Total War: I'm building up an army to rebel against the Qing Dynasty in a heavily modified vers

Chapter 89 Wanfu: Those Luo family military rifles must be fake!

"My lord, in my humble opinion, if we were to gather the local militia now to attack the Luo family army, the outcome would be uncertain!"

"The Luo family army is incredibly fierce. Not only are their numbers increasing, but they also possess a large number of foreign firearms. They might even have foreign support behind them. With just the strength of our city, we might not be a match for them!"

Beside Wanfu, the steward Lao Wei earnestly tried to dissuade him. When he learned that Wanfu was planning to recruit 1000 local militiamen for him and then organize a large army to attack the Luo family army, his first reaction was that it was unreliable.

Even if Wanfu were to recruit local militia, where could he possibly recruit them from?

Are they conscripting men directly from nearby villages?

Under normal circumstances, it might be a good thing to conscript men directly from nearby villages, but now that Luo's army has almost completely controlled the territory outside Kaiyuan, how could they possibly conscript men from Luo's army's territory?

We could either try to recruit the bandits and use them as cannon fodder to make up the numbers for the war?

This method wasn't unworkable before, but now that Luo's army has wiped out all the bandits around Kaiyuan City, they simply can't find a bandit force of more than ten people in such a vast snowfield!

In this situation, how could they recruit bandits to help them fight? They couldn't very well recruit the Luo family army, could they?

As for directly drawing troops from the surrounding militias and getting local powerful families and chambers of commerce to send troops to help?

Wanfu had already written to these people, but they couldn't produce any soldiers at all.

They had previously listened to Wanfu's advice and, in order to preserve the reputation of their militia, they had cobbled together 300 reasonably reliable soldiers to hand over to Wanfu.

But they never expected that the fool Wanfu sent out would actually wipe out all 300 of them, and even take away their Green Standard Army soldiers!

In this situation, if Wanfu asked them to help defend the city when Luo's army attacked, they might be willing to give up their last reserves.

But if Wanfu is just asking them for help with revenge, trying to get something for nothing and trick them into dying for him, then that old man should never even think about it!

So after all that effort, Wanfu still hadn't managed to recruit many people.

At most, he recruited local thugs and some refugees from other places who were unaware of the situation, and cobbled together 200 people.

With such a small force, how could they possibly defeat the well-equipped and powerful Luo family army?

This team is only good for defending the city!

Looking at Old Wei, who was earnestly trying to persuade him, Wan Fu forcibly suppressed his anger and sighed, saying, "Old Wei, do you think your master didn't see that we can't beat the Luo family army right now?"

"But what can we do now? If we don't fight the Luo family army, do you think they'll just hand over the gold mine to us?"

Wanfu couldn't help but sigh repeatedly. After taking a sip of tea to calm himself down, he continued, "I sent people to find the Luo family army earlier, hoping to negotiate with them and promising that as long as they were willing to return their 60% stake in the gold mine, I could live in peace with them and petition the court to grant them a local militia!"

"But that Luo fellow is blind! This scoundrel not only rejected my good intentions, but even humiliated me! How can this be tolerated?"

Looking back, Wanfu later sent his soldiers to talk to Rock, hoping to reconcile with him, but Rock simply wouldn't listen to him.

The soldier he sent didn't even get into Rock's village, and didn't even see Rock himself. The Luo family army just roughly kicked him out and threw him a wooden box, telling him to give it to Wanfu.

The soldier didn't dare to open it casually, thinking it might contain something important or a gift. But when he finally got his hands on it and opened it, he was so shocked that he almost fell to the ground. The box contained a human head preserved in coarse salt!

Upon closer inspection, the head was indeed that of his subordinate, Zuo Ling Akdun!

Now that things have come to this, how could Wanfu not know that the Luo family army is truly determined to break ties with him?

He just couldn't understand it! Why did the Luo family army have to be at odds with the imperial court?

He felt that he had been lenient enough in his terms with the Luo family. Although he wanted the majority of the gold mine's shares, the Luo family would at least retain 40% of the shares!

Moreover, the Luo family army was given a local militia organization. Although the Luo family army had to obey his orders as the garrison commander at critical moments, with this organization, as long as the Luo family army did not rebel, they could do whatever they wanted in the local area.

No matter how he looked at it, he didn't think Luo's army was at a disadvantage. But Luo's army really didn't give him any face at all. They were humiliating him like a dog!

Seeing Wanfu's furious expression, Old Wei respectfully approached and whispered, "Master, if you ask me, if all else fails, we might as well just abandon that gold mine!"

"Anyway, sir, you'll probably have to return to the capital to report on your duties in less than a year. It's unlikely you'll come back then, so we naturally can't continue mining this gold mine."

"Since we're going to get it anyway, why don't we just give up the gold mine? Consider it a favor to the Luo family army, a way to appease them."

Hearing what Lao Wei said, Wan Fu shook his head, feeling that this guy really wasn't good at politics.

Of course, this is also a good thing.

Otherwise, if Lao Wei knew too many of his secrets, and was also cunning and knew more about officialdom than he did, how could he trust this person?

Wan Fu said coldly, "Enough. These are things you shouldn't know. Don't ask any more questions! In short, we have to find a way to get this gold mine back, no matter what, or we'll be in big trouble!"

Wanfu sighed inwardly. He was indeed about to step down, but what would happen after he stepped down?

After stepping down, the next general rushed over to take office, only to find that the gold mine of hidden income that should have existed in theory was gone, occupied by a group of bandits who came from nowhere, and he had no idea!

Even the Green Standard Army in the city was completely wiped out, leaving him as a commander without any troops after taking over!

Regardless of whether the guy who succeeds him will raise an army to suppress the bandits, this guy will definitely resent him.

After all, the gold mine isn't just a one-person profit; there are other big shots behind them who also take a cut. If the gold mine disappears, they'll have to make up for the losses out of their own pockets.

If that person were to report him to the court later, accusing him of lying about military intelligence, concealing traitors, and illegally mining gold, then Wanfu would be in deep trouble.

In short, Wanfu can allow the Luo family army to grow bigger and stronger, but all of this is on the condition that the Luo family army hands over the gold mine to him. The gold mine cannot simply disappear! A facade of peace cannot obscure the fundamental truth!

Once the gold mine is gone, he will have to fight desperately to get it back, otherwise he will be in big trouble!

Faced with Wanfu's stubbornness, Lao Wei was worried, but Wanfu did not tell him that in addition to the batch of rotten fish he had recruited, he had also mobilized a group of other reinforcements from outside.

He didn't tell anyone about this batch of reinforcements because their identities were quite sensitive. Taking advantage of his secret smuggling connections with the Mongols, Wanfu planned to directly invite a group of Mongol cavalry to pass through Tieling and come to Kaiyuan to help him fight.

During the Qing Dynasty, Mongolia was also under Qing rule, so Mongolian troops were allowed to move freely within Qing territory.

Of course, this passage could not be granted casually; a series of corresponding documents were required.

To put it bluntly, the Mongols were also considered part of the imperial army, so they needed someone to mobilize them in order to act according to orders; they couldn't just wander around aimlessly on their own.

However, during the Qing Dynasty's prosperous period, this set of rules could perhaps still be strictly enforced. But now the court has just been beaten by the Anglo-French allied forces, and its internal control is not as good as before. In addition, the court's control over the area outside the Great Wall has always been very poor.

So Wanfu had already made arrangements and communicated with the Eight Banners troops stationed at the Willow Palisade, allowing the Mongols to interact with him. As long as the size of the teams they sent to each other wasn't too large, it would be fine. Otherwise, how could he smuggle and trade with them?

Even so, transferring a group of Mongol cavalry to help him fight was a very risky thing. If he were reported and exposed, he might lose his head.

Therefore, even with his most trusted steward, Lao Wei, Wanfu never told this person. After all, bondservants were not always as trustworthy as one might imagine, and he would never dare to reveal such matters that involved his life and fortune.

After sending the butler, Lao Wei, away, Wanfu sat there alone, sighing softly.

To fill the hole in the gold mine and prevent his previous actions from backfiring, Wanfu was extremely worried.

If nothing unexpected happens, Wanfu should be able to bring in about two or three hundred Mongol cavalry this time, but it is unlikely that he can bring in more. Even if the Kalun soldiers on the Willow Palisade let the enemy pass through, they still can't bring in that many soldiers.

In his view, these Mongol cavalrymen were already ferocious enough and would surely inflict heavy losses on the Naro family army!

But as he thought about it, he lost his initial confidence. When he thought about the previous war with the Anglo-French allied forces and looked at the Luo family army dressed so similarly to the foreign powers, he couldn't help but feel fear.

What if the Luo family army is as powerful as the foreign powers that attacked them before, and they can rout the Mongol cavalry with their muskets?

"—Impossible, absolutely impossible! What level are the English and French armies, and what level is the Luo family army?"

"They are elite troops trained by the royal family, and they are also ruthless foreigners. This Luo family army is just a bunch of bandits dressed in foreign clothes. Do they really think that wearing foreign clothes makes them as scary as foreigners?"

Wanfu muttered to himself to comfort himself, but he didn't feel any better.

He has now staked everything on this. If he fails to eliminate the Luo family army this time, he will at least suffer a severe injury on the spot, and all his hard work in this life may have been for nothing!

Thinking of this, Wanfu trembled with nervousness, his clothes soaked with cold sweat. Unfortunately, just as he sat there, his face ashen, one of his servants rushed in, shouting in a panic, "Master! Something terrible has happened, Master! Disaster!"

"Outside! Soldiers outside are reporting that the Luo family army is attacking!"

Holy crap, the Luo family army is so fierce, they've attacked so quickly?

Wanfu's head exploded with a buzz, and he almost fainted on the spot. It took him a long time to come back to his senses.

"What happened? Tell me in detail how the Luo family army attacked, and how many of them came?"

Wan Fu was filled with panic. He hadn't even gathered his troops yet, and the Luo family army had already attacked. Wasn't this a death trap?

Besides the 200 Eight Banner soldiers who were already beyond redemption, he only had 200 thugs and vagrants who were just recruited to make up the numbers, and about two or three hundred more local militia around the city.

This was all the strength he could muster. Before the arrival of the Mongol cavalry, he truly did not believe that he could defeat the Luo family army with this strength, and he even felt uneasy about fighting a siege!

Upon hearing Wanfu's question, the servant who had run to report the news hurriedly replied in a panic, "Reporting to Master, according to the soldiers who ran back to report, the Luo family army has dispatched a massive force this time, numbering at least several thousand, and each man is carrying a foreign rifle; it looks extremely frightening!"

"What? A force of several thousand men, each armed with a foreign rifle? How is that possible?"

Upon hearing this news, Wanfu couldn't help but question it, feeling completely unable to comprehend the speed of Luo's army's development.

He wouldn't find it strange if the Luo family army had amassed a force of several thousand men, since they already controlled so many villages and were always adept at winning people's hearts.

If that's the case, even if they conscript men, they should be able to field a force of several thousand, right?

The question is, how did the Luo family army manage to equip everyone with a gun? Did they have so much money to buy foreign guns?

Besides, even if he had enough money, where could they buy muskets?

Buying them from the Russians—let alone whether the Russians could actually produce that many guns, the convoy transporting them would probably be quite large, right? How come he's never heard of such a thing before?

The more Wanfu thought about it, the more confused he became.

"—Something's not right, absolutely not right. How could the Luo family army have so many guns?"

"It's fake, it must be fake! The Luo family army must have just pulled together a bunch of able-bodied men from the surrounding area and given them fake wooden guns to bolster their morale!"

Wanfu muttered to himself, his eyes becoming brighter and brighter, as if his confidence had returned.

He's getting a bit stuck on this, because he absolutely refuses to believe that the Luo family army could actually produce so many guns, so he's desperately trying to find a way to justify himself.

So much so that, as he kept talking, he even started to believe it himself!

"Hahaha, those mediocre and foolish thieves! Did they think they could fool this old man with such outdated tricks?"

"Tell the soldiers in the city not to panic. The guns the Luo family army has are fake. They probably don't actually have more than 500 muskets!"

Recalling the past achievements of the Luo family army, Wanfu, based on his previous deductions, made an even higher estimate and still felt that the Luo family army could not possibly have more than 500 guns.

The servant who came to deliver the message had no idea that his master was just guessing. He thought his master really had the ability to strategize and calculate how many guns the Luo family army had.

Although he had some doubts, he naturally couldn't say anything at this time, so he quickly agreed and then ran to deliver the message to the military camp.

After the servants left, Wanfu called to the household servants and asked them to help him put on his armor.

War is imminent. Since the soldiers on patrol outside can see the Luo family army, it means that the Luo family army should be able to reach Kaiyuan City in less than half a day!

Since the guns in the Luo family army's hands are all fake, the subsequent defense of the city should not be so difficult.

Wanfu mentally calculated the days ahead. If he could hold out in Kaiyuan City for about seven days, the Mongol cavalry coming to his aid should arrive by then.

When that time comes, these Mongol cavalry will join forces with his garrison in the city to launch a pincer attack. He doesn't believe that Luo's army, which has drawn a large number of able-bodied men from outside, will not fall into chaos!

While Wan Fu was hypnotizing himself, he hurriedly arranged the defenses in Kaiyuan City, while Luo Ke led his army to advance towards Kaiyuan City at a leisurely pace.

Although his newly recruited soldiers had undergone rigorous training during this period, they were still severely lacking in discipline, resulting in a sparse and disorganized performance during the march.

In response to this situation, Rock ordered his soldiers to run and reprimand them several times, which barely prevented a large number of soldiers from falling behind.

Of course, given the previous rally, they wouldn't desert at this point. Besides, there were cavalry patrols around, so any deserters would be caught and brought back.

"Sigh, we'll have to keep training these soldiers in marching, otherwise how will we fight in the future?"

Rock sighed. Although he had anticipated the soldiers' marching ability, he still couldn't help feeling somewhat disappointed.

"Right, let's give Wanfu a good start to the new year. It's just after the New Year, and we haven't visited him yet. This will make up for the missed visit!"

Suddenly, Rock's eyes lit up, and he muttered to himself.

Immediately afterwards, he recruited a foul-smelling, bloated zombie from the system, and then gave the order for the bloated zombie to rush directly to the city gate of Kaiyuan City and then run there to self-destruct.

While in Warhammer, the bloated zombies are actually quite vulnerable to ranged attacks, in reality, their bulky bodies are quite resistant to gunfire, after all, they are still single-target monsters.

Moreover, based on previously obtained information, Rock estimated that Kaiyuan City at this moment probably did not have a strong long-range attack capability.

So, sending the bloated zombies to the front to lower the enemy's morale and deliver a devastating blow to the city gate seems like a pretty good option!