Chapter 1451: A Bold Plan

After several more days of travel, they finally returned successfully to the Western Development Group. The buildings in the distance brought a good feeling of returning home to these Soldiers who had been walking for a very, very long time.

But for the savages of the Wulengge Tribe, they felt that they might be about to face a completely different life; their future would be decided here once and for all.

On the road, they didn't have to carry heavy loads and were even able to eat food—two meals a day, morning and evening, eating better than they did in their own tribe. Now that they had arrived here, everything about what would happen to them was unknown. How wonderful it would be if they could just keep walking like this, being able to eat every single day.

Once the Regimental Commander learned that these people from the Wulengge Tribe knew how to herd, he had a special idea: to have them serve as herding Slaves in the Western Development Group. Since they were already skilled at this, it would be more appropriate for them to stay in the Western Development Group, and besides, if they were taken back to Huaxia, there was currently no place to settle them there.

It was just that for such an important matter, he could not make the decision on his own for the time being; his authority was not yet great enough, and his position was not yet high enough. After all, he was only a Regimental Commander and had no power to dispose of such prisoners of war, even though he was acting with Huaxia's interests in mind.

Bringing them back and forth was a relatively long and complicated process, and there were only a few dozen prisoners of war left here. Except for the most important one, Bosa, it wouldn't actually matter if the others died, but since they were alive, they were labor and property, and Baifeng had to be the one to decide. In fact, even if a Prince came, he could make the decision.

The Regimental Commander led his team toward the station of the Western Development Group. The nearby paths had basically been trodden out, and one could sporadically see traces of people having lived there.

The savages only saw the buildings on the mountaintop. To them, the luxurious houses they had never seen before made them think they had arrived at the main base of Huaxia, and that those living on the mountaintop were people like the Tribal Chiefs and Leaders of Huaxia.

As for the ordinary people, they should be living at the foot of the mountain, in places they couldn't see yet; they must all be living in dilapidated wooden sheds or broken Tents.

The tracks of the Regimental Commander's party were naturally discovered very quickly. The Western Development Group now also had a portion of people specifically responsible for monitoring and observing the surroundings, and they were also a military force; once an enemy was discovered approaching, they had to sound the alarm as quickly as possible and organize all the men to fight.

To make up for the Western Development Group's shortage of enough good Iron Weapons, Iron Armor, and professional Soldiers, Huaxia provided significant support in other Weapon aspects.

For example, there were three Strong Crossbows at their residence, which had been transported there at the beginning of the year, taking away half of Huaxia City's total production of Strong Crossbows from last year. Although Strong Crossbows were powerful and had a deterrent effect, they were much more complex and troublesome to manufacture than ordinary hand Crossbows, and they required more materials.

Although the number of Artisans in Huaxia was increasing year by year, the total still could not keep up with Huaxia's demand. Things like Strong Crossbows, which required a large amount of materials and manpower, had a quite small planned production quantity each year.

The three Strong Crossbows were transported in parts, and after arriving at the Western Development Group, they were assembled and set up. To prevent problems caused by rain, wind, and sun, a wooden house was specifically built to shelter them from the elements.

To be precise, it should be called a pavilion, because if it were a house, the Strong Crossbows would not be able to aim in other directions. Usually, the surroundings were wrapped with leather Tents, leaving only an observation hole, and some necessary combat Weapons were also piled inside.

Another thing was the Bomb. Because the Western Development Group had already stabilized, especially the hearts of the people—all the Residents of the Western Development Group had completely turned their hearts toward Huaxia and were willing to fight for Huaxia rather than abandon Huaxia for the sake of livestock—Huaxia was willing to allocate more Bombs to them this year.

As the westernmost city of Huaxia, the safety of the Western Development Group was of paramount importance. There was a great possibility of facing incursions from western tribes, and since news traveled too slowly, Huaxia's reinforcements could not arrive in a short time.

However, the Western Development Group was too wealthy. To the savages, the cattle and sheep were countless, and the grain was inexhaustible, yet their population was so small. If there were no sufficiently powerful Weapons to protect it, the Western Development Group could easily be broken in one fell swoop, Huaxia's efforts would go down the drain, and after the wealth was looted, it would only enrich the enemy.

Now, Huaxia's emphasis on the Western Development Group would become stronger and stronger. In the future, it would definitely continue to send people to the Western Development Group to develop the west and gradually build a military to guard this place.

Now that they had Bombs, it was enough to resist for a long enough time.

And after the Telescope was given to them, it made their observation of the surroundings even easier, and it was even more convenient to carry a Telescope when herding. This time, the team heading to the Golden Autumn Gathering also brought a Compass for the Western Development Group.

Although there was only one, they had one now, and Huaxia guaranteed that once Magnetite Mine was mined in large quantities and transported to Huaxia, this Compass would be mass-produced, and the Western Development Group would be able to obtain more. There were already many low-quality Telescopes for the herdsmen to use while herding.

Although these things were extremely precious and could not be circulated to other tribes, for Huaxia, now that they had the materials and technology, it was just a matter of spending time and energy. If it didn't need to be the best, as long as it could reach a usable level, Telescopes could still be mass-produced, even bamboo versions.

In the future, the Compass could also be simplified into a "Compass"—a polished needle wrapped in paper, then put into a small Bamboo Tube and sold at a low price, the kind that all Huaxia people could afford. When they needed to use it, they could tie it with a thread or stick it on a Reed and let it float in water; all of these could achieve the effect of guiding the direction—an extremely simplified version.

A Compass with a shell and a base was the luxury version, for military, official, and Noble use; it was more convenient, easier to use, and durable. A single needle, although crude, was enough as long as it had the basic functions.

Those who were ingenious could polish their own shells, find a piece of Glass to grind, then install it and glue it together—wouldn't that work just the same? What Huaxia needed to do was to spread it universally first, to utilize it; technology should serve the people.