Fight the Logistics First

Fight the Logistics First

Whoosh! A feathered arrow struck the bullseye with perfect accuracy, sinking more than an inch into the thick wooden target. Amid a burst of soft, sweet laughter, Lin Ruoxi's exquisite porcelain-like face blossomed with delight.

Allen and Ximan watched from the side. Seeing Lin Ruoxi accurately "shoot" the target a hundred paces away and drive the arrow deep into the wood, both were extremely satisfied, while Ximan was even a little smug. Using only a few simple sketches Qin Mo had given him, he had made a suitable pulley bow. This little loli, Lin Ruoxi, could now easily wield a two-dan bow; before this, she could at most use a one-dan bow.

In truth, a pulley bow used pulleys to distribute the force at the most strenuous point of drawing the bow, reducing the force needed to hold it after drawing by lengthening the draw length. Someone who could barely draw a hundred-pound powerful bow could only truly use a seventy-pound bow, because after drawing it fully, he lacked the strength to hold it steady and could not aim.

A pulley bow, however, allowed one to use the pulleys to hold the bow at full draw with ease and aim precisely. Anyone in later generations who studied mechanics could thoroughly understand this principle. But to Ximan and those Elven Race archers, it was an absolute leap in strength.

A pulley bow fired more slowly than a recurve bow, so skills such as Arrow Barrage were restricted. But its power and accuracy were far greater. Combined with the Elven Race's innate archery, it was perfectly suited as a sniper bow. Of course, high-ranking elves were still better off using premium goods like "Dusk Moon," but that was not something Qin Mo could solve at present.

The several blueprints Qin Mo had drawn for Ximan included ones with faster arrow speed, straighter trajectories, and better handling. In any case, he simply scribbled them out from memory and left this half-baked expert, Ximan, to puzzle over them. Sooner or later, he would find the best solution.

While Ximan became so busy that he forgot day from night, Qin Mo went off to neglect his proper duties again. He was teaching people to make shoes—land-combat boots suited for multiple terrains.

Dayuan lay in the south, where the climate was warm and humid, so most people wore cloth shoes, while many did not wear shoes at all. When Qin Mo saw the beautiful straw sandals woven from plants on the elves' feet, he became deeply worried. On the battlefield, you could go without the finest weapon, but you could not go without a good suit of armor. You could go without a good suit of armor, but you absolutely could not go without a reliable pair of shoes.

The brutal wind and snow of the north were not as gentle as the misty drizzle of Jiangnan. Siberia's cold wind was a steel blade that killed men! Qin Mo already felt guilty for bringing his troops to a place where one needed to carry a stick even to piss. If he failed to protect them properly and caused non-combat losses, then his title as a transmigrator might as well be used as toilet paper and tossed away.

Dayuan produced abundant deerskin, so the legendary high-end deerskin boots became Qin Mo's standard military equipment. First, several layers of thick cowhide were made into soles and glued together with fish glue. That way, if one stepped on thorns, iron spikes, or the like, there would at least be some cushioning and protection.

The uppers were made from deerskin, copper caps were hammered in as eyelets, and a pair of simple yet handsome military boots was complete. After a group of half-elves and veteran killers tried them on, they praised them endlessly and repeatedly thanked Qin Mo. Had they ever seen a prince personally fuss over making shoes for his subordinates?

When Qin Mo made fingered leather gloves, no one laughed anymore. They felt that this heir was different from before. He was no longer an heir standing high above them, but a commander-in-chief preparing to share hardship and comfort with them all.

Ship after ship of sea salt was hauled away, and ship after ship of refined iron entered the smithies. Following the designs provided by the heir, the blacksmiths worked day and night forging a simply styled kind of armor.

It was not as beautiful as Great Xia's Brightlight Armor, nor as intricate as Leaf Armor, but the solid breastplate alone gave people peace of mind. There were arm guards reaching to the elbows, greaves, thigh guards, and even iron gloves covering the backs of the hands—everything was included. Finally, once they put on the new helmets that exposed only their eyes, they became heavily armored soldiers wrapped head to toe in steel.

"How much iron will this damned stuff take? Before, only generals and captains could use full body armor. For ordinary soldiers, having a breastplate was already proof that their commander was merciful. This lot has really struck it rich this time." Lin Bo and a group of white-haired old men clicked their tongues in dismay. Three thousand sets of full heavy armor practically made their hearts bleed.

After much discussion, Qin Mo decided that for this expedition, he would bring two thousand veterans, one thousand recruits, and another five hundred Elven Race longbowmen. The rest would be recruited from Fusang to make up the numbers. As for those thousand recruits, they were all sons and nephews of the veterans. They were going along this time mainly to gain experience; otherwise, once these battle-hardened veterans passed away, Dayuan would have no successors.

As for the five hundred elven archers, Qin Mo wanted to use lightweight chainmail for protection, but Ximan and Allen both disagreed. Their reason was that iron armor would reduce the mobility of elven archers. Qin Mo, however, believed they simply thought the black chainmail looked ugly. The three argued without end, and in the end they could only compromise, replacing chainmail with leather armor reinforced with refined steel at the vital areas.

The saltworks now brought in nearly ten thousand taels of silver in profit each month. Qin Mo's intention was to use everything besides the necessary construction costs to strengthen their military preparations. He knew that if they wanted to develop, they first had to grow rich; and if they wanted to grow rich, they needed sufficient force to protect the fruits of their labor from being plucked away by others.

So he told Lin Bo that after he left, they were to continue selling sea salt as usual, but open as many trade routes as possible and avoid drawing the attention of those with ulterior motives, lest unnecessary trouble arise. They were not to save the money they earned. Burn cement, build waterworks, buy refined iron, and forge armor and weapons. In two or three years, they would fear nothing any longer. Open attacks or hidden arrows, they would smash them all back.

After Lin Bo discussed it with several uncles and elders, they all agreed wholeheartedly. Prince Heng had yet to be promoted, yet he had been summoned against all convention to fight in the north. This string of abnormal developments had already sounded the alarm for them. They had all crawled out from heaps of corpses on the battlefield. Once they hardened their hearts, they were no match for those cowardly scholars.

"Young Master, this subordinate has failed in his duties. I truly could not buy enough horses. They... they sold all this year's warhorses in the north. There was simply no need to bring them south for sale."

The subordinate Qin Mo had sent to Hangzhou to purchase supplies brought him unpleasant news. He had scoured Hangzhou, Suzhou, and even Jinling City, yet bought only a little over a thousand warhorses. That was far short of the five thousand Qin Mo had demanded.

"Go back and buy some draft horses to make do for now. If we make the soldiers carry their own weapons and armor on foot, then there is no need to fight this war at all. We might as well all die of exhaustion on the road." Once full heavy armor had been issued to every soldier, their mobility naturally suffered. Without enough warhorses, Qin Mo's troops would be like turtles: strong enough in defense, but lacking mobility. They could only wait for others to attack them, while they themselves could not catch those fur-covered Orcs.

"Lin Bo, have those recruits who have never seen blood travel overland to the Imperial Capital first. Along the way, make sure they learn to ride. I do not demand horsemanship like those steppe barbarians, but at the very least, they must not fall off their horses while galloping." More than a thousand recruits were among the troops Qin Mo was bringing this time. They may have ridden horses a few times in Dayuan, but they were nowhere near the standard of charging freely across the land.

"Those man-eating profiteers are always like this. We were caught off guard this time, and they are going to make another killing from us." Lin Bo gritted his teeth until the veins on his forehead bulged. The other elders also cursed the profiteers for ruining the nation and cursed the Court for doing nothing.

Whenever the Court summoned the lords of the various fiefs to go to war, it became a feast for merchants dealing in arms, horses, and grain. They gathered at the expedition's departure points, stockpiled vast amounts of supplies, and sold them at exorbitant prices for enormous profits.

The private armies of the lords were not the imperial guard or border troops of the Great Xia Court. They had to provide their own arms and supplies. Whenever the Court prepared for an expedition, major merchants who received word in advance began hoarding goods and withholding them from sale, waiting only for fat sheep like Qin Mo to deliver themselves to the door.