Of course, anyone with a little ambition and ambition, given Guo Wei's status and the national conditions of the Later Han Dynasty, would have reached Guo Wei's step. If God does not take it, he will suffer the disaster, and it is not worth the sin.
Now, although the environment around the Han Dynasty seems to be worse, the internal situation is much more stable. Under Liu Chengyou's painstaking management, power is in hand and the military and political affairs are basically under control.
Under such a situation, as long as it develops normally, Guo Wei can only be Liu Chengyou's loyal minister in the court.
To the southeast of Daying, there is a large mountain range, which is a branch of Zhongtiao Mountain. Several of the slopes appear bare compared with the surrounding forests, with only some messy tree stumps, dead trees, and weeds remaining, all of which have been cut down for use. It was built with the stronghold at the foot of Hedong City.
And in the meantime, it was smoky and thick.
Under the slope, separated by a distance of nearly thirty feet, there are several artillery carts, which are trebuchets. But this time they are not throwing stones, but some specially treated clay pots. Obviously, this is a temporary weapons testing site.
The general in charge is named Li Tao. He is in his forties, has dark eyebrows and a thick beard. He is the captain of the Longqi Army and is under the command of Ma Quanyi.
"Your Majesty." Liu Chengyou came, and he immediately came up with several subordinates.
"How was the test?" Liu Chengyou asked casually as he looked at the fireworks on the slope in the distance and smelled the pungent smell in the air.
"Your Majesty, please observe!" Li Tao said directly without any nonsense.
Liu Chengyou admired this kind of capable style, nodded and retreated far away, watching his drill, it was a very familiar scene...
Put the clay pot on the grenade belt, light it, and stand next to the trebuchet. The team leader raised the flag, and fifty soldiers shouted slogans and pulled the gun rope together. The "shell" suddenly took off and rushed towards the distant slope at high speed. Go, visible from a distance, fall to the ground, the jar shatters, and a fire suddenly breaks out. The rising flame burns blazingly and prints into his pupils. Although they are far apart, Liu Chengyou can feel the intense fire poison in it.
This fire bomb was made by the weapons room under the instruction of Liu Chengyou. It uses an urn as a container and contains grease and other flammable materials. Of course, the most important thing is fire oil.
In this era, the application of fierce fire oil in the military has been very common, but it is basically used for city defense. Knowing this, Liu Chengyou previously proposed to use it on the offensive end, in the use of trebuchets. It has become very popular, and it is not difficult to transform kerosene bombs.
Although Liu Chengyou didn't know how to make it, he just described the shape and effect. The difficulty was how to control the time after ignition. After several months of development and testing, the craftsmen of the Ordnance Supervision finally made it.
This is the origin of "artillery" in the military.
This time, it was a test before the actual attack on the river. I originally wanted to fire a few cannons into the city, but I held back in order to take them by surprise.
The trebuchet that fires this fire bomb is a double-tip trebuchet. It can throw a stone bullet weighing 20 kilograms a distance of 80 steps. If it is replaced with a slightly lighter high-fire oil bomb, it can be farther.
Due to the danger level of kerosene bombs, in order to protect the safety of the operating soldiers, the launching positions need to be specially constructed. A sand pit is set up behind the trebuchet. In previous operations, there have been several accidents. The fierce kerosene bombs It's a violent thing, and you won't get any good results if you touch it, and the end will be absolutely miserable.
When manpower is used to control equipment, experience and cooperation are very important. During this period of time, in order to operate artillery carriages, especially highly dangerous "artillery", Liu Chengyou mobilized tens of thousands of sergeants to practice and jointly practice and apply force, basically acting as "artillery" "use.
"If you throw it from the stronghold, you should be able to throw it to Hedong City!" Liu Chengyou gestured a little and asked Li Tao.
Li Tao looked convinced and replied reassuringly: "Your Majesty, although Hedong City is strong, it is not high enough. The army has already moved forward and set up a formation in the fortress. Heavy fire and oil bombs can easily reach the top of the city!"
Basically, as long as the kerosene bomb hits the city wall and explodes, there is no need to worry about its power. It will be a purgatory-like scene.
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"We must strengthen the training of our soldiers and make sure no mistakes are made!" Liu Chengyou ordered: "At the same time, we must take precautionary measures. If there is an accident, we must have timely measures to deal with it!"
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty! The generals and others have taken precautions as ordered!"
"It's a pity that there are too few kerosene bombs..." Liu Chengyou couldn't help but sigh.
Before the Western Expedition, the Ordnance Supervisor's reserves exhausted all the kerosene and produced only about 400 kerosene bombs. Most of the artillery carts placed under Hedong City were used to fire stone bombs.
Looking at the trebuchet that required forty or fifty people to launch, Liu Chengyou murmured again: "There is still room for improvement..."
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In the imperial tent, Liu Chengyou carefully read the memorials from Tokyo. Thousands of miles away, he could only understand the dynamics of the Tokyo court through the memorials.
Since the personal expedition, Tokyo as a whole has been relatively stable. Liu Chengyou's arrangements before leaving have worked. Wang Zhang, Guo Wei and other ministers have also been doing their best. Most importantly, Queen Mother Li has appeared from time to time to stabilize people's hearts.
The military and political affairs in Tokyo have been focusing on three things recently.
One is naturally to continue to raise food and equipment, transport them to the front line, and support Liu Chengyou in suppressing the rebellion. This is the most important thing for the Han Dynasty at the moment.
Secondly, in Youzhou, after hearing that Li Shouzhen had rebelled, the Han court mobilized a large army to suppress the rebellion. The Khitan people could not hold back after all, and sent troops to attack Youzhou south. It is ironic to say that the allies Li Shouzhen actively contacted, Xiazhou, Xizhou, etc. There has been no movement in Shu and the Southern Tang Dynasty. On the contrary, the Khitan, which had not been contacted, sent troops to "support". This time, instead of Yelu Ruan personally conquering, the Northern Privy Envoy Yelu An Tuan was sent to lead the troops south. The imperial court used Lu Long as the official De, across the sea for three quarters, defended its territory. Judging from the news from the north, the Liao army was more likely to go south to clear grass and valleys. After all, the autumn harvest was approaching in the south.
The third issue is the autumn harvest and the collection of autumn taxes. The word "money and grain" made the Han courtiers, especially the Third Division, worried.
In addition, I mentioned a little bit about the situation of the examination. According to the time set by Liu Chengyou before the expedition, he should not be able to make it back. Su Yugui asked about the examination questions, and Liu Chengyou ignored other examination directions, but with the "Qianyu New Deal" "Reply and order the candidates to write a policy essay.
Putting down the memorial in his hand about the imperial court's preparations for the autumn harvest, a subtle doubt appeared on Liu Chengyou's calm face. The impact of the war on farming was still too great. To send troops to quell the rebellion, more than a hundred thousand people on this side of the river were mobilized. The army and the people are seeing the autumn harvest approaching...
"We still have to defeat Li Shouzhen as soon as possible!" Liu Chengyou's eyes were filled with determination.
However, one thing is that the autumn harvest is approaching, and the collection of grain from the front of the army can alleviate a lot of the transportation pressure at the rear. The subordinate counties in Hezhong still seem to be ripe this autumn. It can be considered that they have lost to the enemy because of the grain.
While thinking about it, Hu Yanke went into the tent to pay an audience. He opened his mouth and brought good news to Liu Chengyou: "Your Majesty, the robbery of Hexi Village has made progress!"