Chapter 43 I Have Two Pieces of Good Steel

Chapter 43 I Have Two Pieces of Good Steel

Chapter 43 I Have Two Pieces of Good Steel (Please Read)

Now that it was determined that Liang County must be defended, we had to prepare to build a city.

In addition, Yang Jing proposed to build a fort about a hundred miles east of Luzhou. Lu Jin instantly thought of defensive fortifications such as bastions, but after thinking about it, he gave up because this thing would require a large number of muskets and artillery to be effective.

Cold weapons cannot defend the bastion, and those long slopes will instead become a boost to the attacker.

In fact, the most suitable place to confront Heyang Kang Maocai is Hanshan occupied by Zhao Pusheng, which is just to the east as Yang Jing said, but it is a little far from Luzhou, about the same distance as Lu'an, more than 200 miles.

Yang Jing was still very excited at this time. He looked at the map and analyzed Lu Jin's plan to take Jiangnan. Of course, that was a long-term goal in one or two years, so he asked again.

"Marshal, where shall we attack next?"

Lu Jin said without thinking, "My plan is Chao County, which is Commander Liao's hometown. Most of their navy members are from Chao County, so they are familiar with Chao County and it is easy to capture.

"In addition, there are coal mines in Chao County and iron mines in Lujiang County across Chaohu Lake. Chaohu Lake is located to the south and north, with one iron mine and one coal mine. If we take over these two counties, we can make iron ourselves.

"Lu'an is in the west, with the Dabie Mountains behind it. Once the roads in the mountains are blocked, no enemy can easily attack from the southwest, and timber can be cut from the Dabie Mountains.

"Making weapons also requires a lot of wood. With wood and iron, we can also build cars and warships!"

Only then did Yang Jing understand the reason behind Lu Jin's plan. Being able to build their own warships, weapons, and armor would definitely be a great help and would be of great benefit to crossing the river in the future.

So he became even more excited and asked, "Marshal, when are we going to attack Chao County?"

"Attack Chao County? We have to wait until we take over Lu'an. After Lu'an is stabilized, I only have three regiments. One regiment will guard Luzhou and cannot move. The second regiment will attack Lu'an. I will have the third regiment left as a reserve mobile force. If anything happens in Lu'an, I can send reinforcements immediately.

"Once we capture Lu'an, we can send the third regiment to attack Chao County," Lu Jin explained.

There are still not enough troops.

Yang Jing was puzzled. "If one regiment guards Luzhou, the second regiment guards Lu'an, and the third regiment guards Chao County, wouldn't that mean there is no mobility?"

Lu Jin shook his head. "No, after Chao County is taken, I plan to let the navy guard it. The navy will be stationed in Chao County. It is right next to Chao Lake anyway, so the Third Regiment can continue to fight in a mobile manner. In addition, your Fourth Regiment must be formed as soon as possible to form combat effectiveness."

Hearing that his own unformed Fourth Regiment was also in Lu Jin's plan, Yang Jing became even more anxious. He had just joined and was eager to make merit. Besides, Lu Jin promised to let him be the regiment commander, but his troops were not yet gathered. How could he not be anxious?

He immediately asked Lu Jin for help.

"Marshal, I want to go to Anfeng and Shou County to see if I can recruit some soldiers."

"Go to Anfeng to recruit soldiers, but that's not our territory." Lu Jin frowned.

"We'll have to take it down sooner or later anyway." Yang Jing didn't care.

Lu Jin shook his head and asked, "How are you going to deal with it? There are Yuan troops over there."

Yang Jing had his own ideas, "I want to go to the countryside of Anfeng and try to avoid the Yuan army."

Lu Jin thought for a moment before saying, "If you want to recruit soldiers in the countryside, that's fine, especially those who have built strongholds to protect themselves. Don't provoke the Yuan army in the city. I have no plans to attack Anfeng and Shou County in the short term, within two or three years."

Yang Jing frowned and asked in confusion, "Why?"

Why? Of course it was because of Liu Futong and Du Zundao.

The temporary base camp of Liu Du’s Red Army was in Fuyang, Anhui, about five or six hundred miles away from Luzhou. Anfeng and Shou County were the buffer zones between them.

He didn't want to have contact with Liu Du's tribe for the time being. They were now very powerful. Once the borders were connected, there would only be one outcome: either he would rather die than submit and be forcibly annexed, or he would bow his head and be subservient and be recruited by the other side with a soft knife.

Then wouldn’t my work have been in vain?

When he becomes stronger, with tens of thousands of soldiers and a few more cities, we can meet him again and he will be like Zhu Yuanzhang in history.

In name, I can be your younger brother, leaning on a big tree for shade, but you want me to hand over my territory and military power? No way! Don't even think about sending a leader here! If you dare to send one, I will let him die in the hands of the "Yuan army"!
"The Liu-Du rebels are now in Yingzhou (Fuyang). They are very powerful now. I don't want to have any contact with them for the time being. Otherwise, wouldn't our efforts be in vain?"

Lu Jin stopped there and Yang Jing understood instantly.

This lord is ambitious. From his previous plan to compete with Xu Shouhui for Jiangnan, to his current unwillingness to have any contact with Liu Du's troops, it is clear that he has no intention of keeping a low profile.

But it’s better this way. If their lord becomes someone else’s subject, how can the generals under Lu Jin make progress?

Yang Jing immediately clasped his fists and accepted the order, "Yes, I understand. Try to avoid them."

Lu Jin nodded and instructed, "Don't make it a big deal. Just recruit a few hundred or a thousand people to fill up your regiment."

"Yes!"

"Go." After Yang Jing left, Lu Jin asked Bao Heng to bring over a dozen craftsmen, including blacksmiths, carpenters, and bricklayers, all of whom looked at him nervously.

Lu Jin immediately said to them.

"You don't have to be afraid. I am the commander-in-chief of the rebel army that represents the Han people. I am not a Tartar who makes you work for nothing. I will not order you around for nothing.

"I'll give you tasks to do. If you do them well, you'll be rewarded with a house, land, and even a wife. I'll help you find one and give you an official position. But if you dare to fool me, you'll have a hard time."

"Yes." A group of craftsmen immediately responded in a submissive manner.

"Who is the blacksmith? Come forward and tell us your name."

Immediately, two burly men in their thirties stepped forward, their arms as strong as those of a unicorn.

"My name is Xue Gang. I am from Luzhou City. I have a blacksmith shop by the Jindou River."

"I am Sui Gu. I have a blacksmith shop near the east gate. I usually shoe horses for people."

Lu Jin nodded and asked, "Do you two know how to smelt iron? The kind that uses ore to smelt iron."

"This..." The two men hesitated immediately. Being able to forge iron does not mean being able to smelt iron. The difference is quite big.

Sui Gu hesitated for a moment before saying, "In reply to the Marshal, I can smelt runny iron, but I can't smelt molten iron."

"What is loose iron?" Lu Jin asked puzzled.

Sui Gu immediately explained to Lu Jin that it turned out that sponge iron is what we call sponge iron in modern times, also known as lump iron.

The furnace is temporarily built with mud. Pour iron ore and charcoal into it and you can smelt it. What is produced is solid sponge-like iron slag, which cannot flow out in liquid form. The furnace is also dismantled after use and is a disposable furnace.

This is already an outdated technology. It is probably the one used during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.

The iron-smelting technology of the Yuan Dynasty was actually quite good. Water-pumped air blast technology appeared in the Song Dynasty, and mature coke iron-smelting technology began to appear in the Yuan Dynasty.

As for whether the ancients could raise the furnace temperature to above 1650℃ and produce liquid iron, this is a question that can be used to distinguish IQ.
Lu Jin had read some time-travel novels before, and when it came to ancient iron-smelting technology, the authors' statements were always contradictory.

They say that the furnace temperature in ancient times was not high enough to produce liquid iron. Then they say that iron coins were minted in the Song Dynasty. If you can't even produce liquid iron, how can you mint iron coins? Did you make your iron coins by hammering them one by one? Obviously, this logic doesn't make sense.

Lu Jin didn't know whether the Song Dynasty could smelt molten iron, but the Yuan Dynasty was definitely able to, because he had seen iron coins minted by the Yuan Dynasty. But obviously these two blacksmiths who only knew how to forge iron did not have this technology.

Lu Jin sighed secretly, there is still a lack of talent.

Then he asked, "Can you two forge weapons?"

This time the two did not hesitate. Xue Gang said immediately, "Replying to the commander, the sword of the Zuo general was made by me."

Zuo Junbi's knife? Lu Jin had seen it before, but it was confiscated by Liao Yongjian. He was not the boss at the time, so he did not say anything, and he did not think highly of the knife.

Sui Gu also said, "I can use spear heads, knives, arrowheads, and armor pieces."

That's possible. Both of them can make weapons, and one of them can make armor plates. In this way, they can meet the needs of weapons, but he lacks raw materials and still has to smelt iron himself.

Lu Jin does understand the principle and can figure it out slowly, but as he is the commander-in-chief of the entire army, it is impossible for him to do the work himself. It is possible to let others guide the improvements, but someone still has to be found to do the iron smelting.

So he told Bao Heng beside him, "I don't care what method you use, just find me a group of craftsmen who can smelt iron as soon as possible, even if it's only one or two."

"Yes." Bao Heng was instantly overwhelmed, but he had to find a way to complete the task assigned by his master, otherwise he would be incompetent and worthless.
It is impossible to smelt iron on a large scale to make weapons now, but it is no problem to make a set of exclusive weapons for Lu Jin himself.

He had a set of self-rescue tools on his off-road vehicle, including an engineer shovel, a pickaxe, and a sledgehammer.

The engineer shovel is of little value, but the pickaxe head and hammer head are good materials and can be used to transform weapons. Modern steel, even ordinary carbon steel, is of better quality than ancient refined iron. If it is transformed, wouldn’t it become a peerless magic weapon?

However, he has not yet decided what long weapon to use, so he needs to ask the generals under his command for advice. Swords can be made first.

A one-handed sword usually weighs only about 600 grams, and the heaviest is less than two kilograms. The hammer head of his sledgehammer weighs three kilograms, which is enough to make four or five one-handed swords.

The pickaxe head can be kept to transform long weapons.

Thinking of this, he said immediately.

"I have two pieces of fine steel. Can you two make me a sword each?"

(End of this chapter)