At this point, Jiang Anyi decided to put aside his worries for the time being and concentrate on dealing with the Western Regions Alliance. Jiang Anyong sent someone to deliver a letter, and the Western Regions Coalition Army was vacating the granary of Tuntian Yamen, transporting the old grain out, and preparing to put this year's new wheat into the warehouse. The weather in Huazhou this year is good, it is another bumper harvest year, the wheat harvested in Tuntian is enough to support the 300,000 army for a year, and there is another Yuechun wheat can be harvested, Jiang Anyi made up his mind not to let the Western Regions coalition army get new grain.

On 22 May, Jiang Anyi escorted a batch of baggage to the camp outside the city with 2,000 soldiers, mainly 240 thunderbolts and a large number of stones made by the 100 engineering departments. Jiang Anyi's original promise has been fulfilled, everyone who participated in the imitation of the thunderbolt car craftsmen are rewarded, the first to imitate the thunderbolt is Tu Yong and the five craftsmen in the side yard, everyone was appointed as the head of the hundred engineering department under the nine products, Tu Yonghe was appointed by Jiang Anyi as the director of the hundred engineering department on the eight products, and Jiang Anyi, an official below the seventh grade, has the right to directly appoint, only need to report to the ministry, and the official department will issue an official official seal according to Jiang Anyi's submission.

Tu Yong and Daxi, a thousand taels of silver were all distributed to five people, and they also paid out of their own pockets to invite all the craftsmen to drink and celebrate in Qixian Tower, I heard that these craftsmen are the meritorious men who developed the thunderbolt car, Boss Tang waved his hand, only calculated the cost price, and sent free drinks to celebrate the achievements of everyone.

Jiang Anyi took Fang Thorn Shi, General Guan and others to attend the toast in person, so that these craftsmen were frightened and excited, since ancient times, craftsmen are untouchables, and the envoys, assassins and generals are so affordable, not only rewarding and believing in official words, but also coming to toast in person, what a big face, everyone present was drunk.

A few days later, Jiang Anyi found Tu Yonghe again and asked him to try to improve the Thunderbolt. The power of the Thunderbolt is self-evident, but the speed of the launch is too slow, the Thunderbolt is made by the people of the Western Regions, and they are very knowledgeable about defending the Thunderbolt. Seeing Zheng Ying push out the thunderbolt car, he immediately opened up the wet cowhide in front of the camp, and the stone bullet slid down when it fell on it, unable to cause great damage to the camp of the Western Regions Alliance.

The emperor is not short of hungry soldiers, and if Jiang Anyi promised to improve the thunderbolt car can break the enemy, it will record the merits of Tu Yong and these craftsmen, not to mention that it is possible to be knighted. Tu Yonghe couldn't hide his excitement, staggered back to the yamen of the Hundred Workers Department, and told the good news, and the crowd was immediately full of emotion. Everyone had faith in the credibility of Master Jiang, and this was an opportunity to change themselves and even the fate of their family, and everyone was thinking hard about how to improve the effectiveness of the Thunderbolt.

The lights of the yamen of the hundred industry bureau stayed all night, and those craftsmen thought hard even when they were eating, and often some people stood up and ran to the official office in the middle of eating, and the others were driven to eat without any intention of eating, and hurriedly went back to the house to do things after three or two bites. There must be brave men under the heavy reward, but this time those craftsmen did not get together to discuss, and one by one they hid and hid for fear that others would see their designs and be inspired, so they preemptively completed the improvement of the thunderbolt.

Jiang Anyi inspected the Hundred Industries Department and was very dissatisfied with this phenomenon of self-cherishing, and summoned everyone: "The people of the Western Regions occupy half of Huazhou, hundreds of thousands of people are homeless, and the army is in urgent need of good weapons to destroy the enemy. From today onwards, the results of each person's development will be reported to Tu Zhubo every three days, and the thunderbolt car will be successfully improved as soon as possible, and after the enemy is broken, the official will convene the representatives of the gentry to erect a huge monument in the Huiye Mansion, on which will be engraved with the name of your merits, so that the people of Huazhou and even the people of the world will know the merits of you. ”

The inscription became famous in later generations, once again aroused the enthusiasm of the craftsmen, and half a month later, Tu Yonghe came to the lobby to present the drawings of the improved thunderbolt. Tu Yonghe slept in the official office during this time, supervising the development and improvement of the thunderbolt car day and night, resting for no more than three hours a day, his eyes were red, and the whole person lost a circle.

Jiang Anyi didn't look at the drawings, and said first: "Master Tu has worked hard, this official will never forget your merits, and you will be rewarded for your merits in the future." This sentence is in Tu Yonghe's ears, and no matter how much hard work it is, it is worth it.

Spreading out the drawings, Tu Yonghe pointed with his fingers and said, "My lord, this is what Xia Guan, Yuan Yuan and Hu Zuo came up with based on the principle of the waterwheel. Adults, please see, in the middle of this thunderbolt is a wooden wheel, and there is a machine that drives the wheel to rotate quickly, and the stones can be connected and continuously launched. ”

Jiang Anyi didn't understand very well, and asked, "Have you ever tried?" ”

"Your Excellency, I've already tried. Five fingers can be fired once, and the range is 400 paces away. Tu Yonghe said: "However, the weight of the stone projectile is only two-thirds of that of the previous thunderbolt. ”

Jiang Anyi estimated that in the past, the ancient blocks launched by the thunderbolt were about thirty or forty catties, and even two-thirds weighed more than 20 catties. ”

"Okay, Tu Zhubo has made a great contribution, and you have asked the craftsmen to hurry up to make this improved thunderbolt." Jiang Anyi thought for a while and said, "I will ask the soldiers in the city to collect stones, recruit some civilians and refugees, and send them to the army in ten days." ”

Five days later, Jiang Anyi went to check and improve the launch effect of the thunderbolt car, Guan Pingzhong, Yan Jiancai and other generals in the army came out, and Zhang Keji also went with him, and he was Jiang Anyi's staff member. Zhang Keji's silver face is very eye-catching, many people know his true identity, see through it or not, it is the way of an official, naturally no one will come out to touch Jiang Anyi's moldy head.

Ten improved thunderbolts lined up, and at the sound of the order, stones were thrown one after another, so quickly and violently that the arrow targets on the armor of the four hundred paces jacket were smashed to pieces. After a short time of stone rain launching, the stone bullets were exhausted, and Jiang Anyi and everyone stepped forward to check the effect. The iron armor on the target was smashed beyond recognition, and the leather armor was smashed to pieces, and if it fell on a person, he would have to break his head and blood, and cut off his hands and legs.

Zhang Keji looked at the stones all over the ground and asked thoughtfully, "How many stones were launched just now?" ”

Tu Yonghe replied: "Each car can fire 1,000 stone bullets in a quarter of an hour, and the ten cars have fired a total of 2,000 stone bullets just now. ”

Jiang Anyi asked people to take stones from Fuhu Mountain, ten miles away from the north gate, and they could quarry 50,000 catties of stone every day, and about 1,500 stone bullets were made, but the number of stone bullets made these days was only 6,000, and 2,000 stone bullets were used for firing just now.

Zhang Keji frowned and said: "A stone weighs more than 20 catties, a thousand stones are more than 20,000 catties, and 200 cars will cost more than 4 million catties of stones. ”

Jiang Anyi calculated that if 200 thunderbolts fired stone bullets at the Western Regions Army at the same time, it would take at least 400,000 rounds in two quarters of an hour, and it would take at least half a year to manufacture these stone bullets, and it would be impossible to use them for a counterattack immediately.

Zhang Keji said again: "I saw that the stone bullet axe was slightly beaten, but I don't know where the broken stones are piled up?" ”

Sihu joined the army Yan Yi was the supervisor of the quarry, and responded: "I will let you."

People are piled up on the open field, and after the war, they can be used to pave the ground. ”

Zhang Keji said: "Master Tu, I don't know if you try gravel throwing." A sentence reminded Jiang Anyi and the others, Guan Pingzhong said: "Yes, if you throw gravel, the effect may be better than stone bullets." ”

Soon, a cart of gravel was pulled, filled into the thunderbolt, turned the wooden wheel, the gravel flew into the air, flying all over the sky, and the gravel fired by the ten thunderbolts formed a large net, shrouding the front of the car 200 to 400 steps in the stone rain.

Guan Pingzhong, Yan Jiancai and others all applauded loudly, the thunderbolt threw stone bullets with great power, but the throwing was time-consuming, and the coverage of the striking area was not wide, and the stone bullets were changed to gravel, and the striking surface was ten times more than before.

When the gravel rain stopped, Jiang Anyi and everyone stepped forward to check again. The gravel was full of sharp edges and corners, and after being thrown by the thunderbolt, it was deeply rooted in the ground, and the armor on the target was riddled with holes in the gravel, and it was three points stronger than a sharp arrow.

Yan Jiancai said with a smile: "Mr. Zhang's proposal is better than 100,000 heroes, and it is easy to break the Western Regions Army with this sharp weapon." And the gravel only needs to be broken with a sledgehammer, which is much easier than a stone bullet, this method is better. ”

Jiang Anyi said: "The quarry should be defended by additional soldiers, and idlers are not allowed to approach to prevent spies in the Western Regions." In particular, the improved thunderbolt must be kept secret, and it will be relied on to defeat the Western Regions coalition forces. ”

…………

The thunderbolt car and other things were sent to the baggage camp, and Jiang Anyi came to the Shuai tent, and he wanted to discuss with Guan Pingzhong, Yan Jianjian, Huang Jifei and others when to attack.

The sand table has been made, Guan Pingzhong pointed on the sand table map with a bamboo pole, and said: "Lord Jiang, the Western Regions Coalition Army takes the country as its camp, and the Coalition Marshal's Mansion is located in Qianning County, and more than 200,000 troops are deployed in the areas of Qianning, Luhua, and Yutian. "The heavy cavalry is struggling to rush the slope, and the slashing team is most afraid of ups and downs, and the countermeasures for the Western Regions Alliance to crack are in place.

"The coalition forces are scattered between the three counties of Qianning, Luhua and Yutian, relying on the topography of Baishan Mountain to hold the road to the west." The bamboo pole in Guan Pingzhong's hand drew a circle on the sand table, and small flags of different colors were inserted in the circle, representing different countries in the Western Regions. Jiang Anyi was very familiar with the terrain of Huazhou and knew that this circle was about fifty miles long.

Guan Pingzhong continued: "The lord of Rong Mi has returned to China, and the commander-in-chief of the coalition army is Rong Mi Guo's golden protector general Bei Qisi, please see, these camps are arranged in an excellent location, not only occupy the terrain but also are horns of each other, and there are four or five places that can be rescued in a short period of time when attacking any place, Guan Mou has led the army to try to attack several times, and all of them have returned without setbacks. ”

Jiang Anyi had fought with Bei Qisi, and knew that this person was experienced in a hundred battles and resourceful, and Hu Rui returned to the country to let this person lead the army, and the coalition army was even more difficult to deal with.

Skipping his gaze from the Western Regions Alliance, Jiang Anyi asked, "Where are Feng Dingzhong and the others now?" ”

Guan Pingzhong pointed at the bamboo pole and responded: "I received a letter a few days ago, it should be in the area of Cangqiong Mountain. ”

Cangqiong Mountain is a mountain range in Huazhou, stretching for 600 miles, with mountains and mountains, deep forests and dense trees, it is indeed a good place to hide, not to mention thousands of people, it is more than 10,000 people who enter it and find it difficult to find traces.

Jiang Anyi thought for a long time, pointed to the right flank of the coalition army, and said: "This is the station of Weiche, Tian Wei and other countries, you will launch a counterattack from here on the 29th of May, I am ready to find Feng Dingzhong, and then launch an attack behind the enemy to respond to you." ”