Chương 586: Camp Meeting

"Gentlemen," Su Lie turned around, his voice steady and powerful.

"I didn't call you here today to listen to me brag. The Western Regions may look like all sand, but there are actually quite a few tough nuts to crack."

Anyone with thoughts, concerns, or ulterior motives, speak up now! Once you leave this tent, you'll only obey orders. Anyone who dares to shirk responsibility will face court-martial!

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a loud "boom" resounded outside the tent, shaking the entire command tent...

Yuchi Gong grinned, slapped his thigh, and shouted, spittle flying everywhere:

"Did you hear that? Those guys from the artillery battalion are testing their cannons again! The one I fired just now was even louder than this! It blew the sand dunes flat!"

Let me tell you, this cannon was incredible! One shot and half the city wall crumbled to dust! It was a hundred times more powerful than the catapults of yesteryear! Catapults required people to pull them, but this thing ignited at the slightest touch!

He gestured wildly as he spoke, "I've already made a deal with Li Yun: when we attack the Western Regions, I'll fire the first shot! Blow open their city gates..."

"With your eyesight, don't point your guns at your own people."

Lu Bu rolled his eyes and said disdainfully, his lips almost touching his ears.

"Who are you calling blind! I can shoot an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred paces away!" Yuchi Gong shouted, his neck stiff and red.

"Don't believe me? Let's have a contest! The loser buys drinks for a year! You dare!"

"Let's have a match! Who's afraid of who!" Lu Bu laughed and immediately accepted the challenge. The two glared at each other, their eyes practically shooting sparks.

"Alright, alright, stop arguing!" Su Lie waved his hand with a headache and shouted towards the outside of the tent, "Bring in those two new muskets! And get a scarecrow! Stop arguing, business is more important!"

Two soldiers carried in two gleaming muskets. The muskets were made of fine steel, and the stock was made of walnut wood, with exquisite cloud patterns carved on them. They looked exquisite, like works of art.

"This is the 'Divine Might' flintlock musket, just mass-produced by the arsenal." Su Lie took the gun, skillfully pulled back the bolt, loaded the paper cartridges, and completed the task in one smooth motion.

"Seven-point caliber, effective range of 150 paces, can fire three rounds per minute. Much better than the old matchlock muskets..."

As he spoke, he walked to the tent entrance and pulled the trigger on the scarecrow a hundred paces away.

"Bang!"

A flash of fire, and smoke filled the air.

The scarecrow had a hole the size of a bowl punched in its chest, wood chips flew everywhere, and straw flew all over the place.

Su Lie blew on the gunpowder smoke from the muzzle of his gun and said smugly:

"The Western Regions' broken bows and arrows can only shoot up to eighty paces at most, and they're not accurate either. If they hit the target once out of ten shots, they're lucky. Our musketeers are arranged in three ranks, taking turns firing. They're like an impregnable wall of copper and iron. No matter how many cavalry charge at us, they'll just be throwing their lives away."

Su Lie laughed and said, "This time we brought 20, 000 musketeers, 20, 000 artillerymen, and 2, 000 cannons of various types. Among them are 500 'Divine Might General' cannons, which can blast through the city wall with a single shot;

"1, 500 'Tiger Crouching Cannons,' specifically designed to fight cavalry. A single volley of grapeshot can wipe out a vast area, like rain. To put it bluntly, one of our battalions could take down an entire nation. One of our regiments could destroy an entire nation."

"Hahahaha!" Yuchi Gong laughed so hard he couldn't stop.

"I knew it! What's there to be afraid of those barbarians from the Western Regions? The reason why it was difficult for the previous dynasty to conquer the Western Regions was because they didn't have these good things."

Now we have guns and cannons, so what do we care about Kucha and Khotan? One cannon shot and they're all reduced to ashes! After the war, I'll collect some Khotan jade to make a bracelet for my wife and a jade pendant for my daughter! Khotan jade is the best in the world!

As he spoke, he patted the bulging cloth bag in his arms, which jingled softly inside.

"I've already prepared the bags! I'm just waiting to fill them with jade!"

Everyone laughed again.

After Cao Cao finished laughing, he frowned, poured cold water on the laughter, and his tone became serious:

"Jingde, don't be too happy yet. Firearms are good, but they're not omnipotent. The desert is windy and sandy, and muskets are prone to getting sand in and misfiring. The mountain roads over the Tianshan Mountains are rugged, and cannons have to be disassembled into parts to be transported up there..."

Moreover, the people of the Western Regions are familiar with the terrain and love to raid camps at night, striking and fleeing immediately. If we underestimate them, we will surely suffer a great loss. An arrogant army is bound to be defeated.

"Mengde is right." Su Lie nodded.

"We have the advantage of firearms, but we can't be complacent. Let me give you a sneak peek and tell you the details of these countries in the Western Regions, so you won't be completely clueless and end up being sold out without even realizing it."

He pointed to the sand table and began to call out each item one by one, explaining them one by one:

"Let's start with these six city-states in the Tarim Basin, ranked by their strength: Khotan, Kucha, Shule, Yanqi, Shanshan, and the Later Cheshi Kingdom."

(I don't know what this area was called at the time, so I can only use Tarim Basin as a substitute.) First, we chose that lush green oasis at the northern foot of the Kunlun Mountains, where a river flows and the trees provide ample shade:

"The first one is Khotan, the leader of the southern route. It has a population of over 100, 000, of which about 30, 000 are capable of fighting. This place is extremely wealthy, making money by selling jade and trading silk. In the past ten years, it has annexed five small countries, including Jingjue and Ronglu, and the entire northern foothills of Kunlun Mountain are their territory."

However, their army is still the same old thing: swords, spears, bows, and arrows. They barely have any iron armor; their soldiers wear leather armor, which can be pierced by a single arrow. One of our musket battalions could take down ten thousand of their troops. Killing them is like killing chickens.

"Wow! So rich?" Yuchi Gong's eyes lit up, and he hugged the cloth bag even tighter, as if afraid someone would snatch it from him.

"After we defeat Khotan, could I go check out the jade mines? I'll just pick up a couple of small pieces, I won't be greedy! I'll hand over the big ones to His Majesty! I promise!"

Everyone laughed. Su Lie said helplessly, "Fine, as long as you win, you can collect as much as you want. But you can't let it interfere with the battle. If you mess things up because of collecting jade, I'll not only confiscate your jade, but I'll also punish you..."

"Don't worry! I promise I'll pick it up after the battle! Do you think I can't tell what's important?" Yuchi Gong patted his chest and assured him.

"The second one, the leader of the northern route, Kucha." The whip was moved to the middle reaches of the Tarim River.

"Their population is over 90, 000, and their army is around 20, 000. Their iron smelting technology is the best in the Western Regions, and the knives they forge are passable, but they can't cut through our iron armor, not even leaving a white mark."

The most troublesome thing was their city walls, built with rammed earth mixed with glutinous rice juice and camel blood, three zhang thick and five zhang high, with a moat two zhang wide outside. But in front of our "Divine Might General" cannon, they were just paper.

Dozens of cannons can bombard one spot, creating a large breach in about fifteen minutes. Then the infantry can rush in, the cavalry can chase and cut them down, and none of them will escape.