Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 151 Insufficient Firepower (Bonus Chapter for Yong Su's Alliance Leader)
Upon hearing the words "Japanese pirates," Zhang Long, Zhao Hu, Yang Siyao, and Gu Banxia all turned their eyes dark and clearly showed extreme disgust.

As members of the Princess's household, they naturally didn't need to worry about being attacked by Japanese pirates. However, during their years living in Ningping, they had seen many villages ravaged by these pirates. Those creatures only had a similar appearance to humans; their true nature was that of a group of filthy and cruel beasts.

Song Yan pursed her lips and continued strolling along Wenlin Street. Before long, she arrived at a teahouse, her fingers stroking the teacup. There was another reason why she was certain that Horikawa Sousuke was not an imperial guard. Even though Japan was still very weak at the moment, its relations with Ningguo were still matters between nations. Even if the emperor wanted to wipe out the Japanese pirates, he would still have to send a letter to the Eastern Mausoleum to pay respects to Emperor Ninghe.

Instead of contacting him privately as a baron.

When it comes to the form of government, it cannot be done so casually.

Speaking of which, Horikawa Sousuke just mentioned the Soga clan. If that's the case, Japan should be in the Asuka period now, and the current ruler should be Empress Kōgyoku, a woman of great beauty who married two uncles twice.

Of course, history has changed drastically, and the Central Plains are completely different from the previous life. Presumably, the situation in Japan must be the same... At least in the previous life, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that Japan was a bunch of primitive monkeys. It was only after a large number of envoys to Tang China brought back advanced technology that Japan was able to rise to prominence for the first time.

In this timeline, the Japanese had at least been able to forge iron tools, and the number of Japanese pirates was already quite astonishing.

Perhaps some upheaval occurred in some era before.

As for the Emperor, it's highly unlikely that he'll be able to claim the title of Imperial Throne.

With her mind a jumble of thoughts, Gu Banxia quietly stayed behind Song Yan, gently massaging his shoulders with her soft hands. She knew that thinking about these things wasn't her forte; relieving her son-in-law's fatigue was what she should be doing.

Yang Siyao, standing beside him, frowned deeply, clearly having figured something out. Among these people, Yang Siyao was probably the only one who could keep up with Song Yan's train of thought.

“In that case, Horikawa Sousuke must have been sent by a group of Japanese pirates. The so-called cooperation was just a trap.” Yang Siyao tapped her fingertips lightly on the table. “Once you fall for it and actually lead your soldiers to ambush the Japanese pirates, a large number of enemies will immediately surround you from all sides. At that time, you will probably only have one outcome: death without a burial place.”

Song Yan chuckled: "That should be the case."

“But…” Yang Siyao’s expression was very strange: “But isn’t this plan a bit too crude?”

There are too many vulnerabilities.

Yang Siyao hadn't had time to think about it carefully before, but now that she'd calmed down, she could see that Horikawa Sousuke was full of flaws. Putting aside everything else, where did you, a bodyguard of the Emperor, learn to speak such fluent Chinese, given that you're always by the Emperor's side?

"How much wisdom can you expect from a group of bandits who only know how to plunder at sea?" Song Yan shook his head: "They might even be smug about being able to deceive me."

He wasn't sure whether the group that wanted to kill him this time was the remnants of the previous group of Japanese pirates or a coalition of several pirate gangs. The latter was more likely, but one thing was certain: that fire had made him a thorn in the side of all the Japanese pirates, who wanted to get rid of him as soon as possible.

Song Yan was not uneasy about having his life targeted by the Japanese pirates. On the contrary, in Song Yan's eyes, being so remembered by the enemy was a kind of honor.

"So what are you planning to do?" Yang Siyao tilted her head: "Play along with their plan?"

"Should we still use wolf-tooth rakes to deal with these Japanese pirates?"

Like Song Yan, Yang Siyao's face showed little fear. Last time, only five hundred old soldiers were able to stop the attack of thousands of Japanese pirates, but now there are seven thousand Japanese pirate guards.

Song Yan shook his head: "Of course, we should use a counter-strategy."

"But the wolf-tooth rake can no longer be used."

While the wolf-tooth spear was effective against the Japanese pirates, it was also easily countered. Furthermore, since firearms had not yet been developed, the wolf-tooth spear's effectiveness could not be fully realized. Although a single fire had killed the remaining pirates, the fact that the wolf-tooth spear was used could not be concealed. Countless civilians witnessed it firsthand, and if the pirates infiltrated Ningping and made some inquiries, they could gain a general understanding of the wolf-tooth spear.

Even if the Japanese pirates were all fools, they would still find a way to reduce the impact of the wolf-tooth rake on them.

"Siyao..."

"Hmm?" Yang Siyao raised her head. "How many infantry armors and how many horse-slaying swords have been manufactured at the ironworks?"

Yang Siyao was mainly in charge of overseeing things at the workshop, and she had a clearer understanding of the specific data than Song Yan.

Infantry armor, as the name suggests, is armor specifically designed for infantry.

It belongs to heavy armor.

Song Yan had design blueprints for various armors from different dynasties in his mind. When it came to choosing which type of armor to use, he hesitated for a long time between the Mingguang armor of the Tang Dynasty and the infantry armor of the Song Dynasty, but ultimately chose the latter.

Well, the Tang Dynasty's army was invincible, and the Mingguang Armor played a huge role in that. Moreover, the name Mingguang Armor itself sounds majestic and imposing.

In comparison, Bu Renjia looks rather rustic.

However, the limitations of the times are there.

Although the Tang Dynasty fell and the Song Dynasty was established only 53 years apart, there was a gap of one or two hundred years between the Mingguang armor and the cloth armor.

Although the Song Dynasty was bullied by the Liao, Jin, Xia, and Mongol dynasties in turn, its military capabilities were actually not bad. If the emperor had had the will and courage to fight, history might have turned out differently. Moreover, the Song Dynasty was extremely advanced in all aspects of technology.

The infantry armor represents the pinnacle of heavy armor in the entire history of China.

With 1825 armor plates and a weight of 29 kilograms, the armor provides 92% protection over the entire body. With a mask on, the protection would be 100%. Soldiers under famous generals like Yue Fei and Han Shizhong relied on this heavy armor to defeat the Jin cavalry time and time again, and even withstand the Iron Pagoda.

Its protective capabilities are even very close to those of bulletproof vests, a product of modern technology.

Of course, its shortcomings are also very obvious.

The excessive weight placed a tremendous burden on soldiers, severely slowing their marching speed, causing excessive physical exertion, and seriously hindering their mobility in battle. As the power of firearms increased, the role of armor for soldiers diminished, and heavy armor gradually faded from the historical stage.

However, placing Bu Renjia in the present-day Ningguo would be an absolute game-changer.

It can be said without reservation that, among the four kingdoms of the Central Plains, apart from siege crossbows, catapults, or cavalry charging with the aid of warhorses, no other conventional weapon could penetrate the armor of infantrymen.

Of course, the manufacture of the infantry armor was also extremely complicated.

Even with the help of assembly line operations, the production speed is still extremely slow.

Speaking of assembly lines, Song Yan almost made a fool of himself. Assembly line production actually existed in the pre-Qin era, but it was lost with the fall of the Qin Dynasty and only reappeared in the Northern Song Dynasty. He thought the same was true in this timeline, but who would have thought that the assembly line production method had been preserved.

Without a moment's hesitation, Yang Siyao immediately gave the answer: "There are only three hundred at the moment."

"The production of the infantry armor is extremely complicated. Although you provided the blueprints, we still had to go through a lot of trial and error at the beginning, so the output was not high. However, now that the skills are gradually becoming more proficient, the production speed is accelerating. In another half month, we should be able to gather a thousand units."

I wonder how many Japanese pirates will appear this time? Last time there were 5,000, this time it will probably be no less than last time, 10,000, 20,000, or 30,000?
A thousand heavily armored soldiers are still too few.

We lack firepower.

Song Yan felt inexplicably irritable. If he had 100,000 heavily armored soldiers, 100,000 flintlock muskets, and 3,000 tiger-squatting cannons, he could probably sleep more peacefully... He thought to himself.

(End of this chapter)