Chapter 305 Securing Bargain Chips (1/2)
Chapter 305 – Securing Bargain Chips
Yuan Shao had confidence that he and his army had no problem routing the army of 60,000 soldiers. However, they could not guarantee their safety as Tong and Hua Shi could send the spirits to kill all generals and himself during the battle.
To save his skins, Yuan Shao and his army retreated. They also withdrew from Ganling City as the deserted town was not worth defending.
Tong's troops managed to occupy Ganling again in July. This time, he did not fall back, but Tong ordered his men to restore the town to its former glory.
As Tong was busy dealing with the town restoration, more reports from Henei kept coming.
Ju Shou: ”Cao Cao lost Luo Yang. They are falling back to Hulao Gate.”
Ju Shou: ”We've confirmed that the King of Xiongnu is also an immortal. His power is duplication of objects and living beings. He can pretty much create a copy of anything out of nothingness.”
Ju Shou: ”Second concern about this immortal is that he possesses four white wings. Young master Zhang, this man can be trouble.”
Tong: ”Figured as much. That's why we didn't thoroughly destroy Yuan Shao.”
Ju Shou: ”Cao Cao also has similar weapons as us. They are using range weapons as their primary weapon now. Our spies also notice that they attempted to build iron barrels on top of the wall of Luo Yang, but they didn't finish the project in time before they lost the city.”
Tong, Li Feihong, Hua Shi, and Te Langpu paid attention to this. Building an iron barrel on top of the wall hinted that Cao Cao might be researching about firearms as well. On top of that, their progress seemed faster than theirs.
Li Feihong: ”That's not a cannon, right?”
Te Langpu: ”Eh, that's a cannon. Are they collecting saltpeter and sulfur?”
Ju Shou: ”They do.”
Te Langpu: ”There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Your Cao Cao has a reincarnator, and those motherfOOker has cannons!”
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This piece of news revealed and confirmed the location of the final otherworlder they were searching. This concluded the existence of the surviving 12 reincarnators in this world.
Zhang Tong
Hua Shi
Li Feihong
Dong Bai / Friday
Diao Chan / Medusa
Te Langpu
Sun Fang
Li Jing
Jiang Man
Liu Yang / Goddess
Xiongnu King
Cao Cao's subordinate
These were the names of all reincarnators that all intelligence agencies discovered using the reports of all battles and Friday's testimony.
Half of the otherworlders were within Tong's forces while the others scattered in the country. Until one force remained, they had to get rid of these competitors to end this game of immortals.
For now, Tong wanted to eliminate Xiongnu forces and Xiongnu King first as they posted the most dangerous threat to the country and his forces. As for the weak Jiang Man and Liu Bei, Tong could kill them after he used them as cannon fodders in his plan.
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Tong: ”Feihong, Mr. President, how's our research?”
Li Feihong: ”Building 13th-century cannons is not a problem. But that's costly and inefficient since we can't aim with those models. We're trying to forge a steam engine first, so we can build machines with smooth and accurate bores.”
Tong: ”Can't we use the windmills?”
Li Feihong: ”Not enough power. We can use it to build a rough 13th-century model, but it still took days to build one.”
Tong: ”Then, can we make muskets at our current power?”
Te Langpu: ”Nope! It will explode in your face with the unreliable skills of our blacksmiths. Use them to forge the knight armors is the correct choice.”
Te Langpu: ”As for the technologies, we'll go step by step. Besides, you don't have to worry about Cao Cao dishing out cannons. They're going to be one of those big-ass-good-for-nothing stationary cannons that can't aim. They're just decorations.”
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In the past years, everyone attempted to forge their first cannon so they could end this civil war earlier.
However, they failed when they made a bronze wheeled cannon of the 16th-century. Local blacksmiths could not make the chamber of the barrel smooth and straight enough to shoot accurately. Secondly, the durability of the cannon was questionable as it cracked from two firing tests.
They found out later that the reinforcing rings were not sturdy enough and the bore was uneven, which cause damages from within the cannon muzzle when a shot was fired.
To overcome this technological barrier, they had to look back what they had skipped.
Te Langpu and Li Feihong came to the conclusion that a steam engine was necessary for this project. Thus, they put the cannon on hold and focused on the engines instead.
With their brains, they did not have a problem digging out their previous life's science knowledge. But making it into reality took efforts, times, manpower, and money.
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Tong: ”We won't worry about the cannons for now. Old Jia, how's your homework?”
Jia Xu: ”My messengers should have reached everybody by now. As for Yuan Shao, I recommend using that hiding immortal Jiang Man as the negotiator in the case Yuan Shao wants to kill our messenger to vent the anger. By the way, should we kill Liu Bei and all his brothers now?”
Lu Zhi: ”Give them some times. I'll try to convert them first. If Liu Bei still wants to raise his banner after our plan succeeded, I'll cripple him myself.”
Tong: ”I'm sorry for this, master.”
Lu Zhi: ”No harm. He's an idiot and a crazy man. If he gets big, trouble awaits us.”
Tong: ”About the coalition, any ETA on about their confirmation?”
Jia Xu: ”Hard to say. My guess is next year at the earliest. Those fools haven't realized what they are up against yet.”
Tong: ”That also gives us some times to prepare. Senior Ding, please ship knight armors to Henei and Ganling. We'll probably use two legions in the next fight against that Xiongnu.”
Ding Yuan: ”Do you want the Mountaineer south?”
Tong: ”No, stay there and watch the borders. We don't know if they will strike us again. The previous raid attempt was no joke.”
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