"This is the Divine Arm Bow?" Gentle exclaimed. [Full text reading]

He was born in Jiangmen, has a family background, and has an understanding of military-related information, and the Divine Arm Bow was also a famous weapon in the Song Dynasty, so he naturally would not be unaware.

However, he only knew that there was such a sharp weapon, and how powerful this weapon was, he could only get a glimpse of it from the few words handed down from the previous dynasty.

The Divine Arm Bow was developed in the first year of Xining, and then applied to the army, with a high degree of secrecy, if the Song army was defeated, it would be destroyed, so as not to let the foreign people peep into the mystery, and finally annihilated with the demise of the Northern Song Dynasty.

According to the above records, the bow body is three feet two inches, the string length is two feet, and the arrow feather is several inches long, and it shoots more than 340 steps, and enters the elm wood half-pipe.

When he first saw it, he was also fascinated by this kind of divine soldier.

The most important thing for long-range weapons is range, a range of more than 300 steps is enough to be proud of all bows and crossbows, except for the general cannon and bed crossbow, or the return cannon used by the Tartars, no other weapon can have a greater range.

And the Divine Arm Bow is not a large weapon, but a single weapon, and the accuracy and intensity of shooting, as well as the frequency of shooting, are far above those large weapons, so naturally they cannot be generalized.

"But ......" Wen Wen hesitated a little, "Master Hou, not to mention that the range of this crossbow is longer than the rumors, and the power is also greater, just in the military reports of the former Song Dynasty, there are few records of the meritorious work of the divine arm bow, if the power of this bow is really as it is now, how can it be nameless, and the Jin people who captured Bianjing do not pay attention to it at all?" ”

Five thousand strong crossbows, at a distance of about two hundred paces, three rounds of shooting, wiped out three thousand elite horsemen, there is no doubt that as long as such a feat happens, it will definitely be famous all over the world.

But although this sharp weapon of the Song Dynasty is famous, it is only a big name on paper, and there are few records of its application in the battle array. Although they don't have many brains, they still have this bit of common sense.

"Yes, the power of this crossbow is about to catch up with the bed crossbow, the military level of the Song Dynasty is so weak, how can there be such a sharp weapon? Big brother, you're too modest, aren't you? Zhengde is also interested in this topic.

When he first saw the Divine Arm Bow, it was last year, when Zeng Jian and Dong Ping entered the palace together. Didn't see anything, just seeing these two people, Zhengde was already taken aback, since Xie Hong went to Liaodong, these two people rarely left the Ordnance Division, Zeng Jian didn't even go to the early dynasty, so the two of them came out together, anyone who saw it would be surprised.

The subsequent display was even more shocking, with a range of 600 meters, strong penetration and terrifying power, as long as you know a little military common sense, you will understand what this means, which means an overwhelming long-range strike force.

"This is not that I am modest, in fact, as early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the crossbow making technology of the Central Plains countries was already very strong, so there is a saying that Chu Jian Qin bow. The big yellow crossbow of the Han Dynasty was also a strong crossbow with a range of 400 steps, and at the end of the Han Dynasty, there were even further repeating crossbows......"

Xie Hong did not make great efforts to develop firearms, but he also had the confidence, since the Qin and Han dynasties, the crossbow technology of the Central Plains has been strong for a while, but the grassland alien races are not good at this.

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the general Li Ling led thousands of men and horses deep into the grassland, but was besieged by an enemy army ten times his size, but before he ran out of arrows, the Huns had no way to take thousands of Han troops.

There is no other reason, that is, the powerful long-range strength of the Han army far exceeds that of the Huns, so that they can only be beaten passively in front of the Han crossbow.

The so-called saying that the steppe people are invincible in riding and shooting is only after the Mongolian Tatars entered the Central Plains, and it began to rise, and it was propagated to the greatest extent in the Braided Dynasty.

Think about it, just with the horn bow of the grassland alien race, how can it be compared to the profound craftsmanship of the Central Plains? Technology is not only productivity, but also can be transformed into military power, and the Han crossbow is one of the representatives.

Xie Hong himself doesn't know how to make crossbows, but there are such people around him, and when he first met Zeng Jian, the two discussed the Divine Arm Bow. After gaining a firm foothold in the capital, Xie Hong proposed the idea of reproducing the divine soldiers to Zeng Jian and Dong Ping, and the latter was naturally very excited.

Zeng Jian considered not only the military application, but also the remembrance of his ancestors and sages. How great the craftsmen of the Song Dynasty were, or how brilliant the skills of China were, are not at all exhausted by the few strokes in the history books, only by reproducing their former works in the world, so that the world can see them clearly, this can be regarded as a real basis for remembrance.

Xie Hong considered that it should be more complicated, and the improvement of firearms is not a matter of three or five years, and instead of popularizing the kind of firearms with many restrictions and poor power, it is better to replace them with strong crossbows first, and then fully implement them when the firearms are fully mature.

Huaxia's crossbow making technology is mature, coupled with his mention of details, Xie Hong has this confidence, and the things he makes are definitely stronger than the original firearms. The fact also proves this, the effective range of the musket is only more than 100 meters, but the range of the Divine Arm Bow is four times that of the musket, and within 300 meters, it can also shoot accurately.

In addition, the Divine Arm Bow does not have too many weather restrictions, even if it is fighting in a torrential rain, as long as you don't feel sorry for the loss of weapons, you can still fight with it. Because the new Divine Arm Bow is completely made of metal, even the bowstring is twisted with steel wire, and there are no scruples like ordinary bowstrings.

Unlike ordinary bows, the crossbow arm of the Divine Arm Bow also has a lookout mountain, which can shoot accurately, especially within three hundred meters, which can be called where to hit, so it can be fired in two rounds, plus one round of free fire, and all of Wusu's 3,000 horsemen were annihilated.

It is no exaggeration to say that the new god arm bow that has reappeared in the Ordnance Division is the strongest long-range weapon in this era. Not to mention the Mongols' unworthy bull horn bows, even if they pulled the Spanish musket regiments in Europe, they would have beaten them to the ground, and just one firing range would have trampled them to death.

The nomads of the cold weapon era are invincible? Mounted archery? Can only be restrained with hot weapons? Let's go for it!

Not to mention that he has made improvements, even if there is no improvement at all, but as long as he can find out those techniques that have been lost in China, Qin crossbow, rhubarb crossbow, and divine arm bow, which one can't restrain the nomads to death?

"In fact, the answer to both questions is the same, because it is good, but the strong crossbow has a fatal flaw, especially in the Song Dynasty, this shortcoming is even more exposed......" said a lot of benefits, but Xie Hong finally let out a long sigh, as if echoing him, and there was also a sigh all around.

Because the Tartars were frightened, they didn't move in the middle of the sound, and the topic here was very attractive, so not only Zhengde and gentle, but also the two eunuchs who were waiting on the side, as well as the staff officers, pricked up their ears to listen. Xie Hong sighed that it didn't matter, but he interrupted the topic, how could the audience not be annoyed when he sold it at a critical moment?

"Big brother, don't sell it, go on, what's next?" Others didn't dare to urge, but Zhengde didn't have this scruples, he was like listening to a commentary, as if he wanted to listen to the next time, with a red face, he urged repeatedly.

"It's actually very simple, it's just that this thing is too expensive." Xie Hong's answer was extremely succinct.

"Too expensive? What is the disadvantage of this? Zhengde was puzzled, but Wen Wen and the staff officers were thoughtful.

"This is a big problem...... Xie Hong shook his head, with a sneering smile on the corner of his mouth, and suddenly asked, "Second brother, what do you think of Brother Jiang's martial arts?" ”

"Of course it's good, it's not an exaggeration to say that it's an enemy of 100 people." Xie Hong's question was a little irrelevant, but Zhengde still answered.

"Then do you know that according to the original rules of the Ming Dynasty, how much is Brother Jiang's annual salary?" Xie Hong asked again.

“…… I don't know. "Zhengde has never studied numbers, unless they are related to his hobby, but the official has nothing to do with his hobby in any case.

"Brother Jiang is a general of the third grade, and the monthly salary is thirty-five stones, that is, one hundred and twenty taels of silver a year," Xie Hong counted with his hands, then nodded, and asked: "Then do you know how much a divine arm bow costs?" ”

Without waiting for Zhengde to answer, he immediately said: "Even if the labor is restored to the previous level, a divine arm bow will cost more than 1,000 taels, and if it is according to the current labor standard, the cost will be about 3,000 taels." ”

"Phew!" Not to mention others, even Zhengde, a person who has never cared about financial issues, was taken aback, it is indeed too expensive, where is the arrow shot by this thing, it is simply to hit people with silver!

"Then these five thousand strong crossbows, don't they say that they are ...... Fifteen million taels of silver? At least the two years of income from the previous Ming Dynasty? "Moderate fully understands that with so much money, just to build a long-range army, how can the civilian officials be willing to do it?

"Well, that's not even counting the cost of arrows and regular maintenance." Xie Hong nodded, the power of the strong crossbow is also related to the arrows made of steel, according to the principle of momentum, the force of the impact is equal to the speed times the mass, and in the case of similar speeds, the mass of the arrows becomes the determining factor of power.

With the concepts and habits of the old bureaucratic system, it is impossible for such a weapon to be widely used, and even if it is used, it will be cut corners in many places, such as arrows......" Xie Hong sneered.

There is a saying in later generations that one of the reasons why the Manchu Tartars were so powerful was because they used heavy arrows. In fact, it is just that there is more iron used in the arrows, and it is ridiculous that this kind of thing that should be taken for granted is promoted as some kind of advantage.

The weapons of the Ming army were provided by the Ministry of War, and they had to pass through the hands of countless scholars, so the armor became thinner and thinner, the arrows became lighter and lighter, and the swords became more and more brittle. However, the weapons of the Manchurian Tartars were provided by the Jin merchants, and they were of excellent quality and full of weight. The Tartars and the Ming army, who is strong and strong, do you need to say?

"The thinking of the ministers is very simple, a soldier uses less than twenty taels of silver a year, and it can be deducted, a divine arm bow can raise more than 100 soldiers, what is the effect, of course, more than 100 soldiers are greater, just imagine, fifteen million taels of silver, how many soldiers can be raised? Is the effect far greater than that of 5,000 crossbowmen? ”

Everyone is silent, Zhengde's staff officers are all disciples of the generals, how can they not know the Tao? To a certain extent, it is very correct that scholars have misled the country.

That's right, fifteen million taels of silver can raise hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but how can the role they play on the battlefield be compared to five thousand strong crossbows? Those soldiers are going to eat, and what kind of terrifying number will an army of this size need to be transported from the rear? Moreover, how can the mobility of the large corps be compared with what it is now?

"Well, it's okay, we're not short of money now, so this shortcoming is equal to nothing." Zhengde suddenly nodded vigorously, and then raised his arms and shouted: "The Tartars are already frightened, the whole army advances, take advantage of the victory to break the Tartars!" ”

"Oh!" The morale of the people was high, and even the most cautious moderation was not objected.

The banner was displayed, the army slowly pressed forward, and the offensive and defensive momentum reversed.

(To be continued)