Chapter 85 Far Exceeds Expectations (Additional Updates for Fenghua Club’s Ten Thousand Rewards)
"This time when we went to the Loess Fortress, we not only used up the money of Deputy Lin Qianhu and Zhou Baihu, but also the money they used to buy Tatar heads and war horses.
The silver and gold I brought there were basically all spent, and now my pocket is cleaner than my face."
While smoking a trumpet cigarette rolled from cut tobacco, Yang Dongli's voice sounded in the unmanned kitchen.
Zhang Xiu Niang is also quite smart. She took several other women out early so that they could have a safe environment to talk.
As for those shredded tobacco, Yang Dongli, who had run out of food and grass long ago, bought them back at Loess Fort.
Not to mention! The quality of these cut tobacco is average, but the price is not cheap at all; half a pound of cut tobacco cost his waiter a full two taels of silver.
It is so expensive that it is said that Emperor Chongzhen strictly opposed smoking after he came to the throne.
An order was issued to prohibit the cultivation and sale of tobacco, and violators would be beheaded in public display. However, if they dared to plant the land and continued to plant it, the price started to rise.
Fortunately, half a pound of cut tobacco is enough for a group of old smokers to burn it like a chimney for quite some time.
"Damn it, that's thousands of cars worth of silver. I'm afraid it's almost a hundred kilograms in total. Is it going to be used up now?"
After hearing this, Hu Biao rolled up a trumpet for himself and couldn't help but cursed in his mouth.
But he also knew that the money had to be spent, and the question was whether it was worth it.
After thinking of this, Hu Biao didn't even bother to eat the food he had just received, and began to concentrate on listening to the reports of Yang Dongli and others.
Because these things they brought back are related to whether they can hold Suifeng Dun, and are related to the life and death of the remaining twenty netizens...
“I asked Zhou Baihu about the additional military households, and he said there was no problem, but it would take about ten days to get those military households in place.
So we shouldn’t count on these people.
This time when we went to Loess Fort, we brought back three blacksmiths and their four apprentices, and brought some of their commonly used blacksmithing tools with us on a cart.
Therefore, the 600 kilograms of pig iron and 500 kilograms of coke we bought this time will definitely be enough to produce a large amount of caltrops, as well as some armor pieces, masks and other equipment.
If caltrops are thrown out with a trebuchet after a fight, they will surely be able to delay the charging speed of the Tartars.
There are also five cowhide and four armor craftsmen; with the cooperation of the blacksmith, they can complete the repair of all the armors.
There are also three stonemasons who can strengthen the defense of Suifeng Fort at some key locations.
Because we have a limited number of people, we seized a lot of weapons and armor from the Tatars last time, so I didn’t buy any more weapons. I bought some mail armor, leather armor and cotton armor, which can basically reach the level of two armors for one person.
I also bought back 500 arrows and two three-eyed blunderbuss to supplement my long-range firepower.
Originally, you could buy more blunderbuss in the conduct officer's warehouse in Loess Fort, but I took a look at the quality of those things, and they seemed to be a little too bad.
Maybe the Tatars didn't knock it down when they opened fire, but they blew up the barrel first and knocked it down themselves, so they didn't buy it back.
It's a pity that the system gives too little time, otherwise I asked a few blacksmiths who are considered to be the craftsmen of Huangtu Fort, and they said that making a gun without exploding the barrel is actually simple, and there are no technical problems.
It's just that if you are willing to use iron materials and the workmanship is solid, one person can make a handful of them carefully every month.
Don't think about cannons. The Loess Fort is just a small place under Datong Town, and it is a military guard station. The soldiers are not serious border troops. The entire Loess Fort has only 6 small French cannons in total.
As long as the money is in place, it's not impossible to get it, but the key problem is that we don't have enough money.
However, I saw more than ten thousand enemies in the warehouse, a few rockets nicknamed "Swarm of Bees", and these old-fashioned gunpowder weapons. They looked cheap and I bought them all.
It's a pity that the warehouse manager said that these were produced in Wanli in the past 20 years or so.
Before and after, it has been stored in the warehouse for thirty years. I really don't know if it can be used now and how effective it is.
In addition, I bought two small barrels of gunpowder, two barrels of kerosene, three large bags of lime powder, and a cart full of large and small jars.
Let’s stop talking about it and see what can be produced by using these things.”
After listening to the above statement, Hu Biao said:
"There's nothing to think about anymore. I think everyone's suggestions in the last summary meeting were very good. Just DIY those things that were discussed one by one.
To put it bluntly! All equipment and city defense methods are only auxiliary. In the end, someone still has to dare to use them, and they have to rely on their lives to hold on here."
Under Hu Biao's statement, everyone nodded.
At this moment, as if he remembered something, Xu Feng said: "Old Hu, you must survive this mission.
When I was in Loess Fort, Lao Yang gave me 50 taels of silver to buy antiques.
After visiting two pawn shops, I bought some porcelain, although they were all from private kilns, but they should be quite valuable when I get back; there were also some jades, which were all small items, but they were all in pretty good condition.
Anyway, as long as everyone can go back alive, it can be said that everything will turn around; any club, whatever, it's just a matter of course."
Under such a statement, not only Hu Biao suddenly became energetic and his heart was filled with courage.
Every one of the other netizens present was full of desire to fight.
Xu Feng asked again: "Such a good news, do you want to tell the other rookies? Let them cheer up."
"Forget it, let's finish the second phase of the mission." After thinking for a while, Hu Biao said...
****
After Lao Yang and others spent all their money, they returned with a large amount of materials and craftsmen.
The large-scale construction and production here in Suifengdun have entered the highest speed.
From the afternoon of that day, which was the last three and a half days before the second stage of this mission, a group of netizens made some final preparations.
With their investment that almost pawned off their pants, all preparations went very smoothly.
Every day, Suifengdun's appearance changes obviously, and Xie Gui might not be able to recognize him now that his front armor has grown back.
Various DIY city defense equipment were also produced in batches.
Then, under the theoretical guidance of netizens and the actual operation of the craftsmen, they were arranged one by one at the relevant positions; with each piece installed, the defense of Suifeng Dun will be stronger.
Even with their busy schedules, the training of the rookies did not fall behind.
Among their training subjects, there was even an afternoon of equestrian training, so that the rookies could basically avoid being thrown off when riding on horseback.
This was the plan of Hu Biao and other veterans. Once the holding time was up, if the Tatars had not retreated yet, then everyone would break out on war horses.
Finally, it was around 4 p.m. on the penultimate day.
Amid the cheers of Old Man Jiang and others, a two-mile-long temporary small ditch was finally dug.
Suddenly, a clear river flowed slowly along the channel towards the trench surrounding Suifeng Dun.
Although the water flow is not large or fast, it can still fill the trench in a whole night.
And because Old Man Jiang and others, with wages that were not deducted at all, and unexpectedly good food supplies.
These common people showed a passion for work that astonished Hu Biao and others.
Originally, Hu Biao and others set the morning hours, which meant starting work at 7 a.m., having a meal and resting for half an hour at noon, and finishing work at 7 p.m. in the evening.
Such an 11-hour working day is actually quite unscrupulous in the modern world.
After all, this is heavy physical labor, and if modern people like them were to participate in it, they would not be able to withstand it for eight hours.
But when the sky was bright, these people had already brought their own tools to Suifeng Dun and urged Hu Biao and others to start work.
I put down my chopsticks around noon and started working.
Why take a break? Don't do strenuous activities just after eating. How can there be so many nonsense?
Even at night, after the sky has completely darkened, you have to work in the dark for a while; that enthusiasm for work can make Teacher Ma in the modern world be moved to tears.
It is also thanks to their efforts that now there is only this moat-like trench.
It is four meters deep and three meters wide, which is much more than what Hu Biao and others had expected; and the bottom is densely packed with sharp wooden sticks, so no one can climb out after falling.
The number of various traps is staggering.
In short, the work results of those craftsmen far exceeded the expected requirements of Hu Biao and others.
After the water diversion canal is unblocked, Hu Biao and his team's reinforcement project is now completely completed, and everything will be ready for the Tatars to come tomorrow.
