Chapter 500: Chapter 500: Broken Defenses
"Grandfather, the formula is now perfected. Jin’er is entrusting them to you. As long as you follow the procedures strictly, making these things won’t be dangerous."
Jin’er handed the list of ingredients she had prepared to her grandfather. After being busy for nearly a month, Jin’er felt her brain was almost overworked, even more than when she studied for college. Now she could finally step back proudly.
"Alright." Old Hua nodded after contemplating for just a moment. His dear granddaughter had put so much effort for them, as elders, they could not lag behind.
With gunpowder, whether it was Old Hua or Hua Chengtian, they suddenly felt more confident in protecting their families.
Then the two carefully picked up the gunpowder from the ground, putting it back into the wooden box, not leaving any in the wooden house, completely confiscating it, which was all stored by Hua Chengtian in his space.
Even though his daughter said normal handling and transportation wouldn’t be an issue, Hua Chengtian still felt that storing it in his space was safer.
Jin’er: "..."
Looking at the empty wooden house, she was glad she had stored a large portion of the finished products in her space early on, otherwise, she would have had to painstakingly make another batch, knowing she still needed to make a trip to the state capital.
With the problem solved, Jin’er relaxed for a few days, either cooking at home, helping with her nephews, or taking Hei Da and the others to the back of the village, bringing back some prey every day.
Old Hua and Hua Chengtian, however, were busy reinforcing the walls, building a watchtower, and organizing trusted people to erect a few brick houses in a secluded part of the village.
Why brick houses? Mainly considering the power of gunpowder, thinking that if there were any accidents, brick houses could minimize the danger, at least prevent easy collapse during an explosion.
Niter and charcoal were present in every household, no need to worry, but the sulfur in the gunpowder required Hua Chengtian to exert more effort.
Finally, Doctor Sun solved this issue.
As a doctor, whenever Sun had time, he would take his son and daughter to the mountains to gather herbs. They had practically explored the several mountain ranges behind the village in the past few months, knowing the medicinal herbs in the mountains like the back of their hands, and indeed found a mountain with sulfur.
Knowing Hua Chengtian needed large quantities of sulfur, Sun personally led him up the mountain.
Solving a major problem, Hua Chengtian thanked Doctor Sun profusely, giving him two hens from home, as well as some food and supplies, even selling some rare herbs from his space to Doctor Sun at low prices.
As for other materials, the village could fully prepare them, and Liu Kai’s paper workshop in the village provided the paper for firecrackers. Despite being small, it allowed Hua Village to achieve paper freedom.
The materials for thunderbolt blasters were no problem for the village smithy; Hua Chengtian even moved out quite a bit of iron ore from his daughter’s space and handed it to Uncle Wang Tie.
Once the materials were ready, Hua Chengtian personally took a few nephews and Xiao Si, spending all day in the back of the village. Aside from solving their food issues, just like Jin’er before, they would barely be seen throughout the day.
While her father was working hard, Jin’er, having rested for a few days, informed her grandfather, grandmother, and mother that she was heading out on a trip again.
Destination... Lingyun State City.
Originally, she wanted to bring her father along, not just to help drive but mainly to have someone to talk to, so the road wouldn’t be too boring.
But her father’s mind was entirely focused on gunpowder, so Jin’er decided not to disturb him.
Once outside, she realized the destruction the earthquake caused was immense. Many areas of ground that were once relatively flat had become uneven, changing many landscapes. Not only driving but walking required caution, with cracks and fissures all over the ground. She figured her hope for quickly driving away from Shanggu Town wasn’t feasible.
She had to resort to the simplest method, using her own two legs. Luckily, her legs were quite strong; running wasn’t much slower than driving, though without the endurance of a car. After a few hours, she had to rest and catch her breath.
But this was enough, and once she reached more level terrain, she could switch to riding a horse, which was similarly fast.
When she reached the outskirts of New Moon City, it took merely more than half a day. The speed was fairly quick.
The city wall couldn’t withstand nature’s destructive force; from a distance, many places had collapsed, and she could see black dots working hard to repair them.
Alas! Jin’er shook her head, not intending to enter the city. The county people were evidently striving for self-rescue; who knows how many didn’t survive this time.
After staying for a moment, Jin’er left along the official road. A stick of incense later, seeing the road condition was decent, Jin’er took out a car.
When Jin’er arrived outside Lingyun City, it was already several days later.
The journey was somewhat complex, having taken quite a few detours, but she finally arrived at her destination without going to the wrong place.
Upon arrival, it was already densely dark, midnight.
Though the city wall couldn’t be seen clearly in front, it was still possible to discern its intactness, with soldiers guarding the gate, which relieved Jin’er as the situation in the state city seemed better than she thought.
The main gate was tightly closed, but Jin’er wasn’t planning to enter through the west gate. A stick of incense later, she appeared at the heavily guarded north gate.
However, the patrolling soldiers weren’t comparable to the sparse ones at the west gate; they all had solemn expressions. Even with Jin’er’s spatial cheating and speed, approaching was a challenge.
Finding the commander’s tent wasn’t difficult for Jin’er. Unexpectedly, the people inside hadn’t rested but were deliberating the tactic against the Beicang Tartars.
Jin’er listened for a while and quietly placed her purpose in the tent, leaving without a trace.
There was no good plan heard, mostly defensive strategies.
Understandably so, given the state city’s limited defensive force, coupled with casualties from the earthquake, injuries, and sacrifices from prolonged warfare, they were understaffed.
And the Beicang Tartars, unable to capture it for a long time, became more frenzied. Holding on till now was already the result of soldiers fighting desperately.
Just during the day, they managed to narrowly repel a platoon of Tartars trying to pass through a fissure ten miles away, resulting in dozens of brotherly losses.
In short, combat was increasingly difficult, as the long, winding fissure before the gate not only intensified the Beicang army’s fury but changed their strategy, no longer only focusing on the gate but conducting harassment tactics, dividing into multiple teams and attacking different areas simultaneously. Just one or a few teams crossing the fissure could be their opportunity.
This brought tremendous pressure to the defending troops, who not only faced small groups of forces but also guarded against the main Beicang forces and dealt with intense tensions. Commanders barely dared close their eyes daily, taking turns even when they did as their current troop levels couldn’t endure the slightest accident.
Jin’er’s mood grew heavy alongside, especially seeing one after another wounded in the tent, seeing the soldiers’ determined faces even in sleep, seeing their resolute march towards death knowingly. Jin’er was overwhelmed.
They could still be at ease now because of these warriors risking their lives; some barely older than her.