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

"Try it?... Is it that important?... You mean you have a way...?" Tiger looked at the big boy in front of him with even more surprise.

Although this kid had already shocked him quite a bit since they met at the mine, this time he was genuinely afraid that the kid was reckless and would fight the Japanese head-on! Seeing the defenses in the courtyard with his own eyes, he forcibly suppressed his desire for revenge.

A gentleman takes his revenge even after ten years; we'll see about these little devils!

We must keep this kid under control no matter what; no one, regardless of status, dares to act rashly!

"Let's go! Let's go back first!" Mancang understood the other party's thoughts perfectly well; everything could be discussed once they got back.

Back at Tianma Village, Mancang pulled out a crossbow and started fiddling with it on the road leading into the village. Last time, this thing could shoot more than a kilometer away, but it hadn't been used in actual combat in several battles. Even during training, due to space limitations, the target was only set up 300 meters away.

Now, if we want to use a crossbow to shoot at a distance of 700 meters, we need to carefully study how much power the arrows still have.

"See that tin barrel over there? Shoot!" Mancang said, pointing to the tin barrel in the distance.

"I saw it, but from this distance it looked only about the size of a fist, the chances of hitting it are almost zero!" Tiger said with a worried expression.

"Hmm, that's a problem." He said, raising the binoculars and adjusting the focus. When the tin bucket came into clear view, he squatted down and mounted the binoculars on the top of the hill.

“Try it now!”

Tiger seemed to understand what he meant. He put his eyes close to the binoculars to observe the tin barrel in the distance, adjusted the direction, and pulled the trigger of the crossbow!

"call out!"

The arrow flew in a beautiful arc into the distance, but before it even touched the tin bucket, it slid far away along the road!

"Slap!" Mancang raised his hand and slapped Hu Zi on the back of the head!

"An arrow travels in an arc at that distance! Have you forgotten how to aim a repeating crossbow?"

"It's no use having this thing blocking the way!" Tiger didn't care about the slap; he just wasn't used to using binoculars to aim yet.

"Practice hard! When you can hit the bullseye every time, I'll take you to get revenge! Protect the binoculars!" With that, he left without looking back.

Well! This guy's determined to tackle that tough nut! It seems he hasn't listened to a single word of all the persuasion he's received along the way! But can't he see such an obvious difference? Is there really a way to win in one fell swoop?

Tiger was disoriented on the way and had no time to worry about Mancang. Back in the village, he rushed into his room and started setting off firecrackers!

That's right, he was setting off firecrackers! He loaded a bundle of gunpowder cartridges from the rocket and lit them one by one, occasionally noting the time in his notebook. In no time, the entire room was filled with smoke, and he was covered in soot, looking like he'd been mining coal!

It wasn't until evening that Hu Zi came looking for him, carrying a tin can that had been riddled with holes. When he saw Hu Zi's disheveled state, he burst into laughter!

"Hey Cangye, have you been mining coal or burning charcoal this afternoon? How did you end up looking like this! If you went out dressed as a ghost without makeup, you could scare half the Japanese to death!" Hu Zi pointed at him and laughed loudly.

"Look, how about these rockets?" Mancang ignored the other party's ridicule and pointed to the small spear-like arrows on the table.

"Huh? It's just arrows from a crossbow, why are you attaching gunpowder cartridges? Are you planning to use them all at once?"

"Take a closer look!"

"Hmm? That's not right! Is this gunpowder cartridge tied up backwards?"

"That's right! Let's go, let's go out and try it before it gets dark!" Mancang picked up the tin bucket that looked like a colander and walked out.

Soon the two returned to the main road to conduct their experiment. Tiger placed the arrows, aimed, signaled to fire the arrows at full capacity, and then pulled the trigger himself.

"call out!"

"Clang!"

"Chichi..."

The arrow, trailing a plume of black smoke, shot towards the tin bucket. The bucket overturned with a thud, rolling a considerable distance before coming to a stop. The arrowhead pierced the tin and embedded itself in the bucket's wall, while a fiery serpent spewed from the gunpowder cartridge, splattering onto the tin and emitting plumes of black smoke!

When the two arrived, the fire had already been extinguished, and the piece of sheet metal that had been splattered by the fire snake had been burned black.

"Hahaha, that's the effect! All that afternoon wasn't wasted!" Mancang pulled out the arrow and laughed as he looked at the deformed tin can.

He racked his brains and solved several technical problems in order to achieve this shooting effect!

First, there's air resistance. The gunpowder cartridge attached to the arrow naturally creates resistance, affecting range and direction. To address this, he specifically placed two conical paper tubes, one thick and one thin, around the arrow shaft and fixed behind the arrowhead. This way, the paper tubes are evenly stressed, preventing them from affecting shooting accuracy, and the reduced air friction has minimal impact on range.

Next is the gunpowder burning speed. The main purpose of designing this arrow is to ignite it. If the burning speed is too slow, it will not be able to achieve the splashing effect and it will be difficult to ignite the object being shot.

To solve this problem, Mancang remembered a TV program that compared black powder made into granules and powder. The result was that the granules burned twice as fast! With that speed, ignition would definitely be no problem!

The final challenge was the fuse. The gunpowder needed to start burning at the moment the arrow struck its target. Too early would affect range and accuracy, while too late would be pointless, as the enemy could easily extinguish it with a bowl of water. Finding the perfect moment required constant experimentation. Finally, they found a fuse that could sustain the fire for six seconds, and it worked!

Finally, there's the shooting issue. Tiger's afternoon of practice finally paid off; didn't you see how the tin bucket was shot into a sieve?

"No, Brother Cang! You think you can take down that base with just this rocket? ...Aren't you overthinking it?" Tiger asked, puzzled, looking at the smug Mancang.

"Wrong! This isn't a rocket! This is a pyrotechnic rocket!" Mancang said solemnly.

"Light the rocket?..." Tiger was even more confused. Was this the key point?

"What do you think would happen if we shot this thing into the fuel tank of a military vehicle that's being loaded?" Mancang reminded him when he saw his confusion.

"Huh?...This has potential!" Tiger's eyes lit up, and he perked up as if he'd been injected with adrenaline! If this were really possible, revenge would be within reach!

"Go back! The two female team members will have to work hard tonight!" Man Cang said in a great mood, carrying a tin bucket.

However, taking over that base will require a lot of preparation. At the very least, you'll need gas masks, right? If not, at least a face mask with a charcoal bag inside will offer some protection. Once the explosion is successful, the toxic gas will indiscriminately kill everyone, good or bad!

Also, prepare gloves, masks, and other items; who knew they might contain the very type of weapon they were researching?