Weapons and equipment and the coordination of arms under weapons and equipment have always been an important force leading the reform of the army, and the change of the former will undoubtedly bring about changes in the combat strength of the army. In this place, which is increasingly known as the "Armaments Research Office", Li Congjing not only let Xu Banxian and others intensively study and improve the "strange armaments" such as gunpowder, but because the improvement of gunpowder does not know when the effect will be seen, in comparison, Li Congjing is more concerned about the study of ordinary equipment.

"At present, Lu Long's enemy is the Khitan, is the elite cavalry of the steppe nomads, in the aspect of skillful archery and horses, a single twist out to compete for personal skills, since childhood on horseback The grassland warriors who grew up on horseback have a natural advantage, because since the dynasties, the Central Plains army defeated the grassland people, the key lies in two aspects, one is the battle method, such as the Warring States Li Mu, Han Wu Wei Huo, Liu Song Liu Jinu, and even the former Sui, are to the advantage of the method of conquest and the arrangement of troops, the grassland cavalry is defeated; The two are to take advantage of the Central Plains Dynasty's advantages in skill to build powerful weapons and equipment, crush the opponent in armament, or restrain the opponent in a targeted manner. There are countless examples of this, just one example, the Great Qin army, with the world-famous assembly line operation, produced a large number of powerful crossbows with exquisite craftsmanship, and the Huns were driven away in World War I, but it is a pity that after the death of Qin, the assembly line process also died out, and it has never reappeared in the world. Mo Li accompanied Li Congjing on the way to the Yanwu Academy, and when he talked about the situation of the "Armaments Research Office", Li Congjing was full of emotion, "In fact, whether it is Wei Huo or the early Sui and early Tang Dynasties, the reason why our Central Plains army has been able to defeat the grassland cavalry repeatedly, even including the fact that every time Your Majesty went north to personally conquer before, it was because the Central Plains armament was ahead of the grassland cavalry. The grassland lacks iron and technology, and has always lagged behind the Central Plains army in terms of armor, swords, arrows and other things. ”

Mo Li had been to the West Building with Li Congjing before, and had seen the elite army of the Western Expedition led by Yelu Bei, and when he was fighting with the Khitan in Liaodong for a long time, he knew the weapons and equipment of the Khitan army well, he nodded and said: "The Khitan armament, except for those elites, most of them are indeed slightly weaker than the Central Plains, and the horse armies of many tribes have no iron armor, they are all leather armor, and even no armor." A large part of the armor in today's Khitan army comes from battles with the Central Plains army. However, since the establishment of the Khitan State and the great development of the city, Yelu Abaoji has paid more and more attention to iron, which is also the reason why those Khitan elite cavalry can be well-equipped. Yelu Abaoji attacked the Bohai Sea, the reason why he thought he was winning, on the one hand, of course, the Khitan army had been on the battlefield for a long time and had become an elite soldier, on the other hand, it was also because the Khitan had been preparing for this matter for a long time, and had accumulated a large number of heavy iron weapons and equipment, including siege equipment. ”

During the conversation, the two had arrived at the "Armaments Research Office", Xu Banxian was still tossing gunpowder, not to mention the cloak, his face had become black charcoal, and Li Congjing comforted and encouraged him.

is different from Xu Banxian's fairy wind bones, and the one who presides over the research and improvement of ordinary armaments is also an old man, known as Liu Laoshi. Before being discovered by Li Congjing and coming to the Martial Arts Academy, Liu Laoshi was just an ordinary craftsman, even a somewhat weird craftsman, because he often fiddled with a thing by himself, chattering in his mouth, and the things in the courtyard were a year down, I don't know how much he would be damaged, although there were some achievements, but many things that were not recognized, everyone thought he was delirious.

Only Li Congjing knew that this was the common "potential" of many scientists, and after learning about it, Li Congjing was shocked by Liu Laoshi's skillful skills and surprising ideas, so he asked Liu Laoshi to preside over the armament improvement work.

Seeing Li Congjing, Liu Laoshi's first sentence was the sound of the urn and said angrily: "The range of the new crossbow has been extended to three hundred steps, please take a look at it." ”

In frontal battles, against the steppe cavalry, the bow and crossbow are undoubtedly the most advantageous killing weapon, and there is no one. Former Sui Yang Su, taste and Turkic war, its infantry army tens of thousands, Turkic cavalry also tens of thousands, when the battle, the Turkic cavalry rushed into battle, Yang Su with infantry archers, with a bow and arrow to shoot it, after a few arrows, the Turks suffered heavy casualties, then retreated, Yang Su is to cover the killing, a big victory. In this battle, the reason why Yang Su was able to win was to rely on the advantages of the bow and arrow, and the power of the bow and arrow can be seen. The question is whether it can be used effectively.

"The big array of bows and crossbows, before the cavalry takes over, give it great damage, and the emphasis is on three. First, the sharpness of the arrow, only the arrow is sharp enough to penetrate the leather armor or even the general thin iron armor, killing horses and killing people; Second, the strength of the bow and crossbow. The crossbow was powerful enough not only to increase the likelihood of piercing armor and inflict heavy damage on cavalry, but importantly, to extend its range. Third, quantity. That is, the number of archers and the size of the arrow array. The third party does not speak, only the first two, ordinary bows and arrows, three arrows in battle is the limit, but there is no shortage of strong crossbows in the army that can reach three hundred steps such as crossbows, but these crossbows are too big, and it is not convenient to manufacture and use, and it is difficult to mass produce them. Not to mention that it is as strong as a Korean crossbow, it can shoot 600 steps, and if it can reach 300 steps, it is enough to greatly increase the three arrows in battle, and the resulting increase in lethality is unimaginable. Especially when it first arrives on the battlefield, you can imagine what kind of panic it will bring to the enemy army. Li Congjing said, "The Central Plains army, the horse army is small, and it is far inferior to the grassland army in terms of mobility. He and the Khitan were at war, and the grassland was the main battlefield, and the grassland terrain was vast and flat, which was very conducive to the mobility of the grassland cavalry. The cavalry did not engage with the infantry army, and shot with bows and arrows from a hundred paces, running back and forth, which was enough to let the infantry army rout. At this time, with the sharp arrows of our army and the advantage of range, we can take advantage of it. Supplemented by shields and other defenses, and defended on the periphery of the military formation, the infantry army was no longer afraid of the Khitan cavalry, and could even repeat the story of Li Ling. ”

Li Ling with 5,000 troops, in the grassland in the face of tens of thousands of Hun cavalry siege, self-consolidation, with bows and arrows to shoot, the fight is impressive, but also while fighting and walking, part of the mystery is in the Han army at that time The bow and arrow of the Han army is much sharper than the Huns. The reason for this is that the grassland cavalry weapons have been improved, and the arrows have become iron arrows, and there are no bones and bronze arrows, and the bows and crossbows of the Central Plains army have lost their overwhelming advantage.

Li Congjing and others followed Liu Laoshi to the casting table, and picked up an improved strong crossbow in Liu Laoshi's mouth from the platform. The best yellow wood, after air drying, quenching and reprocessing, to form today's crossbow body, the production of beef tendon also requires many complicated steps, which can not be achieved overnight. This is also the reason why the Martial Arts Academy has been established for a long time, and the Armaments Research Department has been established for a long time, and the first results have appeared. However, now that the strong crossbow can be improved, Li Congjing is happy in his heart.

He took the crossbow arrow and asked Liu Laoshi: "Three hundred steps is indeed no problem, what are the requirements for the crossbowman?" ”

Liu Laoshi Mu said: "Three hundred steps is indeed no problem, the crossbowman needs someone with excellent arm strength, and this crossbow needs the power of two stones to open." ”

"Two stones." Li Congjing pondered for a moment and said one word, "Yes." ”

Two stones in a row, it is certainly not something that ordinary sergeants can do, but if you choose the elite, it is not difficult to do it. In other words, with the power of two stones, a crossbow of 300 steps is already a very good power conversion, and it has a high "cost performance".

"Why don't you give Brother Li a try?" Mo Li said with a smile.

Li Congjing naturally had no problem opening two stone bows, and he also wanted to test the power of this new crossbow, so he walked out of the casting room with everyone and came to the outer courtyard to test the power of the new crossbow.

The iron arrow of the new crossbow is also a four-edged iron arrow, but the model is larger, and the corresponding weight and lethality have increased.

There was a buzz, the four-edged iron arrow penetrated the target, and the tail was still trembling, just this time, it did have the power of three hundred steps, but with Li Congjing's archery, the arrow was not nailed to the bull's-eye, but deviated a lot, and shot at the outer ring of the target.

Li Congjing was stunned. He knew very well how his archery skills were, and the distance of three hundred paces was certainly a long way, but it was not far enough to make him lose his crosshairs. He and Mo Li turned their inquiring gazes to Liu Laoshi, obviously questioning the accuracy of the new crossbow.

Liu Laoshi didn't have any extra expression on his face, "Although the strength of the new crossbow has reached three hundred steps, it is indeed lacking in accuracy, which is why the subordinates did not submit the new crossbow to the military marshal for review, but today the military marshal came, so he took it out and let the military marshal see the results." ”

"I see." Li Congjing checked the new crossbow in his hand, and indeed felt that the crossbow body was still a little rough, and he did not polish it carefully, so he returned the new crossbow to the accompanying craftsman, "Although the arrows of the battle array are heavy coverage but not accuracy, but the use of the new crossbow cannot be used in the battle array, because the accuracy is not up to standard, but it cannot be taken to the battlefield rashly." After speaking, he said to Liu honestly: "The improvement of the new crossbow technology has been achieved, and this marshal is pleased, but what the marshal hopes is that the new crossbow can come in handy in this battle." Liu Lao, we must improve the new crossbow before the big war and put it into mass production to equip our army. ”

The battle with the Khitan is the overall situation of Lu Long's current situation, although Lu Long and the Khitan have not yet fought on a large scale, but in fact, the contest in all aspects is already underway. Now the game between Li Congjing and Yelu Abaoji is a game of "strategizing", the competition is resourcefulness and layout, and in the near future, with the deepening of the chess game, the chess pieces on the chessboard will become more and more, the contradiction will intensify, and the confrontation between the two will definitely be transferred to the battlefield, and finally fight for victory and defeat in the real knife and gun. As one of the most important factors in Li Congjing's decisive victory on the battlefield, there is no need to say what the significance of weapons and armaments is. Liu Laoshi's burden is heavy, and there is no need to say more.

Liu Laoshi is not good at words, his expression was a little solemn when he heard the words, and he gave his hand to receive the order, "The military commander has an order, and he must serve his life, and he dare not delay the overall situation of the military commander!" ”

Li Congjing nodded reassuringly.

In order to prepare for the next big war, Li Congjing has ordered Peng Zushan to be the grain and grass transfer envoy, with full authority to supervise the transportation of grain and grass, ordnance, medicinal materials and other logistics materials in Danzhou, Jizhou, Pingzhou and other places. Li Congjing wants to support the Bohai State and fight with the Khitan, which is tacit between Li Congjing and Yelu Abaoji, and there is no need to cover it up. Not only that, whether it is Yelu Abaoji or Li Congjing, they are all preparing for this matter, both of them have set up the game, and the early competition has already begun. The way the final decision is made is tantamount to a head-to-head battle.

Whether it is gunpowder, or a new crossbow, including the replenishment mechanism of follow-up soldiers, this is Li Congjing's backhand, and it is Li Congjing's stamina to prepare for the victory of the next big war.

On this day, Li Congjing was discussing the matter in front of him with Mo Li, Wang Pu and others, and Ma Huaiyuan's military report arrived.