Chapter 54: Erjiaojiao

The moon was bright, the stars few, and the night wind smooth as silk.

The fire basins used for lighting on the city wall swayed and danced in the wind, crackling.

Lin Dao tightened his military greatcoat and, holding the telescope, gazed toward the distant Later Zhao army camp outside the city.

Apart from faintly seeing a few air-dead wind lamps swaying in the wind, the distant camp was completely silent.

"They come to wage war and still want to sleep peacefully?"

Lowering the telescope, Lin Dao exhaled. "I'll make them busy."

"Liu Hu." Lin Dao turned and instructed the iron-tower-like burly man beside him, "Send people to the warehouse to fetch a batch of firecrackers — round tubes as long as a palm, Erjiaojiao."

"Three hundred to start."

"Remember, these firecrackers must absolutely not come near any fire source."

Lin Dao had the large batch of purchased fireworks and firecrackers dispersed and stored in several warehouses.

Because the quantity was too large, even dispersed storage still meant a massive scale, and corresponding to that were safety hazards.

If they were accidentally ignited, Xiangguo City tonight would become a colorful spectacle.

"Sun Dalang." Lin Dao called over Sun Dalang, who was on duty tonight. "Bring a few boxes of Feiluan."

In Lin Dao's view, drones are truly too useful.

Especially in Yonghe Spacetime, which has virtually no anti-air capability.

As long as they fly high enough, it is completely one-sided crushing.

Using a thousand-year technological lead to bully ancient people — this feeling, truly comfortable~~~

When the items were fetched, he set about preparing them.

He replaced the drone's battery and hung strings of Erjiaojiao on the iron hook under its belly.

All fuses were pulled out and connected to a single main fuse.

He installed a preset slow-burning fire rope with delayed ignition time.

He ignited the fire rope; the drone's rotors buzzed, and it took off from the city tower heading straight for a Later Zhao camp outside the city.

The drone circled above the camp.

The Later Zhao patrol guards on night watch heard the sound and movement, raised torches, and searched the sky.

Sharp-eyed ones spotted the drone with its flashing navigation lights.

But the drone's flight altitude was too high; neither strong bows nor heavy crossbows had the range to reach it.

Arrows barely shot off all fell limp.

Lin Dao observed downward through the onboard camera.

Seeing the fuse ignited by the fire rope hissing and emitting sparks, he immediately toggled the switch on the control board and released the hook.

A string of twenty-odd Erjiaojiao fell downward, trailing sparks and lightning.

Some Erjiaojiao had fast-burning fuses and shot out with a 'whoosh' right in mid-air.

Immediately followed by two loud bang-bang explosions blooming.

The loud explosion sounds, in this silent camp, were like thunder on flat ground.

However, this was only the beginning.

Of the twenty-odd Erjiaojiao, some shot out in mid-air and exploded.

Some landed on the ground first, then scrambled and exploded on the ground.

Still others shot upward into the sky.

The sudden continuous thunderclaps made the entire camp boil over.

People in deep sleep had no idea what was happening outside.

But the terrifying sounds stimulated these military households and civilian laborers who were under immense pressure.

Ancient armies have always been the place where mental and physical oppression is most intense.

Normally they rely entirely on harsh military law to forcibly suppress it.

Many in the camp stumbled out of their tents in panic, running and shouting chaotically through the camp.

Because most suffered from night blindness, conflicts in the chaos erupted rapidly.

Military households and civilian laborers could not see their surroundings clearly.

In the blur, they sensed someone approaching them.

In terror, their instinctive reaction was to wave weapons to block.

Once killing starts, it spreads like a plague.

For the Later Zhao military households and civilian laborers in this camp.

All around were cries, killing, and howls, yet they themselves could see nothing clearly.

They didn't know if it was an enemy night raid or some bizarre occurrence.

In this state of dread, they either huddled trembling in their tents, daring not to come out.

Or they came out and inevitably fell into chaotic slaughter.

Even if some wanted to stay calm and not fight, those approaching attacked without a word.

As the scale of chaos kept expanding, it formed the most terrifying camp panic of the cold weapon era.

Lin Dao on the city wall looked in astonishment at the distant enemy camp where clamor rose unceasingly and great patches of firelight occasionally rose.

"Just Erjiaojiao, and the power is this great?"

His original intent was merely to disturb the sleeping enemy, to deny them peaceful sleep.

He never expected it would make the whole camp boil like a pot of boiling water.

Armies of the cold weapon era bear immense mental pressure.

Encountering a sudden situation, problems easily arise.

"Lord~"

Sun Dalang, his face full of joy, hurried forward: "The Qianghu camp over there seems to have been bombed."

"There are still many Qianghu camps outside."

Lin Dao came back to his senses and immediately nodded: "Quick, prepare the Erjiaojiao to be hung up."

Sun Dalang stepped forward to do it himself, carrying over twenty Erjiaojiao, busy hanging them one by one on Feiluan's iron claws.

The night was dark and dim, and with his vision obstructed, his movements were inevitably affected.

A military household holding a torch instinctively stepped forward, wanting to shine light for him.

This action instead frightened Sun Dalang into a sudden shudder.

He shouted loudly: "Scram~~~"

He had personally witnessed the terrifying power of these heavenly thunderbolts.

It was truly a sound like thunderclaps, enough to make one's heart and gallbladder split.

The drone took off again, rushing toward another Later Zhao army camp.

That night, multiple camps within the Later Zhao army were attacked.

The lethality brought by the Erjiaojiao was not great, and could even be said to be almost nonexistent.

But in the deep of the night while people were fast asleep, a series of dense explosion sounds triggered a terrible chain reaction.

When modern people encounter such things while sleeping at night,

they would only kindly greet the releaser's ancestors and mother.

However, in the Yonghe Spacetime,

the Later Zhao soldiers, who had long been in a state of high mental tension and most of whom suffered from night blindness,

were awakened by the sudden thunder from flat ground, and the slaughter that erupted in panic brought terrible consequences.

The conflict and internal strife spreading across multiple camps continued until daybreak, when everyone could clearly see the surrounding environment, before it gradually came to an end.

Central Army Tent.

Shi Hu, who had not closed his eyes all night, sat in the center, his slightly pale chubby face full of gloom.

"Last night, thirteen camps were attacked in total."

"The dead and injured number in the tens of thousands."

"Tents destroyed, fodder and grass burned, livestock frightened~"

"Those who took the opportunity to flee are countless~"

"Losses in various places are being tallied~"

In Shi Hu's triangular eyes, ferocity bloomed.

He suddenly grabbed his beloved can of yellow peaches in front of him and waved his hand to smash it on the ground.

Honey-water golden peaches scattered all over the ground.

Everyone in the tent bowed their heads, and no one dared to welcome the wrath of the Heavenly King.

"Those loud booms." Shi Hu paused for a moment, coldly facing them: "Exactly how did they come about?"

No one dared to speak, but someone had to answer the Heavenly King's question.

When everyone's instinctive gazes all focused on the Crown Prince,

Shi Xuan had no choice but to step forward with a stiff scalp: "Replying to the Heavenly King, we do not know~~~"

They indeed did not know.

After the Erjiaojiao exploded, only some paper scraps remained.

Amid the chaos in the camp, there was truly not a trace of a clue.

Shi Hu's breathing grew heavier.

He was truly going to lose his temper.

Not only had he been outmaneuvered by the Beggar Army, but he didn't even know how they did it.

If his civil and military officials were all of this level, then this Great Zhao would probably not last long.

Inside the great tent, the suffocating oppressive atmosphere was broken by the reporting voice from outside.

"Guerrilla General returns to camp to report~~~"

Shi Hu's expression eased slightly: "Come in."

The burly eight-foot tall man entered the tent proudly.

"Heavenly King~~~"

Not to mention anything else, Shi Min's appearance was very outstanding.

In this war-torn era, his burly and tall stature made him look like a born general at a glance.

"Ji Nu is back."

Shi Hu's expression eased slightly: "How did the matter go?"

"I did not disgrace my mission!"

Shi Min saluted and replied: "All departments of the Beggar Army in Guangzong County have been brought into the army."

He had previously been ordered to go to Guangzong County to intimidate the Beggar Army remaining there.

The Beggar Army remaining in Guangzong County mainly consisted of powerful clans and their vassals.

The lower-class military households and refugees basically followed Lin Dao to Xiangguo City.

After Shi Min led his army to arrive and offered to accept their surrender, none of the fortresses agreed.

So he ordered all departments to ride horses into the spring plowing fields and devour the seed grain that was sprouting.

The Beggar Army was greatly alarmed, left the city to fight them, and lost every battle.

Faced with immense survival pressure, the Beggar Army of Guangzong County had no choice but to surrender.

Once the seed grain sprouting for spring plowing was eaten, by the time of the autumn harvest, most people in the settlements everywhere would starve to death.

As for replanting anything.

First, they missed the season; second, there wasn't that much seed grain.

Most importantly, no one knew how long Shi Min's army would stay outside.

If they stayed for more than two months before leaving, the settlements everywhere would collapse on their own.

Surrender thus became their only choice.

"Good!"

Shi Hu was overjoyed, the corners of his eyes widening: "Ji Nu, well done."

Gaining tens of thousands of cannon fodder out of thin air, who could still fight, was not the kind of cannon fodder that were refugees, staggering and ready to collapse at any moment.

The Great Zhao Heavenly King was naturally pleased.

"I will reward you handsomely!"

Regarding bestowing rewards, Shi Hu had always been generous.

Moreover, with recent consecutive defeats and bad news everywhere.

Shi Min's victory greatly boosted military morale.

He promoted Shi Min in rank and title on the spot, additionally granting many rewards.

The people of the various departments around were all envious.

They served Shi Hu, partly for self-preservation, and partly for Shi Hu's rewards.

The most jealous was Crown Prince Shi Xuan.

As for Shi Xuan, besides being cruel, his most notable trait was jealousy.

Though male-bodied, he had a jealousy stronger than a woman's.

Historically, Shi Xuan, three years later, because Shi Hu favored his younger brother Shi Tao, bore jealousy and hatred.

He sent people to chop off Shi Tao's hands and feet, gouge out his eyes, disembowel him, and execute him.

He even planned to patricide when Shi Hu attended Shi Tao's funeral.

Shi Xuan's pettiness was probably about the size of a needle's eye.

Seeing that this adopted dog whelp Shi Min, whose limelight was so great it even overshadowed himself, Shi Xuan's jealousy flared on the spot.

"Meritorious deed?"

"Good, I will also score a great merit!"

"Kill that oddity in the city, and let you all see my methods!"

End of Chapter