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Chapter 552: A Way to Defy the Rain

Dou Wenda kept his distance, unwilling to provoke these rebels who had accepted amnesty. He feigned busyness, directing the militia to tend to the wounded and clear the battlefield.

With him gone, everyone became much more amenable.

Cheng Xu shook the raindrops from his armor. "Damn it," he grumbled, "fighting in this heavy rain, and in winter no less, I'm freezing to death! Quick, find us a clean place to change clothes and get a hot bath."

Bai Mao laughed. "Come on, let's head to our barracks and rest for a bit."

The three men led the way to the barracks, chatting as they walked.

"This rain, it came out of nowhere, didn't it?" Cheng Xu remarked. "Suddenly so heavy."

"The drought here in Shanxi is less severe than in Shaanxi," Wang Er said. "It still rains occasionally here."

Cheng Xu nodded, his expression turning serious. "If it rains like this often, it will severely impact Gao Family Village's combat effectiveness. Our arquebusiers really don't like fighting in the rain."

Wang Er nodded. "That is indeed a significant problem."

Just as they were discussing this, the Puppet Heavenly Lord, perched on Bai Mao's shoulder, chuckled. "Solving this problem is actually not difficult. During Japan's Sengoku period, over a hundred years ago, they came up with a very cost-effective and convenient method."

Cheng Xu, Wang Er, and Bai Mao all jumped in surprise, quickly bowing. "Greetings, Heavenly Lord."

The Puppet Heavenly Lord laughed. "No need for formalities. Let's get to the point. The problem of arquebuses being unusable in the rain indeed needs serious attention. The prolonged drought has prevented everyone from preparing for this, and that simply won't do."

The generals quickly put on serious expressions. "What is this Japanese method the Heavenly Lord speaks of?"

The Puppet Heavenly Lord replied, "Bring me a pen, I'll draw it for you."

The three men simultaneously looked at the Puppet Heavenly Lord's round, ball-like hand...

Their eyes fixed.

The Puppet Heavenly Lord: "..."

An eerie silence descended.

It was quite awkward.

The Puppet Heavenly Lord cleared its throat. "Bring a large bowl of ink."

The three men returned to their barracks room, no longer caring to change their wet clothes. They first fetched a large bowl, filled it with ink, and placed it before the Puppet Heavenly Lord.

The Puppet Heavenly Lord plunged its entire spherical hand into the ink, let it soak, then pulled it out. "Tsk, tsk, perfect."

Using this spherical hand, it first drew a long tube on the ground. "This is the arquebus," it explained.

The three men nodded.

The Puppet Heavenly Lord then drew a square box at the arquebus's flintlock mechanism. "This is a square box made of wood or bamboo," it elaborated. "It can be fastened over the flintlock mechanism, ensuring the gunpowder won't get wet when the flintlock rifle is fired in the rain."

Although the drawing was rudimentary, the three generals used a bit of imagination and immediately understood. "This thing is truly quite convenient!"

Cheng Xu said, "Have the soldiers all wear large conical hats; the brim will offer some rain protection. When loading ammunition, they can hold the arquebus upright beneath the brim, load the gunpowder, and once loaded, use the wooden or bamboo box, as shown in the drawing, to cover the flintlock mechanism. Then they can raise the arquebus and fire."

"This design is incredibly convenient," Wang Er exclaimed.

The Puppet Heavenly Lord, however, chuckled. "Such a solution is ultimately a stopgap, useful only in emergencies. To truly solve the rain problem, the best method is still to upgrade all arquebusiers to Chassepot Rifles."

The three generals saluted. "As you command!"

The Puppet Heavenly Lord fell silent and spoke no more.

Only then did the three generals quickly strip off their wet clothes, change into dry ones, and warm themselves by a fire for a while, getting their bodies warm. Then, clad in thick cotton padded jackets and holding oil-paper umbrellas, they returned to the city.

Pingyang Prefecture city was still in chaos. A multitude of laborers were clearing the battlefield in the rain, disposing of the rebels' corpses. Others were restocking rolling logs and heavy stones to ensure they would have supplies when the rebels attacked the city again.

Dou Wenda was also drenched, still bustling about. Seeing the three generals approach, his first concern was their ammunition. "Generals," he asked, "since reinforcements have arrived, you must have brought plenty of ammunition, right?"

Bai Mao laughed. "Don't worry, Master Dou. From now on, we won't have to worry about ammunition."

Dou Wenda let out a long sigh of relief. "That's good then."

However, Cheng Xu's next sentence immediately made him nervous again. "We didn't come here just to passively defend the prefecture city," he declared. "We must also take the initiative to attack, to save the common people in the surrounding counties."

"What?" Dou Wenda exclaimed, aghast. "You only have two thousand men, and you want to launch an offensive? There are at least two hundred thousand outside, two hundred thousand! General, please don't disregard your own safety for the sake of glory. It would be better to wait until the imperial army surrounds them."

Cheng Xu sneered. "By the time the imperial army surrounds them, the rebels will have already fled. Then we'll chase them, they'll flee again, and we'll forever be stuck in this cycle of chasing and fleeing."

Dou Wenda let out a deep sigh. "That makes sense. Since Wang Er of Baishui County started his rebellion in the seventh year of Tianqi, these rebels have been causing trouble for over five years now. The government troops keep chasing, and the rebels keep running; this bandit scourge seems endless. General, I understand what you're saying, but you only have two thousand men. Even if you are skilled fighters, you simply can't deal with two hundred thousand enemy troops. If you push deep alone and get surrounded by the bandits, your ammunition wouldn't be enough to wipe out two hundred thousand of them. The risk is too great; please do not expose yourself to such danger."

Cheng Xu sighed. "Alas!"

Wang Er sighed. "Alas!"

Bai Mao looked up at the sky. "Heaven is now granting us rain. I wonder how many common people now have hope in their hearts, waiting to properly farm next spring. If we could pacify the rebels this winter, how wonderful that would be."

He thought this, and everyone else thought similarly.

But the Puppet Heavenly Lord was thinking to itself: *Do you think the drought is over just like that? It's still too early; even drier times are yet to come. Alas, the common people still have much to endure—*

Outside the window, raindrops pattered, and it continued to rain for three days and three nights.

This unexpected rain lasted longer than anyone had imagined.

After the initial downpour, it surprisingly settled into a continuous drizzle.

The entire world was enveloped in rain and mist.

Although Chassepot Rifles could be used in the rain, the rifled muskets were not as effective. So Cheng Xu couldn't launch an offensive and had to stay on defense within Pingyang Prefecture.

He urged the laborers to cut down trees and bamboo to make small rain-protective boxes for the arquebuses. The production of these items was not difficult, and within a few days, all fifteen hundred arquebusiers were equipped with the small rain boxes and had also made huge, wide-brimmed conical hats, like umbrellas perched on their heads.

Three days passed. The rebels did not return, but Xing Honglang's forces arrived.