Lord of the Desert

Chapter 547 Galloping on Horseback
As they spoke, the advance of the vanguard slowed.

The group rode forward and saw that the official road had been trampled by the beasts, and the snow had frozen over after melting, making it a desolate and difficult place to walk.

Feng Qing was about to allocate manpower for the operation.

Hong Fan called him back, then dismissed his troops. He first used his fiery tide to evaporate thousands of square meters of accumulated snow, and then slightly activated the sand world. Within a few breaths, the land within a few dozen meters surged and rolled, and was flattened and compacted in a few breaths.

[A reputation well-deserved!]

Yang Haorang's palms were sweating as he watched.

Due to its natural geographical and cultural independence, Zhenbeiwei has a much higher density of martial artists compared to other border regions.

As a captain, Yang Haorang had seen many innate martial artists, ranging from weak to strong, who could roughly match three to five celestial beings at the level of mutual understanding. However, the amount of true energy and output power that Hong Fan had just displayed undoubtedly exceeded this level.

The entire Red Sand Army seemed to take this for granted.

If the captain were a bit more imposing, he would undoubtedly be a formidable hero, his fighting prowess would be even greater.

Yang Haorang was taken aback.

“My young master is no ordinary man.”

Seeing him in a daze, Hongbo smiled proudly, revealing his inlaid gold teeth.

"In the military, one is referred to by their official position."

Hong Fan corrected him.

"Yes, Captain."

Hong Bo immediately became serious.

The queue moved forward again.

"The bridge our army crossed when crossing the Ling River spanned 400 meters and was made by cutting huge rocks and embedding them into the riverbed. I heard that it was built by the ancestors of the Kou family?"

Hong Fan gently pulled the reins aside to let the roadside pass, and asked.

"Exactly."

Yang Haorang spoke with respect.

"Linyuan Bridge was built more than a hundred years ago by Kou Xiao, the ancestor of the Kou family, who was known as 'Shattering Mountains and Collapsing Heaven.' Without this bridge, the Left Guard's seat would probably not be located in Linyuan City."

Several men rode their horses along the roadside, watching the procession slowly pass by.

"The Left Guard General's Office is located in Linyuan City, but all documents of the Red Sand Army, from organization to responsibilities, are issued from Xueman City of the Central Guard."

Hong Fan suddenly asked an unrelated question.

Are the three Grand Generals ranked equally among themselves?

"They are parallel in name, but a snake can't function without a head, so there is actually a sequence."

Yang Haorang made no secret of it.

"Nowadays, anyone in the Zhenbei Guard who refers to 'General' without any embellishment is referring to General Kou Fei of the Central Guard. He is a celestial being of the Three Realms, invincible below the Martial Saint, far surpassing the Generals of the Left and Right Guards, hence his absolute authority over the years."

Hong Fan nodded slowly.

Right Guard General Peng Guan is a celestial being of the first realm, ranked forty-first on the Earthly Ranking, and honored with the title "Broken Halberd Listening to the Tide"; Left Guard General Huo Zhanzhi Yuanci Wuguan is not even in the same league as the former two.

Judging from Yang Haorang's attitude, compared to Kuaiye Mountain South, the rule of the strong is a deeply rooted and politically correct concept in Zhenbeiwei that can be openly proclaimed.

As they chatted, the procession had passed the halfway mark. Yang Haorang and his four attendants stood by the roadside, their eyes fixed on the scene, growing increasingly alarmed with each passing moment.

In addition to the upper echelons of the Red Sand Army, they are also assessing the equipment of the entire army.

The armor coverage rate in Zhenbeiwei was not high, and cloth-covered iron armor was commonly used. The process was complicated, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Based on the local steel price of 250 wen per jin, the 20 jin of steel used for a set of standard full armor alone cost 5 guan, and the total cost was at least 7 taels of silver.

Yang Haorang was unaware of the price of firearms, but he suspected they were no less expensive than armored weapons.

However, the newly formed Red Sand Army had equipped all its soldiers with three-quarters plate armor and long and short firearms, making their equipment incredibly luxurious.

"The Red Sand Army has pretty good equipment."

Yang Haorang suppressed his emotions and tried to speak in a calm tone to avoid being looked down upon.

"It's passable. After all, it was hastily assembled over a few months from recruitment. It's still not as good as the hunting teams in Jinhai City."

Hongbo replied casually.

[Seriously, how could they even make such an outrageous claim?]

The five riders at the beacon tower secretly scoffed, not believing it.

But Hongbo did not lie.

The snake hunting industry in Jinhai City is inherently high-risk and high-profit. With the expansion of Kaimingxing's military production capacity, local hunting teams are spending lavishly to arm themselves to the teeth.

Leaving aside various elixirs, tools, and mounts, veteran hunters typically carry three guns: a long-barreled rifle for long-range precision shooting, a double-barreled shotgun for maximizing firepower at medium and close range, and a repeating revolver for close-quarters combat; some wealthy individuals also carry two chalcedony explosive rounds as a last resort.

As for the armor of the Red Sand Army, it was far less valuable than the people of the Northern Frontier had imagined.

Tiannanhang's large-scale production of cheap homogeneous steel cost only twenty wen per jin, while steam-driven power hammers, rolling mills, polishing wheels, and drilling machines, along with standardized and assembly-line production methods, further reduced the price of plate armor by an order of magnitude.

In terms of overall technology, many of Hong Fan's merchant houses had caught up with the mid-18th century, when firearms were prevalent on European battlefields and plate armor had been completely phased out.

However, due to the existence of martial arts and various super-performance materials, Dahua's cold weapons and armor have an irreplaceable position, and the form of warfare will remain in a state of both close and long-range warfare for a long time.

Soon after, the artillery battalion led by Gan Deshou passed in front of everyone; this was the part of the entire army with the worst passability.

Each heavy artillery piece and its accompanying ammunition wagon was incredibly heavy, with lazy artillerymen sitting atop the ammunition boxes; the sturdy mules in front of the wagons were dragging them along, their mouths and noses constantly exhaling white puffs of steam. "Is this artillery?"

Yang Haorang pointed to a 33mm cannon and asked a question.

"Does Commandant Yang recognize this item?"

Hong Bo was quite surprised.

Today, the people of Jinhai no longer consider their hometown to be a poor and remote place; instead, they often consciously lead the trend in the prefecture.

"Of course I recognize it, it's used to fire iron pellets with gunpowder."

Yang Haorang glanced back with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"It was brought here and used seven or eight years ago. It was powerful, but it didn't play a significant role in actual combat."

He spoke with great confidence.

“I’ve seen the muskets you’re carrying. They’re somewhat effective against stone slaves and beast herds, but not against giants.”

Hong Fan did not refute.

The Red Sand Guards disagreed with the northern country bumpkin's opinion—even a Xiantian martial artist wouldn't dare to take the Commander's [Wavebreaker] bare-handed, so how could hundreds of thousands of giant spirits be cast in bronze and iron?
"Speaking of which, the northern border has at least four million people, but from what I've seen along the way, the cities in Zuowei are not very large."

Hong Fan kicked the horse's belly, signaling the red flag to move forward.

"The captain is right."

Yang Haorang spurred his horse and followed.

"Our climate here is bad and resources are scarce. It would take more land to support the same number of people, so the population is scattered. To defend against raids, settlements are mostly wooden forts or fortified villages. There's a Black Ox Village about thirty miles ahead on the border. It has over a thousand people, and the Black Ox and Black Ox families live together. We can resupply there..."

At noon, ten miles from Heiniu Village, the unexpected happened faster than expected.

"There is fighting ahead."

Before the entire army, a scout fell off his horse and rushed to report.

"Heiniu Village is holding its ground, and their opponents are thirty-seven wolf riders and nine, uh, nine stones?"

"Stone? Stone man? Be more specific."

Hong Lie supported Ming Shen and asked in a deep voice.

"It's not all human-shaped; some are human-shaped and some are animal-shaped. Most of it is made of stone, but from a distance, you can also see a mixture of gold, iron, and wood."

The scout focused his mind and recalled.

"That must be the Giant Spirit."

Hong Fan drew a conclusion.

He had extensively researched information about giant spirits in Shenjing—their bodies were generally a mixture of stone, metal, and wood, with internal structures resembling magical arrays connecting energy channels, and their size and form were not definitively determined.

"Captain Yang, is the Left Guard currently engaged in battle with the Giant Spirit?"

Hong Fan turned to look at Yang Haorang.

"It's not really a proper battle; these small-scale raids have been going on all along."

The latter replied.

"Oh, just like in our Jinhai City, it's a back-and-forth exchange."

Hongbo understood.

"No, it's only one-sided."

Yang Haorang glanced at him and replied through gritted teeth.

"In the past few years, Zhenbeiwei has retreated into a defensive posture and has been unable to launch a counterattack."

Upon hearing this, there was a moment of silence in the room, and the five people from Fengsui City were all filled with shame.

"This means we've come to the right place."

Upon hearing this, Lü Yunshi glanced at Hong Fan and laughed first.

"They're just unlucky to have run into us!"

"Captain?"

Yang Haorang gripped the reins tightly, speaking rapidly.

Hong Fan ignored him and slowly surveyed the entire army.

Under the bright sun, on the vast snow-covered plain, a large banner fluttered in the wind.

He saw a long, winding line of more than two thousand people, just like the magnificent Hundred Victories Army outside Tingshan Pass, with Xu Yuntao, Yi Hong, and Feng Qing standing at the very front, looking just like they did back then.

The difference is that the person sitting in Duan Tiannan's former seat has been replaced by himself.

"Full speed ahead."

Hong Fan spurred his horse and calmly gave the order.

P.S.: I haven't finalized the detailed outline for this volume yet; these nine chapters are being written and compiled as I go.

Since finishing the Purple Impermanence part, I've felt completely drained. It seems like I've been outputting for too long and not getting enough input. I'm finding it hard to create stories and need to find some classics to read.

(End of this chapter)