You, a tyrannical ruler, roam the heavens; you cannot understand my joy.

Several days later, at Yue Fei's camp.

At the gate, the sentry on duty was hunched over, his feet shrugging, his breath instantly blown away by the wind.

Suddenly, the rumbling of wheels and the dull thud of hooves came from the distant official road, growing louder as they approached.

The sentry squinted and saw a convoy of dozens of wagons covered with thick tarpaulins, escorted by a troop of brightly armored cavalry, slowly making its way toward the camp.

The flags carried by the convoy were not military-style, but rather the insignia of the Ministry of Industry.

"Halt! Who goes there? This is military grounds, no unauthorized entry!"

The sentry raised his spear, took a few steps forward, and shouted a stern question.

Even though you see the flag, you still need to conduct necessary checks.

The convoy stopped in front of the gate. A middle-aged official in a blue robe and fur coat jumped out of the lead carriage. His face was red from the cold wind. He bowed to the sentry and spoke in a loud voice:

"We are officials of the Ministry of Works' Institute of Crafts, ordered by His Majesty and Minister Shen to escort a batch of new military equipment to be delivered to Marshal Yue's newly formed 'Divine Machine Battalion'!"

"This is the official seal; please verify it!"

As he spoke, he handed over a document bearing the official seal of the Ministry of Works and the deputy seal of the Emperor's temporary residence.

The sentry took it, carefully checked it and found it to be correct, then peered over at the large carts that were covered tightly with tarpaulins and piled up like small mountains.

A hint of curiosity flashed in his eyes, but he dared not delay. He gave instructions to his colleagues and turned to run quickly toward the central command tent.

Before long, the curtain of the central command tent was lifted, and Yue Fei, dressed in light leather armor but without a helmet, strode out.

His expression was calm, and his gaze remained sharp as ever, though there was a hint of fatigue in his brows from days of training troops and handling military affairs.

Upon hearing that the Ministry of Works was escorting "new types of military equipment," a thought stirred within him. A few days ago, His Majesty sent a secret edict mentioning that "weapons of mass destruction" would be delivered, ordering him to establish the "Divine Machine Battalion" specifically for training. Could this be it?

"Open the gate and let them in. Lead the carriages and horses to an open area of ​​the drill ground."

Yue Fei gave an order and, with several of his personal guards and lieutenants, headed towards the drill ground.

He wanted to see what extraordinary things His Majesty and the master craftsmen of the Ministry of Works had produced that warranted such a grand mobilization and a special decree to establish a new camp.

Soon, the gates opened, and the convoy, guided by others, slowly drove into the camp, stopping one by one in an open area on the east side of the drill ground.

The wheels rolled over the frozen ground with a dull thud, attracting the curious gazes of many soldiers who were training or resting nearby. They whispered among themselves, speculating about what was on the vehicle.

Yue Fei had already stopped at the edge of the drill ground. The middle-aged official from the Ministry of Works hurriedly stepped forward with several attendants dressed as craftsmen, and respectfully bowed to Yue Fei.

"Zheng Heng, a junior official in the Ministry of Personnel and Supervisor of the Imperial Workshop, pays his respects to Marshal Yue!"

"Supervisor Zheng, there's no need for such formalities." Yue Fei offered a slight gesture of support, his gaze already fixed on the carriages. "Is this the weaponry His Majesty mentioned in his secret decree?"

"Exactly!" Zheng Heng's face lit up with excitement. He turned to the craftsman and instructed, "Open cart number three (甲字三车) and retrieve box number '甲三'!"

The craftsman accepted the order, climbed onto one of the large carts, and tore open the taut ropes and tarpaulin to reveal the neatly stacked long wooden crates underneath.

Pry open the box lid; inside, there is moisture-proof oil paper and dry straw.

The craftsman carefully took out a long, strip-shaped object wrapped in thick cloth, held it in both hands, and brought it to Yue Fei.

Zheng Heng took it and untied the cloth cover—

A long spear with a unique shape and a cold, steely blue sheen appeared before everyone's eyes.

It is over four feet long, with a slender barrel at the front and a wooden stock at the back. The middle part has a complex mechanism structure, which is completely different from the swords, spears, halberds, bows, crossbows and shields that people are used to. It is full of cold mechanical beauty and unknown power.

"What is this?" Zhang Xian, a burly deputy general with a full beard standing beside Yue Fei, couldn't help but ask.

Zheng Heng cleared his throat, his voice brimming with pride, and announced loudly, "General Zhang, this is called the 'Divine Mechanism Type 1' self-firing musket!"

"It was created under the personal guidance of His Majesty, and with the painstaking efforts of Master Craftsman Mo Heng and his team at the Ministry of Works' Imperial Crafts Institute!"

"This gun has a steel barrel with rifling inside, is fired with flint, and uses specially designed cartridges and lead bullets."

He paused, then, meeting the curious, doubtful, and even dismissive gazes of Yue Fei and the growing number of officers and soldiers around him, continued, "Its performance is outstanding!"

"Maximum range: over 320 paces!"

"Within a hundred paces, it can pierce through the current standard-issue lamellar armor of our army!"

"Within fifty paces, with extremely high precision, a well-trained individual can strike a galloping horse's head!"

"More importantly, skilled soldiers can complete its loading and firing within two breaths, making its rate of fire far exceed that of powerful bows and crossbows!"

"What?!"

"Three hundred and twenty paces? Piercing through iron armor? A shot fired in two breaths?"

As soon as Zheng Heng finished speaking, a chorus of suppressed gasps and whispers arose around him.

The soldiers stared wide-eyed at the unassuming iron pipe, their faces filled with disbelief.

"You're kidding!" Zhang Xian was the first to express disbelief, pointing towards the arrow emplacements a hundred paces away. "Three hundred and twenty paces?"

"I use a three-stone bow and armor-piercing arrows. When I draw the bow with all my might, hitting a willow leaf at a hundred paces is my limit. The force weakens at a hundred and fifty paces. How can it penetrate iron armor?"

"This iron pipe is more powerful than my bow? And it can fire in two breaths?"

"Even drawing a bow doesn't take this long!"

Another captain of the personal guards muttered, "Yeah, it sounds like a storyteller."

"Supervisor Zheng," Yue Fei raised his hand to stop his subordinates' commotion. He looked calmly at Zheng Heng, then at the musket.

"Hearing is believing, seeing is believing. Soldiers only believe the swords and spears in their hands and the targets in front of them. Could you demonstrate it for us on the spot?"

"That's exactly right!" Zheng Heng seemed to have been prepared and was not surprised at all, bowing as he said:

"Please, Marshal, order someone to bring a suit of iron armor and place it a hundred paces away. I will personally demonstrate it to you!"

Yue Fei nodded and said to Zhang Xian, "Go and fetch the best suit of mountain-patterned iron armor and hang it on a wooden frame a hundred paces away."

"Understood!" Although Zhang Xian didn't believe it, military orders were absolute, so he immediately led his men to carry them out.

Soon, a well-preserved set of fine iron armor with gleaming blades was firmly fixed to a sturdy wooden target a hundred paces away.

Sunlight shone on the beetle leaves, reflecting a cold, hard luster.

Its thickness and texture made it difficult for ordinary arrows to penetrate even at a distance of seventy or eighty paces.

On the training ground, at this moment, no fewer than several hundred soldiers who had rushed over upon hearing the news had gathered. They all craned their necks and stood on tiptoe, peering at the armored figure a hundred paces away and Zheng Heng holding a strange iron pipe.

"Will it work?"

"The people from the Ministry of Works are making it sound so mystical, are they just bluffing?"

"Over three hundred steps? I'd be out of breath running that far, how could this iron lump possibly travel that far?"

"Look, look, if we can really break through, then in future wars..."

Zheng Heng ignored the surrounding chatter. He took a deep breath of the cold air, suppressing his excitement.

He took a paper packet from the craftsman, bit it open, carefully poured the black powder inside into the muzzle of the gun, and then took out a round lead bullet from a leather pouch and pressed it down with a scouring pad.

Then, he took out a finer amount of gunpowder from a small leather box at his waist, poured it into the powder chamber in the bolt carrier, and closed the lid.

The whole process was orderly, and although I was a little unfamiliar with it, the steps were clear.

After loading, he held the musket level, the wooden stock against his shoulder, squinted one eye, and aimed at the armored suit a hundred paces away through the simple sights and front sight on the musket.

The drill ground fell silent instantly; you could hear a pin drop. All eyes were fixed on the dark muzzle of the gun and the armored vehicles in the distance.

Zhang Xian crossed his arms, a sneer of disbelief still playing on his lips. Yue Fei, on the other hand, stared intently at Zheng Heng's movements and the musket.

"Crack—Bang!!!"

A crisp metallic clang was followed by a deafening bang!

The gun suddenly spat out a flash of fire about a foot long and a large cloud of thick white smoke!

The pungent smell of gunpowder instantly filled the air!

Almost at the same time as the gunshot, a crisp and solid metallic clang came from a hundred paces away!

The white smoke was dispersed by the cold wind. Everyone hurriedly looked over.

On the iron mountain armor hanging on the wooden frame, there was a clear hole with slightly rolled-up edges right in the center of the chest!

Sunlight streamed through the holes, casting a small patch of light on the ground. The wooden frame seemed to sway slightly as well.

"..."

Dead silence.

An absolute, deathly silence that lasted for several breaths.

Everyone stared wide-eyed and gaped, dumbfounded at the glaring hole in the armor a hundred paces away. They stiffly turned back to look at the musket in Zheng Heng's hand, the muzzle still emitting wisps of smoke, then back at the hole, then back at the musket...

"hiss--!!"

"My goodness!"

"It really...it really pierced through! A hundred paces! Iron armor! One shot pierced through!"

"Good heavens! What is that?! It's so loud, like thunder!"

"I just saw a flash of light! Good heavens, if that had hit someone..."

After a brief silence, a deafening roar erupted, filled with endless shock and horror!

The soldiers excitedly surged forward, wanting to get a better look, but were stopped by officers maintaining order.

Exclamations, gasps, and incredulous shouts filled the air.

Many people still had lingering fear on their faces, clearly terrified by the enormous sound and terrifying power.

Even the soldiers who had previously been the most vocal critics were now blushing and speechless.

Zhang Xian's cold smile had already frozen.

He loosened his arms, took a few steps forward instinctively, stared intently at the hole in the armor, and then suddenly turned back to look at the musket in Zheng Heng's hand.

That armor was definitely not of inferior quality!

It's a truly excellent armored vehicle!

actually……

He was actually pierced through by a single shot!

If it were to hit a general wearing such armor...

Yue Fei stood still, his body seemingly trembling slightly.

He saw further and deeper than the ordinary soldiers and Zhang Xian. The deafening roar, the burst of flame, the power to pierce armor in an instant, and Zheng Heng's reloading speed, which was remarkably fast compared to bows and crossbows…

These messages exploded in his mind like thunder, stirring up a tidal wave.

He slowly stepped forward and took the still-warm musket from Zheng Heng, whose hands were still trembling slightly.

It felt heavy in his hand, and the barrel was slightly warm. He carefully stroked the cold steel gun body and the complex bolt, his gaze once again falling on the glaring hole a hundred paces away.

"Two breaths per release... still a threat at 300 paces... precise within 50 paces..."

He suddenly raised his head, his eyes flashing with an unprecedented brilliance—the complex light of a renowned general seeing a new weapon capable of overturning the rules of the battlefield, a light that was a mixture of shock, ecstasy, and a heavy sense of responsibility.

He spoke slowly, word by word, as if declaring to himself and to the heavens and earth:

"What this thing is meant to change... is the face of war!"

He turned abruptly to his subordinates and soldiers, who were still in a state of extreme shock, and his voice boomed like a bell, silencing all the noise: "Did you all see clearly?"

"This is the 'divine weapon' bestowed upon our army by His Majesty!"

"From this point on, the advantages of archery and horsemanship must give way to the power of gunpowder!"

He then looked at Zheng Heng, whose face was flushed with excitement, and solemnly clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Supervisor Zheng, I have personally witnessed the divine power of this spear and have no doubt about it!"

"I request that the supervisors and all the craftsmen remain in the camp to instruct our soldiers on how to operate this spear!"

"I hereby order the selection of five thousand of the most astute, composed, and loyal elite soldiers from all armies to form the 'Divine Machine Battalion.' I will personally supervise their training day and night, ensuring that this spear's sharpness will soon be used to expand the territory of our Great Song Dynasty and wipe out the rebellious forces!"

Zheng Heng quickly returned the greeting: "Marshal Yue, rest assured!"

"My colleagues and I have come under orders to teach our soldiers how to use and maintain this gun properly!"

"I will impart all the rules and techniques, without reservation!"

"Good!" Yue Fei nodded, then sternly ordered, "Zhang Xian!"

"Your subordinate is here!" Zhang Xian responded loudly, his face now devoid of any doubt, only filled with fervor and awe.

"Immediately issue an order to the entire army: you are in charge of the selection process! Those selected will receive double pay, and those who perform meritorious service will be richly rewarded!"

"The Shenji Battalion's garrison area is to be separately designated and strictly guarded; no one may enter without orders!"

"Yes, sir!"

Yue Fei lowered his head again, staring at the "Divine Strategy One" sword in his hand, which seemed cold but contained destructive power.

It's as if you can see through it the magnificent and cruel scene of enemy troops falling like wheat being harvested on the battlefield of the future.