Thirty Cannon Scales
"Six cannons destroyed one of the cannons?" Wei Mao asked.
“Mm,” Wu Qi replied.
How many cannons are left?
Wu Qi replied, "One cannon is equivalent to ten cannons, for a total of two hundred cannons. Seven cannons have already been used."
Wei Mao then asked, "What are the odds of winning?"
Wu Qi replied, "I don't know."
Wei Mao: "Do you think the enemy has more than ten cannons?"
Wu Qi nodded.
It takes six cannons to destroy one cannon shell. They now only have 193 cannons left. If the enemy has 40 cannon shells, their chances of winning this battle are extremely low. Cannon shells are not unusable for replacing cannons, but ordinary cannons cannot be installed in them. If the cannons in a cannon shell are used up, Wu Qi will have to remix the gunpowder before they can be used.
The deployment and production of artillery takes time, and if the enemy takes the opportunity to attack, they will be helpless.
Wu Qi: "The allocation and production of cannons not only require time, but also the use of halberds, not the halberds of Pingwu Mountain, but the halberds of Hubangxue."
Wei Mao: "I will write to the capital and order them to send the gilded halberd."
Wu Qi: "Before this, we could only rely on these 193 cannons."
Wu Qi managed to defend the city once, but if they didn't completely drive the enemy out, the number of times they would have to defend the city would be countless, and they would have to live in constant fear of enemy attacks. They didn't know how many cannons the enemy had, and they were currently in a very passive position.
Fortunately, General Wei Mao's health has improved considerably.
Wu Qi wanted to take the initiative, but his thoughts were interrupted by the arguing outside the door.
The arguing grew closer, and when the door opened, people and their voices rushed in. Wu Qi looked at the crowd helplessly and said, "What's wrong with you all now? You've already defended the city, and you still have to argue?"
One person said, "It's not that we want to argue, it's just that He Qi feels that we look down on him and are isolating him!"
He Qi said, "Isn't that right? Isn't it because I failed to hit the right second cannon and wasted the cannon that you look down on me?"
The man said, "Who said we look down on you?! Stop spouting nonsense!"
He Qi said, "Then pretend you didn't hear what I just said!"
The man retorted angrily, "What do you mean by pretending not to hear? We really didn't hear anything! Ask everyone here, who heard what you said! You clearly felt inferior and wasted gunpowder, so you spoke so softly, and you're now falsely accusing us of isolating you!"
The others present echoed, "That's right!"
Wu Qi understood what was going on. It turned out that He Qi had interrupted during their conversation, but his voice was too soft for the others to hear. He Qi had missed hitting the second cannon fin on the right, and being ignored by everyone, he felt that they looked down on him and were deliberately isolating him.
He Qi then said, "So what if I waste gunpowder?! So what if I waste it? I'll just stop fighting and go back to the capital tomorrow!!"
The man said, "Go back if you want, nobody cares. Anyway, General Wei is your uncle, so you can leave whenever you want."
He Qi said, "You!..."
Wu Qi slammed his hand on the table with the military treatise, stopping the endless argument.
She didn't seem angry.
"Do you all know how many soldiers died this time? A total of 431 soldiers. They may have been the same age as us, or younger than us, or older than us."
"The youngest of the fallen soldiers was only fourteen years old."
"He's dead, what are you doing...?"
The argument that had been burning like a raging fire was now like being doused with ice water, and would never reignite.
Wu Qi said, "You have all seen the enemy's situation. I don't know how many people will die to defend this city, nor do I know who will die. It could be me, or it could be you."
"If you think arguing is more valuable than life and death, then please continue."
She opened the military treatise and continued reading the line she hadn't finished reading earlier.
"Are you no longer arguing?" Wu Qi said. "Since you've stopped arguing, let's think about how to defend the city. If we manage to defend the city, I will host a banquet for you all for half a month."
The person who had argued with He Qi said, "I'm sorry. I was being willful."
Wu Qi closed the military book, smiled at him, and said, "It's alright. I know it wasn't your intention. You were just emotional, and I felt frustrated if we didn't have a fight."
"Thank you, we'll head out now."
After everyone left and closed the door, they said, "Little Qi, you truly have the demeanor of a general."
Only Wu Qi and He Qi remained in the room. Seeing that He Qi was silent, Wu Qi did not force him and opened the military book to continue reading.
He Qi said, "I..."
Wu Qi turned to a page of the military treatise and said, "You indeed missed the second cannon on the right, and I certainly didn't pierce their hearts, which gave them a chance to counterattack. But, unexpectedly, we both survived, didn't we?"
"To make a mistake on the battlefield but survive, isn't that a once-in-a-century stroke of good luck?"
He Qi said, "I'm sorry, what I said just now was just said in anger, not what I really meant."
Wu Qi closed the military book helplessly and said, "I know you are dissatisfied, but they did not do it on purpose."
Before leaving, He Qi said again, "I shouldn't have bothered you with such a small matter."
If it were Yi Shen, he would never bother Wu Qi with such a trivial matter. He Qi suddenly realized that, without realizing it, the gap between him and Yi Shen was widening.
If everyone's personality follows a different path, then he and Yi Shen are clearly not on the same path. However, Wu Qi is on Yi Shen's path, and the two of them have been walking side by side for a long time.
Wu Qi laughed and said, "Don't worry about it."
He Qi hesitated again and said, "Could you please not be annoyed with me because of this?"
Wu Qi was taken aback and asked in confusion, "Why would such a trivial matter be so annoying? I won't be annoyed by such a trivial matter."
Just as He Qi was closing the door to leave, he ran into Yi Shen, who was bringing snacks to Wu Qi. He stopped Yi Shen and tentatively asked, "If I bother Xiao Qi with this matter, do you think she will dislike me because of it?"
Yi Shen, who knew a little about the matter, said, "No."
He asked, "Why?"
Yi Shen said, "It's a small matter. She's not that kind of person."
We lost completely.
Yi Shen glanced back at He Qi, as if he understood something. He knocked on the door with the pastries in his hand, and only after hearing Wu Qi say "Come in" did he push the door open and step into the room.
"Yi Shen, you've arrived. I was just about to go see General Zhao Wei, shall we go together?"
Yi Shen said, "That's not appropriate."
It was inappropriate for him to be present while she discussed the war with General Wei.
"It's alright, let's brainstorm together, let's go!" Wu Qi casually picked up two pieces of pastry, gave one to Yi Shen, and stuffed the other into his own mouth, before pulling Yi Shen to find General Wei.
Wei Mao was feeling much better, and when he saw Wu Qi arrive, he knew why she had come. He ordered someone to serve him hot tea and then dismissed everyone else, leaving only Yi Shen.
Yi Shenyuan was about to leave when Wei Mao stopped him.
"Young Master Yi, please stay."
Yi Shen, wearing a veil, replied, "Yes."
Wei Mao said, "The person who tipped us off has been found, but he was bribed and knew nothing about the enemy. I executed him on the spot, and his body was hung outside the city."
Wu Qi said, "It would be good to use it as a deterrent."
Wei Mao said, "We are too passive right now. I plan to gather our troops in three days to annihilate the enemy. Yao Ling, are your twenty cannon unicorns ready for battle?"
Wu Qi said, "General, all are ready to fight."
The war was settled. Wei Mao stared at the veil on Yi Shen's face and said, "Young Master Yi, I apologize."
Yi Shen knew he was apologizing for Wei Luanhua. If Wei Luanhua hadn't made such a scene at Tuo Ziyuan, Yi Shen wouldn't have been discovered to practice martial arts, and naturally, he wouldn't have had to wear a veil in public.
“Let’s stick to the facts and not punish everyone involved,” he said.
Wei Mao said, "My son has done many things that have wronged you, and I do not ask for your forgiveness."
Wu Qi said, "What if he did more than just wrong us? What if he also wronged you?"
For example, collecting fees for buying official positions in General Wei's name, and forging halberds...
Wei Mao sighed, seemingly lost in thought, and said, "I have also done things that I have wronged him, and to this day, I am still wronging him."
Wu Qi added, "But this is not an excuse for him to harm others."
After a long while, Wei Mao said, "I'm tired. Please go back."
Wu Qi said, "General Wei, I have one last question for you."
Wei Mao said, "Okay, ask away."
"I want to ask you, if a matter of utmost importance were to reach the Emperor, would you protect your son?"
After a long silence, Wei Mao replied, "Yes."
After receiving the answer, Wu Qi and Yi Shen took their leave.
On the way, Wu Qi said, "He knows everything."
Wei Mao knew everything. He knew his son's character, how unruly and arrogant his son was, how disrespectful he was to the law, and what heinous things his son had done.
Even knowing this, he was still willing to protect his son.
Yi Shen said, "You suspect that the enemy's cannon clapper incident is related to Wei Si?"
Wu Qi said, "Hmm, it's pretty close. After all, there's still Zhao Xiwei in the Moonfall Camp."
Yi Shen said, "Don't bother thinking about this matter."
Wu Qi knew that thinking about it was useless. General Wei would naturally protect Wei Luanhua, and the Emperor, as Wei Luanhua's uncle, would also naturally protect him. As long as the city didn't fall, Wei Luanhua would be fine. At most, he would just need to find a scapegoat.
But the city could not be breached.
Three days later, Wei Mao led his troops to attack the enemy, and Wu Qi still commanded the cannons. The enemy hastily responded and brought forward thirty cannons.
There were thirty of them in total, and it would take 180 blasts to destroy them.
Wu Qi squatted on the head of the cannon unicorn, looking at the thirty cannon unicorns opposite him, and fell into deep thought.
—Do they still have cannon fins?
If these thirty are destroyed, will another thirty be destroyed?
Ning Xunxu said, "Where did they get so many gilded halberds? I haven't heard that the enemy dug them up..."
The cannon finial requires a gilded halberd, but where did the enemy get one? Could it be that they secretly dug it up?
Lin Kuo said, "They don't have any glittering halberds. There are far too few glittering halberds on Pingwu Mountain."
"Although I can't remember which of my blueprints they used, the cannon scales that can be destroyed by six cannons can only fire five shots." Wu Qi wrapped his fox fur tighter around himself. "They have one hundred and fifty cannons, and we have one hundred and ninety-seven cannons."
"But who knows if they won't send another twenty or thirty cannon eagles."
"So let's respond with bombs. Let's not waste our artillery. It would be best to blow up one of their cannon horns, and then let their blown-up horns bomb their comrades."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
