"Oh - my God! You mean he got the bad news from the front and ran away with his family?"

"No need to ask? Why don't you run away and wait to be driven out and killed?"

…

Accompanied by quarrels and curses, the entire town was trembling under the fierce shelling.

Many people who rushed onto the streets witnessed with their own eyes the collapse of the fortified city gates and walls, and felt great fear in their hearts.

But before they had time to react, soldiers wearing the iconic red and blue military uniforms began to rush in from the collapsed gap in neat lines.

Some soldiers, mercenaries and officers loyal to the noble lords still wanted to resist desperately, but they were all taken away by a volley of muskets from the line infantry.

The collapsed city wall, the bright firelight and the deafening sound, combined with the corpse lying on the ground and bleeding from the armor, formed a shocking scene.

After completing a round of shooting, the soldiers began to squat down and clean the residue in the gun chamber according to the procedure, then re-introduced the gunpowder and inserted the projectiles to complete the filling.

The soldiers following behind passed them and continued to advance.

Anyone who has evil intentions or wants to resist will be shot without hesitation.

Soon, this army occupied and controlled the streets and several important commanding heights in the city.

Then the leading officer ordered some locals to be recruited to clear a path through the ruins of the collapsed city gates and walls.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Not long after, Gus saw several packhorses pulling thick, large-caliber bronze artillery carts slowly entering the city from the outside, and then being arranged in the lord's mansion.

Around the castle.

The young officer, who looked to be only 24 or 25 years old, didn't even bother to say anything to persuade him to surrender, and directly gave his men the order to attack.

"Fire!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

At this moment, everyone, including Gus, finally felt the terrifying power of the artillery at close range.

Different from the original cannons that were placed on castles or fortresses, although these bronze cannons are still front-loaded smoothbore cannons, the propellant used is no longer the backward black powder, but nitrification, which is the most suitable propellant.

fiber.

After all, for Zuo Si, there is no secret at all in the technology tree on the road to the development of thermal weapons.

He only needs to tell those craftsmen what they should do and the process of making these raw materials, and he can easily create a bunch of things that look advanced, backward, and full of contradictions.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that this is influenced to some extent by the "power of thinking" about the green-skinned orcs.

Otherwise, according to the normal historical development trajectory, there would be no such outrageous combination of bronze artillery and nitrocellulose.

Because before the invention of a stable and safe passivating agent, nitrocellulose was an out-and-out dangerous item. It was the kind of mass killer that would spontaneously ignite and explode if placed in a warehouse with an ambient temperature close to 40 degrees Celsius.

But for Zuo Si, solving these difficult problems that originally required a lot of experiments was just a matter of words.

If the overall industrial level had not improved too slowly and production capacity could not keep up, he would have even been able to create thermal weapons close to the level of World War I.

You must know that increasing steel production is not something that can be accomplished in a short period of time.

The biggest problem encountered is the severe shortage of labor.

Yes, you read that right, there is a labor shortage.

Because when a large number of serfs and sharecroppers obtain land, they will not be forced into cities to become workers like the peasants in modern European history who went bankrupt in large numbers.

Especially in the extremely dangerous mining industry, the demand for labor has simply exceeded supply.

There are even some unscrupulous mine owners who secretly give money to merchants engaged in trade and ask them to go to other countries to buy defeated prisoners or refugees at low prices and bring them back to work as miners for themselves.

Although Zuo Si has ordered the abolition of the legality of slaves, the mine owners will use a contract of twenty to thirty years to turn them into legal slave labor.

As for the salary, it is only one-fifth or even lower than that of local miners.

Maybe the only good thing is that you have to take care of food and housing, although the food is a little worse and the place you live in is also a little worse.

If you are lucky enough to live down the tunnel for twenty or thirty years, you can still save a free pension to spend your old age.

However, the probability of this happening is not high.

After all, even if we exclude mining disasters that may be caused by structural collapse at any time, simply inhaling dust underground for more than ten or twenty years will cause extremely fatal damage to the lungs, and fibrosis is almost inevitable.

Therefore, most miners will not live for more than twenty years and will end their short lives suffering from severe coughing and suffocation.

They are like firewood that lights up this dark world, burning themselves to create a better living environment for future generations.

Regarding this situation, Zuo Si also turned a blind eye.

Because without a lot of external help, he has no good solution.

This is the pain that human beings must go through from agricultural society to industrial society, and no one is exempt.

If he relies heavily on forces from outside this world to speed up the process of industrialization, he will definitely not be able to close the distance between himself and the God of the Abyss.

In other words, promoting such drastic social changes is itself a way for him to communicate with the God of the Abyss.

Moreover, due to the rapid technological advancement, the equipment of the various legions under Zuo Si's command was also updated at an alarming rate, and the mixed use of nitrocellulose cannons and black powder muskets often occurred at the same time.

Cannons that use nitrocellulose as propellant are designed to quickly demolish strongholds such as castles and fortresses.

Most of the time, black powder muskets are enough to deal with noble armies that are still stuck in the cold weapon age.

Just like this, amidst the roar of artillery, the castle that symbolized power and status quickly fell.

As everyone expected, the noble lord fled with his family long ago, leaving only some abandoned soldiers and servants.

Although these guys did not put up too fierce resistance, and some even tried to surrender, they were all slaughtered mercilessly.

In less than half an hour, there was not even a living dog left in the entire castle from top to bottom.

On the contrary, this army did not carry out any form of robbery or plunder on the entire town, but only arrested a few businessmen and officials who had close relations with the noble lords according to the list.

After everything settled, order was quickly restored on the streets.

Although everyone was still a little afraid of this army, after discovering that they would give money when buying things, and even bargain for the price, they finally let go of their worries.

After all, it doesn't matter who rules. As long as the security of the town can be ensured and the taxes are not too outrageous, life can be lived as it should be.

Because they have not awakened their national consciousness, the common people at the bottom of this world have no so-called "feelings for family and country" at all, let alone fight for the interests of the noble lords.

About a few hours later, some well-known local businessmen, craftsmen and citizens were organized to form a temporary parliament.

At the same time, notices were posted in conspicuous places, announcing that the land originally belonging to the nobles would be distributed in the coming time.

Anyone who wants to farm but does not have land of their own can come and sign up.

Beyond that are some details about new laws, regulations and taxes.

Maybe a lot of the words sound very sensual and difficult to pronounce, but in general, the burden is definitely a lot lighter than before.

After a few punches in this combination of dividing the land with one hand and reducing the burden with the other, residents of the surrounding areas radiating outward from the center of the town soon began to shout "Long live Roald I".

As for the noble lord who fled to who knows where, he became a rat that everyone shouted to beat in a very short period of time.

Because those who were allocated the land knew very well that if the noble lord came back, he would not only take away the land in his hands, but also liquidate all the people who obtained the land.

Therefore, from the moment they joined the ranks of sub-regions, their use was closely bound to Zuo Si.

Then some families who obtained land were selected by lottery to recruit soldiers, and then they were reorganized and trained.

Guts, who was hiding in the dark, silently watched all this, and at the same time gave this army a very high score in his heart, even higher than the Eagles under Griffith's leadership.

many.

Because even in the golden age of the Eagles, all Griffith could do was to fight for his own interests under the system of kings and nobles.

But this army was able to crush the rule of the aristocracy like nothing else, and then win over a large number of civilians to its side.

The most important thing is that the opponent's strict discipline in combat, as well as a moral level that is many levels higher than that of mercenaries, are completely different from the traditional army he knows.

The most obvious point is that there is no confusion in the eyes of those soldiers, and they will not rely on drinking, looking for women and other ways to have fun to vent the negative emotions accumulated on the battlefield.

Just a few hours ago, Gus witnessed with his own eyes a soldier who had made enough achievements in previous battles to be promoted to an officer in public.

Obviously, what supports these soldiers in fighting is not money, but something else that he cannot understand.

Maybe it's some kind of firm belief...

It may also be an unattainable dream...

"Damn it! This feeling reminds me of my life in the Eagle Regiment."

Gus touched the painful mark on his body that symbolized the "sacrifice" and couldn't help but curse.

Just when he was about to get up and leave to continue heading west to see other towns under Zuo Si's rule, there was suddenly a piercing scream outside, followed by a huge thing rising from the ground instantly.

It looks a bit like a giant piranha flower. The inside of the flower is covered with densely packed sharp fangs, and is surrounded by countless squirming vines.

In just a few seconds, several civilians were caught and swallowed.

Is it an apostle?!

Gus's eyes suddenly burst out with terrifying murderous intent, and at the same time he was very confused that he had not sensed the other party's presence.

Because the mark on him is equivalent to an early warning device to a certain extent.

When monsters from the underworld, apostles and hands of gods are nearby, unstoppable bleeding and pain will begin.
To be continued...