Chapter 761: Cavalry Killer

"Hmph, we Beidi people have never liked beating around the bush. You don't need to use Gaoli to shame us Beidi; you might as well just say that your Eastern Land Alliance also cannot handle Yan Wang and needs to request our help." Mule Hongzhen looked toward Sato Masahisa and sneered.

He actually did not like the Eastern Japanese; after several contacts, he believed the Eastern Japanese were too scheming and too ambitious to be trusted.

But given the current situation, they hoped to cooperate with the Eastern Japanese.

After all, Gaoli no longer belonged to them.

Furthermore, in the past, Ivan had been very sensitive about Beidi cooperating with the Eastern Japanese.

This was because the Eastern Japanese belonged to the Eastern Land Alliance.

But after this Gaoli war, Ivan seemed no longer obsessed with confronting the Eastern Land Alliance.

This time, he tacitly allowed Beidi to contact the Eastern Japanese.

"The Khan is truly discerning." Sato Masahisa smiled awkwardly, then he said, "Therefore, please have Beidi and the Ross nation join us in resisting Yan Wang."

Having said that, Sato Masahisa bowed deeply to Mule Hongzhen and Ivan.

Mule Hongzhen nodded, "As the saying goes, those who possess the Dao of the world have many helpers, and those who lose the Dao of the world have no one to help them. Today, Yan Wang is but a lonely man, while whether it be our Beidi, the Ross nation, or the Eastern Japanese, the British, or the Sam Country, all wish to destroy him quickly. It is evident how unpopular Yan Wang is; based on this alone, his downfall is only a matter of time."

"The Khan is truly sharp-sighted. This Yan Wang is just like a stone in a latrine, disgusting and nauseating." Sato Masahisa understood the implication; Mule Hongzhen was about to relent.

"What are the thoughts of the British?" Ivan suddenly spoke up at this moment.

Mule Hongzhen naturally hoped to win over more people to oppose Yan Wang.

But he was still somewhat hesitant; in this Gaoli war, the Eastern Land Alliance also had intentions of targeting the Ross nation.

Before the British showed goodwill, they would tacitly allow Beidi to cooperate with the Eastern Land Alliance to resist Yan Wang, but they were unwilling to participate personally, so as to let them exhaust each other's national strength.

Sato Masahisa hurriedly said, "Lieutenant Wolf has already sent his suggestions to Governor Bolt. They are willing to ease relations with the Ross nation in the Eastern Land, but what specific goodwill to show still needs to be passed by the parliament and decided by the British Queen."

Ivan nodded; he was likewise unable to make major decisions, as that required the Great Emperor Nikolai to decide.

But this back-and-forth would take at least half a year.

So he said, "I will not stop your dealings with Beidi, but I cannot agree to cooperate with the Eastern Land Alliance for the time being, until I receive orders from Kiev."

"This is truly a pity, but I believe the British and the Ross nation will eventually join hands in the Eastern Land," Sato Masahisa said.

For now, Bolt could only provide the Eastern Japanese with help within his functional scope; the rest likewise needed to receive orders from the British mainland.

However, at least this gave them hope.

Once factories like those in the Western Lands stood upon their Eastern Japanese soil, Yan Wang would be nothing more than a bug they could crush at any time.

At that time, they would not only occupy Da Song, but also finally realize the dream of the Eastern Japanese,

becoming the masters of the Eastern Land.

Having reached a consensus on dealing with Yan Wang, Sato Masahisa lingered at the Khan Court for one day before happily returning to the Eastern Japanese.

From now on, they, the Eastern Japanese, would contact Beidi at any time to coordinate on certain actions.

Yancheng.

The small movements of the British and the Eastern Japanese did not escape the investigation of the Four Courts.

Although it was unclear what agreements the British and the Eastern Japanese had reached with Wu and Beidi respectively.

Xu Ke reported this development to Zhao Xu.

"After the British left, Liang Kai was very happy, and the atmosphere when Mule Hongzhen met with Sato Masahisa was also harmonious; they must have cooked up some crooked ideas again." Xu Ke frowned as he recounted the gathered intelligence in detail.

"When flies gather together, what can they do besides share the same stench? Do not worry. To the south, we have Jiujiang as a boundary, and to the north, it is like an iron barrel. At sea, the British fleet dares not clash with us head-on. In short, they cannot stir up big waves. In another month or so, when the Steamship is launched, this King will first beat the excrement out of this Eastern Japanese fly and see how it dares to buzz every day." Zhao Xu was drawing a new type of firearm and did not even lift his head.

"The Eastern Japanese are secondary; across the sea, as long as our navy controls the ocean, they cannot jump around. Currently, the greatest danger to Da Song is still Beidi," Xu Ke said.

Turning the document in his hand to the second page, he said, "Mule Hongzhen's younger brother, Ashuer, has been using troops against Tibet since returning from the Western Regions. During this period, Tibet has been retreating steadily. Just ten days ago, the Tibetan Tsanpo surrendered to Ashuer, and the Beidi cavalry that fled to Yizhou also borrowed a path through Tibet to return to the Grassland. This means that Southern Liang, Tibet, and Beidi are now united as one."

Hearing this, Zhao Xu smiled lightly, "Mule Hongzhen has long intended to conquer Tibet; this was always a matter of time. Having taken Tibet, I fear Beidi will now focus on dealing with this King."

He was aware of Beidi's war against Tibet.

It was just that he was powerless to intervene; after all, it was impractical to send infantry to fight on the Tubo Gao Yuan in the current situation—the lack of oxygen alone would cause significant troop losses.

And Beidi had previously conquered many small countries around Tibet.

The people of these small countries were more adapted to the Tubo Gao Yuan.

Ashuer being able to quickly conquer Tibet was due to these people being the key.

With people, plus firearms, it was only natural.

However, even so, he had no need to worry about anything.

Just as he said, the important passes in the north were all in his hands.

Even if Beidi occupied Tibet, they could not threaten Jiangbei; it would just add some trouble when unifying Da Song.

After all, if he destroyed Southern Liang, Beidi could intervene directly.

Of course, he could not take it entirely lightly.

If the Ross nation continued to export firearms to Beidi, allowing Beidi to be reborn, he would have to expend more effort when cleaning up Beidi.

"Why is Your Highness not anxious at all?" Seeing Zhao Xu's calm expression and that he could still laugh, Xu Ke looked incredulous.

Zhao Xu glanced at Xu Ke; this kid had the temperament of a eunuch worrying for an emperor who wasn't worried.

He said lazily, "Anxious, anxious—isn't this King drawing a type of firearm specifically to deal with Beidi cavalry?"

Xu Ke leaned over to look and discovered that what Yan Wang was drawing was a round object, like a bottle.

"What is this?" Xu Ke scratched his head; he did not understand.

Zhao Xu's hand moved lightly across the paper, saying slowly, "This thing is called a Landmine."

After the Gaoli war, he had a premonition that Beidi and the Ross nation would certainly be restless.

It was inevitable that they would make some small moves in the north, plus Ashuer's steady victories in Tibet.

He then had the idea to bring out the Landmine.

Among these, the Landmine is something with a very long history in the contemporary era.

At the beginning, it was just hollowing out a stone, filling it with Gunpowder, inserting a fuse, and then burying it underground.

When the enemy arrived, the fuse would be lit, and the Landmine would explode.

By the Ming Dynasty, iron Landmines appeared, and Qi Jiguang even researched a type of trigger-activated Landmine.

Inside the Landmine was a box mechanism; when an enemy stepped on it, the stone inside the box would fall, striking the Flint clamped onto a steel wheel, creating sparks to finally detonate the Landmine.

He drew two types of Landmines.

One was a Landmine based on the Hand Grenade principle, with a long rope on the Landmine that required someone to pull the fuse cord to trigger the explosion.

The second type was the Qi Jiguang-style trigger-activated Landmine.

However, this primitive Landmine had a high failure rate, so he improved it.

He added a spring to the trigger mechanism.

In this way, a clip was designed under the lid at the top of the Landmine to hold the Flint.

When casting the Landmine shell, a steel rod was left in the middle of the interior, with a steel wheel at the upper end of the rod.

Normally, the lid was held up by the spring, but when stepped on, the Flint would rub against the steel wheel, and the Landmine could then be detonated.

Since the Landmine was filled with Yellow Gunpowder, the power would be immense.

Once the Landmines were developed, it would be enough to give the Northern Di Cavalry a hard time.

By then, it would give them a phobia of walking.