Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Strong crossbow
It is mainly made of Zhe wood, supplemented by ox horn, and a thin piece of steel with excellent elasticity is sandwiched in the middle to make a four-foot-three-inch long bow arm that is bent into a hump shape to obtain the strongest elasticity. The bow arm was wrapped layer after layer, and finally the bow arm was tightened. Without enough strength, it could not be pulled at all.Such strings are not one, but two, which is double insurance.The arrow slots are polished extremely smooth and lacquered, even if a fly falls down, it will have to throw a somersault. At the end of the arrow slots is the Watch Mountain, which is made of fine iron, which provides the possibility for the archer to shoot accurately.Under Wangshan is naturally a mechanism with a complex structure. After winding the strings and installing the arrows, pull the mechanism, and the deadly arrows will shoot out at an initial velocity of more than [-] meters per second, piercing the armor and tearing the flesh. , Harvest life mercilessly.Its key components are all made of steel. It doesn't look good, but it is a work that most conforms to the aesthetics of violence. Yang Menglong looked at it over and over again, couldn't put it down, and praised him non-stop, even if a beautiful woman stood in front of him. She wasn't so focused, Xiao Yufang was a little jealous!
A large circle of skilled craftsmen surrounded him, talking to him about the advantages of this powerful crossbow: "The range of this crossbow can reach 280 steps, and it can penetrate heavy armor within sixty or seventy steps. Noir... the key parts use a lot of steel, connected by rivets, the structure is extremely tight and reliable, even if it is thrown heavily on the ground, it will not be damaged..." All in all, the core content is just one sentence: I did a very good job, reward me Bar!

Yang Menglong tried to compete with the bowstring: "What is its shooting range?"

A crossbow craftsman from the capital said: "280 steps is only far but not close!"

280 steps, already surpassed the god arm bow of the Northern Song Dynasty.The range of the god arm bow in the early Song Dynasty reached a terrifying 350 steps. Later, in order to reduce costs and shorten the manufacturing cycle, some processes were simplified, and the range was reduced to 240 steps. However, it is still an astonishing range. It is the deadliest single-soldier long-range attack in the Middle Ages. Weapons are the nightmare of nomads.Due to the lack of data, it is impossible to restore this masterpiece of medieval warfare in modern times.However, it is only 300 years since the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, and many things have continued. It is a surprise that famous crossbow makers from all over the world brainstormed and made a crossbow that can shoot farther than the bow of the gods.Xiao Yufang looked bewildered, she only knew that Wuyangwei was working on a secret weapon and had invested a lot of money in it, but she didn't have the slightest idea about this weapon.But Yang Menglong was happy in his heart, hey, the range of 280 steps is 420 meters in conversion!For those light cavalry in leather armor, two hundred steps is a dead line. When they cross this dead line, they have to withstand seven or eight rounds of shooting in a stormy manner. Rushed in front of Wuyangwei's phalanx, there were already dead bodies all over the field!Not to mention that after rushing into the effective range of the riding bow, there will be super-fast firing guns waiting for them...

In order to confirm whether this crossbow is really that powerful, Yang Menglong brought three samples and went to the crossbow training ground accompanied by everyone.This is a large open area, which is perfect for testing the range of the crossbow.He picked one up casually, pushed the triangular iron ring under the bow arm with his feet, hooked the bow string with the iron hook, exerted force on his waist and legs at the same time, and pulled the string out about thirty centimeters, and hung the hook teeth. Then level it off.Xue Siming took out a crossbow arrow filled with ignited wolf dung and loaded it. Yang Menglong raised the crossbow at an angle, and then pulled the trigger. He only heard a metal trembling sound of "thunk", and the foot-long crossbow arrow was holding The ear-piercing whistling sound burst out and disappeared in a flash. Yang Menglong leaned back slightly and said secretly: "The recoil of this thing is really incredible!" The wolf excrement on the crossbow arrow was emitting a conspicuous smoke. , it was easy to find when he got closer, but he was not in a hurry to look for it. Instead, he continued to cock the machine. The three crossbows took turns to shoot, shooting more than a dozen arrows in one go. Then he shook his numb hand and walked over. Look for crossbow bolts, measure the distance.

The smoking crossbow bolts were quickly found. The measurement results showed that eleven of the sixteen arrows shot at 280 steps, three shot at 290 steps, and two missed six or seven steps, less than 280 steps. step.It turned out that the range of this crossbow did reach 280 steps, which is a lethal killing weapon!
Yang Menglong was very satisfied, and said with a smile: "Not bad, not bad, the range is enough, but I don't know how accurate it is?" Swinging his arm, he shot again.This time he shot at a target 90 meters away, and he was very satisfied with the result. Nine out of ten arrows were nailed to the eighth ring. It seemed that this crossbow not only shot far, but also shot very accurately.Xiao Yufang saw that he was shooting lively, so she asked someone to help him twist the string, imitating Yang Menglong's example, leveling the crossbow machine and shooting an arrow, but after the crossbow arrow was shot, she let out a scream and was knocked back repeatedly by the recoil. If it wasn't for Yang Menglong's quick support, she might have fallen!

It's worth mentioning that although it was embarrassing to be so shocked that she almost fell over, Miss Xiao's arrow hit the tenth ring, and everyone was dumbfounded!

After shooting for so long, it still has seven or eight rings, but the future wife shoots a random arrow and shoots ten rings. Yang Menglong really has no face to show off his shooting skills, and began to test the power.First of all, I used the small round shield most commonly used by the cavalry to test it. The result: at a distance of a hundred paces, four arrows in a row penetrated the small round shield, protruding by as much as three or four inches, and the fifth crossbow bolt simply smashed the burst round The shield was torn to pieces!Then use a heavy shield, the result is still the same, it is not wrong to penetrate, although it is not as easy as wearing a small round shield, but it is enough to nail the hand holding the shield to the shield, plus the triangular arrowhead is extraordinary The bloodletting effect will definitely make the shield bearer feel miserable. It is just a dream to form a turtle formation against the shield wall and try to hold the crossbow arrows.

Then test it with a cotton pad.There is nothing to say about the test results. Within a hundred steps, an arrow pierces the chest, and the cotton armor is no different from soybean milk in front of the howling arrows. You can wear it however you like.The iron armor is still the same, even the breastplate made of fine steel can still be pierced. Within [-] steps, unless you are wearing double armor, if you shoot an arrow, you will either die or be injured—of course , If you wear double armor, you don't need to shoot, the pressure will crush him to death.

The officers of the Wuyang Guard watched in shock.My mother, if there are thousands of such powerful crossbows shooting repeatedly, even if you have nine lives, it is not enough to play!
Those craftsmen also took a deep breath.My mother, the test is so strict!Fortunately, they didn't cut corners and brag, otherwise they wouldn't be dead?
After tossing for a long time, the test was finally over. Yang Menglong clapped his hands and said, "Yes, it's really good. I'm very satisfied with the range and power. This is probably the most deadly single-soldier long-range attack weapon in this era! I will Fulfilling the original promise, every craftsman who participated in the development counts as one, and there will be a lot of rewards!"

The craftsmen were overjoyed: "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir!"

Yang Menglong said: "Don't make that kind of 220-step crossbow. From now on, give me all my strength to build this super strong crossbow! I want to see Jiannu pissing off in front of our death-smelling crossbow array, with corpses strewn all over the place." !"

Cao Lei asked cautiously: "I don't know how many tools your lord intends to make?"

Yang Menglong said: "No matter what, I have to build four to five thousand toys for fun!"

Cao Lei said: "My lord, the cost of this crossbow is not cheap. Not only is it time-consuming and labor-intensive, but the materials must be very sophisticated. It cannot be made without five or sixty taels of silver!"

A five or sixty taels of silver, four or five thousand taels, that is two or three hundred thousand taels of silver.You must know that the monthly salary of soldiers of the Ming Army is only a little more than 60 taels of silver, 30 taels of silver is already the monthly salary of hundreds of soldiers of the Ming Army. This thing is really not cheap!Yang Menglong didn't even bat an eye: "Five or sixty taels of silver a piece? It's okay, just build it for me. How long will it take for the first batch of 60 pieces to be finished?"

Cao Lei frowned and muttered, counting the working hours.At this time, those craftsmen from the capital showed their superior qualities. A seemingly bookish craftsman cupped his hands and said, "My lord, if the supply of various filling materials is sufficient, and the skills of the workers If there is a guarantee, it will take about two years to build two thousand such strong crossbows... The main thing is the material, the Zhe wood for the arms of the bows must be treated for a year before it can be used, otherwise the crossbows will be easily broken!"

Yang Menglong frowned: "Is there no way to produce it in an assembly line? This 220-step crossbow is quite easy to build!"

The craftsman said: "Sir, the arm material of the 220-step crossbow is mountain mulberry. Mountain mulberry is easier to process, but if you want to shoot 280 steps, you have to use eucalyptus wood as the bow arm, and we don't have so much treated eucalyptus wood." Material!"

Yang Menglong was a little helpless: "Well, two years is two years... From this point of view, the production of this 220-step crossbow cannot be stopped, and it will be supported by it for these two years."

Being robbed of the limelight, Cao Lei was a little unhappy and quickly came back: "Sir, if you build two kinds of crossbows together, there won't be enough materials!"

Yang Menglong asked: "Which material is not enough? Is it wood, steel, or horn, or tendon?" He only picks what he can supply immediately, deliberately to show off.

Cao Lei said: "No, no, there is no shortage of these materials, but the glue is not enough!"

Yang Menglong was stunned: "Glue?"

Cao Lei pointed to the bow arm of the strong crossbow: "This bow arm is made of a variety of materials, so this glue is very important... It is best to use isinglass, yes, whether it is making a bow or a crossbow. , the best glue material is isinglass.”

Yang Menglong scratched his head: "Where can I get so much isinglass for you in such a short time!" Once again, he felt the depression of not having an industrial foundation... In modern times, how could there be a shortage of these materials? Just buy them, but now , in order to make crossbows, he almost wiped out all the best glue in Nanyang and Xiangfan areas. The remaining glue is probably despised by these craftsmen. There is only so much glue available, but the gap is obvious. But what to do?Of course, it is not necessary to use fish glue to make a bow. Horse glue, deer glue, and donkey glue are also very good, but for the cost... it is better to kill him.After thinking about it, he said: "Forget it, let's build the mulberry tree first. As for the isinglass, I will slowly think of a way. If conditions permit, I will build a workshop to provide you with enough isinglass. Now," The crossbow in his hand was raised high, "Let's give this sharp weapon that has been covered in dust for 300 years and is now shining again with a nice and domineering name!"

This is a very honorable thing, and everyone is using their brains to try to obtain the naming rights.Cao Lei slapped his thigh and said, "How about calling it the Divine Arm Crossbow?"

Yang Menglong said: "No, this is obviously a divine arm bow, it has no characteristics at all!"

The bookish craftsman stroked his beard and said thoughtfully: "This crossbow is extremely powerful. Once it shows its power on the battlefield, it will definitely shake the world and make ghosts and gods cry... Why don't we call it the Sky-shattering Bow?"

Yang Menglong rolled his eyes: "I still have the Star Destroyer Crossbow, the Sky-shattering Bow!"

Xu Gong interjected: "I think it is more appropriate to call it the slave-slaying crossbow, because if thousands of strong crossbows take turns shooting at the slaves, it will be a massacre!"

Yang Menglong smiled: "This name is good, it's a bit reliable, but it's still a bit clichéd... Think again, think again!"

"Spirit wind crossbow?"

"Ling your sister!"

"How about the Soul-Slaying Crossbow?"

"You've read too much fantasy, haven't you!"

"How about calling it Thunderbolt Crossbow?"

"It doesn't look like a thunderbolt, what kind of bad name are you thinking of!"

……

A large group of people racked their brains around Yang Menglong, chattering, and all kinds of weird names emerged one after another, but Yang Menglong didn't like any of them.In the end, everyone lost their temper, rolled their eyeballs quickly, and fell silent.Xiao Yufang couldn't take it anymore, she chuckled, and said: "The power of this crossbow is so amazing, ten thousand crossbows are fired at once, no matter how powerful the army formation is, it will collapse in front of the crossbow arrows that hit like a storm, why don't we call it to break the formation?" Crossbow."

Yang Menglong slapped his thigh and shouted: "Good name! It's too domineering, let's call it Breaking Crossbow!" Looking at everyone triumphantly, he said, "I've thought of this name a long time ago, and I'm just waiting to see who is smart enough. , can coincide with me! It's a pity, you are all too stupid, none of you are as smart as my wife..."

Xiao Yufang's ears were red, not to mention the base of her ears.Everyone showed a horrible look, and turned around in unison to vomit...Boss, even if you want to flatter your wife, you don't have to be so blatant, so disgusting, I can't stand it anymore, I really can't stand it Down!

(End of this chapter)