Infrastructure Throne

Yuanliu City.It has been more than half a month since the City Lord's Mansion issued the mobilization order for the whole city.

Shen Qingze invested all the funds accumulated in the treasury in the past few months in the upgrade and renovation of the main city.

Important facilities such as city walls, warehouses, and medical halls are upgraded to the third level, the overall defense of the main city is increased by 20%, and the recovery rate of patients in the medical halls is increased by 10%.

Most of the doctors in the city were also urgently summoned to carry out professional ability improvement training, based on the primary medical books produced by the system, to popularize first aid and surgical treatment methods.

Shen Qingze gritted his teeth and chose the most expensive type of training fee. The effect was immediate. Every doctor who participated in the training directly increased the medical assistance attribute by 30%.

After upgrading the main city system and rebuilding and strengthening the city wall by the construction team, it is more than two meters higher than what Shen Qingze saw when he first crossed. The walls are all blue-gray bricks, rammed with cement and composite soil, and built piece by piece. It fits perfectly.

At intervals of 20 to [-] meters at the top of the city stands a dusty cement and blue brick bastion, with ear windows on the left and right sides. The newly developed giant Zhuge Liannu is erected at the entrance of the cave, and the brand-new steel arrowheads point coldly in the direction outside the city.

On the battlements, all kinds of bed crossbows and wooden trebuchets were densely erected, with five steps, one post and ten steps, one sentry post, and teams of patrol guards with bright armor patrolled back and forth.

At the east, west, north and south corners of the city, a huge "hot air balloon" is raised by a baby's thick hemp rope. Two people stand in a bamboo and rattan basket, one controls the flame, and the other uses a single balloon made of concave-convex glass. Use binoculars to view distant movements.

Ever since the glass factory was able to produce clear and transparent glass sheets, Shen Qingze ordered people to try to grind concave and convex lenses. With the tireless polishing of the craftsmen, the most primitive monocular was finally put into production.

※※※

The armament factory is located in the eastern outskirts of the city, between the alchemy laboratory and the smelter.

Due to the shortage of manpower, the craftsmen who stick to their posts are all red-eyed.

Hearing that the officiant came to inspect the armament factory in person, and prepared a sumptuous overtime meal for everyone, bursts of cheers erupted from the previously silent armament factory. The nerves that have been tense for more than half a month have ushered in a short period of time. Hu Chi.

Shen Qingze led Teng Changqing, Luo Xin and other officials into the firearms production workshop unhurriedly. This is the core area with the largest area of ​​the entire armament factory. It is heavily guarded, and strict registration and reporting are required for entry and exit.

Even when Shen Qingze came in person, he had to take the lead in writing down his name at the registration desk, and then the guards would let him go.

The goblin orc Lance and the manager of the armament factory lead the way, one on the left and the other on the right.

"Master Officiant. Take a look at this 'serial mine'. According to the idea you provided, the research and development team has developed several firearms, and they are all put into production, but they are limited to manpower and production is limited."

Lance handed over a black round iron ball. The palm-sized iron ball was cast from pig iron, with protruding iron spikes regularly distributed on it, shaped like an iron sea urchin.

The inside of the iron ball is hollow, filled with gunpowder, and the lead wire of the mine is connected to a steel wheel and flint. When used, it is buried under the soil layer, and a long wire is drawn outside.

When the enemy stepped on the long line, it drove the steel wheel to rotate, rubbed against the flint and ignited the fire, and immediately ignited the gunpowder.

In addition to the violent explosion, the iron fragments and iron cones burst by the iron ball are like bullets flying at high speed, which can easily penetrate the body and harvest a large amount of life.

Shen Qingze took a deep breath, took the landmine and looked at it carefully, the one in his hand was just an empty shell, without any gunpowder, it could be thought of to catch fire by friction, it would not be far from the foot-operated landmine during World War II.

It's a pity that so far everything can only rely on manual production, which cannot be standardized and mass-produced, and the output is still too low.

Several people came to the vast outdoor artillery testing area. Lance ordered people to push out several artillery pieces. They looked exactly like the mortars that Shen Qingze had painted on the sand. two wooden wheels.

The craftsman who operates the gun inserts the iron ball from the mouth of the gun with a large mouth, compacts the gunpowder, and ignites the fuse at the tail of the gun.

"Boom—bang!"

Several people covered their ears early, but they were still deafened by the huge shock.

The cannonball shot out, drew a long parabola in everyone's field of vision, and fell a mile away, bursting out with violent flames, smoke and dust rising all over the sky, and the whole earth trembled.

After a few people went to the target area, they saw that the boulder that was originally placed here had been blown to pieces, and there were no bones left, and a shallow pit with a width of three to five meters was sunk on the ground.

Gravel and pieces of iron were scattered all over the ground, black dust and smoke were everywhere, and the air was filled with the smell of burnt gunpowder smoke, which made people cough.

Everyone was dumbfounded by the terrifying destructive power of the artillery.

They have never seen such a weapon in the world, the range is farther than the bow and arrow, and the lethality is astonishing.

The most important thing is that the thundering sound and the whistling explosion sound are a kind of natural deterrence, and it is far more effective to put mental pressure on the enemy than to kill them.

Rubbing the sharp cone on the iron ball with his fingertips, Shen Qingze nodded slightly: "Very well, bury these mines in the east and west directions outside the city, the denser the better. As for the artillery, give priority to the northern city wall."

Teng Changqing was stunned: "Is it only buried in the east and west directions? The north is the direction for the beast slaves to attack."

Shen Qingze raised his eyes, stared at the dust and smoke floating in the air with his black eyes, and said lightly: "The orcs are not monsters, they have human wisdom, but when attacking a city, in order to disperse the city's defense force, they will attack from three sides."

"Our production of landmines is limited, and most of them are buried on the east and west sides. They are unwilling to lay mines with their bodies, so they can only be forced to attack from the north."

"We can also concentrate our defensive forces on the north side, allowing the limited artillery to form the most intensive firepower."

Teng Changqing wrapped his fists tightly with his palms: "So that's it, and there is a Chiyuan River running from east to west in the north. The river bank is narrow, and these beast slaves are crowded on the river bank in the north of the city. If there are too many beast slaves, I'm afraid there won't even be a place to set foot! Can roll into the river!"

Shen Qingze nodded approvingly: "For the attacking side, depth is extremely important. Since we are in a disadvantaged position, we must do everything possible to limit the enemy's advantage and bring the enemy into our predetermined battlefield."

"Letting the war go at our pace is the first step to victory."

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In the first month of the new year in the Dawn Calendar, the people of the entire North Land trembled through the turmoil.

More and more orcs left the Grand Canyon and went south, and began to appear frequently on the edge of human cities. Since they did not encounter any resistance from human armed forces, the orcs became more and more presumptuous, advancing their hunting range little by little.

The only birds, beasts and insects left in the forest were eaten up by the hungry orcs like locusts crossing the border. They aimed their greedy eyes at the human cities.

They know that there is a large amount of food stockpiled there, and there are weak and stupid two-legged beasts in the city, and they will kneel down and beg for mercy if they are frightened casually, so that they can be driven by them wantonly.

Looting back to the tribe, the men are used as slaves, the women are used as reproductive tools, the old are killed directly, and the young can be used as food reserves.

Hordes of orcish tribes began to harass the human cities, at first in small groups of night raids.

Relying on their tall and strong bodies and the special physiological structure of some tribes, they easily climbed up the low walls of some small towns and randomly searched for food in the houses.

As long as someone dares to resist, their fangs and claws can easily disembowel them, and even ride boldly on the battlements, listening to people's desperate cries and laughing wantonly.

Before the arrival of a large group of soldiers, they rushed away with food and human blood covered in madness.

The passive resistance of the human race greatly stimulated the ambition of the orc tribe.

Finally, at the end of the new moon, the first huge wave of beasts surrounded Beiji City——

As usual, the soldiers of Beiji City were patrolling the city wall nervously. At some point, a continuous black line appeared in their field of vision, like a black wave, rushing towards the city in an instant.

After a brief moment of distraction, the entire city wall resounded with screams of terror from the soldiers!

"The beast slave is calling!!"

The invading beast slaves consisted of multiple tribes, leopard beastmen, rhinoceros beastmen, frog beastmen, and even huge toothed elephant beastmen. The ground trembled under the galloping footsteps, and even the city walls seemed to be shaken down. .

The poor who were driven out by the nobles in the city all gathered under the city wall at this moment, beating the city gate frantically:

"Let us in! Please!"

"My God! Who will save us! We will be eaten!"

The desperate cries of the people shook the heavens and earth, and for a moment they even covered the sound of the orcs coming.

They climbed up the city wall like crazy, stepping on bricks, stepping on the people in front, no matter who they step on, it doesn't matter who they step on to death, as long as they climb a little higher, it seems that they can grasp the hope of survival .

At the moment of life and death, human beings are almost indistinguishable from beasts.

The shouts outside the city turned Beiji City into a mess.

The City Lord's Mansion immediately issued an order to close the city gates and guard the city. Scattered catapults threw stones outside the city one after another, but the damage was too small to stop the orcs from attacking at all.

Uncle Lu Sanshu and Young Master Lu Xin from Lu's firm, as well as several other aristocratic merchants in Chengli, gathered at the City Lord's Mansion in Beiji City at this moment.

Although the door of the meeting hall was closed tightly, the shouts of killing that soared into the sky outside still penetrated into people's ears from all directions.

Seeing the worried expressions of the nobles, the city lord ordered the servants to serve hot tea and snacks, and said with a nonchalant smile:

"Everyone, don't worry too much. This is not the first time you have fought against beast slaves. Although beast slaves are strong, they are not good at attacking cities. The priest has sent people to deliver ten carts of food to them. They will retreat in spite of difficulties. .”

Only then did the nobles heave a sigh of relief, and all praised the city lord for his wisdom. Only Young Master Lu Xin couldn't help frowning and asked:

"Since there is surplus food, why don't the people outside the city come in for refuge?"

Uncle Lu hurriedly tugged on his sleeve, the city lord lowered his head and took a sip of tea, and said slowly:

"Beast slaves can't break through the city gates, so they must vent their anger. Firstly, those troublesome people outside the city can feed them, and secondly, they can vent their anger. In this way, the risk of our Beiji City will be reduced?"

The city owner said earnestly and sincerely: "Sacrificing a handful of useless untouchables in exchange for the peace of the entire city is the determination and courage that a superior should have. You have to learn more from your third uncle, and don't be frizzy in the future."

Lu Xin pursed his lips, turned his head and remained silent, feeling very bored in his heart.

※※※

Yuanliu City.

The beast horde swept across the Northland. Not only was Beiji City attacked by the orcs on a large scale, but many cities along the Grand Canyon were more or less affected by the beast horde.

At this moment, the first wave of orc pioneers was less than twenty kilometers away from Yuanliu City.The information had already been delivered to the city lord's desk through hot air balloon scouts.

The square outside the city lord's mansion was waving banners and filled with densely packed guard soldiers.

The battle of life and death is imminent.

They were dressed in uniform winter uniforms, leather caps, armour, and long knives around their waists, like rows of javelins, standing upright in the howling cold wind, waiting for the inspection of the city lord.

Yan Zui was dressed in a black and gold military uniform, carrying a world-defining spear, riding on the back of the red fire, urging the horse past in front of them, the iron-gray spear tip shone with a cold metallic luster in the sun.

His eyes flicked over the resolute and silent faces, and finally stopped on Shen Qingze's face.

Shen Qingze rode the horse side by side with him, hesitated for a moment, and said: "I will go to the front line with you."

"No." Yan Zui directly refused without thinking, "You and I must have one person in charge of the city lord's mansion. You are in charge of civil affairs, and everything in the rear depends on you. You can't leave unless it is absolutely necessary."

Shen Qingze's black eyes were deep, she stared quietly at his eyes, her lips moved, and said in a low voice: "I'm here, waiting for your triumphant return."

He paused slightly, then lowered his voice suddenly: "Don't get hurt."

Yan Zui was startled, and smiled at him: "Of order, my Lord Priest."