(Thank you "Zhao Wuxian 2014" for your uninterrupted tipping support, thank you very much!!) ）

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"Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Tao Liang, the financial manager of the Hange Department, was sweating profusely and opened the way ahead. Behind him were four old men over half a hundred years old, carrying a stretcher, the stretcher was stained with blood, and on it lay a volunteer soldier with an arrow in his right arm, covered in blood.

On the west-central side of Hange Village, there is a tent area separated by a wooden fence, which is a makeshift wartime treatment center, where a few Han people with a little medical skills and a group of young and healthy women, under the leadership of the old man Muji, take on the heavy responsibility of treating the wounded.

As soon as the stretcher entered the tent area, three or four healthy women immediately met it, took the stretcher with all hands and feet, and crowded into the tent. The tent immediately became busy, and from time to time various voices were heard:

"Quick! Serve hot water and a white cloth quickly. ”

"This is an arrow wound, please come Mr. Lu."

"Scissors, gut, and loopers are all ready to ......"

Hearing the busy and chaotic sound in the tent, the old man Muji said to Tao Liang with a happy face: "Fortunately, the commander has prepared for a long time, set up this treatment area, and also taught the method of treating trauma. Especially the 'stitching' and 'disinfection' or something, how many lives have been saved. Alas! I've been treating livestock and people for so many years, but how can I not think of such a wonderful method? ”

Tao Liang raised his sleeve to wipe the sweat on his forehead, nodded again and again, and said: "Since the last attempted invasion of the Karasuma people, the commander has been prepared for danger in times of peace, established a complete set of defense logistics regulations, and ordered repeated rehearsals, so I can't use it now." If it weren't for the fact that I Hange Zhai was prepared for the siege of the city, and I was well-trained on weekdays, how could I be able to resist the three-day onslaught of the two thousand Karasuma people. ”

The old man Mu Ji stroked the white beard under his chin and said with relief: "Tang Nu is good, although the commander is not there, but in the face of a strong enemy, he defends quite well...... Yes, pottery tent, you just came down from the wall, how is the situation?

"Not so good." Tao Liang was worried about Zhongzhong, "The Karasuma people have strengthened their offensive, and if the Hange cavalry does not return in time to help, it will be difficult to resist the ......"

When the old man Muji and Tao Liang discussed in a low voice, a girl face full of exotic customs poked out from the corner of the tent not far away, with chestnut hair and blue eyes, and skin like snow, which was Niannu. Behind Nian Nu, followed by five or six girls about fifteen or sixteen years old, several girls were chattering about something. After a while, Niannu booed, and the girls fell silent.

Seeing Tao Liang leaving, Niannu hurriedly ran out from behind the tent and shouted, "Grandpa." ”

The old man Muji turned around in surprise: "Nian Nu, what are you doing here?" Are your logistical meals ready? ”

"Even tomorrow's Hu Cake and Lamb Bone Soup have been prepared." Niannu flashed his big blue eyes, glanced at the treatment tent, and said softly, "Grandpa, can you, let us join the treatment ...... too"

"No way!" Old man Muji flatly refused, "There is blood and bones inside, and you have an open chest and belly, how can you, a woman who has not left the cabinet, do such a thing." ”

"However, some of them are just injuries to the arms or the head, and we can do that......"

"Don't say it again, grandpa won't agree." Old man Muji glanced at his granddaughter with a sad face, and couldn't help but sigh in a low voice, "Why can't you understand, this is not like before, you are now the handmaid of the commander, there are some things to avoid...... Okay, give the prepared food to the sister-in-law of the martial family, and let her organize the woman to go to the wall to deliver food, and you don't want to go. ”

After Nian Nu turned back to the account in a sullen manner, several female companions knew that the matter was not working out when they saw her, and they all walked back with a disappointed face, complaining as they went.

"Why can't we help? I heard from the second sister that there are many injured people, and they are very short of manpower. ”

"We're not too young, and there are several people in the treatment tent who are as old as us, but they're just married...... It's not like I haven't seen it. ”

"What? What have you seen? What do you think it looks like? ”

"Oh, you're begging for a beating!"

The girls laughed and played together, until Nian Nu glared at them with disgust, and the girls saved their eyes from the moment, but they couldn't be like this, and they quieted down one by one.

At this time, someone whispered, "If only we had bows and arrows, we could also ride on white horses like the Hango cavalry and shoot these gangsters from the flank and back while the Karasuma robbers attacked." ”

A girl suddenly said excitedly: "I have a bow and arrows, I also have a horse, it belongs to my second brother, he is from the horse, stay to guard the village, these things are not needed." ”

Another girl objected: "Those bows are too heavy, we can't pull them, we don't shoot far, we don't have the strength to shoot a few arrows." My dad also had a bow like this, I tried, but it didn't work. ”

The girls lamented, "If only we had a bow suitable for us, and our horsemanship is no worse than that of the cavalry." ”

Prairie daughter, who doesn't know how to ride a horse? Who wouldn't make a bow? The difference is only in how well you ride and how well you shoot.

"I know there's a weapon for us."

As soon as these words came out, the girls were shocked, and they all looked at the speaker, and it turned out to be Niannu.

At this time, Nian Nu's lake-blue eyes sparkled, and he said word by word: "This weapon is not a bow, but a crossbow - riding a crossbow!" ”

……

Nian Nu and his party arrived at the forge not far from the main tent, which was one of the few rows of adobe houses in Hange Village, with several armory rooms for repairing armor, forging horseshoes, and making bows.

After a while, the ranks of Niannu and other girls expanded again, reaching more than thirty people, all young girls, none of whom were more than eighteen years old. It's strange that among this group of girls, there is a man, well, it should be said that it is a boy - Aso.

The armory room is a military forbidden place in Hange Village, even at the critical juncture of such a strong enemy besieging the city, there are still two guards, and idlers are not allowed to enter. However, Asu is an exception, because he has a secret order from his subordinates to monitor the crossbowmaker Meng Yuan and his assistant Ma Jun, and he can freely enter and leave this place on weekdays.

These internal information, as a handmaiden of the horse, Nian Nu could not be clearer, and she was also one of the very few people present and aware of the inside information that day.

And the reason why Aso is willing to help is because Niannu promised him a benefit that made his heart flutter: "If you help us get those crossbows out, we will take you with us to fight." ”

Fight! It was these two words that made the man's blood burn, which made Aso enthusiastic, completely forget his duties, and join this daring women's team. Of course, Asu's move is not a self-theft, because he doesn't have the ability to "steal", and he needs the help of someone.

"Pony, come out for a moment." Asu came to the bow-making room, looked in, and only saw Ma Jun alone, and his heart was overjoyed and beckoned to him.

Due to the urgency of the defense, all the young and strong had to go to participate in the battle, and the sturdy craftsmen naturally went to guard the wall. Ma Jun was young and frail, and he didn't have anything to do when he went up, so he stayed here.

"Aso, you're here." Ma Jun seemed to be pondering something, and Asu shouted several times before he came back to his senses. Although Ma Jun is three years older than Asu, he is wooden by nature, and he treats people and things on weekdays, not as clever as Asu, and when the two get along, Asu has more ideas.

Aso looked left and right and walked in quickly. This bow-making room is actually a common dwelling with a courtyard, with a total of three rooms, in the shape of a hollow figure, and various raw materials for making bows and crossbows are stacked in the left room, such as dry, horn, tendon, glue, silk, lacquer, etc., but the number is not much. On the right are finished or semi-finished bows and arrows, most of which are ordinary single bows, similar to those used by most herders, with a short range but simple to make, short production cycles, and can be manufactured in large quantities in a short period of time. Although the compound bow is strong, the process requirements are too high, and a qualified bow even needs to be made for a year or two.

In the middle of the room, that is, the zuò room, at this moment Ma Jun is holding a strangely shaped crossbow, meditating.

Asu saw this crossbow at a glance, his eyes lit up, and he hurried over: "Is it done?" ”

Ma Jun shook his head, Asu's heart sank, but he heard Ma Jun say: "Riding a crossbow is still being studied, this is a kind of crossbow developed by me according to the crossbow diagram of the commander." ”

Ma Jun's stuttering has a characteristic, he will stutter a little when talking to others, but the problem is not big, only when he is nervous and excited, the stuttering is the worst. And when it comes to his profession, he speaks quite neatly, no different from ordinary people.

Repeater? Asu blinked and said confusedly, "What kind of crossbow is this?" ”

Ma Jun had a good conversation with the marmaid of this department, and was also happy to share his research results with acquaintances, and pointed to the wooden box under the crossbow arm and said: "This is an arrow box, which can hold ten crossbow arrows, and there are two groups of bronze pulleys in the movable wooden cover on both sides, smeared with grease and lubrication, and a group of bronze crossbow mechanism parts are related, as long as the plate moves the lever, it will be like this......"

Ma Jun said as he aimed the crossbow at a test target ten steps away, holding the crossbow arm in one hand and quickly moving the lever in the other. But listening to a popping sound, every time the lever moves before and after the front and back boards, a crossbow bolt shoots out, which is quite strong. Ma Jun shot five times in a row, and five arrows were shot, although it was not very accurate, but the rate of fire was amazing.

Asu was stunned, suddenly shouted excitedly, snatched the repeater from Ma Jun's hand, followed his example, continued to move, and the crossbow arrows continued to shoot until the five arrows were exhausted, and there was no more arrows.

"Great! Pony, you've made it! With this lightning crossbow, who are you afraid of? Karasuma people, let them eat their farts! Aso danced with excitement.

Ma Jun was not as happy as Asu, shook his head and sighed: "This thing, it's okay to play, but it's useless when it comes to the battlefield." ”

"Huh? Why? ”

"Range! This most critical problem cannot be solved. Ma Jun smiled bitterly, "The crossbow can reach up to thirty steps, the lethality is about twenty steps, the armor-piercing power is ten steps, melee combat, or self-defense is okay, if it is really on the battlefield, what is the use of the lethality of ten or twenty steps?" In particular, Hu Nu's bow is strong, and twenty steps are just a blink of an eye. Field warfare is not good, and defending the city is not suitable, but our earth fence can be used. That's why I came up with this thing in mind. ”

"As long as it works." Asu doesn't have time to think so long-term, what kind of field defense of the city, as long as it can be used now, "How much have you done?" ”

Ma Jun stretched out two fingers: "Twenty-two." ”

"Give it all to me."

"What?"

When Asu went out with a bunch of crossbows, he saw that the two guards guarding the door were gone, and when he asked, he realized that he had just been called to guard the village, and he could imagine how critical the situation was.

Ma Jun is not a pedantic person, of course he knows that the current situation is urgent, don't hide any good things, and repelling the enemy and keeping his home is the first priority. It's just that he never expected that the first time he used these repeaters would be a group of girls!

The crossbow is easy to use, much simpler than the bow, and the girls can even play with bows and arrows, let alone crossbows. The girls were overjoyed to get this kind of melee weapon. After a little practice, everyone has a body, and then the stock of arrow boxes is scavenged, and those who are insufficient use bows and arrows, and they are on their horses and go away.

"Hey! Feed! You promised me to take me! Aso rushed out of the smoke and dust, disgraced, and jumped to his feet in a hurry.

Seeing that the girls were running away, Aso pointed at their backs, so angry that his teeth itched, and he just opened his mouth to scold, but suddenly remembered something and hurriedly ran back to the bow room. Ma Jun was stunned from the sidelines, and didn't come back to his senses for a while.

After a while, Asu triumphantly came out with a repeating crossbow, which was the one that Ma Jun had just test-fired, and he was in a hurry and almost forgot.

"Humph! Don't take me, I'll go ...... myself"

Aso was beaming with pride, suddenly heard a sharp sound of horses' hooves behind him, and turned around in surprise, only to see a red shadow in his eyes, a light hand in his hand, and the crossbow was snatched away.

A coquettish smile came from afar: "Asu, thank you, my sister will hurt you again when she comes back......"

"Ah, Sister!" Aso didn't dare to cry if he wanted to, he couldn't cry out if he wanted to, he sat in the mud and dust, crying with a sad face, "You, you all bullied me......"