Chapter 12
Soon, news of the campaign against the rebels spread throughout Liang Province; after all, the mobilization of 15,000 troops carried a completely different weight than 5,000.
A few days ago, Common People knew about the 5,000 troops sent to suppress the rebels, but they hadn't paid much attention; however, now that the number had increased to 15,000, it was hard for them not to be concerned.
What kind of situation required increasing the forces to the point where the entire city's army was mobilized? Soon, some informed individuals revealed the events concerning Wuan Commandery.
When Common People heard about what had happened in Wuan Commandery, they were instantly stunned. Suppressing this kind of rebel? There was no justice in that! These weren't rebels at all; they were living Bodhisattvas!
But no matter what the people thought, they could do nothing; after all, they were just ordinary citizens with no power, and could only hope these Rebel Leaders wouldn't be wiped out so quickly.
To Common People, they truly weren't rebels, as they hadn't caused any harm and were actually quite beneficial.
However, to the Aristocratic Families and the government as the ruling class, Lia was a true Rebel Leader—even more egregious than a typical one. Once Lia's methods were accepted by the people, they would completely destabilize the foundations of the empire; she was someone who absolutely had to be eliminated!
At this moment, after a day of preparation, the 15,000-strong army of Liang Province began its march toward Wuxing Commandery, looking grand and imposing.
Whether it was Tuoba Feng, the Prince of Leping, or that middle-aged Advisor before the expedition, they all believed this would be a great victory; after all, they were facing Rebel Leaders with fewer than 10,000 people.
After the Liang Province troops set out, Lia also received news from Merlin immediately.
Knowing that the Liang Province troops would arrive in a day, Lia immediately convened a war council.
"Tomorrow, the Liang Province troops should arrive at Wuxing Commandery. The general leading the army this time is Tuoba Feng. General Li, do you have any insights into this commander?" Lia asked Li Lin.
"My Lord, Tuoba Feng is the Prince of Leping's brother-in-law. He possesses considerable personal strength and is a fierce warrior, but as a commanding general, he might be somewhat lacking," Li Lin said after some thought.
"So he's just a brute? In that case, it will be quite simple." Lia felt a bit more relieved after hearing Li Lin's evaluation of Tuoba Xiu.
"Li Lin, you will command this operation. Regarding the hand grenades I had you mass-produce with extra manpower, your men already know how to use them, right?" Lia asked.
"My Lord, the soldiers already know how to use them, but those pine cannons..." Li Lin hesitated.
"What's wrong with the pine cannons?" Lia asked curiously.
"While the pine cannons are barely usable, their lethality isn't that strong, and they are easily damaged. I feel they don't have much practical significance," Li Lin said after thinking it over.
The so-called pine cannon was actually made by selecting a fresh elm trunk, hollowing out the core to create a circular hole, and then inserting a thick iron tube about seven feet long with an internal diameter of over half a foot and a wall thickness of more than two fen.
Then, it was tightly bound with five iron hoops on the outside and wrapped layer by layer with thick iron wire. Finally, a small hole was drilled at the base of the cannon to serve as the touchhole for the fuse and gunpowder.
Once the barrel was completed, the bore was loaded with over ten catties of gunpowder and thirty to forty catties of scrap iron, large weights, and broken iron pots. After attaching the fuse and sealing the muzzle tightly with cotton and yellow mud, a piece of artillery was finished.
Of course, one couldn't expect too much from the power of a cannon made this way.
The true function of these wooden cannons was like a giant shotgun, mainly used for warnings and ambushes—sometimes they were only good for making a loud noise. With a range within eighty to a hundred meters, they could tear an enemy apart upon firing, but the killing radius was quite small.
However, Lia wasn't using them to annihilate the enemy; they were primarily for deterrence. The roar at the moment of firing was simply too soul-shaking.
The enemy wouldn't know that these cannons could only fire a few rounds. As long as they could shatter the enemy's morale, that would be enough.
As for truly powerful cannons, they weren't easy to build yet, and Lia lacked the materials to make them.
Once she fully controlled Liang Province, she could work on them gradually.
"It's fine. Those things are just for intimidation. The effect will be beyond your expectations," Lia just smiled.
Seeing Lia say this, Li Lin didn't say anything more.
"Mulan, I asked you to tally the number of people in every household in Wuxing Commandery. Do you have the results?" Lia wasn't nervous at all about this battle; unless Li Lin betrayed her, the Liang Province army would surely return in a crushing defeat.
"My Lord, excluding those in the rural counties, there are a total of over 4,000 households in Wuxing Commandery, with a population of over 36,000. Each household has about 8 to 9 people," Mulan said, presenting the information she had organized.
"Eight to nine people?"
Lia was a bit shocked to hear this. No wonder so many people starved to death in ancient times. She had only reclaimed over 100,000 mu of land from the Aristocratic Families. If this were distributed, each household would only get a dozen or so plots, and if divided among children, it would be just one plot per person—hardly enough!
Having many children in ancient times didn't actually mean much; because productivity couldn't keep up, the surplus population would only starve to death.
It seemed she needed to distribute the land in her hands as quickly as possible and provide them with various farm tools and seeds. Only then would they have the energy to reclaim new land; otherwise, the population growth would hit a ceiling.
Chapter 27: The Liang Province Army Attacks
After thinking for a moment, Lia said to Li Lin, "Li Lin, I'm going to the fields to take a look. I'll leave the affairs here to you for now."
"I understand, My Lord," Li Lin nodded.
"Mulan, take me to see those fields."
"Certainly, My Lord. Please follow me." Mulan nodded and led Lia toward the outskirts of Wuxing Commandery.
Lia arrived outside the city. Because it was a time of emergency, Common People could not leave the city, so the vast fields outside were completely unattended.
However, it was currently February, and the rice had not yet been planted, so it didn't matter much.
The two of them, accompanied by some soldiers, arrived at the fields. After checking the size of one mu, Lia said to Mulan, "Mulan, have people measure all these fields. Once the war is over, distribute them to Common People according to the measured sizes."
"I understand, My Lord. By doing this, the people of Wuxing Commandery will surely be extremely grateful to you!" Mulan said hastily upon hearing Lia's words.
Lia only smiled slightly. She was doing this for her own purposes. Although she had selfish motives, she was indeed bringing benefits to these people.
To put it bluntly, she had slaughtered all the other landlords to become the sole landlord and the only exploiter.
But while she was an exploiter, she could also take what she gained from the people and use it for those in need; thus, she wouldn't be considered a true exploiter.
This was what she called "taking from the people and using it for the people."
Moreover, she only took a ten percent tax, which was much better than those Aristocratic Families who took at least fifty percent.
Lia sometimes didn't understand why someone, once they had enough to eat and wear, a wife, and children, would still want to embezzle so much money.
Wouldn't it be better for these people to work steadily for Common People? That way, they could earn a good reputation and wouldn't have to fear for their lives.
Instead, after these people embezzled, they wanted to take massive amounts of silver into their coffins. Even if the grain rotted, they were unwilling to give it away. In their eyes, Common People were truly worth less than the pigs in their homes.
In short, Lia thought for a long time but still couldn't understand.
After Lia, Mulan, and the others patrolled the fields for a day, they returned to the city, intending to rest well tonight and have a good fight with the Liang Province soldiers tomorrow.
If they won, they could take full control of Liang Province. As for losing—well, they certainly wouldn't lose!
...Over these past few days, Tuoba Feng had heard plenty about the Rebel Leaders.
They had swept through several Aristocratic Families at once. It was said that those families had a lot of money. Once this suppression was successful, he would make a fortune!
As for whether that money would be returned to the Aristocratic Families, that was out of the question. Those who robbed the Aristocratic Families were the Rebel Leaders, not the regular imperial army; they were only there to suppress the rebels.
Who knows where the Rebel Leaders stored the money in the end? In any case, they hadn't found it!
After marching for half a day, the city walls of Wuxing Commandery were finally clearly visible.
"Sure enough, the intelligence was correct. All 5,000 soldiers from Liang Province have surrendered to the Rebel Leader." Seeing the group of soldiers on the city wall, Tuoba Feng frowned.
You lot were fine serving in the regular army but chose to become rebels instead; it's simply outrageous. However, he was a magnanimous man and was willing to let them return, so they better not be ungrateful!
Thinking of this, Tuoba Feng called over a soldier and sent him up to shout a message.
Upon receiving the order, the soldier immediately ran to the foot of the city wall and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Listen up, those on the wall! The one leading the army now is our General Tuoba Feng. The General says that as long as you surrender, he can let bygones be bygones. If not, don't blame him for disregarding your past ties as fellow countrymen!"
Hearing this, the soldiers on the city wall began to murmur among themselves.
Go back to your mother? Are you going to pay us?
You should know that they were getting paid to be soldiers here. With room and board included, they could still earn 3 taels a month! What kind of concept was that? It was more profitable than farming. Only a fool would want to go back to being a Liang Province soldier who couldn't even get enough to eat.
Moreover, their lord now possessed a weapon of mass destruction like gunpowder. They now had two hand grenades each—one man could take on ten!
Your 15,000 men simply aren't enough to be killed!
They had seen the effects of the hand grenades; a single one could injure up to seven or eight enemies at once, and even with fewer enemies, it could still kill one or two. This was different from bows and arrows; it didn't require years or even decades of practice. Anyone could use it!
It could be said that the soldiers weren't stupid, nor were they without a conscience. At least what Lia was doing now was truly for the good of Common People. Given the choice, they were more willing to work under Lia.
"Tell your general that if he has the ability, he should take it with strength." After all, he was a former superior, so Li Lin didn't want to make his words too harsh.
Hearing the refusal from Li Lin, who was defending the city, Tuoba Feng's face instantly turned cold.
"General, that Li Lin has refused. What should we do now?" a commander asked.
"Have the Siege Troops set up the scaling ladders. The Vanguard Battalion is to charge directly!" Tuoba Feng said coldly. Since this Li Lin was being ungrateful, he wouldn't be blamed for being heartless.
"Yes!" the commander responded and immediately went down to give orders.
In just a moment, from Tuoba Feng's camp, a group of soldiers charged toward the city wall with an indomitable spirit, shouting "Kill!!!"
Seeing these soldiers charging, Li Lin also had his men get ready. As the soldiers drew closer, Li Lin shouted loudly, "Release arrows!"
Countless arrows fell from the sky like a swarm of bees, dense as if it were raining ice spikes. Innumerable soldiers were shot until they looked like hedgehogs.
But the soldiers did not stop; they continued to charge and kill. They propped scaling ladders against the city walls and climbed up fearlessly.
These soldiers were met with countless falling rocks and boiling oil. In a short time, the casualties of the Vanguard Battalion reached 3,000.
However, Tuoba Feng acted as if he hadn't seen this situation. The so-called Vanguard Battalion was meant to be sacrificed, specifically used to exhaust the enemy's arrows and defensive items.
If he could capture a city with 5,000 soldiers using only 3,000 men, he would be the reincarnation of the Marquis of Wu!
Wuxing Commandery was not large, and the casualties of these 3,000 soldiers had almost exhausted all the defensive items of the commandery.
Next would be the human wave tactic!
Tuoba Xiu did not hesitate; with a wave of his arm, another 3,000 infantrymen pushed forward.
This time, however, the Infantry were different from the previous ones. Each of them held a wooden shield and charged up with loud cries.
"Use the pine cannons," Lia said directly upon seeing this.
Chapter 28: Siege Warfare!
The pine cannons had long been waiting on the side. Following a series of operations, fire erupted from the muzzles of the pine cannons with a "boom," and a shell was launched directly.
The deafening sound caused the charging enemy troops to suddenly stop. Why did it suddenly thunder? Was it going to rain?
Before these enemy troops could understand what was happening, a shell landed in their midst and exploded. Accompanied by several screams, the scent of gunpowder smoke spread through the battlefield.
With every "boom," a shell fell into the crowd of soldiers. When those soldiers saw the person next to them being hit by a shell and their entire body blown to pieces, they were completely stunned.
Those near the hit soldier were lying on the ground, letting out shrill screams.
"A god has descended! Run!"
After several more cannon blasts, the charging enemy troops no longer possessed their former bravery. Instead, they turned into cowards and ran back toward their own camp.
The supervising officers couldn't stop them no matter how hard they tried.
"What on earth is that thing!" Tuoba Feng frowned as he looked at the dozen or so pine cannons on the city wall. He had seen clearly from a distance that the noises were coming from those things.
"General, although those things making the strange noises look very powerful, their lethality is actually not high. While it looks terrifying to see someone blown to bits, in reality, they can only injure a dozen or so people."
A commander stepped forward and shared the information he had observed.
"You're right. These things are just paper tigers. They look scary, but they're actually just mediocre." Tuoba Feng thought back to the scene just now; the lethality of those strange things was indeed not that great.
Or rather, they weren't that terrifying without a certain number of them.
What these people didn't know was that cannons were not originally meant for attacking soldiers; their purpose was actually to attack city walls and suppress the soldiers on them.
Despite knowing this, the soldiers still didn't dare to go up. They were truly terrified. Can you imagine the scene of a person being blown to pieces right before your eyes, with blood and internal organs spraying all over you?
Only those who had witnessed such a scene with their own eyes would know the horror of this thing!
But under the pressure of their superiors, these soldiers could only force themselves through their fear and continue charging toward the city wall.
Just as Lia had expected, although the enemy troops were still forced to attack the city, their morale had become low. Fearing that the next bomb would land on their heads, they had become hesitant.
Lia did not disappoint them; from time to time, a shell would land below the city wall, blowing up a dozen or so soldiers.
However, as time passed, Lia's defensive equipment was nearly exhausted. During this period, many enemy troops even managed to reach the top of the wall. Although they were driven back, it was clear that Wuxing Commandery was essentially out of ammunition and supplies.
"The entire army, push forward! Take Wuxing Commandery directly! Whoever scales the wall first will be rewarded with white gold!"
Seeing this, Tuoba Feng knew the opportunity had come. After they had suffered several thousand casualties, now was the time to capture Wuxing Commandery in one fell swoop.
Seeing the enemy pushing their entire army forward, Lia knew the opportunity had come.
She hadn't let anyone throw the hand grenades before because she wanted to maximize the damage. Otherwise, if the enemy were all spread out, even with hand grenades, they wouldn't be able to hurt many people.
Besides, there were many defensive tools in the city. If they weren't used, they would just be left to gather dust.
Only when the soldiers were almost at the foot of the city wall did Lia call out, "Prepare the hand grenades!"
Thousands of hand grenades were held in the hands of the soldiers. "Light them! Throw!"