Chapter 103: Troops at the City Gates

Under the leadership of Meng Dayong, the one thousand new recruits were training in an orderly fashion. By the fifth day, all the new recruits had basically mastered the skills of firing bird guns and cannons; although they could not hit their targets accurately, at least they were all able to fire the projectiles in the direction of the target.

Meng Wulang was a hunter from Qinghe Village. With the assistance of a large quantity of pills provided by Meng Yifan, he was now a First Grade Middle-tier Martial Artist. He had a great talent for lightness skills and was learning the Yellow Grade High-Rank Lightness Skill "Wind-Greeting Willow-Brushing." He had basically mastered the basics; after executing the lightness skill, he could be as light as a swallow, constantly leaping between tree branches with great speed.

The task Meng Yifan assigned to Meng Wulang was to scout the enemy situation around Luolong County. On this day, he was patrolling five kilometers outside Luolong County when he suddenly saw dust billowing in the distance, as if a large troop was on the move.

Meng Wulang gathered his Qi to lighten his body, tapped his toes on a tree trunk, and with a sudden dash, he surged up to a tree over twenty meters tall. Standing on the highest treetop, he looked toward where the dust was rising and saw an army of about a thousand men, full of murderous intent, marching toward Luolong County.

This army was fully armed; every soldier carried a bird gun on their back and wore armor. There were also some tall soldiers carrying heavy steel shields, and in the ranks, there were over a hundred mules pulling heavy cannon carriages.

Being some distance away, Meng Wulang could not see clearly what kind of weapons were placed on the cannon carriages, but looking at those dark, hulking cannon barrels, he knew that these big items were definitely lethal weapons similar to the Shenwu Great General Cannon.

"Oh no! I must hurry and tell Brother Meng this intelligence." Meng Wulang's face changed drastically, his heart trembling with fear. He exerted his lightness skill to the fullest, leaping continuously between the treetops, fast as a gust of wind, as he ran toward Luolong County.

Meng Yifan and Meng Dayong were inspecting the military camp, watching the soldiers practice the steps for firing the elm cannons.

The elm cannon was a muzzle-loading cannon, and the loading steps were very cumbersome. Meng Yifan divided five soldiers into a squad responsible for firing one elm cannon. Everyone had a clear division of labor, with each person responsible for only one step of the operation, which could speed up the firing rate.

Meng Wulang rushed into the city, his toes tapping on the eaves as he vaulted over walls, running to Meng Yifan at top speed. Gasping for breath, he said, "Brother Meng, something terrible has happened. A thousand-man unit of the Divine Machine Battalion has already arrived five kilometers outside Luolong County. Judging by their marching speed, they will definitely arrive at the walls of Luolong County in three hours."

Upon hearing this news, Meng Dayong turned pale with fright. He had served as a soldier in the Divine Machine Battalion of Dongchuan Prefecture and knew that the Divine Machine Battalion was composed of elite veterans who were well-equipped, well-trained, and possessed formidable combat power. The Demon Race had been ravaging the land, yet they still dared not attack the major cities of Dongchuan Prefecture, a large part of which was because Dongchuan Prefecture had five thousand Divine Machine Battalion troops.

Meng Yifan was stunned when he heard this news. He had not expected that the Prefect of Dongchuan Prefecture, under the circumstances of a massive invasion by the Demon Race, would actually dare to detach a thousand Divine Machine Battalion troops to suppress the rebellion in Luolong County.

Meng Wulang spoke in a loud voice, and the surrounding soldiers also heard the news. It spread from ten to a hundred, from a hundred to a thousand; soon, the soldiers on the parade ground all knew that the thousand-man unit of the Divine Machine Battalion from Dongchuan Prefecture was about to come and attack Luolong County.

"The imperial army is coming to attack us; what are we to do?"

"We are all new recruits who have only trained for five days. The Divine Machine Battalion is full of elite veterans; how could we possibly beat them? We might as well open the gates and surrender early."

"Zhang Mazi, what kind of nonsense are you spouting? Lord Meng has treated us well, giving us houses to live in and food to eat. We can eat our fill every day, and there is meat at every meal."

"When we were about to starve to death in the refugee camp, where was the imperial court? I don't care about all that; I am going to follow Lord Meng to the death. If that damn Divine Machine Battalion dares to come and attack Lord Meng, I will risk my life against them!" Zhang Shagen roared loudly.

"Right, me too! We've only just started living a few good days, and the Divine Machine Battalion shows up. Screw them, what kind of bullshit is this? If they dare to come, I dare to fight them to the death. I, Xu Lu, am sticking with Lord Meng; let's kill those bastards from the Divine Machine Battalion."

The soldiers whispered and discussed among themselves. Some were terrified by the approaching army and wanted to open the gates and surrender, while the majority of the soldiers stood firmly on Meng Yifan's side, determined to go to war with the Divine Machine Battalion.

Meng Yifan let the soldiers discuss it; he also discovered that buying people's hearts over the past few days had been very effective, and the loyalty of many soldiers had now risen to over seventy points.

For soldiers like Zhang Shagen and Xu Lu, their loyalty had soared to over eighty, making them true subjects. Even if Meng Yifan led them into a crushing defeat with heavy losses, they would still follow him without abandoning him.

At this moment, Meng Yifan glanced at Liu Dengke. This former storyteller understood immediately, climbed onto the high platform, channeled the noble spirit within his chest, and said loudly, "Soldier brothers, the Divine Machine Battalion of Dongchuan Prefecture is about to arrive at our gates. You were all refugees outside the city; you had no right to live within the city walls."

"Once the Divine Machine Battalion defeats Lord Meng, they will take back your houses and drive you back to the refugee camp. You will have no food and no shelter again; you will freeze to death and starve to death. Do you want to return to those days of hunger and starvation?"

"No! We don't!" the soldiers shouted in unison.

Even those soldiers who had been trembling with fear just moments ago thought of the days they had spent starving in the refugee camp, and they overcame the fear in their hearts. Rather than dying a pathetic death from freezing or starvation, it was better to fight the bastards of the Divine Machine Battalion to the death.

Liu Dengke was agitated, his noble spirit surging as he said loudly, "Since we have become Lord Meng's soldiers and eaten the grain provided by Lord Meng, in the eyes of the imperial court, we are all heinous rebels. The Divine Machine Battalion has come to suppress us; if we are defeated, every one of us will be beheaded, and even our families will be executed. Brothers, tell me, what should we do?"

"Fight them to the death!"

"Damn them, if they won't let us live well, we'll risk our lives against them!"

"We all have one head on our shoulders; let's fight them to the death!"

The soldiers were filled with righteous indignation and all decided to go to war with the Divine Machine Battalion. Even those who had once been timid as mice, under the incitement of Liu Dengke's noble spirit and the influence of the surrounding soldiers, were filled with righteous anger and determined to fight to the death.

Meng Yifan looked at Liu Dengke with appreciation. His Minister of Propaganda was doing a very competent job; through both coercion and inducement, he had made every soldier possess the heart to fight. This pre-battle mobilization was very well done.

Meng Yifan walked onto the high platform, drew the Ghost Head Blade at his waist, and said loudly, "The Divine Machine Battalion dares to come and attack us, so we shall make sure they never return. Soldiers, prepare for battle!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!" The shouts of one thousand soldiers echoed throughout Luolong County. The residents in the city all shut their doors tightly to prevent being caught in the crossfire.

In that underground hall, the leaders of the Three Great Gangs gathered together, drinking tea unhurriedly and watching the singing and dancing of beauties in the hall. They had long been waiting for the arrival of the Divine Machine Battalion.

"That arrogant brat Meng Yifan is definitely finished this time," Jiang Tian, the leader of the Crocodile Gang, laughed.

Liu Sheng, the leader of the Axe Gang, laughed, "That is certain. The thousand-man unit of the Divine Machine Battalion is the elite of the elite. With just the one thousand refugees that Meng Yifan recruited, how could they possibly block the attack of the Divine Machine Battalion?"

The leader of the Wuyou Gang took a sip of tea with relish and said, "Once the Divine Machine Battalion wipes out Meng Yifan, this Luolong County will still be under the control of us three brothers in the future."