The government was sending out wives, and I ended up with a princess from the previous dynasty!

Faced with these people who insisted on staying, Jia Daoshi didn't want to force them to leave.

He is very busy both day and night now and doesn't have time to attend to everything.

Anyway, we've done everything we could.

……

This morning.

After getting out of bed, Jia Daoshi glanced at the beauty lying in his arms.

At that moment, Liu Ruyan woke up and looked at him with her beautiful eyes.

Seeing Jia Daoshi turn to look at her, Liu Ruyan panicked and blushed. She immediately turned around and faced away from Jia Daoshi.

Now, only Jia Daoshi and she remain in the City Lord's Mansion, so Jia Daoshi has been coming to see her every night for the past few days.

In these few days, she was completely captivated, her heart completely won over by Jia Daoshi.

Now, she will agree to whatever Jia Daoshi asks for.

But she still gets shy when she faces Jia Daoshi's gaze.

Seeing Liu Ruyan's blushing face, Jia Daoshi smiled faintly.

Liu Ruyan's physique is actually quite special. Every time the Dragon Elephant Divine Skill circulates through her body, it becomes even more powerful!

This is equivalent to both of them accelerating their cultivation!

At this moment, Jia Daoshi pulled the blanket up for Liu Ruyan. Last night, Jia Daoshi did nothing, and Liu Ruyan did most of the work, so she was quite tired. He wanted her to have a good sleep in the morning.

As for him, he has very important things to do today.

After a simple breakfast, Jia Daoshi rode out of the city and headed towards the military camp.

The horses ran very fast and soon arrived at the newly built military camp.

The newly built military camp is some distance from the cliff city. A hundred meters north of the camp is the canyon where Jia Daoshi and Wu Ce previously conducted war game simulations.

The reason for building the military camp here was to facilitate artillery testing.

"Definitely..."

Jia Daoshi rode at full speed into the military camp, where Wu Ce and several generals came forward to greet him: "Commander Jia has arrived."

Yesterday, Jia Daoshi said he was going to give them a big surprise today, so these grown men were waiting here early in the morning!

"Are all the new recruits here?" Jia Daoshi asked with a slight smile.

Wu Ce didn't know why Jia Daoshi called the new recruits "greenhorns," but those four words did sound really catchy, so all the veteran generals followed Jia Daoshi's example and called the new recruits "greenhorns."

“Everyone has arrived. The original plan was for two thousand people, but quite a few people signed up. Many of them came from all over Youzhou County after hearing the news, so we took in more people, making a total of ten thousand,” Wu Ce explained.

Most of the people in Youzhou County had grudges against the northern barbarians, and many wanted to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy after hearing that war was about to break out.

Whether or not one serves their country is unimportant; what matters is revenge.

Just then, after receiving the battle report, the imperial court also issued an edict ordering Wu Ce to recruit more soldiers.

"That's enough, ten thousand people, that's a bit too many!" Jia Daoshi was somewhat surprised; he didn't need that many people.

“I think it’s far from enough.” Wu Ce frowned, not knowing what Jia Daoshi was thinking. “The main problem is the lack of weapons and equipment. Otherwise, I would have left more men, maybe 100,000 or 200,000!”

"That's right, we don't have enough manpower. How can we fight against 500,000 barbarian cavalry?"

"We need to recruit at least another 200,000! Otherwise, how can we fight this war?"

The generals nearby also started shouting.

Upon hearing this, Jia Daoshi also felt somewhat helpless: "The key to good troops is quality, not quantity."

"Even if there were that many people in Youzhou County, and we recruited that many, what good would it do? Could we train them all in such a short time?"

"Having rushed onto the battlefield, facing those barbarian cavalry, I'm afraid a simple charge would leave them utterly defeated and routed!"

"Let alone these newcomers, even you veterans, when facing those ferocious tiger riders, leopard riders, wolf riders, and bear riders, can you remain as steady as Mount Tai and not be affected?"

"Your Highness, don't you agree?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Jia Daoshi looked at Wu Ce.

Wu Ce has been stationed in the city of Juebi for many years and has extensive experience fighting against the Kushan Empire. In this regard, Wu Ce is very qualified to speak on the matter!

After listening to Jia Daoshi's words, Wu Ce said, "Jia Tisi is right. If we send new recruits to the battlefield, this will definitely be the result: they will collapse without a fight."

This is what it means to be cannon fodder, to be sent to your death.

But then Wu Ce added, "Jatis, while these new recruits can't directly charge into battle against the Kushan Empire's soldiers, they can still be useful for defending cities."

Cliff City was inherently easy to defend and difficult to attack. Since they were on the defensive, they didn't need to engage in direct confrontation with the barbarians. Their high vantage point and the use of cover within the city were still effective.

Therefore, Wu Ce also hoped that he could have as many soldiers as possible.

Jia Daoshi nodded: "I understand what you mean. The Crown Prince can decide for himself how many soldiers to recruit."

"I've come here today to give you a big surprise."

Hearing Jia Daoshi's words, Wu Ce and his generals were also very frustrated.

Jia Daoshi has been saying every day for the past few days that there will be a surprise, but he just doesn't know where that surprise is.

"By the way, where are Zhang the blacksmith and the others?" Jia Daoshi suddenly asked.

"They're all resting in the barracks over there. They were busy all night last night, the clanging and banging never stopped," Wu Ce said. "Chief Jia, many soldiers are complaining that they can't sleep well at night, and their backs and legs will be sore and weak when they go into battle."

"It's alright, they'll love the sound soon enough," Jia Daoshi laughed. "Let's go take a look first."

Jia Daoshi and Wu Ce's group arrived at the large tents they had just mentioned.

As soon as you step inside, you can see five large, dark cannons placed inside the tent.

Even after seeing these cannons, Wu Ce and his generals were still completely baffled.

surprise?

This is anything but surprising!

What's the use of such a big, dark iron pipe?

Wu Ce walked around a cannon and then asked, "Jia Tisi, what exactly is this?"

Jia Daoshi explained, "This is called a mortar. Have it pulled out to an open space outside. Today, I'll show you what a sight it is."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone was stunned, but soon, under Wu Ce's arrangement, soldiers pushed one of the mortars directly to the open ground outside.

Although they didn't understand what it was, they could tell from its appearance, weight, and manufacturing process that it was definitely a formidable item!

The thing Jia Daoshi made was larger than a regular mortar, so it could also be called a mortar-howitzer.

Jia Daoshi wanted to build an artillery battalion of two thousand men, and this was the one he used.