Annexation, rebranding—what had been a feeble imperial army was now kitted out with Longcheng weapons.
On top of that, Longcheng had sent a handful of people over to sharpen their training. After some time, just how much would their combat strength improve?
This new model was getting more and more interesting by the day.
The emperors of those two courts still hadn't a clue. They were busily recruiting soldiers, dreaming of seizing ever more colonial territory.
Little did they know, their own military camps had been hollowed out from within.
Had this been the Central Plains, it really would have been hard to pull off.
Longcheng hadn't shorted any of the courts on the overseas supplies either—whatever the agreed amount was, that's exactly what they received.
That made the whole arrangement even harder to detect.
Longcheng. The Five-Party Conference.
The Ming Emperor's representative, having already had a taste of the rewards, spoke up: "Given that Italy has persistently refused to apologize to our nation, our Emperor wishes to dispatch troops once more to strike Italy's remaining colonies and continue teaching them a lesson."
"Hear, hear—who do they think they are? You hit someone and you don't apologize? No apology, keep hitting!"
High-minded words, as though Italy apologizing now would actually make them stop.
Still, Longcheng liked their attitude.
"Italian Africa comprises five territories in total. We currently occupy two. As for the remaining three, let us discuss how to divide them."
"Since our court was the one who started all this, it's only reasonable that we take another piece!"
"You've already taken plenty! You hold one territory to yourselves right now—take another and that's two!"
"That's our capability at work. If you've got the skill, go ahead and do the same!"
"Skill my foot. The three of us together only hold one piece. If we take the remaining two, that averages one apiece for each of us—which means you getting two is unfair. We refuse!"
The representatives of the various courts erupted into argument, all treating Italy like a soft persimmon to squeeze.
Ming Wu simply sat there, watching quietly, sipping water now and then. Only when a rough consensus had gradually formed did he nudge things forward, guiding everyone toward a final agreement.
Three territories—varying in size, differing in the richness of their resources and mineral wealth.
The Ming Emperor's court had taken the larger share before, so they couldn't be left out this time either. They would simply receive the smallest portion.
The Ming court accepted. After all, they had already profited handsomely, and getting anything more was reason enough to be pleased.
And so, by the end of year forty-three, the four great courts squeezed out another three hundred thousand fresh troops and dispatched them overseas.
Eight hundred thousand men sent abroad in total.
General Wu received word from the court—in recognition of his outstanding performance, a commendation had arrived. A handsome personal reward: another ten thousand taels.
But General Wu had long since stopped caring about ten thousand taels.
He pocketed the money, then faced the order to march on another Italian territory.
He went to find Mayor Song to talk it over.
Then he held his troops in place and reported back to the Ming Emperor that the men weren't adapting well to the local conditions—a great many soldiers had fallen ill. He asked the court for time to recuperate.
The Emperor issued several urgent orders pressing him to advance. But a general in the field need not heed every command from his sovereign.
After some time, Longcheng's orders came through: move out, on command.
Leave one division—ten thousand men—here.
The other twenty thousand: march.
Advance on that side, seize the entirety of the Italian colony in conjunction with the other forces, and then Longcheng would dispatch another ten thousand men to that location to establish a new township.
General Wu—the man who saw no need to heed imperial commands—Commander of Longcheng's First Mercenary Legion.
The very next day he was packed and ready to move, leading twenty thousand men out on the march.
Armed with Longcheng's newly developed Longshen rifles, they were utterly unstoppable, cutting through Italy's regular troops and auxiliary forces until the enemy was wailing to heaven and earth.
The tens of thousands of prisoners taken this time were not shipped back to the Central Plains. They were distributed on the spot between the two Longcheng townships.
By day, labor and rehabilitation. By evening, lessons in Chinese and mathematics.
Pass the examinations, receive a Longcheng residency certificate and a primary school diploma—and with it, full access to Longcheng's benefits.
When these prisoners learned what Longcheng's benefits actually meant, they were nearly beside themselves with joy.
Longcheng was happy. The great courts were happy. The soldiers the courts had sent overseas were even happier. Even the native prisoners were happy.
Only Italy was decidedly unhappy.
Losing all five territories of Italian Africa was a devastating blow—equivalent to surrendering half of their entire overseas empire.
Was this the end of Italy's glory?
The Italian King launched a frenzied conscription drive at home, swelling his forces from several hundred thousand to two million in short order.
Two million Italian homeland troops shipped back overseas.
Within a few months, the Longshen rifles—capable of rapid fire, simple to reload, and deadly accurate—shattered them completely.
Italy's glory was finished.
The four great courts were greatly emboldened. Word had also reached them that Longcheng was supplying new-model weapons to support their overseas forces.
They thought to themselves: Longcheng really is a caring patron.
Riding high on their new confidence, the four dynasties actually entertained the idea of absorbing every last one of Italy's overseas colonies outright.
The other great powers were having none of it, and war threats came pouring in from all directions.
The four dynasties finally relented.
But their terms for relenting included a formal apology from Italy—and in the end, Italy apologized.
The courts put on a hypocritical show: "If you'd just apologized sooner, couldn't we have avoided all this unpleasantness?"
The King of Italy slapped himself across the face, again and again. Why didn't I just apologize from the start? Is it too late now? Will they give my territory back?
Of course not.
This war won the four kingdoms the respect of the world's great powers—though it was mainly the Shenlong rifle that had earned the respect.
So a rifle could do all that?
Rapid fire. Integrated cartridges.
Every nation threw itself back into research with renewed urgency.