Chapter 11: Fierce Defense

  The next morning, news that Lan Xin had been taken in by Tang Chao as his personal maid had already spread throughout the entire Tang family manor.

  Among the many servants and maids in the Mu family, there were those who admired her, those who envied her, but none dared to speak ill of her.

  Around eight o'clock in the morning, Mu Hailin brought two other pretty and delicate maids and a middle-aged servant woman over forty years old to the front of Xinhua Building, apparently bringing all the servants and old mothers promised by Tang Chao.

  At this time, the main gate of Xinhua Building was closed tightly, and four guards with black helmets, goggles covering half of their faces, all in black from head to toe, tall and majestic, fully armed, standing at the door, exuding an intimidating aura that seemed to warn people not to approach.

  The four black-clad guards were dressed in a way that Mu Hailin couldn't make sense of no matter how long he looked at them from afar.

  Mu Hai Lin couldn't recognize him, of course. The man in black was dressed and armed according to the standards of a 21st-century special forces unit.

  The Tang Dynasty, although having a wild imagination last night, did not forget that his life was at stake. He secretly ordered the little cat to send twelve armed robots that had been disguised over to guard the Xinhua Building inside and out in layers.

  Tang Dynasty could not help but think that if he fell for the beauty trap, he would capsize in the gutter.

  This batch of special warriors, all equipped by the kitten with 21st-century high-tech weapons. Just a single "Fire God Cannon" is equipped with two, like the four soldiers guarding the door, holding "MP5" submachine guns, with "Desert Eagle" pistols inserted on their thighs, and four offensive grenades hanging from their shoulders. The tactical vest pockets are all stuffed to the brim, unknowingly hiding countless deadly weapons.

  From head to toe, the entire body is covered, wrapping the armed robots that have just been implanted with artificial biological skin tightly and thoroughly. Except for their tightly closed lips and half a nose bridge, no other inch of skin can be seen, even on their hands they are all wearing black tactical gloves.

  Four super warriors stood like four killing gods, standing still as a pine tree, their aura intimidating.

  Mu Hailin didn't dare to get closer, nor did he dare to linger, knowing that these people were definitely the boss's confidants and deadly warriors, so he quickly took the two maids and the old servant away from them.

  Last night was probably the most comfortable and stable sleep since Tang Dynasty arrived in this era.

  When I arrived, I looked at my watch again and it was almost 11 o'clock in the middle of the day.

  When people encounter happy events, their spirits are lifted; when they're pleased with life, they should make the most of it. That's exactly the current state of the Tang Dynasty.

  Tang Dynasty's three-year streak of early rising and meditation was broken for the first time, because Tang Dynasty couldn't bear to part with the endless warmth that only existed in his spring dreams.

  The Tang Dynasty's greed for sleep and inability to get out of bed led directly to the consequence that Mu Hai Lin and his party wanted to leave the valley and return to Cang Long Ridge, but they couldn't find a way to open the city gate.

  Mu Haitao and others urged Mu Hailin several times to go and call the door, but Mu Hailin refused to respond.

  It's finally here, the Tang Dynasty is in full swing, with a lively and carefree tune floating out of the inner city's forbidden area. Looking at the time, it's almost lunchtime.

  At this time, the Tang Dynasty had already withdrawn all the secret guards of Xinhua Building and let them quietly return to the underground base. Only on the rooftop, a team of twelve people was left on the airship to keep watch.

  "Good morning, everyone. Why are you all standing here? Don't you have anything to do?" Tang Chao smiled and waved his hand in greeting, "You're not waiting for me on purpose, are you?"

  "It's not like you're the only one waiting!" Irina glared at Tang Chao, rolling her eyes. "It's still early morning, can't you see what time it is now? We want to return to Cang Long Ridge, but no one will open the city gate for us!"

  "Alright! Irina, don't overdo it!" Mu Hailin glared at Irina with a stern face, then immediately softened his tone and spoke to Tang Chao in a consultative manner: "Boss, do you think we need to make some adjustments to the guards outside the Tang family's fortress?"

  "It's my fault, it's my fault." Tang Dynasty suddenly came to a realization and patted his own forehead, "Now that you're here, the outer security guard must be adjusted. This way, I'll take you to familiarize yourself with the city gate control system. From now on, this part will be entirely your responsibility."

  Mu Hailin and others had already seen too many unusual things in Tangjia Fort, so they didn't think it was strange when Tang said the city gate control system.

  Tang led the crowd onto their respective mounts, left the Tang family fortress, whipped their horses and galloped all the way to the city gate that led directly to the Gorge.

  Along the sloping horse path, Tang Dynasty and others rode directly up onto the city wall and stopped at the foot of the stairs in front of the tower.

  On the spacious and majestic city wall, not a single figure of others can be seen. At this time when everyone was guessing the mystery here, Tang opened a secret door under the city tower, and directly presented the answer to Mu Hailin and others.

  This secret door looks no different from the city wall, if it wasn't for its sudden rotation to reveal a passageway, nobody could tell that there was a hidden mechanism and passage behind the wall.

  The Tang Dynasty and the little cat did indeed put in a lot of thought when building the defensive system around the outer perimeter of the Tang Family Fortress. Because the Tang Dynasty had no one to spare, all operations had to be automated through mechanical control, and this set of automated mechanical control systems couldn't look too advanced, it had to conform to the technological standards of this era, even if it exceeded them, it couldn't exceed them by too much.

  The front and rear gates of the city wall adopt hydraulic mechanical transmission devices, and the total control valve is in the control room of this castle. In this 12-square-meter control room, in addition to controlling the opening and closing of the city gate, it also controls 14 heavy machine gun bunkers built into the city wall.

  These fourteen heavy machine gun turrets were all unmanned, but instead used mechanical interlocks to automatically control firing and ammunition supply. These turrets were connected by a ring-shaped passage built into the wall of the city, and could be replaced with manual operation at any time if desired.

  Mu Hai Lin, Mu Hai Wei, Mu Hai Tao, Irina, Qi Da Kui, Kurban, Wu Muer and others saw so many Markov heavy machine guns that could automatically fire and supply ammunition without human operation, and their inner shock can be imagined. The image of the Tang Dynasty undoubtedly added a layer of mysterious color in their minds.

  "Haha, these things are actually just used to intimidate people, the accuracy is very poor." Tang walked over to a heavy machine gun and took down the metal bullet chain, "After firing this string of bullets, if no one comes to replace the chain in time, this machine gun is nothing but a pile of scrap iron. If one day I can figure out a mechanical device that can automatically feed ammunition, that would be a major invention in the history of world military affairs!"

  "The boss made it sound easy, but there aren't many people who can think of such a clever trick." Mu Hailin looked around the dark room with an area of less than six square meters and said seriously: "Boss, I think this place is spacious enough for two people. One shooter, one ammunition supplier, rotating shifts every four hours, such a good darkroom, can't let it go to waste."

  "It's up to you to handle this matter." Tang Dynasty nodded without comment and said, "My personal suggestion is not to arrange all the dark forts, it's a waste of human resources."

  "The No. 1 city gate has four sentry posts on the city tower and two hidden forts as hidden sentries." Mu Haiwei said thoughtfully, "The No. 2 city gate is reduced by half, with only two sentry posts and one hidden sentry. In addition, a mobile sentry post will be set up on the city wall."

  "I think it's necessary to set up a checkpoint and fortifications at the city gate." Mu Haitao interjected, "Just set it up outside the No. 1 city gate, in the future our Tangjia Fort territory will definitely be very bustling, it's necessary to conduct security checks on merchants and travelers coming and going."

  "We should also set up a toll gate to collect taxes!" Qi Dakuai chimed in with his suggestion.

  "Alright, alright, you guys discuss this among yourselves, I don't care. Let's just go outside first, the space here is really too small." Tang Chao interrupted Mu Hailin and the others' discussion, turned around and walked out.

  Before long, the group reappeared in the main control room under the No. 2 city tower.

  The Tang Dynasty suddenly pulled out a string of keys from somewhere and casually threw them to Mu Hailin, "Old Mu, I've told you the operation method, these keys are now in your care, do whatever you want, I need to find a place to fill my stomach first, I won't bother with this anymore."

  After finishing speaking, Tang Chao didn't care about Mu Hai Lin's expression, and directly left the control room, mounted his horse, and galloped towards the direction of the Tang Family Fort.

  As Tang's figure gradually disappeared from view, Irina's face flashed with disappointment, then her expression changed as she said to Mu Hailin: "Master, this place is strategically located and the defensive fortifications are solid, let's hurry back and inform the other brothers to move over today, no need to wait any longer. Such a wonderful place, once the news gets out, perhaps all the kings and nobles of the eight regions of Huijiang will want to take it for themselves. We must concentrate all our strength as soon as possible, make Tangjia Fort's defense foolproof, and be ready to meet the enemy at any time!

  "The boss means, let's not give up on Canglong Ridge just yet." Mu Hailin said with a serious expression: "Canglong Ridge is the only pass that leads to Duanhun Gorge, and it can be used as a gatekeeper for Tangjia Fortress. All of our brothers' families and relatives can consider moving to Tangjia Fortress, so that from now on, they will no longer have any worries."

  "In that case, we must divide our troops into two places." Mu Haiwei furrowed his brow thoughtfully and said: "Big brother, from a defensive strategic point of view, dividing troops is a great taboo! The legend of Duanhun Gorge has been circulating for over 2,000 years, and now I'm not sure how many pairs of eyes are secretly watching this place. I think abandoning Canglong Ridge and concentrating our forces to defend Tangjia Fortress would be more stable."

  "I think Mu Er Ge is right." Kurban nodded and said: "The master of the house, in Huijiang, those who have heard of the legend of Duanhun Gorge know that there are endless treasures hidden inside. Although our Iron Rider Alliance is united, it's inevitable that with many people, there will be loose talk. It's possible that the news about Tangjia Fortress has already been leaked out. Once it's confirmed, our Iron Rider Alliance will inevitably become the target of public criticism!"

  Mu Haolin paced back and forth, saying as he walked: "I've already arranged for Master Cao to go to Di Hua to discuss with Yang Zengxin the matter of the Iron Cavalry Alliance accepting reorganization. Originally, I thought it would be best to conduct the inspection at Cang Long Ridge, trying not to involve Tang Jia Fortress in this matter, but now it seems..."

  "If we can get through this, our Iron Rider Alliance will surely make a name for itself throughout the entire Xinjiang region. By then, it won't be us going to find Yang Zengxin, but rather he, the Governor of Xinjiang, coming to beg us!" Mu Haitao interrupted decisively: "If we can't get through, the Iron Rider Alliance will naturally disperse and lose its value for recruitment. Therefore, preparing for battle with all our might is the top priority!"

  "Don't delay, let's go!" Mu Hailin made a decisive decision without hesitation. "Second brother, I'll leave a team of men for you. You immediately start deploying the defense and take control of the key to the control room. Before I return, even if knives are falling from the sky, you must defend our home!"

  "Don't worry, big brother." Mu Haiwei took the keys handed over by Mu Hailin and carefully put them in his bosom. "I'll personally lead people to wait for you on the city tower when you come back!"

  "Irina, don't go." Mu Hailin shouted to Irina who had already mounted her horse. "You immediately go find the boss and tell him the decision we just made."

  "Why did I have to go? It could've been someone else!" Irina muttered discontentedly.

  "Let you go then go, what's the point of talking!" Mu Hailin scolded with a stern face.

  Soon, the crowd set off in three directions, Mu Hailin and Mu Haitao led half of the men and horses, galloping wildly towards Canglong Ridge.

  Mu Haiwei led Qi Daguai and Wu Muer to concentrate the remaining troops, all of whom climbed up onto the city wall to prepare defenses.

  Irina rode alone, whipping her horse and galloping in the direction of Tangjia Fort.

  Thank you, everyone.