This is obvious. The troops Song Zining built may still be lacking in personal combat power, but they can fully make up for it with heavy firepower and abundant supplies. The combat effectiveness of this army can no longer be measured by the number of people, not to mention that there is an entire fleet in the air watching the situation with a stern eye, ready to attack at any time.
If you want to fight this army, you must have an overwhelming advantage in numbers, 50,000 is definitely not enough. The reason why Ji Rui said 50,000 is because the direct troops and mercenaries that Zhang Buzhou can mobilize are 50,000. If it exceeds 50,000, it will be difficult to support it.
Another way is to be crushed by the strong, just like Qianye faced the entire Tingchao City alone that day. However, this will not work, the empire is now hiding dragons and crouching dragons, and no one knows how many powerful people are hidden inside. Knowing that Luo Bingfeng was listening to Chaocheng, and still daring to besiege it, it shows that the empire already has countermeasures.
Ji Rui sighed heavily and said, "We're all getting old!"
Guan Zhongliu shook his head, "What is the city lord saying? The empire will never stay in a neutral place for long. After this battle, it will withdraw sooner or later. This neutral place will eventually be our world."
Ji Rui shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Originally I had some ambitions, but seeing Qianye's bravery, and looking at the army Song Zining built, how can I not understand that those ambitions are nothing more than illusions."
Guan Zhongliu was not convinced, "Qianye is indeed powerful. But what does Song Zining have? His army is just piled up with money. Give us so much money, and we can do it!"
Ji Rui asked rhetorically, "Given you so much money, can you really build such an army in this short period of time?"
Guan Zhongliu opened his mouth, but couldn't answer.
Forming an army is an extremely complicated matter. Not only reorganization, but also equipment, service mix, training and logistics must be effectively coordinated in order to build a combat-capable army. Thinking back carefully, since Song Zining arrived in Nanqingcheng, every step he took and everything he did, which seemed scattered and unrelated, were actually preparations for this day. Unknowingly, many mercenary regiments, large and small commercial firms, and even the entire Nanqing City were tied to chariots.
Originally, Ji Rui and Guan Zhongliu relied on their own strength, and they still had the idea of selling them. But now that there are so many powerful people in the empire, Song Zining didn't even mention their participation in this battle. This made the two of them feel disappointed while rejoicing.
The empire won this battle, which proved that the two were useless, and they would never expect to be reused in the future. If they lose, neither Zhang Buzhou nor Yong Ye will spare them, and expulsion is the best ending.
On the other hand, this battle was of great importance, and Song Zining obviously didn't want them to know why they fought this war. That is to say, in the imperial system, Ji Rui and Guan Zhongliu were already marginal roles in the fringe.
In front of Ji Rui, Guan Zhongliu couldn't say anything against his will. With this little time, it is still possible for him to form a mercenary group of ten thousand people, but it is impossible to form such an excellent army. Before that day, Guan Zhongliu couldn't even imagine that there could be such a heavy army in the world, so where did he build it
Ji Rui didn't need Guan Zhongliu's answer either, he quietly said: "Not to mention anything else, it's his ability to get so much money!"
Guan Zhongliu was silent for a while, and asked, "City Master, what should we do next?"
"After this battle, if the empire wins, then we will take the initiative to invite Yingying and be willing to be the driving force."
Guan Zhongliu was not reconciled: "City Master, this Nanqing City is your foundation!"
Ji Rui smiled wryly, and stretched out his hand: "My foundation? Is my foundation that big?"
Guan Zhongliu still wanted to persuade him, but Ji Rui raised his hand to stop him, and said, "Old Guan, I've thought about it too. In terms of aptitude, it's even more difficult for you and me to break through to a super general. But the empire has accumulated for thousands of years. There will always be a secret method that is suitable for us. If we can reward one or two high-grade secret methods for our contribution, maybe you and I can both hope to break through to the god generals. By that time, brothers will be able to do it for decades!"
It can be said that it is the ultimate dream of every warrior to break through the heavenly pass of the god general, and Guan Zhongliu couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat.
After watching it for a while, Ji Rui said, "It's almost there, let's pack up."
"Where are you going?" Guan Zhongliu was a little confused.
"Of course I listen to Chaocheng! How can there be no accidents in such a big battle? Luo Bingfeng is not that easy to deal with. We will act on the sidelines and help the empire when necessary. This is the attitude."
"City Master, but if this is the case, we will completely break with Zhang Buzhou."
Ji Rui laughed at himself, "Do you think we can still be the same as before? Even if we don't help the empire, we will be regarded as the side of the empire. Besides, it is Luo Bingfeng, not Zhang Buzhou, who we completely broke up with."
Listening to Chaocheng, the first batch of troops has arrived and is building a defensive position.
The position of the position is only a few thousand meters away from Tingchao City, working under the watchful eyes of the defenders, it can be described as extremely arrogant. The defenders on the city were gnashing their teeth in anger, but there was nothing they could do. The defensive position is just outside the maximum range of the ballista. If you want to go out of the city to attack, there are always several floating battleships floating in the sky. Just looking at the densely packed muzzles of these battleships and their unimaginable maneuverability, you can tell that they are not easy to mess with.
No matter how idiot the general defending the city is, he also knows that charging the defensive position with the artillery fire of the floating ship is tantamount to committing suicide.
When the first defensive position was built, the defenders were still very angry, but as the follow-up troops arrived one after another, the defenders soon became tense.
The experienced veterans soon discovered that only about half of the convoy was loaded with soldiers, and the rest were loaded with various materials and large machinery for building fortifications. And heavy cargo ships began to appear in the sky. These cargo ships unloaded materials like hills, and then turned them into steel plates for the outer walls, barracks for garrisons, densely packed heavy artillery, and countless shells.
The cargo ships in the sky are in an endless stream, which seems to never stop.
The more the guarding general looked back, the paler his face became. He had never seen such a way of preparing for a siege battle, and the opponent's supplies seemed to be endless. Although he has never seen it, he can still judge what kind of consequences these materials can bring based on his experience.
Just when he was worried, the adjutant next to him said worriedly: "General, how come there are so many heavy artillery? This is not going to work. They don't need to attack the city at all. The brothers can't bear it just by using heavy artillery." ah!"
The city defense general's face sank, and he said, "Then what do you say?"
The adjutant gritted his teeth and said: "How about I lead a group of people out of the city and charge for a while?"
The city defense general pointed to the city, and said with a cold face: "You said this about an hour ago, but now, it's too late."
The adjutant looked down the city, and what he saw was the front of the fortification that had just taken shape. Rows of steel plates were being erected, and they were spliced together in a few strokes, forming an extremely strong defensive position. He couldn't help taking a breath, and said, "Don't you need money for the steel plate?"
By this time, the defensive position under the city had been formed, coupled with the unimaginable ferocious firepower of the mercenaries, the double blow from the sky and heavy artillery, the assault outside the city was tantamount to courting death.
The adjutant's face became more and more ugly. He originally wanted to take a thousand people out of the city, but now it seems that whether these thousand people can rush under the steel wall alive is a problem.
"General, there is only one way."
The city defense general turned his head and said: "What method, tell me quickly!"
The adjutant gritted his teeth and said, "The only thing is to ask the city lord to take action and wipe out these bastards outside the city."
With a slap, the city defense general waved his hand and slapped the face, making the adjutant dizzy. After a slap in the face, he was still angry, and cursed: "How do you know that the other party didn't set a trap and just waited for the city lord to leave the city? Once the city lord is in an ambush, it depends on you bastards to hold it Listen to Chaocheng? Why, do you see that the other party is powerful and has two minds?"
The adjutant panicked: "I definitely didn't mean that!"
The general pointed to the defensive position below the city, and said with a sullen face: "Look carefully, the position they set up is just outside the range of the holy mountain blessing. You want the city lord to give up the benefits of the holy mountain and go out of the city to fight bloody opponents?"
The adjutant was even more panicked and hastily denied it.
The general snorted, and said: "Since you have served the city lord for more than twenty years, let's forget it this time. Without my order, no one is allowed to disturb the city lord! Listen to the big and small things that happened in Chaocheng. Can you hide it from the city lord? When the city lord intends to fight, he will do it himself, so we don't need to worry about it!"
"Yes, yes! The general is wise!" the adjutant said obediently, and hurriedly retreated. After turning around, a fierce light flashed in his eyes.
I heard that under Chaocheng, after the mercenaries built three fortifications, they stopped increasing and started building barracks in the rear. A large number of barracks have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. This kind of marching barracks with steel pipes as supports and tarpaulins is nothing new. It is said that the guards of Chaocheng City also have dozens of sets in their hands.
But when these barracks appeared in hundreds and thousands, the shock it brought was unimaginable.
Looking at the layout of the city, General Chengwei's face became more gloomy, and he said to himself: "This is planning to destroy the city one day!"
Beyond the clouds and sky, a floating ship slowly flew over. The ship's body was smooth and luxuriously decorated.
On the floating ship, Song Zining stood on the deck, looking down and listening to Chaocheng. Behind him, stood the elders of the emperor's family, the elders of Li's family and others.
Looking at the strict military appearance below, even the people who are used to seeing the big world can't help being slightly moved. If it is the elite army of the empire, it is not surprising to do so. However, the main force of the lower army, a few months ago, were all mercenaries who were used to sloppiness, and Song Zining reorganized them into this in a blink of an eye. The difficulty can be imagined. Many people's evaluation of Song Zining has improved again.
Amidst the praise, Song Zining chuckled, and said, "It's just superficial tricks, and it's completely used to bluff people. The crucial battle depends on how we deal with Luo Bingfeng."