"Sir Xue Zheng, I've inquired. The howling sound just now was an alarm issued by the military. It seems like the high-ranking officials are about to go to war!"
"Who are they fighting? Is there any movement from the military camps outside the city?"
"I've already sent people to investigate, and I believe we'll have news soon."
The current education commissioner, named Sun Mulian, suddenly heard continuous alarms in Tamsui this morning. He immediately sent his men to investigate and prepare to send the message back to Fuzhou before heading to the capital.
"My lord, my lord, there's movement at the military camp outside the city! Tens of thousands of soldiers are heading to the docks, it seems... they're about to go to war!"
"Quickly prepare the car, let's go to the dock!" Sun Mulian was startled. How long had it been? The army had already started boarding the ships, and all the food, clothing, and supplies for the journey were prepared? Could it be that they had made preparations in advance?
Sun Mulian's carriage was stopped on the main road leading to the naval port before it even reached the Danshui port area. He could only watch as squads of soldiers jogged into the port area.
Thousands of soldiers, carrying packs and rifles, jogged along, their rhythmic steps creating a muffled thunderous sound that pounded into Sun Mulian's heart.
Sun Mulian had been in Dayuan for a year and had tried every means to find out the strength of the Dayuan army, but this was the first time he had seen so many Dayuan troops up close.
"Your Excellency, these high-ranking officers' troops are all very strong, but why are they not wearing heavy armor? They are all lightly armored infantrymen in chainmail?"
"Look, they don't have any long weapons like spears or halberds. If they were to be charged at close range by heavy cavalry, they wouldn't stand a chance."
"How can we attack a fortified position without heavy armor? ... Is the claim that a mere 10,000 troops can defeat 100,000... just empty boasts?"
The instructors looked at this brand-new army and speculated, but in the end they couldn't come up with a conclusion, so they could only look to Sun Mulian.
Sun Mulian had been known as a "military expert" since he was young, but despite having read a lot of military books, he had no idea how powerful the rifles in the hands of the Da Yuan army were. Now that he saw that the Da Yuan army was full of lightly armored riflemen, he was also a little puzzled.
But when the First Artillery Regiment of the Da Yuan boarded the ship, Sun Mulian and the others were no longer puzzled; they were so shocked that they were speechless.
They had all seen artillery, a weapon of war that had gained fame in recent years, and it was equipped in the main force of the Great Xia Imperial Guard.
However, the Imperial Guard, numbering in the tens of thousands, was only equipped with a dozen or twenty cannons at most, and even the Imperial Guard had only a hundred or so. But this large army in front of them... was entirely equipped with cannons!
"Have you counted... clearly...?"
"Your Excellency, five hundred... there are actually five hundred cannons..."
"And... at least a precious 24-pound cannon, who are they... going to shoot at?"
Sun Mulian watched the sails disappearing into the distance in the naval port and muttered, "I hope... they're not going to attack the imperial court!"
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