Chapter 45

The spring sunshine was bright, and the willows were sprouting buds.

A gentle breeze swirled past Xiangguo City, bringing threads of spring feeling.

On the vast drill ground inside the city, not a single person was present at this moment.

"Remember this."

Standing at the edge of the drill ground, Lin Dao stuffed the lighter in his hand into Liu Hu's hands and solemnly instructed, "After you light the fuse, immediately run back; run as fast as you can."

"Absolutely do not linger."

"Even more, you must not stop to watch out of curiosity."

Liu Hu nodded vigorously, "Right!"

Watching Liu Hu trot off, rushing toward the gas cylinder in the center of the drill ground.

Over here Lin Dao waved his hand and shouted loudly to the surrounding onlookers, "Everyone squat in the pits!"

Having spoken, he himself also jumped down into a deep pit a full man's height deep.

Standing on the horse stakes at the bottom of the pit, he poked his head out to observe Liu Hu lighting the fire in the distance.

Over a hundred zhang away, Liu Hu stuck his butt up and lay prone on the ground fiddling about, yet there was no movement for a long while.

After waiting a good while, Lin Dao grew impatient and was just about to call out.

Over there Liu Hu suddenly leapt up, turned around, and ran wildly with his head down.

Lin Dao didn't waste words either; he sat on the horse stakes, covered his ears with both hands, and opened his mouth.

After a moment, a roaring dull sound transmitted over.

"What's going on?"

Lin Dao frowned in confusion; this wasn't right, this shouldn't be the sound.

He stood up to look, but saw a black dot falling from the sky.

Gradually enlarging in his field of vision, it finally roared and smashed into the ground a hundred meters from him.

The pit Lin Dao was in, however, was already empty of people long ago.

After roughly the time it takes to drink a cup of hot tea, Lin Dao then reappeared in the pit holding a riot shield.

He raised the telescope to look.

Only to see the steel cylinder in the distance had obviously swollen, twisted, and deformed, and was still continuously spraying thick smoke.

Yet it did not explode~~~

Lin Dao fell silent.

Was it that the quality was no good, the manufacturing process had flaws, or was the steel cylinder too sturdy?

"Lord?" From a nearby pit came a calling voice.

"Wait a bit."

"Wait until the smoke is gone before speaking."

The gas cylinder shell plan suffered a severe setback right at the start.

"No matter, I still have rockets."

Lin Dao comforted himself, "Rockets fired in a volley of ten thousand arrows will be enough."

Over an hour later, Liu Hu lit the rocket's fuse at the same position as before.

This time the rocket explosion's sound was different from the previous gas cylinder; the sound was very loud.

Firelight and thick smoke scattered in all directions, the sound like a thunderclap.

However, when Lin Dao went forward to inspect, he saw that only the front end containing the medicine had blown apart.

The steel pipe twisted and tore like hemp rope, yet it did not explode into iron fragments scattering in all directions to form lethal killing power as imagined.

Lin Dao squatting on the ground, his gaze swept over the steel pipe again and again.

"Could it be that it's because the quality was too good?"

Lin Dao was slightly disappointed, but did not give up.

He called Jin Lian over, "Bring a clay pot."

Black gunpowder was put into the clay pot, a long fuse inserted, and it was lit again.

A roaring huge boom, like a thunderbolt from a clear sky.

Flying stone fragments, hot earth, and clay pot shards fell like raindrops.

Bright firelight and thick gunpowder smoke enveloped the surroundings.

The people near the drill ground were all scared witless.

This is a thunderbolt on dry land~~~

Even quite a few people were frightened senseless and slumped sitting on the ground.

There were even people kneeling and bowing repeatedly, murmuring incessantly, their expressions devout.

For the people of Yonghe Spacetime, this was a miracle.

"As expected, it's because the gas cylinder and the steel pipe's quality is too good."

Lin Dao confirmed the reason for the previous experiment's failure.

"My gas cylinder shells, and the Laiyang rockets~~~"

Originally envisioned as great killing weapons that could sweep the world, they were temporarily frozen due to technical reasons.

"No problem, they can be put in clay pots to use."

"Rockets can also use wood or bamboo as substitutes."

"As long as thinking doesn't slide downhill, methods are always more numerous than difficulties."

Forcefully justifying himself in a wave.

"Change it!"

"Change it now!"

"Find clay pots and round logs."

The city was ablaze with activity.

The siege preparations outside the city were also in full swing.

Military households and civilian laborers from the provinces, commanderies, and counties of Later Zhao gradually gathered outside Xiangguo City.

Looking from the city tower, the connected camps outside were like a forest, and banners like a grove.

Wherever the eye could see, all were Later Zhao troops.

Like surging waves, they surrounded Xiangguo City so tightly that not even water could leak through.

On the city tower, Lin Dao pointed at a main camp two or three li away and asked.

"Is that the Crown Prince of Zhao's main camp over there?"

"Judging by its banners, it is precisely the Gao Li Imperial Guard."

"They are precisely the Qianghu Eastern Palace Direct Troops."

Lin Dao silently thought it a pity.

If his Laiyang rocket shells could be used, firing over a hundred in one breath might just blow this bloodthirsty prince to death.

Thinking this, Lin Dao asked again, "You said last time that this prince had already sent troops from Ye City, so why has he only arrived now?"

Qin Lang immediately showed a look of disdain. "Qianghu Crown Prince Shi Xuan travels with his concubines in a palanquin."

"He stops and goes along the way, hunting and reveling everywhere."

"It is said that to facilitate his hunting, mountains were sealed, roads blocked, and ferries and bridges closed everywhere, causing roads to be impassable and grain and grass to be insufficient."

"The number of civilian laborers and soldiers who froze or starved to death reached over ten thousand."

"This is truly~" Lin Dao sighed, "The Sima Clan truly deserves to die!"

Such fine land and rivers, because of the Sima Clan's foolishness, fell into the hands of human beasts like Shi Hu and Shi Xuan.

Living beings were scorched, land and rivers shattered, countless commoners suffered great calamity.

And the Jia Family~

It was precisely that ugly woman Jia Nanfeng who invited the princes to the capital to seize power, thus triggering the Eight Princes' Rebellion.

Since then, the chaotic Sima Family had no strength left to block the invasions of the various Hu.

"Shi Xuan." Lin Dao calmed his breath, "He is a bloodthirsty madman."

A single hunt could kill ten thousand people; these Hu captives truly never regarded Han as human beings.

"Come on."

Leaning on the battlements, Lin Dao slightly raised his head and gazed at the dense, sprawling connected camps in the distance.

"Jie People, I have prepared so many gifts for you; all of you shall die beneath this city."

Shi Hu had thirteen sons.

The personalities of these sons were almost exactly like Shi Hu's.

Cruel and ruthless, regarding human life as grass and weeds.

The former Crown Prince Shi Sui was inhumanly cruel.

His favorite thing was to dress up his beautiful concubines, then behead them and place their heads on plates for guests to pass around and view.

Then, using their bodies, he boiled them with beef and mutton to share with everyone.

Shi Sui died too easily, which was letting him off cheap.

After offending Shi Hu, he was executed and placed in one coffin along with his entire family.

Compared to his elder brother, Shi Xuan surpassed him in cruelty without falling short.

Upon arriving beneath Xiangguo City, he was either hunting and reveling every day or supervising the construction of siege engines, urging military households and civilian laborers from all regions to deliver grain and supplies as quickly as possible.

The Gongjiang Ying built siege engines day and night, with countless dying from exhaustion.

Shi Xuan still found it too slow; every time he came to inspect the Gongjiang Ying, he would kill a batch of artisans and civilian laborers.

In the name of urging faster progress.

During daily camp inspections and hunting, he also arbitrarily punished and slaughtered.

Even so, some civilian laborers and military households were inexplicably enclosed within the hunting grounds and were also cruelly eliminated.

Acting with such tyranny, everyone lived in constant fear.

In the Later Zhao Army, hearts were unsettled and morale was low.

"Lord."

On the city tower, Qin Lang reported, "According to scouts, the various siege engines built by the Qianghu number over a hundred, and have already taken initial shape."

"At most three to five days until they are fully completed."

After saying this, he looked at Lin Dao with an expectant gaze.

"Mm."

Lin Dao understood his meaning. "It's about time; there is no wind tonight, tonight we will burn all these big things!"

Qin Lang was overjoyed and hurriedly flattered him, "Lord's Divine Might~~~"

Large siege engines were difficult to build.

Previously, the Buhuo Army had fortified walls and cleared the fields, long ago chopping down all the already scarce trees outside the city.

Even the residences, houses, shops, and villages outside the city were demolished and stripped, with all stone and timber brought into the city.

The large timber used by the Later Zhao Army to build siege engines was dragged from distant places at great cost of manpower and resources.

Once lost, rebuilding them would take at least one or two months of back-and-forth trouble.

Mobilizing so many men and horses, the daily consumption of grain and grass was an astronomical figure.

Only the Qianghu could not afford to drag it out.

In the Modern World, Lin Dao had asked someone to help improve the Drone.

Operation was simpler, power was stronger, and payload was greater.

When night came, the moon was bright and stars sparse, silver Moonlight covering the Da Di.

'Hum~~~'

The four-winged Drone gradually rose, and beneath its Iron Hook hung a large barrel of Glass Jars filled with incendiary agent.

Lin Dao deliberately added more thickener, aluminum powder, metallic Magnesium, and other ingredients to enhance the effect.

The Viscous liquid adhered more strongly and burned longer.

Especially against wooden structures, it had excellent burning effect.

The bottle mouth had an igniting fuse attached; once it fell and shattered, it would immediately catch fire.

Lin Dao stared at the control screen, piloting the Drone into the Night Sky, heading straight for the Later Zhao Main Camp outside the City where siege engines were stored.

If he went to burn grain and grass, at most the Qianghu would withdraw due to lack of food.

Even if all the grain and grass were burned, so many Civilian Laborers outside the City were enough for the Qianghu to hold out until retreat.

What Lin Dao wanted was for the Qianghu to launch a Strong Attack on the fortified City, inflicting large-scale casualties on them.

Let the Qianghu flee, and they would continue to bring calamity to the human world.

Only dead Qianghu were good Qianghu.

Under the moonlight, a slight sound of tearing through the air drew the attention of the night-watch Soldiers in the Later Zhao Camp.

They warily Stared around, seeking the source of the sound.

When Li Nong had campaigned against the Beggar Army and encountered the matter of heavenly fire descending, the Qianghu had long since learned of it.

Soon someone Raised Head to look at the Night Sky.

'There's a bird in the Sky! Such a big bird!'

'Why is this bird square?'

'A bird without Wings~~~'

'All shut up! Quickly summon the Eagle Shooter! Take the bow!'

To guard against that strange person of the Beggar Army, they resorted to the same old trick of burning grain.

The Divine Archers in the Later Zhao Army had all gathered near the various granaries.

Unexpectedly, Lin Dao this time set his Target on the siege engines.

Many Qianghu had already drawn bows and nocked arrows, shooting at the Drone in the Sky.

Lin Dao deliberately raised altitude, over a hundred meters from the ground.

The Qianghu on this side were all shooting upward.

The vast majority of arrows fell midway.

Even if they could hit, they were already spent, soft and Powerless.

Lin Dao on the City tower locked onto the position through the camera lens on the Drone and flipped the switch.

The Iron Hook detached.

A large Glass Jar filled with Viscous Incendiary Rounds fell from the sky.

No satellite positioning, entirely by feel.

Said to be aimed, but there was still some deviation.

Originally Lin Dao had aimed at the top of a Cloud Ladder.

Instead it grazed one side of the Cloud Ladder and smashed onto the ground.

Under the tremendous Impact of falling from the sky, the Glass Jar shattered at once.

The Viscous liquid splashed outward, a large part spraying onto the Cloud Ladder beside it.

A Qianghu standing nearby also got some on his body.

The next moment, with the falling fuse, the Flame was ignited.

Dazzling Fire Light shot up into the sky!

PS: Thank you Book Friend 未來乄 for 100 Reward Points support, deeply grateful, thank you!

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