The wheeled warship is a warship that only existed in the Song Dynasty.
The record of this ship in the history of the Song Dynasty is: "It hits the water with its wheel, and its progress is like flying."
It actually used wheels equipped with blades instead of oars, so it was called a "wheel warship" and was also the ancestor of modern ships.
Cang's nickname of "Little Luban, a craftsman who transports heavy metals" was really not for nothing. The prototype of the "wheel warship" was produced the next day.
Wei Wei and a group of soldiers looked at the strange warship parked on the Bian River in a daze. After a while, Wei Wei asked:
"Captain, this ship... why is there no wooden oar?"
Shen Bing replied:
"The wheels are wood pulp."
Wei Wei asked in surprise:
"But that wheel..."
"I have only heard that wheels can make a carriage travel on land, but I have never heard that wheels can also make warships move forward in water."
"The captain is..."
Shen Bing knew what Wei Wei wanted to say. He thought Shen Bing was confused, but Wei Wei didn't dare to be bold, so he didn't say it.
Shen Bing smiled and said:
"Zuo Xiaowei Dan said it doesn't matter. There is no need to be so polite between you and me."
"In the future, if Shen Bing calls Captain Zuo an old thief, Captain Zuo please don't take it to heart."
Wei Wei replied:
"Of course, of course!"
Strangely enough, Wei Wei felt more relaxed when he heard the word "old thief".
Because it's a bit like teasing between friends.
During this period, Wei Wei had always regarded himself as a defeated general, and even spoke with fear, fearing that if he was not careful, he would be killed or even bring down 200,000 of his old subordinates and their families.
Seeing Shen Bing's attitude at this time, I felt a little more relaxed.
Just when Wei Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, he saw Shen Bing raising his head to Cang and several craftsmen and saying:
"Why don't you get on the boat and give it a try?"
A trace of fear suddenly appeared in Cang's eyes:
"Captain, I don't know how to sail a boat. If we fall into the water..."
Shen Bing asked:
"Have you ever stepped on a waterwheel?"
Cang nodded:
"I have stepped on it!"
Shen Bing asked again:
"Isn't this wheeled warship made in the style of a water wheel?"
"How can you not step on a warship if you can step on a waterwheel?"
Cang was speechless for a moment. This wheeled warship indeed looked like a waterwheel. The only difference was that the waterwheel drove the keel to divert water while the warship drove the wheels to rotate.
Aomoto still wanted to find an excuse, but then thought about it, how could he be afraid of the water if the army wanted to enter the water in the future? So he had to muster up the courage to take a few craftsmen on the boat.
But I saw several carpenters standing on the wooden poles, holding on to the poles and stepping on the step poles with large strides. The wheels gradually started to turn, and the warship also moved forward slowly.
Then the wheels turned faster and faster, and the speed of the warship became faster and faster, and soon it was like a fish darting back and forth on the river.
Cang Huan was so excited that he shouted:
"Captain, I will sail the boat later!"
"This ship doesn't want to be so easy. If you step on it, it will go fast, if you don't step on it, it will go slow..."
“With the helm, you can control it freely!”
This scene shocked Wei Wei and all the soldiers on the shore.
You must know that they are soldiers of the Wei State with dense water networks, and many of them are boat operators.
Although operating a boat is not difficult, it is not that simple either. A few people who don't know how to operate a boat can climb on board and sail very fast.
The one who was particularly shocked was Wei Wei.
He originally thought that the warship without wooden oars could not move forward, but he didn't expect that not only could it move forward, it would also be much faster than the wooden oars.
Looking at the carpenters on the boat, there were only seven of them. Only four of them were riding the wheels, one was steering the ship, and the other two were shouting.
In other words... this wheeled warship only needs five people to control it?
Wei Wei looked at Shen Bing in surprise:
"Captain, this..."
"I'm sorry for my stupidity, but why can this chariot move so fast with just five people?"
Shen Bing explained:
"Only because they pedal with their feet instead of paddling with their hands!"
Wei Wei couldn't help but said "Oh", half understanding, and secretly thought that this was probably the so-called "arms can't twist the thighs".
But it's not that simple to say the least.
If it is a rowing boat, even if you try your best with both hands, it is difficult to exert six pounds of force (about 100 kilograms in modern times), and even if you can exert such force, it cannot last long.
But pedaling is different.
Pedaling does not require sideways force like paddling. It only requires stepping up and using the weight of the body to push the wooden pole down... This is obviously less laborious and easier to maintain.
This is more conducive to long-term voyages of warships.
What's more, only five people are needed to control it, so they can take breaks and take breaks, so there is a lot of manpower redundancy.
However, if we really count the number of people, it is actually not that large, because the old warships require five people to helm the helmsman because the helmsman needs someone to cover him.
Moreover, if the helmsman is shot by the enemy, he must be replaced immediately.
These people cannot be spared in a chariot.
A comparison shows that there are fifteen people compared to nine people.
Wei Wei thought about it and nodded in praise:
"This ship is great!"
"If only nine people can control it, each of our ships will have sixteen people for combat."
"But the enemy only has ten people fighting, so the combat power is far different."
You must know that most of the water battles involve shooting arrows at each other. If there are more people, there will be more arrows. More arrows means stronger fighting power, so this fight...
Of course Shen Bing knew this.
And Shen Bing knew more than this.
This is not just a simple matter of combat effectiveness.
If an old-style warship requires fifteen people to operate the ship, these fifteen people will become the target of the enemy, and once one of the fifteen people is shot down, someone will be needed to replace it...
So it won't be long before the old warships will have a serious problem due to lack of manpower:
If you fight, you will not be able to maneuver the boat normally, so you can only stop the boat and wait to die.
If you control the boat, you cannot fight, you can only fight without fighting back.
No matter which one you choose, you will die, that is, you will lose your combat effectiveness.
Wheel warships, on the other hand, are much more flexible in this regard because they have greater manpower redundancy.
In addition there are the benefits of battle space:
The oarsmen of old-style warships had to occupy positions on both sides to row, which would cause great trouble to combat personnel.
The power of the wheeled warship, that is, the wheels, are distributed at the bow and stern. Not only is the crew safer, but the middle part can be freed up for combat personnel.
What's more important is...
Wheels and ships are fast.
Four people can reach the speed of old warships by pedaling on the boat, but what if eight people pedal on the boat?
Isn’t it the same speed as dragon boat rowing?
If there are several factors that can determine victory or defeat on the battlefield, speed is definitely one of them. Whether it is on water or land.
It's just that the ancients didn't realize this and didn't pay much attention to it.
However, Shen Bing was not very satisfied with the warship. He called Cang and his party back who were having fun in the water, then used a branch to measure the position of the wheels and said:
"Move the axle down an inch."
"Bold wheel guard."
Cang was a little confused:
"But Lieutenant Colonel, there is no need to thicken the shaft when the wheel hits the water..."
Shen Bing only glared at him, and Cang didn't dare to say anything else.