A few years have passed, and the princes are catching up, and Chen Cheng is not lying in place to eat his old book. In addition to installing more guns, a six-pounder Napoleon gun was developed, which was essentially a smaller version of the twelve-pounder Napoleon gun, which was much lighter, less powerful, and less ranged.

The six-pounder gun was positioned as a battalion artillery and was organized into four guns to provide fire support to infantry battalions. The original twelve-pound run was too heavy to maneuver with the team in many difficult terrains. The six-pounder is a little less powerful, but it's light.

At present, the army in Luoyang has installed more than 200 artillery pieces, large and small, and more than 100 guns are stacked in the arsenal. In addition, in the far western regions, the expeditionary force that was fighting the Kushans was also equipped with more than a hundred cannons. Xu Wen, the former secretary of the military department, was worshiped as the general of the expedition to the west, led the troops to fight in the Western Regions, and Yan Xing took over the position of the secretary of the military department.

In addition to artillery, the tooth soldiers also tried to equip themselves with some heavy smoothbore guns. Although the development of the flintlock pistol has not been very successful, the arquebus has been able to be put into actual combat. The heavy smoothbore gun equipped with it weighs fifteen pounds, and the barrel must be supported by a fork stick bracket in the field.

Although it is very bulky, the projectile fired is amazingly powerful. At a distance of fifty paces, as long as it hits, even steel armor can penetrate it. At a distance of eighty paces, it still has enough power that even if it can't be completely penetrated, momentum alone is enough to knock a person to the ground, not to mention such a thing as lead bullet poisoning.

The only problem is that the accuracy of the smoothbore gun, like its power, will decrease rapidly with distance. At a distance of 80 paces, even the most elite marksman has only 40 percent of the accuracy of hitting a humanoid target. The generals of the army were satisfied with the power of the weapons, but complained about the weight and accuracy of the weapons.

Fifty paces was a watershed, at a distance where the enemy's infantry could be effectively suppressed and struck. But if the effective range is only fifty paces, then the enemy's cavalry will not be very good to suppress. Only by increasing the effective range to eighty paces allowed the smoothbore gunners to suppress the enemy's light cavalry.

However, with the help of mathematicians, the problem of too low a hit rate was easily solved. It doesn't matter if the hit rate of one gun is very low, then we can arrange ten or a hundred guns to fire together, so won't the hit rate increase a lot? Get more people to stand in a row and fire together, it's absolutely amazing!

After Chen Cheng heard that the people from the Academy of Sciences had put forward such a suggestion, he couldn't help but complain: "Is this going to be shot in line?" ”

Soon, the term line up to shoot became popular among the tooth soldiers. The Tooth Soldiers are the most elite standing soldiers, and they will have no problem with heavy smoothbore guns, and all they think about is how to line up and shoot the enemy. It's a pity that there is nothing in the world now, except for the distant Western Regions, the Central Plains can even be said to be Haiqing Heyan.

If you don't fight, you won't have military merit, no reward, no glory, and if you don't fight, what is the purpose of the big guy's hard training every day? It takes three or four years to move up to the next level, which is really bad.

As the power of the imperial court grew, so did the belligerent voice in the army. From the lowest soldiers, all the way to the bosses of the military department, they are inclined to go to war outside. Yizhou, Jingzhou, Xuzhou, Yangzhou, anywhere, as long as you can fight.

Especially those officer cadets, who had just graduated from the military academy, were desperate for military merit. The first senior brothers are now all major generals, but they still have to slowly work through their qualifications in the position of second lieutenant, which is really a desperate era of peace.

Even Chen Cheng could not suppress this militant trend in the army, and besides, he did not want to suppress the enthusiasm of the young officers. Now the world is full of barbarians, waiting to be indoctrinated. The so-called quiet and moving, after so long, it's time to find someone to fight.

If the weapon is not used for a long time, it will rust. If the imperial court does not show its strength, the princes from all walks of life will also have all kinds of thoughts.

Chen Cheng ordered someone to spread out the map, looked at it for a while, and then stretched out his hand to the place in Yizhou and patted it, and said, "It's you!" ”

There are many advantages to attacking Yizhou, first, Yizhou is fertile for thousands of miles, the people are rich and the country is rich, and after eating, it can enhance the strength of the imperial court; Second, over the years, Yizhou has begun to set up checkpoints, and levy high taxes on goods coming and going, especially on things sold by the imperial court, which has long made the Haoqiang and merchants in Liangzhou and Guanzhong very dissatisfied.

The reasons are all ready-made, Yizhou Mu Liu Zhang's behavior is rebellious, and he dares to use the Son of Heaven Luanyu, obviously having a rebellious heart. However, the imperial court thought that he had meritorious service in guarding the place and that it was for the sake of the royal family, so he ordered him to go to Luoyang on the same day to accept the punishment of the imperial court.

Liu Zhang, who had lived a stable life in Yizhou for several years, was not good after receiving the edict. What happened to the use of Tianzi Luan? Liu Biao next door has also used it, why don't you go to him for trouble, but you want to take me Liu Zhang? Is it because we look softer and easier to pinch?

Besides, the Son of Heaven is still in Chang'an, what are you doing in Luoyang? Chen Thief really wants to rebel!

Liu Zhang categorically refused the order to go to Luoyang to accept punishment, joking, he would not go to Luoyang anyway, he would not go to Luoyang if he was killed in this life, and he would not do anything else, only by being a warlord in Sichuan could he maintain such a happy life. He immediately drove out the envoys of the imperial court and sent additional troops to the border to deal with the possible arrival of the imperial army.

In fact, he still had some luck in his heart, thinking that the terrain in Shuzhong was dangerous, and even if the Xiliang Iron Horse came in, it would not be of much use. Zhang Lu in Hanzhong should also understand the truth of false ways to cut down and die with cold lips and teeth, how could it be possible for the imperial army to fight directly to Yizhou?

But it was clear that he was wrong.

After hearing that the imperial court ordered Liu Zhang to go to Luoyang, Zhang Lu immediately sent someone to seal the treasury, and then rushed to Luoyang with his family, saying that he was too old to hold such a position as the Taishou of Hanzhong, and asked the imperial court to choose another capable Yunyun. The imperial court then ordered Zhang Heng to lead his troops into Hanzhong, put Zhang Lu into Zhongshu Province, and gave his two sons the position of Yilang Guan.

Next, Chen Cheng publicly announced the order to crusade against Liu Zhang in Yizhou. Hearing that the imperial court was finally preparing to go to war, the soldiers who were about to explode were thunderous with joy, and there was really a "new order for independence, and thousands of battalions shouted together".

Hearing that his old opponent Zhang Lu knelt down so easily, Liu Zhang couldn't help but scold. He slammed the cup on the ground and said angrily, "Fool, fool! How could Zhang Lu surrender? ”

But even if he had a monstrous anger, it would be useless, so he could only continue to strengthen the defenses on the border and send people to Jingzhou to prove the truth that his lips were dead and his teeth were cold. After Liu Biao heard that the imperial court had finally started to clean up people, he hurriedly burned the crown, the car, the robe and other things.

He didn't dare to confront the imperial court, and he was afraid that after Liu Zhang knelt, he would be the next unlucky person, so he did not send troops to raid Luoyang as Liu Zhang requested, but secretly sent a lot of armor and soldiers to Yizhou. Thinking that if Yizhou can hold on a little longer, if it can cause some more losses to the soldiers and horses of the imperial court, maybe it will be able to live a peaceful life for a few more years.

Liu Biao never thought that Liu Zhang could defeat the imperial army, and those people in Yizhou were not ordinary in their fighting skills. It's still okay to let them squat on the hill or in the city to defend, and it's okay to take the initiative to attack. When Liu Zhang first came to power a few years ago, he was still ambitious and sent more than 100,000 people to attack Zhang Lu in Hanzhong, but after more than a year of fighting, he gained nothing except consuming money and food and wasting the lives of soldiers.

With this kind of combat effectiveness, let alone the soldiers and horses of the imperial court, even Liu Biao looks down on him.

The imperial court issued an order to crusade against Yizhou, and then dispatched troops and horses step by step, hoarding grain, grass and munitions, everything was unhurried. The princes of all walks of life are nervous, now that the power of the imperial court is so strong, if they annex the country of Yizhou Tianfu again, then what will it be?

Many places have begun to secretly prepare, wanting to see if there is any opportunity. Although the army of the imperial court is very strong, it is not good to say that there is such a thing as fighting, maybe it will overturn among the mountains and mountains of Yizhou? The strength of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry is well known, but Yizhou is not a place where the cavalry uses force.

Liu Biao, Sun Ce, and even Liu Bei began to gather the soldiers and prepare for ........ They don't know what to prepare. Anyway, take one step at a time, and go wherever you go. If the imperial army really overturned, then maybe they would really make some moves.

Only Sun Zhan, the shepherd of Youzhou, didn't care about anything, and kept chasing the Wuhuan people and Xianbei people in the north. After the collapse of Yuan Shao's group, Gongsun Zhan returned to Youzhou with his troops, and then personally led his troops to sweep the grassland every year. Working under the command of the general is much more enjoyable than working under Liu Yu.

Because of his exploits in the north, the imperial court gave him rewards again and again, and later gave him a lot of weapons and armor, and even twenty tiger squat cannons. Under the joint attack of Gongsun Chan and Gongsun Du, the strength of the Wuhuan people was greatly reduced, and they had to send someone to call them ministers, so as to avoid being chased and beaten by Gongsun Chan, the madman.

However, Chen Cheng has not paid much attention to their requests, and still allows Gongsun Chan to act in the east. The reorganized Bai Ma Yicong has regained its past combat effectiveness, and these people are not engaged in production, except for catching some Wuhuan and Xianbei people to sell, they basically have no income.

It is impossible to farm, and you will not go to mining if you are so tired, and only by fighting and capturing prisoners every day can you maintain high military expenses. Catching Wuhuan people and Xianbei people to sell is a very profitable job, and the heroes of Youzhou have no other financial resources, except for selling some furs, they can only go out with Gongsun Zan to fight Hu people.

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