In the valley between Xiaobei Mountain and Nanyan Mountain outside Chaoyang City,

With the sound of a purring lever stretching and twisting, a polished stone egg, after a smashing sweep, smashed a puddle of sand on the muddy ground that marked the shooting boundary one by one.

"The angle of shooting is eight hours and eight quarters, and the landing point is more than one hundred and forty-three steps."

As the flag waved in the distance, a sergeant shouted loudly.

"Lower it for half a moment, ready to send it again."

And the sound of the number of reports resounded one after another, and on the potholed and messy ground, many projectiles of different materials had fallen; Among them are broken multi-petal round pottery bombs, there are also mud eggs made purely from local red clay dried and kneaded, and there are arson grass eggs mixed with croton and horse urine or soaked in oil. There are even clumps of clump of clump of crumble bombs.

In order to reduce the difficulty and make it easier to get started and accumulate proficiency, Zhou Huai'an initially made several smaller versions of the model, and then conducted control experiments on different materials and versions. And the main components are the graphics he drew by himself and personally supervised the creation.

Among several projection experimental schemes, the torque projector from the Western classical era has some obvious advantages in terms of actual range, accuracy, and bomb weight, but it has advantages in weight and structure, and is more convenient to disassemble and carry and maneuver with the army.

In addition, although this thing seems to be relatively simple at a glance, as the key to torsional output, it requires the reverse power generated by two bundles of tensioned horsehair, leather rope or animal tendons; This severely limits the upper limit of what can be used and expanded. After all, the strength and longevity of hair and tendons, which are biomaterials, are easily weakened or even failed by external environmental influences.

If it is only used as a string of bows and arrows, it is not obvious, but as a means of charging power for long-range attacks, it is quite embarrassing and helpless, especially in this Lingnan area where the humidity and temperature are relatively high. Maybe after getting to the relatively cold and dry north, this thing will have a better application value.

In the end, it was still used as a counterweight lever and a pull-type catapult, and the upper limit it represented was higher, although the structure and volume were much larger, but theoretically, as long as there were enough people to pull the counterweight, it could be said that on the basis of the maximum material strength, the stacked range reached a considerable extent.

It's just that the materials required for a qualified return cannon are also considerable, especially for the current rebels, who have only made such a castrated version of the sample; In addition to the waste products caused by poor craftsmanship or improper material selection, it may be great to only scrape together a few racks in the end.

In terms of the suppression equipment with the goal of killing personnel, the scorpion crossbow structure similar to the large composite slingshot is far more complex than the bed crossbow or the car crossbow with the traditional bow arm tension superposition principle, but it is still slightly better in terms of ease of operation and rate of fire; It's just that with the current material conditions and technical level of the peasant army, it can't even make a bed crossbow that meets the standards, let alone such an experimental product;

In the end, it was only Zhou Huai'an who used a variety of alternative means to tinker with a small version of the prototype, and added a winch and an arrow box to put it on the board car as a sample that once existed.

On the contrary, it became famous in the Song Dynasty's war against the Western Xia, which could be set on the back of a horse or camel, relying on the centrifugal force of the rotation of the cross-shaped frame to throw stones and other heavy objects; Among the leaders of the rebel army who came to watch, they received a few praises and appreciation.

The reason is also very simple, because they are used to being poor because of their ugliness, and even the bamboo catapult can be regarded as a treasure in a sense, not to mention this kind of projectile that can be carried by animals without vehicle loads. What's more, whether this thing is attacking or field battles, it can come in handy at the same time.

Although the range and accuracy of the cyclone cannon, as well as the lethality efficiency are the lowest existence, the experience and skills of the operators are also examined; But it really can't stand his structure, simple and cheap enough, as long as a fixed frame made of bamboo and wood, and a rocker arm made of rope, leather pockets, and wood chips; It is more suitable for peasant armies that have come from poverty and whiteness, and seriously lack technical troops.

Therefore, at the moment, they made suggestions one after another, and took this as the standard, collected materials on the spot, and made a hundred of them before talking about others.

"Monk."

After watching this round of demonstrations, Wang Pan, the head of the general, who specially took the time to come over, also said cordially and sincerely to Zhou Huai'an

"Your skills and knowledge have helped a lot again."

"I just know a little bit about padding."

Zhou Huai'an hurriedly praised humbly.

"It's nothing."

"How can it not be a thing."

Wang Pan suddenly said with some dissatisfaction.

"This is a good thing that can make my brother in the rebel army lose less."

"Even if you don't take credit, you are indispensable in the documents submitted to the Guangfu."

"I'm still thinking about how to treat you after breaking the sun."

Then he paused, and continued.

"For these devices... Since you made it all overseer."

"I don't know what the follow-up charter is. Let's hear it. ”

"I'm going to make a show in the team."

Zhou Huai'an didn't hide his personal answers.

"Think about it, these instruments will be of real use."

"You have to be a good student, and you have to be able to count and be able to do it."

"Why is it so troublesome?"

A young lieutenant with a fresh face standing beside Wang Pan muttered.

"As long as you can throw the stone out."

"That's not what I said."

Zhou Huai'an, who was questioned, was not very angry.

"If the person who operates it is not suitable, and does not know the distance of the stone, there will be many mistakes."

"If you can't beat the enemy, you are afraid that it will be very unbeautiful if you accidentally injure your own brothers."

"Wu Xiaoyan'er, are you doing a lot of things."

Wang Pan also reprimanded in a low voice with some dissatisfaction.

"Monk, this is not a foresight, and they all want to be ahead of everyone."

"That's what the head of the pipe said."

Several other people around Wang Pan who were familiar with each other also responded with gossip

"That's it, that's it,"

"What if you don't have the size and strength to throw things on your own heads?"

"Little Eyes,. Do you dare to risk your own life and gamble on this? ”

"After that, the planning will be left to you."

Wang Pan also made a decision on the spot.

"Whatever men you want, go to the camps and pick them."

"As long as it can be of use as soon as possible."

"Okay."

Zhou Huai'an said.

"I'm going to have someone make something to imitate first."

"Let the hands practice first."

"Then you make one, and you put in one."

"In this way, when all the equipment is made, it can be used effectively."

"When the team is all proficient."

Then Zhou Huai'an added, it can be regarded as giving some kind of expectation and promise.

"Then we can send them down to the sub-camps and teach them the appropriate means of conduct."

"Or are you thoughtful and proper."

Wang Pan patted him on the shoulder cordially, and said to the left and right.

"That's it."

"You all have to cooperate as much as you can..."

"If you dare to make mistakes of prevarication and delay, don't blame me for the ruthlessness of military law."

Of course, the rest is not that simple; Even if it is a simple whirlwind cannon, it is a real technical weapon in this relatively backward era; Zhou Huai'an has been tinkered with the standard prototype of surveying and mapping standards and icon styles along the way, and has begun to practice them in a small area;

It is mainly according to the scale of the heavenly stems and the corona that people are most familiar with in this era, and the number of Jiazi of the sixty-one reincarnations is used as the subdivided time unit, plus the direction and angle of the twelve hours (o'clock) and the quarters; As the formulators and promoters of standards, they are also stuffed into the corresponding private goods, expanding their influence and authority in disguise.

"By the way, Brother Monk."

After saying these official things, Wang Pan suddenly seemed to be a different person, and looked at Zhou Huai'an with a relatively relaxed expression.

"Do you have any fresh food and dishes lately?"

"After a tight siege these days,"

"My mouth is already salty and tight."

"I've learned a little along the way."

Zhou Huaian couldn't help but smile, is this the result of some kind of "intentional flower arrangement, flowers do not bloom, and unintentionally planted willows and willows are shady";

Since joining the Raging Wind Camp, it is difficult to say that the results in other aspects have been difficult to say, at least they have successfully captured their appetite and habits; Under their own leadership, these leaders of the rebel army have also become more particular and picky about the requirements and standards of food.

Subsequently, in Zhou Huai'an's special kitchen car, a large pot of hot and sour fish maw pot cooked with dogwood, galangal, dried mushrooms, duck racks and other accessories, a large plate of vinegar fried and marinated fish roe, and fried fish bladder balls drizzled with onion and garlic sauce were put on the table for private drinking.

。。。。。。。。。

Thousands of miles away in Chang'an City, Xijing, it is already the early winter season when snowflakes are falling.

In Guangxiamen, where filth and firewood are only taken, in the city gates that are opened almost every day, there are truckloads of corpses of homeless people and poor households who have frozen to death, which are transported from end to end, and then disappear between the gray and mottled earth stained by frost and snow.

Since the whim of a certain bigwig in Fengchaotang in Jingzhao Mansion decided to implement the plan of replacing firewood and grass with coal in this Xijing City to clean up the filthy atmosphere in the city; Those who were denied the source of firewood and grass outside the city and the corresponding livelihood, and could not afford to buy official charcoal, would inevitably struggle and suffer in the cold winter; In particular, the shanty houses in the southern city and the western suburbs can be carried out almost every day.

Fortunately, in recent days, the prime minister who was worried about the people's livelihood in the DPRK finally changed his mind and began to sympathize with the people's feelings again, so that Jingzhao Mansion continued to implement charcoal burning, and finally stopped prohibiting the import and supply of firewood and grass, and also gave some way to live for the charcoal sellers outside the city and the small people in the city.

Under another city gate in Chang'an, Yu Meng, a judge from Sizhou sitting in an ox cart, was also looking through the snowflakes of the roller shutters, looking at the familiar and somewhat unfamiliar scenery of the capital here.

(End of chapter)