I used the Mo Dao (a type of long-handled sword) to fight the Japanese.

"Well done, bro!"

"Great!"

After hearing the story of the Cloud-Stacking Blade, everyone praised the blacksmith's craftsmanship and looked forward to seeing what the first Mo Dao would look like.

After a full day of hard work, the group finally produced prototypes of various weapons by the morning of the second day: a long-handled broadsword, two repeating crossbows, two wheel crossbows, two swarm crossbows, two sleeve darts, and matching arrows. After assembly, the group carried these out of the mountain stronghold and couldn't wait to test them.

"Let's try a swarm first. The gunpowder in each arrow is different. This time, we'll find the best gunpowder ratio," Tiger said after setting up the two launchers.

This was naturally what everyone was most looking forward to, and they all wanted to confirm the lethality of the arrows that shot up like rockets.

A rocket, or "swarm of arrows," was simply an ordinary arrow with a tube of gunpowder attached. Pulling out the fuse and igniting it propelled the arrow forward using the force of the gunpowder, much like a firework. It was the earliest form of "rocket," and modern rockets are based on this principle.

"Sizzle...whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

Soon, Hu Zi lit the fuse, and propelled by the gunpowder, all thirty-two rockets in the launch chamber shot out with a whoosh, their tails still emitting black smoke, like a swarm of wasps flying out at once.

"Hahaha, a swarm of bees! What a great name! It really is a swarm of deadly bees!" Tiger was overjoyed at the successful launch; it really did shoot down a huge swarm!

"My god! That thing is so fast! In short, awesome!" Da Zhao was startled; the sight of the rockets flying out in succession was truly spectacular. If his former collaborators saw that, they'd be terrified!

"Amazing! Amazing! Just by looking at this, you can tell it's incredibly powerful. It can wipe out a whole bunch of enemies at once—it's a real weapon for group attacks. Whether it's defending a stronghold or setting up an ambush, it'll definitely give the Japanese a run for their money!" Zhao Mancang was also overjoyed. He had only seen the shooting effects of this thing in videos before, but he didn't expect it to be even more impressive in person!

"That'll hold them off! With this thing in hand, even the toughest Japanese devils will be doomed!" The blacksmith got excited again. He felt incredibly proud that such a powerful weapon was made by his own hand!

The group continued working under his guidance, measuring range, calculating firing area, and selecting the optimal gunpowder ratio. The results were good; arrows fell from distances ranging from 260 to 320 meters, with a lateral range exceeding 60 meters. Aside from the gunpowder ratio, a wide-area attack was entirely achievable, and with some improvements, an effective range of 400 meters would be easily attainable.

Next came the Mo Dao, a long sword of such design that none of the crowd had ever even heard of it, let alone seen it. When they saw Zhao Mancang wielding the broadsword and cleaving a poplar tree as thick as a bowl in one stroke, the crowd gasped again. The books said this thing could slice off a cavalryman's horse's head in one go—and that wasn't an exaggeration! Using this to fight the Japanese with bayonets, you could definitely cut their spears in half with a single blow. Isn't that amazing?

Next came the ballista, a modified ballista. Looking at the arrows, which resembled small spears, everyone couldn't help but worry. The three bows strung together looked quite imposing, but no one knew how effective they actually were.

"call out!"

A long arrow was fired, embedding itself firmly in a poplar tree a mile away, the arrowhead obscured by the trunk, which was still swaying as the group ran towards it. Needless to say, the effect was absolutely no less than that of a regular sniper rifle!

The remaining repeating crossbows and hidden darts, needless to say, are as effective as the Japanese Mauser C96 pistols. From melee to ranged attacks, all equipment is ready; mass production and widespread deployment are just waiting!

"It's done! These next few days, we'll collect all those shovels and have them melted down by the blacksmith, working closely with the three masters to forge weapons. In addition, each of the four girls will have a repeating crossbow and a hidden arrow, and each of us men will have a long-handled broadsword. We'll also have two sets of crossbows and 'swarm crossbows' for every three men. Once everything is ready, we'll begin training. Physical fitness, courage, weapon handling—everything needs to be perfected. By then, the Japanese should have stopped searching and arresting people. Whoever meets the requirements first will go home to pick up their loved ones. We can't let them all talk the talk but walk the walk when it comes to actually fighting like last time! Understand?" With the experiment a success, Zhao Mancang felt reassured. Having weapons was one thing, but training these people to be combat-ready was another. No matter how powerful the weapons, they're useless if the people aren't up to par!

“No problem! Just thinking about how we performed at the mine last time makes me feel ashamed. If it weren’t for Master Cang’s heroic efforts, it’s hard to say whether any of us would have made it back!” Li Dadi felt the deepest emotion. He hadn’t forgotten how decisive Master Cang was last time, nor how trembling he was. If it weren’t for Master Cang, he definitely wouldn’t have made it back.

"Practice! I feel ashamed just thinking about how I performed last time!"

"You need to train! Old arms and legs might be good for farming, but they're not good enough for killing Japanese devils with a knife!"

"it is good!"

Since the decision had been made to stay and start an uprising against the Japanese, everyone naturally had no objection to training. As the saying goes in plays, the more you sweat during training, the less you bleed in battle—the logic is easy to understand. Even Third Master's eyes were shining with anticipation for a major battle!

……

While they were busy forging weapons and training all their men, a major event occurred in Zhao Village, Xiahou Town. Inside the ancestral hall, Zhao Renyi sat with a somber face, while a dozen women wept and complained incessantly to the clan chief. Several elders of the clan sat to one side, their faces filled with worry.

"Chieftain, please think of a way to get Man Gui and the others out! The baby is only eight months old, and his father is gone. How are we, a widow and orphan, going to survive? Waaah..."

"Yes! Don't you always warn everyone to hide before the Japanese soldiers arrest people? Why didn't you do that this time?"

"They arrested over twenty people at once, and with the missing Third Master and all the able-bodied men from our village, the Japanese have taken them all. We don't know if they're dead or alive..."

"If all else fails, then fight the Japanese! When have we, the Dao Ke family, ever been bullied like this?"

"Yes! Let's fight the Japanese! We're all going to die anyway. At worst, we can send the children to hide in the Manchukuo Caves. We old, weak, women, and children can fight the Japanese. If we lose one, it's worth it; if we lose two, we'll make a profit. Maybe we can even save the men!"

"Let's do it! Those Japanese devils are driving us to our deaths..."

Clan chief Zhao Renyi looked down at the weeping, weak, women, and children below, his brow furrowed with worry. As the village head, he usually received advance warning when the Japanese were about to arrest people, ensuring the able-bodied men were hidden. But just yesterday, the village head, Cao Jiagui, led dozens of puppet Japanese soldiers in a surprise attack. The villagers couldn't escape in time and were caught red-handed! All the able-bodied men were taken away, leaving only the elderly and children, who looked on with despair, unable to make ends meet…

"Stop crying! The Japanese are either taking people to build fortifications or sending them to the mines to do hard labor. I've already sent people to inquire, we need to find out where they are first before we try to get them out. This is a natural disaster and a man-made one, we can only think about revenge after we get them out. Relying on the old, weak, women and children in the village is just sending them to their deaths!" Zhao Renyi sighed.