It's better to be an empress than a county magistrate

This small catapult modified by Lu Xingchen is the best tool for attacking small cities like county towns.

Because the walls were low, slingshots could be launched from a greater distance.

Lu Xingchen had the slingers make precise measurements of how far the slings could be thrown and where they could land at a height of ten meters. They also practiced it over and over again.

Fifteen catapults were pushed forward and fixed in position.

Lu Xingchen naturally wouldn't care about how these catapults were operated.

She is the head coach and just issues orders.

The specific way to fight is decided by the company captain and the squad leader.

Although today she personally led the troops to attack Wanxian.

But in the future, as their territory becomes wider and their troops become more and more numerous, people like Zhang Fan and Wei Hu will have to take charge of their own affairs.

Generals are trained through battle after battle.

Zhou Shu didn't understand what Lu Xingchen was going to do.

He pulled the general standing next to him over and asked, "What are they going to do?"

"Shouldn't we be attacking the city now?"

Zhou Shu had never attacked a city, nor had he ever actually defended a city.

This was also the first time for him to defend the city.

Naturally, these generals were experiencing this for the first time.

"Sir, those look like slingshots," said an old soldier who had fought in the war.

"Shield..." Zhou Shu shouted immediately when he heard it was a catapult.

Then a dozen soldiers held shields in their hands and pointed them at Zhou Shu's head.

Today Zhou Shu also made up his mind to defend the city tower together with the soldiers guarding the city.

"Such a small slingshot can only throw stones as big as a head, so it's not very dangerous," said the experienced soldier.

"Okay..." Zhou Shu said with satisfaction, "If we can defend the city today, everyone will be rewarded handsomely."

He didn't know exactly how many soldiers Lu Xingchen had, so he could only guess by feeling how many people there were in a county, probably a few hundred.

He had six or seven hundred soldiers guarding the city, and he didn't believe that he could not stop Lu Xingchen's attack.

"Commander, the catapult is ready." A company captain ran over and said to Lu Xingchen.

"Let's get started and vote for the first round." Lu Xingchen said.

After all, explosives were still a new thing in this era.

She also didn't want to cause too many casualties.

If there could be a deterrent force to force Zhou Shu to open the city gate and deliver the letter of surrender, that would be the best outcome.

The company captain agreed and then passed on the orders to bag, ignite and throw in sequence.

As the slings whizzed,

Fifteen grains of gunpowder, carrying sparks, flew in the air, drew a beautiful parabola, and then landed on the city wall of Wanxian.

This was followed by a deafening explosion.

The entire Wanxian was in a state of collapse due to the shock of the explosion.

Immediately, screams, panic and cries were heard from the city wall.

Several soldiers climbed up the city wall in panic and fell down.

Some soldiers even ran away in panic.

"Master, Master..." Zhou Shu's personal bodyguard kept shouting.

After a huge explosion, smoke and dust rose up and the vision was blurred.

There were fallen soldiers around them, some with their legs blown off, and some covered in blood.

This is not a stone, what the hell is this?

They have never seen it.

"Gunpowder...it's gunpowder..." An old soldier who had seen gunpowder shouted in panic.

"It's the devil's gunpowder."

The entire Wanxian city wall was in chaos. No one looked for Zhou Shu anymore.

Soon, the gate of Wanxian was opened, and the soldiers inside ran out in panic.

Immediately afterwards, the people in the city rushed out of the city gate like headless flies and fled in all directions.

Seeing this, Lu Xingchen ordered, "Shieldmen, clear the way, line up neatly, and enter the city..."

So, the soldiers of Xing County lined up in neat formations, in four rows, and rushed into the city gate of Wan County like a bulldozer.

After entering the city, Lu Xingchen took Ling Xiao and Lu Feng directly to the Wanxian government office.

Zhang Fan took some people up to the city wall.

Wei Hu led another group of people to wipe out the soldiers in Wanxian City.

After the fifteen bombs fell, it was not just the few soldiers defending the city that were shattered, but the resistance morale of all the soldiers in Wanxian.

After the huge roar, everyone didn't know what happened and felt as if they were about to collapse.

Lu Xingchen took Ling Xiao and Lu Feng and quickly entered the county government office.

The civil servants in the county government naturally did not dare to resist and surrendered one after another.

Lu Xingchen asked Ling Xiao to plant the Xing and Lu flags on the roof of the county government office.

Half an hour later, a company captain escorted Zhou Shu into the county government office.

Zhou Shu was covered in dust, but not injured. He was knocked unconscious by the explosives. His soldiers dug him out from the crowd and brought him back to the county government office.

Ling Xiao took a basin of water and poured it on Zhou Shu's face.

Zhou Shu shuddered and woke up.

At this time, he was tied to a chair. Lu Feng took a piece of cloth and wiped his face clean.

Zhou Shu was almost awake.

He looked up at Lu Xingchen.

Lu Xingchen pulled another chair and sat opposite him.

"I told you to surrender, but you didn't. I wasted fifteen of my explosives."

Explosives already existed in this era, but their scope of application was not particularly wide.

If we go back to real history, Zhao Kuangyin had used explosives in many places when he unified the world.

In this era, because technologies such as steel were very limited, explosives could only be homemade.

Even the most ordinary explosives can have a very shocking effect.

Especially someone like Zhou Shu whom I have never met before.

"Lu Xingchen, you are a devil." Zhou Shu said.

Lu Xingchen smiled faintly, "Don't worry, Lord Zhou. Although you wasted fifteen of my explosives, I won't kill you."

"Because you helped me train my troops."

“It still looks good now.”

"Especially for someone like you who has never seen the world..."

"You actually developed such a powerful explosive." Zhou Shu's tone revealed helplessness, but also a bit of admiration.

"You also know that I am an ambitious person, otherwise you wouldn't want to marry your second daughter to me so early." Lu Xingchen said, "So I can tell you now that I am an ambitious person."

"Since the day I became the county magistrate, I have already regarded you as my possessions."

"It's just a matter of time, and I'm thinking about which one to take first."

"In fact, I wanted to save Song County for the last one to attack, but I didn't expect that Song County would become the first one."

"So what do you want to do next?" Zhou Shu asked. "What do you think?" Lu Xingchen asked back.

"You want to be the lord of Jizhou." Zhou Shu said.

Lu Xingchen smiled but said nothing.

"For Miss Zhou Er's sake, I won't embarrass you. You can keep your own private property."

Lu Xingchen said to Zhou Shu, "However, Wanxian is mine."

"You must actively cooperate and hand over Wanxian's money and grain, the list of the people, and the account books of the past few years..."