After pacifying Guanzhong, Chen Cheng had already ordered people to secretly develop artillery and invested a lot of manpower and material resources. Only after three years did he see the results.
During the process of manufacturing artillery, the Ordnance Manufacturing Bureau also proposed various fantastic ideas, but they were all rejected by Chen Cheng. Even if some of the suggestions were very reliable, they were just experiments at most. In the end, the only one that was finalized was "Napoleon"
"Cannon" and "Tiger Crouching Cannon".
The name "Tiger Crouching Cannon" sounds very powerful, and "Napoleon Cannon" sounds terrible. However, Chen Cheng did not explain to the people below and forcefully adopted this name.
Seven or eight years have passed since he fled to Xiliang in the sixth year of Zhongping. Chen Cheng has controlled the Western Regions, Liangzhou, Guanzhong, Bingzhou and Sili. The total population is less than 6 million.
This speed is really terrible. In the same period of time, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, defeated Qin at the age of three and Chu at the age of four, and he had already conquered the entire world.
After spending such a long time, the technology of "artillery" was finally illuminated, and it truly felt like a new era. When artillery is installed on a large scale, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao can only be remembered in history.
It was crushed to pieces under the wheels. Although Hebei has a large population, how can manpower compete with gunpowder and steel?
The Tiger Crouching Cannon can be decentralized to the infantry battalion, but the Napoleon Cannon must be centralized for use. With the cannon, coupled with the Xiliang Cavalry to cover the flanks and chase after each other, horizontal push is not a dream!
However, the artillery has just been finalized, and it will take at least a year to complete the replacement. According to experience in the Napoleonic Wars, if every thousand men are equipped with four artillery pieces, an infantry battalion needs eight to ten tiger squatting cannons.
The Ya soldiers have three infantry battalions, which requires twenty or thirty tiger squatting cannons. Counting the first and second legions, a total of sixty infantry cannons are needed.
The tooth soldiers, the first army, and the second army each need to be equipped with a "Napoleonic" artillery battalion, which requires a total of thirty-six "Napoleonic cannons". With so many cannons, it will take a long time to come out. And this
The production rate of the era is not too high. It is a good idea to be able to equip three elite troops in a year.
Moreover, after equipping new weapons, the original organization and tactics must also be improved accordingly. Artillery is a projectile weapon, which can largely replace bows and crossbows. However, due to the poor shooting skills of matchlock guns, there is no such weapon for the time being.
After all, the army still needs to maintain a certain number of crossbowmen.
These will take time to explore before the power of the new weapons can be fully unleashed. But no matter what, with these weapons, things will be much easier to handle later on.
After the artillery is installed, things are not over yet. After all, the performance of black powder is poor. Although the power can be further enhanced by customization and granulation, it is still a little bit boring after all. Chen Cheng knows how to make yellow gunpowder.
And things like nitrocellulose, but limited by the technology of this era, small-scale manufacturing without guarantee of quality is okay. If you want to produce it on a large scale, it is almost a dream.
However, the goal can be set first, the route is determined, and the rest is just a technical issue. It is just a technical adjustment, so no one needs to panic. Anyway, Chen Cheng is not in a hurry. It would be better if he can improve. If not, then he will use it temporarily.
Black powder can still kill people when used against it.
The imperial court is installing new weapons, improving its organization and tactics, and training more officers. The Army Primary School has been in operation for five years, and hundreds of officers at the level of commanders and team leaders have been sent to the army or remolded. Army
The middle school has also been running for one year, and it mainly trains officers at the level of Quhebu. There are 500 people in one unit and 2,000 to 3,000 in each unit. The Quzhang is only responsible for the combat of individual arms, and the level of the Ministry is
Then it is already necessary to consider the issue of combining arms.
After the advent of artillery, how infantry, cavalry, and artillery work together has become a new problem that has never existed before. Due to historical reasons, there are many generals in the Xiliang Army who are good at commanding cavalry operations, but they all rely on experience.
Command the army. Artillery is a weapon that has never been used before. The original experience will not be effective or even counterproductive.
Although the imperial court continued to increase its military strength, in the eyes of outsiders, the imperial court seemed to have lost its enterprising spirit. It only cared about its own three-acre land and ignored the princes. Zhang Lu, the prefect of Hanzhong, once wrote a letter
The imperial court wanted to send a large army to kill Liu Zhang, the herdsman of Yizhou, but Chen Cheng refused.
Liu Bei also wrote a letter saying that he would jointly send troops again to eliminate Cao Cao who was entrenched in the north of Yuzhou. Not only did Cao's army often rush into Yanzhou to plunder, but they also often went to Xuzhou to rob. Liu Bei was very angry, so he wanted to destroy him once and for all.
Just kill Cao Cao.
Chen Cheng still refused such a request. The most he could do was issue an edict in the name of the emperor, asking everyone to exercise restraint or something. I heard that the general recently married the daughter of Situ Wang Yun, and also married Cai Yong, the minister of rites.
His daughter also took a concubine, who was said to have been the Queen Mother's maid. People outside said that the general was addicted to the gentle country and no longer had any heroic spirit.
Especially the "Halal News", which was originally controlled by the ministers of the imperial court, spoke ill of the general every day. The newspaper's printing place was sealed four times, and finally it was under Cai Yong's intercession.
, the ban was lifted again. Each time after being blocked, "Haldar" would be honest for a while, but soon it would return to its old ways, and then it would be blocked again.
In the autumn of the second year of Jian'an, Yuan Tan in Yuzhou finally could not withstand the pressure from Cao Cao, so he resigned as the shepherd of Yuzhou and recommended Cao Mengde to take over. In fact, Yuan Shao had given Yuan Tan an order a few months ago to lead him.
He returned to Yecheng. However, Yuan Tan was unwilling to fail like this, and held on for a few more months. When the order failed to go to Caicheng, he angrily admitted the fact and fled back to Hebei in despair.
Cao Cao finally became the leader of a state again. He was back on the chessboard of the world and qualified to play chess again. But by this time, Sun Ce had also pacified Jiangdong and established the Sun family's rule in Yangzhou. Moreover, Cao Cao*
*The incident of leaving Yuan Tan just gave Sun Ce an excuse to stop obeying Yuzhou's orders.
He borrowed thousands of troops from Yuan Tan. Now Yuan Tan has been forced to return to Hebei. The newly appointed Yuzhou Shepherd Cao Cao has nothing to do with Sun Ce. He has thrown away the last bit of restraint and is only two years old.
Sun Ce, who was in his early teens, drew his sword and looked around, preparing to find the next target to attack.
Soon, his sights were set on Jiangxia. Attacking Jiangxia could not only avenge his father Sun Jian, but also occupy a stronghold to attack Jingzhou. Yangzhou, which is located in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, would be inherently suppressed by Jingzhou in the middle and upper reaches.
In order to realize his ambition and take revenge, Sun Ce set his target on Huang Zu of Jiangxia.
But now is not the time, at least until next year, when the armor is sufficient and the warships are built, then he can mobilize his troops. But before that, he still needs to find allies. Liu Biao once formed an alliance with Yuan Shao,
Cao Cao is also an ally of Yuan Shao, and these two families are on the side. If there is a fight, Yangzhou will inevitably be flanked.
On the boat on the Yangtze River, the young Sun Ce and the equally young Zhou Yu stood side by side, pointing in the direction of Chang'an and saying: "Although the imperial court has not made any moves this year, how can the general just stay in a corner? Behind Huang Zu are Liu Biao, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao.
, then I will make friends with Liu Bei and Chen Cheng, and fight with them to see who is the real hero!"
Wearing a white shirt, Zhou Yu looked even more handsome and outstanding. He gently shook the goose feather fan in his hand and said with a smile: "First take Jiangxia, then Jingzhou, and finally go upstream to capture Bashu, which is at the end of the Yangtze River. This way you can sit
Watch the princes of the Central Plains fight each other, wait until the world changes, and then order a general to lead the army to the north to conquer the Central Plains, so as to achieve the cause of kingship!"
After saying that, Zhou Yu and Sun Ce looked at each other, and then laughed loudly. The strong wind blew from the river, making their clothes rustle. At this moment, both of them felt that there was nothing they could not do in the world.
Things are just like Cao Cao and Yuan Shao many years ago.
As soon as the laughter stopped, a beautiful girl in the boat stuck her head out and shouted: "Brother, Sister Xiao Qiao has already made the tea!"
Sun Ce held Zhou Yu's hand and walked into the cabin with his head lowered. When Xiao Qiao saw the two people coming in, he pursed his lips and smiled, pouring boiling water into the tea bowl. The tea dumplings were washed by the boiling water and started to circle and dance in the tea bowl.
Then, she first handed a bowl of tea to Sun Ce, and then handed the other bowl to Zhou Yu.
Sun Shangxiang on the side shouted: "Why don't you have mine? They didn't do anything outside, but I have been helping you boil water!"
Xiao Qiao smiled, made another bowl of tea, and handed it to Sun Shangxiang.
Sun Ce looked at his sister who was slapped and slapped her hands. He hesitated for a moment, and then asked: "Didn't you say you wanted to meet Wu Cheng'en, who wrote "Journey to the West"? I will send someone to Chang'an next year, do you want to follow?
go together?"
Sun Shangxiang tilted her head and thought for a moment. She liked Sun Wukong very much, but she didn't want to leave her mother and brother. She thought for a long time, then made up her mind and said, "I don't want it anymore.
Chang'an is too far away, so I won't be able to see my brother for a long time!"
Sun Ce felt warm in his heart and said with a smile: "Then we won't go. When we are free one day, we will take that old man Wu Chengen to Jiangdong and make him watch three times a day!"
Sun Shangxiang burst out laughing and said: "Who said Wu Cheng'en must be an old man? But he is really hateful. It only takes three days to complete a chapter. I have been writing "Journey to the West" for so long, but I still haven't finished it.
over!"
Just when Sun Ce and Zhou Yu were setting off on the river, Liu Bei had already made up his mind. Gongsun Zan was his fellow disciple and was once his monarch. Now he showed signs of being unable to bear it, so he sent someone to seek help from Liu Bei.
.In addition, Cao Cao, once the life and death enemy, has become the leader of a state again, and is sharpening his sword, waiting for when to strike.
Although he had trained many elite soldiers and horses in Xuzhou, he was not confident in blocking Cao Cao's comeback. The last battle in Xuzhou had proved that his military ability could not match Cao Cao's, even Guan Yu and Zhang
Fei Fei, an enemy with ten thousand people as his wings, can only hold on in the face of Cao's army's overwhelming offensive.
Therefore, he decided to take Zhang Fei to Chang'an. If he couldn't defeat it on his own, he would have to call in foreign aid.
