You’ve been transported to the “Great Qing Dynasty,” in the 20th year of the Qianlong reign. It’s the height of the “Golden Age,” and with the Qianlong Emperor at the peak of his power—would you still dare to rebel against the Qing? Rebellion is like playing on “Abyss Mode”; if you don’t rebel, you won’t survive. For the sake of your own well-being, you’d better be more cunning and less sincere. Rebelling against the Qing is true love—the more you scheme, the healthier you’ll be.
Chapter 189: As Many Come, So Many Die Hearing the shout, Shang Jiabao, who had just been coughing, immediately looked out. “Boom…” The sound of drums beating loudly filled the air. “Hu…” The bandit-suppression troops outside the city were shouting in unison, marching in lockstep from the distance, as if a massive army were closing in. “What’s going on? Are they planning a swarm attack? Then what are all these large iron barrels buried here for?” Shang Jiabao looked at the iron barrels half-buried in the ground about sixty zhang outside the city gate and asked, completely baffled. There were likely over a hundred of these iron barrels. They were arranged in two rows, spaced about one and a half zhang apart, with each barrel separated by a little less than half a zhang from the next. “Could these be cannons?” Looking at the row of large iron barrels buried and aimed at the city gate, Barhu Tai Feng couldn’t help but speculate. However, he immediately dismissed his own suggestion. “If they were cannons, there’s no reason they’d be made of such thin iron! They’d probably blow themselves up before they could even fire,” said Barhu Tai Feng. “You make a good point,” Shang Jiabao nodded in agreement. As the drums of the anti-bandit forces sounded, the men and horses who had buried the iron barrels retreated one after another. Not only the men who had buried the barrels, but even the musketeers guarding the flanks retreated. The defenders on the city gates and ramparts could see right through all the strange goings-on. Just then, a guard on the ramparts shouted. “Look, smoke is rising from behind those buried iron barrels.” Human eyesight is, after all, limited; it is indeed difficult to spot that faint rising smoke from 150 meters away. However, some people do have sharper eyes and can detect this subtle change. At the time of the shout, the smoke was still barely visible. Especially since a light breeze was blowing, dispersing the smoke. However, a minute later, as the wind died down and the burning fuses continued to produce smoke, many people could see the smoke from the burning fuses even if they couldn’t make out the flickering flames on the ground. “Do these rebels really think they can use these huge iron barrels as red-coated cannons?” Barhu Tai Feng and Shang Jiabao exchanged glances, speaking in disbelief. “Am I the fool, or are the rebels outside the city that foolish—or perhaps they’re simply too arrogant? If red-coated cannons were that easy to make, the imperial court wouldn’t have spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to cast them.” “General, Commander. I believe I have figured out what those rebels are thinking,” said Hu Xi Yaya, a company commander standing beside them, clasping his fists. “Speak up!” Shang Jiabao urged impatiently. “Yes, General,” Hu Xi Yaya replied. “I suspect these rebels don’t intend to use these buried iron barrels as Red-Coated Cannons. They likely figure that by burying the barrels underground and harnessing the force of the earth, if the gunpowder can be fired, it will; if not, even a barrel explosion will make some noise. This way, they can intimidate us and buy themselves time to attack the city.” As Hu Xi Yaya spoke, he couldn’t help but look as though he had seen right through their scheme, a hint of mockery on his face. Immediately afterward, he respectfully clasped his fists and bowed his head, waiting quietly for his two superiors to acknowledge his insight. “That’s right, why didn’t I think of that? Well done, Yaya, you’ve got a sharp mind.” ”After hearing Hu Xi Yaya’s words, Barhu Tai Feng quickly walked over to his side, patted him on the shoulder, and praised him. “Thank you for your praise, Commander. It is all thanks to your constant guidance.” Hu Xi Yaya bowed in response, leaving Wang Kaiyuan feeling somewhat torn between laughter and tears. The explosions caused by the two “Heartless Cannons” lasted only about a minute, but their sheer power made Ma Jiulu realize why Zhang Rui had previously shown no urgency in launching a full-scale assault on Mancheng. “So Brother Liu had everyone eat first just to buy them more time, so they could gather more men to defend the city. With explosions like that, won’t they die as soon as they arrive?”
