Is Kyoto on the Verge of Falling

But...

Ren Tianye was still bewildered.

The flintlock, while not particularly high-tech in the modern world, was practically an era-defying invention here in the Great Yu Dynasty.

It wasn't about the gunpowder.

Great Yu already had gunpowder, though it was just black powder.

And flintlocks used black powder anyway.

It was about the many components of the flintlock.

Take its basic mechanism, for example.

If someone who didn't understand it tried to make one, it would require countless trials and errors.

And then... there were springs!

Something so commonplace in the modern world was as difficult as ascending to the heavens to make in Great Yu.

It required someone who truly understood the mechanics to gather craftsmen and painstakingly forge them through trial and error.

On top of that, there were pivots, catches, flint clamps, barrel boring, flash pans, and gas-seal structures, among other things.

Only with all these could a flintlock be produced.

These things...

Ren Tianye had once thought about making them himself.

After all, flintlocks only required wrought iron. While their power was far inferior to modern firearms, they were still an overwhelming force in ancient times. However... creating these things would have cost him a massive amount of time and effort.

He simply hadn't had the time to focus on it.

He had figured he would wait until things were relatively stable, or when he wasn't so busy, to send people to slowly research it, spending eight to ten years to forge this divine weapon.

And yet...

While he was still in the blueprint phase, Liu Ruyan had already made it?

"Could Liu Ruyan be an engineering major?"

"Because she has an engineering background and transmigrated decades earlier than I did, she used all that time to mobilize vast manpower and resources to develop flintlocks?"

"Damn it!"

"This battle is going to be tough!"

Realizing this, Ren Tianye helped Wei Shuo up and said, "This defeat has nothing to do with you. It is purely because Lin Zixiao's camp possesses divine weapons."

"However, such divine weapons are truly extraordinary. Right now, our army does not have them. If Lin Zixiao's troops are equipped with them on a large scale, encountering them would mean even our elite cavalry would only be sitting ducks."

As soon as Ren Tianye said this, everyone was shocked.

Especially Wang Ming.

Having followed the Duke for so long, it was his first time seeing him look so grave.

Judging from this, the divine weapon in Lin Zixiao's army must be terrifyingly powerful!

"What General Wei Shuo encountered should be flintlocks. They are loaded with gunpowder and can fire rapidly with astonishing power. Their range is at least over one hundred and eighty paces. If they form up in squares, sending cavalry at them is just suicide!"

Ren Tianye briefly explained the flintlock to the crowd.

Hearing this, Wei Shuo was deeply shocked.

So that was the thing Lin Zixiao had used.

Only Shi Hu was somewhat unconvinced, asking, "Duke, is this flintlock really that formidable?"

"Can it be faster than my saber?"

"Of course!" Ren Tianye replied. "The speed of a flintlock is beyond your imagination."

"Let's put it this way, if you compare a saber to a gun..."

"Outside of seven paces, the flintlock is faster!"

Shi Hu's eyes lit up. "Then that means, if I can close the distance to within seven paces..."

Before he could finish, Ren Tianye casually added, "Inside of seven paces, the flintlock is both accurate and fast!"

Shi Hu: "..."

"Alright, I will draw a simple sketch of a flintlock first. Get some artists to make copies and distribute them throughout the army. Let everyone be mentally prepared so they won't be frightened again."

Saying this, Ren Tianye looked out the window. It was already dawn. Given Lin Zixiao's camp position, he would be attacking the city soon.

"I just hope he only has flintlocks; then I can still hold him off. If he brings out something even fiercer, this capital will be hard to defend!"

Ren Tianye prayed in his heart.

Then, he made various arrangements.

He personally went up to the city walls to boost morale and strengthen the defenses.

Two hours later, Lin Zixiao's grand army had swiftly arrived before the city gates.

Looking down from his vantage point, Ren Tianye saw that Lin Zixiao's army was strictly disciplined and moved with perfect order. One glance was enough to tell that Lin Zixiao was no easy opponent; he certainly did not disgrace the reputation of Lin Yi, the commander of the Chifeng Army.

Ren Tianye's gaze grew heavy.

Facing such a formidable opponent as Lin Zixiao, he didn't have any brilliant strategies to defeat the enemy. For now, he could only rely on the geographical advantage of the capital to keep Lin Zixiao at bay, waiting for the right moment to counterattack.

But the next moment...

Ren Tianye's eyes narrowed sharply.

What the hell...

What was he looking at?

The massive army parted, clearing an open space, and then he saw teams of eight mules dragging huge, pitch-black monsters into view.

Damn it, you've got to be kidding me!

Liu Ruyan, did you major in weaponry or something?

You even managed to build Red Barbarian Cannons?

Ren Tianye was completely astounded.

It should be known that the Red Barbarian Cannon was essentially a heavy muzzle-loading smoothbore cannon. Its maximum range could reach two or three li, with an effective range of one li, and its destructive power was absolutely massive.

If they used these things to lay siege, no matter how thick and sturdy the capital's walls were, they wouldn't be able to withstand it!

While Ren Tianye was still in shock, Lin Zixiao's forces had already finished their formation. The next moment...

A cannonball came blasting over!

Like a sudden crack of thunder in the sky.

With a deafening boom.

The cannonball smashed into the capital's city wall.

The defending soldiers felt the ground violently shake, as if an earthquake had struck.

Taking advantage of this moment, Ren Tianye took a look.

And felt even more despair!

Motherfucker...

They were using solid iron round shot!

"This Liu Ruyan is definitely a weapons expert to have even produced solid iron cannonballs. How are we supposed to defend this capital now?"

As he was thinking this, the next moment, rolling thunder seemed to crash against the capital's walls.

In Lin Zixiao's camp, there were a full twenty cannons.

They fired a volley!

Cannonballs came roaring and blasting over.

All smashing into the area in front of the city gates.

Although there were deviations in where the cannonballs landed.

The spread wasn't too wide; they basically all hit the area around the gates.

From the looks of it, these smoothbore cannons had definitely been optimized multiple times by Liu Ruyan. Their wall thickness, casting uniformity, and caliber had all likely been refined.

These were already highly complete Red Barbarian Cannons.

They were an epoch-making creation!

"Duke, please step down from the wall immediately! This... this heavenly thunder is too terrifying!"

Wang Ming rushed over in a panic, shielding Ren Tianye with his own body.

The roaring of twenty Red Barbarian Cannons had already shattered the courage of the men. If not for Ren Tianye's exceptionally strict military discipline and the fact that most of these soldiers were hardened veterans from the Northern Frontier, some would have probably already dropped to their knees, crying out to the heavens.

In the eyes of these soldiers, how was the bombardment of these Red Barbarian Cannons any different from divine punishment?

Ren Tianye didn't stubbornly force himself to brave the artillery fire, but he didn't leave the city wall either. Moving to a relatively safe spot, he immediately issued orders.

"Wei Shuo, I order you to lead fifty thousand elite troops out of the city to engage the enemy! At all costs, you must not let those cannons continuously bombard our capital's walls!"

"Wang Ming, I order you to lead men to evacuate the civilians, clear the streets, and set up defenses. Lin Zixiao has Red Barbarian Cannons; with this kind of offensive, it won't even take a day for a breach to be blasted open in the capital's walls!"

"Go make the arrangements and prepare for street-to-street combat!"

"Shi Hu, I order you to command the main army and ambush behind the city walls. Once the wall is breached, slaughter the rebel troops that charge in. After that, prepare for urban warfare, a bloody battle, a fight to the death!"

Pausing for a moment, Ren Tianye's eyes turned ice-cold.

"The rebel army is massive, and they have Red Barbarian Cannons. The capital will inevitably fall. This battle will be a bloodbath. We will defend the capital; we would rather die than let Lin Zixiao have his way!"

All the officers and soldiers heard the sheer gravity of the situation in his words.

They acknowledged their orders and immediately went to make their arrangements.

Just at that moment, beneath the city walls, Lin Zixiao charged to the front of the formation.

His gaze was solemn, and a moment later...

He slowly raised his hand!

...