Hangu Pass, Lu Chao stroked the cold body of the artillery, looked at the swarthy muzzle, and then looked down at the round shells in the box next to the artillery, his face was very heavy, and behind him, there were several Qin army officers who had seen this artillery in Tianjiaping, all of which Xu Yahua sent from Lubin.

Because of the invention and application of cement, the road from Lubin to Hanguguan has now been built with cement, and the distance between the two places has been shortened from about ten days to three days, which has great advantages in military terms, and of course, this benefit also applies to the enemy. After Xu Yahua sent his subordinate Qian Zhongyi to defeat the 3rd Division of the 20th Army of the Han Army, he unexpectedly grabbed about ten pieces of artillery. After grabbing these powerful weapons, Xu Yahua immediately sent two to Hangu Pass as if he had found a treasure.

"Is this thing called artillery?" Lu Chao asked.

"Yes, General, the Han army called it artillery." An officer replied respectfully.

"Tell me about the specifics."

"The last general was stationed in Xiyangping at that time, far away, about a distance of more than a mile, and I could vaguely see the fire flashing from the muzzle of this artillery, making a huge explosion sound, and bursts of smoke rising, and then this iron ball erupted from the muzzle, and in the air like a fireball rushed towards our city wall, and with a boom, our city wall collapsed for a while." The officer described it vividly, and Lu Chaowei closed his eyes slightly, sketching the scene in his mind.

After a while, Lu Chao opened his eyes, "Find someone to give it a try, I want to take a look." ”

"No, General!" The officer exclaimed: "In Lubin, General Xu also wants to give it a try. As a result, the artillery exploded, and more than a dozen soldiers around it were either killed or wounded, and finally we brought the captured Han prisoners for questioning, only to know that these artillery pieces were operated by specially trained people, and ordinary people would not use them. ”

Well? Lu Chao was slightly stunned: "Then we didn't catch the people who operated these artillery?" ”

"At the time, we didn't know that these guns had to be operated by specially trained people. I didn't pay attention to this matter, the battlefield was chaotic at that time, the main force of the opponent's third division was retreating, and the place of our attack was not far from Tianjiaping, so we grabbed these things, and immediately retreated, and finally figured out this matter, and also asked the prisoners who captured it, but no one would operate these artillery. The officer said.

Lu Chao patted the cannon body with some regret. If you grab something, you won't use it, this thing is just an ornament!

"Han people!" He shook his head, they can always do something unbelievable, cement makes everyone's travel extremely easy, even in military terms, after wrapping the outside of the city with a layer of cement, the defense is greatly increased. What Lu Chao couldn't understand was that the Han Kingdom was obviously a militaristic weapon for these things. The Han people didn't seem to hide him, like the formula of cement, they easily sold its production formula to the Chu State, and they also got this production technology from the Chu State, and I heard that the Chu people got the patent for this technology from the Han State for millions of taels of silver. But from the Chu State, he only spent 5,000 taels of silver in the end.

Lu Chao laughed, and for five thousand taels of silver, he bought off an official of the Chu State, and then easily came back with the cement formula. However, the cost of cement production in the area under their own control is now somewhat high. It is about 10% more expensive than the one smuggled by Guo Yang, but Lu Chao believes that over time, the cost on his side will definitely be reduced.

There are also houses and bridges made of reinforced concrete, it is difficult to get specific technology from the Han Kingdom, but when it comes to the people of the Chu Kingdom, it is very different.

However, this artillery, I have never heard of it before, it seems that the Han people regard him as a treasure, and they get these statues by themselves, but they can't become any climate, and pat the heavy cannon body: "This guy is at least a few thousand heavy!" ”

"Yes, this iron guy is too heavy, it took us a lot of effort to get them back at that time, but fortunately it was the cavalry and Ma Duo who attacked them at that time, otherwise we really couldn't get it back." The officer said.

"The advantages are obvious, but there are also many disadvantages, this thing is too heavy, the march is extremely difficult, there is no need to worry about him for the time being." Lu Chao Road. "Bring one to the craftsman division, and let our master craftsmen study it carefully."

Putting aside these things, Lu Chao returned to his study, as a general of the unified army, he was naturally extremely eager for a powerful new weapon, but he was not superstitious about him, he always firmly believed that the essence of war is still people, the emergence of a new weapon is not enough to change the general trend of war, not to mention that this weapon still has great flaws, just at that moment, Lu Chao thought of no less than ten ways to deal with this kind of cannon, if they meet again on the battlefield. He believed that if Xu Yahua encountered this thing in Lubin, with Xu Yahua's experience and the resources that Lu Bin had now, he would also be able to think of this.

It's just that the performance of the Han army is too strange! The Tianjiaping fortress has been lost, and although the 3rd Division of the Han Army that marched to Lubin was defeated, it was completely a drop in the bucket for the Han army with more than 100,000 troops stationed in Jinyang, and the 20th Army was not their core combat force. But why did they lose a battle and then hold back?

It's already the fourth day, and the intelligence that comes shows that the Han army is still staying in Tianjiaping and has not moved, what does Gao Yuan want to do? Could it be that when he came to Jinyang, he really made a special trip to inspect it? Definitely not, he must have a conspiracy. He has already sent 10,000 reinforcements to Lubin, and Lubin must hold on.

Staring at the map, Lu Chao's eyes slowly moved, Xianyang's side was about to launch, but the messenger sent to Wang Jian's side had no news, and now he needed Wang Jian to fulfill his promise and send troops to contain the Han State, so that he could do his own big things in his spare time.

No matter how the Han side moves, the actions on his side are already irreversible, and the worst case is to hold on to Hangu Pass while continuing to launch in Xianyang. The best result is to hold both Hangu Pass and Xianyang, of course, it is also possible that although Xianyang is taken, it is possible to lose Hangu Pass, at that time, even if he succeeds in controlling the Qin State, he will immediately face the Han people's flood of attacks.

But at that time, his position is different, and he has more resources at his disposal, and he doesn't necessarily lose a mess, not to mention, there is still the power of Chu State to borrow, and it's great to cut a little meat for them when the time comes.

Lu Chao, who has already decided, no longer pays attention to the actions of the Han people, the soldiers are coming, the water is flooding, and he will not fail so easily.

The good news came quickly, but it was not from Lubin, there was still no movement in the direction of Lubin, it seemed that this action of the Han army was not to take out the fortresses in Tianjiaping and other places, but Xu Yahua seized this rare time to strengthen Lubin again. The news that came back from him was that his faith was stronger day by day.

The good news is that Shannan County, has been camped outside Shannan County, threatening Shannan County, the Han Army Hun Cavalry Division under the leadership of the grimace general Gu Li, suddenly pulled out the camp and left, and then the spies found out that the Han Army Donghu Cavalry Division, which had stayed in Dai County, also pulled out the camp and left, and the direction of the two cavalry points to a target, Dayan County.

Wang Jian should have moved. Lu Chao, who received these two pieces of news, breathed a long sigh of relief, the strength in Wang Jian's hands cannot be underestimated, it seems that his promise to tear the earth and seal the king still moved this guy, returning to his homeland, it must also have a lot of attraction to him, his move, can the Han army in Jinyang still be able to contain themselves here? At least some of them have to be mobilized to deal with Wang Jian in Dayan County, and the pressure on them here will be greatly reduced.

In the next ten days, all kinds of news continued to gather from the spies to Lu Chao's desk, first in Jishi County spies found that a large number of munitions were continuously shipped out, the destination was the Han State's Mengchi, that is, the third military region commanded by He Lanxiong, which should be the front line of the Han army's defense against Wang Jian, but their soldiers were not many, their combat power was limited, and finally they had to transfer troops from the mainland, looking at the number of ordnance transported by the Han people to Mengchi, it was obvious that the scale of Wang Jian's attack was not small, judging from the scale of these transport teams, Lu Chao speculated that he could equip an army of 30,000 to 50,000.

Immediately afterwards, the Han army, which had been silent in Jinyang County, finally reacted, and the two integrated armies were drawn, and the Fifth Army of Ding Wei and the Sixth Army of Yan Haibo, which had strong combat effectiveness, left Jinyang and marched towards Dai County.

Lu Chao, who got the news, breathed a long sigh of relief, these two armies are definitely the main forces among the main forces in the Han army stationed in Jinyang, Ding Wei and Yan Haibo are even more lofty henchmen and generals, and their departure represents the momentum of Wang Jian's side, which is much better than he imagined.

Closing the thick dossier in front of him, Lu Chao's mood was extremely comfortable, okay, Xianyang can start to launch, and the next month will be the most important moment in his life. Lu Chao never thought that he would fail, from the son of a soldier in Fufeng, step by step to the highest position in the Qin State, this achievement is enough to make him proud forever, of course, Gao Yuan's achievements are greater than himself, but he still has a lot of time to compete with him.

He is going to drink a few cups after he goes back today, and Lu Chao is extremely strict with himself, because of the shortage of food, it is not allowed to make wine in Hangu Pass, in order to boost morale, Lu Chao himself is also an example, rarely drinking, although in the general's mansion, there will never be a shortage of these things.

"General, general, the Han army has sent a messenger." Gou Yi stepped in, and the only one who can freely enter and exit Lu Chao's study is Gou Yi.

"Emissary? Did they finally send someone? Who is coming? The corners of Lu Chao's mouth hooked up a smile.

"General, it is Guo Yang who leads the way, and the protagonist who comes is Cao Tianci!" Gou Yi Dao. (To be continued.) )