Emperor: When will the Seventh Prince rebel? I will open the city gates to welcome him.

After five days

The 40,000-strong army group arrived at Mangdang Mountain and assembled.

The three army commanders, Yu Deshen, Deng Yongmen, and Li Donglin, divided the entire army group into three parts.

These three parts are their main armies.

Yu Deshen led 20,000 troops.

Deng Yongmen led 10,000 troops.

Li Donglin led 10,000 troops.

After settling the soldiers,

The three men brought eight brigade commanders to Hongxuan’s military camp.

Hongxuan was overjoyed when he saw the arrival of three army commanders and eight brigade commanders.

"Yu Deshen, Deng Yongmen, Li Donglin! You three came just in time. I don't want to wait even a moment longer!"

Hongxuan sat high above the military tent, and three army commanders and eight brigade commanders came forward and saluted respectfully.

"I pay my respects to the King of Zhenbei!"

"Well, please take a seat!"

Yu Deshen looked into the military tent. In addition to the Qilin Guards, there was another young man he had never seen before.

"I hereby order you to serve as engineers in this place!"

"Your Highness, what are engineering troops? We have never heard of such a type of troops!" Army Commander Yu Deshen asked curiously.

Three army commanders, eight brigade commanders, including the Qilin Guards, and Liu Xiahui also looked at King Zhenbei in confusion.

Hongxuan smiled and said:

"Engineers are soldiers who carry out engineering tasks. Your next task is mining and iron smelting, which is considered an engineering project!"

"The three commanders and eight brigade commanders of your Fourth Army will all be reorganized into engineering corps."

The three army commanders, Yu Deshen, Deng Yongmen and Li Donglin, were extremely shocked.

Yu Deshen clasped his fists and said:

"King Zhenbei! Weren't the soldiers I led before communications scouts? Why are we now engineers?"

"King Zhenbei! I was the captain of the medical team before, and then I became a division commander leading a force of 10,000 people. I haven't adapted yet, so how come I'm an engineer now?" Li Donglin stood up in panic, for he was afraid that he would not be able to do this task well.

Deng Yongmen did not stand up, but listened carefully to Hongxuan's next words.

Yu Deshen was unable to react and kept defining himself as the commander of the communications reconnaissance unit, and his subordinates were also defined as communications reconnaissance soldiers.

Hongxuan looked at him and said:

"Use troops! If you don't know how to adapt, how can this unit be effective?"

"How could this king possibly need 20,000 communications scouts? When I promote you to army commander, I will naturally not define the 20,000 soldiers you lead as communications scouts!"

"If I do this, how can I be worthy of the title of the Fourth Army?"

"I will give you three army commanders and eight brigade commanders. Let me explain. A group army is a military force that includes all arms of the military. There are logistical support, reconnaissance, medical support, special operations, and of course, offensive soldiers in the group army."

After Hongxuan finished explaining this, the three army commanders and eight brigade commanders understood.

"You haven't fought yet. Only after you fight will you truly understand what a group army is!"

"Also! Previously, due to the military strength, the division was temporarily very general. Now the military strength is in the tens of thousands, so many departments can be formed internally."

"You have heard the proverb that a small sparrow has all the organs, and this is especially true for the army!"

"And now we are transferring your Fourth Army here to consume this mountain of iron ore in front of us and create enough composite crossbows and crossbow arrows, so that our army will be invincible!"

In this military tent, not only the officers of the Fourth Army Group admired him, but even the Qilin Guards also admired him deeply.

Military positions are not fixed.

Even soldiers who provide logistics support have to go to the battlefield when it is time.

What did General Deng Yongmen realize first?

He stood up and said:

"King of Zhenbei! Is that mountain outside formed by iron ore?"

After Deng Yongmen's reminder, the other officers also reacted.

They looked at Zhenbei Wang Hongxuan suspiciously.

Zhenbei Wang Hongxuan's voice was a bit majestic:

"Yes! I have determined that it is a mountain formed by iron ore, General Deng Yongmen, and his superior General Yu Deshen, General Li Donglin, and eight brigade commanders! You don't need to doubt it."

"You just need to believe in what I say, including your soldiers."

"It is the duty of a soldier to obey orders. Don't try to guess the thoughts and intentions of your superiors!"

Three army commanders and eight brigade commanders said in unison:

"I dare not! I obey your order!"

Hongxuan began to formally discuss with three army commanders and eight brigade commanders how to establish a metal smelting workshop in this area.

The process is not complicated.

No matter how complicated the task is, it cannot be defeated by 40,000 soldiers working together.

After making a plan,

Under the supervision of three army commanders and eight brigade commanders, the iron smelting equipment was soon manufactured successfully.

The equipment for iron smelting includes high-temperature furnaces and instruments for crushing ore.

Hongxuan personally directed the work and manufactured the high-temperature furnace and the equipment for grinding ore. The manufacturing standards of the high-temperature furnace were all in accordance with Hongxuan's requirements.

It is much more advanced than what is manufactured in this era.

The high-temperature furnace of this era was at best a workshop.

What Hongxuan built was a very large high-temperature furnace, and the equipment for crushing ore was many times larger than ordinary equipment.

The millstones are made of two huge pieces of refined iron stone.

Iron powder ore can be easily crushed directly in it.

The task of collecting ore was given to 10,000 soldiers led by Deng Yongmen.

After collecting the ore, the soldiers began the iron smelting work in an orderly manner.

Ten thousand engineers led by Li Donglin,

Responsible for the careful sorting and cleaning of the ore, they carefully pick out the impurities and dirt to ensure the purity of the ore.

After cleaning, the strong soldiers carefully carried the ores to the huge stone mortar.

Another group of soldiers picked up heavy hammers and crushed the ore into smaller particles again and again.

The particles are then fed into a grinder, which runs continuously under the operation of the soldiers, further grinding the ore particles into fine powder.

The 20,000 soldiers led by Yu Deshen were divided into four groups.

A group of soldiers mixed finely crushed ore powder with an appropriate amount of coke in precise proportions. The mixed materials were transported to the outside of the iron-smelting blast furnace, where experienced craftsmen had already made preparations.

During the entire process, King Zhenbei personally supervised and commanded 40,000 soldiers, dividing them into different process groups.

Some teams are responsible for adding fuel to the bottom of the blast furnace to keep the fire burning vigorously and ensure that the temperature inside the furnace continues to rise.

Some teams are responsible for observing the situation inside the blast furnace and adjusting the temperature and the amount of material added in a timely manner as needed.

As the temperature continues to rise, the ore and coke begin to react chemically.

The carbon in the coke combines with the oxygen in the ore.

Gradually reduce the iron in the ore. In this process, a large amount of carbon monoxide and other gases will be produced.

These gases are discharged from the top of the blast furnace. The molten iron in the blast furnace gradually gathers into a liquid state and presents a fiery red color.