In these days, spies of Wanjiapingshan bandits appeared one after another on the road leading to Liuliba, but they were all driven by the guards and fled far away. The so-called ten-day limit of the mountain bandits had long since passed, but there was no movement unusually. When things go wrong, there must be demons, and the mountain road has not seen the mountain bandits' brigade for a long time, which makes the anxious Cao Ergou and others really can't hold their breath and scold loudly. The militia also went from waiting for the bandits to attack, to becoming uneasy. Ouyang Xuan was calm, the mountain bandits could develop calmly without coming to Liuliba, and if the mountain bandits came to attack, he was confident that he could give them a head-on blow. As for Xiong Ben's conspiracy and tricks in secret, he is not afraid, because Liuliba has already built an iron cannon and prepared enough grenades to Jinghou Mountain Bandits. Of course, if the Wanjiapingshan bandits do not come, and wait for Liuliba to develop for a period of time, then more industrial and mining products will be produced, militia training will be more sufficient, and the power of new firearms will be greater, and Liuliba will naturally fight back.

Ouyang Xuan's confidence came from the successful trial production of artillery, although due to the limitation of steel production, only one cannon could be used now. During the trial production, two were cast, one of the larger guns was tested due to too much charge, and the barrel cracked after trying a few shots, but fortunately, the barrel was reinforced with a few iron hoops and did not burst, but it was unusable and had to be recast. Since the barrel needs to go through many processes of polishing in the chamber after casting, it cannot be expected to be used for a while.

This cast gun is more than 2 meters long, with a caliber of nearly 100 millimeters, and consumes more than 1,000 pounds of steel. To say that this weight is really not suitable for field warfare, it can only be used fixedly. Ouyang Xuan asked someone to install it on the wall. This cannon has a light star in front of the star and a light door in the back, can be charged two catties, and the firing range can reach two miles in the case of three catties of iron bullets. However, due to the curved mountain road, there was no need for too long a range, so Ouyang Xuan reduced the charge by half a catty according to the situation of the test gun, and increased the weight of the iron bullet to five catties. Its practical lead bullet is the best for cannonballs, but because there is no lead ore in Liulizhai, scrap steel from the steelmaking process is used. The projectiles made of these wastes are as large as pigeon's eggs and as small as soybeans. As for the power, Ouyang Xuan was not worried, and during the test of the gun, according to the aforementioned amount of shotgun and charge, he had broken the waist of a tree the size of the bowl a mile away. This kind of shotgun is not capable of dealing with fortifications, but against soft targets such as the human body, it is bound to be flesh and blood everywhere it goes, even soldiers with shields and armor are not immune. In order to facilitate loading and prevent the projectile from slipping from the muzzle, Ouyang Xuan also ordered people to wrap the gunpowder particles and projectiles in oiled paper respectively, and slightly smaller than the caliber of the gun breech, so as to increase the loading speed.

After waiting for a few more days, the mountain bandits of Wanjiaping slowly appeared on the mountain road leading to Liuliba. This time the battle of the mountain bandits was very large, and in addition to the bandits in front, they were also followed by a large brigade to transport heavy people. The mountain road leading to Liuliba, because the terrain is slightly gentle, is wider than the rest of the mountain road, but the widest part is only more than three meters, so a large group of mountain bandits travel along the winding mountain road, but there is more than a mile long. According to the report of the scouts, it is estimated that there are more than 300 soldiers in the attacking mountain bandits, and the number of people is not less than this number. The scouts also reported that at the back of the bandits' queue, in addition to the baggage such as water and arrows, there were also a large number of long ladders, huge shields, and even a few small catapults and crossbows. It turned out that this was the reason why the mountain bandits had not attacked for a long time, they were building siege equipment, preparing to take Liulizhai in one fell swoop.

In the face of the large-scale attack of the mountain bandits, Liuliba did not interrupt production activities. According to Ouyang Xuan's arrangement, except for the 50 officers and soldiers of the grain collection team, which is now changed to the collection team, plus 200 newly trained militiamen, the rest of the people are the cultivation of the farmland, the mining of the mine, and the production of the production. The preparations for the war have long been prepared, the materials for the war have long been prepared, and the newly repaired glazed wall is only more than 300 feet, and no matter how many people come, they can't stand. Because Ouyang Xuan did not know how to rank, and Yu Zhu's body had not recovered, Huang Dagen was in charge of commanding the battle, and he divided the 250 people into three teams, ready to take turns to stand on the wall to fight against the mountain bandits. Of course, Ouyang Xuan and Lu Dezhi also arrived at the battle site, and they accompanied Yu Zhu, who was lying on a chair, to take a shade under a big tree more than 200 meters away behind the wall, and closely observed the battle situation.

There is only 20 miles of mountain road from Wanjiaping to Liuliba, but the mountain bandits in Wanjiaping walked for half a day. When the mountain bandits arrived half a mile in front of the Liuli South Wall, it was almost noon. This is not a long march, and the scorching May sun has made the march of the mountain bandits already crooked. While sorting out the queue, the mountain bandits sent people to the Liuliba Zhaimen with flags. These bandits came to the gate of the village with flags and said that they wanted to meet the leader of the village. Because they didn't have weapons with them, Huang Dagen ordered to tie the basket with a rope, hang the mountain bandits led into the village, and escort them to Ouyang Xuan and others. At the moment of this war, Huang Dagen, who is calm by nature, does not open the gate of the village, and he has to be careful of the mountain bandits playing conspiracy and tricks.

It is said that the mountain bandit messenger who entered the village is also a clever and bold person. After seeing Ouyang Xuan and the others, he pointed to the word "bear" on the banner he was holding and said: "I am ordered by Lord Xiong, the envoy of Wanjiazhai Town, to show a way for the people of Liuliba." If you repent in time, punish the rebellious people yourself, and comfort the army with all the property of Liuliba, Lord Xiong may be able to save you from dying, if not, you will ......."

"What if not?" When the mountain bandit envoy was talking endlessly, Rude's face was flushed with anger, and he couldn't help but say.

"If you don't break the village, you will definitely be killed, and the chickens and dogs will not be left ......"

"Hmph, am I afraid of you and other bandits? Hmph, the fugitive bullshit bandit leader also dares to appoint himself as a pacifier? He's good enough to come to the door! You go back and tell Xiong Ben that if you want to fight, you will fight! He came here to save me from going to Wanjiaping to find him. I will exterminate you and other bandits today, and return the mountains to the good world. Ouyang Xuan interrupted him, and the mountain bandit envoy was obviously frightened by Ouyang Xuan's momentum, and his voice was lowered.

"Lord Xiong is angry at the crown, and he will definitely drive the army to crush Liuli Village into .......powder with the momentum of thunder," the mountain bandit envoy was still stiff-mouthed.

"Don't get out of here, or the sword will serve you!" Yu Zhu, who was lying on the chair, yelled.

When the messenger of the mountain bandit saw that he had provoked the anger of the people, he kept silent and said no more. He was also afraid that everyone would kill him in a fit of rage, but these mountain people did not talk about anything like "the two countries are at war, and they will not be killed". He naturally understands the truth that "those who know affairs are handsome". Of course, the wretched anger received here must be repaid to Lord Xiong, so that the angry Xiong Ben will be angry for himself. He is fully confident in his ability to express himself, believing that exaggerated descriptions can distort Bear's nose.