Near Jinling, out in the wilderness, beside a bare rocky hill.
A simple steel cannon barrel rested on a support frame on the ground, its muzzle aimed at the rocky hill three hundred meters away.
Militiamen armed with various firearms stood guard around the makeshift cannon. Several Black men, along with county and factory leaders from Jinling County, stood beneath a hastily erected field tent.
The tent was also produced by the textile mill—a military-grade tent of absolutely reliable quality, currently supplied mainly to the southern front. There were also field boots, camouflage uniforms, masks, gauze, and more. Feedback from the front lines had been quite positive.
"Reporting to the leaders, everything is ready."
A militiaman in camouflage combat gear ran over to deliver the report.
Chen Pingyuan nodded. "To be safe, we should stand farther back. This is our first time firing a cannon. We're already breaking regulations as it is. It wouldn't be good if something went wrong too."
"Yes, we're already quite far away."
"Alright, fire it." Chen Pingyuan nodded.
The militiaman saluted again and answered loudly before running off to carry out the operation.
An older militiaman took a round gas cylinder fitted with tail fins and gently placed it into the cannon barrel. He then retreated some distance away and operated the switch connected to the barrel, triggering the gunpowder at the rear of the gas cylinder.
With a bang, dust trembled in a wide circle around them.
The cute, round gas cylinder spun through the air, tracing a beautiful arc before crashing heavily into the sparsely vegetated hillside.
Boom—
Accompanied by a violent explosion, flames surged and roiled. A visible shockwave spread outward, and the sky began to rain down with crackling debris—sand and rocks flew everywhere...
After a long while, the smoke and