Thank you for the monthly pass of Genesis Chinese Book Friend 52****.? ? Huoran? Wen???.? ｒ ａ?ｎ?ｅｎ`ｏｒｇ

Thank you for the recommendation votes of the book friend 1298589317, the book friend 1907362293, the book friend 23973960, the book friend 1447159773, and the book friend 1168832103.

****************

On the second day after Zhang Fatzi and his team returned to the Iron Castle, that is, on the third day of the first lunar month, all the factories, mines, scientific research units, and government departments in the Iron Castle also resumed normal work. Even the troops were re-mobilized and began to prepare for the clearing of 3 towns within 25-30 kilometers of the Iron Fort.

As for the countryside in this area, it was cleaned up by the self-help army long before the Chinese New Year.

By the beginning of March. The three townships targeted have been successfully defeated by the troops of the Self-Salvation Army, and two of them have been successfully defeated.

The small settlement of 300 people found earlier was also moved into the Iron Castle as a whole, becoming a part of the Steel Castle.

The Mercenary Guild has opened up the rental and sale of some Type 56 assault rifles, but only for reputable Halo Corps, not individual mercenaries.

The mercenary group and the mercenaries are also gradually expanding their area of activity, and in more than half a month, they have found two small survivor settlements one after another.

In Shenwu City, the second group of experts, totaling more than 70 people, also arrived at the Steel Fort in early March. The three scientific research projects have also made good progress after the addition of experts in Shenwu City. Now there are teams of more than 700 people on both sides around these three projects.

The factories of the Steel Fortress are also running well, and a large number of bullets and shells are continuously output, providing a solid foundation for the operation of the self-rescue army.

However, even when the work in these areas is in order, trouble does not seem to stop chasing them.

On the evening of March 9th. Chen Yuan received Xu Kai's report: "Fort Chief, our intelligence officers lurking in Celestial City have reported that the people of Celestial City are discussing a saltpeter deal with a survivor force in another place today!" ”

"Talking about the saltpeter deal?" Chen Yuan frowned and asked, "Do you know where those people come from?" ”

Xu Kai shook his head and said, "It seems to be from Heishui City in the north, and all of them are wearing military uniforms. Our intelligence officers have not yet inquired about the specifics. ”

"Blackwater." Chen Yuan tapped his fingers on the table as he fell into deep thought.

Heishui is located on the northern border of Huaxia, bordering Russia, and is an important border crossing.

In the previous life, there seemed to be a survivor colony here. Not very famous, but not weak either. Because they were formed by the border guards stationed here. Although the terrain in which the city was built had little merit, due to the superiority of weapons and the combat quality of the personnel, they had a great advantage in the early stage of the end of the world, just like the forces left over from the previous government such as Jimmu Castle.

Chen Yuan said: "They contacted Tiancheng and talked about buying saltpeter, probably for the production of gunpowder. Amagi's saltpeter production was already very limited. Then in this way, Amagi will definitely increase the price of saltpeter. We need to be prepared for this. lest they lion open his mouth! ”

He then looked at Zhang Fatzi: "How much saltpeter do we have now?" ”

"It's not a lot. Although the saltpeter produced by Amagi was sold to us before, it was about 4 tons per day. But we have to produce it ourselves, and we also have to provide raw materials for Shenwu City. The reserve has not been able to rise, and now the stock is only about 20 tons. If we don't supply Shenwu City, it will only be enough for us to produce for 10 days. ”

Chen Yuan continued to ask, "So what about our current ammunition stockpile?" At our current average consumption rate, how long will we be able to use the title? ”

"There are quite a few stocks of ammunition. If the ammunition is stopped now, it should still support us to consume about 20 days according to the current high-intensity combat consumption. If you save a little, it is estimated that it can support a longer time. ”

Chen Yuan nodded and said, "That means that if the City side gives us a price that we can't accept, then we will have at least a little more than a month to let us find a new source of saltpeter." ”

Fat Zhang nodded.

***********

On the second day, the Heavenly City sent someone. It's also about the price increase of saltpeter.

"So, how much do you want to mention the price of saltpeter?" Facing the negotiators sent by Amagi, Chen Yuan asked directly.

"1 kg of saltpeter and 10 kg of rice flour. If you are exchanging guns and ammunition, you can get a slight discount. The people who came also directly quoted their prices, which seemed very confident.

Hearing such a price, many high-ranking members of the Self-Rescue Army who came to participate in the negotiations couldn't help but take a breath of cold air.

"What! I heard you right! That's 20 times the price of the previous transaction! Zhang Fatzi first roared: "You guys are crazy! ”

Zhang Zeshan was also angry: "1 kilogram of saltpeter and 10 kilograms of rice noodles, 4 tons of saltpeter per day is 40 tons of rice noodles!" You're only 2,000 people, can you finish eating! ”

The person who came said: "It's our business to finish eating and not being able to finish eating, in short, this is the addition of saltpeter now." Before, 4 tons of saltpeter per day only cost you 2 tons of grain, which is too cheap for you! And now, even if you pay the price of 10 kilograms of grain per kilogram of saltpeter, we can only give you a maximum of 2 tons of saltpeter per day. He finally added: "There is no shortage of people for our saltpeter now!" ”

Zhang Fatzi immediately refuted: "What's wrong with 2 tons of grain a day? You're only 2,000 people! The maximum food consumption in a day is more than 1 ton. There's no need to go out and take risks, and it takes less than a quarter of your labor to mine. We're going to have to give out 2 tons of food a day to feed all of you, and we're going to have a little surplus every day! Why, now that you're fattening, you're going to start repaying your grievances with virtue, right? ”

"I'll go ......" Zhang Zeshan also became more and more angry the more he listened, and he was about to go crazy at that time. They fought every day, facing the threat of death at any time, in order to bring back a large amount of food for the settlement. These people are digging and mining, but they have to take nearly 30 times more materials than they consume, this is a robbery!

However, before he was about to roll up his sleeves and beat people, Chen Yuan raised his hand to stop him.

Chen Yuan said to the person from Tiancheng: "We can't afford this price now. I'll talk to you again if I need to do so in the future. Now, please go back first. ”

Chen Yuan flatly refused to trade saltpeter with Tiancheng at such a price.

Although even 40 tons of food per day is a drop in the bucket for the Iron Castle, they are not wronged.

Saltpeter is by no means unique to Amagi, it's a big deal to find a new one. But before this year's autumn arrived, the grain was one less than one. Today, they have nearly 39,000 people to feed, and the population will continue to grow in the future. Shenwu City will definitely need some food from their side as well. Of course, Chen Yuan would rather use grain to exchange tanks and missiles with Shenwu City.

But he didn't say it too much, if he really couldn't find other sources of saltpeter or didn't have enough in the future, then he could only go back to Tiancheng. Although the odds are slim. At least they now have two very clear ways to get saltpeter.