After visiting the production plant of Fiery Oil Incendiary Bombs, Commander Cheng visited the Fiery Oil production base, airplane manufacturing plant, engine manufacturing plant, vehicle manufacturing plant and air cavalry training academy in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory.
One fiery oil production base in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory had been put into use. 6 more would be put into use. In the following 2 years, the fiery oil production capacity in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory would reach 4 million tons per year. Correspondingly, the area of cultivated land in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory would increase by two times; especially the planting area of corn would increase by two times each year. At this moment, corn was not only for food but also for the demand of war.
The airplane manufacturing factory in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory could produce 70 finalized air cavalry I airplanes a day, which was constantly increasing. When he visited the airplane manufacturing factory, Zhang Tie admitted to Commander Cheng generously that the daily production capacity of 70 airplanes was far from his target. He requested that Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory could produce 100,000 airplanes a year. Therefore, the airplane manufacturing factory in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory should expand its production capacity by at least 4 times so as to meet Zhang Tie's demand.
Besides air cavalry type-1, air cavalry type-2, which was larger in size, longer in flight range and heavier in load, was also being developed.
The engine manufacturing plant in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory could produce 4 types of engines, one was a dual-drive engine for airplanes, one was a dual-drive engine for vehicles, and one was being designed for tanks and armored vehicles.
This time, the three people directly flew here and there in the air. Only after over 2 hours, Zhang Tie and Commander Cheng had visited all the key places in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory without any reservation.
After visiting the air cavalry training academy, Commander Cheng requested to take a look at the encampment of Fire-Dragon Corps. Therefore, Zhang Tie directly led Commander Cheng to the encampment of Fire-Dragon Corps.
In the encampment of Fire-Dragon Corps, over 300,000 fighters were being trained and recruited in the encampment.
In a training field which covered almost 40 square miles, Commander Cheng and Gao Tianqi were both shocked by the scene that over 300,000 people were practicing spear throwing skills at the same time.
Some corps and troops in Taixia Country used to play spear throwing skills; however, it was a magnificent scene that so many people were practicing spear throwing skills at the same time.
On the training field, almost all the fighters only wore a pair of trousers and a pair of field boots. Each of them was naked from the waist up. Hundreds of thousands of men were sweating all over under the hot sun. Due to long-term exposure, their upper bodies had turned black and red. Many new members of Fire-Dragon Corps had cracked their skin and bulged layer by layer. After tearing off their bulging skin, their skin looked like being scalded by boiling water.
The dust on the training field changed the color of all the fighters. Their sweat left clear gullies on their dusty chests and backs …
"Thunder …" With the roar of the drillmasters, all the fighters threw out 900 training spears in the shape of javelin throwing. In the blink of an eye, the 900 spears fell onto the land over 100 m away like a thunderstorm. As a result, the greater part of the spears was driven into the land.
"Wind..." On the other side of the training ground, as the drillmaster uttered the word "wind", a row of 100 fighters marched forward in a neat and tidy pace. The charging speed of the fighters was very fast. Even in the midst of the charging, they still maintained a neat formation. After rushing forward for more than 10 steps, they took advantage of this momentum and threw the javelins in their hands at a low angle, almost shooting them in a straight line towards the distance.
Soon after this row of fighters finished throwing their spears, they squatted down. In 2 seconds, the second row of 100 fighters had rushed out of their rear tidily and came to the front of them. After that, they squatted down. Closely after that, the third row of fighters rushed out … They took turns to throw their spears. When the 9th row of fighters finished throwing their spears, the first batch of fighters who squatted down had already taken out the second spear and prepared for the next throw. After that, they stood up, rushed out and threw their spears for the second time …
This was nine-section spear strike. In this state, a spear attacking phalanx could constantly form a steel wall in front of the attacking phalanx in a short period of time.
Closely after the word "lightning", hundreds of fighters on the other side of the training field also threw their spears. All the spears hit the mounds over 200 m away precisely …
On the training field, over 100,000 fighters were throwing javelins in various ways. More fighters were clenching their teeth, squatting in a horse stance and raising javelins with heavy objects under their hairy tips by one hand. Gold coins were placed on the thicker parts of those javelins. As long as the javelins quivered, those gold coins would fall off the javelins.
There were various other training methods, battle skills and so on …
…
Standing on a hillside nearby the training field of Fire-Dragon Corps and watching those tough yet special training, Commander Cheng suddenly turned around and asked Zhang Tie, "Who made these training methods and spear fighting skills?"
"Ahem ahem, I've studied about spears a bit. I made up the training syllabus of Combustible Spear Fighters!"
"Do you prepare to have all these people become Combustible Spear Fighters?"
"Of course not. One of the basic requirements to be a Combustible Spear Fighter is to throw spears over 200 m away. Not everybody could reach this requirement. We all carry out such training for the selection of Combustible Spear Fighters and for all the members of Fire-Dragon Corps to be familiar with the main battle mode of the corps in the future. The battle mode of Fire-Dragon Corps is utterly different than that of other corps!"
"How?"
"As common fighters' battle strength couldn't match that of demon fighters, I only have one request for Fire-Dragon Corps — — pour all your weapons onto the heads of demons in the shortest period and evacuate from the battlefield as fast as possible. Try your best to survive yourself …"
"You treat them as cavalry archers?"
"Yes. However, cavalry archers ride horses; however, fighters of Fire-Dragon Corps are mechanized. Steel and technology are the power in the hands of humans …"
"You're preparing for a war. If not the holy war, what I've seen and heard in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory today would be enough to convict you of conspiracy!"
Zhang Tie let out a sigh as he said, "I'm indeed preparing for the war. I don't believe that Commander Cheng couldn't see that demons would never spare more time for Taixia Country to prepare. From now on, demons might appear in Taixia Country at any time. In this case, if I don't speed up my preparation, do I have to fight demons when they arrive at Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory?"
"Taixia Country has just encountered a small problem. Even though all the provinces and prefectures across Taixia Country suffer from grain shortage in summer, Taixia Country's storage could easily support the whole country for 10 years. Why are you so confident?" Commander Cheng asked calmly.
"Based on Commander Cheng's status, I don't believe that Xuanyuan Hill could hide the war preparation against demons from you!" Zhang Tie revealed a smile as he moved his eyes onto the training field, "Starting from Pingsha Valley, as long as the bloody sea across Taixia Country is discovered, it would be taken over by the Supreme Court or the military. After that, everything in the bloody sea would be demolished. Although those bloody figures broke out in a haste, I think Xuanyuan Hill could definitely decipher a key information from those bloody figures or bloody sea, namely, when bloody figures would fully mature in bloody sea. If I'm not mistaken, the bloody figures that Xuanyuan Hill deciphered would mature in June this year at latest. Perhaps Commander Cheng is the first one to receive the notice from Xuanyuan Hill across Northeast Military Region. Am I right, Commander Cheng?"
Cheng Honglie's eyes suddenly gave out shrewd light as he gazed at Zhang Tie.
"Don't worry, Commander Cheng. I didn't arrange any mole on Commander Cheng's side; neither is it necessary for me to do that. However, the intelligence that Xuanyuan Hill deciphered might be known by others in Taixia Country!"
Watching Zhang Tie, Commander Cheng frowned as he suddenly recalled something. Closely after that, he let out a sigh, "Qianji, you really deserve your reputation. I believe that it's not Zhang Taixuan who told you about it. Even Zhang Taixuan doesn't know about it. By now, I really wonder about the identity of the heavenly knight who exterminated the expeditionary corps of Sacred Light Empire on your back. Did those old b * stards of Heavens Fortune Sect tell you about it …
Zhang Tie shrugged as he didn't explain anything. Since he returned to Taixia Country with his wives and concubines, everyone across Taixia Country had been guessing about the identity of the heavenly knight on Zhang Tie's back. Many people guessed that the heavenly knight on Zhang Tie's back was a grand elder of Heavens Fortune Sect. Many people guessed that Zhang Tie was close to Heavens Fortune Sect. Now that Zhang Tie could have a grand elder of Heavens Fortune Sect help him, many people guessed that there was something fishy about it.
Zhang Tie didn't care about such gossips and guesses. Because even if you had 100 mouths, you couldn't explain it clearly. Additionally, it would arouse people's suspicion. If Zhang Tie didn't say it, everyone would think that he had a heavenly knight on his back. With such a powerful reliance, who would dare offend him?
"Now that the maturity time of the bloody figures coincides with the food crisis that demons aroused in Taixia Country through Heavens Reaching Church, why do we believe that demons would spare time for Taixia Country to solve these problems in 10 years and recover its strength before facing them calmly? Like how alchemist's bombs would be more powerful if they were detonated at the same time, these crises facing Taixia Country could only make Taixia Country more turbulent and chaotic. Therefore, Taixia Country doesn't have much time to fight demons. If I was the demon general, after knowing that the bloody figures in bloody sea had been exposed in advance, I would definitely push forward all the plans in case of a chance for Taixia Country to train its troops calmly! "
After watching Zhang Tie for a short while seriously, Commander Cheng suddenly said, "You're right. Demons are indeed coming soon. Demons have already found a way to the Eastern Continent by bypassing the Lion Fortress in the Earth-elements Realm. Few people in Taixia Country know this news. Based on the most optimistic estimation of Xuanyuan Hill, they would not arrive later than the end of next year!"
After hearing Commander Cheng's words, Zhang Tie's heart raced as he asked, "How did Xuanyuan Hill know that?"
"Han Zhengfang said this when he fought Meng Shidao in Sincerity Garden after exposing his identity. In that case, no matter what stance Han Zhengfang took, heavenly knight had his dignity. He would never lie about this. After receiving this news, Xuanyuan Hill had already contacted the Lion Fortress and had it verify it. Last month, Du Guyi, the demon-suppression general, submitted a letter to Xuanyuan Hill, saying that demons had indeed found a way to enter Taixia Country by bypassing the Lion Fortress. You could never imagine what suggestion Du Guyi had put forward in the letter to the imperial court."
"What suggestion?"
"Du Guyi wants the Lion Fortress to destroy the tunnel from Military Province to the Earth-elements Realm by self-destruction. After that, he wants all the human knights who are guarding the Lion Fortress in the Earth-elements Realm to fight demons at all costs. As a special force of humans in this holy war, they would break into the underground demon country together with him and give demons a heavy blow …"
As Zhang Tie had entered the Earth-elements Realm from Military Province and stayed in the Lion Fortress, he was dumbfounded after hearing what the demon suppression general wanted to do …
Watching Zhang Tie's shocked look, Commander Cheng finally had a strange feeling. Zhang Tie had shocked him more than once today. Finally, it was his turn to see such a shocked look on Zhang Tie's face.
"Xuanyuan Hill would never agree with that!" Zhang Tie shook his head.
"Of course not. They have to bear the great stress from all the major clans and sects across the human countries and throw tens of thousands of human knights out of the Earth-elements Realm like throwing dice. Even Emperor Xuanyuan could not make such a determination. How could the crown prince and the top three chancellors agree with that?"
Zhang Tie frowned, "Commander Cheng, why did you tell me this?"
"Because I want to make a deal with you!"
"What deal?"
"Help me train 10000 military officers. I request them to be like the military officers of your Fire-Dragon Corps after they leave Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory. Additionally, provide me with 10 battle-ready equipments of Fire-Dragon Corps!" Commander Cheng said straightforwardly. Based on Commander Cheng's sharp insight, he had already seen the value of Fire-Dragon Corps; especially the training method of Bursting Flame Spear fighters, which was absolutely extraordinary.
"I can help Commander Cheng train 10000 military officers. However, given the current production capacity of Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory, all the equipments in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory have to meet the demand of Fire-Dragon Corps before meeting the demand of the outside world. It might take a few years to equip 5 million soldiers …"
"If so, expand the production capacity!"
"I don't have enough people!"
"I will assign the most powerful engineering corps in Northeast Military Region to you. Additionally, I will assign 100,000 technicians and engineers from Aibei Prefecture of Yanzhou Province to Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory. With these forces, you could establish a powerful industrial production base in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory in the shortest period. As for resources, Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory and Youzhou Province should not lack them …"
Aibei Prefecture was the industrial center of the entire Northeast Military Region. The most outstanding industrial talents in the entire Northeast Military Region were gathered there. It could be said that the technicians and engineers who could make a living in Aibei Prefecture were all outstanding talents and elites in the industry. These people would be welcomed wherever they went.
"Fine!" Zhang Tie nodded. After thinking for a few seconds, he added, "However, if we want the industrial production base in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory to survive and have its own ability to produce new products, all the following transactions should not be unilateral blood transfusion. Everything has to be done according to commercial rules. Of course, all the equipments for Commander Cheng could be sold at the cost price."
Commander Cheng asked for "combat-ready equipment" of 10 Fire-Dragon Corps instead of "equipment". Although there was a sharp difference between the two words, the quantity of equipment required by the former was 3 times that of the latter; especially weapons and ammunition. It meant that Zhang Tie had to provide more fiery-oil incendiary bombs and incendiary spears to satisfy Commander Cheng's appetite. It was definitely an astronomical figure. Less than 5 clans across Northeast Military Region including Zhang Tie might be able to provide so many equipment, not to mention Youzhou Province. Additionally, Zhang Tie would have to pay a great price for it.
Zhang Tie indeed had a good impression of Commander Cheng; however, it didn't mean that Commander Cheng would sacrifice himself for the government of Taixia Country even though he would suffer a great loss only by one sentence.
Commander Cheng waved his hand with a smile, "In short, as long as you give me these items, I will have all-purpose medicament enter the purchasing storage catalogue of the top 6 warehouses of Northeast Military Region!"
Zhang Tie watched Commander Cheng with a toothache. At this moment, Zhang Tie felt that Commander Cheng's dark face was extremely cunning. After toothache for quite a while, Zhang Tie finally nodded forcefully, "Deal!"
Commander Cheng finally revealed a faint smile after being solemn for quite a while. Closely after that, it was replaced by a painful look as Commander Cheng confided to Zhang Tie sincerely, "Don't feel that you've suffered a loss. From today on, I will hand over the best official fields covering 120 million mu in Ninghe Prefecture, Yanzhou Province to you for 100 years. You know, over so many years, I didn't agree to rent those official fields from me. It's the best official fields in Northeast Military Region. From then on, you only need to pay 50% of the grain output of those official fields as rent to the Northeast Military Region. That's the deal. Here's a remote-sensing finger ring that could be used to contact me directly. I have to go now!"
I have to go now! "After throwing a remote-sensing communications finger ring to Zhang Tie, before Zhang Tie opened his mouth, Commander Cheng had flown off and disappeared in front of Zhang Tie. Gao Tianqi blinked his eyes towards Zhang Tie before rushing into the sky and disappearing together with Commander Cheng …
Not knowing why, watching Commander Cheng leaving so hurriedly, Zhang Tie always felt being cheated …
…
Only after a short while, Commander Cheng and Gao Tianqi had returned to Commander Cheng's airboat. The moment they returned to the airboat, Commander Cheng had ordered the airboat to return to Youzhou Province at the fastest speed.
Being guilty of something was not only exclusive to small figures.
"Commander, why did you …"
Gao Tianqi watched Commander Cheng with a curious look.
"Ahem …"
Commander Cheng coughed twice. The advantage of having a dark face was that nobody could tell when he blushed, "Isn't he called Qianji? Erm … someone might give you a surprise if you force him!"
Gao Tianqi became speechless as he could only mourn for Zhang Tie inside. The highest rent in Ninghe Prefecture was 40%. Previously, many major clans and dignitaries indeed wanted to rent the official fields in Ninghe Prefecture; however, Commander Cheng's 50% rent scared them away …
This year, Ninghe Prefecture suffered a great harvest … (To be continued.)
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