Chapter 548: Truth and Deception

"Bang, bang, bang..."

At the North Camp Drill Ground, a row of soldiers simultaneously raised their rifled muskets to fire at straw men two hundred meters away.

And every straw man was fitted with a suit of plate armor.

Upon receiving the delivered rifled muskets, Zhao Xu ordered them to be transported to the North Camp.

Upon hearing the news, many commanders came over to observe.

The news of the Weaponry Bureau modifying flintlocks was no longer a secret to the commanders.

But apart from Chang Wei, who had seen the power of the rifled musket with his own eyes, none of the other commanders had experienced it.

Even commanders of the heavy infantry like Lv Chang, who were superstitious about plate armor, could not suppress their curiosity.

They wanted to see for themselves what this so-called rifled musket was really like.

"It pierced through, it pierced through." Before long, the soldier responsible for checking the targets ran over carrying the plate armor.

There were three obvious holes in the front of the plate armor.

Lv Chang and the other staunch supporters of plate armor immediately turned pale.

This was disastrous.

If plate armor could be pierced from two hundred meters away, what if the enemy on the battlefield also had such weapons?

Wouldn't they, as heavy infantry, be completely useless and just be throwing their lives away for nothing?

Thinking of this, they looked at the composed Yan Wang as if they had seen a ghost.

How did he manage to create such a lethal weapon?

"Not only is the power great, but the accuracy is also high. Look, out of twenty soldiers, thirteen hit the target." Other soldiers checking the targets arrived one after another.

Of the twenty suits of armor, thirteen had holes in them.

Although most were not in fatal locations, being hit would basically mean losing combat effectiveness on the battlefield.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..." The commanders let out a series of exclamations.

Their faces were filled with broad smiles.

To them, this modification of the flintlocks was in no way inferior to the modification of the artillery.

The Prince's Personal Army's firearms had once again widened the gap in range and power against the enemy.

This improvement would allow them to win victories on the battlefield with fewer casualties.

"Hehe, this time we must make the Northern Di pay dearly." Qin Shan laughed loudly.

The commanders all knew about the Northern Di poisoning Yanzhou.

Now, hatred for the Northern Di permeated the army.

The vicious methods the Northern Di adopted to seize Yanzhou were practically intended to wipe out the people of Yanzhou, and even the Song People.

In their hearts, the Northern Di were no longer human, but a pack of beasts.

Soon, under the leadership of the Yan Wang, they would drive this pack of beasts out of Ningjin Dusi and take back their land.

Seeing the high spirits of the soldiers, Zhao Xu smiled.

The most important thing in war is, of course, people, but one cannot deny the importance of weapons.

Why have the dynasties of the Central Plains often been at a disadvantage when facing nomadic peoples from the north for thousands of years?

One of the important reasons is,

although the Central Plains dynasties were wealthy, their military level was not as good as that of the nomadic peoples.

Of course, this is not because the armor, weapons, tactics, and methods of the Central Plains dynasties were inferior to those of the nomadic peoples.

It is because the nomadic peoples have a natural advantage; they grow up on horseback.

It is equivalent to being born with the most powerful weapon of this era: the warhorse.

Just think about a street fight where someone is charging around on a motorcycle, and you will know how desperate it feels.

If they are also led by a leader who unites the Grassland, the Central Plains will find it very difficult to resist.

Therefore, he could understand the excitement of the soldiers.

"Distribute these rifled muskets to the North Camp and South Camp, and allocate the rest to Feihu Pass, the Lengbao, and Yanguan. Let the soldiers familiarize themselves with them as soon as possible," Zhao Xu said to Chang Wei.

"Yes, Your Highness," Chang Wei replied.

After giving these instructions, Zhao Xu returned to the Prince's residence.

The next day.

He set off for Yanguan.

At present, everything was proceeding according to his plan.

But among all the illusions set up in Yanzhou, the illusion at Yanguan was the most important.

Only by making the Northern Di firmly believe that Yanguan was essentially beyond saving would the Northern Di take the bait like fish.

Therefore, he, the Yan Wang, had to show particular importance to this Yanguan and go to inspect it a few more times.

"Your Highness, there are already six thousand fake corpses buried."

Upon arriving at Yanguan and resting briefly, Mo Yu led Zhao Xu to observe the fake corpses.

These fake corpses were all straw men bundled up with cloth.

Following his instructions, Yanguan was also adopting a strategy of mixing the false with the true.

They deliberately showed outsiders soldiers covered in pustules, but the soldiers they actually buried were all fake corpses.

"Keep burying them, bury enough for sixty thousand." Zhao Xu kicked a straw man and smiled wickedly.

Yanguan had a total of eighty thousand troops stationed there; burying sixty thousand was equivalent to telling others that only twenty thousand remained at Yanguan.

During this time, Xu Ke's Four Courts had discovered several sneaky merchants.

He did not let Xu Ke arrest them, but instead allowed them to scout in Yanzhou.

The purpose was to transmit this false intelligence.

……

Jincheng.

When the news of the plague in Yanzhou spread throughout the Great Song.

The Black Iron Guard who had infiltrated Yanzhou also sent this news to the Ningjin Dusi.

"A large number of merchants from other provinces are fleeing Yanzhou, and other provinces have also cut off the roads leading to Yanzhou. Although Yan Wang is trying his best to cover it up, villages are constantly appearing with Smallpox." In front of Mule Hongzhen.

A Black Iron Guard dressed as a merchant slowly recounted the situation he had observed in Yanzhou.

Mule Hongzhen leaned forward in excitement and asked, "Did you see with your own eyes the people who had contracted Smallpox?"

Yan Wang is full of tricks; although he believed his scheme this time was flawless, he was still instinctively cautious.

"I saw it. The bodies of everyone in the entire village were covered in pustules; there can be no mistake. Villagers near Yanguan said that the Yanguan soldiers who were carried out were also covered in pustules, and they dug many earthen pits outside Yanguan to bury these soldiers," the Black Iron Guard said.

"Excellent, this is just the beginning. Great Khan, in a few more months, Yanzhou will be finished." Wulanba stood up directly, unable to hide his excitement.

Tiemuta glanced at Wulanba, and he could not help but admire his younger brother's intelligence.

The Yan Wang who had given them such a headache was defeated so easily.

"Continue to investigate; it would be best if you could count how many of Yan Wang's soldiers have died." Mule Hongzhen's eyes narrowed.

Acknowledging the order, the Black Iron Guard turned and left.

Mule Hongzhen looked at Wulanba again, "The training of the Xiliang Royal Tent cannot be slackened. With the Xiliang people added to our two Beidi royal tents, it should be no problem."

After the Northern Expedition, Beidi still had eight royal tents remaining.

Two royal tents were in the Western Regions, resisting the expansion of the Tusiman people.

One was in the far north, guarding against the Ross people.

Another was in Wuwei, guarding against the Tibet people on the plateau.

He had concentrated the remaining four royal tents in the Ningjin Dusi.

And the Xiliang Royal Tent had a large number of people, enough to be worth two royal tents.

He was effectively stationing the troops of six royal tents in the Ningjin Dusi.

Once the plague caused heavy damage to Yanzhou.

The six royal tents would crush everything in their path to capture Yanguan and destroy Yanzhou.

"Hmph, Yan Wang, this time even the gods in heaven cannot save you. Those who have opposed my Beidi over these years have all become souls under the blade, and you will be the same." Mule Hongzhen looked toward the direction of Yanguan.

His gaze seemed to have a Flame burning within it.