bookbashuk Chapter 1434 Releasing Arrows!
Chapter 1434 Releasing Arrows!
Zhu Qiwu wasn't idle either. He toured the Academy of Sciences, urging the craftsmen to speed up their work and resolving any problems they encountered during production. He also used special materials obtained through system check-ins to aid in weapon manufacturing, improving the weapons' performance.
After several days and nights of hard work, the craftsmen finally produced a batch of new weapons, including muskets and improved crossbows. Zhu Qiwu immediately ordered these weapons to be transported to the army and equipped the soldiers.
The soldiers were thrilled to see these new weapons. They picked them up and practiced firing them, quickly mastering their use.
"With these new weapons, we'll definitely be invincible on the battlefield and utterly defeat Chen Youliang!" a soldier exclaimed excitedly.
“That’s right! General Zhu and Young Master Zhu have been so good to us, providing us with such good weapons. We must fight bravely to repay their kindness!” another soldier said.
Seeing the soldiers' high morale, Zhu Qiwu was filled with confidence. He knew that with these new weapons and valiant soldiers, they would surely defeat Chen Youliang and defend Yingtian Prefecture.
Soon, the day to launch the attack arrived. Zhu Yuanzhang personally led a large army, dividing it into several routes, to attack Chen Youliang's forces. Zhu Qiwu also followed Zhu Yuanzhang to the battlefield.
On the battlefield, the shouts of battle were deafening. Zhu Yuanzhang's army and Chen Youliang's army engaged in fierce combat. Zhu Qiwu watched the battle unfold before him, feeling both tense and excited. He knew that the outcome of this battle would determine their future and the fate of the people.
"Soldiers, charge! Defeat Chen Youliang and defend Yingtian Prefecture!" Zhu Yuanzhang shouted, brandishing his long sword.
Upon hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's call, the soldiers charged forward bravely, engaging the enemy in a fierce battle. Zhu Qiwu also picked up a musket, aimed at the enemy, and pulled the trigger. With a "bang," a bullet flew out, striking an enemy in the chest, who immediately fell to the ground dead.
"Good! This musket is indeed powerful!" Zhu Qiwu said excitedly. He continued to pick up the musket and fire at the enemy, providing fire support for his soldiers.
With the help of new weapons, Zhu Yuanzhang's army gradually gained the upper hand. Although Chen Youliang's army was numerous, it suffered heavy casualties and was thrown into chaos under the attack of muskets and improved crossbows.
"Don't panic! Hold your ground!" Chen Youliang shouted from within his ranks, trying to quell the unrest. But his army was already in chaos and unable to obey his commands.
Seeing his opportunity, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered a full-scale attack. His soldiers charged towards Chen Youliang's army like tigers descending a mountain. In an instant, the battlefield was filled with the glint of swords and the stench of blood.
After a fierce battle, Zhu Yuanzhang's army finally defeated Chen Youliang's army. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Chen Youliang had no choice but to flee in panic with his remaining troops.
"We have won! We have defeated Chen Youliang!" the soldiers cheered, their voices echoing through the sky.
Outside Chuzhou City, the autumn wind swirled withered leaves along the official road, and the distant neighing of warhorses echoed. Zhu Qiwu squatted in the corner of the tent, his fingers unconsciously stroking the jade pendant at his waist—this was the "Swift Travel Talisman" he had obtained from signing in that morning. The system indicated that it would allow him to travel eight hundred li a day, but at this moment, he was more concerned about the stench of blood wafting from outside the tent.
"Seventy-five!" Zhu Chongba burst in, his armor still stained with dark red blood. "Xu Da and his men have cut off the Yuan army's supply lines, but Wang Baobao, the garrison commander of Chuzhou, has sent three thousand cavalry to break through the encirclement. They are currently encamped twenty miles away."
Zhu Qiwu suddenly stood up, his head hitting the crossbeam and wincing in pain. "Fourth Brother, don't be anxious, let me calculate..." He pretended to count with his fingers, but actually stared at the system panel in the void. The "Firearm Manufacturing Diagram" that had just been unlocked yesterday was flashing in front of him, with the note "Requires 300 catties of iron ore and 50 catties of sulfur" next to it.
"Report—!" The scout rushed in, stumbling and crawling. "The Yuan cavalry have launched a three-pronged attack, and the vanguard is less than five li from here!"
The atmosphere inside the tent instantly became tense, as if swords were about to be drawn. Xu Da gripped the sword at his waist: "This humble general is willing to lead three hundred light cavalry to cut off their vanguard!" Tang He slammed his fist on the table: "Nonsense! The enemy consists entirely of heavily armored cavalry; your three hundred men will simply be sent to their deaths!"
"Shut up, all of you!" Zhu Chongba's shout silenced the tent instantly. He turned to Zhu Qiwu, his gaze piercing: "Qiwu, that... what kind of musket did you mention yesterday? Is it still usable?"
Zhu Qiwu felt his heart skip a beat. Three days ago, he used the "basic gunpowder recipe" rewarded by the system to draw a rough design for a musket overnight. At the time, Zhu Chongba stared at the drawing for half the night, and finally only said, "Let's make three to try." He never expected that it would come in handy today.
“Yes…it can do it!” Zhu Qiwu swallowed hard. “But we need time to prepare the gunpowder, and…” He glanced at the new task that popped up on the system panel: “Help Zhu Yuanzhang win his first victory against the iron cavalry. Reward: Fine steel forging technique.”
"Zhou Dexing!" Zhu Chongba suddenly turned around. "Take fifty men to the back mountain to dig for sulfur, and be quick!" He then turned to Tang He: "Go and collect all the iron from the blacksmith shop in the west of the city. Just say... just say that Young Master Zhu needs to repair farm tools."
Xu Da suddenly knelt on one knee: "My lord, this humble general is willing to lead the musket team at the forefront!"
"No!" Zhu Qiwu and Zhu Chongba spoke at the same time. Zhu Qiwu interrupted, "The muskets have limited range; we need to let the archers wear them down first." He grabbed a charcoal pencil and drew lines on the sand table. "Fourth Brother, look, there's a gentle slope here. We can ambush them from behind it, and when the cavalry charges up..."
"Shoot the horses in the legs with muskets!" Zhu Chongba's eyes lit up, and he slammed his hand on the sand table. "Great idea! But we don't have enough muskets..."
"Therefore, we must use a feint attack," Zhu Qiwu said, tracing the sand table to the other side. "Have Tang He lead 500 infantrymen in a feigned attack at the east gate. Wang Baobao will surely send cavalry reinforcements. Once they leave the camp, General Xu will lead his musket squad in a surprise attack from here, targeting the horses' legs!"
A sudden silence fell over the tent. Xu Da stared at the sand table and muttered, "If a horse stumbles, even the thickest armor becomes a sitting duck..." Tang He abruptly looked up: "But muskets are too slow to reload; if they charge in waves..."
“That’s why we need this.” Zhu Qiwu pulled a small cloth bag from his pocket and poured out a dozen or so dark iron pellets. “These are improved thunderbolts. They explode in three breaths after being ignited, with a radius of five steps.” He remembered the warning in the system instructions that “it may cause friendly fire,” and quickly added, “We need to make sure the brothers throw them from a distance!”
Zhu Chongba picked up a thunderclap bomb, weighed it in his hand, and suddenly laughed: "Seven-Five, these strange and unusual things of yours are far more useful than those pedantic Confucian military strategies." He turned and ordered: "Xu Da, lead the musket team to ambush behind the slope; Tang He, lead the infantry in a feint attack; Zhou Dexing, prepare thunderclap bombs. Seven-Five…" He paused, "...you stay by my side."
At the third quarter of the hour of Xu (7:45 PM), drums suddenly sounded at the east gate of Chuzhou. Zhu Qiwu lay prone on the hilltop, watching the dark mass of iron cavalry surge out of the Yuan army camp in the distance. Under the moonlight, the soldiers on horseback looked like demons clad in iron armor, their hooves kicking up dust that blotted out the sky.
"They're here!" Xu Da's voice boomed in his ears. Zhu Qiwu turned his head and saw thirty muskets neatly arranged behind the slope, each with a bamboo stand. The musketeers' palms were sweating, but no one made a sound—this was their seventh test firing in three days, and their best score was only fifty paces.
"Loose the arrows!" Tang He's roar came from the east gate. Zhu Qiwu saw countless arrows pierce the night sky, only to be deflected by the heavy armor before they could reach the iron cavalry. Laughter rippled through the Yuan army ranks, and their warhorses, instead of slowing down, surged forward like a black torrent towards the city gate. "Now!" Zhu Qiwu suddenly leaped up. "Zhou Dexing! Throw the thunderclap bombs!"
Twenty thunderbolts flew in arcs into the enemy ranks, exploding simultaneously as the iron cavalry charged up the slope. With a deafening roar, the horses reared up in fright, and the cavalrymen fell from their mounts one after another. Zhu Qiwu saw that the horses in the front row had arrows stuck in their legs—these were archers arranged by Xu Da in advance, who were specifically there to shoot at the horses' eyes and joints.
"Musketeers! Fire!" Xu Da's roar rang out simultaneously with the roar of the muskets. Thirty flashes of light were particularly dazzling in the night, lead bullets piercing through thin armor and tearing bloody gashes in the Yuan army's ranks. Before they could be reloaded, the second rank of musketeers had already taken up position, the flashes of light continuous and relentless.
"Change to thunderclap grenades!" Zhu Qiwu grabbed the cloth bag and rushed forward, but Zhu Chongba grabbed him, saying, "Are you out of your mind?"
"Fourth Brother, we need to finish them off!" Zhu Qiwu broke free. "Thunderbolts can shatter internal organs. They look fine on the outside now, but they'll be..." Before he could finish speaking, screams of agony came from afar—sure enough, some cavalrymen clutched their chests and fell off their horses.
The Yuan army's formation was thrown into chaos. Xu Da seized the opportunity to lead his light cavalry out from the flank, and in the flash of swords, the fallen cavalrymen fell one after another. Zhu Qiwu looked at the numbers flashing on the system panel: "300 enemy soldiers killed, reward: Fine Steel Forging Technique (Beginner)", and was so excited that he almost jumped up.
"Report—!" A scout rushed in, "Wang Baobao, seeing that the vanguard had suffered a setback, has led the remaining cavalry back to the main camp!"
Zhu Chongba let out a long sigh of relief, then suddenly frowned: "Something's not right. If he holds the camp to the death, our attack tomorrow will be fraught with heavy losses..."
"Don't worry, Fourth Brother!" Zhu Qiwu pointed to the Yuan army camp in the distance. "Their morale is low, and they think we only have muskets and thunderclap shells. Tonight..." he lowered his voice, "we'll give them a fire attack!"
At midnight, a fire suddenly broke out in the west of Chuzhou City. Zhu Qiwu, clinging to Xu Da's back, watched as the "Swift Travel Talisman," a new reward from the system, took effect—the journey that would normally take half a day was completed in just one hour, allowing them to circle around to the rear of the Yuan army camp.
"Seventh Prince, are you really going to set it on fire?" Zhou Dexing, clutching the oil can, trembled. "The wind is blowing..."
"Don't worry!" Zhu Qiwu pulled out a magnet, a "compass" part he'd gotten from daily check-ins. "The system said there's an east wind tonight, it can't be wrong." He pointed to a camp filled with tents in the distance. "See those supply wagons? Throw the oil tanks over there, and then..." He brandished a flare gun in his hand, "Detonate it with this!"
Xu Da suddenly grabbed his hand: "Wait, Wang Baobao's command tent is in the middle. If the fire gets too big..."
"We're going to burn down his command tent!" Zhu Qiwu's eyes gleamed. "If he tries to put out the fire himself, we'll assassinate him in the chaos; if he hides and doesn't come out, the morale of his troops will surely collapse!"
Fifty oil canisters flew out simultaneously, tracing graceful arcs through the air. Zhu Qiwu watched as the canisters landed precisely on the grain pile, then quickly lit the fuse of a flare: "Three, two, one—throw!"
The explosion shook the earth, and flames shot skyward instantly. The Yuan army camp was thrown into chaos, a cacophony of shouts and screams. Zhu Qiwu saw Wang Baobao's command tent engulfed in flames, and a figure staggered out—it was Wang Baobao, clad in golden armor!
"General Xu!" Zhu Qiwu grabbed Xu Da's sleeve. "That's a big fish!"
Without a word, Xu Da mounted his horse and said, "Young Master Qiwu is waiting here!" He led twenty light cavalrymen out like arrows, their blades aimed straight at Wang Baobao's back.
Zhu Qiwu lay prone behind the earthen slope, watching the kill count constantly fluctuating on the system panel. Suddenly, he caught sight of a familiar figure—Tang He was leading infantry out of the east gate, forming a pincer movement with Xu Da.
"System, can I sign in now?" Zhu Qiwu asked in a low voice.
"Ding! Host's participation in a major battle detected. Rewards doubled! Sign in?"
"sign!"
"Congratulations on receiving: Improved Gunpowder Formula (increases the power of Thunderclap Bombs), Divine Machine Battalion Training Manual (Beginner), and a Mysterious Gift (unlocked upon completion of a hidden quest)."
Zhu Qiwu almost burst out laughing. A mysterious gift? The system was finally giving him something good! Just as he was about to take a closer look, he suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves in the distance—Wang Baobao was actually leading his remaining troops in this direction!
"Zhou Dexing! Fire!" Zhu Qiwu grabbed the bow and arrow, only to find his hands trembling violently. The "Hundred-Pace Piercing Willow" skill, a system reward, hadn't been unlocked yet, and his archery skills...
"Whoosh!" An arrow whizzed past his ear and struck Wang Baobao squarely in the shoulder. Zhu Qiwu turned his head and saw Zhu Chongba standing on a high place, holding a longbow, the moonlight casting a silvery edge on his armor.
"Fourth Brother!" Zhu Qiwu cheered and ran over. Zhu Chongba put away his bow and said calmly, "Your archery skills are still too rough. Starting tomorrow, practice for two hours every day."
"Huh?" Zhu Qiwu looked distressed, but then Zhu Chongba suddenly smiled: "But today... you did a great job."
At dawn, the gates of Chuzhou City swung open. Zhu Yuanzhang's rebel army entered the city, carrying banners bearing the character "Ming," and the people lined the streets cheering. Zhu Qiwu followed Zhu Chongba at the front, his mouth practically agape as he looked at the "Reputation Value +1000" notification on the system panel.
"Young Master Qi Wu!" A thin figure suddenly emerged from the crowd; it was Wang Xiao'er from the blacksmith shop in the west of the city. "The iron you requested has been forged, just according to your drawing..."
"It's finished?" Zhu Qiwu's eyes lit up. "Take me to see it quickly!"
In the backyard of the blacksmith's shop, ten brand-new muskets were neatly arranged. Zhu Qiwu picked one up and weighed it in his hand; it was a third lighter than the previous ones, and the barrel was much smoother.
"Is this made of high-quality steel?" he asked Wang Xiaoer.
"Yes!" Wang Xiaoer's face flushed with excitement. "As you said, quench first, then temper, and the gun barrel will be hard enough to strike a rock!" (End of Chapter)