Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

This type of cannon was unique in the Song Dynasty. During the attack on Liangshan Marsh, Ling Zhen insisted on going along to test the effectiveness and power of his newly made Tiger Crouching Cannons.

Ling Zhen's modified Tiger Crouching Cannon is two feet long from head to tail. It is made of wrought iron and uses seven or eight ounces of gunpowder each time. It has seven iron hoops around its body, and the cannon head is supported by two iron claws. There are also iron hooks. It weighs thirty-six pounds, which is not too heavy and can be carried as a personal weapon.

Ling Zhen's Tiger Crouching Cannon looks imposing and majestic. Before firing, the cannon body must be fixed to the ground with large iron nails. Each shot can be loaded with about 100 small lead or stone balls weighing 5 qian each. A large lead or stone ball weighing 30 liang is placed on top to weigh it down. When fired, the bullets of all sizes fly out together, with a thunderous roar. The destructive power and radiation range are very large. It is particularly suitable for field battles and has a bit of the style of a scattering weapon. It is estimated that its dense bombardment of the battle formation can effectively suppress the frenzied offensive.

To prevent the cannonball from being too small and having too large a muzzle, resulting in a weak and ineffective trajectory, Ling Zhen, after conducting experiments, slowly filled the muzzle with heavy lead balls or stones weighing thirty taels each, which greatly increased the range.

Li Hanxiao provided Ling Zhen with the manufacturing methods for the three-eyed gun and the tiger-squatting cannon, also preparing to build a firearms unit in the short term.

The technology for highly sophisticated firearms cannot be broken through in a short period of time, such as matchlock guns and flintlock guns, which are things that are ahead of their time.

Too large a firearm would also be too difficult to manufacture due to insufficient materials. For example, Ling Zhen's Golden Wheel Cannon required no less than 300 jin of copper and iron per cannon, and the manufacturing cycle was too long.

The materials and technical difficulty of manufacturing the three-eyed gun and the tiger squat cannon are far inferior to those of other firearms. As long as the experiment is successful, Ling Zhen can immediately start production.

This was also Li Hanxiao's preparation for confronting powerful enemies in the north in the future. Whether it was the Khitans of Liao or the Jurchens of Jin, they were both ethnic groups with extremely powerful cavalry forces. Before the Treaty of Chanyuan, the Liao cavalry almost reached the gates of Tokyo. And the Jin Dynasty, which rose to power later, had the power of its archer cavalry and iron cavalry that almost swept across the world and was invincible.

According to Li Hanxiao's understanding of history, the Tiger Crouching Cannon could also deal with cavalry. Qi Jiguang, a famous general of the Ming Dynasty who fought against Japanese pirates, guarded the Great Wall after sweeping away the Japanese pirates and fought against the Mongol nobles in the north. The Tiger Crouching Cannon should not be ignored.

Qi Jiguang relied heavily on the Tiger Crouching Cannon. When he marched north, he formed a new cavalry battalion. Each cavalry battalion had 2700 officers and soldiers and was generally equipped with 60 Tiger Crouching Cannons. Each Tiger Crouching Cannon required three gunners.

Later military experts believed that "the cavalry battalion carrying tiger-squatting cannons on mules and horses was the earliest cavalry artillery in the history of Chinese cavalry, which was 50 to 70 years earlier than the cavalry artillery organized by King Gustav II of Sweden in 1630."

If Li Hanxiao could also build such a force as soon as possible, it would be a revolutionary force that would suppress any army of the same era.

The following morning, Lin Chong, Si Xingfang, Deng Fei, and Ou Peng led more than two hundred soldiers to challenge the first pass of Liangshan Marsh, while Li Hanxiao led the remaining men toward the second pass.

Wang Lun had just gotten up and took out his most cherished copy of the Analects.

He maintained a good habit for many years of repeatedly studying the teachings of the sages every morning.

He originally thought he was destined to be a scholar, but as he studied, he ended up at Liangshan.

Although he still holds the position of chieftain, he doesn't really think much of the profession of ruling the mountains.

Confucius said, “Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application? Is it not delightful to have friends coming from afar?”

Just as Wang Lun was reading aloud, a sudden voice rang out.

"Brother! Something terrible has happened! Lin Chong has rebelled!"

Just then, Du Qianfei, nicknamed "Touching the Sky," rushed in like a whirlwind. Standing over two meters tall, he almost knocked the door frame down.

"What! I knew this guy had ill intentions!"

Wang Lun threw down the book in his hand and stood up.

"Lin Chong wasn't on the mountain yesterday. He said he went down the mountain with Zhu Gui, but today he somehow found a group of men, crossed the marsh, and is already below the pass. The water stronghold has probably fallen into enemy hands!"

Wang Lun angrily berated Lin Chong and then asked about Zhu Gui's whereabouts. Du Qian replied that his fate was unknown.

"So... just how many men did Lin Chong bring?"

Wang Lun paced anxiously around the room. He had been on guard against Lin Chong ever since Lin Chong came up the mountain, after all, Lin Chong's skills were far superior to theirs. But now, his dream had come true. How could he possibly deal with Lin Chong?

"There are fewer than three hundred people!"

"What? Less than three hundred people?"

After listening to Du Qian's words, Wang Lun's confidence returned.

He had at least a thousand henchmen on Liangshan, which was several times the size of the enemy's forces!

Although Lin Chong was highly skilled in martial arts, Wang Lun understood the principle that even a strong ant can kill an elephant, and a good tiger cannot withstand a pack of wolves. Lin Chong had only brought such a small number of men, and no matter which group he brought, it was useless to invite wolves into the house.

"Lin Chong only has this many men. You and Song Wan, quickly go into battle, gather five hundred... no, six hundred... eight hundred men! You must cut down this traitor Lin Chong!"

Wang Lun initially wanted to hold up five fingers, but fearing Lin Chong's strength, he considered holding up six. Finally, wanting to be on the safe side, he sent eight hundred men.

Eight hundred men—that's more than half of Liangshan's forces, and in Wang Lun's eyes, that's enough to kill Lin Chong.

Du Qian, nicknamed "Touching the Sky," and Song Wan, nicknamed "Cloud Vajra," quickly mustered their troops and rode to the pass to confront Lin Chong and his men.

"My two brothers, Wang Lun is jealous of talent and incapable of building an empire. He will surely bring about our downfall sooner or later! You two might as well surrender! Then we can do something great together!"

Lin Chong shouted to Song Wan and Du Qian in front of the battle, but was severely scolded by Song Wan.

"Lin Chong! You ungrateful scoundrel! When you came to Liangshan Marsh, you were desperate and had nowhere else to go. It was the stronghold and Chief Wang who took you in. Yet you repay kindness with enmity and bring outsiders to plot against the stronghold!"

"Chief Wang said long ago that you had rebellious intentions and were a traitor with a heart of stone like Wei Yan. We even pleaded for you back then, but we never expected you to be such a heartless and treacherous person!"

Du Qian, who was "touching the sky," also expressed great indignation at Lin Chong's behavior.

"Not bad, Lin Chong, I, Song Wan, admit I'm no match for you, but I won't let you scare me to death. Today, let's fight to the death!"

"Alright, Instructor Lin, why waste words with these two rotten garlic cloves? Just take them!"

Since joining Li Hanxiao's ranks, Si Xingfang has not yet shown his martial arts skills much. At this moment, he is holding a large three-ringed embroidered saber and riding a chestnut horse. He is eager to try his skills and wants to go forward.

Lin Chong and Si Xingfang had met once before, since the Si brothers had also worked in the Palace Commander's Mansion. Lin Chong quickly stopped them, saying, "Brother Si, hold on! Their martial arts are far inferior to ours. If you go forward, they will die if you make a mistake. It would be better to send someone else!"