Chapter 41: New Weapons (II)

The second new weapon is Ma Jun's successfully improved repeater, because according to Lu Bu's idea, the repeater does not need to pursue the range like the pedal crossbow, and it is enough to maintain the effective range of 60 to 80 zhang, so that the crossbow body and weight can be greatly reduced.

Ma Jun used his previous experience in developing a runner to design a set of ingenious gears, so that the crossbow machine can be fired continuously, automatically reset, and repeatedly. Use the arrow box for arrows, a box of ten arrows, when the shooting is over, you can change the arrow box, and each crossbowman can carry at least five sets of arrow boxes, that is, fifty arrows.

The arrows were designed by Guan Laotie according to Lu Bu's sketches, with a triangular shape with a blood groove, and the lethality was amazing, and Lu Bu also quoted the queue shooting method of the early muskets, and the crossbow shooters were divided into three teams, one team to shoot, one team to standby, and one team to replace the arrow magazine, so as to maintain the continuity of output firepower.

The war is imminent, Ma Jun is also trying to modify the existing hard crossbow, so that it temporarily has a burst shooting function, the new type of repeater is also in the process of being produced, Gao Shun has arranged for soldiers to carry out new tactical drills. It should be possible to deploy troops and quickly form combat effectiveness.

The third weapon, in fact, is not a new weapon, they are a simplified version of Lu Bu's Xuantie horse lance, this batch of newly built horse lance, using Zhemu as a rod, the lance body is built by the improved steel filling method according to Lu Bu's suggestion, the production efficiency is much higher than that of 100 steel, of course, the quality cannot achieve the effect of 100 steel, but it is also much higher than the original ordinary iron weapon.

The use of the steel filling method has made coal begin to be used in large quantities, reducing the dependence on charcoal, and the saved charcoal is also of great use. These simplified versions of the lances had been distributed to the newly built heavy cavalry battalion, and Gao Shun named them "Broken Army Wolf Riders", because their helmets were made in the shape of a wolf's head, and the face guards were a wolf's bloody mouth.

The soldiers of this battalion are all selected from the trap camp with extraordinary strength, and only they can move the horse lance weighing fifty pounds, and the heavy cavalry with the horse lance, the spectacular scene when charging in a cluster can be imagined. All the horses of the Western Regions in the whole army were picked up by this battalion, because ordinary Hun horses and Hetao horses could not carry these big men weighing hundreds of catties after wearing helmets and armor, let alone charging into battle.

Lu Bu and Ma Jun had a long talk many times, and he wanted to see how much of the technology he knew from the future could be realized in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Ma Jun is already the top scientist or inventor of this era, and it is more accurate to say that this will inevitably mention the traditional Chinese gunpowder, that is, black powder.

In the Han Dynasty, because of the needs and practice of Taoist alchemy, there was already the most primitive gunpowder, but the ancients had not yet obtained the perfect ratio of gunpowder raw materials, nor did they pay attention to other uses of gunpowder, let alone use it in the military.

As soon as he talked, Ma Jun did know the existence of gunpowder, but he didn't usually have much contact, and he only knew that Taoist alchemy was commonly used. When Lu Bu told Ma Jun about the composition of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulfur, Ma Jun promised to summon materials and then find a secret location for experiments.

Lu Bu can tell Ma Jun the best ratio of the three raw materials, but the specific experiment has to be carried out little by little, Lu Bu told Ma Jun to pay attention to safety, because the traditional gunpowder is not stable, and it is afraid of moisture, so it needs to be handled and prepared carefully. Lu Bu suggested that the hands-on process of specific experiments could be done by death row prisoners or Xiongnu slaves, and finally it was necessary to pay attention to secrecy.

Saltpeter is an important raw material for the manufacture of gunpowder, and the consumption is also large, Lu Bu only knows the formula, but does not understand the source of saltpeter, but Ma Jun gave him a surprise, it turns out that the ancient people know the most about saltpeter in addition to Taoist priests are doctors, doctors have long known that saltpeter can be used to treat constipation, diuresis, hemorrhoids and other diseases.

Therefore, when Ma Jun looked for Zhang Zhongjing for treatment, he also discussed saltpeter with Zhang Shenyi, the origin of saltpeter was mainly in Yizhou, Hanzhong, Liangzhou and other places, but there were also in Jizhou and Jizhou, and the folk also had local methods, so it was not rare. Lu Bu knew that gunpowder could not be counted on in this war, and the early gunpowder could also be used as an earthen bomb or earth-made mine, which was difficult to use in attack, but it was a magic weapon when defending.

Lu Bu repeatedly told Ma Jun to pay attention to safety and confidentiality, and try to make gunpowder, Ma Jun should not go into battle in person, and off-site guidance is sufficient, such a baby bump, Lu Bu can't afford to lose.

The June sun scorched the earth, and the ground seemed to be covered with heat, and the sun was scorching hot. The four fields were empty, and no animals could be seen, but in the open space near the river near the Baiqu water, there were groups of soldiers in crimson costumes lining up in a neat queue for drills, some walking forward, some standing upright and motionless.

At the edge of the clearing was a small grove, the only shady place nearby, where a dozen men in yellow-and-green military uniforms were resting. They drank their tea and pointed to the soldiers training outside the woods, and from time to time they let out a burst of laughter. As you may have guessed, the yellow-green uniforms are all soldiers trapped in the camp, and now they are instructors, and those who are basking in the scorching sun are all county soldiers, who are undergoing the most difficult queue training in recruit training.

On the other side of the woods, under the sun, there was also a group of more than ten county soldiers standing in a military posture, they all tried their best to stand straight, but there was the sun on the top of their heads, and their legs were already sore, swollen and numb, very painful, and the soldiers of the squad looked at a big man dressed as a junior officer standing at the head of the platoon, saying that it was a big man, but in fact, he meant his height and size, tall and strong, but he had a childish face, and he looked like he was sixteen or seventeen years old.

He was also sweating profusely, and his legs were trembling slightly, but he was desperately trying to control himself and stand up straight. A veteran next to him looked at the instructors on the other side of the woods, and found that they were all facing away from him, so he said to the young officer: "Captain Zhang, those bastard instructors are drinking tea and resting, no one is looking at us, should we also take a break secretly?" The brethren are dying of sunburn. ”

The young officer who was called "Captain Zhang" kept his eyes ahead and said without looking back: "Don't think about being lazy, in fact, those instructors are staring at us, they are thinking that the law will punish us, and you still have to send it to the door yourself?" Besides, people who fell into the camp also practiced like this at the beginning, they are all soldiers, how are we worse than others? Stand up, don't embarrass me. ”

Although he said this, those veteran soldiers did not think the same way as him, they did not listen to Captain Zhang's dissuasion at all, and ran to the edge of the woods to rest in the shade, and in the field, only Captain Zhang and another soldier of his age were left.