For the artillery, everyone was shocked at first, and then gradually became dull under the influence of Xiong Jing, no longer as excited as before, especially Nao cunning, he found some problems that could not be ignored.

From the perspective of weapon use, artillery is in a very awkward position among the many projection weapons in the Chu State: the trebuchet weighs more than ten tons, it fires 100 kilograms of shells and oil shells, the range is more than 300 meters, the combat range is mostly on both sides of the waterway (boat-loaded), and the number of times it is transported to land is very small, except for defending and besieging cities; The crossbow is only a few hundred kilograms, and it can be dispersed and disassembled into lighter parts during transportation, and a ten-kilogram iron bullet can hit 200 meters away, and the combat range is almost unlimited.

The artillery and its front vehicle weighed more than two tons, and fired 5.44 kilograms of iron bullets could only hit more than 300 meters. Such weapons are in the case of trebuchets and crossbows, and have no value at all. To be powerful, elected trebuchet; If you want to be light and elect a crossbow, why choose this kind of iron guy who needs six horses and can't fire continuously?

Whether it is Xiong Jing or Lian Po, they have repeatedly mentioned that the essence of war is based on transportation. At this time, the war was no longer like hundreds of years ago, when it was fought for only one day, two days, and ......only three days, and the war lasted for many years, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers. If the logistics can't keep up, it will repeat the Battle of Changping more than 20 years ago.

The essence of logistics is horses, and the Chu army replaced horses with boats according to local conditions, and canceled the chariots in the establishment, but there are still many places where horses are needed. A four-wheeled carriage of twenty men is the minimum estimate of the Transport Division, and this is the vehicle accompanying the army, which does not include the transportation vehicles in the camp and the rear, and does not include the short-distance vehicles used to transport grain and straw in the counties and towns of the country. The Chu army is already short of horses, a cannon has at least six horses, not counting the cannonballs, counting the need for at least eight horses, who can afford this?

The more he thought about it, the more disappointed he became, there was actually one thing he didn't realize: there was a difference between six horses towing artillery and three horses towing a four-wheeled carriage, that is, the six-horse towed artillery carriage was longer than the four-wheeled carriage transporting grain, so the requirements for the road were much higher than that of the four-wheeled carriage. The width of the road should be at least one zhang, the turning radius should be more than ten meters, the slope should not exceed fifteen degrees, and the last one is the bridge. It is better to pass through the bridge with a load of more than eight tons, and not less than six tons, because the weight of the cannon and the horse is more than five tons.

The weight of the four-wheeled carriage had made it impossible for the wooden bridges in various parts of the Chu State to bear it, so that the cement production increased rapidly, and the first thing to be built was not the city, but the bridge. This is heavier than the four-wheeled carriage, and the wooden bridges are even more impassable.

'Boom——! As he thought about it, the two twelve-pounder cannons, cooled down, began to roar again, and they were now aimed at the target and the flock under it, each of which fired one hundred and twelve light shotguns of two to three centimeters. Because the gunpowder was not powerful enough, these shotguns, which could have killed three or four hundred meters, can now only kill targets and sheep within 100 meters.

For infantry, shotguns are extremely terrifying, and firing shotguns at the same time can form a dense and bloody barrage. No one dared to charge at the guns that fired the shotguns, because the time to cross this distance was much longer than the interval between artillery fire, and the most morale-boosting troops would crumble under the guns, just like the Pikitt charge during the Civil War.

Looking at the flock of sheep safe and sound 100 meters away, Xiong Jing suddenly came up with an idea, which was also a cunning proposal before: let the artillery erect a barbed wire fence 50 meters away before opening fire, so that even if the range is very short, it can crush the enemy's charge.

When Xiong Jing thought of this idea, the sound of the cannon stopped again. The drawbacks of artillery began to arise again: it could not fire continuously, early artillery experts recommended firing a maximum of eight rounds per hour, the nineteenth century believed that every forty shells should be cooled down for one hour, and the number of design shots per hour could not exceed nineteen.

Of course, the two twelve-pounder guns were made of mild steel, and the barrels of the guns had been repeatedly hammered with a heavy hammer weighing dozens of tons before drilling and boring to make them dense, but the king was on his side, and the commander of the gun, who was worried about the explosion, ordered to stop firing as soon as he saw that the barrel was hot.

"This is ......" The shooting range was in shambles, sheep blood was spilling all over the ground, and those who were not dead were still screaming.

"It's shotgun." Xiong Jing pointed to a shotgun. It is round and round, like a tinplate can. One hundred and twelve iron bullets of various sizes were packed inside, and sawdust was stuffed between the shells to prevent the shotguns from being squeezed together during firing and causing them to spread too little. And the reason why it is made in the shape of a can is to prevent the shotgun from damaging the barrel, and even then it will still damage the barrel, a gun that can fire thousands of shells, the life of the shotgun is only two or three hundred rounds.

"Good!" The more he looked at the shotgun, the more he nodded, and the power of the shotgun seemed to everyone to be greater than the round solid bullet. In fact, in the face of dense arrays, there are many people killed by the constantly beating solid bullets. According to the research of the French, the solid bullets fired by the 12-pounder cannon at a distance of 800 meters could kill and wound 23 people, and 34 people at 500 meters. However, this kind of damage is related to the thickness of the queue, and if the opponent's queue is thin, the lethality will be greatly reduced.

There is another kind, "Because of time, the mansion did not make a grenade." But with the power of gunpowder now, making a grenade will make a sound. "The bullet is charged, and after it is fired, it falls into the enemy position and then explodes."

"Dare to ask the king, how is this bomb ignited?" He knew that gunpowder needed to be ignited with fire, and that the shells were placed in the chamber of the cannon and fired into the enemy position before exploding, and ignition was a big problem.

"Ignite the fire at a regular time." Xiong Jing replied. "The shell ignites before it is placed in the chamber, and when it flies into enemy lines, the fuse ignites the gunpowder in the shell." After he finished speaking, he looked at Gong Zhiji again, "Artillery is different from infantry, artillery is first and foremost rigorous, if it is not strictly forbidden, it will die before the enemy." ”

"The minister remembers the words of the king and is cautious in everything." The public loss is not deep. His feeling was different from that of Nao and the others, and he felt that artillery would definitely be able to obtain trebuchets and crossbows, and become the most important weapons of the army.

"Regulations need to be formed." Xiong Jing added, and at this time he thought of an unpleasant thing.

After three years of war, the lessons learned in the three years were enough for the Chu army to compile a thick set of combat regulations, but the problem is that the regulations have been compiled, and the officers are illiterate, what can you do? The same problem exists with maps, battle orders, and scouts.

But even so, many counties under the jurisdiction of clans do not have universal education, because the counties have already been contracted, which is the internal affairs of the people, and Xiong Jing has no right to interfere in internal affairs. But if this problem is not solved, the initiative of the soldiers will not be able to be fully developed, because they will not have the ability to play it.