A courtyard house; Li Yunlong, a subordinate of the deputy director of Harbin Military Engineering I

Upon arriving at the ordnance factory, the two stern-looking middle-aged engineers' eyes lit up when they saw Zhang Renfeng enter. Their gazes held the warmth of old subordinates meeting their former commander, and they simultaneously called out, "Old Brigade Commander!"

The name was still the same as it was used during the Taiyue Independent Brigade period. It hadn't been used for five or six years, but the two looked at each other and still felt that this name was the most natural to say.

Zhang Renfeng walked over and shook hands with each of them.

One of them was Cao Huali, a mechanical expert who had studied in Japan. He wore round-framed glasses and work clothes. He shook Zhang Renfeng's hand vigorously twice.

He possessed the complete set of technologies for precision casting, gunpowder, and ammunition, which Zhang Renfeng had managed to obtain from enemy-occupied areas during the Taihang Mountains period, a process that took a great deal of effort.

Another is Yang Zhihua, who came from the old blacksmith family in northern Jiangsu. He was a mortarman in his early years. Later, Zhang Renfeng discovered that he had an extraordinary intuition and understanding of artillery shells and promoted him all the way up. He is now the deputy commander of the engineering division and artillery staff officer.

"Old brigade commander, you've finally arrived!"

The serious expression on Cao Huali's face instantly transformed into an undisguised joy.

"We've been working on that thing, following your blueprints. The first batch of prototypes is already finished and we're just waiting for you to inspect it."

Yang Zhihua nodded repeatedly from the side, saying little but every word was true: "Two shells were fired, the trajectory was very stable, and the amount of propellant was adjusted to almost the correct level."

Zhang Renfeng patted him on the shoulder and turned to the two younger men beside him.

Not far away stood two young men, one tall and thin and the other short and stocky. The tall and thin one was called Zhuzi, an artilleryman from the Independent Regiment.

The short, stocky one is named Wu Yingde, the commander of the engineering division. He's not very old, but he's very experienced.

"Hey, you two, move your things over here."

Zhu Zi and Wu Yingde responded, turned around and carried out two heavy shells from the warehouse, carefully placing them on the worktable.

The shell had a caliber of about 100mm, a slender body, and was coated with dark green anti-rust paint. It was nearly 900mm long, with a sharp head and four tail fins. It looked quite different from the shells commonly found on the market.

The legion commander and Director Nie watched from the side, their faces filled with curiosity.

Director Nie has spent most of his life in the military; what kind of artillery shells hasn't he seen?

But this one in front of him was indeed a bit unusual. He picked it up, examined it for a moment, then put it down and glanced at Zhang Renfeng: "The caliber isn't very big."

The legion commander was straightforward; he picked up a shell, tossed it in his hand, and tapped the shell with his fingers.

"Wait, Zhang Xiaogui, what kind of cannon is this? It doesn't look like a regular one!"

There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.

After all, the Soviet-made Katyusha rockets were already on their way to the front lines. Once deployed, they would unleash a barrage of fire, with shells measuring 135mm in caliber. This thing with a caliber of just over 100mm in front of him didn't really pique his interest.

He had seen a prototype of the Katyusha, with its thirty-plus barrels firing simultaneously, unleashing overwhelming firepower; that was what a cannon should be.

Although Director Nie did not underestimate him, he did not react in any particular way either. He simply placed the shell on the table and waited for Zhang Renfeng to explain.

Brigade Commander Chen, however, was different.

He had an unwritten rule—in all these years of working with Zhang Renfeng, whenever they disagreed on military equipment, they would always settle it by playing rock-paper-scissors, and Old Chen always lost more often than he won.

Most importantly, Zhang Renfeng was right every time he proved it.

Therefore, his assessment of Zhang Renfeng's weaponry and equipment was based on a mysterious overconfidence, and he unconditionally supported it.

The shell's caliber was unremarkable, but Old Chen felt it must have something extraordinary about it.

In short, it's something that seems impressive but is actually quite mysterious! Judging from his intuition gained during his training in Cheka, it must be some kind of groundbreaking creation.

He cleared his throat, took half a step forward with his cane, and tapped the table with it:

"Hey, look at you all, in such a hurry again? Let's hear what Commander Zhang has to say first, shall we?"

Brigade Commander Chen is now speaking much more politely, because Zhang Renfeng's power has grown so immense lately that even he's finding it hard to control him...

Zhang Renfeng was amused by this and beckoned to Cao Huali: "Comrade Huali, bring over the prepared things."

Cao Huali turned around and took out several metal pipes from the inner room. The diameter of the pipes matched the shells perfectly. The materials were not complicated, and the exteriors were not even finely processed. They were just ordinary seamless steel pipes.

He gave one to each person.

The legion commander took it, examined it closely, and tapped it twice with his finger.

"What kind of pipe is that?"

"The barrel of a 107mm rocket launcher."

Brigade Commander Chen was puzzled upon hearing this: "It's so short? How far can this thing shoot?"

He even muttered to himself, "It's only a few times the length of Zhang Xiaogui."

"How long do you think it will take?"

Zhang Renfeng laughed, "The length of the cannon barrel isn't important; what's important is that the shells can fly on their own."

He looked at the disbelieving expressions on the faces of his senior leaders, but he was secretly pleased.

These old guys have been fighting since the Red Army era. What kind of artillery haven't they seen?

Howitzers, mountain guns, field guns, mortars—the captured Japanese and American weapons filled a warehouse, but now, no one can guess how this steel pipe is used.

Cao Huali and Yang Zhihua stood to the side, looking at the expressions of the leaders, they exchanged a glance and couldn't help but purse their lips.

Yang Zhihua was a man of few words; he simply rubbed his hands together and smiled.

Cao Huali couldn't hold back any longer. He turned to Zhu Zi and Wu Yingde and gestured with his chin: "Get ready, take the leaders to the open space outside."

The group arrived at an open space outside the arsenal.

About eight kilometers away, there was a lone tree, its canopy standing out against the gray winter sky.

Zhang Renfeng waved to Zhuzi and Yang Zhihua: "Didn't you two always say you could masturbate? Let's measure how many kilometers it is from here to that tree up the hill."

Zhu Zi and Yang Zhihua exchanged a glance. Zhu Zi quickly ran over, stood on the open ground, squinted one eye, raised his thumb to measure the distance, then moved to another position and measured it twice more before running back: "Report, eight kilometers."

That pillar, that cliff, is a renowned artillery master; it's no exaggeration to say that, like that general, he can use a mortar with incredible skill...

The legion commander took out his binoculars, glanced at the tree, then put them down, turned back to look at Zhang Renfeng, his expression scrutinizing:

"Zhang Xiaogui, Zhang Xiaogui, let's see what tricks you're up to today. If you don't give me a surprise, I'll teach you a lesson once you're in the court."

"Hmph! Don't think that just because it's still like it was a decade or two ago, I can't take a joke."

He spoke with a smile, but those who knew him well knew that this old legion commander was always the type to say what he meant.

Upon hearing this, Director Nie was displeased.

He stood to the side, hands behind his back, his expression nonchalant. "Damn it, that's enough."

The legion commander glanced at him and snorted coldly, "Anyway, I don't care whose son-in-law he is. In my eyes, he's someone I raised. Damn it, when this kid was just starting out, he was injured, and I had to take off his pants. Oh, he's just starting to show his face..."

No one could hold back their laughter after hearing that.

Commander Chen laughed the loudest. At that time, he was the commander of the cadre corps in the Central Column. Many promising youngsters emerged from the Red Third and First flanks, and he had disciplined them all. If it weren't for his later injury...

Zhang Renfeng was speechless at these words. "You're all making fun of me? Things change every thirty years! I'm not only older than you, I'm older too!!"

Director Nie, usually so serious, was amused by their conversation. Wasn't it a bit too vulgar? An insult to civility...

"Commander, if you think this cannon isn't up to par, how about we make a bet?" Zhang Renfeng said seriously.

The legion commander became interested: "What kind of bet?"

"See that tree?" Zhang Renfeng pointed to the lone tree on the hillside eight kilometers away.

"Just use two shells. If one of them hits that tree, after I enter Korea, I'll hand over the central line to my 3rd Army Corps."

Upon hearing this, the corps commander scoffed, raised his binoculars again to look at the tree, and lowered them with a disdainful expression: "Are you kidding me? The straight-line distance is at least eight kilometers, and your shell is just a cannon barrel with no aiming device. No matter how skilled your gunner is, how could he possibly hit it?"

What he said is true.

Conventional artillery can't even reach a target eight kilometers away, let alone hit one. To do that, you need to set up a gun mount, adjust the elevation angle, set the firing data, and have a professional sight. Relying solely on a bare gun barrel and aiming with your naked eye to hit a target eight kilometers away is like a blind cat stumbling upon a mouse.

"Just tell me if you're willing to make a bet with me," Zhang Renfeng said, looking at him.

The legion commander, spurred on by his confident demeanor, slapped his thigh without a second thought:

"Okay, I'll bet with you! I'll not only give you the middle line, I'll also give you the main attack."

In the absence of large-scale battles, your special forces are permitted to freely infiltrate the battlefield, even south of the 38th parallel, and even kidnap a South Korean woman! As long as you're good enough.

"Haha, it seems the Legion Commander knows me quite well. Then it's settled."

After Zhang Renfeng finished speaking, he asked Cao Huali to bring over the prepared flashlight. Then he squatted down, turned on the flashlight, took out the four batteries inside, and took out two pieces of wire.

At this point, everyone was completely baffled, except for the four officers of the engineering division.

Even Qin Jiwei and Gu Jingsheng, who were in the 15th Army, were completely baffled.

Unlike other units, the engineering division has been a top secret since it arrived in Xingtai, and they only take orders from Commanders Chen and Zhang.

However, they knew that their 15th Army was strong and well-equipped enough to rival the 38th Army of the Fourth Field Army because of its superior equipment and artillery.

There is no doubt about this. The Second Field Army has always been poor, so from the instructors down to every commander, they are very frugal. There's no way around it, they are really poor. But they are the only ones who are not poor!

This stinginess is something that extends from the division commander down to the heads of every field army.

Because the commander-in-chief would never give such detailed instructions on the combat of his subordinates... In some field armies, however, the command extends directly down to the regimental level.

Zhang Renfeng inserted the 18.8-kilogram shell into the cannon barrel, calculated for a few seconds with the barrel, and found it didn't work, so he decisively pulled the shell out.

What are you doing?

Can it fire without a cannon barrel?

Zhang Renfeng turned around, looked at Cao Huali and the other three, and immediately cursed, "Damn it!! What are you all good for? We gave you a thousand instructions and told you to follow the blueprints, but you didn't even bring the blasting rig!"

Cao Huali explained, "It's processed in another factory. I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly."

"never mind!"

Zhang Renfeng walked back. Normally, without a gun mount, it would be impossible to adjust the firing parameters using a single gun barrel. So, he decided to forgo the gun barrel and use the markings and lines on the shell itself for aiming.

The clever Yang Zhihua immediately understood, moved some stones and built a base, and then Zhang Renfeng laid the shell flat and used the shell's markings to aim at the trees on the hillside eight kilometers away.

"Hey, Renfeng, what's wrong with you?" Director Nie asked, puzzled.

Zhang Renfeng was adjusting and didn't have time to deal with his father-in-law.

After setting it up and taking aim, he clapped his hands.

Now it was the hot-tempered legion commander's turn to be annoyed. Damn it, that kid just scolded someone like that.

It reminded him of the time some time ago, when he had fiercely scolded Liang Daya during the first battle. Now that he thought about it, Liang Daya was quite pitiful.

By the way, that "heartless cannon" was invented by Zhang Baozao during the Red Army period!

Back then, that little rascal insisted on calling it "Atomic Cannon," but everyone thought it was heartless and just went with the name.