The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 20 The advent of Black Fire Thunder

He took Ma San back to the felt cloth shed, gave him some water, and asked Zhang Yongde to find a doctor to bandage the arrow wound on his leg again.

Ma San was so grateful that he didn't take much rest and strongly demanded that the test work be started immediately.

Zhu Xiu informed Ma San of the precautions in detail and kept them in mind.

His job was simple. He took a bamboo tube filled with gunpowder and placed it in the open space, lit the fuse with a torch, and then ran away as fast as he could.

Zhu Xiu recorded the reaction time of the explosion from a distance and constantly adjusted the fuse and detonation speed.

The fuse is soaked in a low proportion of gunpowder, then dried, and then brushed with a layer of tung oil to increase flammability.

This kind of crude fuse may burn too fast, may go out halfway, or may ignite spontaneously after a while, and then detonate the gunpowder. This is the danger.

People are always full of fear of the unknown, and Ma San, as the first warrior to detonate explosive firearms in human history, is no exception.

He held a torch in one hand and a log shield in the other. Sweat dripped from his big face. He took a deep breath and limped towards the gunpowder bamboo tube with a tragic expression.

Zhang Yongde and Zhu Xiu stood side by side. Seeing the solemnity and solemnity on his face that he had never seen before, he couldn't help but frown and said: "Actually, I have always wanted to ask, besides using it for burning, what other uses does fire powder have? This The thing has been circulated all over the world for a long time. If you go to all the trouble to reconstitute it, isn't it unnecessary? You..."

"Shh!~ Stop talking!"

Zhu Xiu interrupted him, watched Ma San's every move, clenched his fists, and murmured to himself seriously: "A historic moment is coming."

Zhang Yongde shook his head, feeling that Zhu Xiu was a little stunned.

With doubt and a hint of ridicule, he watched Ma San tremble and bend down, lighting the fuse.
Bahba~~The fuse was smoking and burning rapidly, but there was no open flame. Ma San wanted to lean over and check to see if it was lit.

"Run!~" Zhu Xiu yelled, covering her ears and lying on the ground.

Ma San was so frightened that he turned around and ran away. Before he could run three feet away, there was a loud noise behind him!
bang~~
The dried bamboo joint exploded into pieces instantly. Ma San screamed and fell forward, and a small piece of exploded bamboo sliced ​​his buttocks.

The horses in the stables neighed in panic, the soldiers running in the distance were stunned on the spot, a group of civilians carrying hammers and rolling stones fell to the ground in fright, looking around blankly, the older girls and younger daughters-in-law who were rescuing the wounded soldiers screamed in fear, and the children screamed. cry loudly
Zhang Yongde's straight waist collapsed at the loud noise, and he subconsciously opened his arms to protect his head and face.

The first person to come to his senses was Zhu Xiu.

He got up and trotted over to see if Ma San was alright.

Unfortunately, Ma San was confused by the explosion and fell to the ground with a dull face. Zhu Xiu shouted several times but there was no response.

It was pitch black at the explosion point, Zhu Xiu wiped the black ash left on the ground, put it under his nose and sniffed it, well, the combustion was quite sufficient, and the potency of the gunpowder basically met expectations.

Unfortunately, the fuze burns too fast and needs to be improved.

Zhu Xiu greeted Ma San and trotted back to the felt shed to prepare for the second explosion test.

".You.This.That is"

Zhang Yongde stretched out his hand to stop him, but Zhu Xiu was busy fussing around the test table and had no time to pay attention to him. One Hundred Thousand Whys came to his lips and he swallowed it hard.

Zhang Yongde watched Zhu Xiu with his own eyes, filling the fire powder into a dry bamboo joint again, pressing it tightly, swallowing his saliva with a little fear in his eyes.

He really couldn't understand how that small fire-pink bamboo tube could make such a loud noise?

On top of Dongcheng, countless Tianxiong Army soldiers looked down, wanting to see what had just happened.

Shi Kuangwei poked his head through the crowd and yelled at the felt shed: "Damn it! It's thundering? What's the trick?"

Zhang Yongde smiled wryly, and spread his hands helplessly at him.

bang~~
There was another loud noise. Shi Kuangwei shivered and his legs were weak with fear. He held on to the soldiers around him to prevent him from falling off the wall.

Loud explosions shook Cangzhou City one after another. Shi Kuangwei's face was horrified. He watched Zhu Xiu light each small bamboo tube, and then the thunderous noise came.

Shi Kuangwei opened his eyes wide in shock and felt a cold sweat on his forehead: "Damn it, boy Zhu is the reincarnation of Thunder God."

~~~
The Khitan army concentrated its superior forces to storm the east gate.

The entire city wall was smashed by huge rocks and five or six gaps were broken. The Khitan soldiers used the cover of the pointed wooden donkey cart to get close to the city wall, set up a flying bridge, and attacked in waves.

The Tianxiong Army organized manpower to block it desperately, and the two sides fought repeatedly around the gap in the city wall.

This city offensive and defensive battle has reached the most critical point.

Changes in the morale of either side will affect the outcome of the battle.

In front of the east city tower, the three remaining carts were placed properly, and the soldiers operating the carts adjusted their angles according to Zhu Xiu's requirements.

Zhu Xiu, with a serious and solemn face, held two small flags, one red and one green, and ordered the servants to put the three large earthen jars into the cart's net bag and arrange them.

Ma San and two other selected gunners held torches and stood beside the dump truck, waiting for orders.

Chai Rong, Shi Kuangwei, Zhang Yongde, Pan Mei, and Zhao Pu gathered behind Zhu Xiu, their eyes wide open nervously, watching Zhu Xiu's new firearm called "Black Fire Thunder".

On the surface, it is no different from the original cupping jar, except that a lead protrudes from the sealed jar mouth.

But judging from the inexplicable explosions in the city before, this kind of firearm seems to be very unusual.

Liu Chengyou and Zhang Yanchao also arrived after hearing the news. The few test explosions just now also alerted them.

Zhu Xiu turned around and stood in front of Chai Rong with a running level of military training. He said loudly and solemnly: "Report to General Chai. The three black fire mines have been loaded. Can they be fired?" Chai Rong was stunned. He looked away from the earthenware jars and nodded somewhat unaccustomedly: "Launch."

"Yes!" Zhu Xiu trotted back to the dump truck and shouted: "Gunner check!"

Ma San quickly checked the earthen pot and fuse, checked his eyes with the six pullers operating the dump truck, and responded loudly: "One shot in place!"

"Second serve in place!"

"Three rounds in place!"

The other two less skilled gunners also quickly followed suit.

Zhu Xiu held the small red flag high, waved it down with all his strength, and roared: "Fire! Fire!"

Click, click, click. The sounds of three fuses being lit sounded almost at the same time. The pullers under each dump truck pulled the ropes hard at the same time. One end of the long horizontal bar of the dump truck was suddenly pulled down, and with a bang, the black fire was loaded. Lei's head shot up high, throwing the black fire thunder high into the sky, over the city wall, across a beautiful parabola, and fell in the direction of the large group of Khitan soldiers!
Zhu Xiu was so nervous that he couldn't breathe. He didn't know whether his black fire thunder could succeed!

Chai Rong and Shi Kuangwei had already climbed up to the watchtower, overlooking the battlefield outside the city wall.

Zhang Yongde and Zhao Pu had already covered their ears.

Pan Mei raised her head and looked at several earthen jars falling towards the outside of the city, and muttered: "Can your black fire thunder work? ah!~"

Before he finished speaking, an earth-shaking explosion sounded outside the city, followed immediately by two more loud bangs!
A slight tremor on the ground spread to her feet. Zhu Xiu's body trembled slightly, and a big stone fell to the ground in her heart!
The black fire thunder was successfully detonated!

Pan Mei howled miserably and fell to the ground, clutching her head in an imageless manner.

Zhao Pu's face turned pale and his lips trembled: "This is a miracle!"

Zhang Yongde had already been mentally prepared, but the power of the black fire thunder was far greater than the dry bamboo tube used in the test explosion. He took deep breaths to steady his violently beating heart.

Upstairs, Chai Rong witnessed with his own eyes a black fire thunder falling into the crowd of Khitan soldiers. There was a loud explosion, and the Khitan soldiers fell in pieces. The other birds and beasts scattered and fled in panic.

He even saw the nearest Khitan soldier being blown away several feet away, his hands and feet broken, his intestines flowing, and he died tragically on the spot!

Chai Rong punched the wooden fence hard, and his tiger eyes soared!
With this artifact, why worry about Khitan not being broken!
"My dear mother~~" Shi Kuangwei's legs trembled and his throat slid. What he saw today was beyond his knowledge of firearms.

Liu Chengyou covered his ears, his face was pale, and his brain went blank from the loud noise.

Zhang Yanchao's legs went weak and almost slipped under the horse's belly.

"Ammo loading!"

"Gunner check!"

"Fire and launch!"

Zhu Xiu waved the command flag and shouted orders, and Ma San and the two gunners hurriedly carried the earthen jars.

The puller did not expect that the earthen jars they threw would make an earth-shattering sound, and they did not dare to approach them for a while.

Zhu Xiu explained loudly with a dry mouth. Zhang Yongde led his people to catch the car pullers who wanted to escape. He used soft and hard tactics to calm them down.

More than a dozen rounds of black fire thunder landed in the field outside the east gate, causing the Khitan soldiers to abandon their helmets and armor and begin to retreat like a tide.

The sound after the black fire thunder exploded was enough to shock people in the era of cold weapons.

However, its power is limited. Outside the scope of the explosion center, the power of the explosive can only be exerted by the crushed stones and tiles loaded inside.

Due to the backwardness of the projectile equipment, the fire attack range is not as good as that of the crossbow.

It's just that the Khitan people didn't know this. They were frightened by the thunder-like sound. Panic spread and their morale was greatly reduced!
"The Khitan soldiers have retreated! The Khitan soldiers have retreated!"

At the top of the city, some soldiers of the Tianxiong Army shouted in surprise.

Zhao Pu quickly organized manpower to repair the gap in the city wall, and Pan Mei rushed back to the west city head to check the situation.

"Hahaha~~ The Khitan wolf cubs were scared away by Mr. Lei's two farts!"

Shi Kuangwei stood on the watchtower, slapping the guardrail and laughing wildly.

Chai Rong's clenched white fingertips slowly loosened, and he exhaled a breath of turbid air. He supported the railing with both hands, and waves of fatigue hit his body.

He also wanted to laugh, but unfortunately he was too tired.

Looking down, Zhu Xiu also looked up, grinning at him with white teeth and a bright smile.

Chai Rong twitched the corners of his mouth, forced a smile, nodded and was about to say something, when he saw Zhu Xiu rolled his eyes and fell backwards.

Zhang Yongde had quick eyesight and quick hands, so he stepped forward to support him.

"What's wrong with him?" Chai Rong was startled and asked hurriedly.

Zhang Yongde checked his breathing and couldn't laugh or cry: "This kid hasn't slept for two days. He was so tired that he fainted!"

Chai Rong breathed a sigh of relief and said with a wry smile: "Let him have a good rest."

(End of this chapter)