In mid-August, the Song Dynasty took Shisanlang as the commander of the Japanese army, and He Bin as the commander of the Tianwu army, stationed in the capital. At the same time, it was ordered that the Beijing Military Academy and the Hequlu Military Academy should be separated, and all the instructors and officials would be temporarily organized into generals, and together with the generals drawn from other armies, they would be trained into the Longwei and Shenwei armies. With Zhang Yu as the commander of the Dragon Guard, and Liu Jian as the commander of the Divine Guard.

In late August, with Yao Shouxin as the commander of the Gongsheng Army, the Gongsheng Army was actually changed into a mainly artillery unit. This special unit has a quota of 30,000 men, mainly large-caliber artillery, and generally does not fight alone. In fact, the Gongsheng Army was directly controlled by the emperor, and once it was incorporated into other armies, it could directly change the combat strength of the troops, which was the essence of the artillery of the Song Dynasty.

Among the arch saints, the most special are the fifty Thunderbolts, which are actually self-propelled guns. Du Zhongxiao was amazed by this, and he never thought that in the era of steam engines, tanks could also be made. These 50 thunderbolts are the work of Guo Yan when he was in Baiting, and they have been experimenting for several years, although there are still various minor problems, and now they can at least run.

In the early morning of this day, Du Zhongxiao brought officials from the Privy Council, Sanya, and several important generals to watch outside the city. If the Thunderbolt is really as easy to use as Guo said, it will become a force that will change the tide of the war.

From Kaifeng Railway Station, a branch line was branched out until near Qingcheng Town in the south of the city. This is where the Thunderbolt stops. It was pulled from the Baiting Prison along the railway, and placed nearby, keeping it secret.

At this time, Guo Qian, who had been transferred to the Salt and Iron Division as a judge, led everyone all the way to the outside of Qingcheng Town, and said: "Captain, this invincible thunderbolt is too huge, it is difficult to transport, and the ordinary road is impassable. If the bridge is not strong enough, it is even more difficult to use a ferry to float the crossing. ”

Du Zhongxiao said: "Normal, such a heavy vehicle, I am afraid that there are not many places in the world that can pass." But it's amazing to be able to make it. If the two are deadlocked, dozens of thunderbolts rush out, which is enough to lay the foundation for victory in one fell swoop. ”

Yao Shouxin on the side said: "It's not just that. This thunderbolt has artillery on it and can be self-proclaimed. Dozens of cannons can move forward, and if you fire them together, what army can stop it! ”

Du Zhongxiao shook his head: "The artillery I bringed, I'm afraid it's not easy to use." When the artillery is fired, the gun carriage has to be pushed back, and no matter how heavy the thunderbolt is, it is difficult not to retreat. If you don't return, I'm afraid that the damage to the car will be a lot. ”

Guo Zheng said: "What the Taiwei said is true. However, when the Thunderbolt fires, it just stops. As soon as the cannon fired, the hull retreated. The cannon used on it was not particularly huge, and the force of the retreat did not damage the gun carriage. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded and stopped talking. I haven't seen anything like this myself, so it's hard to talk nonsense. Who knows what method Guo Zheng used in the end to solve all kinds of problems.

They dismounted and entered a well-defended barracks. Walking past a few rows of tents, I saw dozens of huge piles of canvas objects in a large clearing. Look at the heavily guarded side, needless to say, it's a thunderbolt.

Du Zhongxiao turned around and said to Yao Shouxin: "Holy Will, these thunderbolts are all incorporated into your Gong Saint Army. You and Judge Guo step forward and see what the thunderbolt looks like. I'll run a few laps here and fire a few shots. ”

Yao Shouxin forked his hand and said yes. Together with Guo Tan, he stepped forward and arrived in front of a thunderbolt and ordered the soldiers guarding the side to open the tarpaulin.

When I lifted the tarpaulin, I saw a huge iron cart there. In Du Zhongxiao's previous life, he occasionally saw tanks, although they were old styles, the tanks in the world should not be far away. However, the thunderbolt in front of him is completely different from the tank in the previous life. First of all, the Thunderbolt is much larger, several times the volume of the tanks of the previous life. Another look from the outside is covered with an iron plate, the anti-bow and arrow are sufficient, and the anti-artillery shells are just afraid that it will not work. The tracks are used underneath, but they look very rudimentary, not at all what they have seen before.

Most importantly, the Thunderbolt did not have the expected barrel to protrude. The artillery is actually on the roof of the car. There is a platform on the roof of the car, surrounded by iron plates, and even the top is covered with iron plates. Around the platform, there are several cannons, and see that there are cannon barrels sticking out.

Du Zhongxiao saw it and couldn't help laughing. Such a gun carriage, what recoil to consider. In fact, a battery was built on the car, on which several guns were installed, and the recoil of the guns was about the same as on the ground, and it was mainly completed by the retreat of the gun mount on the platform. Only a small part of the downward recoil is transmitted to the car. Guo Zheng is right, the recoil of this thunderbolt is not a big problem at all.

Watching Guo Qian command the soldiers into the artillery car, Du Zhongxiao could see that this thunderbolt was completely different from the tank he imagined. In fact, it was a steam engine in the lower part, which rotated with the surrounding tracks. There were three people in front, one driving and two stokers, which was about the same as the front of the train. Real combatants, all on the platform above. By eye observation, several gunners loaded and fired their guns.

Think about it, too, in this era, there is a lack of precision aiming weapons, and the most important protection of the tank is not needed at all. The car was covered with iron plates, and it was like wearing armor, which was enough to protect in this era. The most important thing about this thunderbolt is not so much the artillery fire as the car itself. Look at the huge size of this car, if in wartime, drive at full horsepower and run over all the way, the enemy will have no way to fight at all.

This car is not so much a tank as a train that does not run on a railway. As long as there is no breakdown, it is enough to break the formation all the way. Fifty thunderbolts, think of it on the battlefield, lined up in a row, enough to crush tens of thousands of troops.

Guo Yu instructed the soldiers to get into the car and began to warm up. The steam engine is not as good as the internal combustion engine, it needs to be heated first, and the starting time is very long. But it doesn't matter in this era, as long as you can drive it, you will be invincible on the battlefield.

Yao Shouxin took a closer look, and this car was not that complicated. One of the most important is that the walking part of the car has changed from the iron wheel of the train to the track. The lower part is actually similar to the locomotive, and the upper part is a fort protected by iron plates.

Getting off the car, Yao Shouxin crossed his hand in front of Du Zhongxiao: "Captain, the lower officer has already seen it, if this car is on the battlefield, it must be very sharp." Not to mention the Khitan, even the soldiers and horses of this dynasty, there is not much to do in the face of such an iron car. When the two armies faced each other, if dozens of thunderbolts kept rushing forward, the enemy would not be able to resist even if there were thousands of troops. ”

Du Zhongxiao nodded: "On the battlefield, as long as there is a car running, the Khitan cannot stop it." The car is not like a normal car, it is moving forward by tracks. In this way, you can move forward even on the battlefield without having to level the ground, which is the biggest benefit. In fact, the fort above is not very useful. When the two armies faced each other, the carts ran and did not need to attack the enemy with artillery. It is better to set up a fort on it than to install people, just like the chariots of the pre-Qin period, fighting with muskets. If you want to pull the gun forward, you can pull the gun cart behind the car, which is much more convenient. ”

Yao Shouxin said: "What the Taiwei said is true. However, when attacking a city, it is much more convenient to have such a turret that can move forward on its own. ”

Du Zhongxiao was noncommittal, and said: "The car will start in a while, you can run around and fire a few cannons to see." Today, all the ministers here take a look at how powerful this car is, and whether it can be called a key weapon of the country. ”