Chapter 263: Research Takes an Unexpected Turn
While Li Daoxuan was busy subtly transforming the county town into a reflection of Gao Family Village, a few miles away, in a small cave near Gao Family Village, Xu Dafu, Chief of the Firearms Bureau, emerged from the cave mouth, his face etched with weariness.
Though he looked as if he'd shed a few pounds, his eyes gleamed with triumphant joy. As soon as he stepped out, he threw his hands skyward and burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, I did it! I finally succeeded!"
He'd barely chuckled twice when a man's voice echoed from the hillside behind him: "Succeeded at what?"
Xu Dafu nearly jumped out of his skin. He spun around to see Instructor He, the masked militia instructor, and only then did he let out a sigh of relief: "Instructor He, trying to scare me to death? Why come all the way to this desolate wilderness just to give me a fright?"
Cheng Xu rolled his eyes. "Who has time to scare you? I'm leading the militia in mountain maneuvers. How was I to know you were hiding in this cave? What have you been researching that has you so excited?"
Xu Dafu glanced behind him and, sure enough, the entire militia was there, all looking utterly exhausted from their march, now resting.
"Heh!" Xu Dafu grinned. "What I've been researching is exactly what your militia will be using in the future, so there's no harm in telling you."
Cheng Xu's interest was piqued. "Oh? Let's have a look."
Xu Dafu spread his hand, revealing a small, round ball.
Cheng Xu couldn't make sense of the object, and neither could any of the militiamen on the hillside.
Gao Chuwu's mouth widened. "Is it something delicious?"
Zheng Daniu added, "It looks like a big sugar ball."
Gao Chuwu declared, "I could eat two of those in one bite."
Zheng Daniu countered, "If you can eat two, I can eat three."
Gao Chuwu retorted, "If you can eat three, I can eat four."
Cheng Xu roared, "Silence! What's there to compare? How could anything Xu Dafu makes be edible? You'd probably just blow out all your teeth!"
The two immediately fell silent.
Xu Dafu chuckled. "Heh heh, perfect timing. I was just about to test whether this thing works. Everyone, stand back."
Cheng Xu waved his hand, and the militiamen retreated further.
Once Xu Dafu confirmed the distance was safe, he aimed the small, round ball in his hand at a rock ahead and threw it with all his might...
The tiny ball struck the rock, exploding with a "boom." Its power wasn't immense, but it kicked up a huge cloud of smoke and scattered paper fragments that had wrapped the sphere.
Cheng Xu and the entire militia jumped back in shock. Many clutched their heads and crouched down.
The two simple-minded men who had just been discussing eating sugar balls clamped their massive hands over their mouths, thinking: *Eating that would be disastrous!*
Xu Dafu laughed uproariously: "Hahahaha! It worked! It worked! A device that explodes on impact—I finally created it!"
Cheng Xu cautiously poked his head out. "This thing doesn't need to be lit? It just explodes when it hits something?"
Xu Dafu puffed out his chest with pride. "Exactly. It explodes on impact."
Cheng Xu exclaimed, "Good heavens! Doesn't that make it incredibly powerful? In a battle, if each of my men just threw one of these, wouldn't the enemy be sent scrambling in terror?"
Xu Dafu also chuckled. "Heh heh, yes, it could certainly be used that way."
Cheng Xu was overjoyed. "Then what are you waiting for? Make ten for each of my men, and make them bigger, about the size of a fist. They'd be incredibly powerful when they explode, hahahaha!"
Xu Dafu shook his head. "Unfortunately, it can't be used like that. Tell me, how would you get ten of these balls, which explode on impact, to the battlefield?"
Cheng Xu replied, "Hang them on their belts—"
He stopped mid-sentence, suddenly realizing the problem.
Hanging them on belts was definitely unreliable. If the things exploded on impact, what if someone accidentally tripped during a march? Wouldn't they just blow themselves up?
Cheng Xu's face instantly flushed with embarrassment. "That... actually... won't work."
Xu Dafu nodded. "Transporting this thing to the battlefield requires extreme caution. You'd need a large box, filled with cotton, with one large ball placed carefully within the cotton. Only one could be transported per box... On the battlefield, it would also need to be handled with care before being thrown. The soldiers carrying it couldn't stumble or collide with anything... They'd have to handle it with extreme delicacy, like a grandson supporting his grandfather, carrying it close to the enemy before throwing it..."
He trailed off, a hint of regret in his voice. "Given all that, it's simply not practical."
Cheng Xu nodded after hearing this: *Indeed, not very practical.*
But then a new thought struck him. "Then let's not use these impact-detonated bombs. Use bombs with a fuse! Just remove this impact mechanism and replace it with a fuse. That way, you won't have to worry about it exploding halfway to the battlefield, and soldiers can easily carry them, light the fuse, and throw them at the enemy."
Xu Dafu spread his hands. "That's just a regular bomb. They've been around since the Song Dynasty, but they're incredibly inconvenient to use. If a bomb is too big, it's too heavy to throw far. If it's too small, while it can be thrown further, its destructive power is limited, making it impractical."
Cheng Xu turned and pointed at Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu. "How far do you think these two could throw a large bomb?"
Xu Dafu's eyes lit up again. "I understand! Heh heh, with those two around, regular bombs might actually work. I'm going back into the cave. Don't come in, and keep your men far away. Absolutely do not approach."
Cheng Xu called back, "No way I'm coming in! That damn bomb of yours, exploding on contact, is far too dangerous! You couldn't pay me to go near your little cave."
The militia quickly retreated to a safe distance.
Meanwhile, Xu Dafu pondered Cheng Xu's words. He set aside the impact-detonated bomb for a moment and instead considered wrapping ordinary black powder into a ball, encasing it in black oiled paper, and attaching a fuse. He mentally simulated lighting the fuse and throwing it, and it felt quite promising.
Considering the balance between weight and destructive power, the bomb couldn't be too big or too small. After careful calculation, making the bomb the size of a fist seemed to be the most appropriate... .
Wait, what?
He suddenly snapped back to reality. *I was clearly instructed by the Heavenly Lord to research percussion caps. How did my research end up going so off-track?*
Baishui County...
The true Guyuan rebel army was camped in a forest about twenty li from the county seat, while Regional Commander Li Ying was bound hand and foot to a withered tree.
Li Ying was truly unlucky. Li Daoxuan had spared him, but he had fled headlong straight into the hands of the true Guyuan rebels, only to be captured alive.
The rebel leader was a Thousand-Household Commander, a fifth-rank military official. His real name had been discarded; he'd given himself the moniker "Northern Water Dragon."
Northern Water Dragon glared fiercely at Li Ying, then turned to his deputy. "Have you scouted it out? Which way is best to go?"
The deputy whispered, "South is not far from Xi'an. If we truly march on Xi'an, it'll be a death trap. Going east would be better. This useless Li Ying came from the east, and since we've already routed his forces, there shouldn't be any government troops there."
Northern Water Dragon nodded. "East of Baishui County... Chengcheng County, then? Good. The entire army, move out! We'll go to Chengcheng County and seize some military provisions."
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