kingnovel Chapter 1293 One point, one throw, one bomb
Chapter 1293 One point, one throw, one bomb
After Ade ran his third lap around the training ground, the county soldiers playing the role of Yunhui Army finally realized something was wrong.
—The county soldiers playing the role of bandits above the pass not only frequently looked behind them, but each of them seemed to have suddenly been injected with chicken blood, their eyes shining frighteningly.
"Charge, brothers and sisters!" The shouts of the "Green Bandits" shook the heavens. "Let's break through the encirclement together! Let's restore the glory of Green Stone Village!"
Along with the shouts, small clay pots were also raised and fell.
"Bang-"
"clang--"
The small clay pot shattered with a crack, and the reddish-brown liquid inside splattered everywhere, some landing on the "Yunhui Army's" trouser legs and some on their skin.
Upon seeing this, the "Green Bandit" shouted, "Anyone who has gotten kerosene on them, retreat on your own!"
"Oil?" Shen Zheng looked at the red, sticky liquid flowing on the ground and asked Su Yan, "Is ochre powder used to simulate oil?"
Ochre is a very common and relatively inexpensive oxide mineral.
“Ochre” refers to vermilion.
In the Great Zhou Dynasty today, ochre is widely used.
In the cloth workshop, it is dye.
In the painting workshop, it is pigment.
In a medical clinic, it is used as a medicinal herb.
In short, ochre is a red mineral that ordinary people can buy and afford, and its price is about one percent of that of cinnabar.
Su Yan lifted his foot and stepped on the red, sticky liquid flowing towards Shen Zheng's feet: "Reporting to you, sir, it is indeed ochre..."
After secretly observing Shen Zheng's expression, he couldn't help but add, "This ochre liquid was obtained by my subordinate from the cloth workshop. I know ochre is not cheap, so it will only be used occasionally during simulated battles... And those earthenware jars were also made by my subordinate and his men at the kiln..."
He seemed very afraid that Shen Zheng would think he was a leader who was extravagant, didn't care about the cost of training troops, and didn't care about the county at all.
Shen Zheng did not answer, but stared at the ochre liquid on the ground.
He became even more nervous: "My lord, next time... I won't use ochre liquid for training."
Shen Zheng was trying hard to hold onto the fleeting inspiration in her mind, and said softly, "It's just some ochre, you can use it first."
Su Yan was taken aback.
Although they didn't understand, a soldier's duty was to obey orders.
"Yes!" He straightened his back. "Whenever you say it's not necessary, I will never use it again!"
"Bang-"
No sooner had he finished speaking than a small clay pot shattered before his eyes.
Red liquid splattered everywhere. He couldn't cover it up in time, and Shen Zheng's clothes, collar, hair, and even cheeks were all stained with red spots.
The training ground fell into dead silence.
"Teacher!" Cui Jinyin quickly took out her handkerchief.
"Who threw it..." Su Yan was about to question the county soldiers, but Shen Zheng raised her hand to stop him.
"It's alright." Shen Zheng took the handkerchief handed to her by Cui Jinyin, wiped her face casually, and loudly told the county soldiers, "Keep practicing!"
After saying that, she turned to Su Yan and said, "Come with me for a moment."
Su Yan followed her to the rest area outside the training ground.
Beneath the sturdy locust trees are rows of stone tables.
After Shen Zheng sat down, her gaze remained fixed on the center of the training ground: "Su Yan, in the battle of Qing Shi Mountain, if you were the leader of the Qing bandits, what methods would you have used to break through the encirclement of the Yunhui Army?"
This question surprised Su Yan, but it didn't surprise him too much.
It was a bit sudden.
He looked at the training ground, at the "Green Bandits" and "Yunhui Army" still fighting, and after thinking for a moment, shook his head: "My lord, I am incompetent and have not yet thought of a way to break the deadlock."
Previously, he had indeed put himself in the shoes of the bandit leader and recounted the Battle of Qingshi Mountain.
He considered a secret route—finding a way out of the pass and sneaking down the mountain.
He also considered a feint attack—sending men down the cliff to flank and ambush the Yunhui army from behind.
However, the terrain of Qingshi Mountain is steep, with no gentle slopes for people to climb. The only way to get down the mountain is to go through the pass and confront the Yunhui Army head-on.
He even considered feigning surrender, pretending to submit, and then looking for an opportunity to retaliate.
Who is Kelan Youguang?
For a general who has risen through the ranks from the bottom, feigning surrender to him is tantamount to throwing a lamb to the slaughter.
After pondering for many days, Su Yan still couldn't find the answer, which is why he led the county soldiers to carry out this exercise.
He believes that the solution to a defeat may lie in a particular person, a particular weapon, or even a seemingly insignificant decision.
"My lord, please grant me a few more days," he said. "I will use a sand table exercise to find a way to break this deadlock!"
Shen Zheng lowered her eyes, looking at the scarlet spots on her sleeve, and asked, "Su Yan, do you think that if we replaced these oil canisters with a weapon that could explode with a loud bang and instantly tear apart the Yunhui army's formation, would that be a way to break the deadlock?"
Shen Zheng wasn't very knowledgeable about military strategy, but with the system's strong support, she could learn a little about manual weaponry.
Just as the first small clay pot shattered on the ground, an idea flashed into her mind.
The inspiration came quickly and intensely, like a spark hitting hay, gradually sweeping over her mind.
In siege warfare, oil canisters are often used to disrupt the enemy's formation, but oil canisters are bulky and heavy, not only can they not be thrown far, but they are also easily buried by sand.
But what if we change our approach... and replace the kerosene in the jar with saltpeter, sulfur, or charcoal powder?
Light the fuse, throw it, and it explodes...
How can the advent of firearms in the era of cold weapons not be considered a "breakthrough"?
Making homemade bombs by hand is not easy, but at this moment she has Mu Ruojue.
This feeling is like a person who has been starving for three days finding a meat bun, a person walking at night bumping into a bright lantern, or a person squatting in the toilet finding their own clean toilet.
Think outside the box.
Mu Ruojue can conjure a match with a flame that leaps a foot high; how could he not conjure a small hand grenade that could blast a person two zhang away?
Shen Zheng thought it made perfect sense.
Su Yan was stunned and asked incredulously again, "M-Sir, what did you say?"
“I said…” Shen Zheng thought for a moment, then picked up a fist-sized rock from the ground: “If you throw a weapon this big, it will explode, just like an alchemical furnace exploding.”
"boom--"
Shen Zheng threw the stone, which spun twice before coming to a stop.
Su Yan's heart skipped a beat.
Reason told him that such a thing could not possibly exist in the world.
But her heart was saying: The person before you is Shen Zheng, who can create steel tools, telescopes, and exquisite bows! If she says it exists, then it definitely exists! If she says it can explode, then it definitely can explode!
A faint sense of anticipation rose within him, and he almost instinctively asked, "Sir, can this thing... kill people?"
"It's not easy," Shen Zheng said cautiously. "Once this thing explodes, it can knock down enemies within two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters). At best, they'll experience dizziness and temporary deafness; at worst, their blood will rush to their head, and their internal organs will be injured by the shock. But..."
Su Yan knew that if a sentence was followed by the word "but," it meant "there is an opportunity to take advantage of it."
He looked eager to learn.
Shen Zheng remained somewhat conservative, saying, "But if you add sharp objects like iron pieces to it, the instantaneous thrust of the explosion can help these iron pieces easily cut through and pierce the exposed skin of the enemy."
Su Yan's breath hitched: "You mean... if the enemy is unlucky, these fragments might strike their vital points?"
Shen Zheng: That's really unlucky.