Jiuxi

Chapter 673: 671 [Long Sword Appears]

"Find another way?"

Li Bingxue was very interested in this topic.

As the commander-in-chief of the Feiyu Army, she certainly knew that the cavalry was the undisputed king on the battlefield today.

No matter how strong the infantry is, they will still be at a disadvantage when facing cavalry. After all, two legs can never outrun four legs, not to mention that the load-bearing capacity of military horses is far greater than that of soldiers.

The cavalry can fight or retreat, and the initiative is completely in their own hands. Although the infantry can protect themselves by forming a battle formation, they do not have the ability to attack the cavalry.

The border troops of the Great Qi are good at defense. This is the experience accumulated from decades of fighting with the nomadic peoples in the north. It is also the root cause of the Jing Army's cavalry's inability to cross the Hengjiang River. However, if the Qi Army wants to continue the Northern Expedition, relying solely on the iron wall-like defense is definitely not enough. They must find a way to deal with the Jing Army's cavalry.

In Li Bingxue's opinion, using cavalry to fight cavalry is the only way to break the enemy's attack, so she really wants to know what kind of magical methods Lu Chen has.

Lu Chen reached out to tuck the corner of the quilt for her and said slowly, "Do you remember that I used gunpowder twice?"

Li Bingxue thought for a moment, blinked, and said, "Of course I remember. I heard from my father that when you faced the Yanjing coalition forces in Baotai Mountain, you buried gunpowder in the valley to lure the Xiashan army under Qing Yugong into the valley, and then blew up those people, causing heavy casualties. Another time was when you led your troops to attack Heluo by surprise, dug a tunnel under the city wall to bury gunpowder, and directly blew down the city wall, so you could break into the city in one fell swoop. Later, Qing Yugong learned your method and used the same method to blow down the northern city of Yongqiu."

"Speaking of which, Qing Yugong is indeed a tough opponent."

Lu Chen's eyes were obscure, and he continued, "Generally speaking, older people are less receptive to new things, but Qing Yugong did not rest on his laurels. He must have investigated the cause of the collapse of Heluo North City, and then used this method in Yongqiu, which was like giving someone a taste of their own medicine. Fortunately, the Emperor of Jingguo was too afraid of him, and took advantage of the defeat in Yongqiu to dismiss him from his military post, helping us suppress a major threat."

At this moment, Li Bingxue suddenly remembered Li Tianrun's inference and could not help but remind him softly: "Emperor Jing may not be sincere in doing this. Maybe he is just pretending to paralyze you. You should be careful."

"I see."

Lu Chen smiled and nodded, and then said: "Speaking of gunpowder, I have gathered a group of craftsmen to study it, because the previous gunpowder was not powerful enough and needed to be further improved. Whether it is the gunpowder I used to attack Heluo or the gunpowder used by Qing Yugong under Yongqiu City, they are essentially just raw materials for making fireworks and firecrackers. The reason why the city wall was blown down was that there was enough gunpowder and the second was the skills of underground siege."

Li Bingxue looked confused. This was indeed an area that she was very unfamiliar with.

Seeing this, Lu Chen explained, "Gunpowder was first invented in alchemy. Sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal are mixed together and will catch fire and explode when ignited. When I was in Baotai Mountain, because the situation was quite critical, I came up with the idea of ​​burying gunpowder in the ground to ignite sharp weapons, but the power was still not enough. I have a feeling that the formula of gunpowder can be further improved, and it will definitely be used on the battlefield in the future."

He said this without blushing or being nervous, and he spoke the three words "fate" in a very serious manner, which showed that his experience in the past few years was not in vain.

Li Bingxue looked at him with admiration.

She also recalled the kerosene recipe that Lu Chen gave her when they first met in Guangling, which later played a huge role in the defense of Yongqiu.

This is also Lu Chen’s brilliant idea, from which we can see that there are indeed geniuses in this world who are born with knowledge.

Facing her bright gaze, Lu Chen felt a little uncomfortable, and then continued: "Gunpowder is just a fuse. I have some ideas during this period."

"What is the idea?"

"For example, make a hollow iron tube, place an iron ball at the end, and then use gunpowder to ignite it. The iron ball can be ejected along the iron tube and hit a person within a certain distance like beating leather. Perhaps the sharp arrows shot by the strong archer have a similar effect, but the former is simple and easy to learn, and does not require high physical fitness from the user. Any normal man can use it, but not everyone can be a strong archer."

Li Bingxue looked at him in a daze.

After a little thought, she knew the significance of what Lu Chen said.

Just imagine, if every soldier in Dingzhou's army could be equipped with this kind of weapon, wouldn't that be hundreds of thousands of sharpshooters?

If such a scene really happened, what would the Jing Army cavalry have to fear?

She felt her heart tremble and said in disbelief, "What a great idea! Where on earth did you come up with this idea?"

Of course it’s the experience from the previous life…

Lu Chen couldn't remember when the musket was first invented. He only knew that apart from prototypes such as the musket and the matchlock gun, the earliest muskets were all muzzle-loading smoothbore guns, which were very troublesome to use.

It was not until the new rifles replaced the flintlocks that the king of the cold weapon era - cavalry - gradually withdrew from the stage of history.

It is actually a very naive idea to think that a group of the most rudimentary muskets can destroy the cavalry.

However, Li Bingxue didn't need to know about these complicated issues. Lu Chen said calmly, "It sounds great, but it seems that there is still not much hope at present. First of all, the improvement of gunpowder has not made any progress. Even if those craftsmen can really make more powerful gunpowder, it is difficult to collect raw materials. The previous two uses of gunpowder have exhausted all my reserves. As for the iron pipes and bullets I mentioned, they can only be thought of now, because there is no matching iron smelting technique."

Li Bingxue couldn't help but sigh softly.

Lu Chen said frankly: "The most important issue is that cost will be the biggest limitation. I have seriously considered this issue. Even if all technical difficulties can be overcome, with the resources I have, at best I can only equip a small number of people. It is simply impossible to apply it on a large scale."

As the saying goes, a cannon shot is worth a fortune. It is hard for ordinary people to imagine how terrifying the resources needed for modern wars are, not to mention the extremely backward productivity of today. There are still many people in Da Qi who have difficulty even getting enough food, and Lu Chen is not the master of this territory. The resources he can mobilize are actually only a small part.

Li Bingxue was very smart and quickly understood the situation. She looked at Lu Chen with a puzzled look and asked softly, "If that's the case, why did you--"

The words stopped abruptly.

She wanted to ask why he was so serious since gunpowder and Lu Chen's idea could not be realized for the time being. This was obviously not a way to deal with Jing's cavalry.

Looking at Lu Chen's gentle eyes, Li Bingxue felt a surge of emotion in her heart.

With her knowledge and vision, she naturally knew that what Lu Chen said was a very important secret. He should not have told anyone else. The fact that he told her everything at this moment showed his absolute trust.

As expected, Lu Chen smiled and said, "This is my biggest secret. If some people in the central government knew that I, the Grand Commander of the Border Army, was secretly researching such a powerful weapon, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to sleep all night."

Li Bingxue said seriously: "Don't worry, I won't tell this to anyone else, including my father and brother."

Lu Chen did not correct her statement and nodded.

Li Bingxue asked with concern: "Then how are we going to deal with the Jing Army cavalry?"

Lu Chen pondered for a moment, then slowly said twelve words: "Heavy armor and long swords, advancing like a wall, crushing both men and horses."

Li Bingxue silently savored these words, her eyes becoming brighter and brighter.

"You have to eat one bite at a time and walk one step at a time. I will not give up the achievements of those craftsmen, but considering the reality, the best way to deal with the Jing Army cavalry is to further adjust the deployment of each army. Originally, our border troops were accustomed to taking a defensive position, especially when encountering enemy cavalry in the wild, so they were equipped with a large number of spearmen and large shield soldiers. This must be changed in the future."

Lu Chen looked solemn, and said slowly: "I plan to let the nine armies of Dingzhou train some heavy-armored infantry, equipped with powerful crossbows and long swords, to shoot crossbow arrows first when encountering the enemy, and then switch to long swords to confront the Jing Army cavalry head-on. As long as we can exchange one for one, or even two for one, our army can deal a heavy blow to the enemy. In this battle, the Jing Army cavalry adopted the tactic of exchanging sons, which also inspired me. Our army can learn from the opponent's tactics and use infantry to exchange lives for the Jing Army cavalry."

Li Bingxue said approvingly: "This strategy is feasible."

Lu Chen said: "What you should be most concerned about now is not these things."

Li Bingxue looked at him slightly bewilderedly.

Lu Chen said seriously: "Just rest and recover, and have a good sleep."

Li Bingxue seemed a little reluctant because she was indeed very concerned about military affairs.

"obedient."

"Ok."

Li Bingxue looked at his slightly serious expression and responded weakly. After all, she felt guilty and could not continue to be as strong as usual.

Lu Chen helped her lie down, covered her with the quilt, then leaned over and kissed her gently on the forehead.

Li Bingxue only showed her face and hesitated, "Are you leaving?"

"Don't go."

Lu Chen sat back in the chair and said with a smile: "I will go back after you fall asleep."

Li Bingxue blinked, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and soon she fell asleep peacefully.

She lay in bed for six days, and her injuries gradually improved. Lu Chen used this time to finish the things at hand.

He asked Li Chengen to lead the Dingbei Army to garrison the southwest of Dingzhou, and the Feiyu Army, which suffered heavy losses, returned to Ruyin City for rest. At the same time, he gave instructions to Pei Sui, the commander-in-chief of the Zhenbei Army, and Liu Yin, the commander-in-chief of the Guangling Army, and ordered them to select strong soldiers and form a heavy armored infantry phalanx as the basis for strangling the Jing Army cavalry on the battlefield in the future.

On October 11, Li Bingxue was finally able to walk, and Lu Chen took her back to Ruyin.

At the same time, the commanders of various armies in Dingzhou received military orders from Lu Chen one after another. Under the premise of strict confidentiality, the internal selection of each army was quietly carried out.

Thanks to the hard work of the officials of the Governor's Office, craftsmen's shops in various places were bustling with activity, and long swords with great power and heft, as if they could split mountains and rocks, gradually took shape in the molten iron.

There was a cold light on the blade.

(End of this chapter)