Close to the Qinling Mountains, deep in the mountains and old forests.

There are sentries on the surrounding hills, and soldiers stand among them with weapons, their eyes scanning the foot of the mountain and the mountainside from time to time, paying special attention to some places where people can hide.

This is a base for Fei Qian to test gunpowder, so it is often filled with gunpowder smoke and earth-shattering. The birds and beasts in the surrounding woods have long since retreated and fled far away from this terrifying place.

A person in the wild is insignificant. Even insects can attack the front if they want, and the rear if they want. But if a group of people are in the wild and have sharp weapons, then the reverse is true. Even if

Jackals, tigers and leopards should be kept away from each other, otherwise the chrysanthemums will not be protected.

"By the way, how is the construction of the Xuanwu Lake ship going?" Fei Qian smiled and asked Tai Shi Mingdao while looking at the craftsmen busy preparing in the middle of the open space.

True ship.

Ship with wheels.

Building a ship is not an easy task. Just like Cao Cao's entire country, after losing a large number of ships in the Battle of Chibi, there was no way to continue. It's not that Cao Cao didn't have craftsmen at the time, but he didn't have that much.

There is a lot of wood, and there are not that many suitable places for shipbuilding...

Fei Qian can only accumulate money slowly now, since there are not many places where boats are needed anyway.

"Two ships have been built... The third one is under construction..." Tai Shiming replied, "It's just that the wood... is mainly the ship's bones... some have been transported from Sichuan and Sichuan, but the journey is long and there are still more to come."

Dry in the shade..."

Tai Shiming talked nonchalantly, like a housekeeper complaining about all the shortcomings of her family. Fei Qian could only nod, and there was no good way to immediately change Tai Shiming's difficulties.

Can thousands of years of experience replace the growth of nature?

Can advanced knowledge allow trees to grow wildly against the laws of nature?

Because the Zhou Dynasty wanted to build palaces and mausoleums, the Qin Dynasty also wanted to build them, and the Han Dynasty also wanted to build them. Therefore, in the Sanfu area of ​​Chang'an and even the Qinling area, there are large trees in areas that people can set foot on and can barely climb.

, have all been cut down, so that now Fei Qian wants some suitable ship bones and has to turn his attention to the south.

Afforestation, soil and water conservation...

Fei Qian exhaled slightly. It's easy to be a heartless bastard who only knows how to toss. Once you want to get things done, you will naturally inevitably run into all kinds of troubles.

As long as a person is alive, he cannot be afraid of trouble.

After all, sometimes trouble also represents progress.

With new technologies, it is natural to use new ones. This is just like the electronic products of later generations. When new people are introduced, the old ones are forgotten.

The current progress is in gunpowder.

The purification of gunpowder and the more powerful nitroglycerin, etc., because basic subjects such as physical chemistry have not yet met the requirements, so although I have ideas, I do not have the relevant foundation to support it, so I can only do some relatively superficial filtration and purification.

, as for more precise ratios, etc., we can only wait for subsequent technological development.

There are grenadiers in the Fei Qian army, but even if they are careful, there are still many problems. For example, it is difficult to store gunpowder, and manual operation is also very dangerous. The mental pressure on the grenadiers themselves is also great. If they are a little careful...

…

So basically speaking, Fei Qian is currently taking a relatively cautious attitude towards the rationing of gunpowder, only distributing it during wartime and then recycling it after the war to avoid some troublesome matters.

In addition, when throwing by manpower, there will inevitably be problems with strength. Not everyone can have the same strength from beginning to end, and can throw wherever they want. Therefore, improving it to mechanical throwing is more or less a more reasonable direction.

There are two ways of mechanical throwing. One is a parabola similar to a trebuchet, and the other is a catapult similar to a ballista. Both methods have their own pros and cons. Throwing stones is mainly used to throw kerosene, while ballistas are mainly used to throw gunpowder.

Today, Fei Qian came to see the results of Tai Shiming's experiments during this period.

"My lord, please take a look..." Tai Shiming pointed to the two instruments in the field and introduced, "Because the catapults and ballistas are cumbersome and difficult to transport, I was inspired by my lord's ship to make a wheeled cart to try...

』

"Both carts are baggage-sized. Although they are smaller than the original, and the throwing distance is slightly reduced, they can travel with the army. There is no need to cut down trees for construction. They can be deployed directly, which is quite convenient..." Taishi Mingyi said

These things come with a lot to say, "Originally I wanted to use all steel, but it was too heavy and difficult to transport. In the end, I just used the machine extension arm, etc... The rest is still wood, covered with cowhide, and poured with water during war."

On it, you are not afraid of fire arrows..."

"Ah... the assembly has been completed..." Tai Shiming pointed to the venue and said, "My lord, please review..."

In front of the two equipped instruments is a dummy military formation set up with wooden stakes and some armor, which is used to test the destructive power of gunpowder.

Fei Qian nodded slightly.

Tai Shiming waved his arms excitedly, and immediately the flag began to waver. After receiving the order, the craftsmen and soldiers began to operate, starting with the catapult...

Amidst the whistling sound, the ignited kerosene jar rose into the sky, and then suddenly exploded when it was about to reach the imaginary "enemy position". With the roar, the flames enveloped it like a ruthless giant net.

A large area of ​​"enemy formation", with flames clinging to wooden piles and armor, was burning with crackling sounds.

Fei Qian estimated the coverage area of ​​​​the flames and found that it almost reached more than thirty steps, which means that it can directly devour a dense array of soldiers...

Of course, this is not easy to use when facing an array of skirmishers. Let alone kerosene catapults, even later generations of artillery are still trying their luck when facing skirmishers.

But the problem is that the infantry can only fight against the cavalry when they are assembled, and once they are dispersed...

"What if the fuse is set off in advance?" Fei Qian asked.

Tai Shiming said: "Every time, I will leave a little more fuse... This is because the craftsmen and soldiers have thrown it many times and are very familiar with it, so it is effective..."

Fei Qian nodded.

On the other side, the ballista also began to fire the latest specially-made crossbow gun, and it plunged straight into the wooden piles in the "enemy formation" in the distance!

A wisp of green smoke slowly rises...

Everyone waited with bated breath.

Suddenly, there was a flash of fire, thick smoke rose into the sky, and then a loud noise reached my ears, as if the valley was shaking several times along with it!

After waiting for the smoke to dissipate, Fei Qian signaled to Huang Xu, who nodded and took two or three people to the simulated position to check. After a moment, he turned around and took a piece of armor that was cracked by gunpowder in his hand.

Fei Qian took it and saw that the armor pieces had been basically broken, twisted and shapeless.

The power of gunpowder should be slightly improved, but this is not something worth bragging about, because the power of gunpowder itself is not very powerful. Even if it really explodes around you, it will be hard to save your head, blood, limbs, and internal organs.

, but do you want to be like the future generations, with no bones left and iron melted into gold...

Therefore, this drill, whether it is a kerosene catapult or a gunpowder ballista, is slightly improved than before, but it does not mean that it has made great progress, which can give people the feeling of earth-shaking.

Tai Shiming seemed to see something of Fei Qian's intention, smiled, and then said with a slightly proud look: "My lord, stop for a moment, the martial arts performance is not over yet..."

"Oh?" Fei Qian was stunned for a moment, and then saw Tai Shiming order again. Immediately, a craftsman installed something like a long box on the ballista.

"This..." Fei Qian suddenly felt something familiar. It was only when the craftsmen started to add lever handles to the bowstring of the crossbow that he realized, "This is... a repeating crossbow?"

"Repeated crossbow? Yes! It's a repeating crossbow!" Tai Shiming clapped his palms and responded, "Because of the lack of arm strength, the range is reduced, but it also allows the use of the hinged arm to continuously string the arrow, and the arrow is fired from the box.

, one arrow will fall down, and then it can be fired continuously! This is exactly what a continuous crossbow is!"

As Tai Shiming's voice fell, the commands of craftsmen and soldiers came from the distance...

"Win the string!"

"ignition!"

"shooting!"

Then there was a "boom", and immediately it was a new round of passwords!

It lasted for five rounds, which meant that there were five crossbows filled with gunpowder in the wooden box. Under the skillful operation of the craftsmen and soldiers, the five crossbow arrows were fired in just a few dozen breaths.

Cum out!

Continuous explosions sounded, shaking the earth.

Fei Qian couldn't help but look around, thinking that Zhuge Liang did not go to Hanzhong, but stayed here secretly.

Although there are still many imperfections, even the delayed explosion of the gunpowder fuse caused the fifth crossbow bolt to be pushed aside by the shock wave of the first crossbow bolt. In addition, the power of the explosion was limited by the amount of gunpowder filled in the crossbow gun.

, at most, it only has strong lethality within four or five steps of its crossbow. If it is far away, it will only produce a huge sound and the pungent smell of gunpowder smoke, but...

Even though there are shortcomings of one kind or another, this is already a step forward across the ages!

The transformation from close combat to long-range killing!

……─=≡Σ(((つ·?·?)つ……

On a huge battlefield, unless you have a God's perspective that can be adjusted at any time like a game, you can see all the details clearly. Otherwise, most of the time, you can only see a part.

Especially in the era of cold weapons.

When countless people are fighting each other, blood spurts in front of their eyes, broken arms fly in front of them, and lives disappear around them. If you don't lose your mind in the killing, you still know how to take a look or two at the surrounding situation and pay attention instinctively.

A small military academy that can act as a front-line commanding officer with the command of the army's flag, and among thousands of troops, can still detect the enemy's movements through the chaotic situation, and then carry out targeted command

Yes, generally speaking it can only be said to be talent.

Zhao Yun obviously has such talent.

The scouts sent out were like tentacles extending out, investigating everything that happened on the grassland and desert. The changes in the Dingling and Xianbei people were gradually conveyed to Zhao Yun through these scouts.

It's impossible to cover up such a big movement.

Then the Xianbei people didn't seem to want to cover up, but directly sent a few soldiers to declare a war against Zhao Yun...

After receiving the news, Gan Feng rushed over immediately, "Xianbei! Haha, a bunch of melons still have the courage to declare a challenge! It's boring to live!"

"General!" Gan Feng said with excitement, as if there were several nails stuck under his butt, making it uncomfortable no matter how he sat, "These guys! It's really itchy! You need to clean up! Let me go?!"
To be continued...