Chapter 127: Heartless Blast

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The Heartless Cannon, officially known as the Flying Thunder Cannon, was an artillery piece invented by Chinese soldiers and civilians during the Second World War.

It embodied the ingenuity of ordinary officers and men: simple to build, with technology accessible to all.

The so-called Heartless Cannon was essentially a gasoline drum. After modification, its base was filled with specially prepared propellant, and a tightly wrapped spherical explosive charge was stuffed inside...

Once the propellant was ignited, a ten-kilogram explosive charge could be hurled as far as two hundred meters!

The weapon relied on high-angle fire. Put plainly, it was a launcher for explosive charges.

Even in another world, on battlefields where all manner of sophisticated weapons dazzled, the enemy still quailed at the sight of these Heartless Cannons, whose calibers were determined by the width of whatever gasoline drums were available!

As Zhao Hengyi remembered it, the name Heartless Cannon had come from the enemy.

The explosive charges fired by this simple, easily manufactured artillery piece produced violent shock waves and tremors when they detonated. Wherever they landed, bunkers and fortifications were blasted into the air!

Even enemies far from the point of impact could bleed from every orifice and die... shaken to death!

That was the origin of the name Heartless Cannon, steeped in the blood and tears of countless enemies.

Now that Zhao Hengyi had tungsten steel, there was no reason he could not make a gun barrel to replace the gasoline drum. He had gunpowder as well, so there was no reason he could not produce explosive charges. Thus, after five days of tinkering, he had actually managed to build a Heartless Cannon!

For an artillery piece, it was not excessively heavy. A three-man team could even carry it on a short-range assault. For long journeys, it could be disassembled and transported by mule or horse.

It was also simple to operate and easy to learn. Even a man like Old Wu Six, who could barely read, had mastered it in half a day.

Once the weapon had been built, naturally its effectiveness had to be tested.

But testing artillery around Elm Tree Bay would certainly frighten the villagers. In this age, when people revered ghosts and gods, Heaven only knew what rumors might spread!

Besides, although they had mastered the gunpowder formula, producing a ten-kilogram explosive charge was truly no easy task. Every one represented the blood and sweat of the people involved; there was absolutely no justification for wasting them.

Gunpowder was far too dangerous. Their only workshop had been built in a concealed cave outside the village, and only three people operated it. A ten-kilogram charge took all three of them several days to roll by hand...

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“Master, if this thing is truly as frightening as you say, why not use it against bandits?”

Zhang Daniu wore the expression of a secret agent reporting a traitor as he leaned his gleaming bald head toward Zhao Hengyi’s ear. Unfortunately, his booming voice carried so well that even from thirty yards away, everyone could hear exactly what he was saying...

“Ha! I’d forgotten about the bandits. The Heartless Cannon can make its debut on them!”

Zhao Hengyi readily accepted the suggestion. He could kill bandits and barbarians without the slightest pang of conscience!

There were no longer any bandits around Elm Tree Bay. The Guard Corps and Hunting Corps kept watch, and the moment any hint of trouble appeared, it was ruthlessly stamped out.

But Yang County was not short of bandits. In most places, they still exercised their right to demand grain.

After dealing with the Zhou family, Zhao Hengyi’s actions had produced a warning-to-others effect, solving the labor shortage at its root, at least in the short term.

Completely wiping out the bandits within Yang County and its surroundings, while training his troops and creating a peaceful environment for development, had already been placed high on Zhao Hengyi’s agenda. Now that the Heartless Cannon needed testing, there could be no better opportunity.

Since the bandits of Cliffbreak Mountain had been thoroughly eradicated, Yang County no longer contained any gang of comparable strength.

Large and small bandit groups still occupied the forests and mountains of Yang County. Some numbered more than a hundred, while others had only ten or twenty men. To test the power of the Heartless Cannon, they had to choose their target carefully.

Fortunately, Zhao Hengyi had long intended to clear out the bandits once and for all. During their regular training, the young men of the Hunting Corps had been assigned to investigate the bandits and learn the details of their operations.

Now, on the map of Yang County kept inside Elm Tree Bay, the exact circumstances of every bandit group had been clearly marked.

Half the Guard Corps and half the Hunting Corps set out with the cannon parts and three explosive charges, all of them brimming with excitement.

Mantou Mountain was not high, and its slopes were relatively gentle. A mountain stronghold had been built halfway up, where more than eighty bandits were hiding.

The bandits of Mantou Mountain had a formidable reputation in the region. Not only were the surrounding villages terrified of them, but even other bandit groups had suffered greatly at the hands of these ruthless men.

By now, no small bandit gangs remained around Mantou Mountain. They had either been absorbed or slaughtered.

The bandits of Mantou Mountain possessed every vice common to brigands: murder and arson, robbery and forced levies, taking ransoms and then killing their captives anyway... Compared with the bandits of Cliffbreak Mountain, these men were even more despicable.

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The reason they were so vicious and merciless was entirely because the chieftain of Mantou Mountain thought differently from ordinary men—or, rather, because his body was different.

Rumor had it that the chieftain of Mantou Mountain had been born incapable of fathering children. For that reason, he forbade women from entering the stronghold. Whenever his men became desperate, they had to go down the mountain and find their own solutions.

However, when the bandits went down the mountain to raid, the chieftain did not forbid them from assaulting women. On the contrary, he enjoyed watching...

There were no hostages or captives in the stronghold at Mantou Mountain. The Hunting Corps had just confirmed that, and there was no chance they had made a mistake.

As Zhao Hengyi’s personal disciple, Zhang Daniu joined the expedition, despite being constantly reminded by his master of the many ways he might be expelled from the school.

It was only because of Zhang Daniu’s reminder that Zhao Hengyi had remembered the Heartless Cannon. Zhang Daniu had also contributed greatly during its manufacture. If the weapon needed improvement in the future, this fool absolutely had to possess firsthand knowledge.

As for Wu Ren, that honest fellow claimed he became faint at the sight of blood...

Zhao Hengyi could sense that, even though Zhang Daniu had urged him on, Wu Ren—who came from the Directorate of Palace Construction—had somehow ended up taking Zhao Hengyi as his master. Yet this blacksmith, who had once been falsely accused and suffered for it at the Directorate, was exceedingly cautious. He often minimized his own contributions and importance, going out of his way to uphold the prestige of Zhang Daniu, the senior disciple.

Zhao Hengyi never took the initiative to say anything about it. He simply assigned Wu Ren tasks that required careful attention to detail.

Zhang Daniu was flamboyant, but he often came up with ingenious ideas. Most importantly, he was utterly loyal, making him well suited to oversee the smelting workshop.

Wu Ren was meticulous and cautious. As an assistant to that oaf Zhang Daniu, he was excellent at finding oversights and filling gaps.

The two complemented each other in a rare way. Zhao Hengyi saw no need to change anything.

The Heartless Cannon had an effective range of roughly one hundred and fifty to two hundred meters. That was somewhat short, and because it fired at an upward angle, they would have to move closer to attack the stronghold halfway up the mountain.

Fortunately, Mantou Mountain was not especially steep, so there was no shortage of places where the cannon could be set up. It was precisely because they had selected the site so carefully that it had been chosen for their first test.

Deep in the secluded mountain forest, the cannon—built upon the righteous principle that caliber is justice—was assembled. Zhang Daniu lit the fuse himself...

With a sharp, muffled thump, the disk-shaped explosive charge was hurled from the barrel!

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