The militiaman spoke sorrowfully, “If we had a cannon, Little Five wouldn’t have died.”
“......Little Five carried the satchel charge and blew up the passage, saving the troops and civilians, but he left us...forever...”
Su Yang’s eyes blurred.
He had only learned about Dong Cunrui’s sacrifice blowing up a bunker to clear the way for his comrades from textbooks.
Now, he was experiencing this firsthand.
From the militiaman’s grief, he could feel the helplessness and despair of that moment.
However, with the current state of our military industry, producing a real cannon was practically impossible.
After all, without smelting equipment, even with the knowledge, it would be difficult to achieve.
But, Su Yang was from the future. An idea flashed in his mind.
A cannon with immense power and unmatched caliber.
We called it the ‘Flying Thunder Cannon’.
The enemy called it the ‘Ruthless Cannon’.
This was a satchel charge launcher using an oil drum as the barrel.
Also known as an explosive projectile tube, its core was an empty oil drum. After filling it with propellant, they would place a bundled, disc-shaped satchel charge inside, ignite the propellant, and launch the ten-kilogram satchel charge 150-200 meters away.
Compared to the Japanese mortar.
Its power was greater, but its construction cost less.
The caliber of this weapon depended on the thickness of the barrel – the bigger the barrel, the bigger the caliber.
The immense blast wave generated by its huge satchel charge could obliterate bunkers and personnel.
Many victims found themselves without a scratch on their bodies, but their seven orifices bled, having been shaken to death.
But!
Its shortcomings were also clear – it was difficult to conceal, firing time was long, and accuracy was poor...
Despite its flaws, Su Yang had little choice in the current situation.
It was better than using soldiers as human projectiles.
Even our main regiments were severely short of artillery, let alone units below that level.
Local armed forces and militias were even worse off.
If the ‘Ruthless Cannon’ method and usage were widely promoted, allowing capable units to equip themselves, our artillery fire power would be significantly increased.
In battle, it would surely catch the enemy off guard and inflict heavy casualties.
The ‘Ruthless Cannon’ could also prove useful when attacking defensive fortifications or bunkers.
There would be no more need for soldiers to carry satchel charges to destroy bunkers.
Thinking of this.
Su Yang didn’t hesitate and immediately acted.
He clearly remembered that the armory had oil drums.
Su Yang was now a big shot at the armory, so he quickly procured a suitable drum.
He then began modifying the drum.
Su Yang’s actions aroused curiosity and confusion among many of the arms workers.
After all, Su Yang was now their role model, attracting much attention.
The manufacturing process of the Ruthless Cannon wasn’t difficult. Within hours, Su Yang had completed the cannon.
However, during the manufacturing process, his incredible ingenuity led to improvements to the Ruthless Cannon.
By the afternoon, the cannon was complete.
Now that the cannon was built, it was time for testing to obtain the necessary data.
This would prevent any accidents during future use.
At the time, the Ruthless Cannon was not yet perfected. Many accidents happened due to various reasons, resulting in many artillerymen losing their lives.
They sacrificed their blood to perfect the Ruthless Cannon.
Su Yang, however, was determined not to let this happen. He wanted to test it beforehand and offer solutions.
To perform the test, he needed satchel charges.
Moreover, these charges needed to be of different specifications.
For example, their weight and fuse length.
All of this directly impacted whether the satchel charges could achieve their desired effect.
Just as Su Yang was instructing the workers to produce different types of satchel charges.
News of this quickly reached the armory manager, Cheng Ming Xin.
Cheng Ming Xin had noticed Su Yang using the oil drum, but since it was only one drum, he hadn’t said anything.
However, now he needed such a large quantity of satchel charges, it was something he had to take seriously.
After all, gunpowder production wasn’t easy.
To find out what Su Yang was doing, Cheng Ming Xin personally rushed over.
“Comrade Su Yang, why are you making so many satchel charges…?”
Su Yang knew that this would eventually attract attention, but he hadn’t expected Cheng Ming Xin, the manager, to arrive so quickly.
“To make a cannon, for the urgent needs of our army.”
Huh?
Cannon?
This statement stunned everyone.
Cheng Ming Xin immediately linked this to Su Yang’s previous actions, making him even more confused.
With that oil drum?
What kind of cannon is that?
“Comrade Su Yang, we are simple folk, please explain it to us.”
With even the manager, Cheng Ming Xin, so humble, Su Yang felt a little embarrassed.
“Manager Cheng, it’s quite simple.”
“I plan to use that oil drum to ‘send’ this explosive charge.”
“This can reduce the risk of our sappers having to detonate the charges, and prevent so many casualties.”
Everyone followed Su Yang’s pointing and saw the modified oil drum.
They all rushed forward to see what was so special about it. It could actually send the explosive charge out?
When Cheng Ming Xin and the others saw the shape of the Ruthless Cannon, they stared at each other in bewilderment.
This could send the explosive charge out?
No way!
.