Chapter 509

The early morning sun shines on the wide, flat valley west of Zhonghe Peak. For the first time in the barracks of the Southern Army of the Tang Dynasty, which stretched for several miles, it seemed so quiet in the early morning. On the flagpole in front of the camp gate, three bloody human heads hung on it, swinging back and forth with the slight morning breeze and colliding.

In the camp gate, groups of Tang Army soldiers were still busy entering and exiting, but their eyes did not dare to look at the flagpole at all, and everyone's expressions were grim and nervous. What happened last night had been ordered to the whole army, and all the generals and soldiers knew what had happened, which was a great shock to them.

Most of the soldiers of the Jiannan Army were indeed a little inflated, and the events of last night also made everyone's hearts wake up. They were warned that nothing in the army should be negligent or slack, otherwise not only would the enemy be given a chance, but the deputy marshal would never show favoritism. The three heads on the flagpole, the Jiannan soldiers and horses made Song Jiangong and General Song all beaten to the ground, and dozens of generals were degraded to ordinary soldiers, which is enough to show that Vice Marshal Wang is really moving.

In the dust, hundreds of cavalry galloped from the military camp to the gate of Dongying, and the two horses running in front were one black and one white, which were Wang Yuan and Liu Jun, followed by Liu Dehai and Zhao Qing and Tan Ping's personal guard battalion soldiers and horses. The soldiers of the front battalion, who were cleaning up the more than 50 Shenwei cannons that had been burned last night, saw Wang Yuan's arrival, and hurriedly stopped and stood with their hands down. The guerrilla generals of the former army, who were in charge of cleaning up the scene, ran up and saluted.

"The lowly Wei Guangzhong has seen the deputy marshal, I don't know what the deputy marshal commands?"

Wang Yuan nodded in return, and said in a deep voice: "Are you in charge of this place now?" ”

Wei Guangzhong arched his hand and said: "Yes, General Song is inconvenient, so he ordered the last general to temporarily take over the affairs of the former army, and the last general is ordering someone to clean up the wreckage of the Shenwei cannon that was burned last night and make room for the newly made Shenwei cannon." ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said: "The soldiers and horses of the front battalion must set up a temporary camp on the side of the mountain from today to prevent the barbarians from sneaking up on the mountain and forest at night, can you arrange this matter?" ”

Wei Guangzhong said: "Deputy Marshal, the fortified camps under the north and south slopes are being excavated, and the last general plans to send 1,000 crossbowmen each to garrison at night, and there will never be another incident from last night." ”

Wang Yuan nodded and said, "Very good, go ahead with your business." ”

Wei Guangzhong bowed and saluted, and took the order. Wang Yuan turned to Liu Dehai beside him and said, "Liu Dehai, where is the test site?" ”

Liu Dehai pointed to the side of the mountain and said: "The deputy marshal said that he didn't want to be detected by the barbarians, so he arranged the test site in a narrow strip of land under the hillside north of the barracks. Everything was ready according to the requirements of the deputy marshal. ”

Wang Yuan lifted the reins and shouted, "Let's go." The black horses galloped to take the lead, and hundreds of horses galloped to follow, galloping all the way to the north of the camp.

On the narrow gravel valley between the north of the camp and the slopes of the North Mountain, a Shenwei cannon stood alone in the open space, surrounded by dozens of soldiers in charge of operating the Shenwei cannon, and a bonfire was burning next to the Shenwei cannon, and a large pile of wood was piled up next to it. Wang Yuan galloped over with hundreds of horses, and turned over and dismounted when he got close. Liu Dehai trotted forward and shouted at the soldiers standing next to the Shenwei cannon: "The artillery commander has not come to see him?" ”

The so-called artillery commander is a position newly established by Wang Yuan in the army, and after the Shenwei cannon is manufactured, it takes thirty soldiers plus one craftsman to repair it at any time. The position of the gun commander is the head of these thirty soldiers, responsible for all matters such as the movement, control, and firing of a divine cannon. According to the manpower under his jurisdiction, it is a position between the team leader and the team leader, but in fact, the gun commander has a higher rank than the team leader, because he also controls a divine cannon.

Hearing Liu Dehai shouting, a sturdy soldier hurriedly stepped forward and said in a loud voice: "Feng Wulang, the commander of the eighteenth Shenwei cannon, is here and has seen General Liu. ”

Liu Dehai shouted: "Are you ready?" The lieutenant is waiting to watch. ”

Feng Wulang patted his chest and said, "Everything is ready to be launched at any time." ”

Liu Dehai nodded, turned around and arched his hand to Wang Yuan, who was approaching with Liu Jun and the others: "Deputy Marshal, everything is ready." ”

Wang Yuan nodded slightly and said, "Okay, start immediately." ”

Feng Wulang shouted angrily, and the thirty soldiers immediately divided into two teams to stand on both sides of the Shenwei cannon, and at the same time began to twist the shaft, pulling down the throwing arm that was pointing high at the sky, and the thousand-pound boulder at the other end was slowly lifted to the air more than two zhang high, and the entire Shenwei cannon made a creaking and squeaking sound.

"Feeding." Feng Wulang shouted. Several soldiers used iron tongs to lift the round and boiling wood from the fire and put it into the throwing basket, the log was thick enough to hug it, and the flame was burning vigorously, and it was rubbing and burning in the throwing basket.

Zhang Wulang personally took the hammer forward, raised the hammer high and struck it violently at the wooden shaft, with a clang, the iron hook was loosened, the boulder fell, driving the long arm to rise, and the burning log in the basket flew to the sky with a roar, drawing a trajectory of green smoke, and fell far away at the foot of the mountain.

"Pretty." Liu Jun stroked his palm and praised.

Wang Yuan's face was serious, and he said in a loud voice: "Measure the ejection distance and see if the flame is extinguished." ”

Liu Dehai ordered repeatedly, Zhang Wulang rushed away with a soldier, and soon after rushed back to report: "The wood is torn apart, but it is still burning." Projectile distance, five hundred and eighty steps. ”

Everyone was stunned, this distance was the farthest distance ever recorded by the Shenwei cannon. Wang Yuan also looked happy. asked, "How many catties does that piece of wood weigh just now?" ”

"Deputy marshal, weighing thirty-five pounds." Zhang Wulang replied.

Wang Yuan thought for a while and said, "Try again, this time it will be heavier, using sixty catties of wood." ”

Zhang Wulang answered the order, carried a larger and thicker piece of wood into the fire, and when the flames were burning, he fired it with a Shenwei cannon.

"Five hundred and thirty paces, fifty steps shorter." Zhang Wulang rushed back after measuring the range.

"Try again, forty-five pounds of wood." Wang Yuan ordered in a deep voice.

After the forty-five catties of wood were launched, Zhang Wulang rushed back to return with an unbelievable smile on his face: "Six hundred and thirty steps, incredible." ”

The crowd was also amazed, and they did not understand the reason at all, why the thirty-five pounds of wood were thrown closer than the forty-five pounds, and the forty-five pounds were farther than the sixty pounds. Wang Yuan naturally didn't bother to explain to them. He's looking for an optimal throw weight. It not only gives full play to the firing power of the Shenwei cannon, but also counteracts the resistance of the air with the right weight. Obviously, thirty-five pounds of wood is too light, and it can't be far under the influence of air resistance. And sixty pounds is too heavy, and the power of the trebuchet is insufficient. Just like a hundred catties of stone can only shoot more than 400 steps, that is beyond the firing power of the Shenwei cannon.

Dozens of launches were carried out in a row, and by the time this Shenwei cannon was scrapped, Wang Yuan had obtained dozens of sets of data from near and far. The difference in weight affects the distance at which the Shenwei cannon is fired. The most suitable launch weight is between 40 and 50 catties, and the projectile distance is more than 600 steps. And the shorter and thicker the wood, the less resistance and the farther the distance of the projectile. Wang Yuan was very satisfied with the effect, and his only regret was that the logs cut down were too wet, not easy to burn, and easy to extinguish when they landed.

The eighteenth Shenwei cannon has been scrapped, Liu Dehai asked Wang Yuan if he still needs to drag a Shenwei cannon to continue the experiment, Wang Yuan smiled: "No need, this is the end." Zhang Wulang, the artillery commander, is a good one, but unfortunately his cannon is gone, so he will be equipped with another one. ”

Liu Dehai said with a smile: "Of course, is the deputy marshal's experiment today to give up stone bullets and change them to wooden bullets?"

Wang Yuan nodded and smiled: "You won't see it until now, right?" Stones are difficult to collect, but wood is everywhere. In that case, why should I avoid the light? Moreover, most of the buildings in the city are made of wood and bamboo, and I want to give them a rain of fire, which is not more effective than throwing stones at the head of the city. ”

Liu Dehai praised in astonishment: "The deputy marshal's brain, the last general is convinced." ”

Wang Yuan laughed and said: "It's not my brain, it's thanks to the barbarians last night." They don't have to burn my cannon, and I can't think of using fire bombs against them. This is called treating others as they would have done their own thing. That way, I don't have to make too many Divine Cannons. At the end of the day, two hundred are enough. Later, it can be slowly manufactured as a replacement for scrapping. ”

Liu Dehai nodded and said: "So, does the lowly position need to assign more people to cut down more wood and cut it into sections for the purpose of wooden bullets?" “

Wang Yuan said: "Of course you need, starting in the afternoon, you need to allocate another person to cut down trees on the high slopes of the mountain." But ordinary wood doesn't work, as you can see, a lot of wooden bombs went out after landing this morning, that's not going to work. I want trees with oil, pine, paulownia. This kind of wood is not easy to extinguish when ignited, even if it is alive, and it is very effective as a wooden bullet. To a large amount of this wood. You don't have to worry too much about the thickness, you can have more than the thickness of the sea bowl, and then cut it into small pieces and bundle them together to increase the weight. Of course, it is best to have a large tree that is thick and thick, and the oil accumulates enough to burn more violently. ”

Liu Dehai nodded and said with a smile: "Don't worry, deputy marshal, I can't wait to see the moment when the fire and rain come to the city." In the afternoon, he personally led people up the mountain to cut down. It's just that the manpower needs to be increased, after all, pine trees are born high on the mountainside, and it is not easy to carry them. ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "There are enough manpower for you, and you will be a great achievement if you do this well." ”