Chapter 16: Drones Burn the Linked Camps

In the military camp, men shouted and horses neighed.

The tent curtain was lifted, and several figures dressed as scholars, leading a group of armored soldiers, walked in.

"Sikong~~~"

Standing with hands behind his back, Great Zhao's Sikong Li Nong, who was examining the map, turned upon hearing this. "Have all the things been brought?"

The Sikong Mansion's Sima waved his hand, and armored soldiers stepped forward, placing the collected captured items one by one in orderly arrangement.

Li Nong first looked at the armor stripped from the corpses of the Qi Huo Cavalry.

He nodded slightly. "Not bad."

Then he looked at the glass shards, his face showing doubt. "Glazed glass?"

Finally, he picked up a disposable lighter.

Every one of the Qi Huo Cavalry who went out on the sortie had one on them, a gift from Lin Dao.

"Sikong, please look." A scholar stepped forward to fiddle with it; with a click, a tongue of flame sprang up.

"Hiss~~~"

Li Nong was instantly greatly surprised.

He considered himself widely experienced, but this was truly the first time he had seen a device that could produce fire so effortlessly.

Compared to it, a fire steel is not worth mentioning.

Casually pocketing the lighter, Li Nong asked further, "Do you know the origin of that inextinguishable fire?"

Armor, glazed glass, lighters — these are all minor matters.

What truly concerns him is that fire that water cannot extinguish.

Dozens of engineering devices, built with exhaustive manpower and resources, were effortlessly burned to destruction by the inextinguishable fire.

This is truly too strange.

Everyone shook their heads in succession; they had never seen it either.

"Find a way to investigate clearly." Li Nong had a vague premonition in his heart.

Figuring out the source of the inextinguishable fire is even more important than attacking the Qi Huo Army.

Thinking to here, he added a sentence: "You may employ the deep-cover agents planted inside the Qi Huo Army."

The men acknowledged the order and withdrew one after another.

Returning to the rear tent, the Buddhist-believing Li Nong knelt before the Buddha shrine, sincerely reciting sutras.

". Boundless Karma Fire"

The Settlement, the Wushuai Mansion.

Silk and bamboo music circled the beams; bells and chimes echoed.

Dancing girls veiled in thin gauze, stepping to the rhythm, danced lightly and soaring.

The martial men and scholars behind the tables pushed cups and changed goblets, lively beyond measure.

Lin Dao, invited to attend the celebration banquet, sat in the first seat on the left.

This is the most prominent position under the Settlement Commander.

Scholars and martial men came forward one after another to salute, praise, curry favor, and offer toasts.

Lin Dao refused none; bowl after bowl of extremely low-alcohol wine went down his belly, and his face did not change color.

All praised: "Master Lin Jia drinks a thousand cups without getting drunk — truly a hero."

On the surface, this victory was won by the Armored Cavalry led by Qin Lang, fighting a decisive battle to the death.

But the one who truly played the decisive role was Lin Dao, the Master Lin Jia supporting Qin Lang from behind.

Fifty sets of armor, all worn by the death-defying warriors charging at the very front.

They wore extremely sturdy armor, withstood the heavy arrows of the Flying Cavalry head-on, then crashed through the long-weapon formations, opening the road for the following Armored Cavalry to burn the engineering devices.

Even more miraculous was that divine fire contained in glazed bottles.

Precisely because of that divine fire which, once it touched something, could not be extinguished by splashing water, were the engineering devices able to be completely burned to destruction.

Otherwise, the flames on most devices would have been extinguished.

And within the Settlement, it would no longer be possible to organize a death-defying Armored Cavalry on the scale of hundreds of men.

"Brother Zi Hou."

Qin Lang, his face flushed red from drinking, carried a wine jar over and poured wine for Lin Dao.

"Without Brother Zi Hou's aid, Qin would by now have long been buried in the earth."

Qin Lang raised his cup in a gesture: "A great favor needs no thanks; I'll drink first as a sign of respect."

According to past tradition, the charging Armored Cavalry had to stay near the burning engineering devices.

Only when those devices were thoroughly ablaze could they return.

Under normal circumstances, no one could come back alive.

After all, the defenders aren't blind; how could they just let it be?

It was precisely because of the Molotov Cocktails provided by Lin Dao — once lit they would not go out — that Qin Lang had a sliver of a chance to survive.

"Not necessarily buried in the earth." Lin Dao joked with a smile. "Could also be in a pot."

The enemy is the Qianghu, the most cruel humanoid organisms in history.

Gouging hearts and lungs, Husband-and-Wife Lung Slices, Clay Pot Rice, Two-legged Sheep — these are all their specialty dishes.

The wine rising to his head, Qin Lang's flushed face instantly turned pale.

Dying on the battlefield he does not fear, but being thrown into a pot after death — this

After exchanging a few jokes, the music stopped and the dancing girls changed scenes.

Lin Dao looked toward Settlement Commander Feng Dun. "Great Commander, why not pursue the victory and attack?"

"This..."

Feng Dun's face showed difficulty. "The Jurchen's strength remains intact; sending troops rashly would make victory difficult."

If you don't send troops to defeat the Jurchen, my business here will be greatly affected.

"Fortress Commander." Lin Dao, his expression unchanged, pressed. "To what extent must the Jurchen's strength be damaged before we can send troops to strike them?"

Feng Dun was momentarily speechless.

Those were originally perfunctory words; how could you take them seriously?

The Army Sima here took up the conversation to share the Fortress Commander's worry. "Master Lin Jia, if the Jurchen run out of grain, their military heart will surely fall into great chaos; sending troops then would naturally achieve twice the result with half the effort."

Lin Dao glanced at him. "Understood. Just burn all their grain and fodder."

He has not yet switched careers to become an arms dealer; he is still in the rising period of his career, and his main business is grain merchant.

A prolonged siege would seriously affect his business.

His desire to end this war as soon as possible was even stronger than that of Feng Dun and the others.

After the banquet, Lin Dao politely declined the dancing girls Feng Dun bestowed, and made an appointment with Qin Lang to drink together when free.

Returning to the manor to give some instructions, he locked the door and returned to the Modern World.

He hailed a ride-hailing car and headed straight for the Fireworks and Firecrackers Specialty Store at 18 Yue Luo Lu.

He was going to stock up.

Yonghe Spacetime, Zi hour.

On the city tower of the Weichang, Lin Dao raised his head and scanned the night sky.

The moon was bright, stars few; a clear breeze brushed his face.

"Brother Zi Hou." Qin Lang looked at Lin Dao, who was busy adding fireworks to the drone, his face doubtful. "What is this thing?"

"Do you know Mozi?"

Lin Dao smiled. "This is a flying national treasure passed down by Mozi, the Wooden Kite."

"Oh." Qin Lang's face showed realization.

The story of Mozi crafting the Wooden Kite, which could fly for three days and three nights, he had indeed seen in books.

"Brother Zi Hou, great talent." Qin Lang praised. "To have actually inherited the Mo School's mantle transmission."

Lin Dao smiled without speaking; the more this matter was explained, the darker it got.

Arranged the preliminary preparations.

Lin Dao sat on the Ma Zha, lowered the brightness of the camping lamp beside him, and installed the battery into the drone.

Picking up the Cao Zuo Ban, amid the surprised cries of the surrounding people, the rotors drove the drone to rise into the air and fly toward the distant Later Zhao Army camp outside the city.

Grain and fodder in the army have always been the top priority of defense.

Zhou Shuren once said: calculating poison, nothing surpasses cutting off grain.

From this one can know how important grain and fodder are to an army.

The Later Zhao's grain and fodder storage area was guarded extremely strictly on all sides.

Even if thousands of Armored Cavalry came charging, it would be difficult to approach.

Not only was the ground defense watertight, the Jurchen even half-buried water jars underground to listen for sounds, preventing anyone from digging tunnels to approach.

It can be said that the precautions for the safety of the grain and fodder had already reached the extreme.

The only oversight, perhaps, was only above their heads.

It doesn't even count as an oversight; after all, in this world there is no one who can fly.

*Buzz buzz buzz~~~*

A low, bee-like sound of tearing through the air drew the attention of the defending soldiers.

They looked around in all directions, but failed to find the source of the sound.

In their doubt, someone finally raised their head.

"Seems like it's from the sky."

The next moment, in the night sky, gorgeous light suddenly bloomed!

Beautiful Gatling Yan Hua, *swoosh swoosh swoosh*, fell from the sky, landing on the grass stacks piled like mountains.

The firepower was very dense, the quantity extremely large.

The drone was very agile, constantly adjusting its posture and direction, firing the firework shells at more grass stacks.

In a short while, clusters of flames appeared faintly on one grass stack after another.

The defending soldiers finally came to their senses and hurriedly went to fetch water to extinguish the fire.

Grass stacks are inherently flammable; once ignited on a large scale, the fire spreads extremely fast.

In a short while, it had already formed a prairie fire momentum.

The Jurchen have many cavalry, and even more horses.

The grass stacks for feeding horses are piled like mountains.

Once the fire gets going, how can water buckets put it out?

The spreading fire gradually devoured the grain inside the granaries.

Grain cannot be stacked in the open; once it rains, it's all over.

The ever-larger fireheads were so dazzlingly bright in the dark night.

Qin Lang on the Weichang city tower was dumbfounded.

"It really caught fire?"

When Lin Dao previously said he had a way to burn the enemy's grain and fodder, Qin Lang didn't take it seriously.

But at this very moment, seeing the firelight in the distance, Qin Lang's admiration for Lin Dao was like the waters of the Yellow River, surging endlessly.

"Brother Zi Hou, you are truly a godly person!"

Retrieving the drone, Lin Dao replaced the battery and fireworks.

Taking off again, he rushed to another Later Zhao camp.

Here in Shangbai, Guangzong County, there were many large and small settlements.

The settlement where Lin Dao was located was the largest of them.

Nearby there were more than ten large and small settlements, and the Later Zhao Army had divided its forces to besiege them.

Lin Dao operated the drone one settlement after another to burn the grain and grass.

Until, over the fourth camp, when he released the firework rockets, did the Qianghu on the ground finally come to their senses and shoot arrows to bring down the drone.

Looking at the blackened screen, Lin Dao, with a calm expression, turned his head and instructed Sun Dalang, "Bring a box over."

Sun Dalang received the order, took a box containing a drone, and walked toward Lin Dao.

At the place where he had previously stood, there were dozens of identical boxes.

This round of arson targeting the grain and grass within the Later Zhao camps continued until the distant horizon showed fish-belly white.

Lin Dao, still not satisfied, stood up, stretched his arms, and gave a lazy stretch.

"More than ten Qianghu camps, more or less all burned once."

Lin Dao took out Li Quan and distributed cigarettes to Qin Lang and the others, "Basically, everything that could be burned has been burned."

"How long will it take them to transport grain and grass over again?"

Qin Lang thought for a moment, "Send word to Ye City, procure grain and grass, conscript civilian laborers to transport them—at least one month."

Lin Dao smiled slightly, "When can we leave the city to attack the Qianghu?"

Qin Lang fell silent for a moment, thinking in his heart, "After the Qianghu starve for three to five days, when their grain is exhausted and morale collapses, that will be the right time."

He had become numb.

This benefactor of his was truly possessed of vast supernatural powers.

The various wonderful gadgets in his hand were even more endless.

Such an extraordinary person, even without the bond of gratitude, was someone worth befriending wholeheartedly.

Thinking of this, Qin Lang smiled and joked, "Zi Hou, these cigarettes of yours are more soothing than Five Stone Powder."

Originally just idle chat, unexpectedly, Lin Dao's expression changed instantly.

"Do not speak nonsense!"

"I and drugs are irreconcilable enemies!"

End of Chapter