Chapter 180: Opening Li Yunlong's Eyes

The staff moved quickly, and soon, a highly simulated "enemy position" appeared in the center of the valley—several scrapped tanks were painted in the iconic olive green of the Star-Spangled Country's military, surrounded by machine gun emplacements and infantry bunkers built from sandbags and wooden boards, with even simulated barbed wire and minefield markers.

From a distance, it looked just like a real military facility.

"Chief Engineer Li, are we really going to use that?" Weapon Group Group Leader Wu Zhe asked in a low voice, pointing to a black box not far away.

Li Mingyuan nodded: "Today is not a routine demonstration; it is to let the frontline commanders truly see the power of this weapon. Are you ready?"

"Everything is ready, but I am still worried... the power is too great."

"Rest assured, I have calculated the safe distance. The observation point is set on the ridge, shielded by the mountain, so it is absolutely safe." Li Mingyuan patted Wu Zhe on the shoulder, "Go tell the others to set up the high-speed cameras; I want to record the entire process."

At nine o'clock in the morning, several military vehicles drove into the valley entrance.

Li Yunlong arrived on time with his staff team.

Besides Li Yunlong, there was his Political Commissar Zhao Gang, combat staff officer Zhang Dabiao, and several brigade-level commanders.

Li Mingyuan stood at the observation point on the ridge to welcome them.

This place was about one kilometer away from the target area, with a natural ridge acting as cover, while also providing an open view to clearly observe the explosion's effects.

"Xiao Li!" Li Yunlong greeted him from afar, his tone full of anticipation, "I didn't sleep well at all last night, just pondering what on earth that 'welcome gift' you mentioned is!"

"General Li has arrived just in time," Li Mingyuan smiled and walked up to meet them, "The demonstration is about to begin."

"This is my Political Commissar Zhao Gang," Li Yunlong pointed to a serious-looking middle-aged officer beside him, "This is combat staff officer Zhang Dabiao, and also..." He introduced his team one by one.

Zhao Gang shook hands with Li Mingyuan, his eyes full of curiosity: "Chief Engineer Li, I've long heard of your name. I heard from Yunlong that you are going to demonstrate a new weapon that can make Star-Spangled Country pilots tremble?"

"Not just pilots," Li Mingyuan smiled slightly, "Any enemy who sees the power of this weapon will feel fear in their hearts."

Li Yunlong asked impatiently: "What exactly is it? Hurry up and show it to us!"

Li Mingyuan did not answer directly, but instead pointed to the "enemy position" in the valley:

"Commanders, please look over there; that is the simulated enemy position we have set up. It includes three tanks and six machine gun bunkers, roughly equivalent to the defensive fortifications of a reinforced company."

Li Yunlong squinted his eyes to examine the distance: "It looks quite authentic. So, are you going to shell it with artillery?"

"No," Li Mingyuan turned around and signaled his assistant to open the long box placed to the side, "We are going to use this."

The box opened, revealing a black tubular weapon. Its shape was very similar to a rocket launcher, but the front end was thicker, and the overall design was more streamlined.

"What is this?" Zhang Dabiao leaned in curiously.

"A man-portable Cloud Bomb launcher," Li Mingyuan introduced calmly, "It weighs 10 kilograms, has an effective range of 300 meters, and is loaded with a small Cloud Bomb warhead."

"Cloud Bomb? What kind of thing is that?" Li Yunlong frowned, clearly confused by the unfamiliar term.

Li Mingyuan did not explain in detail: "You will see it with your own eyes in a moment." He turned to his assistant, "Hand the launcher to the operator and prepare for the demonstration."

A burly soldier took the launcher, skillfully checked the various components, then shouldered it and walked to the firing position.

"This is Wang Qiang, our tester, a veteran retired from the front lines," Li Mingyuan introduced, "He will fire a Cloud Bomb at the target area."

Li Yunlong and his team all stared intently at this scene, their faces full of anticipation and curiosity. Li Mingyuan handed everyone a pair of protective goggles: "Please put these on; the brightness at the moment of the explosion is very intense."

After everyone put on their goggles, Li Mingyuan picked up a megaphone: "Attention, the Cloud Bomb demonstration is about to begin, countdown: ten, nine, eight..."

As the countdown proceeded, Wang Qiang held the launcher steadily on his shoulder, aiming at the "enemy position" 800 meters away.

"... three, two, one, fire!"

Whoosh—!

The Rocket Shell shot out of the launch tube at an astonishing speed, trailing a streak of white smoke as it headed straight for the target area.

A few seconds later, the Rocket Shell landed in the center of the "enemy position."

Strangely, it did not explode immediately, but instead released a cloud-like substance that rapidly spread over the position, forming a pale gray cloud about 50 meters in diameter.

"Why didn't it explode..." Li Yunlong was just about to speak, but before he could finish—

Boom—!!!

A heaven-shaking, earth-shattering explosion suddenly erupted, as if the entire valley had been torn apart by a giant hand!

A massive fireball rose at the point of the explosion, with orange-red flames shooting straight into the sky, forming a small Mushroom Cloud.

A powerful shockwave spread outward at a speed visible to the naked eye, rolling over the ground and kicking up a massive dust storm.

Even from a kilometer away, standing at the observation point behind the ridge, everyone could still feel the oncoming blast of air, and their eardrums buzzed from the powerful sound waves.

A few seconds later, the roar of the explosion gradually subsided, but rolling smoke and dust still permeated the valley.

When the dust cleared slightly, the sight in the target area left everyone dumbfounded—

The original "enemy position" no longer existed.

The tank wrecks were overturned and twisted out of shape; the machine gun bunkers and infantry fortifications had completely vanished, as if they had never existed; a charred crater about 30 meters in diameter appeared on the ground, with nothing growing around it, and even the hard rock had been scorched black and deformed.

The scene was deathly silent; everyone was so shocked by what they saw that they could not speak.

"Motherfucker! What the hell is this thing?!" Li Yunlong finally broke the silence, swearing a string of profanities, his voice changed by shock, "This isn't a weapon, this damn thing is basically a small Mushroom Bomb!"

Zhao Gang took off his goggles and wiped the lenses with trembling hands, as if he couldn't believe his eyes: "Chief Engineer Li, this... is this really fired by a man-portable weapon? It's not some large bomb?"

Zhang Dabiao even knelt on the ground, pulling out his military binoculars to carefully observe the target area:

"My god... the entire position is gone... this power, it's at least equivalent to the volley of an entire artillery company, right?"

Li Mingyuan explained calmly: "This is the power of the Cloud Bomb. It uses a special fuel mixed with air to form an explosive gas cloud; the shockwave generated during the explosion is 3-5 times stronger than traditional explosives of the same weight. This man-portable model you see has an explosive power equivalent to 120-150 kilograms of TNT, enough to match the firepower delivery of a platoon."