The production of the bed crossbow is very simple, it is actually a larger crossbow.
To be precise, its production process is much simpler than crossbows and bows.
The reason is that crossbows and bows and arrows are all about longevity, range, accuracy, etc... If a mass-produced individual soldier equipment is too crude and rough, it is likely to affect morale and even be rejected by the soldiers after it is equipped with troops.
Soldiers are not stupid. They will compare their equipment with that of the enemy. After fighting one or two battles, they will observe whether the equipment is useful and whether it can save their lives.
Therefore, the production cycle of a good crossbow sometimes takes several years: from selecting wood, soaking, drying, and applying beef tendons layer by layer to increase its toughness, etc.
Especially in the production of Qin equipment, every process is supervised by a dedicated person and marked so that accountability can be traced if there are quality problems.
Therefore, it is not without reason that the Qin army is invincible on the battlefield. Every Qin army believes that the equipment in their hands is the best. If they lose the battle, it will be a human problem.
The Bed Crossbow is a little different.
It is not an individual soldier's equipment, and its accuracy, lifespan and range are not as stringent as individual soldier crossbows.
The bow body is made of stacked bamboo pieces and wrapped with hemp rope in circles.
If one bow body is not enough, add another... After trying it a few times, I found that three bow bodies can almost shoot a hundred paces with an iron crossbow arrow.
This is the "three-bow bed crossbow" of the Song Dynasty. In order to increase elasticity, there is even a bow with a recurved bow.
This kind of "three-bow bed crossbow" cannot be realized before new iron is smelted.
The difficulties mainly come from three aspects.
First, the iron crossbow arrow itself is brittle and easy to break. To make such a long and thin iron crossbow arrow and to use such a large bow power to shoot it... I am afraid that the moment the crossbow arrow comes out of the bow, it will be broken into several pieces due to insufficient iron quality.
He was shooting everywhere and hurting his own people.
Second, it is difficult to fire a crossbow with such elasticity.
Although this problem can be solved, for example, horse power or cattle power can be used.
The "three-bow bed crossbow" in the early Song Dynasty was also called the "eight-oxen crossbow" because in the early days, oxen were used to fire the crossbow.
However, on the battlefield, when an ox is used to fire a crossbow just to shoot a crossbow arrow, the only chance is to prepare in advance and then shoot a crossbow arrow.
Of course, Shen Bing would not be so stupid as to use animal power. He directly mounted the winch, just like a trebuchet, with four people on the left and right, two pushing and two pulling... he could quickly fire the crossbow and use it repeatedly.
The biggest difficulty is actually the crossbow machine.
The so-called crossbow machine is something like a trigger. The crossbow string needs to be clamped on it, and then the crossbow arrow will be fired at the enemy.
The crossbow power of the three-bow bed crossbow is at least several thousand kilograms. How can bronze be able to withstand such a large force on the crossbow machine?
The trebuchet also requires a similar crossbow, but because of its large size, the entire log can be used to make the crossbow. If the log is worn out, it is easy to replace one, but the size of the bed crossbow cannot do this.
Therefore, this kind of bed crossbow was unthinkable before Xintie, but now it can be easily realized.
Most of the soldiers of the Qin Army welcomed this new series of equipment.
After being equipped with arrows and new crossbows in batches, they all practiced diligently and praised them. Especially the bed crossbow can shoot iron crossbows weighing dozens of kilograms a hundred steps away and will be used for demonstration.
The bamboo horse was easily nailed to the ground, which made the whole army cheer.
He said less excitedly:
"General, this iron crossbow arrow can easily penetrate the Huns' horses."
"With this crossbow, why should we fear the Huns?!"
Fusu was even more stunned when he saw this scene. After a long while, he said to Shen Bing:
"If the general had made this thing earlier, the countries in the Central Plains would not have had to waste time and effort building the Great Wall to defend against the Huns."
Shen Bing just smiled and did not answer.
He knew that this was not the case. Using crossbows or bed crossbows to defeat cavalry, or even using infantry to defeat cavalry, were only expedient measures. When the cavalry developed to a certain level and the tactics matured, these things would just be a pile of scrap metal.
Don't ask how Shen Bing knew this. The Song Dynasty had more advanced equipment that could defeat cavalry with infantry, but in the end they were beaten to pieces by the Mongols.
While everyone was cheering for Shen Bing to create new equipment to improve his combat power, one person remained skeptical.
This person is Wang Ben.
At first, when Shen Bing used new iron to transform crossbows and arrows, Wang Ben didn't think there was anything wrong with it.
After all, the Qin army equipped with a large number of crossbows, so it was normal to modify the crossbows.
But when Shen Bing made the bed crossbow, Wang Ben felt something was wrong.
That afternoon he found Shen Bing.
He raised his hands and said to Shen Bing:
"My subordinates saw that the general made a bed crossbow. It seems that he intended to use the crossbow to defeat the cavalry to resist the Huns?"
Shen Bing replied:
"That's right. Does the captain have any objections?"
Wang Ben objected:
"The general's clear warning."
"I believe that using crossbows to defeat cavalry may seem feasible but is actually inappropriate."
"Because the Xiongnu know how to fight well, 'avoid their sharp energy and attack them lazily,' so I'm afraid of using crossbows to defeat their cavalry..."
Shen Bing couldn't help but secretly praise him, Wang Ben really had two brushes.
In fact, the tactics of the Huns cavalry can be said to be "avoid their sharpness and attack their laziness".
This is not because the Xiongnu were familiar with Sun Tzu's Art of War. In fact, they did not even have writing at this time...Historical records record that the Xiongnu "had no writing and were restrained by words."
That is to say, there are no written books, but it has its own language.
In this case, they certainly don't know anything about Sun Tzu's Art of War.
However, their long-term battles with each other in the grassland have led them to develop tactics like hunting in a pack of wolves. When they find a lone enemy or a weak point, they will swarm up. If a powerful enemy appears in front of them and wants to fight decisively, they will disperse in a rush...
This method of warfare evolved by natural selection actually coincides with Sun Tzu's Art of War, and can even be described by the modern guerrilla tactic of "turning parts into wholes, turning wholes into parts."
Therefore, during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, almost every expedition to the Huns was done with the same thing: looking for the main force of the Huns.
The question raised by Wang Ben is:
If the Xiongnu fought like this, would it be possible to defeat their cavalry with crossbows or even make a powerful bed crossbow?
Would the Huns be stupid enough to use cavalry to attack the Qin army's crossbow formation or even the crossbow?
Won't!
If the army relies too much on crossbows and lacks cavalry, a serious problem will arise: supply difficulties.
The reason is very simple: these crossbows and even bed crossbows can shoot thousands of crossbow arrows in a single volley. These crossbow arrows look great in combat, and the arrows fly towards the enemy like locusts.
But these arrows were all transported by carriages.
What if the Huns relied on the high mobility of the cavalry to avoid the main force of the Qin army and attack the supply lines?
If there are not enough crossbow arrows, what role can these crossbows and bed crossbows play? 1603463134