to expel the Xingluo army and allow Gengxin City to stand on its own feet.
The third step is to stabilize Governor Dai and make him relax his vigilance. This requires the craftsmen to work harder. The specific measures are to add two more working hours every day. However, this will not last long. If nothing happens, , Lougao also has a way to restore it to its current state.
Lougao's deployment is proceeding very steadily. Within a week, the Blacksmith Association has mastered about 80% of the entire Gengxin City's armaments.
Today's Gengxin City has become a powder keg under extreme pressure. If no one ignites Xingluo, then some of the blacksmiths in Gengxin City will spontaneously steal weapons to plan riots.
This is undoubtedly a huge hidden danger. Before the time comes, such behavior will undoubtedly arouse the high vigilance of the Xingluo Army. Therefore, Lou Gao also conducted an uncharacteristically strict search inside the Blacksmith Association.
Fortunately, this didn't last a few days.
Dai Mubai publicly denounced the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire for sending people to steal the core engine of the earldom, and immediately mobilized a hundred thousand troops, divided into three groups, and launched a sneak attack.
There are two provinces surrounding the earldom, both of which are major members of the trade with Dai Mubai and have a lot of profits, so there is not much defense in the border areas.
Dai Mubai's army has long been mechanized, and has a large number of self-propelled artillery and tanks. These 100,000 people are all the elite of the elite, specially used for rapid attacks, but in fact the army that Dai Mubai can mobilize is absolutely impossible. Not only that, in the past few years, Dai Mubai mainly exchanged for population and food. In the earldom, there were at least 300,000 people who could fight.
In other words, everyone can be a warrior and can be met. Once they invade the earldom, they will fall into the abyss of guerrilla warfare.
The Xingluo royal family had about 200,000 people in the border areas of the earldom, with mixed formations, including new serf armies and cavalry regiments. Dai Mubai immediately led his army to cover them.
This was an unprepared battle. The Xingluo Army originally had equipment on hand. Once the battle started, the main soul masters and cavalry quickly began to retreat, leaving the new serf army behind.
The new army's combat effectiveness was not high to begin with. Now that the nobles and gentlemen have all run away, they will not be able to resist. They will surrender directly.
In this battle, Dai Mubai directly captured 20,000 prisoners and sent them back to the earldom for reform. Most of the remaining people had fled.
The main army of Xingluo all ran away, and the two surrounding provinces also chose to surrender, hoping to retain their status. Dai Mubai arrested all these old nobles, and began to execute them after a public trial. Basically 90% of them The nobles all reached the point where Dai Mubai felt that their sins were unforgivable.
Their relatives were also sent to the earldom to begin labor reform.
In one day, Dai Mubai occupied two provinces like lightning through sneak attacks. Although the public trial was smooth, it also meant that no one would choose to surrender in the future.
When the news reached the Xingluo royal family, Dai Yun was furious. He immediately ordered 1.2 million troops to prepare for a personal expedition and a decisive battle with Dai Mubai.
These 1.2 million are not comparable to those line-filling legions. They are all the best of the best, including the Royal Knights and the Ten Thousand Beasts Legion that Star Luo is most proud of, as well as the Star Luo New Army composed of absolutely loyal ordinary people. These new batches of Although there is some generation difference between the army and Dai Mubai's army, it is not far away, and they can still defeat them with their numerical advantage.
When Dai Yun was gathering his troops, Xue Qinghe also issued a statement, severely denounced Xing Luo for sneak attacks on Tiandou, looting caravans, and massacring civilians in recent years, and then decided to send 300,000 troops to support Dai Mubai, and recognized him as Xing Luo's only legitimate regime.
Wuhundian and the Kyushu Empire also issued a joint statement asking all parties to exercise restraint, but there was no clear action, and the words were intended to be biased. The general idea was to let Xingluo officially cede half of the territory, along the Empire The Tianyun Mountain Range in the center was almost completely divided, and the east and west became two countries.
This reconciliation plan is in vain. How could Dai Yun allow Xingluo to be divided and conquered?
Civil war is inevitable, and now, the eyes of all parties have fallen on Gengxin City.
This city of blacksmiths has become a battleground for military strategists in the current situation where the military strength of the two sides is almost at a stalemate. Xingluo needs to withdraw a large number of workers back to the core of the empire to continue producing armaments, while Dai Mubai also It is necessary to win over these blacksmiths, and it is also necessary to win over these blacksmiths to build high-precision equipment. At the same time, it can also cut off Xingluo's supply in this area.
However, there is a huge difference in the treatment of craftsmen between the two sides. If the Blacksmiths Association seizes this opportunity, it goes without saying who will fall to it.
After realizing this, the Star Luo people began to force the blacksmiths to move. Many blacksmiths were unwilling to leave, so the Star Luo people robbed their families and burned their homes. Bloodshed was everywhere.
And three thousand of the best blacksmiths have gathered in the Blacksmiths Association.
"What are you doing, President? It's now time. If we don't fight, we will have no chance." A senior blacksmith couldn't help but said anxiously.
People from the Star Luo Empire were arresting people in the city. Fortunately, the armaments intercepted a few days ago and the people with lofty ideals selected in advance have been hidden. With these people, the independence war in Gengxin City is not an impossible thing. .
But the real difficulty is that there are more than a thousand Xingluo soul masters in Gengxin City, and tens of thousands of armored men are stationed around. Once they start to resist and cannot quickly clear out the soul master legions in the city, then these tens of thousands Once people are pressed up, it is completely impossible to become independent with the existing weapons.
Even though this battle is extremely difficult, you can still survive if you resist. If you don't resist, you will be dragged inland by the empire. In today's situation, you are probably worse than a slave!
At this critical moment, Lou Gao was nowhere to be seen.
"No matter what, brothers, for the future of the Blacksmiths Association and the future of all blacksmiths, we must rebel!" A burly man stood up, raised his arms and began to arouse everyone's emotions.
"Defend the Blacksmiths Association!" Everyone in the hall raised their weapons and prepared for war.
Just when everyone was preparing to start the battle, one person stood up and shouted: "That's enough, have you forgotten the soul master on the opposite side?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone suddenly calmed down a lot.
Although there are many soul masters among blacksmiths, they all know their level. Basically, soul skills are all for blacksmithing. How can there be talents in combat?
With the existing firearms, it is impossible to crush them. This is really a desperate fight.
Seeing everyone's expressions of gloom, the man said: "In my opinion, the teacher is currently building some weapon that can reverse the situation. During this period, he has been having an epiphany. Rather than act rashly, it is better to arrive while Xingluo still has some time to come. At this time, please go and recruit more manpower to ensure the logistics."
As soon as this was said, everyone agreed and immediately arranged the tasks and dispersed.
When the blacksmiths started to take action, the Star Luo army was also taking action. After breaking through most of the empty doors, they finally realized where most of the blacksmiths were.
The Xingluo army slowly surrounded the Blacksmith Guild. The blacksmiths also displayed their prepared defensive equipment and no longer concealed their intentions for confrontation.
At this moment, Lou Gao finally appeared.
He looked much more haggard than the previous few days, and walked out accompanied by several apprentices.
"The president has grown!"
As soon as these words came out, the blacksmiths suddenly became excited.
"President! Please give the order!"
"The Star Luo Empire bullies people too much, fight them!"
All the blacksmiths looked at Lou Gao, who just waved his hand. Then, several apprentices pushed two gleaming cannons out from behind and set them up on the terrace of the second floor.
"My comrades and friends, I already know what kind of situation we are currently facing, and I also know that we can no longer retreat. In order to gain the greatest possible advantage in this war, I have modified several weapons. Including these two giant cannons, they can help us eliminate the threat of enemy soul masters as much as possible."
"However, it is still a hard battle that will involve greater sacrifices. I hope everyone can understand this." After speaking, Lou Gao saluted everyone.
There was nothing to say. The people who came here were all people who had already decided to defend the only organization called the Blacksmiths Association to the death. No amount of words would help at this time, so everyone began to continue to set up defenses.
The residence of the Blacksmiths Association is a manor-style building that covers a large area. It is also open every month on weekdays to display its advanced products. It is also a high-rise residence.
Therefore, thousands of troops can be deployed here. Two giant cannons manufactured by Lougao are also placed on each side of the manor's attic to ensure that they can hit the vast majority of enemies.
Lou Gao was cruel this time and had no intention of negotiating. When Governor Dai and his Xingluo army appeared on the avenue, everyone launched an attack together.
The giant cannon manufactured by Lou Gao is a modern weapon that incorporates his understanding of craftsmen. After the cannonball hits the ground and explodes, it will sputter out hundreds of small marbles with a diameter similar to that of a bottle cap.
These marbles are also filled with high-purity gunpowder. He accurately calculated the ability of the metal of these marbles to withstand the explosion. Therefore, after the shell explodes, these marbles will fly outward for ten to twenty meters without being affected. distance, and then exploded directly in the air.
After exploding, these marbles will erupt into metal fragments due to their kinetic energy. These high-grade metals will easily pierce into the bodies of Soul Masters with Soul Sect and below strength.
This shell is a three-stage attack. If it explodes in a crowded place, it is enough to kill thousands of people.
When it explodes, even the metal fragments are stained with blood after causing damage, and the whole thing has an aesthetic feeling like fireworks.
This time is undoubtedly a typical example of use. With one shot, most of the hundreds of people dispatched by the Governor's Mansion to encircle and suppress were killed or injured. Governor Dai was the first to bear the brunt, taking all three stages of damage and being seriously injured. But with the help of Contra's strength is not dead yet.
Standing up with difficulty, Governor Dai was about to retreat when he saw a group of blacksmiths rushing out with pistols. Without any explanation, they shot them randomly and beat them to pieces.
At this point, a generation of royal agents who were not considered heroic died suddenly.
As soon as the governor died, it could be said that they were leaderless. The Xingluo army immediately fled in all directions, preparing to withdraw from Gengxin City before making plans. Lou Gao also seized this opportunity and directly asked everyone to move the two giant cannons to the city wall, and then the army left The association began to pursue the remaining soldiers, and at the same time mobilized the relatives of the blacksmiths to spread propaganda, mobilizing more blacksmiths and ordinary people to participate in the Gengxin City Independence War.
When the Cardinal of Wuhun Palace in Gengxin City saw the beginning of the war, he did not try to dissuade him. He just began to gather people to appease the people. In fact, this move undoubtedly helped Lou Gao stabilize people's hearts and appease those who did not necessarily obey the discipline. group of soul masters.
Lou Gao already had a very high reputation in the local area. He quickly stabilized the people's sentiments. After completing the investigation work, he was ready for the attack.
The Xingluo army did not immediately counterattack. Instead, they set up camp outside the city where artillery fire could not cover them, and went to request reinforcements from the empire.
The Xingluo royal family indeed attaches great importance to Gengxin City, so they mobilized 50,000 elites to support the entire front line against the rebels. The difference between elites and ordinary soldiers is that the armor on their bodies is immune to bullets.
This is the result that Xingluo made in the past few years before being assimilated by thermal weapons. The existing metal strength can completely achieve immunity to bullets and can also avoid damage from shell fragments. These are covered in black armor, and even the war horses are completely covered. The elite knights, even ten years ago, would have become a nightmare for the Tiandou Empire.
It can only be said that the war did promote the development of science, but without a staged breakthrough, we could only think of making thicker armor and forging sharper swords.
The remaining 50,000 people are the original garrison troops around Gengxin City. They are all new troops composed of thermal weapons. They have guns and cannons. There is not much difference between them and the Gengxin City rebels. Even if the blacksmiths are very familiar with thermal weapons. Their proficiency makes them more powerful than these levies, but the difference in numbers is also desperate.
Therefore, after the Xingluo army was assembled, it did not surround the city. Instead, it placed all the troops in the east of the city, hoping to annihilate the rebels in one fell swoop and achieve a hearty victory. Lou Gao also integrated the eight thousand soldiers that day. All six thousand of them were placed in the east city to fight to the death with the Xingluo Army. (End of chapter)
