The longbow is also called the English longbow, and this bow is not a compound bow. From about the 13th century, during the Anglo-French war, the English king paid great attention to the development of the longbow and vigorously developed the bow and arrow troops. And how powerful is the English longbow? The most famous example of this is the Battle of Crécy, in which King Edward III crossed the sea with an army of 10,000 men and invaded France. King Philip VI of France met the enemy with more than 30,000 soldiers. The two sides fought at Cressie. In this battle, the English longbowmen played a key role, repulsing fifteen French charges in succession. The French suffered heavy casualties, and Philip VI was wounded and forced to retreat to Amiens. The British army won a great victory and entered Normandy. In this battle, the French army suffered more than 10,000 casualties, while the British army suffered less than 200 casualties, which can be regarded as a model in the history of world warfare in which the weak defeated the strong.

Although there were many reasons for the defeat of the French army in this battle, the incomparable power of the English longbowmen was also recognized by the world.

In such a big battle of tens of thousands of people, the British army suffered less than 200 casualties, but killed more than 10,000 opponents.

This is the victory of the longbowmen, this longbow is so sharp, but it is not complicated, and it can even be said to be a little rudimentary. The longbow has a long range and great power, and it is relatively inexpensive to build, and some can be reused, making it a cost-effective weapon.

And what Lingyun needs now is such a bow that is extremely cost-effective, simple to make, and can be equipped in large quantities.

The English longbow is very long, usually about five feet, roughly eyebrow-length, and some can reach six feet or even seven feet. And his range is extremely long, it can reach a hundred zhang away. The bow back of the longbow was bent directly from a complete piece of wood, and the English used yew wood to make zuò at that time. This wood is hard and resilient. Ling Yun didn't know if there was such a yew on the dam, but he knew that the longbow could also be replaced with elm. And Yulin. It can be found almost everywhere in the north and on the Seys.

In contrast, the bows at this time were basically composite bows, using composite materials such as wood, horns, and tendons to increase elasticity, although the bow was not so long, it was much more troublesome to make zuò.

"Jingde, bite gold, you two go and cut a few elms for me, remember to cut them straighter. Go, I'm waiting for it. Ling Yun was excited in his heart, and he couldn't wait to let the two apprentices go to cut down the tree. If it really works. That's a big problem solved.

Although Yu Chi Jingde and Cheng Yanjin didn't know why their father-in-law wanted them to cut down tree trunks, they still obediently went to cut down a few elm trees, and they were all very straight.

Ling Yun was very satisfied with these trees, he took the axe and began to pick up a trunk and sharpen it. Speaking of which. This powerful longbow. It's still very easy to make zuò.

Ling Yun took the straightest part in the middle directly from the straight elm trunk, and then shaved off most of the sapwood of the log, resulting in a bowed back material with a cross-section of about an inch and a half square, the same length as himself.

"What are you doing, sir?" Cheng Yanjin asked curiously.

"Make a longbow!"

"Doesn't it have to be made of elastic wood like Zhemu mulberry wood, this elm is so hard, can it work?" Wei Chi was also suspicious on the side.

Ling Yun smiled a little smugly: "You just wait and see." Ling Yun picked up half of the elm and looked at it for a moment, then continued, he took the middle part. Half of it is wood core, and half is sapwood. The reason for this is that the wood core is relatively soft and resistant to pressure. It is placed on the inside, and the hard tensile sapwood is used on the outside. Then take the axe and continue to modify, trim the wood into a thick middle, slightly thinner at the ends, and finally narrow the ends on both sides, slightly like a flat shoulder.

"I see, the master must be sharpening the burden." The youngest, Xu Shiji, shouted loudly from the side.

"Read your book carefully, if you can't memorize what you just asked you to memorize, this piece of wood will become a whip that beats your palms in a while." Ling Yun was threatening to Xu Shiji.

After that, he continued to modify the wood, trimmed the ends into an octagonal shape with a planer, cut out the shape, and continued to test whether the elasticity of each section was uniform. I cut the hard place a little thinner, and after a few adjustments, it was finally equal on both sides. After the bow back was adjusted, Ling Yun filed the string grooves two inches at each end, and the outer side of the bow back was deeper than the inside, which was the place where the strings were hung.

"Master, that's it?" Although Wei Chi Jingde believed that Ling Yun was indeed making a bow, this bow was too long, a bow more than six feet long, as tall as Ling Yun, it was hard for him to imagine that there was such a long bow, how could he open the bow?

"It's almost there, it's still one step away, tame the bow." Ling Yun looked at the elm hunched back with satisfaction. The last step is to bend the bow. This longbow does not need to be bent backwards like a recurve bow, but is simply rounded. However, it can't be wound directly, and you have to tame it slowly, and if you bend the bow hard, the bow will be scrapped. You can't roast it with fire, you have to tie the rope to both ends in a relaxed state of the bow, put the center of the bowback on the groove of the bracket, use force evenly, slowly pull the string, hang it in the first string groove, and the bow back will be slightly bent. At this time, it is necessary to carefully check whether the curve of the bow is smooth and even, mark the areas that are too stiff, relax the bow back and trim and fine-tune until you are satisfied. Then pull the rope apart, gradually increase the opening and hang the groove downward, and keep trimming the bow back until a satisfactory and uniform arc is formed. Every three or four chord grooves are added, and the rope can be tightened. This process should not be rushed, especially before each increase in opening, and it is best to allow the arch back to "rest" for two quarters of an hour to release internal stresses and avoid damage to the wood. Don't tighten too much each time, it's best to tighten one inch at a time.

This repetition, Ling Yun was very happy, and every time the bow rested, he began to make another bow back. Jingde and Biting Jin also followed behind at this time to make zuò together, and the three of them were busy with axes and planers. When it got dark, Lingyun's first bow had already been tamed, and he brought a bowstring to plant and hang it, and pulled the string, and the bow was like a full moon.

I felt some in my heart, and the bow power was about 100 catties, about one stone. The bow power of one stone has exceeded that of many compound step bows, and Ling Yun is very satisfied, so simply he has made a longbow with the strength of one stone.

"Apprentice, bring arrows for the teacher!" Ling Yun laughed.

Yu Chigong hurriedly took out a pot of arrows, and Ling Yun opened his bow and set up the arrows. Loose strings, feathered arrows out of the strings, flying into the distance.

Ling Yun shot ten arrows in a row. Fang senses that the arm is slightly sore. Raise the bow and look at it, the bow is still intact.

At this time, Wei Chigong and Cheng Yanjin had already rushed towards the place where the feather arrow fell, and after a while, two loud exclamations came from afar: "Two hundred and fifty steps, Master, two hundred and fifty steps away, the bow you just made shot two hundred and fifty steps away!" ”

Two hundred and fifty steps. At a distance of about 375 meters, this range is already quite amazing. Although this does not count as effective strike shooting. But it's much higher than a normal compound bow. Besides, the bow has just been made, and it has not yet gone through the final steps such as lacquering. At this moment, Ling Yun himself was also full of surprises.

It worked. He succeeded in making a longbow. And in such a short time, a longbow was completed in one day. And speaking of which, in fact, many bows can be made in one day. In particular, this longbow does not require any complicated techniques at all, and it can be said that every archer can make a bow by himself.

The process of making zuò is so simple, and the materials are even more ordinary, as long as there are enough materials. It is completely possible to produce in large quantities. The Huaihuang soldiers have a longbow in their hands, which is not a problem at all. Even one person, two bows, and three bows are no problem. The most troublesome part of the longbow is the simplest part, but the bowstring is a little more complicated. However, the bowstring of the longbow can even be made with hemp rope, which is too simple. It's a revolution of bows and arrows.

Moreover, the range of this bow is still so far, the range of his one-stone bow is two hundred and fifty steps, even if the distance of effective strike is shortened, even if it is reduced by half, there are more than 100 steps. The only downside is that the bow is really long.

This kind of longbow is generally made as long as the archer is as tall as possible, and Lingyun's one, which is one meter eight, is placed there, which is very conspicuous. However, he glanced at it, what he needed was the power of the bow, as well as his simple craftsmanship and the cheapness of the materials, this kind of cost-effective longbow, what else could he dislike.

"Good bow, good bow, good bow!" Ling Yun took this longbow and admired it again and again. And Wei Chigong and Cheng Yanjin were still in an inexplicable shock at this time, if they hadn't watched Ling Yun make this big bow from an elm little by little, they would not have believed that the longbow could be made so simply, at such a low cost, and it was such a bow with simple materials, simple craftsmanship, and short production time, it was so powerful!

"Smack!" Cheng Yanjin stretched out his hand and slapped Xu Shiji's face.

Xu Shiji, who was slapped inexplicably, covered his face and said bitterly: "Why did you beat me?" ”

"Does it hurt?" Cheng Yanjin asked.

"It hurts."

"Oh, it hurts." Cheng Yanjin nodded, "In that case, I'm not dreaming." ”

Ling Yun knocked a popcorn on Cheng Biting Jin's head: "If you want to try whether it hurts or not, why don't you pinch yourself." Go, bring me Wang Saburo over. ”

After a while, Uncle Wang rushed over in a hurry, followed by Gao Bo and a large group of people. It turned out that after Cheng Yanjin found Wang Bodang, Wang Bodang asked Ling Yun what he was looking for him to do. As a result, Cheng Yanjin immediately couldn't help but show off, and told the news that Ling Yun had made a one-stone longbow that could shoot two hundred and fifty steps away in one day. Wang Bodang is a famous marksman, and his family is a famous bow maker, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but laugh and brag. Cheng Yanjin immediately swore loudly and said how. As a result, when Gao Bo and others heard it, they all felt surprised, and they rushed to it one after another.

"Alliance leader, where is the bow, show me!" As soon as Wang Bodang came, he shouted loudly.

Ling Yun had already bent two more bows at this time, and immediately pointed with his hand, "These three on the ground are all, you are an expert in bow making, how about you come to see my longbow?" ”

When Wang Bodang saw the longbow on the ground, he frowned a little at first, this bow is too long, and it is not reversed, and this bow is indeed newly made, even the back of the bow is newly sharpened, and there is no paint. However, he still leaned over and picked up a bow, pulled the bowstring with his fingers, and immediately felt that the bow was not as loose as he imagined, but very hard, and it took a stone to pull it away with all his might, which is the standard for a strong bow. At this time, his heart was full of shock, but he still held back and set up an arrow and shot it at the target in the distance.

Bang, the feather arrow hit the string, and a hundred steps away, the feather arrow directly exploded the arrow target.

This time, everyone saw it clearly, everyone's mouth was wide open, and they forgot to take it back for a long time. (To be continued......)