The sky was covered with dark clouds, a gust of wind swept across the land, and the hot and dry weather suddenly cooled down.

It was dark and dreary, and it was already dim in the afternoon, and I couldn't see the distance clearly.

It doesn't take much experience to be able to tell that the moon is coming soon, and it's bound to be a heavy rain.

The attacking Qing soldiers retreated like a tide, and it was not a good time to fight when it was about to rain heavily.

The defenders of Yangzhou City were also busy cleaning up the battlefield, treating the wounded, and taking the opportunity to replenish the equipment and materials used in the defense of the city.

Just when it was about to rain heavily, the two boats left the canal wharf in the east of Yangzhou City, and under the concerted efforts of dozens of sailors, they headed north.

Wang Yin sat in the canopy cabin, looking at the several tightly sealed huge wooden barrels like bathtubs in the cabin, his eyes sparkling.

"Does this thing really work?" Wang Yin finally couldn't help but ask.

"Sir, rest assured, each barrel contains a full five hundred catties of gunpowder, and even a mountain can be blown flat if it explodes, let alone a levee."

Ma Yong, the craftsman of the gunpowder division, patted his chest and reassured. Ma Yong, a disciple of Li Xiong, the head of the Ordnance Division, was a former miner in the Xishan mining area and was proficient in the use of gunpowder, and this time he was sent to assist Wang Yin in blowing up the Hongze Lake embankment with gunpowder.

Relying on people to dig the embankment is too slow, and second, when the embankment is washed away by floods, there is a risk of casualties. And with gunpowder, there is no such hidden danger.

In the Ming Dynasty, the use of gunpowder has reached its peak, and all kinds of firearms are available, such as the 10,000 enemies used to defend the city are to kill the enemy with gunpowder explosion.

However, there has never been such a thing as blowing up a mountain and a levee with gunpowder, because in this era, gunpowder is black powder, and the power of the explosion is not too great, and the time is not controlled, everyone thinks of it.

As a traverser, Chen Yue naturally knew this kind of common sense, and in later generations, gunpowder was used for mining. If the power of black powder is not good, why not get more?

Gunpowder can not only be used for artillery fire, but also can be used as bombs like 10,000 enemies, and even used to blow up city walls.

After Chen Yue mentioned the point, Li Xiong personally took a few disciples to secretly test a few times, and soon mastered the technique of gunpowder blasting, but Chen Yue ordered him to seal the secret, so that this secret could not be leaked out, and it would be used as a weapon of mass destruction in the Pingnan Army in the future.

For example, the current Qing army does not know the technology of blowing up the city with gunpowder, but only uses the red-coated cannon to collapse the city wall, and the gunpowder used by the red-coated cannon to collapse the city wall is enough to blow up the city wall ten times. In another time and space, in the late Qing Dynasty, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom rebelled, Yang Xiuqing, who was born as a miner, adopted the technology of gunpowder to blow up the city.

Wang Yin was skeptical of Ma Yong's assurance, but since it was sent by Chen Yue, he could only believe it. If, as Mayon said, the levees could be blown up with the help of these gunpowders, then things would be much easier.

As the boat approached Lake Shaobo, a crackling rain fell, and thousands of splashes splashed in the canal. The two boats turned west and sailed into Shao Bo Lake, and Wang Yin stood on the bow of the boat in the rain, watching the movement of the lake embankment.

The torrential rain poured down on the boats, and even if there were soldiers holding umbrellas for Wang Yin, their clothes were still soaked through the torrential rain. However, Wang Yin didn't care about this, but looked at the topography of the lake embankment through the rain curtain, and compared it with the map in his heart.

Shao Bo Lake was originally just a depression pond, but it was formed after the Yellow River was diverted and the Huai River lost its estuary and flooded. In order to prevent the lake from overflowing, the government organized the construction of the Shao Bo Lake embankment to protect the surrounding thousands of acres of fertile land. The embankment is about one zhang high, but the thickness is thicker than the two city walls, and it has a gentle slope outward.

The heavy rain a few days ago made the water level of the lake very high, and it was not too far from the lake embankment, but in terms of the entire lake water capacity, even if it was all poured out, it would be difficult to threaten the Qing army camp dozens of miles away, and more would be scattered and flowed in all directions. Therefore, if you only rely on Shao Bo Lake for water attack, it will definitely not work.

However, if the Hongze Lake embankment breaks and the water of the Yellow River and Huai River is diverted into Shaobo Lake, the amount of water will be immeasurable! Wang Yin came to this lake to inspect the terrain and choose the location to dig the embankment of Shao Bo Lake.

Braving the heavy rain, the boat drove along the south side of Shaobo Lake, from the east of the lake to the west of the lake, and Wang Yin determined the location of the break. Then he disembarked from the boat and went ashore despite the mud to personally investigate the condition of the embankment.

"With such a thick embankment, are you sure you can blow it up with a few barrels of explosives?" Wang Yin asked Ma Yongdao again.

"This ......" Ma Yong looked at the embankment several feet thick under his feet, and also vaguely.

"The embankment of Hongze Lake is thicker and stronger than this, once it can't be exploded by gunpowder, it will inevitably delay the big thing of Hou Ye!" Wang Yin shook his head and said.

Many things can be done not just by imagination, but by field investigations, and in the case of this levee, in fact, it is much more difficult to blow up than the upright and tall walls. However, this is also the reason why Chen Yue sent Wang Yin to take full responsibility for this matter.

In terms of talent, learning, and empirical ability, there are not many people in Yangzhou who can compare with Wang Yin.

"Leave a boat here, and you will first set up a tent on the embankment, and then dig a big hole in the tent to bury the gunpowder, which cannot see water. I'll send in another man to help you dig the embankment. When the embankment is almost dug up, the gunpowder is detonated to ensure that the entire embankment is blown up. ”

Since it is still necessary to dig the embankment, it is necessary to transfer manpower, but in order to prevent the Qing army from discovering the movement, manpower cannot be transferred from Yangzhou, fortunately, Wu Ping with thousands of sailors, as well as the officers and soldiers of Jin Shenghuan who retreated from Sizhou and tens of thousands of people in Sizhou are there in Hongze Lake.

"In addition, you must pay attention to the timing of the gunpowder detonation, and you must hear the explosion sound from the other side of Hongze Lake before you can start blasting the embankment!" Wang Yin commanded at Ma Yong.

"Yes, sir!" Ma Yong bowed and saluted.

A boat was left here, with Yingzheng Chen Mo in charge of the excavation of the embankment, and Ma Yong in charge of the blasting. In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the water attack strategy, Chen Yue sent out all henchmen. Chen Mo, as one of Chen Yue's most trusted henchmen, was sent to take charge of this matter.

After arranging the affairs of Shao Bo Lake, Wang Yin left Shao Bo Lake by boat and continued to march towards Hongze Lake.

Chen Mo instructed his subordinates to unload the things on the boat, first set up several huge tents on the Shao Bo Lake embankment, and then carefully transferred them to the tents with powder kegs wrapped in oilcloth.

The rain became heavier and heavier, and it gradually became dark. Wang Yin said that he would send people to dig the lake embankment, but when the manpower arrived, he would definitely get tomorrow.

That night, Chen Mo and more than 100 others were stationed on the river embankment, waiting for dawn.

In the darkness of the night, Wang Yin sailed close to Shao Bo Lake by boat and found Wu Ping's camp.