Prince of Song Dynasty

Chapter 562

Before Ye Chen instructed the Weapons Division to invent a new type of catapult, the catapult was only equipped with a mechanism to bounce stones, and because the sound was like thunder, it was sometimes called a thunderbolt. "Three Kingdoms Wei Zhi Yuan Shao Biography": "Taizu (Cao Cao) was a stone chariot and hit (Yuan) Shaolou, all of which were broken. Shaozhong called it a thunderbolt chariot." Also known as "throwing chariots."Refers to throwing stones out with thick bamboo on the cart; as a means of attacking fortifications.In fact, the catapult is the cannon of the black side of Chinese chess.

The first large-scale use of catapults in the history of Chinese warfare should be Li Xin (a distant ancestor of the parachutist Li Guang) who attacked Chu. The Chu army secretly prepared a large number of catapults. When the Qin army crossed the river, they suddenly launched them at the same time. Countless sharp stones were like dark clouds. Hitting the Qin army, the 20 Qin army was completely defeated, and Li Xin himself was defeated and committed suicide.Later, Wang Jian, one of the four famous generals in the Warring States Period, led an army of 60 to conquer the Chu State. It can be seen that the power of the catapult at that time, the Chinese catapult reached its peak in the Song Dynasty.

On the other hand, the catapult is a large-scale manpower long-range weapon that uses the principle of leverage to throw stone bombs. Its appearance is the progress of technology and the need of war.But before Ye Chen attacked the Southern Han Dynasty last year and made improvements himself, and then the Huaxia Weifu Weapons Department made two improvements, the structure of the catapult has always been very simple, a huge lever, and the long end is loaded with a leather case or a wooden basket. Dozens of ropes are tied to the short end of the stone. When an order is issued, dozens of people pull the rope at the same time and use the principle of leverage to throw the stone. This is the ancient god of war that has lasted for hundreds of years since the Three Kingdoms.

And this so-called God of War is actually extremely inaccurate, and the projection distance is extremely limited. The reason why it can be called the God of War is mainly based on quantity, just like the anti-aircraft guns of later generations. The enemy's purpose.However, after Ye Chen combined the improvement and guidance of later generations of physical knowledge, the distance of the catapult after the re-improvement of Huaxia Weifu Weapons Department has increased by more than two times, and the accuracy has increased by dozens of times.After Li Junhao said this, the ecstasy in Zhao Kuangyin's expression could hardly be concealed.All the ministers praised Huaxia Weifu and Ye Chen.

Next, Li Junhao talked about Chongche. In this era, Chongche is also called Linchong or Dulou. It is a kind of armored siege tower, that is, the main siege weapon that destroys the city wall or city gate with the force of collision. A kind of siege equipment commonly used in ancient times.However, regardless of the impact force and self-defense strength are extremely limited, often only when the siege party clearly has the upper hand or when the city is finally broken can it play a big role.

However, the Huaxia Weifu Weapons Department's improved Chongche is a siege tower with eight wheels and a height of five stories.The lowest layer is the soldiers who push the cart forward, and the other four layers are loaded with combat soldiers who are attacking the city.The car is about ten feet high, five feet wide, and six feet long.This kind of really giant charging car can use its own height to shoot directly into the city from the car. It can also be used to approach the city wall, destroy the female wall (stacked wall), and directly attack the defending enemy on the city wall.In addition to being equipped with various long weapons, the car can also be loaded with heavy weapons such as crossbows and stone cannons.

As for the dynamite kit, let alone a brand new siege weapon, after Li Junhao explained its use, Zhao Kuangyin, Cao Bin, Shen Yilun, and even Zhao Pu and Zhao Guangyi quickly thought of it. Dig a tunnel under the city wall, bury the dynamite pack, and then detonate it, blowing the city wall down.What kind of scene is this, which almost means that the city is broken.

Zhao Kuangyin was already grinning from ear to ear, and decreed on the spot that the main craftsmen who invented and improved these four kinds of utensils should be awarded the official rank of seventh rank, and each would be rewarded with 300 taels of silver.

Zhao Kuangyin didn't know that these were just one of the many inventions of the Huaxia Weifu Weapons Department. If he knew that the Weapons Department also had binoculars, stone mines for field battles against cavalry, and hot air balloons and Ye Chen that were being developed for reconnaissance and even aerial attacks After imagining the grenade, I don't know how I will feel.

In short, the Huaxia Weifu gave His Majesty the Emperor and the civil and military officials of the Manchu Dynasty another big surprise today. The war against the Tang Dynasty has not yet begun, but the Huaxia Weifu has already made great contributions, and everyone understands that these great contributions are all It comes from the young county king who is about to die.

In the fourth year of Kaibao, on February 22, Zhao Kuangyin sent Zuo Suyi and Zhi Zhigao Li Mu as envoys to the Southern Tang Dynasty, and delivered an edict in the name of the country to Li Yu, the subordinate state leader, to go to the capital of the Song Dynasty to have an audience.

Hearing that he was asked to go to Kaifeng, Li Yu was frightened for a while. He said that he would discuss with the ministers first, and then reply to the envoys.

The ministers of the Southern Tang Dynasty heard that the emperor of the Song Dynasty wanted Li Yu to enter the court, and they all thought that it would be more ominous. Chen Qiao, a close minister of Li Yu, even opposed it fiercely. If you are detained, it will be difficult to return to the country. At that time, the Southern Tang Kingdom will not be protected. Even if the minister is dead, he will have no face to see Yuanzong under Jiuquan."

After hearing what they said, Li Yu didn't dare to go to Kaifeng in Song Dynasty, so he refused to go north on the grounds that he was sick.At the same time, he begged Li Mudao in a low voice: "I serve Song Dynasty so carefully, it is nothing more than self-preservation. If I press hard like this, I will only die today." Hastily pulled.Looking at their emperor, they were so pitiful and pathetic that they couldn't help crying.

However, Li Mu said coldly: "Whether to go to the court or not is up to the king himself. But the Song Dynasty now has elite soldiers and strong material resources, and is ready to attack our country at any time. I am afraid that the Southern Tang Dynasty will not be able to stop its troops. I hope the king will think it over carefully so that he will not regret it in the future." After saying that, he walked away angrily.

This is exactly what Zhao Kuangyin wanted, and he expected that Li Yu would not dare to come.In this way, he can use Li Yu's disobedience and refusal to enter the pilgrimage as an excuse, and he will leave the Southern Tang Dynasty in a grandiose manner.

At the end of February in the lunar calendar, the Great Song Dynasty vowed to conquer the Southern Tang Dynasty. On March [-]nd in the lunar calendar, the Emperor Zhao Kuangyin of the Great Song Dynasty followed the Southern Tang Dynasty. In the middle of the war, people and gods were all angry, and the general offensive against the Southern Tang Dynasty was formally launched on the grounds of heaven's anger and people's grievances.

Zhao Kuangyin appointed Pan Mei as the deployment of the horse infantry army in the southwest of Shengzhou, as the commander of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Jien, the chief of the internal affairs, as the supervisor, and Cao Wei as the commander of the vanguard.At the same time, Zhao Kuangyin appointed Zhao Zan as the envoy of the camp recruiting system in the southeast of Shengzhou. He led 5 cavalry and [-] Wuyue troops to attack Changzhou from the east. The Song Dynasty navy captured Runzhou, and then jointly attacked Jinling.In addition, Wang Yunfei, the governor of Guizhou, deployed the Chizhou-Yuezhou road inspection and war capital, marched to Wuchang, restrained the Jiangxi heavy cavalry, and prevented them from going east to rescue Jinling.In this way, together with Pan Mei's [-] main force, two infantry armies, and our water army, the three armies will come together, and these three armies will all be controlled by Pan Mei.

The reason why Zhao Kuangyin chose Pan Mei as the commander-in-chief was not only because of his military command ability, but also because of his cautiousness in previous expeditions.When the Song army conquered Shu, Wang Quanbin was the commander, Cao Bin was the governor, and Pan Mei was the vanguard. On the day when the city was conquered, the commander Wang Quanbin and the generals feasted day and night. , Wang Quanbin refused to listen.After returning to the court, all the generals made a fortune, except for Cao Bin, and Pan Mei "only books and quilts in the house".Wang Quanbin, Wang Renshan and other generals were all convicted. Only Cao Bin and Pan Mei were rewarded by Zhao Kuangyin. Pan Mei followed Cao Bin and refused to accept it. How can you deal with yourself when you and Cao are against each other?" Zhao Kuangyin said: "Qing Jian has made great achievements, but he is not arrogant. If you have the slightest problem of greed and indiscriminate killing, how can Wang Quanbin, Wang Renshan and others not say anything? I reward you and Cao Qing, not to reward the two of you, but to persuade and punish the armed forces and the people of the country, so there is no need to give in."

The people in the south of the Yangtze River are rich and the country is rich, Jinling treasures are abundant, and there are also a large number of priceless classics carefully collected by Li Can and Li Yu's father and son for many years.Once the Song army attacked Jinling, they would burn, kill and loot like Wang Quanbin did when he came to Shu.

On the day the generals left Beijing, Zhao Kuangyin specially summoned Pan Mei, and repeatedly warned him face to face: "To pacify the Southern Tang Dynasty, I have full authority and you. Remember to strictly observe military discipline, win over the people in the south of the Yangtze River by virtue of kindness, and never kill innocent people indiscriminately. Looting property; try to win Li Yu's surrender, and would rather take a longer time, than rely on a large number of soldiers, show off the bravery of a man, rush to attack the city, so as not to cause too many casualties. Even if it is necessary to attack the city, the city will be broken On this day, you must not harm the people, let alone Li Yu's family." Leader Pan Meidun ordered, keep it in mind.

Then, when Zhao Kuangyin sent all the generals on their way, he personally gave Pan Mei a Shangfang sword in public, and said sharply: "From the deputy general down, anyone who does not obey orders can be killed without hesitation." All of them were terrified and turned pale.They couldn't help but remind themselves in their hearts that they must be careful when they leave the teacher this time, and don't get into bad luck.

Zhao Zan was the first to fight. On the fifth day of March, Zhao Zan led [-] cavalry and [-] infantry from the original Wuyue Kingdom who had undergone special training for half a year to the west bank of the Grand Canal, approaching the city of Changzhou in the southeast of the Southern Tang Dynasty.

At this time, Zheng Chengsong, a veteran of the Southern Tang Dynasty, was guarding the city of Changzhou. Although he was incomparable with Ye Chen, Cao Bin, Zhao Zan, and Pan Mei, Zheng Chengsong had been compared with several former Southern Han and Wu Yue kingdoms in the past few years. In this conflict and battle, he has won many times. In all fairness, Zheng Chengsong is by no means mediocre. He is a steady soldier, with an upright personality, and he still has some talents.And Changzhou City, as the most important minister in the southeast of the Southern Tang Dynasty, had a high city and a thick defense.

Perhaps because the city was not easy to attack, Zhao Zan first sent someone to persuade him to surrender, but Zheng Chengsong directly beheaded the envoy sent by Zhao Zan and threw him down from the city. Naturally, the persuasion failed.

Relying on the solidity of the city, Zheng Chengsong actually did not have a great sense of urgency. Although the Southern Tang Dynasty was not as powerful as the Song State, and could not defeat the Song State in field battles, the Southern Tang Dynasty was rich, with sufficient food, grass, and defense equipment in the city, and there were also defenders. [-], even if he can't beat Zhao Zan, he has already made up his mind to defend the city for several months and wait for reinforcements.

(End of this chapter)