Chapter 229: Storm of Pear-Blossom Spears

Cao Yanming came out looking like he was the hottest shit under heaven, though even this was him holding back.

At the very start, as a third-generation scion of the Cao family's Guiyi Army, Cao Yanming looked at Yan Jin, Ma Yaozi, Ma Shacai, and the rest with the eyes of a man looking at servants.

Because these men were all the most junior officers of the Guiyi Army, their status a hundred thousand li below Cao Yanming's.

As for Bai Congxin, Qiongre Duojin, and the others, Cao Yanming could not even be bothered to look at them squarely — those damn filthy horse bandits, one extra glance and he would have had to go wash his eyes.

But after spending more than two years alongside Zhang Zhao, the arrogance in Cao Yanming had been mostly scrubbed away, and he had learned to treat people as equals the way Zhang Zhao did.

Still! Plenty of arrogance remained — especially after he was betrothed to Li Shengtian's second daughter, Princess Tianxi, that noble sense of superiority, that "I am a man who studies the divine fire and thunder of heaven and earth" better-than-thou attitude, had bubbled up quite a bit again.

Zhang Zhao shot Cao Yanming a sidelong glance and a cold sneer. Cao Yanming's expression shifted, and he immediately straightened up.

He dared put on airs with anyone, but with Zhang Zhao alone, Cao Yanming would not dare say half a word, because he knew this cousin-uncle and brother-in-law of his had plenty of ways to keep him in line.

A long spear was handed out before the crowd by Cao Yanming. If there was anything different about it, it was that below the spearhead there was an extra round tube.

The crowd was baffled, while Cao Yanming looked rather pleased with himself — but the moment his gaze swept over to Zhang Zhao, Cao Yanming suddenly turned a little worshipful, and his face even gained a few degrees of humility.

Because this thing had actually been completed by him and the men of the Fire Thunder Office under Zhang Zhao's guidance.

This thing was the pear-blossom spear that in Chinese history was used all the way from the Southern Song to the Qing dynasty. Speaking of the pear-blossom spear, many people know of it — isn't it just the spear art created by the couple Li Quan and Yang Miaozhen at the end of the Southern Song? What's so special about it?

In fact, that is completely wrong, because the pear-blossom spear was no traditional long spear at all, and the pear-blossom spear art was no traditional spear art either.

The pear-blossom spear was, damn it, actually a firearm, and the pear-blossom spear art should more properly be named a spear-and-gun method, similar to later bayonet drill.

According to the records in the military treatises of successive dynasties, the pear-blossom spear was made by binding, at the head of a traditional great spear, an iron-hooped bamboo tube wrapped in animal hide, or simply an iron cylinder.

The bore ranged from about three fen to one cun eight fen, and the length was around two chi and more.

Inside was a mixed charge of charcoal, iron slag, crushed porcelain, sulfur, arsenic, and other ingredients, with burning, poison-smoke, and jet-spraying effects.

Soldiers could also carry several spare charge tubes for reloading and firing, and the poisonous flame it sprayed could reach several zhang.

The so-called "storm of pear-blossom spears" was not at all about wielding the pear-blossom spear so fast that a storm could not get through — it was that it could fire a storm of flame, broken porcelain shards, and iron filings.

This thing developed into the Ming dynasty and eventually evolved into two branches: the pear-blossom spear and the three-eyed gun, only beginning to disappear after matchlock firearms came into large-scale use.

But it did not vanish entirely. During the First Opium War in the Qing dynasty, it was still used — only it was already far outdated.

And Zhang Zhao had originally hoped to go straight to the three-eyed gun in one step, but found it took too much time.

That lump of iron of the three-eyed gun was too costly for the current smelting technology, and as for drilling the eyes, the cost was even higher.

Sometimes what obstructs new inventions in military equipment is not necessarily technology — very often it is cost.

As for turning the pear-blossom spear's big cylinder directly into a firelock that could shoot lead balls, Zhang Zhao had also considered it, and in the end gave it up for the same reasons of technology and cost.

First, lead balls were very expensive. Second, if one wanted to fire lead balls like a matchlock, the sealing would have to be very tight.

With the thin iron-sheet cylinders in Zhang Zhao's hands — even the bamboo and wooden tubes — that requirement simply could not be met.

In that case, it would probably not be firing lead balls but blowing the spearhead itself to pieces along with it. So in the end, Zhang Zhao gave it all up. One step at a time.

At Cao Yanming's signal, two craftsmen attached to the Fire Thunder Office stepped forward and began demonstrating the pear-blossom spear in their hands.

At first it was just thrusting, parrying, and the like — nothing remarkable. Just as Ma Yaozi and the others were growing impatient, the real show arrived.

One craftsman used a fire striker to light the fuse of the cylinder beneath the pear-blossom spear. A few breaths later — crack! — a sharp report.

In the crowd's terrified eyes, the cylinder suddenly spat out a length of fiery dragon, spraying more than two zhang — about six or seven meters — and in the blazing light came also a burst of poison smoke.

What the craftsman had aimed at was a sheep wearing iron lamellar armor. It was sprayed square on, then immediately began convulsing violently. After a couple of twitches, it collapsed to the ground, bleating piteously.

Ma Yaozi hurried over to look, only to be choked into a coughing fit by the poison smoke that had not yet dispersed. Only after the smoke cleared did everyone go over together to take a look.

The intense heat had burned through the cords holding two sections of the lamellar armor's plates, and the plates now hung askew, exposed. On the sheep inside, a large patch of skin had been burned directly into a twisted mass — nearly cooked through.

"What fearsome poison fire!" Ma Yaozi looked at Cao Yanming with terror in his eyes for the first time.

"This poison fire can actually burn through the cords binding the armor plates. If on the battlefield I first used poison fire to burn away the enemy's lamellar armor, then thrust in along that spot, wouldn't the enemy be no different from unarmored?"

"Yaozi, you've got it wrong!" Yan Jin shook his head gravely.

"That would be useful too, but it would only amount to breaking armor — it wouldn't increase lethality by much. In my view, the most important use is not burning the cords of the armor plates, but firing a shot straight at the eyes!"

Ma Yaozi was stunned. That was just too damn vicious! You can armor your whole body, but you can't cover your eyes too.

If in battle you sprayed at the enemy's eyes, you would burn him blind on the spot — wouldn't he then be at your mercy immediately?

"Wrong! What you both say is wrong! I have observed this spear. If used in foot combat, this big cylinder is very easily knocked off.

Its poison fire is fierce, but its killing power is strong only within one zhang; beyond one zhang the effect weakens greatly. It is simply unsuited to foot combat."

Bai Congxin shook his head repeatedly, saying that what these two said was both wrong.

"Not suited to foot combat?" Ma Yaozi pondered for a moment, then cast a sidelong glance.

"Then who do you say should use it — the cavalry?"

"Exactly! It's for the cavalry!" Li Ruotai, who had been quiet the whole time, stepped forward. He took the pear-blossom spear in hand and hefted it.

"If this thing is used in foot combat, the cylinder could indeed be knocked off, but mounted combat is different.

When both sides are cavalry, we can use this fire to frighten the enemy riders' warhorses, and even use it to scorch the eyes of the enemy mounts.

A range of more than two zhang is entirely sufficient. We do not seek to kill — as long as the enemy's warhorses are frightened, the goal is achieved.

It can also be used by fully armored cavalry to charge enemy heavy infantry formations. An armored cavalry charge is already terrifying in its momentum; if the spears in their hands can also spray poison fire, then after a few scorching passes, fear alone will collapse the enemy infantry."

Zhang Zhao nodded. Li Ruotai was right — the greatest use of the pear-blossom spear was indeed for cavalry.

In a decisive clash between two cavalry forces, it would be used to frighten the opposing warhorses; when charging an infantry formation, it would be used to break the infantry's psychological defenses. And with arsenic packed inside to produce poison smoke, it could also be used to force enemy infantry formations to shift, achieving the goal of breaking the formation.

As the crowd discussed it animatedly, Cao Yanming, with a cheeky grin, brought out a small black pottery jar and handed it to Li Ruotai.

"Captain Li, inside this is carefully refined tung oil and guncotton — extremely flammable.

If you encounter an infantry formation you cannot take, you can first have the foot soldiers, from a hundred to a hundred and fifty paces out, hurl these tung-oil pottery jars with slings.

Then the armored cavalry charges the formation and ignites the tung oil with poison fire. I refuse to believe any army's foot soldiers can withstand a great tung-oil blaze and poison fire without their formation breaking."

Li Ruotai and the other cavalry officers listened with gleaming eyes, but Zhang Zhao winced and drew a sharp, pained breath.

Tung oil! That stuff was damn expensive. If used carelessly, it could directly bankrupt his Zhang Erlang.

"Ahem! This plan is excellent, but it shouldn't be used too often. We must keep it well hidden and not let it be easily discovered. Bring it out only at the decisive battle!"

"Great King, this spear is indeed ingenious, but you still haven't said how we should deal with the war elephants of the Hindu Shahi kingdom."

Seeing the discussion drifting further and further off topic, Yin Yaozi couldn't help stepping in to remind them.

"Right! We should get to that. This pear-blossom spear has another use — dealing with war elephants!"

Zhang Zhao nodded, but Fan Quan behind him wore a look of utter confusion.

"Great King, I've read in the military manuals that to deal with war elephants, one should use brightly colored shields painted with lions and tigers! War elephants fear these things most."

Hmm, using strange, brightly colored images of lions and tigers can indeed frighten war elephants, but it doesn't always work, because the basis of this trick is really just fear.

Because elephants, despite their great size, are actually extremely timid animals — even more timid than horses.

And because they are intelligent, they are even more easily frightened by all sorts of strange things.

Whether it's brightly colored patterns of every kind, or all manner of loud noises, even loud human shouting can scare them.

Of course, there's a precondition: the war elephant must not be in musth or nursing. A bull elephant in musth or a cow with a calf has fighting power that goes through the roof.

In later ages in India, people were killed by musth bull elephants every year. Of course, elephants in musth or nursing also won't obey human commands.

But since they are war elephants, that means these elephants have certainly undergone extensive training by elephant trainers, so they have some resistance to brightly colored objects, human drumming, and shouting.

At the very least, having lived around human society for so many years, they aren't so easily frightened by these common things.

So according to Yin Yaozi, using painted lions and tigers to scare elephants carries a certain risk of not working. But they will definitely be frightened by the pear-blossom spear that Zhang Zhao "invented."

A jet of flame six or seven meters long — never mind an elephant, even a person seeing it for the first time could be scared half to death. With this weapon, war elephants would no longer be anything to fear.

After leisurely explaining to everyone how the pear-blossom spear countered war elephants, the crowd's worries eased considerably. Zhang Zhao immediately gave the order for Cao Yanming to lead all the craftsmen of the Works Office and the Fire Thunder Office in producing one thousand sets of pear-blossom spears within a month.

At the same time, he had Li Ruotai and Bai Congxin select elite cavalry, who must become familiar with the use of the pear-blossom spear and form combat capability within a month.

Once all this was done, Zhang Zhao would simply wait for the army of the Hindu Shahi dynasty to come knocking on his door — and let them taste his Storm of Pear-Blossom Spears!

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