Ji Han Da Sima

Chapter 373 A brief discussion of the Northern Expedition

Autumn, the twentieth year of Jian'an.

When the struggle for heir between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi came to an end, the Southern Han Dynasty under Liu Bei gradually turned its attention to military affairs.

Since it was discussed last winter that Zhuge Liang would take command to conquer Wuxi and Shanyue Yi, Zhuge Liang began to prepare for the expedition.

When summer turned to autumn, Zhuge Liang temporarily stepped down from government affairs and handed them over to Pang Tong, Gu Yong, Zhang Zhao, Sun Shao and others. Liu Bei was responsible for making decisions.

In the past half year, Huo Jun, in addition to giving advice to Liu Bei, accompanied Liu Bei on inspections of Wuchu counties to check whether there were any derelicts in their duties.

Of course, Huo Jun was also involved in military matters, such as being responsible for the development of the three-bow bed crossbow and the innovation of armor.

Today, under the leadership of Huo Jun, the three-bow bed crossbow is gradually finished, which can show Liu Bei the terrifying lethality of the three-bow bed crossbow.

In the northwest suburbs of Wuhan, the wilderness is vast and empty, and the surrounding areas are under strict control by sergeants for miles.

"Hey!"

The sound of horse hooves sounded, Liu Bei took the lead on his white horse, Huo Jun waved his white whip, and dozens of cavalrymen scattered around.

Slowing down his horse's speed, Liu Bei held up the reins and asked, "Zhong Miao said there is a newly made powerful crossbow. It can penetrate city walls and shoot through iron armor within a few hundred steps. I wonder what it is?"

Huo Jun raised his whip and pointed at the place where the crowd gathered half a mile away, and said with a smile: "It's called the Three-Gong Crossbow. It is composed of high-quality large bows. It uses a three-foot-five-inch short spear as an arrow. If it hits the city fortress, it will destroy everything." , the tower and the oar also fell."

"Oh?"

Liu Bei showed an expression of surprise and said: "There is such a sharp weapon. If it is as Zhong Miao said, it can be used to assemble the army to kill the northern captives by surprise."

The three-bow bed crossbow is difficult to develop. Huo Jun's understanding of the three-bow bed crossbow is limited to the fact that it is assembled from three bows, two bows are forward and one bow is reverse.

When he was in charge of Poyang County, Huo Jun once ordered people to make a three-bow bed crossbow. However, the range was not satisfactory and it had no power as mentioned in the history books. Later, due to the terrifying deterrent power of Cao Cao in the Central Plains, Huo Jun temporarily gave up the development of the three-bow bed crossbow and invested manpower and material resources into the production of mature Han Dynasty crossbows.

With the division of the north and the south, Liu Bei adopted the policy of strengthening the cadres and weakening the branches. He not only gathered the elites from the south in Wuhan, but also placed the outstanding craftsmen from the south in Wuhan.

As a result, since Huo Jun took office as the Central Supervisory Army last year, he gathered craftsmen who made bed crossbows and proposed the development of a three-bow bed crossbow.

After more than a year, under the research and development of the top craftsmen in the south, the three-bow bed crossbow gradually took shape. After several experiments, the size of the plan was finalized, thus creating a sample of the three-bow bed crossbow.

After a while, Liu Bei and Huo Jun arrived at their destination and were greeted by everyone who had been waiting for a long time.

When Liu Bei first arrived at the testing site, he was attracted by the huge three-bow bed crossbow.

I saw a bed crossbow with a capacity of five or six people displayed in the open space, and three twelve-stone strong bows facing each other. The bow body was made of wood as the heartwood, the bow belly was close to the corners, and the back of the bow was ribbed. After the three bows, a winch rotates to open the string and open the bow. The entire crossbow is painted red, making it look majestic.

"Is this the three-bow bed crossbow?"

"Exactly!"

Liu Bei touched the bow body with his hand and saw that the bow was shaped like a horned crossbow, but the bow body was wider and thicker than it. He asked: "What is the material of this bow body? How much force can it withstand?"

The older craftsman Wu hurriedly came out and said: "I would like to inform your Majesty that the three bows are all made of centuries-old wood. They are exposed to the sun for a year and can withstand a great deal of strength. The strings are made of ox sinews, which are harvested from the ox sinews. It is dry, weighs about thirty taels, and is immersed in water. People who are not born with supernatural powers cannot open the strings."

The huge power of the three-bow bed crossbow is closely related to the production process, the type of bow, and the material of the bow.

The type of bow cannot be used as a single bow. It is necessary to make a composite bow with sinew angles to increase energy storage. As for the sinew-angle composite bow, there were already styles in the Han Dynasty, but only a few craftsmen knew about it.

Due to the long range of the bow made of the three-bow crossbow, it must withstand unimaginable force. If the quality of the bow body is not up to standard, or the bow string cannot withstand the huge force, the bow will most likely break.

Huo Jun's first three-bow bed crossbow used a single bow. Not only did the bow-making materials fail to keep up, but the bow-making skills of the craftsmen were also mediocre, leading to the failure of the development.

"Uncle is here!"

Liu Bei wanted to verify what the craftsman said, so he asked Chen to open the string and test it.

Chen Dao rubbed his palms, took a deep breath, held the bowstring with both hands, and exerted force. The veins on his arms popped out, and his face was red. However, even if Chen Dao exerted all his strength, the bowstring was only slightly pulled apart. It can be seen that if you want to pull the string of a bed crossbow and draw it, you definitely cannot rely on a few people to draw the bow.

"call!"

Chen Daochang exhaled and said: "Your Majesty, the general is incompetent and cannot open the strings!"

Liu Bei nodded with satisfaction and asked, "How many people can open the string with a winch?"

"Eight cows!"

Huo Jun held the winch and said: "The three-bow crossbow needs eight oxen to pull it, so it can also be called the eight-oxen crossbow. Load the arrow gun, the sergeant hammers the crossbow machine, and the arrows fly. Within four hundred steps, it can penetrate City fortress; within 700 steps, iron armor can be penetrated. It is far more powerful than the old crossbow of the Later Han Dynasty, and it is a sharp weapon for defending the city."

Stones are divided into large and small stones, and steps are also divided into large and small steps. Huo Jun said that for food and grass consumption, big rocks were used as containers. The range of a three-bow bed crossbow is expressed in small steps, not in large strides.

"The power of eight cows!"

Liu Bei took a breath and exclaimed: "If we use people to pull it, I'm afraid it will take at least thirty people."

"Ok!"

Huo Jun took the arrow gun from the craftsman's hand and said: "The arrows are made of wood as the shaft, which can be seen as a short spear; the iron pieces are feathers, which can be seen as swords. When one arrow is shot, three swords and arrows are shot in one shot, the power is particularly amazing."

The three-bow bed crossbow can shoot so far. Although there is crossbow technology, it actually has a lot to do with the increase in body size. If compared with thermal weapons, ordinary crossbows can be regarded as muskets, and bed crossbows can be regarded as artillery. For example, in the 15th century, ordinary artillery could not break through Constantinople. The Ottomans directly made Urban cannons and finally broke through the walls of Constantinople.

"Load and test fire!"

After several words, Liu Bei couldn't wait to see the killing effect of the three-bow bed crossbow.

"promise!"

In order to verify that eight oxen were needed to pull the three-bow crossbow, the sergeant actually led eight oxen and tied the rope on the winch to the oxen.

"Open the bow!" Craftsman Wu raised the red flag and shouted.

Several soldiers drove the ox forward, and the heavy three-bow bed crossbow was held down by the sergeants to prevent the bed crossbow from shifting.

The rope was tight, and the bowstring creaked. Under the pull of the oxen, the bowstring was slowly pulled open. The string was like a crescent moon, and the bow head was bent downward, gathering momentum and ready to go.

"stop!"

The sergeant blocked the crossbow machine and blocked the bow string that was trying to rebound. Then the bed crossbowman adjusts the height of the bed crossbow according to Wangshan.

A crossbowman holds a hammer, waiting for Liu Bei's order to hammer the crossbow at any time.

"Shoot!" Liu Bei ordered.

"Boom!"

Hammering the crossbow, the bowstring flew past like a thunderbolt. Under the action of elastic potential energy, the heavy arrow flew out with a whoosh. The arrow shot directly through the city soil four hundred steps away, and the arrow was embedded in the wall for about a foot. The smoke and dust flew up, and the power was astonishing.

Under the leadership of the sergeant, Liu Bei and Huo Jun drove their horses to the target.

Seeing the gun head shot into the city wall, Liu Bei pulled the arrow gun, but the arrow didn't move at all.

Liu Bei let go of the arrow gun and exclaimed: "The Han Dynasty bed crossbow was exhausted after shooting four hundred paces. Today's three-bow bed crossbow can penetrate the wall at four hundred paces; it is expected to penetrate armor at seven hundred paces. I'm afraid it won't be difficult."

Huo Jun smiled and said nothing, despite the fact that the Song Dynasty Wu pulled his hips, in order to restrain the Liao cavalry, he spent a lot of effort on bows and crossbows, and developed the divine arm bow, the three-bow bed crossbow and other items.

For example, in the Battle of Chanzhou, the famous Liao general Xiao Taolin led his troops to the city. While watching the towers being defended, he was shot by a three-bow crossbow and eventually died. From then on, the three-bow bed crossbow became famous and frightened the Liao people.

I wonder if any Cao Wei generals in this plane will die from the three-bow bed crossbow?

Seeing the amazing power of the three-bow bed crossbow, Liu Bei did not hesitate and said: "The person who developed the bed crossbow will be greatly rewarded. From now on, let the craftsman Wu be in charge of the three-bow bed crossbow and make it as soon as possible. It can be used for city defense, transportation and water transportation." For war.”

"No!" The attendant took the order and left.

Liu Bei liked the power of the three-bow bed crossbow so much that he asked them to test-fire it more than ten times, and the power was not reduced at all.

After struggling for two hours, Liu Bei returned to the palace in great excitement.

Returning to the palace, Liu Bei invited Huo Jun to sit down in the pavilion to talk.

After calling his attendants to serve tea, Liu Bei sat on the banquet and said with a smile: "The power of the three-bow bed crossbow is amazing. If Cao Cao goes south in the future, he will definitely know the advantages and disadvantages of this crossbow!"

Huo Jun picked up the teapot and poured tea for Liu Bei, and said with a smile: "The king is asking Cao Cao to conquer the south. I'm afraid it will not be easy. If you want to fight with Cao Cao in formation, the king should lead the army to the north!"

"Cao Cao has no intention of conquering the South?" Liu Bei said with a frown.

Huo Jun held the teacup and analyzed: "The world is divided into three parts, with the north and the south facing each other. Although Cao Cao won the second, the king relied on the steep mountains and rivers to defend, which led to Cao Cao's several southern expeditions, but all returned without success. Now Cao Cao is getting older. , the energy is declining, and with the Han Emperor still on the throne, I am afraid that I have no intention of conquering the south."

Today's situation is very different from the historical situation. Cao Cao made several expeditions to the south, but failed to defeat the Southern Han Dynasty. The closest to victory was the Battle of Chrysostom, but Huo Jun burned him down. After several defeats, Cao Cao realized the strength of the south and would not launch a southern expedition in the short term.

In the current confrontation between north and south, Liu Bei became king several years earlier than in history, instead of dividing the world into three parts as in history. Therefore, as the situation changes, the strategic choices of both sides will also change.

Historically, Cao Cao believed that Wu and Shu had turned against each other and the situation in the north was stable, so he chose to leave the last step to Cao Pi. Now for Cao Cao, in addition to Liu Bei in the south, he also has Liu Xie, the puppet emperor.

He had to consider whether Cao Pi had the ability to withstand the threat of the Southern Han Dynasty and complete the process of proclaiming himself emperor. Therefore, no matter what, Cao Cao must deeply consolidate his rule in the next few years to avoid the unexpected.

"It doesn't matter whether Cao Cao is marching south, or he doesn't want to be marching south!"

Liu Bei stroked his beard and said: "If Cao Cao marches south, he will raise his troops to resist it and look for opportunities to make achievements and gain territory. If he does not want to march south, he will choose the opportunity to march north to rejuvenate the Han Dynasty!"

After a pause, Liu Bei asked: "Zhong Miao, Gu Yu is planning an expedition to the north in the spring of next year. What do you think?"

"At the beginning of last year, the six states were settled and military administration was in place; this year we will eliminate the two barbarians and stockpile food and grass; next year we will inspect the border situation and discuss the route of the Northern Expedition. The year after next, we will choose the opportunity to march, this is what I thought about!" Liu Bei explained.

"The Northern Expedition the year after tomorrow, I expect that the government orders will be clear, the food and grass will be ready, and the people will return home, it is feasible!" Huo Jun agreed and said: "But I don't know where the king wants to go to the north?"

Liu Bei pondered for a while and said: "According to Kong Ming's words in the past, the army can be divided into three routes, the west route is from Hanzhong, the middle route is from Jiangling, and the east route is from Hefei."

Then, Liu Bei changed the topic and said thoughtfully: "The three-pronged Northern Expedition needs to be prioritized. The west route is too far, so we can send out partial troops. The Jianghuai and Xiangfan waterways are accessible, so where can the main force come from? It should be discussed in depth, and the border situation should be observed. Or from the opinions of the ministers."

"good!"

(End of this chapter)