After preparing the steel, Lin and Dong went to the blacksmith shop and explained their purpose.

The two blacksmiths are a father and son, with the surname Li. The craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty were all craftsmen, and they have been craftsmen for generations, so the skills are good and can be regarded as ancestral.

Seeing his arrival, both of them were very eager and happily chatted with Lin Dong. Although they were respectful to Lin Dong at first, it was only a matter of etiquette, or it was a basic courtesy that ordinary people showed to scholars.

However, when Lin Dong took out the drawings he drew, the expressions of the two people changed clearly. They were surprised at first, but then turned into respectful, sincere respect.

Because the drawings designed by Lin Dong are not only beautiful in style, but also have many functions that ordinary knives do not have. Although these changes are not major, their effects cannot be underestimated. The old blacksmith has been working in the family for generations. Although he cannot design good weapons, he

As long as you take a quick look, you can immediately see the mystery.

"I didn't expect that your Excellency is a master in blacksmithing. I'm really ashamed of myself."

Lin Dong waved his hands and said: "You two are welcome, I am just trying to do what I want, these two masters have real skills, so don't be polite."

Seeing Lin Dong treating them so courteously, the two of them were moved. There was no status among craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty. Usually, even if ordinary people came to make a hoe, sickle or something, they would yell at each other. Never had they ever been so respected by someone, and they immediately had a strong impression on Lin Dong.

rise.

Although the blacksmith and his son were good at craftsmanship, they had never made weapons before. Lin Dong was not sure about them, so he drew the blueprints in advance.

The drawings were prepared by Lin Dong in advance. The drawings not only drew the style and characteristics of the material, but also marked the dimensions.

He asked the blacksmith to make it according to the drawing dimensions and try not to make too big an error.

At the beginning, the old blacksmith was not a little confused and didn't understand why all weapons must maintain the same standard. Fortunately, after Lin Dong explained it, the old blacksmith came to understand.

Using a unified system is easy to say but very difficult to implement, because the industry at this time was very underdeveloped. Blacksmiths basically processed the iron roughly according to the shape of the material to make it suitable for use. There was no certain style, so the things made had errors.

Very big.

Unifying the size was indeed a bit difficult for the Ming Dynasty craftsmen who did not have any precise measuring tools.

Although the difficulty was not small, Lin Dong did not give up. After discussing for a long time, several people finally came up with a feasible method, which was to make a mold first, and then pour the molten iron into the mold. In this way, the size would be determined.

Already.

With weapons of the same size, even if they are occasionally damaged, they can be replenished in time, which plays a very good role in the protection of military weapons.

This is still difficult to fully reflect in the era of cold weapons. Once we enter the era, the unified size greatly reduces the repair and maintenance of ordnance. Even if there are parts, they can be replaced in time, even on the battlefield, which can be completed immediately. This greatly

Improved the combat effectiveness of the army.

Lin Dong was very satisfied with this. Considering the secrecy of forging weapons, he decided to invite the two of them to the military camp for forging. Firstly, it would be convenient for him to know the progress of the production at any time, and if problems were found, he could rectify them in time; secondly, he could transport them nearby, saving time and effort.

; Another advantage is that forging weapons in the military camp can prevent people from seeing it. After all, there are many people outside, and it will not do you any good if this matter spreads.

In the Ming Dynasty, privately forging weapons was a serious crime of beheading. Although he had a document from the county magistrate in his hand, it was not clear how useful this document could be.

When the father and son heard that the blacksmith shop was going to be moved to the military camp, they couldn't help but feel hesitant. Fortunately, Lin Dong promised them that they could leave at any time if anything happened, so they agreed.

It's said to be a blacksmith's shop, but it's actually nothing. Apart from a stove, a few hammers and two iron stakes, there aren't many other belongings.

Lin Dong called a group of people and quickly moved the blacksmith shop to the military camp. In order not to waste time, the two of them immediately started the furnace and started forging weapons.

When the villagers heard the news, they also sent their scrap metal to Lin Dong.

Looking at the pile of farm tools, Lin Dong changed his decision to only make spears.

In his opinion, although spears are good, they are not suitable for fighting in complex environments, and at this time, long knives become a good choice.

The only thing that worries him is that these iron tools are not made of steel. There is no problem in making farm tools, but they are not suitable for making steel knives.

The old blacksmith was not surprised by this problem and promised to recast the pig iron so that it could be used to make steel knives.

As for the method, the old blacksmith didn't mean to hide it and said it directly.

According to the old blacksmith, it is really difficult to refine this iron into steel. It would be much easier if he could just refine it for him.

The refining method is to continuously hit the red-hot iron ingot with a hammer until there are very few impurities in it, and then it can be used to make weapons.

As a result, much more iron was consumed than planned.

Fortunately, many villagers are willing to help collect iron tools. If a small amount is accumulated, there should not be much shortage.

So he ordered the blacksmith to use the remaining materials to make some long knives after finishing the spear.

As for armor, Lin Dong didn't dare to expect it. Firstly, these blacksmiths didn't have the skills, and secondly, the materials were far from enough.

After arranging everything, Lin Dong returned to the military camp again. At this time, a brand new military camp had been built. The village soldiers were sitting on the ground in twos and threes chatting. When they saw Lin Dong coming back, they came to greet him one after another.

Looking at this group of energetic recruits, Lin Dong was filled with passion. This was his own strength. In order to gain a foothold in the Ming Dynasty, he had to work hard.

As the saying goes, everything is difficult at the beginning. Although he summoned these rural soldiers with a piece of paper, the next work was complicated and it was not easy to sort it out.

It can be said that except for people and the empty military camp, there is nothing else. The first thing to consider is food and grass, but Lin Dong is too busy with things in the military camp to take care of it.

Fortunately, he still had a helper, Li Da, whom he brought from the village. Li Da was a lively person. Ever since he was brought here by Lin Dong, he had been diligent and studious, and he had learned many skills in just a few days.

The service is also very reliable.

Although Li Da was still lacking in knowledge, he was smart and was not an easy boss. With no one available, Lin Dong had no choice but to send Li Da out to purchase rice and supplies.

Before the soldiers and horses are moved, food and grass must go first. You can't let the soldiers train hungry. Moreover, for a military camp with so many people, there are really a lot of things to purchase, and at the same time, enough clothes and quilts must be purchased.

Li Da couldn't read a word, so it was really difficult for him to do this.

Fortunately, the weather is hot now, and clothes and quilts are relatively simple. In addition, Lin Dong has limited funds, so he can only buy some necessities first, which makes him a lot less stressed.

Li Da was also self-aware and knew that he had no education, so he spent a few pennies to find a poor scholar to help him, and after a day of hard work, he finally completed the tasks assigned by Lin Dong.

It seems that the general is right. Professional things really need to be done by professionals.

After solving the problem of rice and grain, Lin Dong focused his main energy on building an army. His goal was to build a strong army that could conquer and fight well. To build such a strong army, he was destined to pay more than others.

many.

He did not dare to be careless at all, and kept recalling the knowledge he had learned from books in his mind. This knowledge was both ancient Chinese and modern, both Eastern and Western.

In his view, to build an undefeated iron army, one must draw on the strengths of others and only with excellent quality can the army's advantages be fully utilized.

In addition to the quality of the soldiers, discipline is also very important for the military's combat effectiveness, and this must also be paid attention to.

Lin Dong did not intend to make any innovations in the army organization. The Ming Dynasty guard army adopted a decimal system, with ten people as squads, hundreds as hundred people, and thousands as thousand people. There were respectively ten captains, one hundred captains, and one thousand captains.

husband.

Lin Dong's rural soldiers only have fifty people, which is less than a hundred-man team. According to Ming Dynasty standards, each hundred-man team has ten gunmen, twenty crossbowmen, thirty swordsmen, and spearmen.

Forty people.

According to the regulations, there is a general flag for fifty people. Lin Dong gave this position to Li Da. Judging from the time Li Da followed him, apart from his lack of cultural level, Lin Dong was quite satisfied with him in other aspects.

.The most important thing is that Lin Dong has known Li Da since he was a child and knows everything about him. Judging from the memory of the previous Lin Dong, this Li Da is a trustworthy person.

Now Lin Dong had neither firecrackers nor shields, and only had spears and swords in his hands, so he simply cut off the firecrackers and swordsmen, leaving only the archers and spearmen.

As for the tactics, Lin Dong thought about it for a long time.

In this era without spears and cannons, those modern tactics obviously cannot be used. Fortunately, Lin Dong also has some research on ancient warfare. In order to fight with other military history enthusiasts, he studied ancient times sleeplessly for several months.

Tactics.

At the beginning, he had resented the two annoying people who argued with him for a long time. Now that he thought about it, it was really thanks to him. If they hadn't resisted, he would have known nothing about ancient battle formations. It seemed that he was not a blessing.

Wrong.

But Lin Dong didn't know if this kind of thing learned in books would be useful in reality.

With no other option, Lin Dong could only use everything he had at his disposal. As for whether there were any flaws, he would only know when he went to the battlefield.

There were many forms of ancient battle formations, the oldest and most common being the square formation.

This formation is the simplest and most compact, suitable for infantry field battles. The weapons used in the phalanx are generally spears, shields, halberds, swords, axes, etc., with spears being the most common. The spears in the phalanx are generally placed at the end

The front line is the main offensive and defensive weapon, which can pose a great threat to the enemy.

If it is a plain battle, the best combat formation should be a spear phalanx. Of course, there are also differences between spear phalanxes. According to Lin Dong’s memory, there were four types of spear phalanxes that were famous in ancient times, namely the four ancient Greek phalanxes.

Spear phalanx, ancient Roman spear phalanx, Macedonian spear phalanx and Qin army spear phalanx.

After some deliberation, Lin Dong finally chose the spear as his main weapon because the spear has strong attack power and saves materials. This was something he had planned for a long time.

The length of the spears is set at three meters. During the battle, the spears are lined up in front of the team to form a dense defensive wall. In the absence of long-range strike weapons, the spear phalanx is undoubtedly the best method.

Of course, Lin Dong did not have absolute confidence in a spear phalanx alone. After all, the bandits he had to deal with this time often appeared in the mountains. Once they entered complex terrain, the spear phalanx would be greatly affected.
Chapter completed!