Chapter 192: Cavalry Terminator
The news of the Yili Geluolu People’s rebellion quickly reached the Eastern Capital.
In the Great Hall, Xiao Simo sat at the head seat, his face pale, coughing incessantly, his physical condition worsening.
“Everyone, speak up. The Yili Nine Tribes Geluolu killed the supervisor Nie’edu and raised the flag in rebellion~cough cough~”
As soon as the words fell, the generals in the hall became stirred with excitement.
“Great King, these Geluolu pups are courting death. We must kill them all.”
“Back then, the Great King showed mercy and spared the Geluolu People’s lives, but these Geluolu People are inherently filled with betrayal. They do not think of repaying the kindness, but instead rebel again.”
“We must exterminate the Geluolu People.”
“Right, we must exterminate the Geluolu People and make them pay a heavy price for their actions.”
“Great King, just give this general five thousand troops, and I will surely turn those Geluolu Nine Tribes into dust.”
“Great King, no need for such trouble. The officers and soldiers under my command are all battle-hardened and fearless of death.”
“This general only needs to lead his own troops, and like a whirlwind sweeping through, within half a month, I will pile the heads of the Geluolu Nine Tribes into a Jingguan, letting the surrounding tribes know that those who dare to offend the might of the Northern Frontier will have only death as their end.”
Looking at the excited generals, Xiao Simo forced himself to support his sickly body, slightly raising his hand, and the Great Hall instantly fell silent.
He took a deep breath and said: “Your loyalty and bravery are commendable. This King is greatly comforted.”
Then, his gaze turned to Xiao Helun standing beside him, and he asked in a deep voice: “Heir Apparent, if I entrust you with suppressing the Geluolu rebellion, do you have the confidence?”
Helun had accidentally fallen into an ice cave during the harsh winter, suffered a severe illness, but fortunately recovered with the warming of spring, though his frame remained slender.
He looked somewhat frail, standing by as an observer, following Xiao Simo to learn the skills of governing the people and the army.
Though not yet ten years old, there was no trace of timidity on his youthful face; his expression was resolute as he crisply replied: “Father King, rest assured. Your son will not fail the trust. I will make the Geluolu People regret their actions.”
Hearing this, Xiao Simo nodded in satisfaction.
As the legitimate son, Xiao Helun bore some resemblance to Xiao Simo in his features, with a resilient disposition and emerging abilities. Often, Xiao Simo could see shadows of his own youth in him.
In contrast, his other sons could not bear heavy responsibilities, so Xiao Simo had early on designated Xiao Helun as the heir.
The only flaw was that Xiao Helun was still too young, not yet ten this year, making it hard for him to deter the arrogant and fierce generals of the Northern Frontier in the future.
Therefore, Xiao Simo decided to take a risk, entrusting the heavy task of suppressing the Geluolu rebellion to Xiao Helun, hoping he could thereby cultivate confidants in the army, establish military merit, and pave the way for a smooth succession later.
Hearing that Xiao Simo was entrusting such an important campaign to Xiao Helun, who had never been on the battlefield, the generals in the hall could not help but exchange glances.
They understood Xiao Simo’s intentions in training the heir apparent, but such an arrangement was irresponsible toward the lives of the officers and soldiers.
Thus, a prestigious Khitan general stepped forward and earnestly advised: “Great King, the Heir Apparent’s status is noble, and he has never experienced the flames of war, unaware of the dangers of the battlefield.”
“Sabers and swords are blind; what if the Heir Apparent suffers an accident~”
Xiao Simo’s expression was calm as he slowly shook his head: “He is my legitimate son, the future master of the Northern Frontier, not some weak and timid lamb cowering under the protection of a sheep flock.”
“The battlefield is a place of life-and-death struggle where fate is unpredictable. If he cannot even withstand the storms of the battlefield and loses his life amid the chaos of battle, then it is simply heaven’s will, destined by fate.”
With that, he slightly raised his head, his expression stern, as if he had already foreseen that brutal battlefield, yet he showed no wavering in his resolve for his legitimate son’s training.
Originally, he had not planned to send Xiao Helun to the battlefield so early.
He planned to wait a few more years, starting from grassroots officers and gradually gaining experience step by step.
But alas, Xiao Simo no longer had time.
He had a premonition that he probably really was not going to make it.
After speaking, his gaze turned to the veteran general Xue Gu Eluda sitting below him, and he said in a deep voice: “For this expedition, the Heir Apparent Xiao Helun shall be the commander, Xue Gu Eluda the deputy general, leading five thousand troops to campaign against Yili and utterly annihilate the rebellion of the Geluolu Nine Tribes.”
Xue Gu Eluda was the general Xiao Simo trusted the most, a confidant among confidants.
Among the four Shi Lie Zhus in the Sixth Courtyard Department, Xue Gu Eluda held the highest status.
Xiao Lintta, Xiao Tula Duo, and Jiu Meng’an He, who were from the same period as him, had all been sent out as high-ranking officials in border regions, while only Xue Gu Eluda remained in the Eastern Capital.
It was not a lack of trust from Xiao Simo, but rather excessive trust.
Every time Xiao Simo personally led an expedition, he left Xue Gu Eluda to guard the rear area.
To put it bluntly, Xue Gu Eluda was the deputy king of the Sixth Courtyard Department, the second-in-command of the Northern Frontier military group.
After the order was given, Xiao Helun and Xue Gu Eluda immediately stood in the hall and said in deep voices: “This general obeys the command.”
“We will not fail the Great King’s trust.”
The other generals in the hall also breathed a collective sigh of relief.
They understood in their hearts that Xiao Helun was merely the nominal commander, while the actual power over the army remained in Xue Gu Eluda’s hands.
Thus, they all bowed and said: “The Great King is wise.”
Xiao Simo nodded lightly and said to Xue Gu Eluda: “General Xue Gu Eluda, the Heir Apparent is young. In this battle, you must teach him carefully and protect him with all your strength.”
“But where he needs to gain experience, do not go soft.”
Xue Gu Eluda stood up, placed his hand on his chest, and said: “Great King, rest assured. This general will fulfill his duties.”
Afterward, Xiao Simo discussed the mobilization plans with the generals for a while, then dismissed everyone. The next second, he began coughing violently.
“Cough cough cough cough~”
He hunched over, his whole body shaking uncontrollably, his already pale face now flushed with an unnatural flushed.
His forehead was covered in sweat beads, large drops rolling down his haggard cheeks.
Xiao Helun stood by, his eyes reddening, full of heartache.
He gently patted Xiao Simo’s back, shouting anxiously with a choked voice: “Father King, Father King~ How are you? Don’t scare your son!”
“Someone, bring the medicinal soup, quick~”
After a long while, Xiao Simo’s coughing eased slightly. He slowly straightened up, tremblingly pulling a piece of cloth and silk from his bosom to gently wipe the corner of his mouth. Only then did he see a large stain of blood on the handkerchief.
Gazing at the bloodstain, a flash of helplessness and worry passed through Xiao Simo’s eyes, followed by a bitter smile and shake of his head.
Looking at Xiao Helun, he said: “It’s nothing. Father King is fine. Just an old ailment.”
“Coughing out this poisoned blood will do.”
He had already come to terms with life and death, but the only thing he could not let go of was this son.
“For this expedition, you must learn patiently and not blindly seek the spotlight.”
“On the battlefield, situations change in an instant. Bravery for a moment will only lead to danger. Only by calming your mind, observing, and thinking can you truly grasp the way of war.”
Xiao Simo mustered his spirits to impart to Xiao Helun the arts of leading troops and employing people.
“At the same time, pay attention to the warriors among the ordinary soldiers. Those from humble origins but with extraordinary courage and talent are often the true forces worth relying on.”
“These generals of the Eastern Capital all have backgrounds, entangled in complex webs of interests.”
“They will undoubtedly be loyal to you in the future, but whether they are truly trustworthy is for you to judge.”
Xiao Simo paused, coughed violently a few times, then continued after recovering: “You must personally promote a group of people, selecting from the rank-and-file soldiers those who truly support you and possess both courage and strategy. Cultivate them carefully to make them your true confidants.”
“Only then can you establish a solid foundation in the army and qualify to take over the great cause of the Northern Frontier.”
While Xiao Simo was instilling his insights on commanding troops into him, Xiao Daru on the other side also learned of Xiao Simo’s arrangements.
“Outrageous!”
Xiao Daru glared furiously, viciously whipping a slave tied to a tree with the horsewhip in his hand. Even as the slave’s skin split open and he weakly begged for mercy, he did not stop.
It was as if he were whipping not a person, but a stone.
“Why do all the benefits go to Xiao Helun? I am also his son? And moreover, his eldest son.”
He cursed loudly while whipping the corpse to vent his rage.
“In terms of age, I am older than him. In terms of popularity, I have more brothers. In terms of battlefield killing skills, I far surpass him.”
“Is it just because his mother is the main wife, while I am merely the son of a maidservant, that he treats me differently?”
“I refuse to accept it.”
He cursed like this until the whip broke, then stopped. By then, the slave had long ceased breathing.
Soon, his mother appeared. Seeing the beaten-to-death slave, her face instantly darkened, and she angrily said: “When will you change this violent temper of yours?”
“Do you really think your father king cares about your birth?”
Xiao Daru vented by slamming the broken horsewhip onto the grassland, huffing: “He just looks down on me.”
The woman was equally annoyed: “How did I give birth to such a fool like you?”
Though he wanted to retort that it was hereditary, Xiao Daru ultimately did not argue, only lying depressed on the grassland, staring at the blue sky and white clouds, breathing heavily in anger.
After all, his mother’s control was strong, and among those around her, she disliked anyone defying her will.
“It’s just one commander position!”
“What if it’s given to him?”
“The one who laughs last is the winner.”
“Moreover, it’s even better to let that wolf cub leave the Eastern Capital!” the woman said with a sinister face.
Jin Prefecture, on the vast and boundless grassland, under the blazing sun and howling winds.
Twenty brand-new cannons were lined up in a row, their muzzles black and deep, like giant beasts lying in wait, emanating a chilling deterrence.
Around each cannon, a dozen soldiers were busily at work.
“Hurry up, Xiao Duozi, move nimbly. The Great Governor is watching. Don’t disgrace our Divine Machine Camp.”
A young man shouted loudly. His name was Zhou Chang, the artillery commander of this cannon.
Though he only had a dozen men under him, as a technical unit in the Jin Prefecture Army, his actual position was far higher than the number of men he managed.
Zhou Chang was a genuine captain.
One of the first batch of artillerymen in Jin Prefecture, he had participated in the war against the Naiman Tribe and earned military merit.
After the war ended, the original Divine Machine Camp split into two: one part stayed at the Western Sea with those cannons.
Zhou Chang returned to Jin Prefecture with the main army and was promoted to artillery commander, his weapon being this newly forged Divine Might Cannon.
Meanwhile, their Divine Machine Camp had recruited a new batch of soldiers.
Like the Xiao Duozi in front of him, a youth from the same village as Zhou Chang, only fifteen years old.
At this moment, he was huffing and puffing, hugging a heavy cannonball from the box and stuffing it into the cannon barrel.
“Everyone prepare!”
With a loud shout from Liu Zhong, the chiliarch of the First Divine Machine Camp, all soldiers retreated, leaving only the torch-bearing gunner to step forward.
“Fire.”
At the command, instantly, firelight burst forth, deafening roars rising one after another, like thunder exploding on flat ground, rolling in.
The twenty cannons fired simultaneously, long flames spitting from the muzzles, the powerful recoil sinking the ground beneath the cannons by a section.
The cannonballs trailed long smoke paths, whistling toward the distance like arrows loosed from strings.
A small hill in the distance was instantly enveloped in firelight and gunpowder smoke, dust flying everywhere, huge explosions ringing endlessly.
Stones and mud splashed into the air, broken walls and ruins scattered messily on the ground.
This scene left the new recruits like Xiao Duozi dumbfounded.
They had only heard of the power of cannons before, never witnessing it firsthand.
At this moment, the shocking scene held them as if under a immobilization spell, their feet nailed to the ground, unable to move.
“This… this is too powerful.”
“This is the Divine Might Cannon? Scarier than thunder!”
“It can even blast a small hill to pieces. What city wall in the world could withstand it?”
The other new recruits excitedly chattered among themselves, some stunned like wooden chickens, some breathing rapidly. All were thoroughly conquered by this terrifying spectacle.
“Hmph, that’s nothing.”
“Just a small hill, an inanimate object.”
“When we fought the Naiman cavalry on the grassland before, one shot like this would drop a whole swath—guts, brains, arms, all splattered everywhere~”
Zhou Chang spat as he boasted to his new recruits, though in truth, when he first saw the cannon’s power, he was not much better off than these soldiers.
After boasting for a moment, the distant chiliarch raised the command flag again, pointing to a new direction.
The twenty artillery commanders immediately adjusted angles, then ordered soldiers to reload ammunition. Moments later, the twenty cannons roared again.
This was not only a test firing for the twenty newly forged cannons, but also troop training.
Because half the soldiers in the First Divine Machine Camp were new recruits, this was their first contact with cannons, to let them adapt early and avoid fumbling on the real battlefield.
In the rear, a unit of Golden Armored Army cavalry stood in neat formation, sharpness exposed, murderous aura rising, like a golden steel Great Wall spanning the grassland.
Under the golden Sun and Moon Battle Flag, Li Xiao wore dark golden cotton armor, steadily mounted on a tall war horse.
Holding a telescope, he focused intently on inspecting the cannon test firing.
With each cannon blast, seeing the struck hill crumble, stones and mud flying, he nodded in satisfaction.
“Third Uncle, your craftsmanship is getting more proficient. These twenty Divine Might Cannons are all high quality.”
When forging the first batch of cannons, several had burst during test firing.
Mainly because the clay mold method left bubbles inside the cannon barrels.
Then the Old Master led the artisans to continue research, adopting a new molding method. The second batch of forged cannons had increasingly better quality, basically without issues.
Hearing Li Xiao’s words, Li Sanzhi, riding beside him, chuckled: “This thing is just like blacksmithing—practice makes perfect!”
“The forged products will only get better.”
Li Sanzhi had followed the Old Master in blacksmithing since childhood, and his skills had long surpassed his teachers.
Jin Prefecture’s steel military equipment manufacturing would definitely be handed to him.
“Right, Third Uncle.”
“How’s the cannonball I mentioned last time coming along?” Li Xiao lowered the telescope, turned to Li Sanzhi, and asked.
“It’s a bit tricky, but we can make it. Just not sure if it’ll work.” Li Sanzhi’s face was slightly unnatural as he said.
“I’m just afraid it won’t fire out and bursts in the barrel.”
The Jin Prefecture Army’s current cannonballs were all solid shot.
Heavy large iron balls that could smash a big pit in a city wall or send gravel flying from a hillside.
But the problem was, solid shot had limited effect against cavalry.
In previous wars, the Divine Machine Camp’s power came mainly from catching the enemy off guard.
The Grasslanders had never seen such a thing, causing morale to collapse and soldiers to lose fighting spirit.
But in reality, very few enemy soldiers were directly hit by cannonballs. Most were scared by the cannons’ aura, war horses panicked, formations broke, paving the way for the Jin Prefecture Army cavalry charge.
However, if the enemy got used to cannons and trained soldiers and horses specifically to charge through bombardment, the cannons would lose their effect.
So, Li Xiao planned to create a cannonball specialized against cavalry: the explosive shell.
The principle was simple: first make a hollow iron ball, with walls neither too thick nor too thin.
Fill it with gunpowder, iron nails, iron shards, gravel, and such.
At the moment of firing, the explosive shell’s fuse is also ignited.
Upon smashing into the enemy cavalry formation, the gunpowder inside detonates like a hand grenade.
The iron nails and other shrapnel inside perform indiscriminate splash attacks on surrounding enemy soldiers and war horses.
One blast takes out a large area, truly delivering exterminating strikes against cavalry.
In Huaxia history, explosive shells first appeared in the mid-Ming Dynasty and were still used until the late Qing Dynasty.
With no major issues in materials or technology, Li Sanzhi personally led people to forge one explosive shell.
Presented for inspection, it looked little different from ordinary iron shot on the outside, but was actually thin iron casing, with a fuse leading from the fill opening.
“Send it up for testing and see the effect,” Li Xiao instructed.
Then, Li Sanzhi personally took people to test fire it, warning the gunners during the process: “Be careful loading this explosive shell.”
“Keep the fuse opening upward, or it’ll explode right out of the muzzle. And pull the fuse down below.”
Not only was making the explosive shell troublesome, operating it was too.
Soon after, the cannon fired, and the explosive shell shot out, hitting a grove of trees in the distance squarely.
“Let’s go take a look.”
Li Xiao lowered the telescope and spurred his Golden Armored Army to gallop over.
As they neared the grove, the sight before them made everyone draw in a sharp breath.
The once lush trees were now a scene of devastation.
Tree trunks were densely embedded with iron nails and iron shards, deeply lodged inside.
Some trees were even pierced through, wood chips flying from the wounds, broken branches scattered messily on the ground.
The surrounding land was pocked with craters, soil upheaved, the smell of gunpowder smoke lingering in the air, refusing to dissipate.
Seeing this, Li Xiao smiled with satisfaction, nodding slightly.
The Golden Armored Army soldiers beside him were equally stunned, exchanging incredulous looks.
“The power of this explosive shell far exceeds imagination.”
Tie Tou broke the silence, his voice laced with irrepressible excitement.
He said to Li Xiao: “Great Governor, this thing is way more powerful than iron shot.”
“Against an enemy cavalry charge, with dozens of cannons firing at once, they’d lose half before reaching us.”
“Great Governor, this thing is too powerful. It absolutely cannot be learned by others,” Thin Monkey quickly added.
“Otherwise, the advantage of our Jin Prefecture’s proud iron cavalry will vanish.”
Li Xiao nodded lightly and instructed Li Sanzhi: “Third Uncle, the explosive shell technology must not be passed on.”
At this moment, Li Sanzhi’s face beamed with pride.
As a key figure in developing the explosive shell, seeing everyone’s shock at its power filled him with a sense of achievement.
Hearing Li Xiao’s words, he nodded emphatically: “Rest assured, Great Governor.”
“Only a few of us know how to make explosive shells, all old comrades.”
“No one else will learn it.”
“Not just explosive shells—even the gunpowder and cannon forging technology, we guard tightly.”
“As per your orders, Great Governor, the artisans receive top treatment, best food and drink, ample rewards.”
“Not only are their families all relocated together under heavy guard, but each person handles only one step, preventing leaks.”
Li Xiao nodded lightly, knowing full well in his heart that nothing is eternally unchanging.
Sticking to the old ways won’t do; only constant surpassing and developing new technology can maintain superiority.
Thus, for Li Sanzhi and the artisans who made the explosive shell, Li Xiao generously rewarded them.
To incentivize more artisans to develop new technologies.
At the same time, he had them continue producing explosive shells, the more the better.
