Total War: I'm building up an army to rebel against the Qing Dynasty in a heavily modified vers

Chapter 86 Why don't we just take action against Kaiyuan City?

This week, none of the troop types refreshed in the system shop satisfied Rock.

However, unlike in the past, the units that the system shop refreshed in the past were always ones that Rock couldn't afford, but this week the refreshed units were ones that he could afford but didn't need to buy.

For example, the British Private, the Hessian Private, and the Scottish Highland Guard—this system shop has practically become a hodgepodge of Napoleonic British factions.

But the problem is, Rock already has a number of French infantrymen with decent fighting capabilities, so why would he need to get himself a batch of British infantrymen?

Once recruited, these infantrymen won't further enhance his combat effectiveness; instead, they'll only increase the difficulty of managing his troops, making it a waste of money.

So Rock only felt a little regretful about these troop types, lamenting that they hadn't appeared sooner, and then looked at another system shop selling items.

[Random building from Total War: Warhammer]

This is what Rock is currently interested in. It's the first time he's discovered that his system can not only acquire units, but also system buildings from Total War.

What troubled Rock was that this random building couldn't be obtained directly by spending money. If he wanted to get it, he had to accept a building acquisition mission, which required him to occupy and effectively control a city within two months.

This is quite troublesome, because Rock had never really thought about taking over a city in such a short time; he had only intended to develop in the local villages.

After all, the Qing court's influence had not yet extended much into the villages and towns. To the Manchu Qing court, these villages scattered outside the cities were almost uncontrollable areas, especially outside the Great Wall.

If Luo Ke establishes a foothold in these villages, or even occupies several villages, the Qing army in the city will likely not take any action, and the Shengjing General will not bother with his local armed force, which is different from other bandits.

But if Luo Ke really captures a city, the situation will completely change. No matter how unwilling the Shengjing General is to send troops, he will have to send troops to destroy Luo Ke as soon as possible, otherwise the court will surely punish him.

"If we choose to attack the city now, Kaiyuan City will be easy to capture. However, after taking Kaiyuan, we will inevitably have to fight a major battle with the Qing army, otherwise we will not be able to hold our ground!"

"This major battle must be fought beautifully; after all, a decisive blow can prevent a hundred more. But this seems to be disrupting the overall development of the situation."

Rock muttered to himself, carefully analyzing the advantages of attacking the city, but then he slammed his hand on the table and made up his mind.

Let's do it! At worst, we'll just confront the Qing Dynasty head-on!

He currently has a considerable number of troops at his disposal. All his troops combined, including the system army alone, number nearly a thousand, not even counting the group of slave rats who are busy mining.

Once he turns around, he can easily recruit another batch of soldiers from the villages under his control, making a force of 2000.

With 2000 soldiers, advanced muskets, the powerful Kalonburg Greatsword Warriors with their small buff aura, and his own magic, Rock felt that this battle was not unwinnable!

Moreover, if he were to actually occupy Kaiyuan City and then use it to further expand his influence in the surrounding areas, his power would inevitably snowball, and he would gain even more gold and silver.

If we wait until the General of Shengjing sends troops over, Luo Ke's army might even outnumber his own!

"Bring Luo Ping in; I need to discuss with him how to fight the next battle!"

A guard standing next to Luo Kechong called out, but before he could leave, Luo Ping walked in from outside.

"General, did you call me?"

Luo Ping happened to be passing by and, upon hearing Luo Ke's commotion, quickly came over.

At this moment, they have changed their base, using the original base at Heilong Mountain as a branch stronghold, while the main force base has been moved to the bandit's lair at Erlong Mountain.

This is partly because Erlong Mountain has a better geographical location than Heilong Mountain.

This location is closer to Kaiyuan City and has more convenient transportation, making it easier for Luo Ke to further extend his influence to the surrounding areas.

On the other hand, it was also because the bandit stronghold in Erlong Mountain was large enough, or rather, the bandit stronghold in this place had long since formed a castle, which was more than enough to accommodate an army of nearly a thousand people.

"Come, Luo Ping, I'm about to take action against Kaiyuan City. Can you analyze this for me? What are some things we need to be careful about?"

Hearing what Rock said, Luo Ping was taken aback, but immediately began to think about it seriously.

Although he didn't know why Rock would suddenly prepare to attack Kaiyuan City, since Rock hadn't shown much intention to besiege the city before.

But since his master had given the order, he naturally had to obey and began to seriously consider how to complete it.

"General, are you in a hurry to attack Kaiyuan City right now? If you're not in such a rush, I suggest you wait a bit and let's take care of some things at hand first!"

"Don't worry, I'm not in such a hurry. As long as I can take Kaiyuan City within two months, I won't be anxious."

Hearing what Rock said, Luo Ping breathed a sigh of relief and then continued to explain to him.

It must be said that this Empire captain is quite versatile.

Perhaps because he was born into an imperial noble family, he not only knew how to command battles, but also understood many things about politics and governance, including helping Rock with logistical issues.

For example, this Imperial Captain has now become Rock's logistics captain. He is responsible for almost all aspects of the procurement and consumption of supplies, as well as the management of the army.

Rock wasn't particularly good at or willing to deal with these things, so he naturally handed everything over to Luo Ping, making Luo Ping his "Xiao He" (a legendary Chinese advisor).

When Lu Xiong and other ordinary soldiers from outside the system witnessed this scene, they felt even greater awe and respect for Luo Ping.

Because they all felt that Luo Ping must be one of Luo Ke's top confidants, the kind of brother who would risk his life for him. Otherwise, any bandit leader or rebel leader would not entrust such important matters to others.

It's no exaggeration to say that if Luo Ping really had malicious intentions, he could have used his authority to undermine Luo Ke behind the scenes, or at the very least, line his own pockets considerably.

Of course, it was precisely because Rock knew that Luo Ping was a system affairs officer and had 100% loyalty to him that he dared to use him in this way.

If Luo Ping was someone he recruited from outside, then Rock would never trust him so much, unless he was a complete fool.

Seeing that Luo Ke did not speak, Luo Ping continued, "General, we should first finish the conscription work ahead of schedule. We previously said that we planned to conscript the villagers in this area after the spring, but since you are in a hurry to fight, it would be best to conscript them in advance."

"First, recruit more troops, then arm and train them to have basic combat capabilities. Even if things don't go well on the battlefield, these people can be used as cannon fodder."

Rock nodded, showing no objection to Luo Ping's idea of ​​using ordinary militiamen as cannon fodder.

Because that's the reality. If he recruits these villagers now, it's impossible to train them into a real elite force in a short time. They can only be used as cannon fodder to fill in the gaps, or as filler soldiers.

Moreover, theoretically speaking, it is impossible for all units of an army to be elite in a war.

The price of arming a single elite force is enough to arm a larger force composed of a mix of elites and cannon fodder, without significantly reducing its combat effectiveness; in fact, it could be even more effective.

"Based on the villages we currently control, if everything goes well, we can recruit about 1000 to 1500 young men through a conscription. We only need to spend a small amount of money to arm them all, at least one musket per person."

"Their training may require some ammunition, but it won't be too expensive. We've already purchased a large quantity of gunpowder and lead sheets, so we won't have to worry about bullets for the time being."

"After a month of initial training, they will at least have a basic formation and know how to properly use their muskets. In addition, during this month, if they eat more, they will become stronger."

"So after a month, we will be able to acquire a large number of soldiers with basic combat capabilities, which will play a significant role in the upcoming battles."

Rock nodded repeatedly, agreeing with what Luo Ping said. He had also planned to recruit a group of soldiers first before considering other options.

Since a major battle is imminent, it's best to expand one's own power as much as possible. Even though military spending has been tight, it shouldn't be that he can't even expand his power to this extent.

Or to put it bluntly, he's now spending all his money to arm this army. Once he breaks through the city, he can rob the wealthy landlords there and recoup his investment immediately, or even make a fortune.

Needless to say, just consider that Wanfu, that old bastard, has been the garrison commander of Kaiyuan City for so many years, and he has been secretly mining gold and engaging in other illegal businesses. How could he possibly not have enough gold and silver?

Perhaps he secretly transferred some of his wealth to his old home in the capital, but Rock believed he shouldn't have taken too much money with him.

The reason is simple: he sent all the gold and silver back to his hometown in the capital. How could he ensure that he could keep the gold and silver then?

The capital was right under the Qing court's nose, and it was full of high-ranking officials and nobles. Just because he was a local tyrant in Northeast China did not mean that he could be the king of the capital.

What if someone targets him and impeaches him and confiscates all his money? Or what if his family members are blinded by the allure of the capital and squander it recklessly?

In addition, the world is in chaos now. If he regularly transports large amounts of gold and silver into the interior, he will definitely be targeted by some bandits.

He can only rule as king within the small territory of Kaiyuan City. If he were to encounter a group of swift-moving bandits outside, even if his money were stolen, he would never be able to get it back.

For this reason, Rock guessed that if he had accumulated so much silver outside the Great Wall, he should have kept most of his wealth with him.

When he returns to the capital after his term ends, he can escort all this wealth back in one go, lest it become a problem if it lingers in the capital.

Thinking about this, Rock couldn't even imagine how much gold and silver he could rob. He might not necessarily rob other big shots, but he would definitely ransack Wanfu's house!

"Besides recruiting new soldiers, I imagine you have other plans, right?"

Luo Ping nodded and continued, "That's right, that's exactly right! Besides recruiting new soldiers, we can also take advantage of this time to wipe out all the bandits within our control area and seize all the gold mines that have been sealed off by the Qing government."

"In the past few days, I have inquired and found that there are two other gold mines around Kaiyuan City besides Wugoutou. Wanfu should also be sending his men to mine these two gold mines secretly."

"Although these two gold mines are not that big, they are still a fortune if we seize them, along with the wealth of those bandits. On the one hand, we can use them for emergency purposes, and on the other hand, we can take this opportunity to further increase our strength."

At this point, Luo Ping suddenly asked Luo Ke, "General, have you ever considered a problem in our army? Do you feel that our military branches are actually lacking in some areas?"

Is there a deficiency in certain military branches?

Rock blinked, thought for a moment, and then asked somewhat uncertainly, "You mean, we're short of artillery?"

After much thought, Rock felt that his side had no problems with melee infantry, ranged archers, or cavalry; the only weakness was in artillery.

After much deliberation, the only artillery unit he had at his disposal was the Thunderclap Bomb. However, this unit was too weak; it could only be used to disrupt the enemy and incidentally kill some lightly armored infantry. It was definitely not enough for a siege.

Seeing that Luo Ke understood, Luo Ping said seriously, "That's right, Commander, what we lack is artillery that we can use to attack the city! Although we might still be able to take Kaiyuan City even without cannons, having cannons and not having cannons are two completely different things."

"So, by delaying for a while, we can take a gamble. Who knows, maybe we'll get the cannons out sometime soon? If we have cannons, taking this city will be a piece of cake!"

Although Kaiyuan City has a small population, it was originally built as a military fortress, so its defense system is quite formidable.

Not only were there cannons on the city walls, but the city walls were also nearly 10 meters high, and there was a moat around it, making it a formidable city.

Although the moat was frozen over due to winter, so Rock didn't need to worry about how to cross it, cannons were definitely necessary to breach the city gates or damage the walls.

His purple evil yang magic is more effective against living beings, and is almost ineffective against soulless things such as buildings.

Besides, even if he could transform the city into amethyst, so what?

If they can't fight back then, won't they still be unable to fight back?

"Alright, in the meantime, I'll try to get us some cannons. Besides that, we can also contact the nearby caravans and ask them to buy us more gunpowder."

"If we really can't get cannons, we'll just have our slave rats carry explosives and charge up the rampage. I refuse to believe that explosives can't blow up this city!"

Upon hearing Rock's brutal statement, Luo Ping calmly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Good heavens, he actually forgot about those rats.

It was only then that Luo Ping remembered that when the Skaven were besieging a city, they would often send some slave rats carrying dimensional stone bombs to charge up the walls, and they could always inflict tons of damage on the walls.

If that's the case, then sending these giant rats to carry ordinary gunpowder up the wall as human bombs doesn't seem like a bad idea, does it?

Thinking about this, Luo Ping wasn't so worried about the artillery anymore, since they seemed to have a rather reliable alternative.

"Besides these things, Commander, we can collect the debts from outside in a few more days."

"We contacted caravans outside and sold a lot of amethyst. These amethysts should fetch a large sum of money, which we can use to further arm the troops."

By the way, the Cossack cavalry sold a batch of amethysts earlier, but they haven't settled the payment yet!

After all, seeing so many amethysts, they would have to raise funds from the merchant guild behind them. Especially since Rock's side doesn't recognize bank drafts or anything like that, only cash, raising funds would be even more troublesome.

With this money, Rock felt that there would be no problem in re-equipping his troops. He was determined to equip all his regular soldiers with the latest Chassepot rifles!

Prior to this, although Rock had unlocked the French Marine Corps, a Tier 5 unit, he did not directly promote his soldiers.

The reason is simple: Rock always felt that the promotion was not worthwhile!

The French Marines have mostly improved in terms of equipment, but in terms of combat skills, they may not necessarily be better than the Young Guard.

In other words, if Rock equipped the Young Guards with Cyber ​​rifles, they could demonstrate combat effectiveness no less than that of the French Marines, but the military pay consumed by these Young Guards would not increase as a result.

If that's the case, then why does he still pay the Marines a high salary of 25 taels of silver a month?

They can simply buy equipment directly from the Marine Corps, equip the Young Guard, and then continue to pay them their old salaries.

Rock was really going all out to save money, but while this might save money in the future, it would require a large initial investment to buy guns, so he was still waiting for the payment to arrive.

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