Chapter 1017

Chapter 1017: The Beginning of Conquering the World

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Accompanied by a sound like popping beans, the puppet formation a hundred steps away instantly shattered into pieces, as the wooden puppets made from grass and wood were crushed beyond recognition.

"Beep~"

In the next moment, a loud whistle echoed in the ears of everyone in the training ground. A team of soldiers armed with flintguns quickly moved forward, raising their weapons to aim at the puppets in front of them.

The flintgunners who had just finished shooting retreated in unison, clearing the battlefield.

Gunfire erupted again.

Wave after wave, one team after another of flintgunners advanced in an orderly manner, their bullets, which contained great destructive power, quickly destroyed the dense formation of puppets.

In the end, only a few broken wooden poles remained.

At that moment, watching the drill from the side of the training ground, Shangguan Wuji shook his head with an expression of deep complexity.

He clearly realized that the artillery and flintguns "invented" by Wang Chen would greatly change the patterns of future warfare.

If the enemy could not adapt, they were destined to be crushed into dust!

This was not an exaggeration.

Because these flintgunners wielding new weapons were not elite soldiers of the Hanhai army, but rather fresh recruits recruited not long ago, most of whom had second-grade strength or even fewer were ordinary people.

Yet the flintguns leveled the gap in ranks; those below the fifth level martial artists simply could not withstand the assault of ordinary flintgunners.

And if a specially designed heavy flintgun was used, even fifth level martial sect masters would have to kneel!

With the same number of troops, a team of newly trained flintgunners could more likely win against a team of elite Hanhai soldiers.

Once this kind of weapon became widespread, would it still have significance for everyone to strive to improve their cultivation levels?

Especially for martial artists with limited talent, this kind of gap felt utterly hopeless!

Shangguan Wuji sighed for them.

At the same time, this commander of the Hanhai army grew a bit more confident in Princess Qingyun’s ability to seize the throne.

He said to Wang Chen beside him, "Taibao, this Divine Machine Camp will undoubtedly become an invincible army!"

Under Wang Chen’s arrangement, a large portion of the newly recruited soldiers were organized as artillerymen and flintgunners, which formed the basis of a strong Divine Machine Camp.

The military manufacturing camp originally under the Hanhai army was also incorporated into the Divine Machine Camp.

Currently, along with auxiliary troops, the Divine Machine Camp had already exceeded five thousand members.

However, according to Wang Chen’s plan, the scale of the Divine Machine Camp would expand more than tenfold to become the main force for the new Hanhai army to conquer the world!

At present, the main issue was that the manufacturing speed of the weapons could not keep up. Producing a qualified flintgun involved a complex process that consumed a lot of time. Even though Wang Chen introduced a so-called "assembly line" manufacturing method, it could not completely resolve the production capacity issue.

The Divine Machine Camp relied solely on artillery; without these new weapons, they would have no combat effectiveness.

Wang Chen smiled.

He could understand Shangguan Wuji’s feelings; after all, Wuji also started as a low-level martial artist, putting in countless efforts and resource investments to reach his current level of strength.

But artillery and flintguns were on another level!

"Taibao!"

At that moment, a guard hurried over and reported, "The Jia Five mining team has just sent word that they have discovered a flowing yellow mine!"

Wang Chen’s eyes lit up immediately. "Where are they? Where is it?"

Gunpowder is indispensable for artillery; without it, the cannons are nothing but useless scrap metal. The three essential materials for making gunpowder are charcoal, which is easily obtainable, saltpeter, which can be produced using saltpeter manufacturing methods, and flowing yellow, or sulfur, which is exceedingly rare. Wang Chen had previously scoured all of Hanhai City and managed to gather only a few hundred pounds of it.

In this world, flowing yellow is considered a medicinal substance, and the usual demand is minimal, so merchants do not stockpile it in large quantities.

To produce enough gunpowder to support his plans, Wang Chen dispatched teams to explore and procure materials.

Unexpectedly, just half a month later, good news arrived.

The flowing yellow mine discovered by the Jia Five mining team was located more than two hundred miles southwest of Hanhai City, in the mountains. There, an active volcano continuously spewed thick smoke and flames, and both the mountainside and the base of the volcano had extensive areas suitable for harvesting sulfur.

After assessing the situation, Wang Chen immediately assembled a group of miners and, under the protection of three thousand Hanhai army soldiers, set out to extract the flowing yellow from the mine.

He then ordered the other mining teams to continue searching for saltpeter mines and new sulfur deposits.

The following month, Wang Chen personally led three thousand Hanhai cavalry and five thousand soldiers from the Divine Machine Camp eastward into West Sea County, capturing the county capital.

The process of taking the county capital of West Sea was uneventful. The Divine Machine Camp positioned thirty cannons and bombarded the city walls for just three rounds before white flags were raised within the city.

There was no challenge whatsoever!

Thus, Hanhai and West Sea Counties came under the banner of Princess Qingyun, officially declaring their support for the restoration of the rightful dynasty.

They became part of the “Anti-Jing” forces.

At this time, only three months had passed since Prince Jing ascended the throne, and the realm of Daye was already in turmoil.

After Emperor Yuanjing usurped the throne, his first major act was to form an alliance with the Great Qi, ceding the three northern counties to his "elder brother," the Great Qi, in exchange for their support.

Simultaneously, Emperor Yuanjing turned against his own kin, confiscating the estates of several princes and county lords and imprisoning them.

The entire court of Daye was in an uproar!

Emperor Yuanjing’s regressive actions sparked fierce opposition throughout the court. He had already gained his position through unjust means and was now bowing to the age-old enemy, the Great Qi, while ceding three counties, which further alienated the hearts of the people.

As a result, except for the central plains and seven counties in the east, the remaining counties in Daye began to rebel, and the traitors seized their opportunity, rising up and sweeping through several southern counties.

Now, Daye had descended into a struggle for supremacy among the lords.

Among the forces claiming to uphold the rightful dynasty of Daye, Princess Qingyun was not the only one, and many had greater influence than she did.

Although Hanhai County and West Sea County were vast, they were considered frontier counties with limited populations and potential, and many believed they would not cause much of a stir.

When word spread that Princess Qingyun had raised the anti-Jing banner, most people merely scoffed.

There had never been a precedent for a woman to ascend the throne in Daye, and even if people sought to achieve greatness, they would not choose to ally with a woman like Princess Qingyun.

In fact, the traitor most favored by the people was Prince Ming Liang Mingrui. This prince held a very high standing, being the uncle of both Princess Qingyun and Prince Jing. Whether in strength or reputation, he ranked among the top within the royalty.

Emperor Yuanjing had once attempted to summon Liang Mingrui to Daye, but the prince rebelled, occupying two neighboring counties and rapidly expanding his power, capturing the attention of the world!

Once Prince Ming had displayed his ambition to dominate the realm, all kinds of heroes and talents flocked to him, further amplifying his prestige.

Undoubtedly, if Princess Qingyun wished to secure her place in Daye, her primary opponent would be Emperor Yuanjing, followed closely by Prince Ming!