Chapter 263 Te Langpu, the Lazy Strategist? (1/2)
Chapter 263 – Te Langpu, the Lazy Strategist?
”What can this thing do?”
All generals but Li Feihong did not know what the potential of these deadly black dust.
Jia Xu noticed Li Feihong's reaction. He nodded at this young strategist.
”Explosive powder. These little dust can cause fire explosion if it's gathered in a large amount,” Jia Xu explained, ”My spies had told me. A young merchant has been experimenting with this powder for a year. I think master Lu Zhi should know about this man since our young lord posted a warrant for this person.”
”Te Langpu,” Li Feihong and Lu Zhi muttered.
Lu Zhi knew him as a threat to his disciple, but Li Feihong saw Te Langpu as another otherworlder.
This former-president of a country was a threat to Tong and his force as he joined Yuan Shao after the first auction event. Tong put a bounty on Te Langpu, hoping to get rid of him. However, they still failed to kill Te Langpu until today.
”All of you should have learned about our young lord's favorite tactic, the trebuchet bombs. That's something that we'll face in this fight. Instead of using lamb oil or burning oil, they will be using these explosive powders in a barrel. Once it explodes, the damage burst will be greater than our lord's inextinguishable flame.”
All generals sucked in cold breathe, while Lu Bu snorted as he saw it as an underhanded cowardice tactic. However, the attitude of Lu Bu changed in an instant as he recalled that Tong used to throw an exploded thing at him before, and it stunned him for several minutes.
'Come to think of it. That thing was in a hand-size. What will happen if they throw a barrel size?'
A chill ran down Lu Bu's spine as he finally realized the threat of the new weapon.
”But this thing is a double-edged sword,” Li Feihong interjected, ”As long as we can determine the location of their powder storage, we can destroy this with a single spark of fire. Secondly, I doubt that Yuan Shao and Te Langpu can amass these powders in such a short amount of time. From what I have learned, these powders took time to create since they have to mix several substances together.”
”Oh? You knew about this?” Jia Xu was surprised.
”Yes, this powder is the foundation of Tong's handgun and bullets. I'm also using his gun and bullets at the moment.”
Li Feihong ordered his subordinates to bring him two pliers to disassemble a bullet in his hand. Upon taking off the bullet header from the casing with the pliers, similar black powder dropped from the shell.
Jia Xu, Lu Zhi, and Zhang Liao stared at the bullet and gunpowder with interest.
”This thing can't just cause an explosion. It can propel a piece of iron as an arrowhead if we have the right tool, such as this gun.” Li Feihong explained.
”Can it be mass-produced?” Asked Zhang Liao.
”If you knew about this, why didn't you share with us?” Lu Bu also questioned.
”Right now, only Tong can create bullets and this gun with his magic. Also, he can only create one bullet a day. He told me that we have to find the right formula for the gunpowder before we can start creating cannons or ...”
Li Feihong took an hour, explaining and answering the barrages of questions from Jia Xu, Lu Zhi, and the others. They sidetracked from the battle plan, but Jia Xu managed to pull them back to the briefing.
”Enough questions about gun and bullet technology for now. We'll focus on reinforcing the walls and forts with more trebuchets and ballistae. Sir Li, I'll need your help for monitoring the perimeter as well.”
…
…
March 1st, 183 A.D.
Yuan Shao and his men took his time and finally arrived at Anping County. All 200,000 soldiers form arrays and battle formation as they approached the fortresses in front of them.
Wen Chou and Yan Liang rode by the sides of Yuan Shao's grand carriage.
The grand carriage was a single chair on a gigantic wheeled cart, decorated with tiger skin mat, cotton, and gold, which was carried by ten horses and six wheels. It was something that did not belong on the battlefield.
Yuan Shao sat on the carriage chair with two beautiful women, feeding him wine and fruits. He dressed in a yellow dragon silk rope and a golden coronet as if he were the real Emperor.
Trailing behind Yuan Shao carriage, He Jin rode his horse behind the caravan. Instead of being timid like before, He raised his chin high and proud.
Several officers followed behind He Jin. Feng Ji, Tian Feng, Te Langpu, Guo Tu, Shen Pei, and other advisors came here to contribute to the army.
Other generals, such as Gao Lan, Qu Yi, and dozens of talented generals were with their subordinates in their platoon.
All of them gazed toward the fortress in solemn. They knew that the opponent was Tong's strongest forces, and they were expecting a difficult battle.
Although Yuan Shao committed blunders in history when he fought against Cao Cao, this world Yuan Shao had not been distracted by his family and the infighting between his officers yet. As a result, his army was still in its prime, which could intimidate all forces including Cao Cao and Dong Zhuo.
It was fortunate for Tong that he had poached Zhang He and Ju Shou beforehand. Or else, he would have had a headache trying to deal with Yuan Shao at his strongest.
”Tian Feng, Te Langpu,” Yuan Shao called his two advisors.
”Present!”
”Yes, Lord?”
”Our last intel said they had only one old fortress. Why are there three and there's a lot of improvement in the area?”