The prince is more stable

Chapter 127 Times have changed
This was a team Xiao Guangjing had never seen before.

To be precise, no one, including the Song Dynasty officials and the Liao Dynasty envoys, had ever seen such a strange team.

In particular, the weapons equipped by this team are even more bizarre. They have neither pointed heads nor blades. If used on the battlefield, they can only be considered as fire sticks at best.

So, this thing can kill prey?

There was complete silence all around, and everyone stared in astonishment as the team of 500 people formed into three sections and slowly moved forward.

Xiao Guangjing observed for a while, and finally couldn't help asking: "Sir, their weapons..."

Zhao Xiaoqian said seriously, "It's a fire stick."

Xiao Guangjing: “…………”

Zhong Jianzhong waved the command flag and a long horn sounded. The Song cavalry that was encircling the prey quickened their pace. Many animals were driven out from the dense forests and plains and hills and rushed towards the 500-man musket formation.

The fastest running animals were a group of sika deer, about 200 in number, jumping and running in panic at the front.

Zhong Jianzhong took a deep breath. The Dragon Guard Battalion had been training musketeers recently, and today was their first actual combat. In front of the Liao delegation, he was a little nervous, and he didn't know how the actual combat effect would be.

As the prey came closer and closer, only eight hundred steps, seven hundred steps...

Zhong Jianzhong waved the command flag again and shouted in a deep voice: "First row, get ready!"

The musketeers in the first row held their flintlock rifles horizontally. Countless drills had created muscle memory for them, and they subconsciously aimed at the prey running in front of them.

When the prey came within 500 steps, Zhong Jianzhong finally shouted, "Release!"

There was a series of loud bangs and a puff of white smoke rising up. The Song Dynasty officials and Liao Dynasty envoys gathered outside the camp were caught off guard and frightened out of their wits.

Many people's horses were also frightened, and they neighed loudly and fell to the ground.

Zhao Xiaoqian and Xiao Guangjing also desperately pulled the reins to calm the frightened horses under them.

Then Xiao Guangjing looked up and saw that a group of sika deer running in front of him had fallen down in large numbers, their bodies being ruthlessly trampled by the animals behind them.

Xiao Guangjing opened his eyes wide in horror, and his hands and feet suddenly felt cold.

Staring intently at the flintlock rifles in the hands of the five hundred men with his bloodshot eyes, Xiao Guangjing trembled all over, his face pale, and he gritted his teeth as he spoke word by word, "What...are they?"

Zhao Xiaoqian didn't answer him, but squinted his eyes and looked ahead.

After the first round of gunfire, Zhong Jianzhong shouted, "First row, retreat. Second row, advance. Get ready!"

The second row of musketeers quickly filled their positions, still holding their flintlock rifles horizontally and aiming.

"put!"

boom!
There was another series of loud noises. At this time, the more than 200 sika deer running in the front were basically dead or injured, and a group of wild boars, musk deer and other animals followed behind to make up the gap.

"Second row, retreat. Third row, advance! Get ready!"

"put!"

Wild boars and musk deer also fell to the ground in large numbers.

There were rounds of loud noises one after another. By the time the animals rushed to within two hundred steps of the formation, most of the large animals that were obvious targets had been killed, leaving only a group of pheasants and hares still rushing forward foolishly.

Zhao Xiaoqian nodded to Zhong Jianzhong, who understood and waved his flag, shouting, "All troops, retreat!"

Five hundred musketeers immediately put away their guns and lined up in silence.

Zhong Jianzhong stepped forward, clasped his fists, and said, "Your Highness, most of the prey has been killed. Please examine it!" Zhao Xiaoqian grinned and said, "Why bother investigating when they're already dead? Why not let the Liao envoy take a closer look?"

Xiao Guangjing's face was still pale, and he had not yet recovered from the shock. Upon hearing this, he rode forward without saying a word, and the Liao envoys behind him followed.

Obviously, the Liao people did not believe that five hundred people could just stand still and kill all the prey without any effort.

Not only did the Liao people not believe it, but the accompanying Song officials also did not believe it. The dandies in Bianliang who were hiding at the end were even more furious. They looked at the five hundred musketeers with disbelief, and then looked at Zhao Xiaoqian who was riding a horse not far away.

Xiao Guangjing galloped on his horse to a killed wild boar, squatted down and observed carefully, looking for the boar's fatal wound.

The wild boar was not dead yet. It was still lying on the ground, groaning miserably, and the sound was getting weaker and weaker. It was obvious that its end was not far away and it would soon be among the immortals.

The fatal wound was easy to find: a hole-like wound on the wild boar's neck from which blood was gushing out. This hole had taken its life.

Xiao Guangjing was silent for a while, then he put his fingers into the hole like crazy and dug hard. Born with obsessive-compulsive disorder, he didn't care at all about the wild boar blood on his hands.

After digging for a long time, he finally touched a hot round object, and Xiao Guangjing dug it out with all his might.

The round object was a small iron ball, and the metallic luster reflected a strange light in the sunlight.

Xiao Guangjing wiped the blood off the iron ball with his clothes, moved closer to observe it carefully, and even put his nose close to it to smell it.

I can't figure it out. How did that fire stick-like thing manage to shoot the small iron ball into the wild boar's body?

Also, after every loud noise, why does that fire stick-like thing emit a puff of white smoke? Why is that?
Xiao Guangjing's mental state is very unstable at the moment, and he is about to collapse.

Only one thought flashed through his mind, which he himself could not believe: The State of Song... is about to make a comeback?
A Liao official nearby also carefully examined the iron ball and said in a deep voice, "They made the first loud noise at about 500 steps. This means that this iron ball can kill people at about 500 steps."

Another official's voice trembled slightly: "If today was not a hunting party, but our Liao cavalry launched a charge against the Song State, what would the outcome be?"

The official pointed to the dead animals scattered on the ground and said with a wry smile, "They are no different."

"Five hundred men, divided into three rows, firing almost non-stop. If the cavalry charges, they can fire at least six or seven rounds within five hundred steps. If each round contains two or three thousand iron balls, how many lives will our Liao cavalry have to pay to pass through this five hundred-step barrier and reach the front of the Song army?"

There was deathly silence all around.

Xiao Guangjing and the Liao officials felt a chill in their hearts, and an atmosphere of despair gradually spread among the crowd.

The appearance of this strange weapon today means that the Liao cavalry is no longer invincible and can no longer dominate the world.

At this moment, Xiao Guangjing also understood the purpose of Zhao Xiaoqian inviting him to the autumn hunting today.

To put it in the words of a thousand years later, today is the new weapons launch conference of the Song Dynasty.

In front of the Liao Kingdom, he slapped the Liao people hard in the face without any warning.

Think about when the hunting started, Xiao Guangjing led the Liao cavalry to ride out first, performed superb horse riding and archery in front of the Song people, and proudly showed off in front of the Song people with more than a dozen prey in his hands.

That damn Zhao Xiaoqian was not only not angry, but also smiled and praised them for being so great.

Thinking about it now, the performance of myself and the accompanying officials was so ridiculous, like the clowns in the brothels of Bianjing who acted cute and ugly to make the audience laugh and seek rewards.

Recalling Zhao Xiaoqian's smiling expression as he praised them just now, Xiao Guangjing felt a strong sense of humiliation in his chest.

Among the accompanying officials there were also military generals from the Liao Dynasty. These generals were experts in battle formations and knew the horror of this iron ball.

A burly Liao general stared at the iron ball and suddenly collapsed to the ground. His eyes turned red and he muttered in despair, "The offense and defense have changed..."

Xiao Guangjing was like a mad tiger, his eyes red and fierce as he stared at him. He said in a deep voice, "What depressing words are you talking about! Whatever the Song people can make, we can make too. My Liao Kingdom will always be invincible!"

(End of this chapter)