Liu Xin looked at Wei Yan and couldn't help but smile. Although he was tall, he couldn't hide his childish look on his face. He was clearly still a half-grown child, but he was still very enterprising, so he said: "Okay,
You also need to tidy up and leave the affairs of the Huotou Army to others first. You go find General Xu Chu and work with him first."
On the fifth day of the Lunar New Year, the research institute began to work. Because the war was imminent, many weapons had to be produced quickly. Liu Xin also brought Xu Huang, Huang Zhong, and Zhao Yun to the research institute to check the production status of stoning noodles and other equipment. Consider
The army may have to attack some checkpoints before heading north. In addition to the good performance of the trebuchets in the Battle of Jiangzhou, Liu Xin prepared to take 500 trebuchets to Luoyang.
After the Battle of Jiangzhou, the institute gathered a lot of manpower and began mass production of trebuchets. Now, five hundred trebuchets have been produced. After debugging, the institute will disassemble them into individual components and install them into
wooden box for easy transportation, and then reassembled into a trebuchet when it arrived on the battlefield.
Although the institute had a five-day holiday, Xiang Lang only had two days off during the Spring Festival. He is now one of the core figures of Liu Xin's group and knows many top secrets. Naturally, Liu Xin has no plans to send troops north in February.
Hiding it from him. So during the Spring Festival, Xiang Lang was very attentive and stayed in the institute almost all day.
After Liu Xin saw the trebuchet, he was very satisfied and said: "With these long-range weapons, the soldiers will suffer less damage, and it will be easier to attack the city and seize the pond."
Xiang Lang raised his hands and said: "My lord, according to my lord's order, the research institute has made a lot of improvements to crossbows in the past year. With the latest strong bows produced, an ordinary archer can insert half an arrow made of elm wood at a distance of three hundred steps."
.”
The effective range of ordinary bows and arrows is about 150 steps, and some strong bows can shoot to 200 steps and still be lethal. The compound bow developed by the institute based on Liu Xin's ideas has an effective range of 250 steps.
, also showed great power in the Battle of Jiangzhou. Unexpectedly, the research institute produced a powerful bow with a longer range. Liu Xin was greatly surprised and asked: "Are you sure you just said a bow, not a crossbow?
"
Xiang Lang waved behind him, took a bow from a craftsman next to him, and said, "Lord, look, this is it."
Liu Xin didn't know how to use a bow and arrow. He took a quick look and felt that the bow didn't look much different from an ordinary compound bow. So he turned behind him and asked, "Which one of you will give it a try?"
Behind him, Xu Huang, Zhao Yun, and Huang Zhong were all good at using bows and arrows. After hearing Xiang Lang's words, they were already eager to try. If Liu Xin asked about it, they all said in unison: "I'll do it!"
Liu Xin glanced at them and said, "Han Sheng, come and try."
Huang Zhong stepped forward and took the strong bow, weighed it in his hand and said, "This bow is a little lighter."
Xiang Lang smiled and said: "General Huang, this bow is prepared for ordinary soldiers. If it's too heavy, I'm afraid they won't be able to pull it open, so just make do with it and try it."
On the shooting range, Huang Zhong spread his arms and his bow became like a full moon. He peered at the target painted on the elm wood 300 paces away and shouted: "Go!"
The arrow flew away and hit the bull's-eye. The entire shaft of the arrow had already penetrated deep into the elm tree, leaving only the eagle feather at the end of the arrow shaking slightly. Everyone cheered in unison.
Huang Zhong returned the bow to Xiang Lang and said, "Xiang Yuanzheng, I have something to ask of you. Can you help me make a nine-stone bow like this?"
Xiang Lang hesitated for a moment and said, "It can be done, but it will take a year."
Liu Xin sent troops to go north, and he had to bring with him the few people who came to the institute today. He knew Huang Zhong's amazing shooting, and he hoped that Huang Zhong could have a suitable bow, so he asked in confusion: "It's just a bow.
, why do you need so much time? Hurry up and try to do it well this month."
"My lord, I don't know. Although this kind of bow is similar to an ordinary compound bow, the materials used are carefully selected and it does take a year to make." Xiang Lang cupped his hand and pointed to the bow in his hand and said, "My lord.
Please see, the materials used in this bow include six kinds of materials: stem, angle, ribs, glue, lacquer, and silk. Each material must adapt to the weather to make the best bow. Analyze the bow stem in winter and adjust the angle in spring.
In the summer, the tendons are cured, in the autumn the materials are gathered together, in the cold winter the bow arms are placed in the bow box to shape, and in the severe winter it is extremely cold to repair the appearance. The quality of the bow produced in this way is the best, and it takes more than a year. Even so.
, the bow made is not yet the best, it needs to be stringed again in the spring of the next year and stored in the cellar for a year before it can be called a good bow."
Liu Xin was dumbfounded. It turned out that making a good bow was so complicated, and she couldn't help but sigh: "Based on this, it takes more than two years to make a bow. However, a good bow on the battlefield may be able to improve the situation and save the lives of many soldiers.
It takes time to make a good bow. Juda, you not only have to help Han Sheng make a hard bow, but you also have to mass-produce this kind of strong bow. You can stop producing other bows."
Xiang Lang hesitated: "Producing a bow in this way is not only time-consuming, but also expensive..."
Liu Xin said categorically: "It's worth spending any money. If the range is increased by a hundred steps, you can at least shoot two more arrows than the enemy. You can kill more enemies and save yourself. Nothing is more precious than the lives of soldiers!"
Huang Zhong thought this bow was too light just now, but now that he heard that it would take two years to make another one, he quickly said: "Why don't you give me this bow first?"
Xu Huang and Zhao Yun also said in unison: "Xiang Yuanzheng, you can't hide how much you have, you have to get one for us."
Liu Xin glanced at the bow in Xiang Lang's hand and asked, "Juda, how many have the institute produced so far?"
Xiang Lang leaned forward and said: "Only six prototypes were produced in total, and they are all samples."
Liu Xin waved her hand and said: "Give each of them one piece. You keep one as a sample, and I will take away the other two."
When Xu Huang and others heard this, their faces showed joy.
Xiang Lang ordered the craftsmen to get the bows, and asked Xu Huang and others to try it out to see how many stones each of them needed to order. He said to Liu Xin: "The crossbow that my lord mentioned is available in this dynasty, and its range is
Although it is far away, the launch is time-consuming and the components are easily damaged. However, according to the Lord's instructions, the production of components has been standardized and can be replaced and repaired at any time, so this aspect is not a problem. As for the continuous crossbow vehicle, Mr. Cai
I found a copy of "Mozi" everywhere, and it is recorded in it that it is mainly a defensive tool. The specific craftsmanship has been lost for many years, and my subordinates are organizing craftsmen to conduct research."
Liu Xin nodded and said: "A sophisticated weapon may be able to save a soldier's life on the battlefield. It must not be underestimated. We must hurry up and produce crossbows. This time I will take three thousand northward."
After returning from the institute, Liu Xin was even more confident. Five hundred trebuchets and three thousand crossbows were all long-range weapons. Even if they attacked the pass, they would not be at a disadvantage.
Lujiang City was a bustling scene. Half of Yuzhang's army had also been mobilized. Together with Lujiang's own military strength, Sun Jian had gathered nearly 30,000 troops. Of course, he could not take all of these people to Luoyang, so he planned to stay
Ten thousand people guarded the Lujiang River. To the north of the Lujiang River was Yuan Shu from Runan, and to the west was Liu Xin from Jingzhou. These people all held heavy troops. Sun Jian was not at ease about his home base. He specially ordered people to send his family and children there.
Although the defense in Yuzhang County in the south is weaker, the transportation is inconvenient and there are no strong forces around it.
What Sun Jian is most lacking now is food and grass. He wants to borrow a road from Jingzhou because it values Jingzhou's roads extending in all directions, which can save marching time and naturally consume less food and grass. He does not understand Liu Xin's character, more
It was something I heard from hearsay during those years in the capital. But after all, his Lujiang River was close to Jingzhou, and he also knew that Jingzhou was relatively wealthy. In addition, Jingzhou had been very generous in paying taxes to the court in recent years, so he started to borrow grain from Jingzhou.
Moreover, he was already prepared. If Liu Xin didn't borrow it, he would steal it. Anyway, now that the imperial court was in name only, he had nothing to worry about.
The messenger came back from Xiangyang, but Liu Xin really refused to lend him food, and even refused to lend him the road. Sun Jian couldn't help but became furious and said: "The army set off today, went straight to Jiangxia, took the Jiangxia treasury, and then
Turn north."
Cheng Pu advised: "My lord, Liu Xin has many elite soldiers and generals. At the beginning of the year, he sent troops to attack Bajun and Zangke counties, and succeeded easily. Liu Yan, the shepherd of Yizhou, still dare not say anything. If our army plundered Jiangxia
In the treasury, the two sides will definitely become enemies. When my army goes north to attack Dong Zhuo, Liu Xin will definitely take the opportunity to take our Lujiang River to avenge this attack. My lord, don't be careless!"
Sun Jian muttered: "I also know that now is not the time to fight Liu Xin, but I can't swallow this bad breath."
Huang Gai suggested: "Lord, we can lead the army to pass through Jiangxia and try not to disturb other counties and counties. If he doesn't send troops to stop it, that's it. If he dares to block the passage of our army, our army will take the opportunity to capture Jiangxia.
The teacher is famous."
Sun Jian turned to look at Han Dang and Zu Mao and asked, "What do you two think?"
Han Dang and Zu Mao were both brave men. They raised their hands together and said, "Since ancient times, soldiers have come to stop us, and water has come to cover us. We are afraid of what he will do! This road in Jingzhou does not belong to Liu Xin's family. Why can't we walk on it?"
Cheng Pu wanted to persuade him again, but Sun Jian had already slapped his thigh and shouted: "Okay! The generals will prepare their own preparations. Soon the troops will be sent to Jiangxia!"
Since Liu Xin implemented the new tax policy in Jingzhou, farmers' enthusiasm for farming has increased. In previous years, during the first month of the year, most farmers were still sitting at home and too lazy to go to the fields. But it is different now. In order to have a good harvest, they have to work hard to get a good harvest.
On the first day of the new year, many farmers started to get busy, repairing ditches, preparing fertilizers and seeds. Some of the more diligent ones also raised a few pigs and chickens at home, and they were not idle even during the New Year.
When Sun Jian led his men and horses from Lujiang, there were not many people in the fields. As soon as they entered Jiangxia, more people were busy in the fields. When these people saw Sun Jian's men and horses, they dropped what they were doing and ran back.
. Sun Jian knew that these people were ordinary people, so it was not easy to arrest them. He believed that they would not report to the local officials, so he allowed them to escape.
Who knows, the first thing these people did after escaping back was to report what they saw to the commander. Soon, Zhang He and Dian Wei received the news of the invasion of Sun Jian's army, and immediately ordered their troops and came straight here.