Chief Armaments Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Master Lin! Is Master Lin here?"

A hoarse shout mixed with hurried footsteps rang out at the edge of the camp, shrouded in the morning mist.

Lin Fan peeked out from the makeshift shed made of tattered felt and sticks, his hands still covered in coal dust and rust.

The newcomer was a minor guard under Wang Ziyong, surnamed Hu, with a fierce face, but at this moment he seemed somewhat anxious.

"Hey, what's up?" Lin Fan wiped his hands with a dirty cloth.

He's now considered a minor "celebrity" in this team.

With his skills in repairing and improving weapons, and the occasional use of "home remedies" to treat the wounded, he was quite popular among ordinary soldiers and lower-level leaders. Even the hot-tempered Wang Ziyong would nod and call him "Master Lin" when he saw him.

"Quickly! The chieftain wants you. Grab your weapons and head to the central command tent!"

Hu Tou'er, panting, said, "The government troops' scouts have stepped on our tails! Chief Wang is furious, complaining that the arrows are useless and can't penetrate those damned cotton armor! He's telling you to think of a solution right now!"

Lin Fan's heart sank.

Were they targeted by government troops?

He quickly gathered a few simple tools—a few homemade small files and pliers, a jar of carefully collected and purified saltpeter mixed with charcoal powder, and several whetstones of different hardness.

Following Hu Tou'er, we trudged along, one step at a time, towards the largest, most dilapidated tent in the center of the camp.

The atmosphere in front of the central command tent was solemn.

Wang Ziyong, wearing a worn-out chainmail, was cursing at several minor officers in charge of archery, with several bows and a pile of broken or deformed arrows lying at his feet.

Several men who looked like scouts knelt to one side, their bodies wounded and their faces filled with fear.

"...Useless! All of you are useless! I told you to prepare more arrows, prepare plenty of arrows! And this piece of junk? It just flies around aimlessly, and when it hits these government dogs, it's like a tickle!"

Wang Zi kicked away several arrows. "The scouts said that at least a captain's cavalry unit is coming, and they're all armored! With just these, how are we supposed to fight? Are we just going to wait to be trampled to death by horses?!"

Lin Fan approached, his gaze sweeping over the arrows on the ground.

The arrow shafts are rough and uneven, the fletchings are messy, and most importantly, the arrowheads are mostly made of cast iron, with irregular shapes, thick and blunt edges, and many have sand holes and cracks.

Such arrows have a short range, poor accuracy, and even less penetrating power.

It might work against unarmored refugees, but against properly armored government troops, it's like child's play.

"Chief, Master Lin has arrived," Hu Tou'er reported cautiously.

Wang Ziyong turned his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Lin Fan:

"Master Lin! You're good at repairing knives, but could you also fix this arrow for me? Hurry! The government troops are less than thirty li away!"

All eyes were on Lin Fan.

The pressure suddenly came.

This isn't just routine repairs; it's an emergency need before war, a matter of life and death.

Lin Fan squatted down, picked up a few arrowheads and examined them carefully. He then tested the strength of the bows. Most of them were soft bows and a few were captured Ming army standard Kaiyuan bows, but they were not well maintained.

He quickly calculated in his mind: the materials were inferior, the workmanship was rough, and time was tight.

Mass production of arrowheads is impossible.

Improving existing arrows? The effect would be limited.

"Chief," Lin Fan put down the arrowheads, his voice as steady as possible, "the materials used for these arrowheads are too poor. Even if we reforge and quench them, there won't be enough time, and it won't change the fundamental problem. The bow's power is acceptable, but the arrows are no good; it's like using a powerful crossbow to shoot rotten wood."

Wang Ziyong's face darkened even more: "Then what do you suggest we do? Just wait to die?!"

"The arrowheads can't be drastically modified, but perhaps... we can find other ways to make the existing arrows more lethal." Lin Fan's gaze swept over the camp.

"We need lighter, straighter arrow shafts to make the arrows fly more steadily and faster. While the arrowheads are of inferior quality, they can be sharpened and the edge treated with a secret technique to increase its hardness and sharpness. Although they will still struggle to penetrate heavy armor, they might offer some chance against unarmored areas and light cotton armor. Also…"

He paused for a moment, then added, "Perhaps we can make something else to help."

"Something else? What is it?" Wang Ziyong pressed.

"For example, rockets," Lin Fan uttered.

This was something he had thought about for a long time, but never had the chance to try.

Making a simple rocket is not complicated; the key lies in the gunpowder ratio and the stabilizing device.

He had previously improved gunpowder and conducted small experiments in private, so he was somewhat confident.

"With the aid of gunpowder, the arrows are faster and have a longer range. Moreover, the arrows are set on fire, so even if they cannot kill directly, they can still disrupt the enemy formation, startle their horses, and burn their supplies."

"A rocket?" Wang Ziyong's eyes lit up, but he immediately frowned. "You can make one? How long will it take? We don't have much gunpowder!"

"A simple one can be made. Use bamboo tubes or thick paper rolled up, fill them with modified propellant, and add tail fins to the arrow shaft for stability. The materials are readily available, and if you're quick, you can make a batch in half a day. But the quantity won't be too large, and you need to accurately estimate the distance to ignite it, so there are risks involved."

Lin Fan did not make any guarantees.

"Most of the day... the government cavalry is fast, and we don't have much time left."

Wang Ziyong paced back and forth, then suddenly stopped. "Alright! I'll leave it to you! Hu Laosan, you take a team and obey Master Lin's orders! If you need anything, take whatever the camp has! If not, search the surrounding villages for me! Make sure you find something usable before dark! And modify the arrows as much as possible!"

"Yes!" Hu Tou'er and several underlings quickly agreed.

Lin Fan immediately got into the zone.

He ordered Hu Laosan to lead his men to split up and act separately:

A team was sent to cut down straight, uniformly thick hardwood, peel and dry it, and urgently produce a batch of new arrow shafts, requiring them to be as straight, light and tough as possible.

A team collects all the feathers, trims them uniformly, and tries to standardize the arrow fletching as much as possible.

A team collected all the usable arrowheads and, following his instructions, carefully sharpened them on a whetstone, especially the tips, which were to be ground into sharp angles.

Then, he personally mixed saltpeter with charcoal powder and a small amount of oil, applied it to the sharpened arrowheads, placed them in a simple charcoal stove to heat them quickly until they were slightly red, and then quickly immersed them in cold water for surface quenching and carburizing.

This method can improve the hardness and wear resistance of the cutting edge surface to a limited extent. Although it does not significantly improve the overall strength of the arrowhead, it is better than nothing.

The most crucial element is the rocket.

Lin Fan selected a dozen or so of the best arrows and tied a long, thin gunpowder tube made of small bamboo tubes or thick paper soaked in saltpeter to the back of the arrowheads. The tubes were filled with granulated black powder that he had repeatedly tested. The fuses were made of hemp rope soaked in saltpeter, and the length was estimated.

He carefully carved shallow spiral grooves at the end of the arrow shaft with a knife, then attached trimmed, slightly curved stiff feathers as a tail fin.

This gives the rocket a slight spin, improving its stability a little. Although the effect is far from comparable to modern rockets, it is already quite remarkable for this era.

He even tried to make a few "explosive rockets", adding a small clay explosive section behind the arrowhead, filled with iron sand, gravel and gunpowder, but he was extremely cautious about this part.

The entire edge of the camp was transformed into a noisy and tense temporary soldiers' workshop.

The sounds of hammering, grinding, logging, urging, and cursing were incessant.

Han Jinhu led several skilled soldiers to be responsible for the arrow shafts and fletchings;

Several quick-witted young men followed Lin Fan to learn how to handle arrowheads and assemble rockets;

Hu Laosan ran around doing errands, allocating supplies and driving away lazy people.

Wang Ziyong would come over to check on things from time to time, his face grim.

News of the approaching government troops hung over the camp like a dark cloud.

The elderly, women, and children were moved to more secluded ravines in advance, while the able-bodied soldiers were gathered together, their weapons were checked, and they were prepared to rely on the terrain for defense.

The atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

As the sun began to set, Lin Fan's first batch of "products" came out.

Thirty new arrows that had been polished and surface-quenched, fifty "improved arrows" with old arrowheads but similar treatment and new shafts and fletchings, and fifteen simple rockets with gunpowder cartridges attached, some of which had explosive charges.

The rocket's tail fins looked rather strange, attracting curious and skeptical glances from many soldiers.

"That's all?" Wang Ziyong frowned as he looked at the few arrows on the ground, especially the dozen or so strange-looking "fire arrows".

"Time is too tight and materials are limited."

Lin Fan's face was covered in soot, and his voice was a little hoarse. "These arrows should be better than the old ones against unarmored and lightly armored targets within fifty paces. As for the rockets... we need to test them to see their effectiveness, and even more importantly, we need to see who uses them and when."

Wang Ziyong picked up a rocket, weighed it in his hand, and looked at the strange feathers at the tail and the small bamboo tube.

"How do I use it?"

"You need to nock the arrow onto a stiff bow, light the fuse, and shoot it at the right time. Once the fuse burns out, the propellant ignites, accelerating the rocket. It's best used when there's a tailwind and the enemy's formation is relatively dense. The goal isn't precise killing, but rather disruption and arson," Lin Fan explained.

"Give it a try!" Wang Ziyong waved his hand.

The group arrived at an open area outside the camp.

Lin Fan selected the archer with the strongest arm and had him use the most powerful bow.

Lin Fan personally nocked an ordinary rocket onto his bow, estimated the distance (about eighty paces away from a pile of dry grass), lit the fuse, and signaled to release the arrow.

The archer was a little nervous and released the bowstring as the fuse hissed and burned.

The arrow flew out with a trail of blue smoke. Its flight trajectory was normal at first, then the propellant ignited, and the arrow suddenly shot forward, its speed increasing significantly. However, the stability provided by the tail fin was insufficient, and the arrow wobbled a bit at the end of its flight. In the end, it stuck obliquely at the edge of the target pile of dry grass, not hitting the bullseye. However, the residual flame of the propellant quickly ignited the dry grass, setting off a small flame.

"Bravo!" A cheer erupted from the crowd.

Although the accuracy was poor, the sudden acceleration and the momentum of the fire looked very intimidating.

Wang Ziyong's expression softened slightly.

"Try the one that explodes!"

Lin Fan took a deep breath and picked up an "explosive rocket".

This is even more dangerous, as the fuse length and the amount of gunpowder in the explosive section are both estimates.

He told everyone to step back and then took over the operation himself again.

The target changed to a solitary boulder further away.

Ignite it, then shoot it out.

The rocket flew toward the boulder, leaving a trail of smoke. This time the flight was more unstable. It suddenly plummeted as it approached the boulder, but exploded with a "boom" about a person's height before hitting the ground!

Although the explosion wasn't very loud, a flash of light sent fragments and rocks flying, leaving some black spots and dents on the surface of the boulder.

"Wow!" Even Wang Ziyong was moved this time.

While its power is insufficient to kill enemy personnel, its sheer force and suddenness can certainly frighten enemy troops, especially their warhorses, on the battlefield.

"Good job, Master Lin!" Wang Ziyong slapped Lin Fan's shoulder hard, almost making him stumble.

"These rockets are all to be used by the best soldiers in my personal guard! The arrows are also distributed to the archers!"

Just then, several fast horses galloped wildly from the southern mountain road; they were scouts sent out.

"Report! Commander! The vanguard of the government troops, about fifty horsemen, has arrived within five li! Infantry are following behind, their numbers unknown, and they are carrying banners bearing the character 'Du'!"

Du? Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat.

In the early years of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign, among the government troops who suppressed bandits in Shaanxi, there was a man surnamed Du... Could he be Du Wenhuan? Or one of his subordinates? This was a tough nut to crack.

Wang Ziyong's face darkened, and he shouted sternly:

"Sound the horn! Prepare for battle! As planned, take control of that ridge ahead! Archers and firefighters, hide yourselves! Wait for my command before you fire!"

A mournful bugle call sounded, and the camp was instantly thrown into a state of tense activity.

The soldiers grabbed the arrows that Lin Fan had just distributed, which had been improved or "processed," and the dozen or so precious rockets, and rushed toward the pre-arranged defensive positions amidst the shouts of their leaders.

It was a gently sloping hillside covered with withered grass and scattered rocks, offering a commanding view and making it an ideal spot to ambush cavalry.

Lin Fan was positioned in a relatively safe location on the flank and rear of the position, with Han Jinhu and several soldiers responsible for protecting him by his side.

His mission is complete. Now, it is time to test the results and fight a life-or-death battle.

He gripped a newly repaired, fairly good-quality dagger at his waist and gazed southwards where the dust was just beginning to rise.

My palms were covered in cold sweat.

Improved arrows, crudely made rockets, and a few unstable "explosive arrows"... Can these glimmers of knowledge from later generations win a glimmer of hope for themselves and for this struggling army on the brutal battlefield of the late Ming Dynasty?

The thunderous sound of hooves thundered as they rolled in.

On the horizon, a black line of cavalry, like the scythe of death, slowly emerged.