The intention of holding the position is to take advantage of this imbalance between defense and offense, so that. As long as the Qi army sticks to its position, it can make this tacit fact a reality. So that they can achieve their strategic goals. Obviously, Tian Heng also had the intention of ending this war, after all, the war had been fought in Qi for nearly three years. This war has exhausted the national strength of the Qi State, and the Qi State is on the verge of collapse.

In the domestic agricultural production of Qi State, young and middle-aged laborers are rare. Mostly women. At the same time, women are also engaged in military production, they produce all kinds of weapons, and in the weapons manufacturing workshops of Qi State, women appeared, because men went to war. The State of Qi recruited many young and middle-aged men to the battlefield.

The strength of Qi on the front line is less than 80,000 people, but the number of troops in charge of logistics is constantly increasing. There are about 300,000 troops in the entire Qi country to maintain its security in logistics. Plus a variety of people to ensure logistics. Because the battle line dragged on too long. It depends on the supply transportation situation at that time. It's very difficult. Therefore, the state of Qi consumed its entire national strength for this war. From this point of view, Shangwen's purpose has indeed been achieved.

However, there were no troops to adjust in Qin. Because, the Qin State cut military spending on a large scale and reduced many troops, which put the Qin State in a delicate stage for a while.

And in the south of the Qin State. The armed merchant ships of the Qin State are clashes with the naval forces of the Chu State again.

"Stop the ship immediately for inspection. Stop the ship immediately for inspection. The soldiers of the Chu State Navy on a small boat shouted loudly.

"Woo." And in response to them was the whistle of the ironclad ship of the Qin State.

"What are they shouting?" The captain of the Qin State's ironclad ship asked loudly.

"I don't know." The first mate on the side said.

"These Chu State Naval Army, can they stop us?" The captain said disdainfully.

"Leave them alone. We crashed straight over. The captain gave a loud order at this time.

"All right, Captain," the pilot replied loudly. And slammed into the boat.

"Look, I'll just say they're not going to stop." This time. On a hill on the bank of the Yangtze River, a Chu State sailor officer said.

"The Qin people are very cruel." The officer said in confusion.

The Qin ironclad ship in the distance directly overturned the small wooden boat. The soldiers on the boat fell directly into the water. The fate of the soldier is not known for the time being.

"Give those Qin people's ironclad ships some colors to see." Xiang Yan, who was standing not far away, observed all this coldly, the ironclad ships of the Qin people were a headache for the Chu State naval army, and their previous weapons were difficult to pose a threat to them at all. But now it's different.

"Artillery preparation." The Chu naval army was equipped with new weapons, artillery. These cannons came from the Qin State, and there were a large number of such old bronze cannons to deal with in the arsenal of the Qin State. The number of these guns is very large, and some factories are still producing them today. Although the material was replaced with steel pipes. However, this artillery was extremely popular. Mainly, rifle firepower in the hands of the infantry reached the extreme, and they urgently needed a heavy fire weapon to suppress the infantry weapons. At this time, the demand for artillery will become great.

With the development of trade between Qin and Chu, especially the reduction of restrictions on arms exports, this directly led to the direct export of heavy weapons such as artillery to various countries. The largest number of imports was not the warring Qi State, but the Chu State without war, and the Chu State imported a large number of artillery. Artillery is a weapon that has a deep impact on them. Because this weapon is far more powerful than a musket.

Another important reason why the Chu State began to pay attention to artillery was that they needed to imitate it. At the same time, they mastered the technology of making gunpowder, these two technologies. They urgently need to study the artillery of the Qin State to make the artillery of the Chu State of its own.

The bronze smelting technology of Chu was very developed. The unearthed chimes of the Chu State demonstrate the superb bronze smelting technology of the Chu State. And the state of Chu after importing a large number of artillery pieces from the state of Qin. Start researching it now.

Under the developed bronze metallurgical technology of the Chu State. The state of Chu soon developed their first bronze artillery. However, there is still a big difference between the artillery and the artillery made by the Qin State. The artillery made in the state of Chu is still very bulky. Moreover, the firing range was inferior to the artillery of the Qin State. On top of that, the cost of making an artillery gun in the Qin state was low. However, the cost of artillery manufactured by Chu was still very expensive, and the cost problem became the most important constraint for Chu to manufacture its own artillery, which led to a large number of imports of artillery made by Qin.

"All artillery units go into battle." An officer of the Chu State Navy shouted loudly.

A small yellow flag was waving. And in the bushes on both sides of the river, there were hidden bronze guns one after another.

"These Chu people will only make trouble for us." The captain said to the first mate.

"The people of Chu don't have any way to take us at all." The first mate said.

"Put." The officer of the Chu State Navy shouted loudly. At the same time, the flag fell quickly.

"Bang. Bang bang. "A huge roar of artillery erupted. Instantaneous lightning and thunder. Several guns fired at the same time.

"Boom." The cannonballs whistled directly towards the Qin army's ironclad ship.

"Woo. The whistling of shells whirred.

"Whew." A shrill voice came.

"It's a cannon." The first mate immediately shouted.

"Boom. Rumble. Rumble. "There were several explosions in succession, and there were explosions around the Qin army's ironclad ships, and the ironclad ships also began to sway from side to side because of the explosions.

"Ahh The captain was still in the joy of defeating the Chu navy just now. He didn't hear the sound of the Chu State Navy shells firing at all.

A scream. The captain fell directly on the deck.

"Woo." At this time, the shells were still whistling. The shrill voice makes people shudder.

"Damn it. The people of Chu actually had cannons. The captain struggled to get up.

"Bang." It was at this time. A shaking caused by a loud explosion was heard.

"Ahh The captain had just stood on his feet, when he was suddenly knocked to the ground by a huge explosion.

"Hit. We hit. A Chu Navy soldier shouted excitedly.

"It doesn't matter how many hits you make. Immediately concentrate firepower and hit these merchant ships of the Qin State fiercely. Xiang Yan ordered loudly at this time.

"Whoa." A Chu State officer replied loudly.

"Concentrated fire." The officer of the Chu State shouted loudly.

And the armed merchant fleet organized by the armed merchant ships of the Qin State was attacked by many Chu naval artillery at this time. "Damn it. Our ship was hit. "This time. Sailors covered in blood came running to report.

"Damn it." The captain got up again and cursed.

"What's going on?" The captain asked.

"Our cargo hold was hit. There's a constant leak over there. The sailor replied.

"Quick, order our people to rush to repair." The first mate yelled.

"How to fix it?" The sailor asked.

"Plug it with wooden blocks and burlap and find a way." The captain yelled.

"We've got to get out of this place quickly." The captain said at this time.

"The situation around us is not very good either." At this time, the pilot of the ship said.

"The Changping was hit and caught fire." At this time a sailor reported.

"What?" The captain asked aloud.

Sure enough, in the position of the side of this ship, an identical ironclad ship was hit by the hull, and billowing black smoke was already rising from the hull. Smoke has covered the entire superstructure of the ship.

"The Changping was actually shot." The captain said at this time.

"Sir, we've been shot, too. We've got to figure it out. At this time, a midshipman said.

"We need to get out of here." The captain said.

"Forward. Fast forward. The captain shouted.

The shore artillery unit of the Chu State Navy used the bronze artillery that was usually used. The artillery unit of the Chu State Navy Army was equipped with such artillery from the big grandmother. Their number reached an astonishing more than 200 guns, and the number of artillery pieces put into the Chu State Navy this time suddenly exceeded more than 60 guns. Arguably. The density of artillery is quite large.

And the Qin State ironclad ship, after the use of steel welding technology. It began to be massively simplified, shrunk. Under the welding technology of steel, the steel plate can be made into a whole. However, the price of steel, as well as the demand for the production of steel plates, could not meet the needs of shipyards. Under these conditions, the shipyards of the Qin State began to study a low-cost and relatively simple shipbuilding method.

The engineers turned their attention to the ironclad. Because, it is much easier to weld iron plates than steel plates. On top of that, the cost of iron plates is much lower than that of steel plates. Steel plates are expensive to produce. Thus, the ironclad ship was born.

The birth of ironclad ships was in line with the needs of the times, because neither steel plate production nor welding technology could meet the increasing demand for shipbuilding, and an emergency solution was born.

While the ironclad ships were launched quickly, they also simplified another process, which was that they were building a single-hull ship instead of a double-hull ship. Such ships are easier to manufacture. The cost is lower, however, the defense capability is reduced a lot, however, they are facing opponents who use little rifle pirates and the Chu State Naval Army, so there is still a large market for such ships.

However, the Chu Navy was quickly equipped with a large number of artillery. This situation has changed rapidly. Solid shells penetrated directly through the monohull of the ironclad ship. Even some grenades pierced through its weak iron armor, and shells hit the ship's hold. Caused the ironclad ship to hit and catch fire.

"The Changping has flipped off." At this time, a sailor shouted loudly.

"Shut up." The captain shouted.