Mythical Qin: I, Gao Yao, will never be a eunuch!

Chapter 893 How to capture Xianyang, the plan of black gunpowder!

Meanwhile, Li Zhao, the garrison commander of Xianyang, was inspecting the city's defenses. The damage caused by the black powder attack was far more severe than he had initially estimated. Many sections of the city wall had been structurally damaged and required extensive repairs.

"General, we found this while cleaning up the battlefield." A soldier came running over, holding several broken pottery jars. "There's black powder residue inside these jars, and it has a pungent smell."

Li Zhao carefully took the fragment and examined it carefully. He dipped a little black powder into it, sniffed it closely, and immediately frowned - this was a substance he had never seen before.

"Collect all the fragments you can find and hand them over to the craftsman's workshop for research," Li Zhao ordered. "Be careful, these powders may burn or explode, so handle them with care."

"Yes!" The soldier took the order and left.

Li Zhao looked towards the Chu army camp outside the city, feeling a sense of unease. Xiang Yu had retreated this time, but he would definitely come back. He had never disassembled black powder to study it like this before. The black powder distributed by Gaoyao was usually in a special container, even the fuse was already prepared. Li Zhao naturally had no idea about the specific composition, content, and proportion inside. However, it was better to be careful and not let these residues cause any second accidents.

In the Chu army camp, Xiang Yu was discussing the next action plan with his generals.

"Xianyang's defenses are stronger than expected, and the effectiveness of black powder is less than ideal," a deputy general admitted. "Continuing the assault is probably not the best strategy."

Fan Zeng shook his head. "No. Although we didn't take the city this time, the power of black powder has been demonstrated. This substance is unprecedented in our Chu army, and it has greatly affected morale. If we could obtain more black powder, the city would be taken in no time."

Xiang Yu pondered for a moment and said, "You all have a point. But time is not on our side. We only have enough food and fodder for half a month. If we cannot win the battle quickly, we must retreat."

A momentary silence fell within the tent. This was indeed the biggest problem facing the Chu army—inadequate logistical supplies. Due to the extended battle line, transporting food and fodder was difficult, making it difficult to sustain a prolonged battle.

"As for the issue of black powder, please don't count on it too much. Our army is not good at using these special weapons, and we don't have the methods to prepare them. So there's no need to discuss this for the time being."

At this moment, all the lieutenant generals nodded, but one of them took the initiative to speak: "But there is another plan—" He looked around at everyone in the tent, "We can feign a shortage of food and fodder to lure the southern border troops out of the city and pursue them."

The generals looked at each other in bewilderment. Li Zhao was known for his steadiness and was not someone who would be easily tricked.

"If Li Zhao really wanted to leave the city, he would have left long ago!" Xiang Yu was not optimistic about this plan.

"Your Majesty! Don't worry. Li Zhao might not fall for our trick, but there's more than just Li Zhao in Xianyang. We can spread rumors that we have troops among the Xianyang defenders. This will surely arouse suspicion among the troops in the southern border, and they might even become disorganized."

Xiang Yu nodded with satisfaction: "That's exactly what I mean. Attacking the city is inferior, attacking the heart is superior."

With the plan in place, the Chu army began to act. On the one hand, the artisan camp worked hard to improve the formula of black powder and its throwing device; on the other hand, the cavalry began to throw a large number of letters into the city of Xianyang in an attempt to shake the people's morale. At the same time, spies spread rumors in the city.

Soon, rumors began to spread throughout Xianyang. Some claimed to have seen a certain commander meeting with a secret envoy from the Chu army late at night, others said a certain unit of soldiers had deliberately let up during the battle, and some even rumoured that Li Zhao himself had second thoughts.

These rumors quickly reached Li Zhao. He knew it was a sowing of dissent by the Chu army, but he found it difficult to completely stop the spread of the rumors. Even Empress Lü sent messengers to inquire about the battle situation, their words probing.

Li Zhao was annoyed but helpless. He could only act more cautiously and strengthen patrols in the city to arrest those who spread rumors.

However, during this process, the Qingyi Society did discover some suspicious individuals—not Li Zhao's subordinates, but several businessmen with shady whereabouts. Following the clues, they found the tavern, but they were too late. When the Qingyi Society's spies broke into the tavern, they only found some documents that had not been destroyed in time, containing some incomprehensible formulas and blueprints.

"This is..." Duan Peng looked at the documents, frowning. "Quick, make a copy and send it to Hanzhong to the king immediately. Keep the original well. Perhaps the people in the workshop can understand it."

Gao Yao was resting when he received the mysterious document from Xianyang. When he saw the formulas and drawings, his face suddenly became serious. He immediately called Xiao He.

"This is the formula and preliminary design for black powder," Gao Yao said to Xiao He, who had arrived. "It seems Xiang Yu is indeed developing this new weapon, and his progress is faster than we imagined."

Xiao He looked at the drawings carefully. Although he could not understand all the details, he could understand their importance.

Gao Yao nodded. In fact, he had already started a similar research project, but due to safety concerns, progress had been slow. Now it seemed he had to speed up.

"Hey, looks like I need to write a letter and head to the Shenji Camp right away!"

The so-called Shenjiying (Shenjiying) was a secret research institute established by Gaoyao, gathering skilled craftsmen and alchemists from all over the country to research various new weapons and technologies. The camp was located in a secluded valley in Nanjun and was heavily guarded.

The letter also flew directly back to Nanjun. Gao Yao did this for two reasons. One was to urge the Shenjiying to build a better understanding of black gunpowder and various weapons. The other was to allow the Shenjiying to start self-inspection to see if anyone of their own had leaked information related to black gunpowder.

"The Chu army has already used black powder in actual combat." Upon receiving Gao Yao's letter, the leader of the Shenji Battalion immediately convened a meeting. He stated directly, "This is the formula they are currently using, and it doesn't appear to be perfect yet."

An old craftsman carefully examined the formula and nodded, saying, "The proportion of saltpeter is too high, and the proportion of sulfur and charcoal is insufficient. It's indeed not ideal. Based on the ideas you provided, we have already experimented with a more efficient formula."

The person in charge nodded with satisfaction. Although he did not remember the exact formula of gunpowder, he still knew the basic ideas and direction, which greatly accelerated the research process.

"Where's the launcher?" the craftsman asked. "The catapult's accuracy is too poor. We need a better method."

A young craftsman showed a drawing: "We have designed a metal tube device with spiral patterns engraved on the inside. This will cause the projectile to spin and fly when the gunpowder explodes, greatly increasing the range and accuracy."

The person in charge's eyes lit up and he was very impressed after looking at the drawings!

"That's great, but the problem of metal tube strength must be solved, otherwise it will easily explode." The person in charge reminded.