"Woo woo woo..."
The whistling of the steam engine's whistle resonated through the machinery department, sound after sound. What used to be mere noise to Xiao Ming now sounded like heavenly music.
The emergence of the steam locomotive not only meant that Qingzhou's steel standards and lathe processing capabilities could produce the parts needed for a steam locomotive.
At the same time, for him, this was also the beginning of the barbarians losing their advantage in cavalry mobility. As long as he could rapidly transport troops, the northern barbarians would no longer be a threat.
However, after a moment of excitement, Xiao Ming calmed down again. 'One must eat one's meal one bite at a time.'
The steam locomotive had been developed, but laying tracks required a large amount of steel. For now, he could only choose to lay tracks along key routes.
Even so, it was a huge financial burden.
Although he was gradually surpassing the West in technology, he was far inferior in wealth compared to the Western countries that had grown rich through plunder.
Compared to them, he was truly impoverished. For him, building railways was not a technological problem, but an economic one.
After verifying that Lin Wentao's steam locomotive could operate, Xiao Ming left with a group of officials. Next, it was time to discuss tightening their belts to build railways.
At the same time, he also urgently wished for the northern war to end soon so that he could focus on development with peace of mind.
...
Liang Capital.
After five days of marching, Lu Fei and Ye Qingyun's group had arrived at this city where Prince Liang resided.
These past few days, under the barbarian attacks, they had advanced very slowly to protect their supply lines. If according to plan, they should have already captured Liang Capital by now.
However, when they arrived in Qingzhou, they suddenly found that this city was not as easy to capture as they had imagined.
Because Liang Capital faced water on one side and was surrounded by mountains on three sides, making its position very strategic.
"Prince Liang's forces are depleted. At this time, there won't be many soldiers left in the city. If we can suddenly enter the city, we can surely capture Liang Capital in one fell swoop," Lu Fei said.
Ye Qingyun looked at the wide river in front of Liang Capital. This was not Qingzhou; they had no ships to use. A frontal assault was impossible. Moreover, the barbarians were still constantly harassing them. If they couldn't take Liang Capital in time, they would surely lose more soldiers.
At this point, his gaze swept across the high mountains on both sides of Qingzhou. He said, "There might be small paths through these towering mountains. How about we offer a heavy reward to find a small path from the mountains into the city?"
"Hmm, I had the same thought." Lu Fei assented. He summoned a Guoyi Duwei (Commander of Resolute Bravery) and spoke a few words to him. The Guoyi Duwei received the order and departed.
Luo Hong then said, "Liang Capital only has one city wall. If we can find a mountain path, we can directly attack the city. But if there were a mountain path, how could Prince Liang not know about it and leave such a vulnerability?"
"Trying is better than just watching Liang Capital helplessly," Lu Fei said casually.
Everyone agreed deeply upon hearing this.
After setting up camp outside Liang Capital and resting overnight, the next day, Lu Fei's subordinate indeed returned with a person claiming the reward.
Lu Fei was overjoyed upon hearing this. He hurried to the entrance of the tent and met the person who came to claim the reward.
This was a middle-aged man, with a bow and arrow still slung over his back. Behind him followed a boy of fifteen or sixteen, who seemed a little shy, hiding behind the middle-aged man and gazing at the bustling soldiers with timid eyes. The middle-aged man's eyes also held a hint of unease; he dared not look directly at Lu Fei.
Lu Fei, being frank and straightforward, laughed heartily and said familiarly, "Brother, please come inside."
The middle-aged man nodded. He looked at the tent, which was surrounded by a strange war chariot, his expression somewhat hesitant, as if he had something to say. Lu Fei immediately understood and said to his subordinate general, "Bring a hundred taels of silver for this brother."
A hundred taels of silver was the amount Lu Fei had offered as a reward. The general, hearing this, jogged back to the grand camp and soon returned with a hundred taels of silver.
The middle-aged man seemed relieved to see the silver. He said to Lu Fei, "Thank you, General."
"You earned it," Lu Fei said with a smile.
Putting away the hundred taels of silver, the middle-aged man said, "General, please follow me." With that, the middle-aged man walked out.
Lu Fei thought that this walk might waste a lot of time, so he had Ye Qingyun call over a thousand cavalrymen, ordering two soldiers to take the middle-aged man and the boy respectively, and they followed behind.
According to the middle-aged man, the group walked south for about six li and stopped. The middle-aged man dismounted and pointed ahead, saying, "General, this is the small path I used to go up the mountain. You can go up the mountain along this path."
Lu Fei followed the direction of the middle-aged man's finger. Before him was a winding path hidden in the grass.
He and the others immediately dismounted and climbed up the path. Upon reaching the summit, he looked down, only to see a sheer cliff, about fifteen meters high. Ye Qingyun frowned and said, "It's too dangerous. If one falls, life would be lost."
Lu Fei deeply empathized. This place was not only smooth but also very narrow, only thirty centimeters wide. Moreover, the rocky slope and the ground formed almost a ninety-degree angle, so an ordinary person would not dare to attempt to descend.
"Narrow, steep, and slippery," Lu Fei summarized.
Hearing their discussion, the middle-aged man became a little nervous and said, "General, this is the lowest cliff from the ground among these three mountains. Other places are fifty paces high. It's fine to go down from here. Sometimes, when I hunt, I use ropes to go down from here."
The middle-aged man's words sparked a flash of inspiration in Lu Fei's mind. Rope climbing was one of the current training subjects for the state's army.
If they threw some ropes down from here, they could certainly sneak into Liang Capital.
Thinking this, Lu Fei expressed his idea, and Ye Qingyun nodded in agreement. He sent soldiers back to the barracks to fetch ropes. The middle-aged man also breathed a sigh of relief, fearing that these fierce soldiers might take him for a fraud.
The soldiers quickly returned, bringing seven or eight long, thick hemp ropes. According to Lu Fei's method, the soldiers tied the ropes to an old tree on the edge of the cliff, and then tied other ropes to different trees.
"This time, let's launch a surprise attack!" Lu Fei ordered the cavalry to dispatch 20,000 musketeers up the mountain.
At this moment, he observed Liang Capital through his telescope. As he had imagined, there were not many soldiers in Liang Capital. With the Second Prince killed and the Liang army annihilated, and other prefectures and counties taken by the Yong army, Prince Liang could not gather many troops temporarily. These 20,000 men would be enough.
And below them were just some civilian dwellings. His soldiers could descend from here and firmly establish a foothold, providing a secure entry opportunity for subsequent soldiers.
After waiting for a while, 20,000 musketeers reached the summit. At this moment, Lu Fei ordered, "Go down the ropes!"