PS: Sorry for being late, the second chapter is around 12 o'clock, ask for a recommendation ticket.

Peach Hill is no longer what it was five years ago, the dense pine forests of the past have been cut down, and the crimson iron ore has been exposed to the surface, and then these shallow mines have been dug into a thousand holes, and the iron mining tunnels are like black worm eyes all over the mountains.

In the ironworks halfway up the mountainside, you can always see craftsmen and slaves busy washing ore back and forth like hurried worker ants, and blast furnaces stand here, while smelting iron, a large amount of smoke rises every day, so that the whole mountainside is covered with clouds.

On this day in March, a huge smoke rose from the top of Taoqiu Mountain, far better than ever, and could be seen clearly even from ten miles away.

However, it was not a normal smelting, but a fire.

If you look down on Peach Hill at this moment, you will be surprised to find that the mining area has become empty, the roads have been blocked, the workshops have been burned, and even the blast furnaces that have been so precious to the blacksmiths have been overturned and destroyed one by one!

"These are all things that we have worked so hard to build, and just like that, just give up?" Watching Kan Zhi, a senior official from Qufu, command the craftsmen to light fires everywhere in the Taoqiu Iron Workshop, Cao Bing's expression was a little distorted, and he dared to be angry but did not dare to speak.

Kan Zhi glanced at the iron official with a tangled face, and said lightly: "Speed up, the Qi army is coming!" ”

"Can't you stop Qi people? Just like General Zhao did a few years ago, just like last autumn and winter Ran Zi had Sima do. Cao Bing complained. He was the iron official who managed this place, and it was the place where he and countless ironworkers had fed and clothed, and they had put a lot of effort into it, but now it was to be destroyed by the hands of the people who built it, and it was too cruel for them.

"This time it's the main force of the Qi army. Where the Nine Great Banners of Qihou Long are located, there are more than 10,000 people, how can they be stopped? ”

How happy is Kan Zhi's heart? In the past few years, under the rule of Zhao Wuxian, the Lu people, who had been humiliated in the past, were finally able to raise their heads proudly in Qi Guo and say I am not afraid of you. But now we have to retreat step by step.

Last year, the sporadic intrusion of the Qi State made the Lu State miserable, but under Zhang Mengtan's plan, and under the resistance of the two generals of Ran Qiu and the Tiger Society, the Qi people did not get too much bargain and returned home.

But this is just a small wave before the tsunami, the spring offensive of the Qi army is menacing, and the Marquis of Qi has mobilized soldiers and horses from all over the country, with a full 50,000 troops! 10,000 pressed the formation in Pinglu, and 10,000 attacked Donglu from Muling Pass. 10,000 soldiers are coming to the valley, and there are 20,000 people who are just killing Xilu!

Zhao Wuxian had instructions, the peach hill with a daily output of nearly 1,000 catties of iron was too important to the Zhao family, and Xilu's precautions should be taken care of here.

For this reason, Ran Qiu, who was guarding Xilu, was under tremendous pressure, and Zhao Wuxian withdrew nearly half of the soldiers of the Lu State to go to the Jin State to fight the civil war, and there were not many people left in the Lu State. Ran Qiu relied on a mere five or six thousand men, as well as a few cavalry. It took the Qi army a whole month to spend on the border. But after all, there were few soldiers and outnumbered, and with the fall of Qinyi. Yiyi is also in danger, and Taoqiu will be alone at any time.

In order to defend Taoqiu, the Lu army has paid the lives of hundreds of soldiers, but now it is really impossible to hold it. So half a month ago, Zhang Mengtan issued an order to relocate and evacuate the Taoqiu Iron Workshop.

Before leaving Lu, Zhao Wuxian also felt that Taoqiu was too close to the border, and he had already asked people to start building workshops in several other iron mining areas in Lu country. However, it is still dominated by the earliest developed peach hills. The personnel and necessary tools, arsenal and weapons of a huge iron workshop could not be moved in a day or two, and it was not until today that the last group was ready to leave, and before leaving, they received instructions. This place is to be destroyed.

"Taoqiu's blast furnace, mine, and smelting technology are crucial, since they can't be taken away, this place would rather be destroyed than left to the people of Qi!"

Cao Bing was a little reluctant, but he was helpless, but the real iron smelting master Mo Xie did not have much reluctance to do so, from Yue to Wu, and then from Wu to Chu, and finally orphans and widows entered Lu, their family because of their skills provoked too many countries to covet, and they have long been accustomed to these upheavals.

She carefully wiped and put away a few iron swords that had just been forged a few days ago, and burned all the drawings that had been memorized in her mind, and glanced at Cao Bing, who was squatting on the ground and watching the blast furnace burn down, with a gloomy face, and said in a broken Lu Mandarin: "The mine is dead, but the man is alive." There are not many red mines in Lu Country, as long as there are enough craftsmen, they can be rebuilt anywhere, not to mention that we will come back! ”

"Yes, we'll be back!"

Kan Zhi dealt with the matter after the improvement, and came over to urge everyone to evacuate, just when he heard these words, because of Mo Xie's skills, Zhao Wuxian made them have to treat her with courtesy, even though she did not have any official position, but she was regarded by everyone as everyone's reverence.

"In the past two years, this Taoqiu has forged many iron soldiers, with 3,000 ring-headed knives, 1,000 iron swords, more than 10,000 heads, spear tips, and iron halberds, and nearly 100,000 iron arrows! In the hands of the general, it is enough to defeat the Qi army! ”

Cao Bing's eyes were a little more expressive, "I only hope that the general will return as soon as possible!" ”

Half an hour later, against the backdrop of thick smoke on the peach hill, the last of the ironworks were evacuated and headed for Suju to the east. Next, they will scatter to small iron mines all over the country to set up workshops to produce a steady stream of iron to continue to supply the Zhao clan with the minions of the war.

Just three days after the Taoqiu Iron Workshop was abandoned, the Qi army occupied Yiyi, and then attacked Taoqiu, only to see this person go to the mountain, leaving only a charred wreckage......

……

"Has Taoqiu been destroyed by the Lu people? It's a shame that it's a step late. ”

Hearing that his countrymen came to report, the commander of the Qi Division, Guo Xia, flicked the novel and indestructible "ring head knife" in his hand, and sighed regretfully.

This knife was captured at great cost after annihilating a small group of Zhao cavalry, and according to the surrendered doctor of Lu Guo, this is the standard weapon of the Zhao cavalry, produced in Taoqiu, where there is a huge iron workshop, and other iron weapons are also produced.

Guo Xia tried this weapon, and he could easily cut through the leather armor, he only felt that it was a perfect match with the Zhao clan's light horse, and it was made of iron, and he was shocked and envious in his heart.

The Qi State originally did not ride, only a chariot, and after being defeated by the Zhao clan with cavalry in the year before last, it also began to buy good horses from Beiyan in an attempt to form a cavalry. But the effect is not satisfactory, those so-called "cavalry" are not even skilled in bow horses, and going to fight against the terrible Zhao cavalry is purely to give them war merits, so they can only act as Qi Hou's hunting team, and they can only be messengers and scouts in the war.

In response to the fiasco of the Qi army last time, Guo Xia spent a lot of time to reflect, and he now feels that the Zhao clan not only has an advantage in troops and tactics, but also begins to lead the Qi country a lot in weapons!

For example, these iron weapons made him red-eyed, and the Qi country did not have much copper and tin, but there were many iron mountains, and they could also cast iron tools simply, but they had not been able to break through the bottleneck in iron and production and weapon forging. If you can get the iron-smelting tools, craftsmen, and technology of Taoqiu, it will probably be of much greater significance than capturing a few cities in this war.

It's a pity that the people of Lu Guoren sensed this danger and took the first step.

"I'm afraid I can't catch up, I can only wait for the Zhao forces to be expelled from the Lu country, and then look for them from the people, so that the Qi army can also use these good weapons!"

He put the matter aside and looked at the map to determine the next strategy for the Qi army.

"Qinyi and Yiyi have been captured, and the next thing is to hit the defense line of the Lu people, according to the surrendered Lu Dafu, the Xilu guards and Song reinforcements are mainly deployed in Zhen, Xiaqiu, Yuncheng, Zhongdu, and Yun......"

This is a narrow strip of land from west to east, and it is also a thoroughfare, and it is also the lifeline connecting Zhao Wuxian and Lu Guo!

Guoxia listened to the six or seven villagers under his command of 2,000 people to introduce the situation of the war, and the cold of the defeat in the snow field a few years ago made them shiver from the bones. This time, the Qi people learned a lesson, no longer rushed, but used their own military advantages to fight steadily, Qi Hou also seemed to realize that he was not a commander, so he coordinated the overall situation in Pinglu and let Guogao serve as the former enemy general.

So next, he plans to continue this style of play, don't rush to go deep into the Lu country first, but follow the Pushui, take Fan and Gao Yu everywhere, and march to the center of Xilu, which is also the nominal station of Zhao Wuxian's shogunate, Yuncheng, cut off the connection between here and Qufu, and also block the passage for Zhao Wuxian to move eastward. Then, you can let all the Qi armies enter Lu together, and each one is broken!

Just when Guoxia was about to issue a military order, an envoy from the Marquis of Qi came into the account.

"Marshal, the Zhao army has invaded the country of Wei and will besiege the emperor's hill, the marquis of Wei is in a hurry, and the king urgently ordered his ministers to ask the marshal, do you want to temporarily put down the state of Lu and go west to help the guard?"

(To be continued.) )