145: Chapter 145 Pshaw! Is this all the shelling performance is about?

Zhao Fusu had even thoughtfully dug trenches for them. Besides giving the artillerymen a place to hide, he also didn't want these Nobles of the Six Lands to be crushed to death by flying stones after the explosive packs were detonated.

Zhao Fusu still wanted to make money from the Nobles of the Six Lands; he didn't want his 'leeks' to die just like that.

Although Zhao Fusu also really wanted to see the art of explosion up close, he didn't dare get too close to the center of the blast.

That was three thousand six hundred explosive packs being detonated all at once!

He was afraid his eardrums would be shattered by the blasts.

Compared to other branches of the military, most artillerymen had poor hearing.

Their eardrums were damaged by the shockwaves while firing the cannons.

By eleven o'clock in the morning, all three thousand six hundred gasoline drums had been buried in the ground.

The artillerymen began placing the propellant into the gasoline drums, followed by a wooden board, and then stuffed the twenty-kilogram explosive packs into the drums, waiting for the command to fire.

The Commander-in-Chief of the artillery came before Zhao Fusu, cupped his fists, and said, "His Majesty the Head of State, the artillery is ready."

"Good."

Zhao Fusu said, "Fire the signal flare."

"Understood!"

The Commander-in-Chief of the artillery responded.

He took out a flare gun, pointed the muzzle toward the sky, and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

A loud gunshot rang out, and the signal flare was launched.

After the flare flew high into the sky, it exploded with a bang like a firework.

The artillerymen responsible for detonating the three thousand six hundred meiliangxin cannons took out their fire pistons after seeing the signal flare on the mountain.

After opening the cover of the fire piston, a flame immediately emerged.

Originally, the ignition tool they used was a fire sickle.

But the ignition efficiency of a fire sickle was too low, not as good as a fire piston.

Zhao Fusu had manufactured the fire pistons.

Making a fire piston was relatively easy.

It used the principle of re-ignition.

When the cover was closed, there was little oxygen inside, and the wick remained in a semi-extinguished state.

When the cover was opened, oxygen increased, and the wick re-ignited.

After ensuring that both the propellant fuses and the explosive pack fuses of the meiliangxin cannons were lit, they ran away from the cannons as fast as they could in a hundred-meter sprint.

If they didn't run, these meiliangxin cannons might just explode right where they were.

After running to the trenches dug a hundred meters away from the meiliangxin cannons, they leaped inside and covered their ears tightly with both hands.

"Wait, what are you covering your ears for?"

The Young Lord of Han Land watched the group of artillerymen covering their ears, a look of confusion on his face.

The other nobles reacted the same way.

Thump, thump, thump...

Just as they were looking confused, the propellant was detonated.

The thrust generated by the explosions propelled the twenty-kilogram explosive packs high into the sky.

Then, they fell toward the city wall in a parabolic arc.

The Nobles of the Six Lands had never seen such a scene before.

They stopped paying attention to the ear-covering artillerymen and instead watched curiously as the three thousand six hundred explosive packs smashed toward the city wall.

Pfft!

"Can this really break open a city wall?"

The Young Lord of Han Land was full of disdain.

He had seen these artillerymen stuffing paper-wrapped cylinders into those drum-like objects earlier; could this stuff really break open a city wall?

He must be dreaming!

If it were a hard object like a stone, he might believe it could chip a hole in the city wall's stones. How could such soft objects possibly smash open a city wall!

Not just him, but the other Nobles of the Six Lands shared the same view.

They had originally thought this artillery performance would be terrifying, but this was it?

Their faces were full of contempt.

The watching commoners were also filled with confusion.

What damage could those small cylindrical bundles possibly do to the city wall?

In fact, the volume of the explosive packs wasn't small; weighing twenty kilograms, they were about the weight of a standard office water cooler jug.

It was mainly because the watching commoners were too far away that the explosive packs appeared small.

"He Zhi, what do you think?"

The First Emperor's gaze turned toward He Zhi.

"This subordinate does not know."

He Zhi said, "Since Young Lord Fusu scheduled the artillery performance as the grand finale, it certainly won't be that simple."

"Mm."

The First Emperor nodded.

Although his heart was filled with many doubts, he could only watch patiently.

"Brother Xiang..."

Fan Zeng said to Xiang Liang, "This old man feels that these firearms are likely not simple."

"We should cover our ears sooner rather than later."

Fan Zeng saw that when these firearms were triggered, they would erupt with a massive noise.

Now that the scale was so grand, the sound would surely be even louder. It was better to cover one's ears in advance to avoid them being damaged by the thunderous roar.

"Alright."

Xiang Liang knew that Fan Zeng's analysis was always accurate, so he immediately covered his ears with both hands.

"Prime Minister Father!"

"Uncle!"

Xiang Yu stood with hands on his hips and sneered, "Aren't you making too much of a fuss?"

"Even if those firearms are powerful, we are still so far away. Could they possibly affect us?"

"Yeah, yeah!"

The people crowding around them also nodded in agreement.

Xiang Liang had some hesitation on his face, but seeing Fan Zeng tightly covering his ears and even crouching down,

he no longer hesitated and crouched down as well.

If you don't listen to your elders, you'll suffer the consequences!

Xiang Liang had absolute faith in Fan Zeng's wisdom.

He felt that Fan Zeng's wisdom was no less than that of Jiang Taigong, who had assisted King Wu of Zhou in overthrowing King Zhou of Shang.

If anyone on the scene was most bewildered, it was the group of Nobles of the Six Lands who were closest to the blast center.

When they saw the artillerymen prone in the trenches, tightly covering their ears, they all furrowed their brows.

A faint bad premonition arose in their hearts.

Could it be that those explosive packs were truly very dangerous?

Just as they were wondering whether they should also cover their ears, the explosive packs landed on the city wall, the fuses finished burning, and the explosives inside were detonated.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

...

Three thousand six hundred explosive packs detonated with a roar within an interval of less than five seconds.

Dust was blown high into the air, flying into the sky as a massive mushroom cloud formed.

The ground shook violently, as if an earthquake had occurred.

Waves of shockwaves spread outward. The commoners watching from over a kilometer away only felt a gale hit them, their eardrums aching from the earth-shattering roar of the explosive packs. The ground was shaking so much that they couldn't stand steadily and all fell onto their backsides.

Even the First Emperor fell onto his backside.

He ignored his aching rear and stared blankly at the massive mushroom cloud in the distance.

This terrifying power far exceeded his imagination.

He had never imagined that the power of the striker shotgun wasn't actually the most terrifying.

This artillery barrage was the truly terrifying one!

The scene of flames soaring into the sky and shockwaves hitting wave after wave just now was simply unheard of.

The explosion, louder than even thunder, filled the First Emperor's heart with a terror he had never felt before.

He was completely dazed by the blast.

After the dust settled, the entire small city, four hundred meters long and four hundred meters wide, had been blasted into broken walls and ruins, a scene of desolation that looked like the end of the world.

Looking at this scene, the First Emperor felt as if his entire worldview was about to shatter.

He had never imagined that a weapon could be so terrifying.