Shu Han Confucian General of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 75 The Power of Technology

"Zi Yang, what exactly is this thunderbolt car?" Cao Zhi is obviously superior to the others, but he is a complete layman in the art of making these mechanisms. After looking at the diagram for a long time, he can't see anything.

"Prime Minister, this thunderbolt chariot is one foot high, with an arm length of two feet, and is made of rough wood. It was developed by me to deal with Yuan Shao's crossbowmen. I have already ordered the artisans in the army to build one, which can carry more than a hundred catties. Heavy stones are thrown tens of feet away!" Liu Ye said confidently.

"How could it be so?" Cao Cao listened fine at first, but finally his eyes lit up when he heard Liu Ye say that the Thunderbolt Chariot could throw stones dozens of feet away. "Where is the thunderbolt car? Take me to see it!"

"It's in the rear army, please, Prime Minister!" At that moment, Cao Cao and Liu Ye were surrounded by a group of guards with shields and walked towards the rear army. They didn't dare to walk forward in a "normal" way until they were out of the range of Yuan Shaojun's bow and crossbow. . "That's it?" Cao Cao looked at a rough-looking wooden shelf in front of him, and said in disbelief.

"It's exactly this thing, Prime Minister, please take a look." Liu Ye introduced and ordered people to load stones into it while adjusting the cantilever.When the other end of the cantilever could not be higher, the section where the rocks were placed was ordered to be loosened. Suddenly, the huge rock weighing more than [-] jin was thrown out with a "hula", and it did not fall until tens of feet away, and the ground was smashed. Make a hole half a foot deep.

Shock, absolute shock.Cao Cao stared blankly for a while, then smacked his lips.Although his own martial arts are not particularly high, Cao Cao also knows that even Xu Chu, a rare male general with strange strength in the world, would throw such a heavy stone several feet away if he was exhausted. less than.

"Zi Yang, you want to use this thunderbolt chariot to deal with Yuan Shao's crossbowmen on the dirt mountain." After Cao Cao realized his reaction, he sighed and asked.

"That's right, my lord, as long as there are a hundred of these thunderbolt chariots, Yuan Shao's crossbowmen will definitely be terrified!" Liu Ye said confidently.Cao Cao didn't deny it either, after all, a pile of stones hitting his head and face was far more terrifying than random arrows.The random arrows can still be blocked by a shield. Even if you use a shield to block this kind of rock, once it hits it, you can't eat it and walk around. "Zi Yang, quickly order the craftsmen to build this thunderbolt car as soon as possible!" Cao Cao recovered from the shock at the beginning, and immediately resumed his usual vigorous and vigorous style.

"My lord, there are not many craftsmen in our army, and we need to go to Yanzhou to recruit as soon as possible!" Liu Ye made another suggestion when he heard that, and Cao Cao didn't delay, and immediately nodded in agreement, and asked people to handle the matter.

So in the next few days, Cao Jun's rear army, which was not too much affected by Yuan Shaojun's arrow rain, began to become lively.Groups of soldiers went out to cut down the thick and towering trees, and then the craftsmen near Yanzhou were also recruited into the army.The sound of saws and chisels can be heard everywhere in the entire rear army, and Cao Jun seems to have started a large carpentry workshop.Among the busy people, there was a thin carpenter who was digging holes while watching the production process.

"How's Cao Aman doing these days?" In Yuan Shao's barracks opposite Guandu, Boss Yuan asked somewhat complacently. "My lord, since our army started shooting arrows on their heads, Cao Jun hardly dared to move!" Feng Ji, a counselor at the side, said with a smile.As a member of the same party as Yuan Shang, it is appropriate to applaud the same party every time.

"Yeah!" Yuan Shao also nodded in satisfaction, and he also said with emotion: "Jian Zhengnan's ingenious plan is really good. Although it is simple, it directly points at Cao Cao's vital point. I estimate that after half a month of this, Cao Cao will die." It's going to be the end of the mountain!"

"My lord is wise!" All the counselors in Hebei praised in unison, and the atmosphere of the Hebei army was extremely harmonious for a while.

"My lord, more than 60 Perak cars have been built in the past few days, you can try it out first!" Liu Ye said when he came to Cao Cao's big tent that day.Cao Cao was also a little surprised when he heard the words, but then he understood what Liu Ye meant: Yuan Shao's arrow rain had a great impact on the morale of the soldiers, and it would be better to solve it one day sooner.I originally planned to build a hundred and ten, but now it seems that I should act sooner.

"That's very good, dispatch [-] knife shield soldiers to cover the thunderbolt car and hit me hard!" After being shot for a month, he couldn't move freely, even Cao Cao was aggrieved.Under his order, the [-] sword shield soldiers immediately assembled and escorted [-] catapults to move forward slowly.

"Hey, Cao Jun moved, what is that?" The crossbowmen of the Hebei Army on the dirt hill outside the camp gate couldn't help being puzzled when they saw Cao Jun, who had been huddled for a month, suddenly attack.When they saw clearly that it was still a brigade of sword and shield soldiers dispatched, and dozens of wooden frames were carried in the middle, they suddenly became commotion.

"Don't panic, the crossbowmen continue to shoot arrows, and the rest are ready to fight!" A school lieutenant of the Hebei Army, who was still a little bit smart, saw that the sergeants were a little flustered, and hurriedly commanded loudly.Under his instigation, a dense rain of arrows began to shoot at the slowly advancing Cao army.

"Drip clang clang" the arrow hit the shield and made a series of sounds.Although most of the arrows were completely blocked, there were still a few soldiers who stabbed Cao Jun through the gaps. Those who were lucky were not able to stick to the arrows, and those who were unlucky were killed. .Finally, after paying the price of more than 3000 casualties, the 60 people and more than [-] Perak vehicles finally advanced to a place less than a hundred steps away from the Hebei Army's earth mountain.

"Let go!" With Cao Ren, who personally led the team, shouted, sixty Thunderbolt cars showed their power at the same time, and boulders worth 60 yuan and more than a hundred catties flew into the sky together, and after drawing beautiful arcs, they forcibly hit the Hebei army. On the battlefield, the stunned Hebei soldiers were smashed into human shapes.

"Mother!" I don't know who was the first to yell, but the fear quickly spread to the entire Hebei army on the dirt mountain.At that moment, everyone shouted, dropped their weapons and ran back.Although these soldiers were not on the battlefield for the first time, nor was it the first time they experienced death, but it was the first time they encountered such a horrific way of death.Have you ever seen a comrade in arms smashed into a pile of meat sauce by a stone falling from the head?No, so this kind of fear is beyond words.

"Don't panic, hold on, hold back, shoot back!" The lieutenant was still trying to stabilize the morale of the army, but more and more people were running back.At the same time, Cao Ren did not expect that a round of stones would have such a big effect. However, as a general who has experienced many battles, Cao Ren was keenly aware of the opportunity, and immediately ordered his soldiers to pursue the victory. It was a big chaos, and they were beaten back to the ferry and fled north in a hurry.Those who did not have time to board were either killed or captured.

"Prime Minister, as soon as the thunderbolt chariot was launched, Yuan Shao's crossbowmen were scared out of their wits. The last general took advantage of the victory and pursued, killing two thousand enemies and taking three thousand prisoners!" In Cao Jun's tent, Cao Ren reported to Cao Cao beamingly. !
"Zixiao has worked hard!" Cao Cao also smiled happily, not only him, but the entire Yanzhou army was in a state of great momentum.How wonderful life would be without that annoying rain of arrows! "Greatly reward the craftsmen, and order them to build more Thunderbolt cars from tomorrow. I, Cao Mengde, don't think too much!" Cao Cao finally added this sentence, and Liu Ye also hurriedly passed on the order.

However, on that night, almost all the craftsmen were overwhelmed by the rewarding wine. It was the thin craftsman who found an opportunity to leave Cao Jun's camp, and then walked north, where someone had already prepared several horses. Hurry up to meet him.

"Marquis Lu Jun, thank you for your hard work. The general said that he is in Lujiang now, so he ordered you to go quickly!" The person in charge saw this thin craftsman and hurried forward to greet him.

"I understand!" The visitor got on his horse and galloped quickly to the north.On the way, he suddenly remembered something, and asked the person who came to meet him, "Why do you call me Junhou?"

"The general said that the military marquis made such a great contribution, so he was promoted to a higher rank." The visitor explained cheerfully. "So that's it!" Lu Hao also nodded when he heard the words, but he still had a little doubt in his heart: how did the general know that Cao Jun was going to build a Perak car?
In Lujiang City at this time, the arrival of the Xuzhou Army did not cause any panic. Most of them with strict military discipline were stationed outside the city, and there were only troops directly under Zhao Feng and others in the city. "General, of the more than 1 soldiers in Lujiang County, only less than 8000 can be incorporated into the frontline troops of our army. Of the remaining [-] people, only [-] at most can be used as county soldiers, and the rest can only be used as field soldiers. !" In Lujiang's nominal prefect's mansion, Li Tong reported to Zhao Feng the situation of all the surrenders this time with some disbelief.The rest of the generals were also dumbfounded when they heard the words. They didn't expect Sun Quan to play so well, and directly gave them a bunch of old, weak, sick and disabled.

"General Guoyi, why did Brother Ling give you these old, weak, sick and disabled?" Zhao Feng also said to Sun Fu with some dumbfounding.This is the second day he has occupied the Lujiang River, all the infantry are in place, and now they are waiting for Gan Ning's navy to join them.Fortunately, there was already a water village in Lujiang, so it is not surprising that there is no place to camp.It's just that the Jiangdong navy, Sun Quan simply didn't give him this cousin.

"General, this matter is really chilling!" Sun Fu could only shake his head upon hearing this.Ever since he was sent here, he knew that Sun Quan wanted to kill someone with a knife, so he simply surrendered.The only consolation is that Zhao Feng treats him well.Of course, this was also because Zhao Feng wanted to learn more information from him.

"Since the surrender is so useless, Wenda, choose one thousand to be incorporated into our army. The rest will be sent back to Xuzhou to be used as county soldiers or field soldiers, and then the county soldiers will be transferred from Xuzhou to take over the city," Zhao Feng thought. It's the only way to think about it.This is also one of the benefits of the last Xuzhou military reform: In the past, there was no clear division of labor between the county soldiers and field soldiers in Yuzhou in Xuzhou. Now, under Zhao Feng's suggestion, each of them performs their duties, requiring the county soldiers to have a certain combat effectiveness.At the same time, under Liu Bei's rule, there were nearly 40 front-line combat troops, but under Zhao Feng's suggestion, it was reduced to less than 15, including [-] in Yuzhou and [-] in Xuzhou. The corresponding number of county soldiers increased.The advantage of this is that the rear defense is stronger and the front combat troops are more elite.And every time a place is laid down, the national soldiers of Xuzhou County will take over the city defense, and at the same time, the soldiers and prisoners will be reorganized and drilled.For example, when Zhang Fei attacked Qingzhou in the past, the [-] troops dispatched at the beginning were all front-line combat troops. Later, after conquering the three counties, he regained Pingyuan County, and began to deploy long garrisons to defend the city defense.At this time, the front-line combat troops in the four counties of Qingzhou were only [-].

Of course, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers trained by Zhao Feng and Gao Shun, even the soldiers of the county, should not be underestimated.Even if there is some gap with Cao Cao's front-line combat troops, Zhao Feng estimates that its combat effectiveness should not be inferior to that of Jingzhou Army or Yizhou Army.

At this time, the report came from Malai, Gan Ning's Huaihe navy was expected to arrive at Lujiang tonight.At the same time, a navy of about 8000 people from Jiangdong just left Sanshan Port and was heading for Lujiang.

(End of this chapter)