The car is hot over there, and the officials here are talking.

Yang Wenguang said: "Such a chariot is very powerful. The two armies faced each other, and dozens of vehicles rushed forward, which was more powerful than thousands of cavalry! ”

Yao Shouxin said: "Captain, there are thousands of cavalry, these fifty chariots can be compared to tens of thousands of cavalry. Tens of thousands of cavalry may not necessarily be able to break the enemy's ranks. These fifty thunderbolts, no matter how strong the army is, will not be able to hold their positions. ”

Zhao Zi sighed: "The car is a good thing, but it is not easy to transport." Once off the railway, what is the use of this car? You may be able to run twenty or thirty miles, but you may not be able to run any farther. Not to mention, once there are rivers and lakes, this car can't pass. ”

As a Privy Councillor, it is necessary to consider the issue of logistics and transportation. This thunderbolt is good for everything, it's just too heavy. In autumn and winter, when the roads are no longer muddy, this car may be able to pass. But under the conditions of this era, the bridge on the river is definitely not good, and it cannot bear the weight of the thunderbolt. And in addition to the Great Plains, where there are no rivers for dozens of miles. Speaking of which, no matter how good this car is, its use is limited.

Zhang Yu said: "In my opinion, this thunderbolt can only be used in the most critical places. In the general battle formation, the enemy comes suddenly, how can this car catch up with the front line? Only when the two armies are stuck in the same place and confront each other for a long time is a good time for this car to show its usefulness. ”

Liu Jian nodded: "If it is used when the two armies are deadlocked, it can lay down the victory in one fell swoop, and it can also be regarded as an important weapon of the country." If the two armies face each other, if they cannot distinguish the winner for a long time, it will inevitably be the most critical time for the army to gather. Dozens of thunderbolts go up, and if they are used well, they can change the fortunes of the country. ”

The strengths and weaknesses of the Thunderbolt are clear to everyone. Although the car can run on its own, it is too demanding on the road and cannot actually be used on its own for long distances. You had to rely on railroads and train them to the vicinity of the battlefield in order to participate in the war. Taken together, there are very few places where it can be applied.

Du Zhongxiao knew in his heart that the role of the Thunderbolt defense was far greater than that of attack. The information of offensive operations is ever-changing, and it is not easy for this vehicle to move, and it is difficult to keep up with the changes on the battlefield. The best mobile force to use now is still cavalry. So half of the last four armies were cavalry.

Zhuri, Tianwu, Longwei, and Shenwei, these four armies used to be the upper four armies of the forbidden army. Zhuri and Longwei are cavalrymen, who used to belong to the Cavalry Division, and they are also cavalry after training. Tianwu and Shenwei are infantry, and they used to belong to the infantry division, and after the training, they were mainly infantry. The Gong Shengjun was the second only army to the Upper Fourth Army in the previous forbidden army, and Di Qing, Jia Kui and others were the first horsemen of the Gong Shengjun.

These five armies, in fact, were the troops stationed in the capital of the Song Dynasty, and they were the real core. If everything goes well in the battle against the Khitan, the other armies may be abolished, but these five armies will not. The internal and external systems were controlled, and these five armies were stationed near the capital, and the rest of the armies were controlled remotely.

The latest compilation, incomplete in all aspects, this is nothing. Wait until after the war, and choose good generals. If it weren't for the Khitan, the first to complete the training would actually be these five armies.

Seeing that it was September, the Khitan tribal cavalry had begun to assemble, and the battle was about to start. In mid-September, the last mobile troops of the Song Dynasty were about to begin to deploy to the Hebei Road. There is not much time left for the training of the armies.

After a long time, the thunderbolt finally started with a low roar.

Guo Yan walked over quickly and arched his hand: "Captain, the car has started, please Jun Zhi!" ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "These thunderbolts are in the army of Taiwei Yao, or ask Taiwei to command it well." There's an open space here, and I see there's a shooting range at the end of there. How about running around the open space and firing a few shots at the shooting range? ”

Yao Shouxin sang a promise with his hand, and together with Guo Zheng, they arrived in front of the thunderbolt car and got into the car together.

The thunderbolt started to move, and for a moment I felt the ground shake. Several civil officials in the same company changed color for a while, and they were a little panicked.

Seeing the car moving along the open space, pressing deep rut marks on the ground, Tian Guo said: "This car is so heavy!" There has been no rain in the capital for more than a month, and the ground is hard, and it can still press out such deep rut marks! ”

Fu Bi nodded: "This car is all iron, how not heavy!" Look at more than a dozen people in the car, this car is not powerful! ”

In fact, in this era, anti-arrow stones, do not need much thick armor. The bread outside the thunderbolt car is the most ordinary iron plate, which is not thick. The main thing is that the power of the steam engine is there, and there is no need to reduce weight. As far as the car is concerned, these iron plates are really worthless.

Seeing the car driving smoothly, Du Zhongxiao secretly praised in his heart. The most difficult thing about this car is actually that it runs smoothly. In this era, there is not as much knowledge about cars as later generations, and I don't know how to balance it, even if Guo Jian is a genius, it took several years to achieve this.

The thunderbolt drove to a ditch, and when they saw that the ditch was very wide, the crowd could not help but exclaim.

But I saw that the thunderbolt car only slowed down slowly, and did not stop, and drove straight towards the ditch. When we got to the side of the ditch, the first half of the car went into the ditch, and the straight ditch was on top of it, stretching all the way to the opposite bank. The front end landed on the opposite bank, and the second half slowly suspended in the air, and just drove over.

Everyone couldn't help but let out a cheer together.

Zhang Yudao: "But I didn't expect that this car could still cross the ditch!" If so, it will be of much more use on the battlefield. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and said, "Let's go ahead." When you get to the shooting range, let the car fire a few shots and see how it goes. The car is called the Thunderbolt, and of course the most important thing is the cannon on the car. If the cannon is of little use, only the car remains. ”

Everyone said yes, and with Du Zhongxiao, they walked to the shooting range not far away. Just look at the thunderbolt on one side, and climb a steep slope, and everyone let out another cheer. Obviously, this terrain was deliberately chosen by Kwok to show the ability of the Thunderbolt to traverse difficult terrain. Du Zhongxiao is not surprised by this, the crawler already has a strong ability to cross obstacles. I just don't know how much effort Guo Consulting took to try out these functions of the Thunderbolt.

At the range, the Thunderbolt stopped. Yao Shouxin straightened up on the roof platform and crossed his hand to Du Zhongxiao: "Captain, this car is driving very smoothly!" Now I order the car to open fire, hit the target in front, please be careful! ”

With the roar of the car, where can Du Zhongxiao hear clearly? After hearing the general meaning vaguely, he waved his hand to signal Yao Shouxin to start.

I saw Yao Shouxin pick up a small flag and command the soldiers to load the ammunition in the car. When you get ready, wave the flag to Du Zhongxiao and the others. Then he turned around, shouted loudly, and quickly waved down the small flag in his hand.

I saw that the medicine twist on the car ignited, and after a while, gunpowder smoke came out. With the sound of cannons, it smashed next to the target not far away. Yao Shouxin in the car was not nervous, and hurried up to take someone to re-measure the distance and reload the ammunition again. When it came time for the third shot, the target was smashed to pieces with one shot.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Captain Yao is a natural artilleryman, and it is already rare to knock down a target with three cannons. ”

Zhao Zi said: "In the world, only Taiwei Yao has this ability." I think that when I was in Suizhou, with this kung fu, Mrs. Yao was unmatched. After so many years, the ability is still there. ”

Du Zhongxiao said with a smile: "Over the years, Captain Yao has been teaching artillery, and naturally it will not be worse than before. Although the thunderbolt in front of it stopped, it was not stable. Moreover, these guns are not familiar to Captain Yao, and the gunners above are also meeting for the first time, which is indeed rare. ”

In this era, the accuracy of artillery is like that. can knock down the target with three shots, and he is already a very powerful character. Usually artillery, the target is a large mound of earth, where will it be like now?

After the three shots, Yao Shouxin and Guo Jian came back with a thunderbolt. When I got to the neighborhood, I parked nearby, got out of the car, and sang a promise in front of Du Zhongxiao.

Du Zhongxiao said: "Look at this car running smoothly, it should be used on the battlefield." It's just that when charging into formation, at the speed of this car, you don't need to fire artillery in front of the enemy's formation, you just rush over. The most important use of the guns on the car is not to attack the enemy, but when defending the city. If the enemy is besieging the city, this car can come out of the city at a critical time, and it can bombard the enemy's siege artillery, which is the greatest use. ”

Yao Shouxin said: "What the Taiwei said is true. Xia Guan Shicai was in the car, and he thought the same way. In the real confrontation between the two armies, if you can concentrate fifty thunderbolts and charge directly into the enemy position, why bother firing artillery. If it is a siege, you only need to pull the cannon with a cart and fire it in front of the city. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and said, "From tomorrow, this car will be incorporated into the Gong Saint Army." Take advantage of these two months, you take a closer look to see how useful the car is and how to use it. By that time, dozens of cars were put together and shown to the minister. ”