Will the kemonomimi encounter Alien Ranch Story?

"Well, Your Highness, with your precious body, has actually come to the front lines to oversee the battle. You truly are a woman who is just as capable as any man!"

"Supervise the battle?" Old Chen quickly waved his hand. "I'm not here to supervise the battle." She's here to participate in the battle; there's a big difference between the two.

"I'm……"

"Alas, I understand. The affairs of the state are so difficult. If everyone were like Your Highness, there would be no disaster today."

"Well... let's do our best." Old Chen didn't know how to comfort her. The reason she came to the front line was because it was safer here. She was just a little stubborn, not a stupid deer.

Staying in the capital city is tantamount to waiting to die. Only by coming to the front lines can one have a chance of survival. Do you really think that staying in the capital city will make you safer after the city falls? That's a complete joke.

The number of people brought by the Celestial Masters of the Temple of the Year was not large, only about a hundred. Standing on this section of the wall, they could barely fill all the shooting positions.

The Celestial Masters are actually what outsiders call sorcerers, but of course, they are high-level sorcerers. They brought with them staffs and a large number of magical equipment, which greatly supplemented the firepower of the defensive line where Old Chen was located.

Although, in terms of firepower, the Great Yan currently has an excess, or even wasteful, supply of resources, what they need is the courage to fight and more supplies to sustain the long-term siege.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Leitanians were in a worse situation than the Great Flame people. After all, the Sea Kings would not accept surrenders or defections, while the Kazdel people on the other side would. Their troops were like a block of ice placed under the scorching sun, slowly disappearing and evaporating.

Those infected individuals without family ties readily defected when faced with the Sarkaz's psychological warfare tactics—why not?

Kazdel allocated land to those infected, guaranteed affordable healthcare, provided citizen health insurance, and subsidized medications for Oripathy.

He hadn't run away before because of a little bit of national honor and patriotism, as well as an instinctive fear of the nobility.

With the war going on like this, wouldn't it be foolish not to run away? However, ordinary Leitanian soldiers, whose families were all in the country, did not defect to the other side.

However, they also shirked their duties during battles, not to mention mealtimes. They would even go to the other side to eat together, and then bring back to their own camp the treatment, living conditions, and policies towards the infected and the lower classes there, effectively undermining the morale and fighting will of their own troops.

As for those soldiers who had no family burdens or whose relatives had died in battle, they surrendered decisively with their equipment without any psychological burden, and some even kidnapped officers and surrendered together.

However, the noble soldiers and professional soldiers maintained their original morale and state of mind. They could not surrender, had no way to surrender, and dared not surrender.

However, if this happens, after all that evaporation, Letania might only have less than half of its combat-ready troops left, and that's at best.

In reality, the fact that only a quarter remained is due to the effective military leadership of the generals of Letania; more likely, it's one in ten.

[PS]

Yesterday I saw someone say that the gentry's resistance to taxes in the Ming Dynasty was a resistance to apportionment rather than a resistance to imperial grain and national taxes, because imperial grain and national taxes were only a small amount.

This is normal human logic.

The problem is that reality doesn't follow logic.

The imperial grain tax was indeed not high, only one-thirtieth, but they still insisted on resisting it. Why? Because it was a fixed amount that had to be paid.

The exorbitant taxes and levies imposed on them seem like a huge burden, and logically, they should be the ones resisting them!

In fact, the gentry absolutely did not resist the apportionment of taxes; on the contrary, they resisted the national tax.

Because the apportionment was: the gentry's money would be returned in full, while the common people's money would be split 30/70, brother!

Chapter Thirty-Four: Loyal to the King

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

"Fire!" The White Tiger Rocket roared like a swarm of bees, sending countless white points of light soaring into the sky. The arrow, forged from Originium steel, pierced the Originium cloud high in the sky. Its high affinity for Originium particles allowed it to absorb a large amount of Originium particles to charge its energy. Then, under the influence of gravity, it fell, turning into countless blue-green light rains that sprinkled down on the sea monster swarm.

The moment the arrow, imbued with high-energy Originium particles, came into contact with the low-energy sea monster's bodily fluids, it released Originium energy, following the basic principle of energy transfer from high to low. With a series of muffled popping sounds, the sea monster struck by the arrow bulged with countless pearl-sized bumps on its surface, before exploding with a bang.

"The first vanguard of the sea monsters has been annihilated!" A large portion of the vanguard of the sea monster horde charging towards Ziwu Town vanished instantly. "Reload the next round!" The adjutant from the Northern Army of Shuofang Town raised his hand, signaling the ranged units to continue reloading their weapons.

The Great Yan had fought against Hai Si and the evil demons for so many years, so it was impossible that they didn't have weapons to deal with such a group of monsters, but they were not found in the armory until the siege of the capital.

The good news is that this specialized equipment is not very useful and is still sitting in the armory, untouched by theft or theft, covered in dust.

"The Quanzhou Port Fleet is preparing a counterattack!" The second most powerful fleet in the Great Yan Dynasty, second only to the Yuegang Fleet, finally arrived at the battlefield. They had spent a considerable amount of time dealing with the southward-bound sea monsters. However, they managed to arrive before the fall of Ziwu Town.

Leading the way were reconnaissance ships classified as "small boats". The Quancheng Fleet was different from Yuegang. They were equipped with fewer divine fire cannons and divine light cannons, and their funding was even more... insufficient. However, they took a different approach. Without large-caliber naval guns, they focused all their efforts on increasing the rate of fire.

"Put-put-put!" The thing at the bow that looked very much like a Gatling gun began to emit a low, spitting sound, even though it used all the materials that increased the explosion velocity and gas expansion rate.

However, the reduced gas efficiency caused by Originium particles still greatly limits the initial velocity of this type of gunpowder weapon.

However, compared to crossbows and the like, this thing has a really fast rate of fire. In just a short while, the coolant started to boil and gurgle, and a large number of arrow-shaped projectiles sprayed onto the flying sea monsters.

For those thin, airbag-flying contraptions, even with low penetration and power, they would be torn apart on the spot. Once these flying units were eliminated, the "fighting ships," serving as "pawns," would begin to enter the battlefield.

The ancient crossbows, combined with the individual weapons in the soldiers' firing pods, cleared a space once again, allowing the tall warships equipped with divine light cannons to enter. The Quancheng fleet focused more on cluster advance, with each warship equipped with thick anti-climb skirts and obstacle removal rollers at the front.

The structures left by the Sea Si, resembling blood vessels and peristaltic organs, rapidly shattered and decayed between the metal jaws, leaving only a scarlet path. The Quancheng Fleet was initially established to deal with the Sea Si, but later, due to insufficient equipment and funding, its combat effectiveness declined significantly. Coupled with some restrictions imposed by the imperial court, it rarely got to fight in peacetime.

This means that their warships have been specially designed and modified to be anti-ship, with corrosion-resistant mesh installed at every entrance and possible firing port, greatly preventing the venom and small individuals of the sea monsters from getting in and fighting the fleet soldiers in urban warfare, while the soldiers inside can attack outward through these narrow firing ports.

Of course, the drawback is that this thing is not good at explosion protection. A lot of the fragments and internal reinforcement structures will quickly collapse when subjected to high-explosive bombardment, turning into a shotgun-like effect.

At the same time, the shooter's vision was poor and accuracy was also very poor. But here's the question: does shooting at the sea require accuracy? When those dense black waves rush in, accuracy is not needed at all.

"Pour the kerosene!" The hatches at the stern of the warship and the fighting ship opened, and a burly man with a bare upper body shouted as he rolled a metal can to the stern and kicked it down, flattening a sea monster as the ship moved forward.

The plug was torn open by centrifugal force, and kerosene, emitting a pungent odor, flowed everywhere.

The rope at the end automatically pulls more tanks out from the stern, with one tank at regular intervals.

As the last canister was pulled out, the igniter fixed at the end began its countdown. With a "whoosh," the red phosphorus ignited upon contact with the air, and instantly a fire snake shot out along the soft cloth strip, igniting the kerosene mixed with a large amount of phosphorus. A series of flame explosions appeared at the stern of the ship, eventually turning into several raging walls of fire.

Those sea monsters that couldn't stop and those nearby were directly touched by the phosphorescent fire. In their constant struggle and screams, they quickly turned into piles of charcoal. The flames blocked the sea monsters' further attacks and also prevented them from climbing onto these landships from the tail.

"Well done!" Old Chen slammed his hand on the wall. The warships, which had been scattered into several small teams and were rampaging across the battlefield, had successfully dispersed the sea monsters that had just gathered.

To be honest, they are indeed experts at dealing with the Sea Si, but if they were to bear the same enormous political pressure as the Moon Harbor Fleet, which prevented the city from falling and had their ships pinned to the breach, they would probably suffer an even more terrible fate.

“It’s really good, but…” The Taoist priest next to him hesitated. These poisonous phosphorescent fires were indeed useful, and the enemy’s decision was absolutely correct militarily. Thanks to this, the city could probably be defended.

The problem is that the city can be defended, but those areas burned by the poisonous phosphorus fire are the most important places in the capital. Countless powerful and wealthy families own real estate and land there. Once burned, the value of the land will be greatly reduced.

Moreover, judging from the way they do it, they've been burning things like this on the southern plains, and those powerful families in the south probably wouldn't allow it.

The reason they were able to be wiped out was simply because the capital was besieged, preventing their letters from being delivered. Even if they were, the high-ranking officials in the court were too busy to deal with them.

However, once this battle is over and the military pressure is gone, it's easy to guess how those adults will deal with a guy who burned down nearly half of their assets.

However, they won't settle accounts immediately. After all, it's obvious how lax the defenses in the capital are and how capable these arrogant soldiers are. At first, they will definitely report their merits, reward them, and promise them official positions. But after that... hehe... once the cunning rabbit dies, the hunting dog is cooked!

"Light the fire!" The Quancheng fleet wasn't the only one setting fires; the Zhenbei Army cavalry also started burning things, using the shacks of the poor as the perfect kindling. "Enough poisonous phosphorus fire!"

The eunuch, armed with the emperor's warrant, led them to smash open the long-sealed doors of the capital's armory. Inside, mountains of various poisonous phosphorescent flames were piled up, turning the emperor's face green with rage when he found out.

He didn't know what kind of war zone his ancestors lived in, nor did he know why they had so much munitions under their backsides.

However, he knew that if anything happened to anyone after all these years, the entire capital would immediately turn into a man-made volcano. This news would alarm not only the emperor, but also the imperial relatives and high-ranking officials—fire and water are merciless. Power can prevent most disasters, but it cannot prevent fire and water.

Therefore, these phosphorescent flames were sent to the defense line immediately, as long as they no longer stayed in the armory, but in the lower level of the city module, under everyone's buttocks.

Sensing the urgency of the monster siege, the local residents also helped to quickly build a large number of simple catapults to hurl these poisonous phosphorus fire barrels.

The amount of munitions that the Great Yan had accumulated over hundreds of years was terrifying. The entire area outside the city burned for a whole day, with flames shooting straight into the sky. Even at noon, it felt like dusk. The burning poison gas spread towards Hai Si along with the strong southeast wind.

As for the civilians and survivors outside the city who survived the invasion and the war, they didn't care about that. If they were lucky, the troops hiding in the cellars might have a chance to survive.

However, many more were either suffocated by smoke, burned to death, or even drowned by jumping into water tanks or similar places in a panic.

In addition to the poisonous phosphorus fire, they also found flamethrower weapons made by the ancestors of the Great Yan Dynasty.

However, most of them were old and in disrepair, so only a few in good condition could be selected and chosen to be taken by a group of fearless warriors ready to burn the sea monster at any time.

In contrast, the flamethrower weapons of the Quancheng fleet were relatively well maintained. After the warships rushed into the sea monster's front-line camp, the side skirts that had been lowered were removed, revealing the large mechanical water pumps and jet nozzles inside. Then, several fire dragons, tens of meters long and several meters wide, wrapped around the mobile hatching nests of the sea monsters.

The flames rapidly evaporated the bodily fluids, and foul-smelling black smoke rose along the constantly withering and breaking "vine"-like fleshy structure, "Buzz!"

The Divine Light Cannon pierced through the fireproof barrier formed by the subsequent Sea Heirs on site. Before the enemy could repair the breach, the Ballista fired a Poison Phosphorus Rocket behind the fireproof and heat-resistant ceramic structure.

As the largest hatchery collapsed with a crash, the sea monsters began to scatter and flee in disarray. It was time to send out small groups to clean up the mess.

However, this was only a slight relaxation in the siege of the capital, because more Hai Si were still on their way to join the encirclement from the east and north.

If the southern sea monster hadn't been able to escape the other sea creatures by running fast along the waterways, the siege of the capital would have been several times more difficult.

This wasn't the first time the Great Yan Dynasty had summoned an army to defend the emperor, but it was definitely the first time in nearly a century that the Great Yan had mobilized such a large force. Thanks to the last vestiges of credibility left by the previous emperors, the young emperor was at least not destined to become a second King You of Zhou.

After all, this was the first time he had lit the beacon fire, and the garrisons from various regions who came to the aid of the emperor did not realize that they had been deceived.

Given the substantial rewards previously bestowed upon armies that came to the emperor's aid, and frankly, disregarding the generally poor combat capabilities of most of them, the garrisons and legions from various regions arrived quickly and with great enthusiasm.

When the capital is besieged, those who rush to the aid of the emperor may not receive the title of Duke for their meritorious service in suppressing the rebellion, but they can still earn the title of Marquis.

Given that in previous instances, whether it was the invasion of evil spirits, the mischief of the Year Beast, or the expedition to the Eastern Kingdom, the former emperors of the Great Yan Dynasty had indeed fulfilled most of the promised rewards by robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Therefore, the generals and armies that came this time could be considered somewhat obedient.

Of course, whether their combat strength is enough to earn them credit is another matter. At least they did come and they did engage in the battle, didn't they?

If the Emperor of Great Yan does not use any means to realize this credit, even if he only realizes half of it, then his descendants will still have the entire nation's army come to their aid the next time they light the beacon fire.

However, if they couldn't fulfill their promises, or could only fulfill two or three tenths, there wouldn't be a next time. [The Tang emperors after Emperor Suzong deeply understood this.]

In fact, from the perspective of the art of governance, fulfilling 70% or 80% of the promises is reasonable. Firstly, it would reduce the burden on the court, and secondly, fulfilling all the promises would be even more difficult.

On the contrary, it is easy for a succession law to emerge in the Imperial Guard, since everyone has already earned their credit and is now a group of newly rich, and they will demand a higher price for the next rescue.

However, if only 70% or 80% of the debt is paid, it will not make people feel disheartened. Since the emperor still owes a sum of money, the military leaders must remain loyal even for the sake of this debt. Otherwise, what will happen to the IOU if someone else is replaced?

However, if only 20% or 30% is exchanged, then the situation will become one of "If you don't give it to us, then we'll have to take it ourselves." Even if the Great Yan Dynasty hasn't reached the level of warlordism like Ursus, then these generals won't be as obedient in their command after that.

The problem now is: can the emperor come up with the money? The direct consequence of this problem is that although Hai Si has temporarily retreated, there are still many more Hai Si on the way, so there is not much to worry about.

Because the loyalist armies were still arriving one after another—but the question of where the rewards for the war would come from kept the emperor up at night.

No money? Without money, even an army like Kazdel would be hard to manage. Even if the soldiers don't say it and can mentally endure it, their bodies can't—then again, an army like Kazdel is maintained with a lot more money!

They seem to have spent very little money simply because they removed the adulteration and the blood-draining of soldiers. If you really calculate the individual soldier expenses and actual military expenditures, their expenses are at least three times that of the regular standing army of the Great Yan, excluding those elite units.

The young emperor spent the entire night studying the information sent from Lungmen about the battle between Kazdel and Letania, wanting to know why this neighbor, despite winning the battle, had not rewarded the generals but instead launched a disciplinary review and reorganization of the entire army, yet the army had not rebelled.

As a result, after reading "Sincere Heart," I couldn't see anything at all. The only thing I could make out between the lines was the word "poor!"

The Great Yan Dynasty wasn't poor, but its emperor was. In terms of luxury, fine wine, and beautiful women, his imperial treasury held enough gold to last him several lifetimes, but he had to use it to reward his army…

After calculating for a long time, he took out the last copper coin from his treasury and gave everyone a small red envelope containing less than 20 coins as a token gesture.

The only good news is that this war is using up the stockpiled weapons and ammunition from previous years, so he doesn't need to spend his own money to buy them yet. But if he were to rely on the national treasury for funding... well, the national treasury is so empty it could run a mouse.

"How hasty!" I shouldn't have sent the Moonport Fleet to fill the gaps. However, the Emperor had his reasons for sending him; after all, that governor was a model of loyalty, bravery, and patriotism.

When the imperial court couldn't afford to fight a major war, it was natural to choose to send this trusted and beloved general and the well-funded Yuegang fleet to hold the line.