After returning from Pingliang Mansion, Chen Qing began preparations for the second Eastern Expedition. He originally hoped to cooperate with the Song army at Dashan Pass to gradually seize the Shaanxi Road. However, Wu Jie wrote to him and told him that Lu Fasheng was firmly opposed to sending troops.
Monk Yuan, who preferred to maintain the status quo, could not persuade Lu Fasheng and could only apologize to Chen Qing.
Since he could not count on the cooperation of friendly forces, Chen Qing could only rely on himself.
From defensive to offensive, Chen Qing is now thinking more about siege weapons. After returning to Chengji County, he immediately summoned officials and master craftsmen from the Military Crafts Department, discussed it over and over, and finally finalized several weapons that could defend against kerosene.
New siege weapons.
The Military Craftsman's Department is subordinate to Kai Cao, and there are three agencies under Kai Cao. The first is the Military Craftsman's Department, the second is the Firearms and Fire Oil Department, and the third is the Warships Department.
There are currently more than 400 people in the Military Artisan Department, who are basically all kinds of military craftsmen. The chief craftsman is Xie Changzhi.
That morning, Chen Qing brought a dozen generals to the Military Craftsman's Office. In the spacious backyard of the Military Craftsman's Office, there was a newly made sample, which was a sample of the ladder.
The ladder is a means for the attacking army to transport soldiers to the city over long distances without getting close to the city wall. It has always been a traditional siege weapon. Its technical content is very high, and its manufacturing process also has very high requirements, which is difficult for the grassland people to learn.
A ladder is like a crane. First of all, there is a platform, which weighs several thousand kilograms. It is usually made of strong wood and has six huge wheels.
When Chen Qing saw this ladder, his first reaction was that it was a giant carriage, three feet long and one foot high, and the wheels were taller than a person.
"Is this a carriage?"
Liu Cui was surprised and said: "I always thought it was filled with wood and weighed tens of thousands of kilograms, but it turned out that it was empty inside."
Xie Changzhi quickly explained: "It can be regarded as a large cart. It is pulled by five strong oxen and can accommodate more than twenty soldiers. However, it is quite special and cannot be used to transport people or materials.
The purpose of making it hollow is to facilitate transportation and walking, but during combat, it is not empty inside. There are ladders inside and soldiers responsible for operating them.
The cloud ladder consists of a bed, a main ladder and an auxiliary ladder. The auxiliary ladder is an upper city ladder, which is locked on the main ladder. It is usually folded with a rotating shaft and unfolded when in use. The entire auxiliary ladder is about three feet long. By rotating the lower ladder
The main staircase will constantly change the location of the upper city.”
Zheng Ping was outspoken. He didn't care that this was the siege weapon Chen Qing was considering. He shook his head repeatedly and said, "It's too heavy. If a gunpowder barrel blows off the wheel, will it be useless?"
As soon as Zheng Ping opened his mouth, the generals all felt that it was not very practical. They originally hoped that it could avoid strong fire, but now they suddenly found that it was actually more difficult to avoid strong fire oil.
Yang Zaixing frowned and said: "We all made a common mistake. We always thought that kerosene was burning under the city wall. The fact is that because our soldiers were standing under the city wall, if we were standing outside the moat, then the opponent would throw stones.
A machine can throw kerosene cans dozens of feet away, and it can still incinerate attacking soldiers. Just imagine, if it is filled with several large barrels of kerosene and then set alight, the entire ladder will be engulfed in thick smoke and fire."
Everyone looked towards Chen Qing. Chen Qing actually regretted it a bit. He only considered the advantages of the ladder, but did not keep pace with the times. The siege gradually became smaller, simpler, and low-cost, but he did the opposite.
There is a reason why ladders appeared less and less on the battlefields of the Song Dynasty, mainly due to the emergence of various firearms.
As long as such a bulky guy appears on the battlefield, it will definitely become the target of firearms attacks. Although the firearms of the Song Dynasty are not very powerful, they are more than enough to deal with this kind of ladder. The ladder is too precise and will be damaged even if it is slightly damaged.
It will lose its effectiveness, especially because its manufacturing cost is too high and it cannot support a large-scale war.
Chen Qing sighed and said: "Although it is more terrifying to defend the city with fierce fire oil, not all cities will have strategic materials such as fierce fire oil. For example, in Pingliang City, we will no longer use the method of strong attack, but use other methods.
way to attack the city."
Niu Gao smiled and said: "It's like capturing Huangzhou City!"
Capturing Huangzhou City was to bribe the Sun family. A large number of soldiers joined the team of general Sun Jian who defended the city. In the end, the soldiers guarding the city at night were all Song troops. Taking Huangzhou City was easy.
Chen Qing nodded, "This is one way, or we can ambush hundreds of people and seize a section of the city at night. Unlike before, where we had to seize the city gates, it is much easier to seize the city."
Xie Changzhi said with a bitter face: "Du Tong, does Yunti have to be rejected?"
Chen Qing smiled and said: "It would be good to transform it into a large transport vehicle, specially used to transport wounded soldiers and firearms and fuel."
Everyone laughed, Xie Changzhi blushed and said: "I understand the humble position!"
Chen Qing smiled again and said: "However, we need to carefully consider how to make a siege ladder that can move laterally, how to make it simple and practical, and not easy to damage. Maybe its effect will be better than a cloud ladder."
Several master craftsmen bowed together and agreed, "I obey!"
........
Chen Qing walked out of the military craftsman's office, and a soldier ran towards him. He ran to Chen Qing, got off his horse and reported: "Alert to the capital, General Wu Jie is here!"
Wu Jie actually came, and Chen Qing quickly asked: "Where are they?"
"Right in Jiedufu!"
Chen Qing hurriedly urged his horse to rush towards Jiedu Mansion. He arrived at Jiedu Mansion in a short time and saw a group of cavalry in front of the gate of the mansion, about a hundred people. The leader was General Wu Jie. He was waiting for him at the door and did not go in.
Chen Qing quickly turned over and dismounted, stepped forward quickly, clasped his fists, and said with a smile: "I didn't know General Wu was coming, I'm sorry!"
Wu Jie smiled slightly and said: "I have always wanted to come to Qinzhou to visit, but I never had the time. This time I finally have the opportunity to come and visit."
"Where does General Wu want to see? I will accompany the general to see it."
"Let's go see the military camp first!"
The two got on their horses, and Chen Qing accompanied Wu Jie to the military camp.
"Chen Dutong, I'm sorry about what happened in Pingliang Mansion."
Wu Jie found an opportunity to express his apology to Chen Qing.
Chen Qing smiled lightly and said: "This is not your problem, I believe you will definitely send troops to Monk Yuan!"
Wu Jie nodded, "This is actually because the defense concepts of the Xuanfu envoys are different. Although Zhang Xuanfu envoy defeated Fuping, he was unwilling to accept it and wanted to regain Guanzhong. He had a strong sense of counterattack. According to his defense concept,
I proposed the plan of stationing troops and monk Shang Yuan, and it was successfully passed.
Zhu Shengfei will not mention it. He was transferred back before he got familiar with Sichuan and Shaanxi. Lu Fasheng was the former deputy envoy of Xuanfu. He was very familiar with Sichuan and Shaanxi. However, he was too focused on maintaining success and only hoped that no war would break out during his tenure.
This kind of thinking is why he firmly opposed sending troops to Monk Yuan. He was afraid of offending the Jin soldiers and triggering their counterattack on Dashan Pass. This man was too cautious and was really mediocre."
Chen Qing couldn't help but laugh: "This is the first time I heard General Wu evaluate his superior so frankly!"
"When Wang Heng made his northern expedition to the Central Plains, Fengxiang's Jin soldiers only had 5,000 men, and the puppet Qi army in Jingzhao Prefecture only had 10,000 men. You took advantage of this opportunity to recapture Xihe Road. I also wanted to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to recapture Guanzhong, but Lu Fa won.
He refused to agree to life and death, and I wanted to kill him with a knife at that time. You can't understand my disappointment and anger at that time."
Speaking of this, Wu Jie had tears in his eyes, and Yang Tian took a long breath and said: "I'm leaving anyway, so I don't care anymore. I only dare to say what I have been holding in my heart for too long."
Chen Qing was startled, "General Wu wants to leave? Why?"
Wu Jie glanced at him and said, "It seems that you don't care about what happened in Lin'an. That won't work. Didn't the imperial court require Xihe Road to build a branch in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Memorial Hall? You can arrange for a confidant to be in charge of Lin'an.
, master the major events in Lin'an."
Chen Qing just didn't want the Sichuan-Shaanxi Xuanfu Department to interfere with him, so he didn't build a branch in the Sichuan-Shaanxi Jinzou Hall. He even didn't want to build a Jinzou Academy at all.
However, Wu Jie was right. He should arrange for a confidant to be in charge of Lin'an and keep track of all the major events that happened in Lin'an. Chen Qing thought of Zheng Ping's father, who was actually the most suitable person.
But Chen Qing now wants to know why Wu Jie was transferred? This is the big deal at hand.
"Why should General Wu be transferred?"
"The Jurchens' request was originally to transfer you together, but for some reason they put you down and designated me to be transferred separately before they were willing to sign the armistice agreement. The sneak attack of three thousand Jurchen cavalry frightened the officials, so he
I agreed to the request of the Kingdom of Jin, but the officials treated me well and promoted me to a higher rank than Lu Fasheng."
Speaking of this, Wu Jie laughed again and said: "This time Lu Fasheng was also transferred and served as the transfer envoy of Fujian Road. Liu Guangshi took over as the Xuanfu envoy of Sichuan and Shaanxi. It was recommended by Empress Dowager Wei. Unexpectedly!"
Chen Qing was speechless for a long time. He was really being targeted by Empress Dowager Wei. Zhu Shengfei had just gone, and Liu Guangshi had come, both of whom were his enemies.