On the fourth day of November, Dashanguan delivered a batch of extremely important strategic materials to Chen Qing's operations, including 400 crossbows, 30,000 jackdaw arrows, 1,000 barrels of gunpowder and 2,000 barrels of kerosene.
Chen Qing ordered the camp gate to be opened, and he personally went outside the camp gate to welcome the arrival of these important supplies.
Whether in Erlang Village or Linyou County, he has experienced the powerful advantages of the bed crossbow. This is a sharp arrow that is much more powerful than the divine arm crossbow. It can shoot through the bodies of three people within dozens of steps, which is very effective against the enemy.
The army's cavalry formations and dense enemy formations have strong lethality.
As for the powder keg, it was Chen Qing's unique trick at Jianxiao Pass. He tasted the benefits, but the quantity was too small.
This time he specifically asked Wu Jie for these three weapons. Wu Jie also knew the importance of his army and gave him 40% of the 1,000 crossbows, and 30% of the gunpowder and kerosene each.
The key to preventing the enemy troops from charging out of the West Valley and cutting off the Monk's original Song army's retreat lies in Chen Qing's last line of defense.
Watching barrels of kerosene and gunpowder being moved into the tent, Chen Qing ordered a soldier: "Go and find Zheng Ping!"
Among all his subordinates, the person Chen Qing trusts the most is Zheng Ping. Although Zhao Xiaoyi is also loyal and reliable, Zhao Xiaoyi lacks experience and has not experienced too many hardships. His outlook on life is not yet fully mature. Once he is exposed to temptation, will he still be loyal to him?
It’s hard to tell yourself.
Yang Yuanqing is a tactful person, his character is too tough and not rigid enough, and his loyalty is still a little bit low.
Yang Zaixing had been with him for too short a time, and Chen Qing still didn't know him well. It goes without saying that the Huyan brothers were loyal to the Huyan family. As for the other generals, they were more loyal to Wang Yan. There is no doubt about this.
Only Zheng Ping has been in the army for many years and has gone through ups and downs. He has followed him since he was the leader of the scouts. Even the sudden identity of a foreign relative did not make him change his principles of life. Although Zheng Ping has various shortcomings, he is loyal to himself.
, no one is as good as him.
Not long after, Zheng Ping came running over, "Commander, are you looking for me?"
A few days after Zheng Ping came back, he married Yang Liu in Hanzhong. He was a little reluctant to return and returned to camp two days after the deadline. Due to the tight war preparations, Chen Qing did not bother to punish him.
"How many of your most trusted subordinates are there?" Chen Qing asked.
Zheng Ping scratched his head, "About a dozen!"
"You gather them together, and I will teach your men the techniques of making match ropes."
Match ropes, a delayed detonation tool, are extremely important in the use of firearms. Chen Qing made a batch of match ropes at Jianxiao Pass, but he did not give this technology to the Song army.
The reason is also very simple. This technology is a double-edged sword. The Song army can use it to deal with the Jin soldiers. In turn, the Jin soldiers can also use firearms to attack the Song Dynasty.
Once the match rope was promoted on a large scale among the Song army, it would soon spread to the Jin Kingdom, which was inevitable.
Zheng Ping quickly called for more than a dozen of his trusted soldiers. In the big tent, Chen Qing said to everyone: "From now on, I will give you a technique for making match ropes.
What is a match rope? Maybe you have never seen it. Simply put, it is a thing that detonates gunpowder. It replaces the oil paper we used before. The oil paper is too affected by the wind and is easy to extinguish. It is unreliable at critical moments and the firearm cannot play its due role.
The main reason is here.
The match rope is not affected by the wind. After we light the match rope, we have to run at least fifty steps before the gunpowder explodes, and we will make at most one or two mistakes every 100 times.
This is a unique skill, and I will teach it to you today. I hope you will keep it strictly confidential and never leak it. Otherwise, once the Jin soldiers get this skill, the Song Dynasty will be destroyed."
Chen Qing personally demonstrated by cutting fine linen paper into strips, brushing with a layer of egg white, then evenly sprinkling gunpowder, and finally carefully rolling them up.
Egg white is a good thing. It can condense fine gunpowder particles into gunpowder blocks. There are gaps between them, which can make the gunpowder burn quickly and fully, thus forming explosive power.
Later, craftsmen discovered that using syrup could achieve the same effect, and the explosive effect was better. However, the cost of syrup was too high, so craftsmen generally still used egg whites to make gunpowder weapons.
Chen Qing smiled at everyone and said: "It's very simple, right! After it dries, it will be a match rope. Then we have to measure its burning speed to determine how long it should be cut into."
A veteran raised his hand and asked: "Excuse me, Commander, if the medicine is spread unevenly and the amount of medicine is different, wouldn't it mean that it is sometimes faster and sometimes slower?"
Chen Qing said happily: "This is a very good question. One is the amount of powder and the other is uniformity. The two are the key to the success or failure of the match rope. If we control it well enough, we can ensure that the gunpowder barrel explodes on top of the enemy's head."
Chen Qing smiled and asked the veteran who just asked, "What is your name and any military position?"
"My humble job is Xu Nian, and I am a guard!"
Chen Qing nodded, "From now on, you are the head of the Firearms Department, and you will be in charge of these dozen people. You have to come up with a good way to accurately control the amount and uniformity of the dosage?"
Xu Nian was overjoyed and quickly knelt down on one knee, "I humbly obey my orders!"
...........
Xianren Pass is the strategic pass from Qinzhou to Hanzhong. It is located in the lofty mountains in the northernmost part of Fengzhou. It is also the junction of Qinzhou and Fengzhou.
Xianren Pass and Yu Pass in the south are currently guarded by 4,000 troops led by Liu Ziyu's second son Liu Zan. This area is surrounded by vast mountains, narrow roads, and logistical transportation is very difficult. It is very inconvenient for the Jin soldiers who mainly use cavalry. Therefore, although the Jin soldiers captured
He arrived in Qinzhou, but he had no plan to enter Hanzhong from Xianren Pass.
That afternoon, hundreds of old, weak, women and children suddenly appeared in front of Xianren Pass, asking to pass.
This situation immediately alarmed the guard general Liu Zan. Liu Zan was also a very young general, only in his twenties. He joined the army at the age of sixteen and followed his father Liu Ziyu in the north and south. He has been in the army for eight years, starting from a small soldier.
He was promoted to commander. Like Chen Qing, he was one of the three young generals of the Western Army trained by Zhang Jun.
In addition to Chen Qing and Liu Zan, another key training target was Liu Qi, the commander of the Jingyuan Army who was in his early thirties. He was the first to be promoted by Zhang Jun and was promoted three levels from commander to become the youngest commander of the Western Army.
Liu Zan rushed to Guancheng and saw that most of the people outside were old people, women and children, and occasionally there were a few young people.
He frowned. The Jin soldiers did not station troops on a large scale in Qinzhou to prepare for war. How could there be refugees?
"General, do the Jin soldiers want to attack Xianren Pass?" Wang Wei, the deputy general next to him, whispered.
Liu Zan shook his head, "If we want to make a sneak attack, there will be no refugees. This matter is a bit strange. General Wang will go down and ask what is going on?"
The door was not opened, so Wang Wei and a dozen brothers climbed down the ladder and went down to the city.
After questioning some old people, Wang Wei ran back and shouted: "General, they are from nearby villages and towns. They said that there were golden soldiers arresting strong men. The men were scared away. These old people, women and children were afraid of the golden soldiers' revenge, so they came to Xianren Pass to escape."
There is a Panjia Town in the north, and there are more than a dozen villages. There is no problem in this way, but Liu Zan still feels that there is something strange. The Jin soldiers never come to capture strong men near Xianren Pass.
He looked carefully at the refugee team, and there were some faint young faces. His heart moved, and he ordered the people around him: "Old people, women and children can pass, but all young and strong men are under control, and they will be questioned strictly one by one. If there is any doubt, arrest them immediately.
Liu Zan suspected that there were Jin Bing spies here, who came to find out the details of Xianren Pass, and used this method to sneak into the pass.
The door was opened, and groups of old people, women and children helped each other into the pass. Hundreds of soldiers stood in the pass, vigilantly examining every citizen who passed the pass. When they saw a slightly younger man, they immediately pulled him out, which immediately caused a commotion in the team. Many old people, women and children
They all started crying.
Liu Zan saw this clearly and ordered: "Let the man who is claimed by his family, let him go, and detain the man who is not claimed!"
The crying stopped, the commotion stopped, and everyone walked into the city gate one by one.
Lieutenant General Wang Wei came in from outside the city and found a duck cage thrown at the city gate. There seemed to be more than a dozen ducks inside, but the owner was nowhere to be found. He picked up the duck cage and shouted: "Whose duck cage has been forgotten?"
"
The soldier behind him smiled and said: "General, it should be a pigeon cage!"
Wang Wei was startled and took a closer look inside the cage. Sure enough, there were two pigeons mixed inside. They were strong and had shiny feathers. Wang Wei was shocked. They were obviously homing pigeons.
No, there's a spy!
He rushed into the city and shouted, "General Liu, there are spies of the Jin soldiers in the crowd!"
Two young men in the crowd changed their expressions and ran away. The soldiers nearby swarmed up and knocked them down.
Liu Zan snorted heavily, "I said how could there be refugees? It is obviously to create opportunities for spies to sneak into the customs!"
