Chapter 35: Death God's Aspect (Part 1)

  Yang Shuangfeng stood dazed in the middle of the road, watching as the troops marched away until they completely disappeared into the distance. Only then did he slowly come back to his senses and turn to Yang Jirui beside him, saying: "I truly can't believe it, Major General Wache was actually sent to a military tribunal! The entire division's artillery officers and soldiers have all become slaves! What on earth happened here?"

  Yang Ji Rui's small eyes blinked twice, and he said meaningfully: "I think something big must have happened in the Asen Corridor."

  "What's going on?" Yang Shuangfen asked anxiously.

  Yang Ji Rui slowly shook his head, indicating that he didn't know. After a long silence, he sighed and said, "What a pity."

  "What a pity? Is it a pity that Wache Shao Jiang is gone?"

  Yang Ji Rui said, "It's a pity for these artillery officers. If I'm not mistaken, the two big men just now should be Montieu and Duguerre. Their portraits have been published in the imperial newspaper before, so I remember them deeply. Alas, it's also many years ago, didn't expect they would become slaves now. Montieu and Duguerre are both excellent artillery officers. Montieu is calm and composed, likes to study, is good at planning, and has a unique insight into the development and use of artillery; while Duguerre is a strict and explosive artillery commander, he likes to give rough orders to his soldiers to fire dense shells at the enemy, although he has many shortcomings, but his advantages are also undeniable. Among the many field artillery commanders in the empire, no one has his keen sense of battlefield touch, can actively and sensitively command the artillery to adjust the firing angle, and suppress the enemy. During the 12th Lona Conference, he was promoted directly from Cavalry Lieutenant to Tiger Guard General due to his outstanding military achievements."

  Yang Shuangfurrowed his brow, saying with a hint of skepticism: "Since they are all such excellent artillery officers, why are their military ranks still as low as Hu Benwei? Look at Montyiu, he's almost fifty years old, shouldn't he be promoted to Hongqi Duiwei by now? And yet they're still just artillery officers!"

  Yang Jirui glanced at Yang Shuangfeng with disdain and said coldly, "Is there a relationship between military rank and a person's ability? What does your naval lieutenant general rank have to do with you? I don't see any connection."

  Yang Shuangfeng was suddenly speechless, and his face turned red with embarrassment.

  What does it have to do with me that I got the rank of Navy Lieutenant General? No wonder everyone looks down on me along the way, even a small Imperial Guard Cavalry Squadron Commander dares to give me attitude.

  Fortunately, Yang Jirui did not intend to make things difficult for him, and with a hint of sarcasm, he continued his topic: "The reason why they find it hard to get high military ranks is inseparable from the outdated artillery usage theory. In the Imperial Military Affairs Department, the conservative faction led by General Lin has always believed that artillery should be equipped on fortresses or warships to exert their large-caliber power. If equipped in field troops, there will be various problems. Large-caliber artillery has great power, but it is difficult to move and has low mobility, which will slow down the mobility of field troops, especially cavalry. On the other hand, small-caliber artillery can speed up movement, but its power is not satisfactory."

  Yang Ji Rui let out a sigh and said helplessly, "Although Shangguan Lin is an incompetent person, he is in charge of the Imperial Military Arsenal and the Imperial Military Tribunal. These two things combined will inevitably affect the development of military equipment, which is a sad thing."

  Yang Shuangfen frowned and said: "How can that be? Artillery is the god of war, how can it be useless?"

  "Adding to the defeat of Jiangning three years ago, the army's debate over the role of artillery has become even more intense, with many still leaning towards seeing it as a dispensable branch. Even many outstanding officers, such as Bai Yulou and Die Fengwu, believe that the decisive power in war lies with cavalry, and that it is very difficult for artillery to follow the actions of cavalry. Artillery can only counter cavalry by relying on solid fortifications or strongholds, which further weakens the position of field artillery. Unless a large enemy fortress is captured, the role of artillery cannot be brought into play."

  Yang Shuang's eyebrows were getting more and more furrowed.

  "In fact, the current field artillery has not performed well in several wars, with a range that is too short and a shell power that is too small. To increase the power and range, it is necessary to increase the caliber, but the larger the caliber, the heavier the weight, which is more unfavorable for mobility. This is an irreconcilable contradiction. From the previous few battles of Loona, the greatest role of field artillery is to attack the enemy's dense infantry, which is also its only advantage that can be played, as for other aspects, it can only be said that there is room for improvement."

  Yang Shuangfen thought for a moment in silence and nodded slightly unintentionally.

  Yang Ji Rui continued: "In fact, from the perspective of countries around the world, there are not many countries that equip field artillery. Both Martha and Eland have very few artillery units, and their large cannons are basically installed in military fortresses. Only when attacking enemy strongholds do they manufacture a batch of large-caliber artillery, pulled by eight horses, to attack fortified positions. For example, when Martha attacked Minas Tirith and Wu Sheng Guan, they used specially manufactured large cannons, which required deploying a large number of troops to guard, otherwise they would be easily destroyed by our cavalry..."

  Yang Shuangfeng slightly shook his head and said lightly, "It's not like that, artillery will one day dominate the land battlefield, it will blast cavalry and fortresses to smithereens." As soon as he thought of modern artillery and sailing warships competing on land and sea, with shells flying everywhere and corpses scattered all over, he couldn't help but feel his blood boiling.

  Yang Ji Rui thought he had contracted another unknown disease and shook his head, sighing as he left.

  After a moment of silence, Yang Suofeng came back to his senses and started clearing the battlefield with his Tukhachevskii rifle. The bandits who still had the ability to move had all left, leaving behind only corpses or people who were about to become corpses. The dying men's pleas and wails echoed in his ears, but he listened as if deaf, without a hint of pity on his face. Even those who were on their last breath and desperately clung to his legs, begging him, were ruthlessly kicked away by him, and even finished off with an extra knife, ending their moans.

  Yang Jirui couldn't bear it anymore and said in a low voice: "Let's save them."

  Yang Shuang said coldly, "Why should I save them? They must pay the price for their actions. Everyone must pay the price for their own actions! I won't save them, but if they're willing, I can make it end sooner."

  Yang Jirui stared at him blankly, shook his head and didn't say another word.

  Suddenly, Yang Suofeng shouted loudly: "Come out! I know you're behind the stone, if you don't come out I'll shoot!"

  Yang Jirui stared blankly ahead, and this voice also startled Su Yunfeng, Cai Bing, and others. They all looked curiously at Yang Shuangfeng, who was holding a Tatar rifle and had gone around to the back of the stone, pulling out a beautiful and handsome young man from behind the stone. It was precisely that beautiful young man who had caught Yang Shuangfeng's attention earlier.

  That beautiful young man, under Yang Suo's gun, was trembling all over, but his face was still calm. He walked on tiptoes, as if afraid of staining the ground with fresh blood. This strange expression made one believe that he was just a girl disguised as a boy. Indeed, Cai Bingxiao's expression soon proved Yang Suo's conjecture, and this beautiful young man was indeed a woman. And Yang Suo also used continuous sneezes to prove her female identity.

  Yang Shuangfeng pinched his nose and lowered the muzzle of the gun, saying coldly: "Who are you?"

  The beautiful boy didn't answer, he just looked down at his toes with a bit of fear.

  Su Yun said disdainfully: "General, take away your gun, don't scare the little girls to death."

  Yang Suofeng turned around and walked away, but heard Cai Bingxue say behind her: "Are you a Gypsy?" He was moved in his heart, so he stopped in his tracks and looked back at the beautiful young man. Unexpectedly, he saw Cai Bingxue pull out many manuscripts from her body, although they had been rained on, but the words were still clear. Cai Bingxue smiled, her smile always couldn't tell whether she was happy or sad, anyway, it was a professional smile, and then said: "You are indeed a Gypsy, huh? What is recorded above you? Alas, what's good about recording that tribal leader?"

  Yang Shuangfeng put the rifle on his shoulder and walked back, took over the manuscript to take a look, on which were written all traditional characters, although very neat, but he could hardly understand, couldn't help but say: "What's written on it?"

  "Alas, it's the life story of that Watanabe no Tsuna you killed earlier. Unfortunately, it has all come to an end today."

  Yang Shuang looked at the beautiful young man with curiosity and asked in surprise, "Are you really a Gypsy?" At the same time, he sized up this girl who was dressed as a boy. In his impression, this girl was like a Japanese actress from another world, whether it was her appearance or demeanor, she looked exactly like a Japanese girl. The only difference was that her skin tone indeed had the characteristics of a mixed-blood child, and her hair was slightly yellowish. At first, he thought it was due to the sunset's rays, but later he discovered that this hair with a subtle golden color was her natural color.

  The handsome young man was a bit bolder this time, bravely lifted his head and glanced at Yang Shuangfeng, and in the blink of an eye, his face turned red, and soon he lowered his head again, saying in a very low voice: "I am a Gypsy."

  Yang Shuangfen wanted to say something but stopped, with a strange feeling in her heart that she couldn't quite put into words. In the end, she inexplicably blurted out: "So you're a Gypsy!"

  In the ancient legends of the Yilan continent, there was a magical nation that excelled in singing and dancing, storytelling, and acrobatics. They had no fixed abode and often wandered around, with some relying on selling their art to make a living, others making a living by helping people write biographies, and still others having no stable life, drifting aimlessly through the streets. They saw all sorts of things in the world, from scorching heat to bitter cold.

  With their singing voices and poetic language, they described everything that happened in the world. The luxurious lives of the nobility and the hardships of the common people were fully reflected in their recited poems. They were the main component of those wandering poets who traveled all over the continent.

  Because they were not enthusiastic about politics or industry and commerce, they never got recognition from the imperial court. They were lonely wanderers, passing travelers, quietly describing everything that happened on the continent. Some say that in the history of the Yilan continent, apart from the palace historians, only these wandering poets from the Gypsy nation could fully understand the continent.

  In the eyes of the vast majority, the Gypsy nation is undoubtedly another kind, and the beautiful young man in front of us is obviously another kind among them. Although she comes from the Gypsy nation, she is not a poet, but rather a more obscure biographer. What they do is just quietly stand in someone else's shadow, meticulously describing everything that happens to the owner of the shadow. Naturally, people hiding in someone else's shadow will never be seen by others.