Daqin Engineers

The production of bed crossbow is very simple, it is actually a bigger crossbow.

To be precise, its production process is much simpler than that of crossbows and bows.

The reason is that things like crossbows and bows pay attention to longevity, range, precision, etc....a mass-produced individual equipment, if it is too crude and rough, it may affect morale after being equipped and even be rejected by soldiers.

Soldiers are not stupid. They will compare their equipment with the enemy, and after a battle or two, they will observe whether the equipment is useful and whether it can save their lives.

Therefore, the production cycle of a good bow and crossbow is sometimes as long as several years: from selecting wood, soaking, drying, and layering beef tendon to increase its toughness.

Especially in the production of Qin State equipment, each process is supervised by a special person and marked to be held accountable for quality problems.

Therefore, there is no reason why Qin Jun can be invincible on the battlefield. Every Qin Jun believes that the equipment in his hand is the best. If he defeats the battle, it is a human problem.

The bed crossbow is a little different.

It is not a single-soldier equipment, and it is not as harsh as a single-soldier crossbow in terms of accuracy, life span, and range.

The bow body is made by superimposing bamboo sheets and then winding them in circles.

If one bow is not enough, add another... After trying a few times, I found that three bows can shoot a hundred steps away with an iron crossbow.

This is the "three-bow bed crossbow" of the Song Dynasty. In order to increase the elasticity, there is even a bow body that is recurved.

This kind of "three-bow bed crossbow" could not be realized before the new iron was smelted.

The difficulties mainly come from three aspects.

One is that the iron crossbow arrow itself is brittle and easy to break. When making such a long and thin iron crossbow arrow, you can shoot it out with such a large bow... I'm afraid that the crossbow arrow will be cut into several pieces because the quality of the iron is not enough. He was wounded by flying around.

Second, a bed crossbow that is so resilient is difficult to open.

Although this problem can be solved, for example, horsepower and cattle power can be used.

In the early Song Dynasty, the "three-bow bed crossbow" was also called the "eight-niu crossbow".

However, on the battlefield, the ox is used to open the crossbow and only to be able to shoot a crossbow arrow. I am afraid that the only opportunity is to prepare in advance and then shoot a shot.

Of course, Shen Bing would not be so stupid and still use animal power. He would directly put on the winch, just like a trebuchet, with four people on the left and right, two pushes and two pulls... you can quickly open the crossbow and reuse it.

The biggest difficulty is actually the crossbow machine.

The so-called crossbow machine is something like a trigger, the crossbow string must be buckled on it, and the crossbow bolt is shot at the enemy after being pulled.

The crossbow force of the three-bow bed crossbow can be said to be thousands of kilograms. How can such a large force be buckled on the crossbow machine?

The trebuchet also needs a similar crossbow machine, but because of its large size, it can use the whole log to make the crossbow machine. If the log is worn out, it is convenient to replace one, but the size of the bed crossbow cannot be done like this.

So this kind of bed crossbow didn't even dare to think about it before Xintie, but now it is easily realized.

Most of the soldiers of the Qin Army welcomed the new series of equipment.

After the arrows and new crossbows were equipped in batches, they were all diligent in practicing and praised them. In particular, the bed crossbow can shoot dozens of catties of iron crossbow arrows beyond a hundred steps and will be used for demonstration. The bamboo horse was easily nailed to the ground, which made the whole army cheer.

Said with excitement:

"General, this iron crossbow can easily penetrate the Huns and horses."

"With this crossbow, why should I be afraid of the Huns?!"

Fusu was even more stunned when he saw this scene, and it took a long time before he said to Shen Bing:

"If the general made this thing earlier, the countries in the Central Plains would not have to spend time and effort building the Great Wall against the Huns."

Shen Bing just smiled without answering.

He knows that this is not the case. Riding with crossbows or crossbows, or even riding with footbows, is just a stopgap measure. When the cavalry develops to a certain level and the tactics are mature, these things will only be a pile of scrap.

Don't ask how Shen Bing knew about this. The Song Dynasty had more advanced equipment for the buck riding, but in the end it was beaten all over by Mongolia.

While everyone was cheering for Shen Bing's new equipment to improve combat power, one person remained skeptical.

This person is Wang Ben.

When Shen Bing used new iron to transform crossbows and arrows, Wang Ben didn't think there was anything.

After all, the number of crossbows equipped by the Qin Army is very large.

But when Shen Bing made a crossbow, Wang Ben felt something was wrong.

He found Shen Bing that afternoon.

He folded his hands and said to Shen Bing:

"Seeing that the general made a crossbow, his subordinates seem to be using a crossbow to resist the Huns?"

Shen Bing replied:

"Exactly, the captain has any objections?"

Wang Ben objected:

"General Mingjian."

"The subordinate thinks that although it seems feasible to ride the crossbow, it is not the way."

"Guyin Xiongnu's tactics are well versed in'avoid his vigor and strike his laziness', and I am afraid to ride a crossbow..."

Shen Bing couldn't help but secretly praised, this Wang Ben really has two brushes.

In fact, the tactics of the Huns cavalry are really just one sentence, "avoid their vigor and strike them from laziness."

This is not because the Huns were familiar with Sun Tzu's Art of War. In fact, they didn't even have any written words at this time... According to the historical records, the Huns "have no documents and are bound by words."

That is, there are no written books, but they have their own language.

In this case, they certainly did not know what Sun Tzu's art of war was.

However, they have been fighting with each other for a long time in the grassland to develop a tactic like wolf hunting. When they find a single enemy or a weak point, they will swarm up, and if a powerful enemy appears in front of them, they will be scattered again...

This tactical strategy evolved from natural selection of things is in fact in line with Sun Tzu's art of war, and it can even be described by the modern guerrilla tactics of "turning into pieces and turning into pieces".

Therefore, during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he did the same thing almost every time he expedition to the Huns: looking for the main force of the Huns.

The question asked by Wang Ben is:

If the Xiongnu's tactics were like this, would it work to use the crossbow to ride or even make a powerful bed crossbow?

Would the Huns be so stupid that they attacked the Qin army with their cavalry and even the crossbow?

will not!

And if the army is too dependent on crossbows and lack of cavalry, a serious problem will arise: difficulty in supply.

The reason is simple: these crossbows and even bed crossbows can fire thousands of crossbow arrows at random. These crossbow arrows look cool in combat, and the arrows fly toward the enemy like locusts.

But these arrows were all brought in by carts.

What if the Huns rely on the high mobility of the cavalry to avoid the main force of the Qin army from attacking the supply line?

If there are not enough crossbow arrows, what effect can these crossbows and bed crossbows play?