Chapter 79: Countermeasures (Thanks to book friend Xia Yixiao for the tip)

Before long, a Second-Rank Head Constable with exceptional Lightness Skill rushed hurriedly to the County Magistrate's office.

Under normal circumstances, a Head Constable should remain outside and wait for County Magistrate Lv to grant permission before he could enter the main hall of the County Magistrate's office.

But now it was a matter of extreme urgency, and this Head Constable could no longer care about such rules; with a flicker of his body, he vaulted over the perimeter wall, tapped his toes on the wall top, and charged into the main hall.

The guards in the County Magistrate's office were startled to see a figure in black suddenly charge in, and they hurriedly shouted, "There is an assassin! Protect the Magistrate!"

County Magistrate Lv was shocked and hurriedly hid behind the guards; his own strength was not great, and if an assassin got close, he could lose his life at any moment.

"Magistrate Lv, I am Head Constable Sun Lianfu; I have an urgent matter to report to the Magistrate," this Second-Rank Head Constable shouted hurriedly.

Lv Dazhi was stunned for a moment, but once he saw clearly that it was indeed the head of the yamen runners, he was no longer panicked; he steadied his mind and scolded, "Why did you vault over the wall? You truly have no sense of decorum."

"Magistrate, Head Constable Zhang ordered me to rush here at top speed; it has now been confirmed that those who murdered the entire family of Lv Fugui are a group of hunters from the mountains."

"Head Constable Zhang led the brothers to make arrests, but we did not expect that group of hunters to have a large number of Cannons; more than eighty brothers have been killed or wounded. Head Constable Zhang ordered me to rush here to report and ask the Magistrate to dispatch the Shenhu Great General Cannon to bombard the enemy," Sun Lianfu said urgently.

Lv Dazhi did not hesitate and shouted loudly, "Take my Order Arrow and immediately dispatch the Shenwu Great General Cannon."

The guards inside the County Magistrate's office received the order and flew off; Lv Dazhi felt uneasy and could no longer stay inside the office.

If eighty or ninety yamen runners and constables died, it was not a major matter, and Lv Dazhi could easily find an excuse to gloss over it; but if a large number of deaths occurred again, he would not be able to cover it up, and if his superiors investigated, he, as the County Magistrate, would be unable to shirk the blame.

Moreover, the situation was now critical; setting aside whether his superiors would hold him accountable, if all the constables and yamen runners were dead, what would Lv Dazhi use to manage Luolong County, and what would he use to intimidate the various factions in Luolong County?

"The constables and yamen runners cannot die anymore; this battle must be won, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable." Realizing the severity of the situation, Lv Dazhi did not hesitate and shouted, "Everyone follow me; we are going to support Head Constable Zhang."

Lv Dazhi took the remaining guard force in the County Magistrate's office and set out in full strength to support Head Constable Zhang; not only that, he also grasped the County Magistrate Seal, preparing to mobilize the Dynasty Luck to suppress that group of hunters.

In the courtyard of Meng Yifan's home, everyone was racing against time to change ammunition. This time, after Meng Yifan traveled back to Earth, a netizen had given him a suggestion: he could use pre-packaged gunpowder and projectiles.

After he traveled back, he arranged for Meng Yitong and the others to wrap portions of gunpowder and projectiles in thick paper, which shortened the time for reloading.

The original Elm Cannon took at least three minutes to reload, but now it only took two minutes, shortening the time by one-third.

After about two minutes, all the Elm Cannons were loaded with ammunition, but during the recent ceasefire, Head Constable Zhang had already led his men to retreat five hundred meters away, long since exceeding the range of the Elm Cannons.

It was obvious that Head Constable Zhang did not believe at all that Meng Yifan was prepared to surrender; that talk of persuading them to surrender earlier was likely just to stall for time.

"What is he waiting for? I know; he must be waiting for the Shenwu Great General Cannon," Meng Yifan said.

"Yifan, this is bad. The Shenwu Great General Cannon can fire from five hundred meters away and hit us, while the effective range of our Elm Cannons is at most three hundred meters. Are we only going to be passively bombarded?"

Meng Dayong frowned; he had served as an artilleryman in the Divine Machine Battalion and was very familiar with the performance of the Shenwu Great General Cannon.

The Elm Cannon was portable but much less powerful and had a shorter range, while the Shenwu Great General Cannon was cumbersome but held more gunpowder, fired shells with immense power, and had a long range. If the two types of cannons engaged in a face-to-face artillery duel, the Elm Cannons would have no advantage at all.

Everyone was pondering a countermeasure. Meng Qingshan said, "Brother Meng, why don't we take the initiative to attack while their Great General Cannon hasn't been transported over yet, and bombard Head Constable Zhang and those constables and yamen runners to death first?"

Meng Yifan looked at Meng Qingshan with admiration; this younger brother knew how to use his brain, and the method he thought of had a certain degree of feasibility. Although it still had shortcomings, it was quite remarkable.

"Head Constable Zhang is a Third Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist and is very fast. Among us, only I can keep up with Head Constable Zhang's speed, and only I can carry an Elm Cannon to pose a threat to him."

"But I can carry at most three Elm Cannons at a time; any more would seriously affect my speed and I wouldn't be able to keep up with Head Constable Zhang. You all saw just now that three Elm Cannons rapidly firing Iron Balls could not cause harm to Head Constable Zhang," Meng Yifan said.

"Yifan, how about I carry five or six Elm Cannons for you and go into battle with you?" Meng Dayong asked.

Meng Yifan shook his head and said, "Dad, your speed is too slow. As soon as we carry the Elm Cannons over the wall, Head Constable Zhang will react; it's useless."

"Then what can we do? Are we just going to wait to be bombarded by the Shenwu Great General Cannon?" Meng Dayong was worried; under the bombardment of the Great General Cannon, these ordinary courtyard walls would not be able to stop it at all, and all of them would be blasted into fragments by the Great General Cannon.

"Brother Meng, wasn't Head Constable Zhang trying to persuade us to surrender just now? Let's call him over to discuss terms again, and then take the opportunity to have all the cannons fire a volley, striving to take him out in one go. Once Head Constable Zhang is taken out, the others will be easier to deal with," Meng Qinghe said.

Everyone's eyes lit up, and they all felt that Meng Qinghe's suggestion was good; it might actually work.

Meng Yifan patted Meng Qinghe on the shoulder and said, "This method is good; we can try it."

"Magistrate Zhang, come over here; we would like to ask you a few more things," Meng Yifan gathered his Qi into his dantian and shouted loudly.

Head Constable Zhang was stunned for a moment; he had just received intelligence that Lv Dazhi was leading the guards of the County Magistrate's office to come and provide support.

The Shenwu Great General Cannon in the city was also being moved toward this side; as long as they waited another two or three minutes, they would have an overwhelming advantage over the opponent.

"What is it? Just say it from there; I can hear you." Head Constable Zhang had already figured out the range of the cannons inside the courtyard. That kid named Meng Yifan fired his cannons with terrifying accuracy, and he did not want to enter the range and get bombarded.

Meng Yifan shouted, "It's too far away; it's inconvenient to talk. Magistrate Zhang, come closer so we can discuss terms."

Head Constable Zhang simply would not come over; from five hundred meters away, he shouted loudly, "Young man, it's not up to me. Magistrate Lv will be here in a moment; just wait a little longer, and when the Magistrate arrives, you can discuss it properly."

Meng Yifan said no more; he could already see that Head Constable Zhang had been guarding against them all along and would never enter the range of the Elm Cannons.