With Dao Xuan Tianzhun's reconnaissance hot air balloons in his possession, Bai Yuan's march became completely unhindered. Advancing along the Luo River, he pressed steadily southwest toward Lushi County Town, his progress smooth and unimpeded.
Along the way, any marauders who attempted to ambush him were decisively crushed, forced to scatter in disarray and flee back toward the city.
Scorpion's Claw had originally commanded over ten thousand five hundred men. After accounting for those killed, wounded, captured, or lost during their chaotic retreats, fewer than eight thousand remained under his banner.
He had already sensed that these Henan government troops were not enemies to be taken lightly. Unwilling to risk being trapped inside the county town, he decisively abandoned Lushi County altogether and withdrew southwest toward Yunyang.
Thus, Bai Yuan—working in concert with Fan Shangzheng and Zhang Yingchang—successfully took control of Lushi County. At last, they had fulfilled the orders issued by Chen Qiyu, Governor-General of the Five Provinces.
Gao Family Village — Ordnance Bureau
Inside the Ordnance Bureau, the commander of the artillery battalion stood solemnly before Xu Dafu, the bureau's director.
Xu Dafu eyed him warily and said bluntly, "What do you want? Let me make this clear first—I won't agree to anything dangerous."
The artillery commander hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no, nothing dangerous at all. What I'm here for is actually quite simple."
"Oh?" Xu Dafu raised an eyebrow. "Then speak."
The commander explained, "Ever since the effective range of Gao Family Village firearms increased significantly, the Armored Grenadier Battalion was disbanded. Seeing that happen… I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy."
He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "I'm constantly worried that one day, our artillery battalion might simply vanish as well."
Xu Dafu snorted. "Ridiculous. The Armored Grenadier Battalion was disbanded because firearms now outrange hand-thrown grenades. Their battlefield role became obsolete. What does that have to do with your artillery battalion? Cannons are indispensable during sieges. You have nothing to worry about."
"But the artillery battalion is barely used these days," the commander insisted. "Just like the Armored Grenadiers before they were declared redundant. That feeling… it's terrifying. I don't want my battalion to disappear."
Xu Dafu looked at him as though he were listening to nonsense. "There's nothing I can do about that."
The commander leaned in slightly, lowering his voice. "That's why I've thought of a solution. A way to revitalize the artillery battalion."
Xu Dafu raised his eyebrows again, silently urging him to continue.
The commander took a breath. "The reason our artillery is rarely deployed is simple: the cannons are too cumbersome. Unless we're laying siege to a city, nobody wants to drag such heavy things around."
He spoke faster as his idea took shape. "But what if we had smaller cannons? Cannons similar in size to the weapons mounted on Dao Xuan Tianzhun's arms. Those could be carried anywhere."
Xu Dafu rubbed his temples, already feeling a headache coming on. "Small cannons also mean weak power. Those tiny iron balls fired from Dao Xuan Tianzhun's arms are mostly for intimidation or spectacle. They aren't suited for serious combat."
"I know that," the commander replied quickly. "But I was thinking—what if we used small cannon barrels, roughly the size of Dao Xuan Tianzhun's arms, to fire smaller grenades?"
He grew animated. "If such grenades exploded in the middle of enemy formations, the killing power would be tremendous. This would also completely solve the problem of hand grenades having insufficient range. Our artillery battalion could finally be deployed regularly again!"
Xu Dafu paused, his expression turning thoughtful. "Explosive shells?"
He shook his head slowly. "The imperial court has considered explosive shells for a long time. But the concept always remained theoretical. It's simply too impractical."
He continued sternly, "The force generated when a cannon fires is enormous. A simple grenade would never survive it. It would either be crushed flat or detonate prematurely. A barrel explosion is no joke—it would kill your artillerymen."
The commander's eyes lit up instead of dimming. "I've already considered that."
Xu Dafu blinked.
"We could place a small charge of gunpowder at the bottom of the barrel," the commander explained eagerly. "Then add a wooden plate, cushioned with cotton. After that, we ignite the grenade, place it on top of the cotton, and fire the cannon."
He gestured with his hands as he spoke. "The force would first push the wooden plate, which then pushes the grenade nestled in the cotton, launching it forward. Wouldn't that work?"
A flicker of genuine interest crossed Xu Dafu's face.
"A wooden sabot?" he murmured.
To be fair, while the idea sounded crude at first, when examined carefully, it actually made a strange amount of sense.
Xu Dafu stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Come with me. Let's go to the Thirty-Two Middle School and consult Song Yingxing, Young Master Bai, and Wang Zheng. We'll hear what they think."
A Few Days Later…
On the open ground behind the Ordnance Bureau, a large group of scientists and senior technical craftsmen gathered together.
All eyes were fixed on the artillery battalion commander, who was carefully handling an iron pipe roughly the thickness of an adult's arm.
A miniature cannon.
Due to its small size, the projectile it fired naturally couldn't be large—only about the size of a small grenade.
What truly caught everyone's attention was the grenade itself.
At its base was a small wooden sabot. Through the center of the sabot ran a fuse made of a special material.
This fuse could be easily ignited, yet it burned extremely slowly, unlike ordinary match cord.
It was a device meticulously reproduced from the technical blueprints provided by Dao Xuan Tianzhun, officially known as the "Wooden Tube Delayed Fuze."
This design was born directly from failure.
The scientists had already conducted multiple rounds of experiments. In the beginning, their process was simple: prepare the cannon, light the grenade's fuse, insert it into the barrel, and then ignite the cannon's powder charge.
During one experiment, however, the grenade's fuse burned too quickly while the cannon's fuse burned too slowly.
The result was catastrophic.
The grenade detonated before the cannon fired.
The small cannon barrel burst apart, nearly injuring several people standing nearby.
After that incident, the scientists worked frantically to develop a fuse with a stable burn rate. Unfortunately, their technological expertise was highly specialized rather than comprehensive. This was not a device they could develop on short notice.
Thus, Dao Xuan Tianzhun intervened once more, providing the detailed specifications for the Wooden Tube Delayed Fuze.
Only then did Xu Dafu successfully produce a truly stable fuse—one whose defining feature was precise timing. It would never burn too quickly, nor too slowly.
This made controlling the explosion far easier.
Moreover, this fuse did not need to be lit beforehand and then loaded into the barrel. Instead, it could be ignited at the exact same moment the cannon's powder charge fired.
This was vastly more convenient.
The grenade could be loaded directly without any pre-ignition step, and the safety margin increased severalfold.
The team removed the original fuses from all grenades, replacing them with the Wooden Tube Delayed Fuze and attaching a wooden sabot at the base.
A brand-new projectile was born.
Since it was no longer thrown by hand, it could no longer be called a hand grenade.
Naturally, everyone dropped the word "hand" and officially named it the Small Grenade.
The artillery commander propped the arm-thick cannon diagonally against the ground, aiming it skyward at a forty-five-degree angle.
He poured a carefully measured charge of gunpowder into the barrel.
Next, he picked up a Small Grenade, aligned the wooden sabot and fuse end toward the bottom of the barrel, and slowly lowered it inside.
A soft thump sounded as the Wooden Tube Delayed Fuze settled into place atop the gunpowder.
The wooden sabot slightly separated the grenade from the explosive charge, forming a critical buffer layer.
"Light it," Young Master Bai said, the boldest among them. "We've done everything we can. There's no reason for this to fail."
Xu Dafu nodded firmly. "Alright."
He raised his hand.
"Fire!"