Dark clouds covered the sky, and along with a violent rainstorm, the remaining haze dissipated, and the entire world instantly became clear.
The air after the rain was particularly fresh. Standing on the high wall outside the east gate of Nanyang City, Liu Ruyi looked at the refugee army camp not far away, with no expression on his handsome face.
In just one night, a large area of the refugee army's camp had grown, and reinforcements seemed to be coming in a steady stream, numbering nearly 100,000.
Although Liu Ruyi was just escorting the guest troops carrying heavy supplies of food and fodder, Jin Shenghuan was also more sensible and did not arrange specific military duties for Liu Ruyi to defend the city. Instead, he treated Liu Ruyi as a follow-up reserve army and stayed at the relatively quiet east gate.
But looking at the crowd of refugees and soldiers who were covering the sky, Liu Ruyi couldn't help but cast a shadow over the prospect of this trip.
Although Nanyang City has high walls and a relatively complete defense system, it is located in the place of the Fourth War and has been traumatized. At present, the population of the city is less than 100,000, and most of them are old, weak, sick and disabled, and young and middle-aged people with some ability.
Either he was joined by the refugee army, or his family had already fled to the relatively stable Jiangnan.
At the moment, Hong Chengchou, the governor of the five northwest provinces, and Sun Chuanting, the governor of Shaanxi, the two most capable officers and soldiers, are fighting fiercely with several refugee armies such as 'Cao Cao' Luo Rucai in Ruzhou, hundreds of miles away. The two sides are inseparable.
In the Central Plains, except for Zuo Liangyu who stayed in Xiangcheng and Chen Yongfu, the deputy general of Henan who protected Luoyang, there were no more soldiers!
Looking at the entire battle situation, all the contradictions are intertwined with Zuo Liangyu. If he moves, the refugee army will be difficult to defeat. If he does not move, the situation of the army and the army will be critical!
Taking a deep breath of cold air, Liu Ruyi rubbed her temples vigorously!
'It is better to ask for others than to ask for yourself!'
Instead of waiting for Commander Zuo to send troops and wasting time, it is better to make preparations as soon as possible so that if the situation does change, you will be able to deal with it!
Reaching out to greet Huo Lang, who was standing by, Liu Ruyi whispered: "Huo Lang, I'll leave this to you! I'm keeping a close eye on you, but if there is any trouble, please notify me immediately!"
"Brother, don't worry!" Huo Lang nodded heavily.
Liu Ruyi patted his shoulder hard and said to Xiao Liu'er beside him: "Liu'er, let's go! Let's go to the craftsman camp and have a look!"
…………
That day, when setting off from Caishi Town, in addition to Kaishan Lei who brought some finished products, Liu Ruyi also brought more than thirty craftsmen with him. Now, they gathered in Liu Ruyi's headquarters camp and worked overtime to rush the production.
Hit the mountain thunder.
Originally, the mines that these craftsmen made in the mines were about the size of a watermelon. The outside was made of a soft iron shell, the middle was filled with gunpowder, and an arm-long fuse was drawn from the mouth. Its main function was to break rocks!
But with Liu Ruyi's improvement, the craftsmen took out the gunpowder and remade it. On the original basis, they added some hard materials such as leftover scraps of iron, sand, gravel, etc.
The fragments are then refilled with gunpowder and a fuse is added. In this way, although its power against rocks is reduced a lot, its lethality to the human body is not the same!
These things are Liu Ruyi's secret weapons. If possible, Liu Ruyi doesn't want them to be exposed at all, so the defense is extremely tight.
The craftsman camp is located in the center of Liu Ruyi's headquarters at the east gate of Nanyang City. There are more than 400 soldiers guarding the outer perimeter alone, and the more than 200 soldiers inside are all brought out by Liu Ruyi from Caishi Town.
veteran!
"Sir, why are you here?" The leader of the craftsman family was the eldest son of the old craftsman Jiang Sanlang, named Jiang Zhongping. When he saw Liu Ruyi approaching, he hurriedly came to greet him!
"Brother Jiang, you don't have to be polite! I've worked hard on you these days!" Liu Ruyi smiled and patted his shoulder, winked at him gently, and walked towards his tent.
Jiang Zhongping understood and hurriedly followed Liu Ruyi.
Entering the camp, Liu Ruyi asked directly without any nonsense: "Brother Jiang, how many mountain-opening mines do we have on hand now?"
Jiang Zhongping silently calculated in his mind, "Sir, including the ones we brought from the town and the ones we have remade and completed, there are still more than 150!"
Liu Ruyi shook her head, "These are far from enough, Brother Jiang, can we still speed up production?"
Jiang Zhongping couldn't help but laugh, and patiently explained: "Sir, this mountain mine is no small matter. It must be operated by skilled craftsmen. If you are a novice, if you are not careful, something will happen! Moreover, we are not here anymore.
The materials and equipment are not complete, and it takes more than two days to just make the outer iron shell. Right now, we can produce thirty pieces in one day, which is already the limit!"
Liu Ruyi also knew that he was a little too impatient. These mountain-opening thunders were like the 'Tubengzi' and 'Two Kicking' in later generations, and they were very dangerous!
Even with the advanced technology of later generations, accidents often occur in these firecracker factories if they want to speed up production during the holidays, let alone the current Ming Dynasty?
Now, the camp Liu Ruyi has in his hands is probably not comparable to the earthen workshops of later generations. Everything is made by hand. It is really unrealistic to eat a big fat man in one bite!
Liu Ruyi frowned and kept pacing back and forth.
Jiang Zhongping also knew that Liu Ruyi was anxious and asked tentatively: "Sir, if we can get some similar iron shells, then we may be able to speed up a lot!"
"Iron shell?" Liu Ruyi couldn't help but laugh. Although Henan is rich in minerals, including iron ore and coal mines, how much manpower is needed to turn these raw materials into finished products? Now, find some defenders.
It is very difficult for young and strong civilians, so how can they find those blacksmiths who can make iron?
Wait, a flash of light suddenly flashed in Liu Ruyi's mind, as if he had caught something!
‘Iron shell?’
That's right, emergency measures should be followed, as long as it is a container that can accommodate the explosion of gunpowder, why bother worrying about whether it is made of iron?
Don’t you see, in the land mine wars of later generations, even the stone caozi used to feed horses can blow up the shit of little Japanese devils?
Thinking of this, Liu Ruyi suddenly calmed down and asked in a low voice: "Brother Jiang, if you replace the iron shell on the outside of this mountain mine with a porcelain vase and earthen jar, and then fill it with scraps of iron, sand and gravel, what will you do?"
How do you feel about the effect of this?"
"Crock?" Jiang Zhongping was startled, and tentatively made gestures with his hands in the air. Suddenly, he suddenly jumped up and said, "You are so wise, sir! Why didn't I think of that? Although the clay jar is fragile, it is fragile.
The effect is the same as that of an iron shell. We only need to pull the lead a little longer. Then, if the thieves attack the city, we can ask the sergeant to throw it down from a high place. The effect will be even worse than that of the iron shell.
It should be better!"
Liu Ruyi smiled and nodded. This kind of earth mine mainly relies on the instantaneous explosive power generated by gunpowder to explode the containers around it, thus causing damage to surrounding people! And small-scale weapons of destruction such as shells and grenades,
It’s all the same principle!
There is a saying that goes well, no matter it is a black cat or a white cat, a good cat is one that can catch mice!
In this situation, as long as you can kill the enemy and defend the city, that is the most important thing. Why should you care about whether it kills beautifully or not?
"Brother Jiang, starting from today, I will immediately send people to buy a large number of porcelain bottles and earthen jars from the residents of the city. I'm afraid you and your brothers will have a hard time!"
"Don't worry, sir, I'll keep it safe for you!" Jiang Zhongping assured, patting his chest.
…………
Xiangcheng, in Zuo Liangyu's main tent.
"Commander Father, the imperial court has sent three urgent reports, urgently ordering us to send troops! If this delay continues, we, we may not be able to explain to the imperial court!" Seeing his father calm and composed, Zuo Mengeng
But I can’t sit still!
Although Zuo Liangyu is from Shandong, he really made his fortune by sniping at the refugee armies in Henan and the Central Plains. At present, a large number of the Zuo family's properties are concentrated in this area. In Nanyang City alone, their family has
With more than a dozen shops in excellent locations, if the refugee army captures Nanyang, they will surely suffer heavy losses.
On weekdays, Zuo Liangyu's mind is all concentrated on the nearly 100,000 troops under his command. The Zuo family's properties are all left to Zuo Mengeng to take care of. Now the refugee army has gathered to besiege the city, and the situation is critical. Zuo Menggen
Really anxious!
"Haha~~!" Zuo Liangyu looked at his son with a smile, "Geng'er, what's the matter? You can't keep calm now?"
Like Liu Hu, Zuo Liangyu had quite a few wives and concubines, but his only son was Zuo Menggeng, so Zuo Liangyu doted on him in every possible way.
"Commander Father, these thieves are now in decline, why don't we comply with the imperial court's wishes and catch them all in one fell swoop, so as to eliminate future troubles! Commander Father can still accomplish such extraordinary feats, with hundreds of benefits and no harm!" Zuo
Meng Geng said eagerly.
"Yes! Not bad!" Zuo Liangyu nodded approvingly, "Geng'er, you can see this, I am very happy as a father! Our old Zuo family has a successor!"
"But, handsome father, why are you still..."
Zuo Mengeng still wanted to speak, but Zuo Liangyu waved his hand with a smile, "Geng'er, you are also the one who leads the army. You must know that military power is the foundation of our world for you and me! Xian thief, Li Chuang and others,
They are just a bunch of unsightly mud-legged people! If their father had a heart, how could they survive until now?"
"Yes, yes! My father is so brave that he is invincible. How can those mud-legged men be my father's opponents!" Zuo Mengeng complimented.
Zuo Liangyu looked at his son who was still a little stubborn. He couldn't help but shook his head in slight disappointment, and then patiently explained in detail: "Geng'er, you can look down on them, but you have to treat them with care. You must know that they are the
Our food, clothing and parents! Just like a hunting dog, if he has caught all the rabbits, what use does his master have for him?"
"Father, you mean..." Zuo Mengeng pointed lightly at the sky.
Zuo Liangyu smiled softly, "Yes, our Zuo family is this hunting dog! Therefore, in everything, we must first leave a way out for ourselves! You must never do anything! Haha, Geng'er, there is still a long road ahead,
You have to experience it carefully!”
"Yes! Father, the child understands!" Zuo Mengeng respectfully kowtowed to his father several times!