Now for the entire Eastern Empire, their emperor has indeed reached such a position. This emperor no longer knows what he should do. This emperor is the most useless emperor in the history of the entire Eastern Empire.
If he could be a good emperor, everyone would probably say nothing. In fact, this emperor is also relatively unjust. Who can see that he has not been a good emperor? He is also diligent and conscientious, but in the end
What was the result? The entire empire fell into chaos, and everyone in the empire began to panic. These people had lost confidence in the emperor. They all felt that this matter was not as simple as the government said. What happened recently?
This matter can be solved. I have said this several times, but what is the result now? There is nothing. The front line is still the same as before. Now I don’t know how much territory the entire empire has lost.
Well, such an emperor really doesn't have much strength. If he does, let us take a closer look at how you did it and how you did it.
In an ordinary county in the southern part of the Eastern Empire, this was also one of the counties occupied by the Cao Family Trading Company. If the residents of this city thought about what happened that night, I guess they would all be very scared. That day
At the beginning, they never thought that such a thing would happen. At the beginning, they all thought that they could live a better life. They started their work as soon as they got up every morning. They remembered that the sunshine that day was the same as before.
There is no difference, they are exactly the same as before. People in the city all remember that they heard the first cannon fire at about nine o'clock in the morning. This kind of thing has happened before.
Many times, it’s nothing. Those pirates have come many times before. Didn’t you see that the gentlemen didn’t take it seriously? They also figured out what those pirates were thinking. Every time they were in the warehouse by the sea.
Put down some things, not a lot, just enough to fill up a dozen of their warships. They don't need to worry about the rest. These guys won't come to the city after they take the money. The city
The doors are still closed, but they will not go deep into the interior. The common people have encountered them several times. Although I am worried, I have to live this day. Everyone is continuing their life.
, no reaction.
But five minutes later, a fast horse rushed to the bottom of the city gate. The soldiers above the city gate knew this guy. He was from the navy on the seaside. It can be said that the officers and soldiers of the navy have completely fallen.
Their depravity is not due to corruption. In fact, these people are already wearing the same pants as those pirates. They don't care whether they are naval soldiers of the empire. Their job is to sound the alarm when the pirates come.
, and then all the people threw down their weapons and helped the pirates carry things to the ship. In the end, they could always leave tens of thousands of taels of silver, which was their reward. This was already a long time.
The local chief executive told them several times, but what the navy said is also correct. My dear, you have all gone to the city and are living there honestly. What about us? What if we don’t
If we work, these pirates will kill us. Aren’t we sons and daughters? They say so. These chief executives really have nothing to say. What they say is right, and we can only be honest.
Let them do what they like, which is to carry things for others. This can only be done like this.
When the soldier guarding the gate saw the expression on this guy's face, he knew that things might not be that simple this time. Something must have happened, but he just didn't know what would happen at this time? He quickly opened the city gate.
, this guy rushed towards the city lord's palace without stopping. Everyone on the road saw panic on their faces. Are the pirates outside now different from before? Do they have some new ideas?
Less than twenty minutes after this guy came in, the troops at the city gate received an order from the city lord's palace and immediately went on alert. These pirates might be going to attack the city. They were dumbfounded. How could this happen? Didn't they always put them on guard every time they came?
It was just a matter of destroying the outside for a while. The most they could do was fire artillery into the city. They had never seen anything like this. They quickly saw groups of people descending from the beach. Damn it, what?
There must be thousands of people. What is going on? How did these people get off the ship and land? Didn't they just let the navy people carry the things? The soldiers on the city gate were really scared at this time, damn it.
, is this coming for real? Everyone tremblingly took their weapons and climbed onto the city wall. At the same time, the entire city also started some war mobilization, and some young people also gathered together.
How long has it been since this city has experienced a war? None of these people know it. At least their grandfathers have not experienced a war. What will the soldiers on the city wall do? When they are off duty
It’s okay for everyone to go to any pub to eat for free, to help some people to bully some people, and they are all familiar with it, but what about doing serious things? Can we do it? What we are facing are some
Pirates, these pirates are not the same as those in the past. Those in the past would have never had the courage to come here and act wild, but these people now are different. They can do anything.
If these people really come in, will they all have a good life? Don't be upset, that's impossible. Look at the people on the city wall. I don't know how to stand. Look ahead.
Taking pictures of the pirates who came in neat lines, they suddenly seemed to have some illusions, as if these people were regular troops and they were just a ragtag group of people. But in any case, they still had city walls. In this era, if you want to
To conquer a county, they can only use human lives. Look at how they only have less than 3,000 people at most. What is the use of these people? How can they conquer a county? Don't be kidding, that's absolutely true
impossible things.
"What is that thing? Good guy. It looks very heavy. How come it was pulled here by several horses? Damn, it's these bastards from the Navy again. Look at what they look like.
They are just like other people's own sons, they do whatever they are called. I don't know how these people's fathers educated them, and they don't even know what to do. I feel angry when I see them. If I had known better,
Kill them all. There is no need for so many traitors to come out now, they are all working for others." The city lord said angrily on the city wall, of course he didn't know that the dark thing they pulled down was
What, that thing is the cannon obtained by the Cao Family Trading Company. Since they want to attack the city, they must have some good things at hand. The previous siege equipment was of no use, so this thing is
It is the best thing. With this thing, they will definitely be able to capture the city. Judging from their appearance, it is not of much use. The soldiers on the city wall have not expected how useful this thing is.
"We haven't seen that thing before. Judging from their appearance, those things should be very useful. Otherwise, they can't be placed at the front. City Lord, should we let our cavalry go out to attack?" A deputy general
Looking outside, he said, if there were many enemies, they should stay in the city, but there are only less than 3,000 enemies. This number of people is really nothing. It is not enough for a fraction of their city.
There is no need to fear them at all.
"Is there something wrong with your brain? Do you know who these people are outside? Can we afford to offend these people? Why don't you go out and attack? I really don't know what you have been doing for the past few years.
How did they get here? Why are they so brainless? We can just defend now. They only have so many people. It is impossible to rush in. The most they can do is live with us across the city wall. The rest
The superiors will try to solve the next thing. What if you rush out and can't come back? The military morale of our entire city will be gone. What about you idiot?" The city lord scolded him for a while. This guy was considered honest. Basically,
There is nothing else to say. This guy is no joke. If he really does this, he will still suffer a loss. It is better to be more honest. These people are not that easy.
"Everyone, please listen to me. These people outside are all just like us. They are also human beings. They are not powerful guys, and they can't just rush up like the eighth-level warriors. This is not them.
We don't need to be afraid of them where things can show. Even the fastest record in a county can only be set in dozens of days. That was when hundreds of thousands of people attacked together, and they only had a few thousand people.
That's all, we don't need to be afraid of them at all. We still have tens of thousands of troops in the city and hundreds of thousands of reserve troops. There is absolutely no need to be afraid of them. As long as you do your own thing well and don't discredit me, this matter
It will never appear." The city lord said loudly, as if because of the city lord's words, everyone felt calm, and yes, they had something going on and they couldn't come in.
The pirates below the city didn't seem to want to rush in immediately. They all waited and watched for a while. They also saw the soldiers on the city wall, but they did not come under the city gate, but slowly moved in.
Their heavy things were brought to the front, and a few people were gesticulating there as if they wanted to do something.
These people have never seen how the modern army works? Of course they don't know how the troops below the city do things? Strictly speaking, these people cannot be said to be modern armies. They are just some of the officers who accepted Li Cong's teachings.
Some combat concepts, it is very simple to use these combat concepts and these weapons to attack a city. At the beginning, Mr. Li told them that they had three thousand people to attack that city. They were dumbfounded. They thought such a thing was
It is impossible to achieve, let alone three thousand, even 300,000 people will hardly be able to attack this city within half a month. Just as the city lord said, there are more than 300,000 troops available in the city at any time.
Man, how could they possibly take down this city? But now that they have been sent here, they want to try to see if they can use the boss’s method to take down this city. If it is really feasible, it would be really awesome.
.
This war is very strange to say. The people on the city wall are very scared, and the people below the city wall have no idea. They don't know how to fight this war? They can only follow the step by step instructions given by Li Tong.
Just go forward. The cannons were quickly installed. These cannons were removed from the ships. Currently, Li Cong didn't have much extra cannons for them to use. The cannonballs were taken down one by one by each soldier.
Now a total of twelve cannons have been unloaded and taken down, and there are about more than three hundred artillery shells. According to Li Tong, these are enough. The other three thousand soldiers each issued ten grenades. These grenades are also very
It is important to achieve the weapon. If the city gate cannot be opened, Li Cong can just ask them to use ten grenades to make a big grenade and throw it directly. It is estimated that if the city gate cannot bear it, it should be able to be opened.
"You idiots are all here for me to watch. In front of them is their city wall. I don't care how accurately you fire the cannons on the ship. You should also do a good job for me here. The first round of shelling was mentioned above.
I have to give my hit rate more than 80%. You all had time to adjust when you were on the ship, but there is no time here. The first round of attacks made me stupid and scared the troops in the city. Only then will they be able to
They won't rush out. If they rush out like this, we will probably make dumplings for others when we wake up in the morning. Such things are absolutely not allowed to happen, and we all have to go back alive." A leader said loudly immediately.
, these three thousand people are basically his army, and some others are transferred from other companies, but they are all under his command for the time being. His army is about to start the first battle of the southern war. At this moment
He felt that he had a heavy burden on him, but he still felt very proud.
Preparations were made. The pirates below the city wall were already ready to attack. The ten soldiers stood up and hit their hands. The battalion commander also saw clearly. They were all aiming at their respective targets. There were three cannons.
Facing him is the city gate, and the others are some common building facilities. They must achieve an 80% hit rate in the first round of shooting. This is what Li Cong told them, as long as it is the first round.
One round of strikes has frightened others, and the next war will be easier to fight. "Get ready, fire." Now that I have said this, ten cannons start to attack from both ends in turn. The soldiers on the city wall,
First of all, I saw that there seemed to be white smoke coming out of the black pipe. What was going on? Could it be that the things inside were on fire? Just when the city lord was about to say that their things didn't work, he felt his feet moving.
.
That's right, the cannon hit the city wall where the city lord was, and a large piece of it was knocked down. Of course, our city lord also died heroically. He didn't understand how the thing that was just smoking could explode on his side.
When it came, the whole body turned into pieces and fell directly below. What was going on? He didn't understand it and he didn't have the brain to think about it. His brain was now broken into hundreds of pieces, and he didn't even think about it.
Do you know where they went? The other soldiers were also dumbfounded at this time. Hundreds of people lost their lives in the first round of shelling. The most terrible thing was that the place at the gate of the city collapsed, although half of the city was still there.
The gate was being held up, but soon the second round of shelling came again, and the city gate was blown open. At this time, all the soldiers on the city wall were dumbfounded. Two minutes ago, they were still thinking about how to view this war. Two minutes later, they were
You were thinking about how to end this war, so why did you surrender?
Yes, they all thought about it, hang up the white flag, hurry up and hang up the white flag. This is what they learned from the navy and ship owners. Those ship owners told them that as long as they hang white things, they will not continue to fire on the city wall.
More than half of the two thousand soldiers were killed or wounded. The two thousand soldiers prepared below showed no intention of rushing up. The city lord was already dead. He was not working for anyone. They all had fathers and mothers, and they were all flesh and blood.
They were also frightened when they saw the fallen body parts. They absolutely did not want to be like this. As soon as they heard that the white flag was to be hung, they immediately rushed to their houses and took out all the white things they could find.
, it has never been so efficient during a war. Several officials from the city lord's palace wanted to order them to do something, but they also wanted to live, so they immediately took off their white clothes, and several huge
The white flag was raised within five minutes.
"What's going on with this ****? I wasted so much effort to get the second round of shells? Are these bastards surrendering like this? Does this **** have any justice? No, put the ****
*Fight the white flag for me." said the captain of a transport team, thinking that thousands of artillery shells were needed, but unexpectedly, the city was captured with less than 300 artillery shells. ***It's too bad, isn't it?
, I used to say that the Eastern Empire’s army was more powerful than other empires in terms of combat effectiveness, but to this extent? This was defeated in just a warm-up.
"Okay, stop talking nonsense, prepare your serial crossbows, we have already conquered this place, let the navy keep a few warships, the rest can go, we can take control of this place, call the people in the city
Transport some of our supplies and so on. By the way, let the navy transport some of the things in the city." Although the battalion commander felt a little uncomfortable in his heart, this war actually had this meaning. Just now
Just put up your stance, and you're done. What a big deal. It's like punching cotton with one punch. I've been training with this serial crossbow since I put it in my hands. I haven't really done it yet.
What kind of war is it? It's over now. This thing happened, but they have already surrendered. Do we want to massacre the city? That is absolutely not allowed. Such things are prohibited by repeated orders from above. We cannot do such things.
.
Thousands of people entered the city in this way. The next thing was a large-scale search. The first thing was some warehouses in the city. These were immediately taken care of. This is not a good county.
In the city, only about 150,000 taels of gold and 1.3 million taels of silver were found, which is not a lot, but this is just some money from the government, and there are also the homes of some officials and wealthy businessmen. As mentioned above, this place is temporarily occupied.
That's all, there is no need to do any face-saving projects for Qiu Wuzuo, it is better to get some benefits for yourself.
Then 3,000 people quickly divided 400 people to control the four gates of the city. When you open the gates, you can only go in but not out. It is impossible to go out. You can go out if you want to. You can bring it yourself.
Let us search your belongings and let us know your identity. Of course, they don't know what's going on in this city, but we have a lot of friends. These people are the navy officers and soldiers.
Well, they know the people in this city very well. For example, if a guy has a fortune of 300,000 taels of silver, okay, if you want to leave, no problem, you can leave after paying 100,000 taels of silver.
, the navy officers and soldiers who identify this guy can also get 100 taels of silver. This is really pitiful, but this amount can also make him crazy with joy. He is not that rich yet.
It is indeed difficult for three thousand people to control a city with a population of more than one million, but it would be easier if no one in the city resisted. Of course, they are not fools. There are some powerful ones in the family.
, they all understand the third-level warriors and above, these people will never bother them, except for a few of them who are more patriotic, the rest of them don't care, anyway, they just practice, and then go to the Warcraft Mountains
Go fool around, the common people's affairs have nothing to do with you. The few people who came out killed five or six soldiers of the Cao Family Trading Company, but they did not end well. The serial crossbows of the Bei Cao Family Trading Company were unable to hit them clearly.
, the people from the Cao Family Trading Company have also worked out how to deal with people below level five warriors, that is, grenades. After all, you are made of flesh and blood, and this thing can kill you.
After these guys are dead, those who want to come out to cause trouble will have nothing to do. Of course, the army in this city has also been recruited from the north. They all want their own lives, and they all want to
Those who can make money, what kind of treatment is five taels of silver a day? This month it is 15 taels of silver. They don’t always look at money, but this thing is really too tempting. If we don’t do this,
I'm so sorry for myself. I've been living my whole life but have achieved nothing.
Tens of thousands of mercenaries came out immediately. These people were better at doing things than the Cao family's army. They knew who had money and who didn't, and they knew who was the official.
We all know that we let go of the few people we found in the slums before, but these mercenaries from the North were pulled out. It turned out that those people were very powerful officials in the city. Damn, they almost let them go.
They got through it. Of course, they are still beneficial to the ordinary people. For example, there are up to 100,000 tons of grain in the city, which can be opened directly. Of course, it is not given to you for free, but also for use.
I bought it with money, half price, this price is pretty good, it used to be 19 cents per pound. Now it’s all 10 cents, good fellow, ordinary people don’t care whether they are pirates or not, they just take the food bags at home.
I took my own money and hit the road directly. If I didn't take advantage of such a benefit, I would be really sorry for myself.
After a day, the people in this city already felt that these were pirates and not pirates at all. They didn't seem to be here to burn, kill, and rob. They seemed to be here to improve people's lives. They couldn't transport everything in the warehouse.
Take it out, of course, it is also sold at half price, half price is fine. Can it save the people a lot of money? Of course. Discordant voices will appear at any time. For example, at this time, there are some rich people
People also went to buy these things, and the Cao Family Trading Company's army did not recognize them for the time being. Looking at the tatters they were wearing, they immediately recognized the dozens of taels of silver, and it seemed that they were determined to pay them back.
They took out the coffins to buy things, but the navy officers and soldiers in the city immediately picked this guy out. They were already very rich, and they still wanted to take advantage of this. Such rich and unkind people would be arrested immediately.
.
There is really no way to blame these people for what they do. Their families are obviously rich, but they still come out to fight with others for such a small advantage, especially those who are poor. The troops of the Cao Family Trading Company are also born from poor families.
You are not born with everything, especially you hate some rich people. Now you encounter them doing such things, you immediately arrested these dozen people and hung them on the city wall. Of course they were not killed.
Those who have been told not to kill casually. The wind and sun that day also made them peel off a layer of skin. When the sales were held the next day, such people did not dare to come. They were all blocked by the city wall.
Those people were so frightened that they lost weight after hanging up all day and night. They threw them down and each paid 10 silver coins and went home. You are treating you well. If you really catch up,
If a pirate were to chop him down with a knife and care about you, your life would be gone.
There are still some uncooperative people here. Most of them are officials. They are not like ordinary people. The ordinary people can accept the pirates' things, eat and laugh with the pirates, and the ordinary people will not do anything in the end?
The situation is different for officials. If officials and pirates do such things, they will be reported immediately. When the empire regains the city in the future, they may have to be dragged out and beheaded. Therefore, pirates
They don't want to do anything you ask them to do. As long as it is not a threat to their lives, they will resist. A few officials have blocked their own doors. If you don't go out, you can't come in either.
Don't think that if you build a wall yourself, we won't be able to get in. The officers and soldiers of Cao's Trading Company also brought huge logs and smashed them open. If they can't turn around, throw two grenades over. Since you won't cooperate,
Then don't blame us, just go in and get everything.
This old immortal is really a playboy. He used to be some kind of aide to the city lord, and he can be regarded as a senior official in the city. From the day he came in, no one from his family was allowed to come out. It can be said that this old guy has enough food at home.
More, but just because you don't come out doesn't mean we won't go in. Now there's nothing at home. I say you guys hurry up and move the old things you don't want and leave some things behind. We are the ones who won't cooperate with us.
The enemy, her things are our things. If we don't move now, he will have these things to arm himself with an army in the future." A squad leader said when he saw several soldiers under his command, our soldiers from Cao's Trading Company
Now that they are senior people, they don’t know how to do this kind of moving things. Of course, they are hired by friends from abroad. Don’t you see how happy they are on their faces? You have already promised them that no matter how many things you adjust today, they will be able to do it.
1% is them.
For them, 1% is already a lot of money. This official's family has tens of thousands of taels of silver. They have more than 100 people and can get hundreds of taels of silver. In the past, two people could get a few hundred taels of silver.
They don't have that much money every month, but now they can earn so much money in one day? If they have any complaints, they are really sorry for the money in their hands. They still know a little bit about these wealthy families, and the money is natural.
It won't be left in the same place. After entering, I looked around and found a silver vault in a mezzanine. Most of the money inside had been moved out. There was quite a lot of money in it, a total of thirty thousand.
At this time, everyone said that he was an upright official. He often went to places where ordinary people ate and did not buy any luxury goods. I didn’t expect that he would hide so much money at home, and many ordinary people would
After hearing the news, they all thought they were blind before and thought he was an upright official. Unexpectedly, his family's wealth was very rich.
This is something that can't be helped. Everyone knows clearly that the official's work is only for money. If there is no benefit, who will do it, unless it is a person with a problem in his mind. As long as it is
People who have no problem in their minds will never do such a thing. They all know very well what they should do, and they also understand how to do it.
After three days, the entire county seemed to be different from before. The people had returned to what they were before. They still came out to do what they liked. Many people felt that they were not occupied by the North.
Same. Some Eastern Empire officials in the city were dumbfounded. Damn it, their wealth and everything were so much cheaper than these common people. Naturally, they felt uncomfortable. What the hell is going on? I have saved my family wealth for so many years.
Let these muddy legs be snatched away. What did this *** do? I really don’t know if God has opened his eyes.
What these officials thought when they came here was that the surrounding cities would definitely send people to contact them. A few days later, they did receive news from the surrounding cities. Not only the surrounding cities, but also those near the sea.
In the city, as many as dozens of counties and cities have been attacked. They refused to negotiate with anyone and just robbed them vigorously. Some counties and cities near the coast in the coastal provinces were already heavily guarded at this time.
, as long as they come back from the coast, they will be immediately arrested by the North, and they also have names. They also want to prevent spies from coming in. This spy is a great one.
At this time, the coastal provinces of the Eastern Empire occupied more than dozens of counties and cities. Their maritime transportation network suffered a devastating blow. In the past, Li Cong's fleet was only reduced by one-third.
But now 100% of them have been wiped out by the North. This is definitely not a small matter. Now they can no longer afford to delay this matter. They must make a show of solving the gaffe. The Eastern Empire
The emperor ordered the two legions with more than 10 million troops to be transferred to the front line of the northern empire to immediately go south to recapture the dozens of counties and cities, so that the people of the empire could feel at ease.
But just after this order came out, some changes took place in the northern battlefield. This guy Tuoba Yuanye commanded two million cavalry to launch a quick assault, which penetrated thousands of miles into the Eastern Empire. There were more than 30 surrounding counties and more than 7,000 cavalry.
Millions of people have been captured by Bei, which makes the top officials of the Eastern Empire feel very headache. Damn it, as long as the army is mobilized here, something like this will happen immediately in the weakened areas of Bei. What should we do now?
He can't help it either. Now he absolutely believes that these pirates are related to the Cao Family Trading Company. Otherwise, where would the tacit understanding be?
"Conscription, give me a large-scale conscription, I don't believe it, they can kill all of us..." His Majesty the Emperor's imperial edict immediately reached all provinces, requiring each province to
A new army of 100,000 people will be formed in 2,630 provinces in the Eastern Empire. This will create hundreds of millions more troops. For the Eastern Empire's population of more than 400 billion, this is nothing. They can definitely bear it, but
The people of the Eastern Empire were unwilling to become soldiers at this time. They all believed that becoming soldiers would cost them their lives. They ran as far as they could and went to the deep mountains and forests. The remaining soldiers in the city
Those who were recruited were the old, weak, sick and disabled. In fact, this conscription plan should be easy to solve, but the people were afraid, so they couldn't find anyone. After hearing the news, His Majesty the Emperor got angry in the main hall.
Another order was issued, which is compulsory enlistment. As long as your name is called, you have to go. If you don't go, someone in your family will die. Now such a thing can threaten them.
, most of the people in the mountains have come out. They cannot watch their wives and children die, they have to fight with their own lives.
In a county in the middle of the country, several people in the mountains and forests were talking.
"Damn it, the court doesn't give us a way to survive. I heard that dozens of people have been hacked to death in the front mountain. It's because their family members are in the forest. In the past, I thought the court just wanted to scare us.
I didn’t expect them to come to us for real. We are all citizens. Didn’t we say in the past that we could join the army if we wanted to? If we didn’t want to go, just forget it. How could it have become like this now?”
A leader said, there were hundreds of people here a few days ago, but now there are only dozens of people left. This also allows the resources on the mountain to keep them alive, but their scope of activities has also been reduced. Many officers and soldiers
Everyone came here to search, and many of the officers and soldiers were people who used to hang out with them.
"Boss, actually I think there are a lot of people who want to go against the imperial court, so why don't we rebel." A guy with a big mouth said, and his words frightened several people around him.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Rebellion can't be done now. Our empire is very cruel to those who rebel. Even if we catch up with the amnesty year, there will be nothing wrong with us? As long as you take this path
Lu, the whole family can be beheaded in the north. Now the most we can do is kill one person in the family. If there is a rebellion, they will all be beheaded and the nine tribes will be killed." The boss said. He was also shocked. It was really the Eastern Empire.
The peace has lasted too long, and none of them had the courage to call for such a thing. In their impression, they would only rebel when they were forced to do anything. Is that time now? He looked at himself and then around him.
Several brothers regretted what they said after they said it. Now they have reached that point and can no longer survive. They are still hesitating whether they are really going to rebel.
"But I feel like I'm right. Look, if our brothers go down the mountain, they will either become officers and soldiers or die. If they really go to the Northern Empire, how can they survive? I heard that there are people there every day
It's millions. If you don't die today, will your luck be that good tomorrow? Even if you live tomorrow, will you be lucky on the third day? This is impossible. Anyway, if you die, it's better to go back to your current life.
." The guy who said he was rebelling felt uncomfortable in his heart. It has been like this these past few days. It is impossible to continue. He has to make a choice.
"Boss, although what this guy said is a bit harsh, we should make a decision now. Besides, if we escape, the court will not be able to bypass us when we return. They will definitely kill us.
, we should be a little prepared." Others have already had this idea in mind, and now that someone has made it clear, naturally many people agree. (To be continued...)