Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 561 Huaxia Weifu Can Do Three Things
Zhao Pu felt awe-inspiring and secretly ashamed. He regretted that he only thought about how to deal with King Zhao Guangyi of Jin recently. He didn't think about this matter in advance and was pointed out by His Majesty. It really didn't match his identity.Thinking like this, Zhao Pu hurriedly confessed his guilt and respectfully said yes.

Afterwards, Luo Gongming, the envoy of the third division, reported on the preparation and transportation of grain and grass, as well as the tripling of military pay for the war.In terms of financial planning, no one in the Song Dynasty can compare with Luo Gongming. He is also familiar with the road like Zhao Pu, but Zhao Kuangyin is well aware of the importance of food and grass in war, so he still can't help but give a few words.

After Luo Gongming stepped aside, Zhao Kuangyin looked at Li Junhao and said in a gentle voice: "Li Aiqing will tell you about the preparations for Huaxia Weifu."

Li Junhao bowed to Zhao Kuangyin when he came out of the class, and said, "Your Majesty, when the Huaxia Weifu is attacking the Southern Tang Dynasty, in addition to the normal military investigation, there are three things that can be done to make the attack on the Southern Tang Dynasty more effective."

Everyone cheered up when they heard the words, and Zhao Kuangyin's eyes lit up even more. Although everyone at the scene was very confident about taking down the Southern Tang Dynasty, if they could save some people from dying and spend less time, no matter if it was the two governments or the three divisions, Or His Majesty the Emperor is very willing to see.After all, every time a person dies, the Great Song army loses a share of strength, not to mention that the Great Song Dynasty has always been extremely rich in blood gold for dead soldiers. Taking ordinary soldiers as an example, the blood gold is thirty guan, and 1 deaths represent 30 coins.Not to mention how much food and grass would be eaten by tens of thousands of soldiers and horses for one more day of fighting, and the salaries of officers and soldiers were tripled during the war, and the daily consumption was astronomical.During this process, nearly a million peasants were recruited across the country to be responsible for logistics and transportation of grain and grass. These peasants were all farmers, and they left their fields behind. The fields were barren and the daily losses were huge.In short, no matter at that time or in later generations, fighting is money to some extent.

Since the establishment of the Huaxia Weifu, under the leadership of Ye Chen, miracles have been created not once or twice, and not one or two good things have been produced.Although Ye Chen is not standing here at this time, the effect of what he said is the same.

Zhao Kuangyin smiled and said, "Li Aiqing, tell me what three things are there?"

Li Junhao respectfully said yes, and then said: "Since the establishment of the Huaxia Weifu, the General Commander has asked the Intelligence Department to try every means to persuade the Southern Tang officials to surrender and rebel against the Southern Tang officials in various counties and counties in the Southern Tang Dynasty. Once the Great Song Army goes to war against Southern Tang, the Intelligence Department of Huaxia Weifu can make the guards and magistrates of the five prefectures and four county towns of Southern Tang take the initiative to open the city gates and surrender."

Everyone's heart skipped a beat when they heard the words, Huaxia Weifu's handwriting is so great.

Of course, many people were overjoyed. The Southern Tang Dynasty had always been rich and prosperous. Although the army was not powerful enough, the city walls were always high but extremely strong. To take down a county seat will cost at least 500 people, and to take down a state city, the loss will range from 2000 to [-] people.Five state cities and four county towns voluntarily surrendered, which meant that the Song army could at least reduce the loss of nearly ten thousand people.This alone is a great achievement.

Zhao Kuangyin let out a long laugh and said hello, but then remembered Ye Chen's dying state, with a look of sadness on his face, and said: "No one can compare Ye Qing's contribution to the early unification of the Song Dynasty. However, I was murdered by the Maitreya Sect and the monastic monks and thieves of the temple. I swear here today that I will wipe out the Maitreya Sect and the temple in my lifetime, hang them all, and avenge Ye Qing."

After Li Junhao thanked Ye Chen, he went on to say: "Your Majesty, the second thing I said is that the Huaxia Weifu Weapons Department has researched and designed a floating bridge, and the chief envoy has sent people over the past year. We have surveyed the depths of the Yangtze River, and have found a section of the river near Caishiji that is most suitable for this kind of pontoon bridge. As long as this kind of pontoon bridge is laid on the river, our soldiers and horses can cross the Yangtze River like walking on flat ground.”

Cao Bin and Shen Yilun's whole bodies were shocked, looking at Li Junhao with fiery eyes, Zhao Kuangyin stood up directly.His eyes revealed a strange light.

Lu Yuqing staggered and almost fell to the ground, his face was already extremely ugly, he opened his mouth to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything, but he had already scolded the eight generations of Ye Chen's ancestors in his heart.In Ye Chen's eyes, this is insignificant, and it is just a common task in the Huaxia Weifu, but to him, it is a great contribution, which is enough for him to be named a marquis from his current title of earl.You must know that although he is now the deputy prime minister of the Song Dynasty—a second-rank official in charge of political affairs, he is actually the same as most literati, or similar to the situation at the beginning of the founding of any dynasty. His title is far from official rank Matching, it cannot be compared with those military officers who are easy to make great achievements.But now, the great contribution he prepared to make today was said in a very flat and natural tone by an envoy of the Huaxia Weifu.His great achievements were in vain, and the title of marquis was far away from him. Not to mention, Li Junhao's demeanor when he talked about this matter gave him a lot of stimulation.It turned out that this kind of great contribution in his own eyes, in Ye Chen's view, was just a trivial matter that he ordered his subordinates to do casually.

Lu Yuqing's complexion has changed, and it has changed from being unsightly at the beginning to being sad. He was shocked by the scene in front of him, and Ye Chen is about to die now. The hatred towards Ye Chen due to various chances and coincidences has disappeared in an instant. .

The third thing Li Junhao said is four of the many achievements developed by the Weapons Department of Huaxia Weifu in the past year. To be precise, they are all used to attack the city-super ladders, long-distance precision catapults , The dynamite package used to blow up the city wall, rushing the car.

His Majesty the Emperor is a great expert in war. After Li Junhao briefly described the differences between the four types of siege equipment or the improvements and advances made on the basis of the current equipment, he was already smiling. This time he attacked the Southern Tang Dynasty. Combat strength, the field battle is not the opponent of the Song army at all, the victory or defeat or casualties mainly lie in the battle of attacking and defending the city, and having these four siege tools means that the Song army will die a lot less, and the siege speed is as fast as that of the Song army. Efficiency will definitely increase.

The first is the ladder. The Huaxia Weifu had previously provided the Privy Council Armament Supervisor with an improved design method for the ladder, and the ladder provided today has been greatly improved on the basis of this ladder.The ladder is a tool for climbing the city wall. The earliest ladder was invented by the craftsman Lu Ban in the Spring and Autumn Period. In fact, it existed as early as the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties.In this era or before the improvement of Huaxia Weifu, the ladders are composed of three parts: wheels, ladder bodies, and hooks.The ladder body can be tilted up and down, and the leaning frame can be lifted to the city wall by manpower.Previously, the cloud ladder after the first improvement of Huaxia Weifu added two iron hooks to the top of the original foundation to hook the edge of the city, and there were wheels under the ladder body, which could be moved.

But this time, Huaxia Weifu's latest ladder has been greatly improved on the basis of the previous one: the bottom frame of the ladder is made of wood, with six wheels underneath, and the ladder body is fixed on the chassis at a certain angle. In addition to the ladder, a movable "auxiliary ladder" is added, with a pair of windlass installed on the top. When climbing the city, the cloud ladder can move up and down freely along the city wall, without the need for people to lift their shoulders.At the same time, because the main ladder adopts a fixed device, the ladder-building procedure is simplified and the time for building the ladder is shortened. When the army is attacking the city, it only needs to stop the main ladder under the city, and then install the auxiliary ladder on the main ladder, and then it can "sleep". City and up", thus reducing the danger and difficulty of building ladders in front of the enemy.And because the ladder does not come into contact with the edge of the city early before climbing the city, it can also avoid the damage of the defenders.

In addition, under the inspiration of Ye Chen's random words, the skilled craftsmen of Huaxia Weifu's Weapons Department divided the main ladder of the ladder into two sections, adopting a folding structure, and connecting them with a rotating shaft in the middle.This shape is a bit like the folding flybridge that was popular at that time.At the same time, on the basis of the original auxiliary ladder, various forms have been designed to make it easier and faster to ascend the city to meet the enemy.In order to ensure the safety of the ladder pushers, and to learn from the previous practical experience of the ladder, the bottom of the ladder is designed as a car with shields on all sides, and the outside is reinforced with raw cowhide. Yashi's damage.There are many kinds of ladders used for siege in ancient times, and the cloud ladder is a kind of huge, bulky and complicated structure.

You must know that although there are many ways to siege a city in this era, most of them are based on the premise of quickly ascending the city. The ladder must be bold, fast, and take advantage of the situation to enter the city.Therefore, there are various light and simple flying ladders commonly used.For example, in the Han Dynasty, when the Han army attacked Zhizhi City, a wooden city wall was set up outside the city, and an earthen city wall was set up inside, so the defense was quite tight.The siege soldiers first shot upwards with bows and crossbows, repelled the guards on the city, burned down the wooden city with fire, charged into the wooden city with crossbows, bows, and halberds, then quickly approached the earthen city, built ladders on all sides, climbed the city by the ladders, and soon The inner city was smashed.This kind of siege method is a strong attack, which shortens the confrontation time between the two sides as much as possible, and quickly breaks through the city defense in one go. Therefore, a lightweight flying ladder must be used. The flying ladder is simple in structure, light in weight, and mostly made of wood and bamboo.The flying ladder taken out by Huaxia Weifu this time is two or three feet long, with two wheels at the head end, which is very beneficial for ants to attach to the city. Moreover, the Weapons Department is still based on the traditional ladder, and according to the needs of the battlefield in various situations, it also designed There are slight differences in the shape of these ladders, such as "Wooden Flying Ladder", "Flying Ladder", and "Bamboo Flying Ladder", but they are all light and practical to use.

Secondly, let’s talk about the catapult. As early as the Three Kingdoms period, when Yuan Cao was in a stalemate at Guandu, Yuan Shao’s army used a large siege equipment, the high scull, and then Liu Ye proposed to use the catapult to break the high scull. Later, it was improved and further improved by Ma Jun. .It has been widely used in the Spring and Autumn Period, and it has become an important weapon for attacking and defending cities after the Sui and Tang Dynasties.

(End of this chapter)