Chu and Han contend for the throne

Chapter 162 Saddle Crossbow
In the evening, the Chu army finally divided up the war horses.

As expected by Xiang Zhuang, Gao Chu's pro-army grabbed enough horses, almost every one of them rode, while the rest of the left, middle, and right armies were about the same, each getting more than [-] horses. The left army leader Xiao Kai ran to Xiangzhuang. Zhuang complained to him, but was severely reprimanded by Xiang Zhuang. Xiang Zhuang told Xiao Kai very clearly that if he couldn't get the horse, it was because of his own incompetence.

However, Xiang Zhuang also said at the same time that this time is not a real distribution of horses. After the two-month riding training is over, there will be a big test among the armies. Whoever performs well will be given priority in choosing horses. As for those who are behind, they deserve to ride the inferior horses left by others.

When Xiao Kai got what he said, he walked away with his mouth pursed.

However, just as Xiao Kai left, three beautiful figures walked into Xiang Zhuang's big tent one after another.

When Xiang Zhuang looked up, it was Wei Yue Wuyang, Qin Yu, and Baili Yishui, three young ladies. Xiang Zhuang stood up to meet them, and said to Wei Yue with a smile: "Yue Niang, why are you here?"

But Wei Yue bowed down to Xiang Zhuang Yingying: "Yue Niang has met the general."

Behind Wei Yue, Qin Yu and Baili Yishui hurriedly bowed down.

Xiang Zhuang felt a little guilty in his heart. Ever since he used Wei Yue to kill Chen Xi at Hulao Pass last time, Wei Yue's attitude towards him became more subtle. Let Xiang Zhuang is also dull, since they entered Hangu Pass, the two of them have never been intimate again.

Wei Yueken took the initiative to come here today, which was somewhat beyond Xiang Zhuang's expectations.

However, looking at Wei Yueqing's cold and indifferent appearance, Xiang Zhuang knew that she was probably persuaded by Qin Yu or Baili Yishui to come here. Xiang Zhuang's conjecture was soon confirmed. Seeing the ceremony, Yue said, "General, all armies are training in riding skills. Shouldn't the women's barracks also train in riding skills?"

Xiang Zhuang patted his forehead and said: "Yes, the women's barracks do have riding training, but now the horses have been allocated by each army and battalion, and I don't have any extra horses here, so why don't we wait until later?" In a few days, I will find a way to get another batch of war horses back and hand them over to the female barracks for training in riding."

Baili Yishui pouted and said, "General, you are lying."

Qin Yu also said: "That's right, there are still five hundred war horses."

Xiang Zhuang scratched his head a little. There were indeed [-] war horses in the camp, and all of them were good horses over seven feet tall. They were traded by Xiang Zhuang from Lou Banren with [-] scales, but the [-] The good horses are used to form the heavy cavalry. To be honest, the explosive power of Mongolian horses is really bad, but the five hundred good horses are barely enough.

At least these five hundred good horses were over seven feet tall, and they had sufficient load-bearing capacity. They would never be crushed by the heavy armor of several hundred catties and the weight of the cavalry.

However, in terms of sprinting speed, Mongolian horses are absolutely incomparable to Arabian horses. When I return to Jiangdong in the future, if possible, I should really send a fleet to the Middle East to try my luck. If I can buy a batch of Arabian horses , Improve the genes of the Mongolian horses. When facing the Huns cavalry in the future, the Central Plains cavalry will have the upper hand.

In history, some people have really done this. Japan’s native war horses also belong to the Mongolian horse breed. Before the Meiji Restoration, almost all Japanese cavalry were donkey cavalry. However, later Japan introduced Arabian stallions and improved the native horses. Later, when the Japanese army aggressively invaded China, the Japanese cavalry rode tall and big Oriental horses.

These thoughts flashed through Xiang Zhuang's mind, and he said immediately: "But these five hundred good horses have already been given to the guards."

As soon as the words were finished, Gao Chu strode in. Seeing Wei Yue, Qin Yu and Baili Yishui three girls present, Gao Chu was slightly taken aback, then bowed to Xiang Zhuang and said, "I'll see you in the end." Pass the general."

Xiang Zhuang waved his hand, and said to Wei Yue, Qin Yu and Baili Yishui: "Now that the Lord is here, you can ask him for a horse. Anyway, I have lost all my war horses."

After finishing speaking, Xiang Zhuang left the tent directly.

Soon, the twittering of Qin Yu and Baili Yishui sounded in the big tent. After barely resisting a few rounds, Gao Chu raised his hand and surrendered. Now, Qin Yu's female barracks has expanded to more than 500 people.

Of course, most of the female soldiers in the female barracks are tough girls with round arms and thick waists, and occasionally there are delicate and watery ones, like Wei Yue and Baili Yishui, who have also practiced martial arts, and they are all roses with thorns.

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After leaving the big tent, Xiang Zhuang turned around and entered the supply camp of the bus transporter.

When Xiang Zhuang came in, the public transportation car was concentrating on sewing a high bridge saddle, and a little girl about thirteen or fourteen years old with braids was helping him. There were dozens of carpenters beside the public transport body. Populus euphratica is being nervously disassembled, sawed into small wooden strips, nailed into a wooden frame with both ends turned up, and then sewed with cowhide.

Seeing the Gaoqiao saddle that was about to be completed in Gongshu's hand, Xiang Zhuang's heart tightened slightly.

The Takahashi saddle was another great invention of the Huns. Xiang Zhuang clearly remembered that the Central Plains cavalry at this time were definitely still using saddles with two flat ends, but the Huns had already started using the Takahashi saddle. The original Hu people and the old Qin people also learned from the Xiongnu and used the high bridge saddle with both ends tilted up.

So Xiang Zhuang hesitated, should he put horseshoes on his cavalry?
The benefits of nailing the horseshoe are self-evident. After the horseshoe is nailed, it can effectively prevent the wear of the horseshoe horniness. In this way, the horse's long-distance marching ability under harsh road conditions will be significantly improved. Non-combat attrition due to wear and tear will also be greatly reduced.

But the problem is that once the secret of the horseshoe is mastered by the Huns, the consequences will be disastrous. With the horseshoe, the Huns cavalry can go deep into the hinterland of the Central Plains without any restraint!

Historically, the Huns at most fought grass valleys near the Great Wall.

In fact, the fierceness of the Huns is not inferior to the Mongols at all.

The talents of Mao Dun and the military minister Shanyu are not at all inferior to Temujin and Kublai Khan.

However, the Huns failed to sweep across the entire Eurasian continent like the Mongols. One of the most important reasons is that the iron smelting technology is too backward, and they cannot even make iron weapons, let alone the Mongolian scimitar. The important reason is that the Huns cavalry did not have horseshoes, and could not perform high-intensity, long-distance maneuvers like the Mongolian cavalry.

However, once the Huns have mastered the secret of the horseshoe, once the Huns can go deep into the hinterland of the Central Plains, the Huns will have enough opportunities to plunder enough craftsmen from the Central Plains. Technology will undergo a radical improvement. If this is the case, the people of the Central Plains may be extinct!

After thinking about it again and again, Xiang Zhuang gave up the idea of ​​shoeing the cavalry of the Chu army. The risk was too great.

Although the most direct victims of the Xiongnu cavalry were definitely Liu Bang, Zhang Er, Zang Tu, and Han Wangxin after they nailed their horseshoes, Xiang Zhuang was absolutely unwilling to take the risk of the Central Plains civilization being wiped out to try this dangerous move. Dangerous, it is safer to limit them to the north of the Great Wall.

I already have stirrups and saddles, but I dare not nail the horseshoes, so what about weapons?
The sharpest cavalry weapon is of course the saber, but in this era, suitable high-quality steel cannot be smelted at all. Because the furnace temperature is not high enough, the quality of the pig iron smelted is quite poor. Only by repeated tempering and forging can it be tempered into refined iron. , The horizontal knives used by Xiang Zhuang and the generals of the Chu army were forged repeatedly in this way.

Therefore, it is simply wishful thinking to equip cavalry with sabers. At most, they can only be equipped with ring swords and horn bows.

Although the horizontal knife is extremely sharp, it is a pity that the craftsmanship is too complicated, and it is extremely time-consuming and laborious to manufacture. It is simply impossible to equip [-] cavalry with a horizontal knife.

However, in addition to the ring head knife, in addition to the horn bow, should you equip your cavalry with a sharp weapon between long-range and melee?Because after returning to Jiangdong in the future, the cavalry of the Chu army will face the infantry of the Central Plains more, and the infantry is generally protected by heavy armor and shields, and the intensive projection of horn bows is not enough to cause fatal damage.

If you use the ring head knife to engage in close combat with the Central Plains infantry, the price will be too high.

Xiang Zhuang immediately thought of the Zhuge Liannu, but the Zhuge Liannu was clumsy, heavy, and difficult to maneuver, so it could only be used to defend camps or cities, but what Xiang Zhuang needed was a lightweight Liannu that could be carried by a single soldier. As a traverser, Xiang Zhuang really knew the firing principle of the Liannu.

Xiang Zhuang had seen a feature film in his previous life, which introduced a Liannu made by a military enthusiast.

The continuous crossbow is made of crossbow, bow arm and arrow box. The arrow box can store up to ten short arrows of eight inches long. The short arrows are made of iron and have no tail feathers. To fire one arrow, you only need to twist the arrow box back and forth once to re-tighten the crossbow string, and quickly fire the second time.

The continuous crossbow in the feature film shot ten short arrows in less than ten seconds!
The only shortcoming of that continuous crossbow is that the effective range is too short, only less than 50 meters, but for the Chu army cavalry, the distance of 50 meters is enough, because when the distance is farther, the angle bow can be used for throwing, and it can reach 50 meters. Minei, you can replace it with a continuous crossbow to achieve absolute massacre of the enemy!

Thinking of this, Xiang Zhuang couldn't hold back anymore.

At that moment, Xiang Zhuang asked Jin Xiang to find a piece of white cloth, and then drew a pattern of a crossbow on it with black charcoal, and then said to Gongshu Che: "Mr. Gongshu, look at this."

The bus transporter put down the saddle in his hand, and took the white cloth from Xiang Zhuang.

As expected of a descendant of Lu Ban, Gongshu Che is definitely a great master. He only took one look, and then his face changed drastically: "General, this is... a short crossbow that can be fired continuously?"

"Yes, this is a Liannu." Xiang Zhuang nodded happily, "Gongshu Liannu!"

"Gongshu Liannu?" Gongshuche's eyes lit up immediately, and he said eagerly, "General, please give me three days, as long as three days, I will be able to make the first crossbow."

(End of this chapter)