Having many children brings many blessings; the struggle for power begins with marriage.

Chapter 161 Thunderclap

After the Imperial Guards transported a box of bombs to the grasslands, they quickly brought over some cattle and sheep covered in armor and used them as experimental subjects.

At this moment, Lu Chen took out a two- or three-kilogram iron ball bomb from the box and glanced at the ignition rope at the tail of the iron ball.

Modern bombs do not have primers and require manual ignition. These bombs are very susceptible to moisture, and once they get damp, they may become unusable.

However, these are only the first batch of bombs, so they will do for now. He believes that in the future, they will be able to produce bombs with primers.

At this moment, Wu Yuan reminded him, "Your Highness, the craftsmen say this is a bomb made with the simplest gunpowder, and its power may not meet your expectations."

The system gave Lu Chen not just one gunpowder blueprint, but a whole stack of them, and there were more than ten types of gunpowder.

Several of these gunpowders cannot be prepared under current conditions.

Although the craftsmen of Dayu City were more ingenious than those of Daxia, they lacked modern chemical knowledge and there were some things they simply couldn't understand. Even if they were given the blueprints, they wouldn't be able to decipher them in a short time.

Upon hearing Wu Yuan mention the simplest form of gunpowder, Lu Chen instantly guessed that these bombs were probably filled with black powder.

Black powder it is, it's not like it can't be used.

Lu Chen then said, "It's alright, we'll just have to make do with it."

At this moment, Wu Yuan immediately took out a tinderbox and handed it to Lu Chen. Without hesitation, Lu Chen lit the fuse of the bomb and then threw the bomb into the war simulation scene set up in the distance.

Since it was a bomb with a fuse, it did not explode immediately, but after a while, it exploded with a "boom".

Hearing the deafening sound and seeing the bloodied cattle and sheep in the distance, Xiao Pengtian trembled with fear. The scene of the barbarian soldiers in the Wanning River Valley being blown to pieces by grenades immediately flashed through his mind.

The bomb exploded, producing a large amount of white smoke.

Seeing so much white smoke, Lu Chen knew that the power was probably not very strong.

He immediately went forward to check.

The others quickly followed.

When Lu Chen got to the carcasses of the cattle and sheep, he discovered that the shrapnel from the explosion had pierced through the armor of the animals.

However, the crater wasn't very large. A grenade of the same weight would definitely leave a large crater, but the three-kilogram bomb he had just recognized only created a small crater, and the area wasn't very big.

Of course, they weren't using this weapon to blow up craters. As long as the shrapnel flying out after the explosion could effectively kill the enemy, there was no problem.

As for the size of the crater created by the blasting, that's not something we need to consider.

Thinking of this, Lu Chen said, "Hmm, the power is not bad. After the Northern Xian King's army arrives, we will test the power of this first batch of bombs properly."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Pengtian began to feel some sympathy for the Northern Xian King.

Of all people to mess with, why did you have to provoke the Northern King? Isn't that just courting death?

The key point is that their Sirius King tribe had just suffered a setback in Beijun not long ago, but the Northern Xian King did not learn his lesson and even went south to attack Beijun in winter.

At this moment, Xiao Pengtian seemed to have already seen the final fate of the Northern Xian King.

He couldn't help but feel a little emotional. It seemed that another large grassland tribe was about to disappear, and the entire northern lands would probably belong to the Northern King in the future.

At this moment, a Jinyiwei soldier came to Lu Chen and handed him a bamboo tube for delivering messages. "Your Highness, intelligence from the capital."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen immediately took the bamboo tube from the Jinyiwei soldier, retrieved the intelligence from it, and carefully examined it.

After reading the intelligence from the capital, Lu Chen chuckled. Fortunately, they reacted quickly. As expected, those aristocratic families wanted to send him to the front lines to fight against Da Wu and then wreak havoc on the heavy cavalry of Beijun.

If the Northern Xian King hadn't gone south, he probably wouldn't have had a good excuse.

At this moment, the Jinyiwei soldier delivering the intelligence said, "Your Highness, the 20,000 troops dispatched by the imperial court have already arrived in Beijun and are expected to reach Tianguang City in less than ten days."

Lu Chen said in surprise, "So fast?"

The soldier replied, "I set off with them when we were in the capital. They only brought some supplies, and all 20,000 soldiers are cavalry."

Upon hearing this, Lu Chen fell silent. It was clear that the imperial court had no intention of sending troops to help Beijun defend against the attack of the Northern Xian King. After all, he still had 50,000 heavy cavalry under his command, so it was normal that they did not want to send troops.

However, the fact that the imperial court was able to send some supplies over is a small help. After all, Beijun is poor and lacks everything, so even a little bit of help is still help.

At this moment, Xiao Pengtian reminded him, "Your Highness, if the imperial army comes to Tianguang City, won't these weapons be exposed?"

According to Xiao Pengtian's understanding, it seems that only the Northern King in the entire Great Xia Dynasty possesses such a terrifying weapon. Obviously, the Northern King also has his own ulterior motives, and he would never hand over these weapons to the Great Xia Dynasty.

After hearing Xiao Pengtian's reminder, Lu Chen thought for a moment.

The imperial army is indeed a problem.

The Northern Xian King's army will not arrive in Beijun for at least another month. If they encounter any dangers on the way, such as severe blizzards, the Northern Xian King's army may not arrive in Beijun for even longer.

If the imperial army had arrived in Tianguang City before the war, and the Beijun soldiers had used these bombs against the Northern Xian King's army, wouldn't that have exposed Beijun's secret?

Lu Chen initially thought that the imperial court would refuse to send troops to support Beijun under the pretext of war with Dawu, but he did not expect that the imperial court would still symbolically send 20,000 cavalrymen.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Chen said to the Imperial Guard soldier who was delivering the message, "Go to Yancheng immediately and tell Qin Yushan and Li Rui to find a way to leave the imperial army of 20,000 in Yancheng. Let the imperial army guard the second line and they don't need to come to Tianguang City."

The court sent Lin Xiuming, the son of the Left Chancellor, again this time. Lin Xiuming is a smart man. After he came to Beijun last time, he was quite well-behaved and kept a close watch on the court's 70,000 soldiers, preventing them from running around.

It's clear that Lin Xiuming doesn't want to have a conflict with him, the King of the North.

Lu Chen believed that when Lin Xiuming heard that he wanted him to stay in Yancheng, he should understand what his purpose was. In order to avoid conflict with him, Lin Xiuming would most likely stay in Yancheng obediently.

Their war with the Northern Xian King was no less than that of the imperial court's 20,000 light cavalry.

Upon hearing Lu Chen's words, the messenger soldier immediately replied, "Yes, Your Highness."

"Alright, you should hurry back to Yancheng."

"Your subordinate takes his leave." The messenger soldier said, then turned and quickly left.

Just then, as Lu Chen was about to turn and leave, Wu Yuan spoke up, "Your Highness, these weapons don't have names yet. Why don't you give them some?"

Upon hearing Wu Yuan's suggestion, Lu Chen thought for a moment and then said, "Our enemies often mistakenly believe that we can summon heavenly thunder, so from now on, let's call these bombs 'Heavenly Thunder'."

"Alright, that concludes today's test. Move these bombs to the armory and make sure they're protected from moisture."

Lu Chen was very satisfied with the power of this batch of bombs. He felt that there was no need for further testing. All he had to do was wait for the arrival of the Northern Xian King. He believed that the Northern Xian King would be moved to tears by the surprise he had prepared.

(End of this chapter)