Chapter 659: Grenade Squad

Pingyuan City.

As the curtain rose on the war, Chang Wei arrived here.

Because it faced the Qi across the river, this place naturally became the front line of the war.

Ninety percent of the Prince's Personal Army was deployed on the north bank of the Jin River.

"Hehe, we're finally going to fight; my teeth have been itching for it."

In the temporary command room of Pingyuan City, Lv Chang rubbed his hands together, eager to have a go.

Qin Shan and Guan Tong were both grinning from ear to ear.

Before setting out, Chang Wei had issued orders to the three of them to meet in Pingyuan City and discuss the war to the south.

"What kind of bullshit Anti-Yan Alliance; this time, I, this general, want to see just how much skill they have," Qin Shan snorted coldly.

In their eyes, the powerful clans were nothing but treacherous subjects and rebellious sons.

Now they dared to collude with the Northern Di and Dongying, plotting to attack Yanzhou; this was simply treason, a crime compounded.

At this moment, these traitors were on the south bank of the Jin River, and they were itching to head south immediately and kill them until not a single suit of armor remained.

"They certainly won't expect us to take the initiative to attack south. Once our great army crosses the Jin River, they will surely be scared out of their wits."

"Hahaha..." After Guan Tong finished speaking, the three of them laughed.

Chang Wei suppressed his smile; in front of the three of them, he needed to maintain a dignified image.

Clearing his throat, he glared at the three men and said, "Although we have re-equipped with yellow gunpowder and wooden-handled hand grenades this time, none of you should get cocky. If the casualty ratio you produce is unseemly, I will throw you into the Jin River to feed the fish."

"Yes, General." The three of them stood at attention with chests puffed out, giving Chang Wei a military salute.

This was naturally the new-style military salute of the Prince's Personal Army.

Chang Wei nodded, "While we haven't crossed the river yet, let the soldiers familiarize themselves with the wooden-handled hand grenades again."

During this period, they had already conducted grenade throwing practice, but they had only thrown dummy grenades.

Now that the wooden-handled hand grenades had been delivered to the army, it was time to let them experience the power of a grenade explosion.

Lv Chang and the other two also became interested.

This wooden-handled hand grenade had always been kept secret from the outside.

They also knew such a thing existed, but they had never seen a real grenade.

Since Chang Wei said so, they could no longer hold back and dashed out in a flash, telling the officers under their command to go to the warehouse to move the grenades.

They also selected a few experts in throwing grenades and went to the Drill Ground outside the city.

Distributing the grenades to the soldiers, Lv Chang and the other two held their breath.

Chang Wei stood with his hands behind his back, looking relaxed; he had witnessed the scene of a grenade explosion at the Ordnance Department's drill ground, so there was nothing strange about it to him.

Coming to the drill ground, he mainly wanted to see how far the best in the army could throw a grenade.

"Begin." With everything ready, Chang Wei gave the order.

At this moment, a soldier picked up a wooden-handled hand grenade, twisted off the cap at the back of the wooden handle, and the pull-cord was revealed.

Following the steps from training,

the soldier pulled the cord, and immediately a wisp of blue smoke emerged.

Putting all his strength into it, the soldier swung his arm around and threw the grenade out.

"Boom!" The grenade landed fifty meters away and suddenly exploded, sending up a ball of flame and smoke, with mud splattering everywhere.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Next, several more soldiers threw grenades, most of them landing at the fifty-to-sixty-meter mark.

Seeing the grenade explode, Lv Chang and the other two went from initial surprise to excitement, and then to wild joy.

Qin Shan said, "General, this grenade is too powerful; this is equivalent to everyone becoming an artilleryman."

"It's more than that. Artillerymen aren't this flexible. With this grenade in hand, you can throw it wherever you want to throw it; it's much more convenient."

Lv Chang then said, "With this thing, there's really no need for heavy infantry anymore. Just throw the grenades onto the city wall, and all the enemy soldiers will be blown to death. Wearing such heavy armor is not as good as carrying a few more grenades."

Although he had always held an obsession with heavy infantry, this time, he truly had no reason left to demand the retention of heavy infantry.

The cold weapon era of Yanzhou had passed; the glory would belong to firearms.

Qin Shan and Guan Tong did not notice Lv Chang's mood; their minds were now filled with images of throwing grenades onto the enemy's city walls.

With grenades, their future conquest of cities would be twice the result with half the effort.

While the three were immersed in joy, Chang Wei came to the soldiers and patted them on the shoulders.

According to the requirements of Yan Wang, the minimum standard for soldiers in the army to throw a grenade was thirty meters.

It was indeed rare that these soldiers could throw grenades fifty to sixty meters away.

Thinking this, a flash of inspiration suddenly struck him, and he said to the three, "Gather the soldiers in the army who can throw grenades over fifty meters and form a grenade-throwing squad; I, this general, have a use for them."

"Yes, General." The three responded in unison. Chang Wei did not explain the purpose of the grenade-throwing squad, and they did not dare to ask.

Having witnessed the power of the grenades, the group returned to Pingyuan City.

Seeing many officers taking soldiers to collect gunpowder and grenades, he said, "You should also collect the new-style military uniforms together; twenty thousand sets for each of you, and the rest will be distributed slowly."

"Military uniforms!" The three were excited again.

Like the grenades, they had only heard of the new-style military uniforms, but had not yet seen the actual style of the uniforms.

Lv Chang said, "Yellow gunpowder, grenades, and now military uniforms—if this battle isn't fought beautifully, I, this general, would be letting them down."

As he spoke, he winked fiercely at the officers under his command, telling them to go to the warehouse to collect the uniforms immediately, so as not to be taken advantage of by the subordinates of Qin Shan and Guan Tong by being a step late.

Qin Shan and Guan Tong were not the type to suffer losses either; they had the same thoughts as Lv Chang.

Twenty thousand sets of uniforms—not a single set less, and no one could take more than their share.

Chang Wei couldn't be bothered to pay attention to their petty schemes, only saying, "Starting tomorrow, all soldiers who have received the uniforms will change into the new-style military uniforms, including the officers."

After dropping this sentence, he returned to the residence where he was temporarily staying.

The next day, he got up early and carefully took out a small box from under the bed.

Inside the box was a brand-new military uniform.

He took it out carefully, put it on with care, and smoothed out the wrinkles on the garment; a satisfied smile appeared on his face as he puffed out his chest and strode out.

This military uniform was custom-made for him by Yan Wang.

On both shoulders of the military uniform, there were five stars embroidered.

According to Yan Wang, the distribution of this New-style Military Uniform this time was not as simple as just changing clothes.

It was also part of the military reform.

Just like the Five-Star Rank on his shoulders, generals would have different insignias on their shoulders according to their rank.

If soldiers fell into chaos on the battlefield due to certain factors, the soldiers and generals could immediately identify generals of a higher rank than them based on the military uniforms, thereby falling under their command to reorganize.

Instead of soldiers being unable to find their generals, and generals being unable to find their soldiers.