Hair Thieves
Hair Thieves is The Hair Thieves are a formidable naval and military faction operating in coastal and maritime regions, particularly around Lingao and Guangzhou, known for their advanced combat capabilities and strategic dominance. They wield formidable iron ships and swift boats, mastering naval warfare through superior engineering—such as refined gunpowder formulations and innovative firearm techniques like buried sulfur-and-saltpeter detonations (e.g., the Hongyi Cannons). Their operations often involve coordinated raids, intelligence-gathering from sailors and merchants, and the capture of government troops, as seen during Yang He’s preparations for a POW camp. Beyond their military prowess, they maintain covert networks, infiltrating enemy ranks to gather secrets, as hinted by suspicious observations
Context from Novel
"Chapter 625 - The Guard Battalions "The POW camp is ready. I even crash-trained a batch of women to shave heads," Yang He said enthusiastically. He had spent the whole afternoon discussing the POW camp's site selection and construction with Mei Wan. The start date for construction was settled. But the large amount of supporting facilities for the camp required cooperation from other departments. Speaking of the imminent capture of large numbers of government troops, everyone felt invigorated. On"
"Chapter 628 - The General (Part One) Wu Mu studied the freshly copied official documents that had just arrived from the postal inspection station at the Guanrong Post. Although all of Lingao had long since fallen under their control, the policy of "Ming on the outside, Australia on the inside" required keeping the postal roads open at all times. After Shan Daoqian took charge of the Transportation Department, he not only repaired the postal roads but also took over the post stations along the ro"
"Chapter 629 - The General (Part Two) He Rubin had already posted notices throughout Guangzhou and Qiongzhou, recruiting anyone who understood the internal workings of the Hair Thieves and knew Lingao well. He also tracked down sailors and merchants who had visited Lingao and interrogated them about the Hair Thieves' particulars. But what these people could tell him amounted to little more than commonplaces: the Hair Thieves possessed great iron ships and swift boats, and they were skilled at com"
"Chapter 630 - Red Barbarian Cannons The discussion was still underway when a personal guard suddenly reported that the cannon consecration ceremony was ready to proceed. To counter the Hair Thieves' formidable firearms, Foshan had recently delivered ten freshly cast "Red Barbarian Cannons" ( Hongyi Cannons ). He Rubin had ordered an auspicious day chosen for him to personally consecrate and test-fire the weapons. Today was that auspicious day. He Rubin led his staff to the drill ground. All his"
"Chapter 631 - The Hair Thieves' Background Granular gunpowder represented a significant improvement over powdered gunpowder. The powdered form absorbed moisture readily, and during storage and transport, the mixture gradually separated due to jostling—more charcoal powder accumulating in the upper layer, more sulfur powder settling toward the bottom. This uneven distribution was detrimental to both the power and safety of the gunpowder. Li Modao watched the craftsmen granulating with keen intere"
Appearances
Appears in chapters: 626, 629, 630, 631, 632, 633, 634, 1594, 1595, 1596, 1597, 2034, 2035, 2037, 2192, 2193, 2196, 2255, 2256, 2259, 2260, 2271, 2272, 2273, 2274, 2276, 2280, 2281, 2285, 2286, 2287, 2288, 2289, 2290, 2406, 2688, 2689, 2690, 2691, 2693, 2694.