Chapter 1081: The Ceremony

Yin Mountain.

Just as the cavalry had reported back to Chen Hu.

The Central Army had now departed from Tongguan.

After three days of trekking, the Central Army arrived in the Yin Mountain region.

It was now past the fifth month, and the sunlight falling from the sky had become somewhat scorching.

The pasture grass on the Grassland had also gradually turned from tender green to deep green.

As for Yin Mountain, looking at it from afar, it was already lush and green.

While passing Yin Mountain, Chang Wei looked back toward the direction of Tongguan, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Once upon a time, Yin Mountain was an absolute forbidden zone for the Great Song army.

But now, they could pass through here with great fanfare without worrying about suffering attacks from Beidi cavalry.

Perhaps the Great Song soldiers who had just joined the army could not understand his feelings.

But any general or soldier who belonged to the Great Song Imperial Guard and had guarded the border passes over ten years ago would certainly be able to understand his current mood, such as Bai Shang, who was at his side and had been keeping his gaze fixed on Yin Mountain.

This change from then to now could truly be called a world of difference.

"Hahaha, we've passed Yin Mountain; in another ten days or half a month, we'll reach the Beidi Khan Court. This time, I, Lv Chang, can finally go on a killing spree." Just as Chang Wei was feeling sentimental, Lv Chang suddenly shouted and hollered, drawing a burst of laughter from the other generals.

During the last Battle of Yongzhou, he had been left behind in Yancheng and was almost so angry he died on the spot.

This time, to fight the Beidi, he had practically begged Chang Wei with tears and snot, and finally got his wish.

Besides him, Bai Shang and Huo An's Second Army and Third Army also set out on the expedition with Chang Wei, with a total of 60,000 men participating in this war.

Added to Chen Hu's Gun Cavalry, their troop strength would reach 120,000.

However, this was only the force directly participating in the battle.

The vast Grassland did not have Steam Locomotives, so their baggage train had to rely on civilian labor.

Fortunately, Chen Hu's Gun Cavalry had captured numerous cattle and sheep, which greatly eased the logistical problems.

Furthermore,

they only had 60,000 men, the supplies they carried were not much, and they also utilized the War Chariots from before.

Therefore, they only conscripted 30,000 people to assist in transporting grain and fodder.

These people were still the Gaoli and Eastern Japanese who had been recruited to go to Great Song to build the Railway.

After the war, they still had to return these people to the Construction Department.

After trekking on the Grassland for another twelve days, the Central Army arrived near the Beidi Khan Court and officially joined forces with Chen Hu.

"Great General." As soon as Chang Wei arrived, Chen Hu, Zhong Fang, and Xue Jian immediately came to greet him.

"Along this journey, I haven't seen a single Beidi cavalryman. You all did a good job this time; except for this Beidi Khan Court, the entire Grassland is basically under your control." Seeing Chen Hu and the others, Chang Wei laughed.

"The Beidi cavalry are nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs before us now." Chen Hu's expression was proud, "It's just that I didn't expect them to still struggle a bit at the Khan Court."

As Chen Hu spoke, he led Chang Wei to climb a raised mound of earth.

From the mound, one could see the layout of the Khan Court clearly.

"After the Emperor received the intelligence from the Supervision Four Courts, he anticipated this point. I didn't expect the Emperor to have really calculated it correctly. Wulanba has just surrendered to the Ross nation and is bound to act as a loyal dog to show his determination to Nikolai. This battle, he is not fighting for the Beidi, but for the Ross people." Chang Wei picked up the Telescope.

In his field of vision, in the distance, was a fan-shaped expanse of green mountains.

In the center of the fan shape was a mountain pass several miles wide.

And the Khan Court was situated in the embrace of the mountains.

It had to be said, this location of the Khan Court was truly easy to defend and hard to attack.

Moreover, the green mountains on both sides were its barriers; their best direction of attack could only be from the front.

Of course, they could also climb over the mountain ranges on both sides to attack, but this was not only time-consuming but also more dangerous.

Furthermore, he believed there was no need for such trouble.

The baring of fangs and brandishing of claws by the Beidi was to him nothing more than a puppy pouncing on a person; they could easily crush them from the front.

With an overall view, Chang Wei had a plan in his heart.

After pondering for a moment, he said to Chen Hu, "Your Gun Cavalry should prepare for the pursuit; leave the rest to the Central Army."

"Yes, Great General." Chen Hu responded in the affirmative.

Their cavalry indeed could not do anything else at the moment.

After chatting with Chen Hu and the others for a while, Chang Wei ordered to set up camp.

The army had traveled a long distance, and the soldiers were very exhausted; it was not appropriate to launch an attack immediately.

Moreover, since the Beidi were determined to hold the Khan Court to the death, there was even less need to be in a hurry.

Yancheng.

When Chang Wei arrived at the Khan Court, no one in the entire Yancheng cared about this final showdown with their arch-enemy.

Everyone's heart was entirely focused on a matter they considered more important.

This was the ceremony for the completion and power transmission of the Yancheng Thermal Power Plant.

For the people of Yancheng, they firmly believed that their army would surely return victorious.

It was actually less attractive than the news about the Power Plant that the Newspaper had been repeatedly promoting these past few days.

Furthermore, for this day of the completion and power transmission of the Thermal Power Plant, they had been making full preparations during this period.

On the streets of Yancheng, street lamps were set up one after another.

The Workshop of Yancheng was connected to Electric Wires, and the Steam Engine was converted into an Electric Motor.

Even in the homes of the common people, Electric Wires were laid, and lamp sockets and Incandescent Lamps were installed.

Every day when they returned home, they would look up at the Incandescent Lamp, imagining what it would be like when this lamp above their heads lit up?

Finally, at dusk today, the completion ceremony for the Thermal Power Plant was finally to be held.

At this moment, Zhao Xu was also looking forward to it at Wuji Palace.

It was still noon, and there were three hours left until the power was turned on.

The reason for choosing to hold the completion and power-on ceremony at dusk was naturally for the impact of that moment when the power was turned on.

The effect of turning on the power in broad daylight would not be as good.

All afternoon, Zhao Xu's emotions were in a state of excitement.

When there was one hour left until the ceremony, Li Wei arrived at Wuji Palace.

Coming with him were the Cabinet ministers led by Liu Fu.

At the same time, Xiao Guizi had also been arranged to go and fetch the Retired Emperor Zhao Heng.

From him, the Emperor, down to the Cabinet ministers.

That this lineup was personally attending the ceremony showed just how important this power-on event was.

After all, this was a landmark event for the Great Song to leap from the Steam Industry into the Electric Power Industry.

It also meant that the Great Song was the first in the world to achieve the Second Industrial Revolution.

After the power was turned on, the workshops within the coverage area of the Yancheng Thermal Power Plant would see their products break through constraints once again, whether in production capacity, variety, precision, or quality.

What would follow naturally were more technological breakthroughs and the birth of more industrial products.

From this point on, the Great Song would officially pull away from the Steam Industry of the Western Lands.

No matter how large the scale of their Steam Industry was, it could not make up for the generational gap between steam and Electricity.

Moreover, when he first ordered the construction of the Yancheng Thermal Power Plant, he had simultaneously trained personnel related to power construction, letting them learn while building Thermal Power Plants in other important industrial commanderies according to the standards of the Yancheng Thermal Power Plant.

Although the progress of these Thermal Power Plants was slower than that of the Yancheng Thermal Power Plant.

They would also be put into use one after another within the next year or two.

By then, even in terms of industrial capacity, the Great Song would gradually crush the entire world of the Western Lands.

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