Ming Dynasty: Summoning game players at the beginning

Chapter 237 Your Gaze (Two Chapters in One)

A new weapon developed in secret?
Li Muxin said that there were only a few special projects that he knew about.

The railway is being built in the mountain valleys, but from time to time we have to fight against "road robbers and iron thieves".

Early diesel engines for airships were under development, and fuels such as peanut oil that could be used in these early diesel engines were also being slowly stockpiled.

The output of smelting steel has steadily increased.

Some players have also tried to develop a multi-barreled discharge gun called the "Montini machine gun". This thing is like a machine gun version of the "large revolver" with a replaceable magazine. Trained gunners can achieve a firing rate of 200 rounds per minute.

It's just that there has been no progress due to the barrel material, and once it is successfully developed, the logistics and ammunition team will definitely go crazy.

More industrial projects require industrial raw materials and skilled workers, which consume a lot of capital. If there is no money, the economy must increase investment to make more money. Increased investment requires hiring workers and farmers to work, and there is a shortage of food due to the large population.

If there's a shortage of food, you have to spend money to buy it and reclaim more wasteland, which in turn requires more territory and population to support the food and craft needs. If you need territory, you have to recruit soldiers to expand, and soldiers need weapons and armor, which in turn requires expanding weapons production capacity and launching more industrial projects...

Li Mu suddenly felt that managing the territory was like adding water to excess flour, then adding flour to excess water, or like getting on a high-speed train that couldn't stop.

It would be great if governing a country could be as simple as clicking a few buttons in a game.

"Please guide people to the restricted area in the mountains for a look." The players in the R&D team giggled excitedly and rubbed their hands like flies.

As soon as Li Mu heard this, he immediately understood. What kind of weapons did he have to go to the mountains to look for? It must be a special weapon that was beyond the context of the times.

Even if the mountain people saw it and spread it, it would only be regarded as a "fairy tale".

"The journey to the restricted military zone is not short. I need to prepare and also call up the officers from the first class of the Blackpool Military Academy who haven't graduated yet."

……

Cao Er used to think that he was destined to be poor. Not only would he never be able to return home in glory and be filial to his parents, he would most likely end up as a starving corpse on the roadside in some remote wilderness, being eaten by wild animals.

It was the Black Flag Army that gave him the opportunity to join the army when he was unemployed and poor, opened the door to a new world for him, and led him to a world he had never imagined before.

At that time, he was a cowardly and thin boy, with tattered clothes, decadent temperament, and a pair of muddy feet without a complete shoe.

Now he wears a Fan Yang hat, a stylish battle jacket, hard leather boots, a sharp sword on his waist, and a bird gun in wartime, giving him the majestic image of a soldier from the Black Flag Battalion.

He was promoted from a servant of the Li family to an auxiliary soldier of the Black Flag Battalion, a combat soldier, and even a standard bearer of the Black Flag Battalion.

Now, because of his good performance, he has been selected as the first batch of officers for further training at the "Blackpool Military Academy".

Cao Er knew that he could be promoted to an officer and awarded the rank of second lieutenant after another year or two of training.

He didn't know what a second lieutenant was, but others said that he would be promoted to a lieutenant commander after graduation.

In those days, a captain was equivalent to a centurion, and the number of soldiers he led varied, ranging from two to three hundred to a hundred or even dozens.

But the happiest thing is the salary and land.

His monthly salary started out as a servant of one tael, but has risen to two taels and five cents as a standard soldier. He now has two mu of land to his name as a reward for his military merits.

If he chooses to retire after serving for six years, or if he accumulates ten acres of land, all of it will be distributed to him.

Even if he died in battle, the land and salary would be distributed to his designated heir. If the martyr was unmarried, an orphan under two years old would be adopted to carry on his family line, and the pension and land and salary would also be given to the martyr's family.

As his income and land increased, Cao Erxiaozi, who was once despised by everyone, has now become a popular figure in the village.

As the saying goes, a poor person living in a busy city is ignored, but a rich person living in a remote mountain area has distant relatives. All kinds of aunts and uncles who have never met each other also come to claim kinship.

Sometimes they asked him to help find a job in the workshop, and sometimes they hoped he would be arranged to be a soldier in the Black Flag Battalion.

Not to mention that Cao Er can't do these things, even if he can, he won't do it. The soldiers of the Black Flag Battalion have been taught many times by military regulations that they are absolutely not allowed to use backdoors!
"We are not only warriors who kill enemies and serve our country, but also soldiers who protect our homes and the people! Although you are soldiers earning a salary, don't forget where your daily food, vegetables, military supplies and cloth come from. Marshal Li is your heaven! The common people from all walks of life are also your parents who provide you with food and clothing!"

Before daily training, the instructors of the Black Flag Battalion would shout a few times, "Whose soldiers are you, and whose food do you eat?"

As usual, the soldiers answered: We are Marshal Li’s soldiers and we eat Marshal Li’s food!

The basic military rule set by Marshal Li was that the army took turns to help workers and peasants in their spare time. He said that soldiers should remember that they came from the grassroots, always sit on the side of the people, and not forget their sufferings.

Cao Er thought it was no big deal. After all, helping the villagers and doing some familiar farm work was much easier than training. Occasionally, he could also play chess and chat with the villagers.

The girls from the fellow villagers would also come out to serve tea and water to everyone, which was a feast for the eyes. It was much more relaxing than the hard training in the military camp.

Just look at this: Cao Er, a brother in the same team, secretly fell in love with an old farmer's daughter because he often helped the old farmer plow the land and dig canals. He was nearly thirty years old but married a sixteen-year-old girl, which made others envious.

As a result, the soldiers regarded the opportunity to go out and help the workers and peasants as a gift of leave, and each one was more courageous than the other and rushed to do so.

In addition to the "leave" for helping the people, the soldiers of the Black Flag Battalion can have three days off every month.

But Cao Er’s vacation to visit his family was interrupted halfway.

The messenger rushed into the village on his warhorse and announced the military order issued by Marshal Li, requiring Cao Er to immediately go to "Heitunbao" to gather.

Cao Er did not dare to delay. He quickly packed his bags and left his hometown under the worried gaze of his parents.

Thanks to the village’s good location, the newly built official road runs through the entire village.

The new road no longer has the puddles and potholes of the mud road, nor the flying dust of the past, making people exclaim that it is clean and fast.

Cao Er walked along the flat official road and soon saw the "public toilet" at the entrance of the village.

Cao Er knew that it was built with cement, but the villagers didn't understand. They just thought that this thing and the cement road were very luxurious, and they didn't know where the government got so much money to build the road.

In the past, the government would just make some repairs and smooth the road surface to accommodate inspections by superiors, and after a few heavy rains, it would return to its old state.

The villagers didn’t understand all this nonsense, but Cao Er, who was selected to enter the Black Po Military Academy, learned a lot.

Building roads facilitates transportation and logistics and improves transportation efficiency. Building public toilets is a way to uniformly compost and improve rural cleanliness. Feces and urine can also be used to make saltpeter needed for gunpowder.

Every time Cao Er went home on vacation, he would explain and promote the idea to his family in this way. Regardless of whether they understood it or not, at least he was laying the seeds of thought, and one day they would understand it.

The "village chief" appointed from above led the villagers to build new water conservancy projects. Flat fields extended eastward along the water flow, and ditches had already been dug in many fields.

These newly reclaimed farmlands and water conservancy projects were not only built by villagers, but also by soldiers from the Black Flag Battalion.

The villagers' farm tools have also been improved a lot. The simple wooden farm tools in the past have now been replaced with iron and iron-clad ones. Not only are they durable, but the work efficiency has also increased several times.

Looking at the villages and fertile fields within a few miles, Cao Er couldn't help but sigh that the village had changed a lot in recent years, and his own situation was also very different from before.

All this is thanks to Marshal Li and his elite troops.

If it weren't for their hard work, Shangcheng, a poor county nestled in the mountains, would still be being exploited by thieves, bandits, and corrupt officials, struggling below the poverty line.

And his whole family would die of exhaustion or starvation at any time.

Cao Er couldn't help but thank Marshal Li for the earth-shaking changes he and his family had brought, and for his great kindness, which he could never repay even if he remained loyal to him for the rest of his life.

The so-called Heitunbao was not far from his village.

It was a fortress built by Marshal Li specifically for his elite troops. It was located beside a tributary on the west side of the shopping city. From time to time, a large number of elite troops could be seen coming in and out.

However, the shape of the fortress is very strange, just like a person wearing clothes of various shapes.

Cao Er once passed by this place on a grain transport mission and heard from the elite soldiers who were building the fort that the main city and towers of this fortress contained various styles from ancient and modern times, both Chinese and foreign, such as "Little Chang'an", "Hogwarts School", "Star Nexus", "Pentagon", "Jiangnan Garden", "Dragon's Lair"...

Cao Er even doubted whether this thing could really accommodate so many buildings?
Or are these just the names of the big houses?

This time when he came to Heitunbao to gather, he felt that this "fortress house" with a mixture of styles was even bigger.

The elite Black Flag soldiers who walked out of the fortress from time to time were like a group of monkeys. They never took the usual route. They either jumped around or lay on the ground pretending to be tigers coming down the mountain. Some of them were armed, and some were bare-handed.

Others would shout, "The twenty-dollar hero is back," "I want to explore the world"...

However, this group of elite soldiers with strange behavior was not the focus. Cao Er discovered that those gathered in Heitunbao were actually students of the Heipu Military Academy from the same period.

Isn't there going to be a war this time?
"Being included by the Marshal on this mission means your loyalty and abilities have been recognized. This time, you will be carrying out a top-secret mission. No one is allowed to reveal anything you see, hear, or feel during this trip, or you will be severely punished by military law! Do you understand?"

"Listen clearly!"

Each cadet was allocated seven days' rations, a cold weapon combat kit, and a mule.

"Cao Er, the standard-bearer of the third group of the first team of the second sentry of the former Central Army Camp!" "Here!"

"Take your special badge." The instructor handed over a specially made wooden badge with the words "Heipu Officer" engraved on the back and "Corporal Cao" on the front.

Below the name was a portrait sketch that looked exactly like him.

The other students also received their own exclusive badges.

"Don't talk to each other on the way, and don't linger. Just follow me!"

Where is this mission going? Why is it so mysterious?
With a head full of doubts, Cao Er rode his mule to catch up with the team.

They did not pass through the bustling Lijia Town, but avoided the crowds and took a detour, then headed straight into the outskirts of the town where fireworks roared.

Unexpectedly, in addition to the 500 students and 100 instructors and elite soldiers, there was also a team of 400 elite soldiers waiting outside the wall.

The temperaments of ordinary soldiers and elite soldiers are different, just like the difference between bronze and gold, one is dull and the other is gorgeous and beautiful.

Especially the exquisite carriage. Cao Er saw a familiar man with his own eyes, lifting the side curtain and greeting them with a smile.

It’s Marshal Li!

Marshal Li actually participated in the mission personally?
Marshal Li is the breadwinner of his family. Without him, the Cao family would not have the food, clothing and well-being they have today.

Cao Er suddenly felt that the responsibility on his shoulders was becoming increasingly heavier. He subconsciously gripped the reins tightly and kept an eye on the sword at his waist, ready to rush forward to protect the Marshal in the event of any sudden danger.

This walled town seems to be very important. The gate is guarded by hundreds of elite soldiers armed with bird guns and swords on their waists.

Even though this team was escorting the Marshal himself, they still had to undergo document checks one by one.

Cao Er held out his badge. The guard looked at him for a moment, then stamped a red seal on a booklet. "Corporal Cao Er, first-term student of the Blackpool Military Academy, passed..."

As he drove his mule forward, the scene behind the wall suddenly came into view.

Several straight roads stretched into the distance, with workshops and factories spewing out thick black and white smoke. The farther away the factories were, the larger they seemed, like a huge town made of wood and steel.

Cao Er rode his mule past one workshop after another. The crisp sound of metal striking could be heard from the workshops on both sides of the road, and the shouts of the workers working hard could be heard incessantly.

Some inspectors took out the finished bird guns from the workshop and came to the shooting range outside the workshop. There were already several people holding bird guns and aiming at the red target two or three hundred steps away.

With the sound of gunfire, the target two hundred steps away was knocked down.

Cao Er exclaimed that the range of the Black Flag Battalion’s bird guns had improved again!
He had fought with the Black Flag Battalion several times, and the most he had used was a turtledove gun that could fire at a range of about 100 steps. He didn't know that a new type of bird gun had been developed that only used flint and could fire at a range of more than 200 steps.

Doesn't it mean that when two armies are fighting, they can at least fight four or five rounds before the enemy gets close to them?
Even more powerful were the artillery pieces. The supervisors pushed out a number of standard field artillery pieces, skillfully loaded them with shells, and fired fiercely at distant targets.

Although the shell was not accurate, it exploded when it landed.

Even though he was hundreds of steps away, Cao Er could still see the smoke and dust raised by the exploding artillery shells.

Could this be the "high-power shrapnel bomb" improved by the Black Flag Battalion, which can cause extremely strong damage when fired?

A sharp bird gun plus high-powered shrapnel shells. If the enemy soldiers take several volleys head-on and then a few high-powered shrapnel shells, can they still maintain their morale and engage in close combat?
Cao Er thought to himself that if he were to become an enemy of the Black Flag Battalion, he would definitely not be able to withstand more than two rounds of gunfire and artillery fire from this series of sharp weapons and would have to flee.

The sound of high-powered shrapnel exploding was still ringing behind his head, and Cao Er continued to move forward on his mule.

As he went deeper into the workshop area, Cao Er saw several iron tracks surrounding several workshop areas.

Some were horse-drawn carriages, slowly dragging a load of workers forward.

The workers waved to Cao Er's team, who smiled and nodded at them.

Some came with several pack horses working side by side, pulling several full carriages of ore.

Cao Er was confused. Shouldn't the iron horse in the textbook be spewing out white smoke?
As soon as the thought came to his mind, he saw a steam train running on the track not far from the town, spewing white steam and whistles one after another.

Workers like ants unloaded the goods from the train and then filled it with a new round of supplies. With the sharp sound of the train whistle starting, more steam was emitted.

The "iron horse" loaded with cargo began to turn with a clang, then gradually accelerated until it reached the end of the dark track. The amazing speed was comparable to that of a galloping horse, not to mention that it was dragging several full boxes of cargo.

This is a real railway train!

Previously, he had a general knowledge of the existence of trains based on the publicity done by the Marshal to raise funds for the railway. Later, the instructors also gave them detailed popular science education, but most people did not believe in it.

How could there be a "carriage" in this world that could run fifty or sixty miles in half an hour?

The legend of the 600-mile express and carrier pigeon was that they were used to transmit urgent military information. An iron horse that could maintain high speed while towing heavy cargo and could operate on its own was something that had never been heard of in a thousand years.

The people's limited knowledge makes it impossible to understand the railway, and they always think it is bragging.

But the people could not convince themselves. How could Marshal Li, who always did things fairly and thoroughly, waste so much steel to pave the road?

Normal logic tells the people that Marshal Li has always liked to build bridges and roads and renovate water conservancy projects, and he would not do anything stupid.

At this time, Cao Er saw with his own eyes the steel road that the instructor had mentioned, and then he understood Marshal Li’s foresight. Marshal Li was indeed right!

Cao Er rode his mule more than ten miles out of the town when he suddenly saw a team of workers laying railways in the distance.

They pulled out debris and burned weeds along the way. Groups of people lifted large stone slabs and dropped them heavily to compact the ground, then pushed heavy stone rollers across the road.

Then a layer of gravel was laid, and sleepers were embedded at almost equal distances, and then two steel rails were placed on the wood as if they were free.

The railway extends to the south, and a few dozen miles further south across the mountains is the territory of Macheng, which is a prefecture and county in Huguang.

Marshal Li actually wanted to extend his "tentacles" to the Huguang region.

With many days of experience in marching and training, Cao Er also knew what the speed of the train meant.

He may not understand the economic benefits of transporting goods by train, but if the carriages are carrying fully armed soldiers, they can complete a journey that would take several days on foot in just a few hours.

While the enemy is still leisurely holding a meeting, your soldiers have already arrived by train. Even after a decisive battle, they can rest for a day and immediately take a train hundreds of miles away to meet another enemy...

The army usually hasn't set out for several days, but the Black Flag Battalion can already take the train and defeat multiple enemies in succession.

If Cao Er had previously believed that the Marshal must be the most powerful official, he would not have had any thoughts of being disloyal.

Now that he had personally witnessed these workshops and factories, the sharp guns and cannons, and even the "killer moves" of the galloping trains, he suddenly understood Marshal Li's ambition.

The fact that Marshal Li was willing to show these "strange skills and tricks" to him and the students of the Black Po Military Academy shows that they have been included in the trusted direct line.

Perhaps because the officials only knew how to oppress and exploit the people, Cao Er had no good feelings towards the court, but he also had no intention of overthrowing it.

However, ever since he felt the dignity of being a human being in the Black Flag Camp, he became more and more disgusted with the darkness he had experienced in the past, and also hated everything about the imperial court.

He was not surprised that Marshal Li wanted to rebel.

It would be better to say that if Marshal Li were to rebel or not one day, and still remain loyal to the corrupt imperial court, he and other soldiers of the Black Flag Camp would have to put a yellow robe on the Marshal.

If Marshal Li conquers the world one day, these direct military officers will be regarded as his heroes. Not only will their wives and children be given titles, but even three generations of wealth will be possible!

After realizing this, Cao Er's eyes became hot as he looked at the Marshal.

After two and a half days of travel, the Marshal and his entourage finally arrived at their destination.

Cao Er followed the instructor to climb to the mountainside. Hearing that they were going to climb up to observe something rare, each student of the Blackpool Military Academy was temporarily given a monocular telescope.

What do you want to see?

Cao Er looked around through the telescope and could only see a black bone dragon flag held high on the opposite hilltop several miles away. Nothing new or interesting appeared for the rest of the day.

It was not until lunch at noon the next day that Cao Er heard the elite soldiers of the Black Flag Battalion complain, "We are thirty-two hours late than the scheduled time. What are you doing?"

Cao Er knew that thirty-two hours was equal to sixteen hours, which was a unique timekeeping method within the Black Flag Camp.

At this moment, Cao Er suddenly heard his allies pointing at the sky and shouting, as if they saw some terrifying flying monster.

Cao Er raised his telescope and looked, and suddenly saw three huge monsters of different sizes floating in the sky.

(End of this chapter)