Delivering Supplies
After settling his family, along with his father-in-law Lin Weiyuan and his two brothers-in-law Lin Shan and Lin Yue, in Qingyun Village, Shen Jingchuan had no more worries.
On weekdays, he would stay in the west courtyard of the Shen Residence, activate the Spirit Gathering Formation, and cultivate alongside his three horses. When he was free, he would chat with Xiao Mingshu about cultivation matters, or travel back to the modern world to spend time with his girlfriend Meng Ke while purchasing various supplies.
He made several trips to the fresh food market, purchasing a large quantity of fresh pork, which he then stored in his Chaos Heaven and Earth Ring. He even used the Ring's power to upgrade the grade of all the meat.
The mountain stronghold is currently embroiled in war, and the soldiers have been on duty for days, exhausting themselves. This meat, nourished by Spiritual Qi energy, can help the brothers replenish their bodies and restore their strength, and is much more effective than ordinary meat.
On the day the Government Army arrived, he heard the commotion outside the city early in the morning, and flew out of the city on his sword to take a look from afar.
Seeing the vast army below the mountain, he didn't take it seriously— Azure Cloud Stronghold was well-defended with its natural defenses and heavy firepower, making it impossible for ordinary Government Army to break through.
Therefore, he didn't rush up the mountain. He continued to cultivate and replenish his supplies as usual, and once a day he would fly his sword to explore from afar.
A few days later, he took advantage of the darkness to fly up on his sword and ascended straight to Azure Cloud Stronghold under the cover of night, landing steadily at the entrance of the Gathering Hall.
The lights were on in the hall, and Hu Tieniu, Lin Weiyuan and his son, along with Zhao Kui and several others, were having dinner around the table.
Seeing a figure land outside the door, Hu Tieniu looked up, immediately put down his chopsticks and went out to greet them, saying:
"Young master, you've arrived! Please come in."
Shen Jingchuan stepped inside, quickly walked to Lin Weiyuan, and bowed respectfully.
"How is your father-in-law?"
He then turned and nodded to Lin Shan and Lin Yue, calling out, "Big Brother, Second Brother."
Lin Weiyuan and said gently:
"Jingchuan's here, come sit down and have a bite to eat."
"No, father-in-law, I already ate before coming." Shen Jingchuan sat down, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "I came up to check on the battle situation these past few days and brought some things with me."
Hu Tieniu picked up the kettle and poured Shen Jingchuan a bowl of water, then enthusiastically recounted the offensive and defensive situation of the past few days:
The story recounts how the Government Army launched their initial attack, pushing shield carts and ladders up the mountain, only to be repelled by boulders and machine gun fire, suffering hundreds of casualties.
Shen Jingchuan nodded slightly after listening. "Alright, I understand. Be careful in defending the camp. As long as you don't underestimate the enemy, they won't be able to break through."
After speaking, he stood up and walked out of the Hall of Righteousness, only stopping when he reached the open square outside. Hu Tieniu, Lin Weiyuan and his son, along with Zhao Kui and the others, were puzzled and quickly followed him out.
Shen Jingchuan didn't say much. He raised his hand and waved it. The Chaos Heaven and Earth Ring flashed with spiritual light, and with a loud "boom," a mountain of supplies fell from the sky and piled up neatly on the square.
The most abundant item was rows of fresh pork, with evenly distributed fat and lean meat and a bright color, stacked layer upon layer, quickly piling up to more than two people high;
Next to the pile of meat were baskets of fresh, juicy vegetables, followed by bags of tightly packed snowflake salt, and boxes of sauces, spices, and other seasonings, covering a large area completely.
The group was stunned. Hu Tieniu took two steps forward, looked at the mountain of meat, and couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.
"Young master, this... this is too much!"
"These are all for the village."
Shen Jingchuan said calmly:
"Quickly arrange for someone to handle it, don't let it spoil. The brothers guarding the city walls have been working hard for days, so make sure they have plenty of meat at every meal to replenish their strength. Each household in the village should also receive a share, with the families participating in the battle and guarding the village receiving more. Salt and seasonings should also be distributed at the same time, don't be stingy, there will be more later."
Hu Tieniu immediately responded and summoned several capable leaders, instructing them to lead people to count the supplies and distribute them to each household, with priority given to the families of soldiers who were on duty at the city wall.
After making the arrangements, he accompanied Shen Jingchuan toward the village wall.
Climbing onto the stockade wall, Shen Jingchuan glanced at the Maxim mounted behind the battlements, then reached into his Storage Ring and retrieved a similar machine gun, setting it firmly against the wall.
"I have another one here. Set up one on each side, and the firepower will seal off the entire mountain road even more completely."
He is now at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, with a strong physical body and swift Movement Method, so these firearms are no longer of much help to him.
There is also a 23mm aircraft cannon stored in the box. A few days ago, he also ordered a special carriage to be used for its mounting in modern times. It is placed in the west courtyard so that it can be pulled out at any time in case of a major battle.
He originally purchased three Maxim guns. One was given to Xiao Mingshu's maid Huan'er- defense. Of the remaining two, one was already in the village, and today the second one was also brought out.
The two then went to the village's armory. Shen Jingchuan waved his hand, and boxes of tightly sealed bullets fell one after another, the copper-cased bullets neatly stacked, filling almost half of the armory in the blink of an eye.
"Including the previous ones, that's a total of over 400,000 rounds. Don't be stingy with your firepower; I'll ship more if you need more."
Hu Tieniu looked at the room full of ammunition and grinned, his face crinkling with smiles.
"That's enough, absolutely enough! We could fire for three months straight and still not run out of bullets!"
"After a while, I'll order two more special carriages to mount the machine guns on, so we can move around and fire without having to stay on the wall," Shen Jingchuan added.
Hu Tieniu's eyes lit up immediately, and he slapped his thigh:
"That's wonderful! Young Master Shen, you've thought of everything! With these two machine gun vehicles, I dare to lead my brothers down the mountain. We can't let them block our way every day, making it seem like we're afraid of them. With this firepower, I'm not afraid of any number of the Government Army!"
Shen Jingchuan nodded slightly:
"Okay, you can arrange it yourself. As long as you have the guts."
He didn't linger, bid farewell to Hu Tieniu, and walked straight to the backyard with the Lin Household father and son.
Two days later, at dawn, Zhou Lie mustered his troops and officially launched the attack on the mountain. The soldiers had already heard about the tragic scene of the first attack the day before, and they were all filled with trepidation, their steps heavy.
All the craftsmen in the army worked day and night to build forty iron-shielded carts. One after another, they pushed them up the mountain road. The formation looked orderly, but the atmosphere in the army was extremely tense.
The shield carts advanced to a point fifty feet from the stockade wall and then stopped in unison. Zhou Lie's plan was to use the shield carts as cover while his archers used projectiles to suppress the enemy on the city wall.
As soon as the shield carts were in place, the archers in the back crouched down and moved forward, using the shields as cover to nock their arrows and draw their bows, waiting only for the order to fire a volley at the city wall.
From the stockade wall, Hu Tieniu had already seen everything that was happening below.
Seeing the archer about to move, he grinned, picked up a Maxim himself, shouted to Zhou Meng in the distance, "The left side is yours," gripped the right side of the gun, pressed the muzzle, and pulled the trigger.
The two machine guns opened fire simultaneously, a dense barrage of bangs erupting instantly, their muzzles spitting out continuous tongues of fire, bullets sweeping like water towards the archers on the mountain path.