The generals were ecstatic.
Due to the nation fighting on multiple fronts, where one move affected the whole, they dared not launch a rash attack, and had to hold their ground for half a year. Now, the time for glory had finally arrived!
Liang Xiao came to a stable deep within the military camp and saw Hong Xiu feeding Bai Ye Fei Ying.
Upon seeing Liang Xiao, Bai Ye Fei Ying neighed, its cry like a thunderclap, yet not deafening. The surrounding Shadow Guards were accustomed to it.
"Master, it has been five years since Fei Ying left Bodhi Temple," Liang Xiao said with emotion.
Hong Xiu nodded, "This humble monk understands the implied meaning of Marquis An Guo. It is enough for Fei Ying to continue its legend in this life."
The military equipment of the Great Gan Dynasty was growing increasingly powerful. Hong Xiu, having followed Liang Xiao for many years, saw this with his own eyes and understood that even if General Tian himself were to lead the troops in the future, it would be difficult to control the battlefield situation.
However, Liang Xiao could still gallop across the battlefield with his divine artifacts, as long as he avoided the catapults and the possible celestial lightning of the enemy. Nothing else was a cause for concern.
Even if Liang Xiao, as the commander, no longer charged into battle, he could still issue orders from his mount, Bai Ye Fei Ying.
Liang Xiao said solemnly, "I can confirm that Achilles' warhorse is the other White Dragon Shadow mentioned in the historical records of the Great Zhou Dynasty, which was stolen. Therefore, if only for that divine steed, I and Achilles will eventually have a battle."
"This matter is bizarre, but warhorses of Bai Ye Fei Ying's physique are indeed of the Great Gan desert horse breed, not of Western breeds. It's just that Fei Ying's size is unexpectedly large," Hong Xiu stated decisively.
"The Tian Ri clan has a blood feud with this land. The reputation of the White Dragon Shadow and the martial arts of the Great Gan Dynasty must not be defiled by the Tian Ri clan," Liang Xiao gritted his teeth.
The invasion by the allied forces of Jiaozhou and Da Liang did not capture any of the southern Jiangnan prefectural cities. Instead, it aroused the common hatred of the Jiangnan army and civilians.
However, for the sake of caution, the imperial court still temporarily relocated many civilians to the north of the river, mostly the elderly, weak, women, and children.
At this time, the Ministry of Works in the capital was working day and night. Tens of thousands of artisans and hundreds of thousands of workers toiled ceaselessly, fearing even the slightest delay in production.
Weaving workshops throughout the country were requisitioned by the imperial court at high prices.
The Ministry of Works secretly rushed the production of a large number of Great Gan spinning machines, which were first put into operation in the capital, and the results were surprisingly good.
However, to make the weaving efficiency of large spinning machines surpass that of forty workers, hydraulic or steam engines would be needed as power.
The Great Gan Dynasty did not intend to develop hydraulic weaving machines, as these spinning machines were affected by climate and terrain.
Steam engines were more practical.
The people of the Ministry of Works diligently studied some of the scientific formulas and theories left by Liang Xiao, with Zhang Yang's repeated explanations, and gradually comprehended them, as if they had discovered a new world.
But they still remembered that it was Liang Xiao and Xiao Qing who gave them the opportunity to broaden their horizons and achieve lasting fame, so they studied even harder.
One day, after repeated study, the people of the Ministry of Works finally finalized the improved steam engine plan.
It fully complied with the dynamics required for the steam engine’s appearance as provided by Liang Xiao.
"Immediately build two units and see the effect!" Minister of Works Huang Xing said excitedly.
Meanwhile, in the workshops of the East Sea, various earthenware pots were being produced at an accelerated pace.
These earthenware pots were classified by size; the large ones could hold at least thirty catties of water, while the small ones were only palm-sized.
The supervisor of the earthenware pot production was a captain of the Shadow Guards, leading over a hundred Shadow Guards, with officials from the Ministry of Works providing guidance.
"Thinner! Make sure it shatters immediately upon hitting the hull!" the Shadow Guard captain said sternly, supervising day and night.
The workers were puzzled, but under the temptation of high wages, they all worked harder.
Watching more and more earthenware pots being produced,
The Shadow Guard captain took a finished pot, the size of a human head, to the southeast of the military camp. He took some petroleum from an iron bucket, filled the earthenware pot, and then hurled it with force at a swaying thin wooden board in the distance.
This thin wooden board was soaked in water and still bore water stains.
With a "snap," the earthenware pot instantly shattered, and the petroleum scattered everywhere with the vibration of the wooden board.
The Shadow Guard captain shot a flaming arrow at the wooden board, and instantly the damp wooden board ignited into a raging fire.
The Shadow Guards around watched the wooden board quickly burn to ashes and wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads.
"As expected of our Marquis An Guo, to think of such a thing!"
The Shadow Guard captain said excitedly, "It's done! As for how to hurl them, the army will be responsible for the arrangements, and Assistant Minister Mu already has a good plan!"
The Izumo Kingdom, which had occupied Taiji Kingdom, sent a fleet to harass the East Sea waters day and night, cutting off trade between Great Gan and foreign merchant ships, and simultaneously eyeing the East Sea region covetously.
The Great Gan Dynasty never sent ships to meet them in battle, thus the Izumo fleet became increasingly brazen.
Saladin's second fleet landed on the coast of Jiangnan to resupply and trade with Jinling. The commander rushed to the capital to convey Saladin's orders.
In Europe to the west, at a military camp at the foot of a mountain, Attila's expression was extremely grim.
Richard I, the King of Britain beyond the western seas, decided to formally declare war on Saladin to reclaim the Holy City.
The Tian Ri clan also specifically requested passage.
The western world was in an era of rising powers, yet it became increasingly chaotic.
"Now I finally understand how the Tian Ri clan annihilated civilizations like Rome," Attila shook his head, unable to hide his anger.
Bleda sneered, "Religion divides civilizations, but it also gives birth to another form of foolishness: exclusion of the different."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two brothers fell into silence.
The endless war between the True World and the Heavenly Lord World created an opportunity for the Tian Ri clan.
Even within the respective domains of the Heavenly Lord World and the True World, there was constant conflict due to various factions.
But they recalled Liang Xiao's feat at Mount Langju, which had destroyed their divine faith.
Now they had returned to the name of the Xiongnu, but the Xiongnu no longer believed in any gods, only in their leader, Attila.
After a long while, Attila said in a deep voice, "I have a premonition that once this continent descends into chaos, the Tian Ri cavalry will reveal their fangs and thoroughly cleanse the world, and then engage in a decisive battle with the Great Gan Dynasty."
Bleda sighed, "You should also know that our best way out is actually to pledge allegiance to Great Gan."
Attila was silent for a moment, then shook his head, "With such a blood feud, it's impossible!"
"Then we'll take it one step at a time. For now, we absolutely cannot fall out with the Liang family army, nor can we antagonize Attila, as they are all channels for trade with Great Gan and for the growth of the Xiongnu," Bleda said helplessly.
The Tian Ri clan, dominating the northern part of Europe, ruled with an iron fist in their occupied territories, manipulating public opinion, and the subjugated people became "low-caste slaves."
But the people of this land, after millennia of domestication, had forgotten the glory of the Aryans. They had come to believe in the civilization spread by the Tian Ri clan, believing they were born low-caste slaves, toiling without complaint, and even serving as food for the Tian Ri clan during times of famine...
The world outside the Great Gan Dynasty was becoming increasingly chaotic, with endless wars.
Only the Tian Ri clan and the Xiongnu maintained a facade of being all things to all people.
People seemed to have forgotten that many once-flourishing civilizations had been destroyed by the hands of the Tian Ri clan.