The first step of attacking the Ghost Mountain Peninsula is the most important beginning for the Sea Tribe to increase its population and military strength. Without sufficient troops, there is no chance of attacking the grassland people in winter, right?
This time, not only did they fail to rescue people and supplies, but they also suffered heavy casualties.
"Originally, the attack was going smoothly, and the Gray Ghost Tribe's resistance wasn't fierce. I don't know if it was a coincidence, but a large group of thousands of cavalry rushed in from the west..."
Okay! With thousands of cavalry, the Sea Tribe dared to attack the Gray Ghost Tribe on the Ghost Mountain Peninsula. Wasn't it relying on those 100 cavalrymen? The cavalry had lost its advantage. When the cavalry charged, the infantry in the melee were of course unable to stop them.
"It doesn't seem like they're reinforcements from the Gray Ghost Tribe. Those thousands of cavalrymen even killed the able-bodied men who were resisting..."
It was just bad luck. The army of the Sea Tribe launched the attack first, but was taken advantage of by another force that attacked later.
If the troops of the Sea Tribe were not usually well-trained and had some organized resistance, they would have been completely wiped out by such a large group of cavalry.
Ma Yue felt very lucky that so many teams were able to escape back.
The Guishan Peninsula was too far away, and we only went there twice a year, so the intelligence was unlikely to be up-to-date. A hasty landing operation was truly a gamble on luck.
In this primitive world with limited information, many wars like this depend on luck. However, the Sea Tribe's luck on this expedition was truly terrible.
"The situation was unexpected, but you fought pretty well." Ma Yue's assessment was quite pertinent; he wouldn't have fared much better. Furthermore, Gray Wolf and White Skin were willing to cover the rear for the main force's evacuation, a truly commendable dedication.
"The team was able to retreat so far. As leaders, Gray Wolf and White Skin are qualified and can even be rated as excellent. Everyone can fight when the wind is favorable, but in the face of adversity such as the surprise attack, they were able to remain calm, organize a staggered attack, and save the majority of the troops. This is what is most valuable..."
Ma Yue made a further evaluation, which was already very high.
Even Luo Bai kept nodding his head.
"Hai Rui, Yizi, go back and appease the navy, convey my condolences, and bring some sheep over. Tell them they've performed well and haven't brought shame to our Hai Tribe..."
"Yes!" Ma Yue said this, and Hai Rui and Yizi felt much more at ease.
"Luo Bai, you go too. You must appease the 300 soldiers who have returned, and also convey my intentions. Regarding the reward, the Second and Third Priests, please help and take care of it..."
"Let's go now!"
Although the performance in this battle was good, we lost after all, so it is impossible to celebrate in a big way. We can just comfort the returning team to a certain extent, and that's enough.
In this battle, the Sea Tribe Army lost over 700 men. White Skin and Gray Wolf took away the 200 or so who escaped, and whether they could return was still a question. The Navy and the Army, combined, lost nearly a thousand men in this battle.
Alas! It is impossible for everything to go smoothly. It is good to have some setbacks so that the generals will not become too proud.
As I said, at present, the Sea Tribe can afford to lose and its foundation has not been damaged.
Many leaders were there to appease the tribe, and although the Haifan tribe had suffered a defeat, the atmosphere wasn't too depressing. Ma Yue also made frequent appearances, offering condolences and inspections. As always, as long as Ma Yue, the charlatan, was around, the Haifan tribe wouldn't be in chaos; this was the role of a spiritual pillar.
With the failure of this sea expedition, a series of subsequent plans were temporarily shelved.
In the past two years, the Haifan tribe area on the coast has developed too fast, so it won’t matter if it settles down for another two years.
Chun Wu, the spy chief in the core area, also kept sending news that the three major tribes there had acquired a large number of people and large livestock, and their strength had been greatly enhanced.
Since the three major tribes in the core area have no intention of joining forces to target the Haifan tribe for the time being, Ma Yue will continue with his internal development.
Wu Qi of the northern branch tribe received unexpected good news. While exploring westward, he discovered a coal mine on the edge of the frozen zone. Although located in an area on the edge of the ice, this was actually a plus. Coal is quite heavy, and relying on large livestock alone to carry it would be difficult. If it could be pulled by snowmobiles in winter, the load would be even greater.
Of course, once the snowmobile arrives here, it still needs to be carried by large livestock for three days.
No matter what, having coal is always a good thing. Burning coal to boil salt is very efficient, and the firepower is much stronger than firewood.
The third priest suggested that since the river here was not frozen, the coal could be transported to the frozen land west of the Haifan tribe and then shipped by boat, which would save much more time and effort than transporting it by large livestock.
Ma Yue immediately gave a thumbs up. Shipping by ship is of course the most cost-effective, as it has a large transport volume and no longer consumes large livestock.
Going upstream is a bit troublesome, so just paddle slowly. Old-fashioned sea boats don't have much draft and are only about four meters wide, which is just right.
It was much easier to return, even though the cargo was heavy with coal, as we could just float it downstream. The Haifan tribe's base was right at the mouth of the sea, making it easy to unload the boats.
The plan to start transporting coal in winter was decided.
"You charlatan, this was picked up by our soldiers when they were retreating." Hai Rui came again.
"Copper! Damn it!" Ma Yue took the spear tip. Connected to the back of the spear tip was a short, broken wooden pole. In other words, the enemy's weapon was a wooden pole with a copper spear tip.
"Is this the metal you mentioned?" Hai Rui always remembered the metal Ma Yue wanted, copper. Hai Rui remembered the name very clearly. "No, that Ghost Mountain Peninsula, I've been there several times, but I've never seen copper there."
"It doesn't matter if you haven't seen it. The fact exists. I guess those one thousand cavalrymen are from outside. As long as this bronze artifact exists, it's good news." Ma Yue was very excited. He was not sure how many years ago he had traveled to. It was not impossible for there to be bronze artifacts in this primitive world.
The historical basis of archaeologists is the existing archaeological discoveries. It is said that bronze artifacts appeared six or seven thousand years ago, and some say it was nine thousand years ago... This does not mean that there were no bronze artifacts tens of thousands of years ago, but that no archaeological evidence has been found.
Ma Yue took the copper gun tip to test its hardness. It was not bad. It was not soft pure copper, but had acceptable hardness.
Ma Yue vaguely remembered that pure copper needed to be added with other ingredients like lead and tin to increase its hardness. He wasn't sure what these ingredients were, or in what proportion.
Since we have discovered this copperware with good hardness and it is already available, just use it.
In the current sea tribe, the sharpest tools are bone knives, stone axes and the like. Such basic tools are too fragile and poor. If there are basic tools such as copper knives and axes, it will be much easier to process other tools in the future.
Once the pear shovel used for plowing is replaced with copper, the efficiency will be...
Since the people over there can use copper to make gun tips, it means that their copper-making ability is quite good. In theory, they should be able to process other copper artifacts.
Whether it is robbing or trading, it is worth it as long as you can get the bronze you need.
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