Certainly, I will translate the provided Chinese text into English, adhering strictly to all your detailed rules.
One must naturally adopt an attitude befitting the service of the king.
As I was not familiar with operating cannons, Dai Lu assigned me a deputy she had recently trained, named Xiao Nu. She was a Kunlun slave, not appearing to be of a summer climate people, dark-skinned but not of African descent, likely from the Nanya region. A Tang Dynasty female ghost.
To be fair, despite her dark complexion, Xiao Nu's features were strikingly unique, blending the advantages of both Eastern and Western ethnicities. Her figure was even more sensational, with a style that would be popular on Instagram, her curves so pronounced they seemed Photoshopped.
She was genuinely intelligent, bringing along the protractor and set squares I had bought for Dai Lu, as well as a notebook filled with data and tables. These were her own notes, essentially a record of her studies under Teacher Dai Lu, all pertaining to cannonball trajectory data.
And this data was already ingrained in Dai Lu's mind.
Loading took nearly half an hour. Fifty horse-drawn cannon carts, with the cannonballs not loaded separately but distributed on each cart. Their cannonballs were not large; sixty per cart, which amounted to two large wooden crates.
Once loading was complete, Bingbing, Baobao, Xiao Nu, and I led the team out.
Fortunately, the surrounding areas were under imperial control. Zheng Baobao had also dispatched sixteen scouts in eight directions to ensure the absolute safety of these precious assets. After three hours of smooth travel, a range of connected mountains appeared ahead. They were not very steep. Zheng Baobao said that once we crossed the mountains, Erqi City would be only ten li away. If the enemy had set an ambush, it was very likely to be in the mountains.
"Then you all rest in the woods, and I'll go scout," I said.
"Brother, I'll go with you," Bingbing replied. I nodded. She actually wanted to seize the opportunity to learn the Gale Force Technique; well, that skill was easy to learn and even easier to use.
It took a minute, and I taught Zheng Bingbing how to use the Gale Force Technique. I didn't hide it from the others; there was no need to hide it, as they wouldn't be able to use it even if they learned it.
Both of us activated the Gale Force Technique simultaneously and quickly reached the mountaintop. However, Bingbing, possibly due to nervousness, couldn't stop and ran straight down the mountain, out into the flat plains below. Only when she was about to charge into the densely packed enemy encampment did she remember to turn back. She drew a wide arc around the enemy camp and ran back to the mountaintop, but still couldn't stop. I had to synchronize my footsteps with hers again, telling her how to stop.
"Halt!"
We landed smoothly.
All the way here, I had simultaneously activated the Gale Force Technique and Qi Sensing Art. I hadn't detected any ambushing troops in the mountains. Of course, if there were structures like hidden caves in the mountains, my Qi Sensing Art wouldn't be able to detect them. Standing on the mountaintop, observing the situation on the large plain below, it was clear at a glance. Erqi City was actually an isolated city. It was surrounded by land on all sides, with plains on three sides and a mountain range on the remaining side. This mountain range was crescent-shaped, forming a large loop that connected to our current position.
The last time I had seen such a mountain formation was at Tianchi Lake in Changbai Mountain.
"Is this a meteor crater or a volcanic crater?" Bingbing, who participated in outdoor activities year-round, recognized it immediately. It was then that I realized, a ring mountain, much like the surface of the moon.
"I don't know. Are there any volcanic craters this large? It should be a meteor crater," I analyzed.
Bingbing extended her thumb, gesturing the distance: "It's too far. If we set up positions on the mountaintop, we probably won't be able to bombard the enemy."
"You can measure distances with your thumb?" I asked, surprised. "Isn't that a specialized skill for artillerymen?"
"We use it for mountain climbing too! Don't underestimate me!" Bingbing pouted.
Fine, I believed her. Actually, there was no need to measure; they definitely wouldn't be able to hit it. The range was less than half of what was needed. This meteor crater was simply too vast. To bombard the enemy camp, we would have to pull the cannons at least a kilometer past the foot of the mountain.
But if we did that, the artillery unit would be subjected to a frontal assault by cavalry. While cannons were powerful, they couldn't withstand the swift Yin world cavalry.
We couldn't act recklessly.
"Bingbing, go back and relay the order for them to remain on standby. I'm going to seek cooperation from neighboring formations," I said.
"Where are the neighboring formations?" Bingbing asked.
"Didn't Baobao say she had mobilized twelve formations?" I gestured around the ring mountain. "No matter which direction they come from, they'll have to climb to the mountaintop to scout, just like us. As long as I follow the ridge line, I'll encounter them."