Two months later, Xu Shu brought back a message saying that Sun Ce had agreed to Xun Gang's request, but in exchange, Xun Gang's waterway had to be opened to ensure smooth traffic between Jiangdong and Jingnan.

Originally, Xiakou was in the hands of Xun Gang, and the only way for Sun Ce to communicate with Jiangdong was the land route from Jiaozhou and the mountain road from Jingnan to Jiangdong. But these roads are extremely unsmooth, and there are often bandits making trouble, and Xu Shu didn't think much about it.

But it wasn't until he returned to Jiangling and reported the matter to Xun Gang that everyone realized that something was wrong; Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were quite cunning, how could they expose the waterway to themselves so easily? In Xun Gang's words, Sun Ce wanted to wait for him to leave and take the opportunity to attack Jingzhou!

If Xun Gang leaves, the main general will not be there, and he will take 30,000 soldiers and horses, and the entire Jingzhou will only have 80,000 people, and the remaining 50,000 people will be transported to Xiangyang, Jiangling, Jiangxia and other counties in batches. Exposing the waterway to Sun Ce at this time is undoubtedly luring the wolf into the house!

But compared with the anxious Xu Shu, Ma Liang and others, Ma Chao, Gao Shun and others on the side are eager to try; Isn't he Sun Ce coming? It's been a long time since I've done it, and it's time for that guy to break his bones! The siege of Gangneung defeated you last time, and this time it will still be able to beat you to the ground!

Moreover, Xun Gang has made up his mind to go to Handan, so he must leave the guards of each city. Not only did he have to resist Sun Ce's attack, but Liu Bei was also very likely to join the battle.

Liu Bei released a statement about the Northern Expedition a year ago, but there has been no news so far, probably because he was worried about Cao Pi's troops; And Xun Gang's departure at this moment is tantamount to a blessing for Liu Bei. If Jingbei is taken, Liu Bei can also echo the east and west, and the chances of winning the Northern Expedition will greatly increase!

"Ganning left 5,000 soldiers and horses in Jiangling, which is a swampy place, and Xingba knows the terrain very well, I am very relieved; Jiangxia's current guard is Chen Dao, although he is calm, but he is not good at winning in danger, I sent Gao Shun and Xu Shu to go. ”

Gao Shun and Xu Shu responded to the order, and then Xun Gang said to Ma Chao: "Meng Qi guards Xiangyang, the terrain here is flat, and your cavalry can also give full play to its advantages; Remember that your enemy is not Sun Ce, but Liu Bei, who may launch a sneak attack at any time! ”

Ma Chao now has no way out but to take refuge in Xun Gang, but Xun Gang handed over Xiangyang to himself to express his trust, which made Ma Chao extremely moved; Compared with being suspicious and depressed all his life under Liu Bei, he can still shine here in Xun Gang.

"I only take Feng Xian and Lu Xun with me in this battle, and I can ...... with 3,000 sailors and 20,000 soldiers and horses that I secretly trained."

Before he finished speaking, Xu Shu suddenly wondered: "Lord, when did you train the soldiers and horses, why don't I know?" ”

Xun Gang smiled: "I didn't tell anyone about this, not even my wife and son; I mainly trained them to use my secret weapon, and the rest of the training was the same as that of ordinary soldiers. ”

"I don't know what the lord's secret weapon is, but I have never seen it so far, only General Lu has seen it, it is very heart-wrenching!"

"That's it, the lord is hiding his private interests like this, I can't wait for it, and I ask the lord to make it clear quickly!"

Xun Gang was held up to the sky for a while, and said with a smile: "You should also know this thing, but the power of this thing you use is very small; I secretly cast this thing, not only because this thing is magical, but more importantly, the wrought iron technology he needs needs to be developed step by step, which is very dangerous, maybe I will be blown up to the sky one day! ”

Hearing Xun Gang say this, Xu Shu immediately had eyebrows: "Could it be related to the 'gunpowder' made by the lord a few years ago?" ”

As a qualified traverser, and even more so a traverser before the Tang Dynasty, no one would give up gunpowder, which is a convenient but highly lethal thing; Xun Gang was reluctant to make this thing at first, mainly because he took into account that this thing was not long-sighted but extremely lethal, so he covered it up. It wasn't until a year ago that he heard that the Hu people had invaded the Central Plains, and Xun Gang decided to create it.

Long before the invention of gunpowder, the ancients used saltpeter as a raw material to promote fire, but the damage was naturally not as good as gunpowder. With the development of science and technology, human beings have created a variety of ultra-high-tech weapons against humans, and gunpowder is one of the oldest. Although Xun Gang is not the Holy Mother, he is not willing to use this kind of thing on the Chinese people.

Even if gunpowder was made, Xun Gang only asked him to set off fireworks or something in the Central Plains, and he didn't want people to think of war; Even if anyone thinks of it, the proportion of gunpowder made is known only to oneself.

But to deal with foreign enemies, Xun Gang will not be merciful.

"I'm going out this time to test the power of this thing, so let's wait for my triumph and then come and observe!"

After that, Xun Gang didn't stay long, and walked towards the outside of the city with his subordinates, ready to pack up and set off in three days. Although Xu Shu wanted to see the secret weapon, he was extremely curious, but he could only regret that Xun Gang didn't bring himself this time.

Xun Gang led Lu Bu, Zhang Liao, Tian Yu, Lu Xun and others to the north gate, which is the border of the Han River, not far from the territory of Cao Ren in the north; However, Cao Ren is good at guarding, as long as you don't go wild on his territory, Cao Ren will not think of coming to fight you.

What's more, he is a "justifiable" assistant minister of King Wei, and he still has to weigh himself when he beats himself.

Lu Xun looked at the vast river and wondered: "I don't know where the lord's secret weapon is?" In this vast river, only ships can come and go, where can they get weapons? ”

Xun Gang pursed his lips and muttered, "You young people are really anxious, aren't we about to go?" ”

Lu Xun smiled, and said in his heart that he was two years older than you......

As he spoke, he saw a small boat docked on the shore, the boatman with a strict appearance and a lean physique, obviously a soldier with long training; Everyone got on the boat and slowly walked towards the center of the river. There is a place in the river surrounded by a wooden fence, and there are many sentry posts around, but looking at Xun Gang, they saluted one after another.

"Egami, the lord's secret weapon?" Lu Xun couldn't wait to ask again.

"Bo Yan, why do you have so many questions today? You're like this, I'll let you go back to Xiangyang! ”

"Uh...... Subordinates know their mistakes! ”

Suddenly, seeing a light and a dark in the water, Lu Xun, who was familiar with the water, saw that there was something under the water at a glance, but before he could react, he saw a behemoth suddenly come out of the water, like a huge whale occupying the water, and the ships were all shocked, but they didn't dare to approach the sentry posts around them.

"This ...... What is it? Zhang Liao looked at the huge object that suddenly appeared in amazement, it looked like a house, but was it a boat floating in the water? But whether it's a house or a boat...... How can you get up and down in the water? Or even dive underwater?

Lu Xun also looked at the object like a monster, and was speechless for a while, only Lu Bu had already felt this shock, so he could be extremely indifferent.

Xun Gang made his own studio with full reference to the working principle of the submarine, and dived the submarine underwater when developing new things and even smelting on weekdays, and if there was a fire, it could also be extinguished with water in the water tank; The main thing is that although the submarine manufacturing process is troublesome, the materials are easy to find, and even if it is destroyed, new ones can be quickly created.

If you want to experiment with a new weapon and expose the submarine to the surface, it is like the weapon that Xun Gang wants to show today, it is a cannon for later generations, and it is naturally impossible to try the power in the water.

If it weren't for the fact that this submarine had no torpedoes and no missiles, where would Xun Gang need to negotiate with Sun Ce? Directly drive this submarine to dry the Hu people, is it difficult for someone to find themselves in the era when there is no radar?

Xun Gang didn't plan to explain the principle of this thing to them, after all, what relies on the water in the water tank to control the ups and downs is too profound, and it is simply boring to talk to these people who have no basic knowledge of physics, after all, after seeing what is inside, they will forget about this thing.

There are more than a dozen cannons in the submarine, all forged from wrought iron, which is extremely strong; During his years in Jingzhou, Xun Gang has improved iron smelting technology and now knows the amount of carbon required for different irons.

However, Xun Gang was afraid that these cannons would explode during actual combat, after all, he didn't have a substantive understanding of whether the cannons had passed the test.

"My lord, what is this?" Lu Xun looked at the cannon, and then looked at the cannonballs rolling on the ground, and couldn't help asking.

Xun Gang introduced them one by one: "This thing is a 'cannon', similar to a thunderbolt, but his cannonball will explode after hitting the target, causing greater casualties." ”

Xun Gang naturally doesn't know how to build cannonballs, that thing is very good at dealing with buildings, but when you hit people, it's like a thunderbolt, and you can cause very little damage when others disperse, so it's better to put gunpowder into the cannonball and add a fuse to make it a hollow cannon.

Lu Xun gently stroked the cannon like a baby, and the cold temperature made him feel extremely comfortable in his heart; Although Zhang Liao wanted to touch it, he was really embarrassed to think that he was a guest.

"Fengxian, tomorrow you will lead people to move these cannons to the building ship, just bring ten of them, ten of the building ship is just right."

Lu Bu nodded, but there was a trace of worry in his eyes: "Dead Star, I have also seen the power of this thing, but is it true that so much gunpowder will not explode in the cabin?" Should you put ammunition in the water? ”

"Put it in the water? I'm afraid you're kidding me! Gunpowder cannot be used when it is damp, and the storage environment must be dry! As long as you don't see an open flame in the cabin, it won't explode, and I've already taught my men, so you can rest assured! ”

Zhang Liao looked at these so-called secret weapons and said excitedly: "With these things, I can prosper in China!" ”