Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 1014 Steel String Bow

Yu Wen said with a smile: "If His Majesty hadn't pointed out the general research direction for us, and I asked Liu Dongming to issue a reward order to all craftsmen, it would not be possible to make this thing so quickly. Your Majesty doesn't know that this thing just started. But he is a complete waste of money!"

Ye Chen couldn't help laughing. In any technology development process, it is a waste of money. Some can earn back tens of thousands of times after being successful, while some research directions end up with nothing, or become successful after being developed. It is not uncommon to find a pile of expensive waste.

"Yu Wen, you didn't invite me here just because of this, did you?" Ye Chen smiled and said jokingly.

This made everyone laugh, Liu Dongming quickly said: "Your Majesty is very aware of the details, and there are indeed some good things."

"Then take it out, it's this time, and you're still hiding it from me?" Ye Chen said with a smile.

Yu Wen and Liu Dongming took Ye Chen to a side door of the weapon equipment research department compound. Although this door was inside the research department compound, there were still four guards with knives standing in front of the door. Seeing Ye Chen coming, the four guards After paying the military salute, they turned aside and walked in. They were surprised to find that there were no windows in the room, and it was dark. Although the door was open, there was still not enough light.

Liu Dongming arranged for people to quickly light the torches and oil lamps, and Ye Chen saw that the room was not small, enough to be half the size of a football field in later generations, and there was an iron cabinet near them, Ye Chen couldn't help being surprised, Said: "Yu Wen, Liu Dongming, what is this? The guards are so strict, and it is still placed in an iron cabinet."

Ye Chen patted the iron cabinet casually, made a muffled sound, took a breath, and said, "Such a thick iron plate, the contents inside must surprise me."

Liu Dongming said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the good thing is this iron cabinet!"

Iron cabinet?Ye Chen looked puzzled, walked around the iron cabinet, looked at the neat rows of black holes on the front of the iron cabinet, and suddenly realized: "Could it be possible to shoot crossbow arrows from these black holes?"

Liu Dongming nodded and said: "Your Majesty told me before about a weapon that can fire continuously. I have been thinking hard for a year, leading several master craftsmen to study and ponder. Some key issues have not been figured out until the beginning of the year After making it, and then using this steel to pull out the steel wire, these key issues have achieved major breakthroughs, please step back, Your Majesty, I will let His Majesty perform it again."

After Ye Chen retreated to the side, Liu Dongming stretched out his hand to open the iron cabinet from the back, and everyone saw rows of neatly wound steel springs in the cabinet, and the craftsman arranged by Liu Dongming was holding iron bars as long as crossbow arrows. box, Liu Dongming put all of them into the fixed slots in the iron cabinet, and then closed the cabinet door, and two apprentices held a 'zigzag' iron rod, and inserted it into the iron cabinet from one side, two Together, they turned the iron bar vigorously, and Ye Chen watched Liu Dongming and others' operations curiously.

Seeing the two craftsmen pull out the iron rods, Liu Dongming walked to the iron cabinet with a face full of pride, and somehow pulled it. Under the horrified eyes of everyone, he shot crossbow arrows continuously from the front of the iron cabinet. The stick was inserted into the wall in front of it, shaking the dust from the roof.Even Ye Chen's pupils shrank slightly, and he was amazed in his heart.

After a while, everyone woke up from the state of shock, "Good thing!" Ye Chen said loudly, and walked to the iron cabinet, "It is indeed a good thing, Liu Dongming, how many arrows can this thing shoot at a time?"

"This one is one hundred, but it can also be made into fifty, or 150, or even two hundred!" Liu Dongming said proudly.

"It's a good thing, but it's a pity that it's too bulky, and it can only be used in certain positions or defenses at fixed times!" Ye Chen said regretfully, "And it's a money-burning thing, Liu Dongming, this thing launched Arrows must be made of pure iron, right?"

Liu Dongming said: "Yes, Your Majesty, wooden or bamboo arrow shafts are not acceptable, as they will all break when the oar is shaken."

"One shot is a hundred arrows. If there are ten or hundreds of such things, one shot will be tens of thousands of arrows. How much iron does it cost? How much does it cost?" Ye Chen shook his head.

Hearing what Ye Chen said, everyone could not help calming down. Your Majesty is right, how many arrows can these irons be used to make?It's too expensive to use this thing, and it can only be used defensively.

Having said what Ye Chen said, Liu Dongming couldn't help but feel a little frustrated, but Ye Chen looked at the hundred-shot crossbow and thought for a while, and then said: "However, if this thing can develop a matching chariot, it can be easily mounted with a chariot. Marching and operating and attacking at any time on the battlefield, its role will be immeasurable. In addition, you have to continue to study and find ways to make it lighter. Of course, how to reduce its production cost is your next research the key of."

When Liu Dongming and other craftsmen heard this, their spirits revived immediately, and Yu Wen said: "Don't worry, Your Majesty, I and Liu Dongming will definitely organize skilled craftsmen to develop a matching chariot as soon as possible according to what Your Majesty said, so as to reduce its weight and reduce its weight." his cost."

Ye Chen nodded and said, "Any other good things?"

Liu Dongming hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, our research department has also developed a strong bow."

Ye Chen was a little surprised, and asked, "Strong bow? What's so special about it compared to the bows used in the army?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, our newly developed strong bow has two main improvements. One is to change the traditional rubber string to a steel string. Because the traditional rubber string is extremely difficult to maintain, once there is a rainy and snowy day, the rubber string It is easy to be soft and broken, but the steel string does not have this problem. Second, a pulley is installed for the strong bow, and the bowstring can be pulled without a lot of arm strength, and the shooting range is increased by about [-] steps when shooting.” Liu Dongming presented an improved strong bow while talking. Ye Chen tried to shoot a few bows and said with satisfaction: "Yes, this bow is very practical. It can be mass-produced and equipped with troops."

Everyone was overjoyed when they heard the words, Yu Wen said: "Your Majesty, this bow does not have a name yet, please give it a name."

Ye Chen thought for a while and said, "This bow is made of steel strings, so let's call it a steel string bow!"

……

……

Ye Chen originally planned a two-hour trip to Wugong County, but it took more than half a day. What made Ye Chen quite satisfied was not only the few "new treasures" that Yu Wen and Liu Dongming brought out, but also the current weapons and equipment. Of course, Ye Chen is very clear about the management method of the production base and the production mode of the factory building. This is the assembly line operation of later generations.

Ye Chen couldn't help feeling secretly in his heart: "The wisdom of the ancients should not be underestimated." Now the production of various weapons and equipment in the production base has unknowingly found such a way to improve production efficiency, and all craftsmen no longer learn The whole set of crafts, and only need to learn to make one of the links, and then assembled in the assembly workshop.Ye Chen didn't know, but the reason why the assembly line production mode came into existence so quickly was that he specially made the production base unify the measurement when he came to inspect last time. In this way, with these parts of the same size, it will be easier to repair the damaged equipment on the battlefield in the future, such as a giant gun and crossbow. Even if the damaged equipment cannot be repaired, disassemble the usable parts Come down, gather enough to assemble a new giant gun. Crossbow.

Next, Liu Dongming and Yu Wen took Ye Chen to a one-story house not far from the hammer, but there were hammers that seemed to have shrunk ten times in size, and countless craftsmen were busy inside. Smooth the cut plate armor wool with that thing, looking at those dexterous instruments, they have actually used the connecting rod device.

"After the big hammer was made, Jiang Siwa buried herself in the house for nearly a month to make it. The efficiency is amazing, and it is countless times faster than the workers with the small hammer! " Liu Dongming sighed.

……

……

Guazhou, where the Volunteer Army is stationed, has a strong atmosphere of war everywhere. There is an endless stream of messengers leading to Huang Dongqiu's headquarters between the various garrisons, and the small courtyard where Huang Dongqiu's army headquarters is located is even three steps away. One post, five steps and one sentry, the guards are strict.

As various preparations were gradually completed, especially all kinds of intelligence information about the Xizhou Uyghur Army was continuously gathered by the Ministry of Security and Huang Dongqiu's spies to the Volunteer Army Staff Headquarters, even the lowest-level soldiers knew that the war was imminent.After nearly half a year of recuperation, the tens of thousands of soldiers of the Volunteer Corps were excited again.The 3-strong Volunteer Corps has been fully staffed and has completed the initial training and reorganization.Among them, the third infantry brigade was stationed in Suzhou under the command of the deputy commander Yelu Hanye, and there were five brigades in Guazhou with 5000 people.

"Master Duanmu, please look!" Huang Dongqiu's face was stern. In front of him was a huge sand table. The terrain and landforms along the way from Guazhou to Shazhou were clear at a glance. Even the cities of Guazhou and Shazhou were captured by the volunteer army. The staff department was made into a model and placed on it.

Huang Dongqiu glanced at the dignified generals, and said in a deep voice: "The opponent we are facing this time is by no means a soft persimmon like the defenders of Liang, Gan, Su, and Guazhou when we went west more than five months ago. He is a tough opponent. Dulamati, the commander who occupies Shazhou, is a general in the western region. Although he is a barbarian, he is good at running the army. Commander Wan is a person with rich experience in the battlefield. His Majesty’s orders for us are not only Heifengzhai and Huoyangguan, but also Shazhou. We will even destroy the Xizhou Uighur country little by little in the future, and finally destroy the country. .”

(End of this chapter)