Chapter 898: Baifeng's War Expenditures

"Baifeng, your people should have made my sincerity clear by now. I have already made such great concessions, but you are only sending two thousand men. Is that not too dismissive? Could it be that the benefits I offered are not enough?"

Xuanyuan asked this while suppressing his emotions, but Baifeng replied quite calmly: "Hey, that is not how things are calculated, Xuanyuan. You are sending ten thousand Soldiers, but what kind of equipment do your Soldiers have, and what is their combat effectiveness? They are usually hunters or farmers."

"But my Huaxia Soldiers are different. Everything they need to do every day is related to combat. You have also seen our equipment; I can even say it is better than what I demonstrated to you that time."

"My two thousand Soldiers, facing five thousand ordinary men, I think, are fully capable of holding their own. Moreover, I can guarantee that by deploying at least three hundred Ox Cavalry and three hundred Heavy Cavalry, as long as they are not exhausted, others basically cannot kill them. Using them to charge the formation and serve as the vanguard is absolutely no problem."

"In war, those who charge to the very front are the easiest to die, so let our Huaxia people go. As for the other Soldiers, I can also have them equipped with the most complete configurations: Archer and Swordsman, Crossbowman, and now we even have Bomb Thrower."

"The Xuanyuan Tribe does not have these, do they?"

Xuanyuan's anger vanished, replaced by surprise: "Your Soldiers are divided so specifically? Oh right, that so-called drill of yours, it was indeed in rows, with different roles and different Weapons. Your Weapons truly do have the effects you described."

"However, I truly do not know what this Bomb Thrower of yours is."

Baifeng used his hand to make an exploding gesture: "Bang!"

"That is what the Bomb Thrower does, it is just that the cost of making a Bomb is too high, the expense is enormous, and we do not have many. We save as much as we can. I am afraid this time I can only bring out about two hundred Bombs."

"Although the quantity is small, you have seen the power. One Bomb thrown down should be able to kill people within about two steps around it. The main thing is its deterrent power; it can scare them, which also counts as another effect."

This stirred up memories for Xuanyuan that were not very pleasant. Although Baifeng and he were on the same front now, if the things Baifeng spoke of were used against him, it would certainly not be pleasant. I am afraid the Xuanyuan Tribe would also find it hard to endure.

"Baifeng, can you tell me if this Bomb is something that exists in Heaven, or is it made like smelting Iron and copper?"

Regarding Xuanyuan's doubt, Baifeng did not hide anything and stated clearly: "It is something I made, but it is not like smelting copper, where you can just take stones and burn them to get it. In fact, the raw materials for the Bomb are extremely afraid of fire, and it is not made from one single thing; it is made by adding many things together through a very complex method."

"The raw materials are hard to obtain, and the production is also very troublesome. We in Huaxia cannot make many in a year, and they are basically all used for blasting rocks to open mountains. With it, we can save the most manpower when excavating ore, and it is also the greatest helper when digging roads."

"As for using it in war, that is a result I least want to see, because such good things should not be used to kill people, as they are for human use, just like the ox, which is for us to pull carts and plow fields."

Baifeng said these insincere words without shame, leaving Xuanyuan speechless. You are the one who created the Bomb, and you are the one who uses it to kill people. The ox could have just pulled carts, but you were the one who insisted on putting Armor on it and having people ride it into battle, yet now you are starting to play the good guy.

However, since Baifeng and he were on the same front now, Xuanyuan could not say anything and could only follow Baifeng's lead: "Fine, then according to your words, I will count your two thousand men as high, capable of being worth six thousand men, how about that?"

Baifeng was very confident: "Hmm, about that."

"Six thousand men, I will send at least ten thousand. Comparing it this way, you are still short four thousand Soldiers. I have conceded such great benefits to you in Huaxia and am even willing to split the spoils of war with you, but if you are like this, I have no way to answer to my Tribal Chief, and I myself will not agree, unless you only take the spoils of war that your number of men deserves."

"The concessions I gave regarding the trade will also be retracted somewhat, because this is a bit too unfair to us."

Baifeng waited for Xuanyuan to finish speaking before continuing: "We in Huaxia can only send this many Soldiers, but we can provide more other help."

"For example, food. If your Xuanyuan Tribe participates in the war like this, from Soldiers to logistics, you would need at least thirty thousand people moving constantly, right? Thirty thousand people not participating in production and only being responsible for war is a rather large loss for you, and much of the grain will not be harvested in time."

"Therefore, besides bearing the food for our own Soldiers, we in Huaxia are also willing to bear the food for half of your Xuanyuan Tribe's Soldiers, which is the food for five thousand people, until the war is over."

"Hmm?" Xuanyuan's expression became puzzled, because if that were the case, Huaxia would suffer a great loss. There is absolutely no reason to do this; food for five thousand people is not a small amount, and this war does not know when it will end. Moreover, doing this is like Huaxia hiring their Soldiers to fight a war.

Baifeng saw Xuanyuan's confusion, so he explained: "We in Huaxia are willing to use food to replace people. This can also reduce the food pressure on your Xuanyuan Tribe. But at the same time, we have one request, which is that we will send all the food to your Xuanyuan Tribe."

"Including the food needed by our Soldiers, and then your Xuanyuan Tribe's people will send it all to the battlefield. If we in Huaxia were to send it, it would truly not be cost-effective. We only need to ensure that our Soldiers' food can be delivered in full. For your Soldiers, I can guarantee that they will be treated to the highest standard; they will never be left hungry, and food will not be in arrears."

With this explanation, Xuanyuan felt it was much more reasonable, but there was still a feeling that Huaxia was hiring people from the Xuanyuan Tribe to fight a war, and it was so dangerous, yet they only gave food and no reward; the reward would require them to trade their lives for it.

Baifeng then gave his final bargaining chip: "The food will include Soybean Oil; we will provide a sufficient amount of Soybean Oil. Furthermore, we can provide Weapons, such as our bows, Crossbows, and even Bed Crossbows. We can provide them. Such Weapons are more useful than ten men."

"Others like Spears, Knives, and Swords can also be provided. They are all made of Iron, but there will not be too many, and they are considered borrowed; they must be returned after the war ends."