Chapter 76 Sharp Weapons
The lieutenant led by Qi Hei and the remaining troops of the Weiwei went north from Wuguan to Lushi County, and then circled from Lushi County before crossing the Qinling Mountains. With the troops of other counties, he returned to the Guanzhong Plain. In the hot summer, Aristotle IV walked through the mountains and forests and inhaled miasma. From time to time, he would feel chills all over and foam at the mouth. Although he was unwell, he immediately reported to Zhao Zheng.
When he entered the king's mouth, Zhao Zheng's loose hair was tied up, he wore a red deer crown on his head and a mei-colored dress. The mei-colored color was like blood, and this color was exciting, but no matter how excited he was, it was hard to hide Zhao Zheng's pale and gray face.
"Your Majesty..." Aristotle IV was surprised by Zhao Zheng's changes. The Qin army was not really defeated, but lost Humdan. His Majesty's mother, the beautiful queen, his student Fusu, and countless concubines were in the Humdan royal city.
But Aristotle IV believed that they would not be hurt. After the Battle of Issus (333 BC), Alexander the Great also captured Darius's family, but the emperor treated him with royal family etiquette without any insults and invasion. King Chuni was the real king, and the real king would never bully the weak, he would only challenge the strong.
Aristotle IV thought so, and he comforted Zhao Zheng so much. After hearing Wu Ji's interpretation, Zhao Zheng ignored it. He only asked: "Can you see the witchcraft of the Jing people?"
"Of course." The power of the artillery made Aristotle IV tremble. He believed that this was Zeus' weapon, but he didn't know why it was stolen by the Chuni. "I saw it, it was as frightening as Zeus' thunder. All the secrets were on that black powder. When the Chuni used the thunder, they would stuff the powder wrapped in silk into the iron tube..."
With the help of Lu Lijing, Aristotle IV discovered that like grenades, the artillery launching medicine was also wrapped in silk. It was first loaded and then put into a round, terrifying iron bomb. It was this iron bomb that kept jumping after launching that killed the Qinni soldiers.
There is also a machine connected by ropes at the back of the iron pipe, which can move. Whenever officer Chuni shouts "Let it", the soldier will pull the rope. After the machinery is activated, Mars flashes. Mars ignites the black powder in the iron pipe in a way he does not understand for the time being. Then the iron pipe thunderstorms, and fires out iron bombs.
Aristotle IV spent about two quarters of an hour introducing the cannons he witnessed, depicting its power, and guessing the principle of the cannon. This is not just an oral description, but also a realistic painting drawn by his followers: rugged mountain valley roads, Chu army artillery, side by side, violently ejected flames and shells, and Qin soldiers hundreds of meters away from the muzzle were being killed like they were cutting wheat...
Zhao Zheng only took a look and turned over the painting. The following paintings are realistic depictions of artillery: the cannon is placed in the middle of the axle of the two wheels, and there is a pair of small wheels in front of the two wheels, which form a complete four-wheel cannon chariot. Four tall dragon horses dragged the cannon chariot and drove on the valley road.
"Sir, I know the truth, how can I break it?" Zhao Zheng handed the last painting to Wei Liao and asked.
Aristotle IV has witnessed what the witchcraft in General Qini’s mouth is. From the first sight of the cannon, he kept thinking about how to deal with this weapon. What he thought of at first was the giant crossbow, which was the idea of Shaofu Yan Wuyi and others, but this was unrealistic. Although the giant crossbow was far-range, it was inconvenient to move and was slowly winding.
The second method is to fight in close combat. The Qin army used this method to deal with the Korean army and Greek soldiers used Persian archers. This method was completely effective. Alexander IV had previously suggested that the Qin army try to rush forward for close combat, but the Qin army obviously failed. When the Chu army used the shotgun, the Qin army was defeated by the shotgun fired by the artillery before it even approached the artillery.
Recalling the past few days of thinking, Aristotle IV said: "Your Majesty, as far as I know, we know that the world has never had such a weapon, so there is no way to defeat it on the battlefield."
Wu Ji's translation should be slower, and even if you hear that Lord Bai Di has no choice, Zhao Zheng's face became even darker.
"But this is only on the battlefield." Aristotle IV's next sentence ignited hope for Zhao Zheng. "The Chunis need the merchants of Sogdiana to sell sulfur, which means they cannot find sulfur elsewhere."
"Sulphur?" There are few words in this era, both of which are one word, and Zhao Zheng unnaturally pronounces these two words.
"Yes." said Aristotle IV, "Your Majesty can buy all the sulfur from the merchants of Sogdiana so that the Chunis will not get it, so that the Chunis' thunder weapons will not be used..."
Aristotle IV's eyes were not firm when speaking, and his proposal was likely to be ineffective, because the Chuni merchant ship could sail directly to the Persian Gulf. The sulfur in the Mediterranean world is not as scarce as the East. The Chuni merchant ship could obtain a large amount of cheap sulfur as long as it went farther. As Zhao Zheng nodded repeatedly, he expressed his true thoughts.
"In addition, I think the best way to deal with Thunder weapon is to imitate it, use Thunder weapon to deal with Thunder weapon, just like using archers to deal with archers." While waiting for Wu Ji to translate, Aristotle IV looked at Zhao Zheng, and his heart suddenly jumped quickly. "I ask Your Majesty to allow me to send someone to send a part of the black powder to the Muse Academy of Alexander Zhuoya. There are the most profound wise men, philosophers, mathematicians, and the best alchemists. They must have cracked the secrets of the powder..."
The weapon that emits the thundering sound has the same divine power as Zeus. Aristotle IV dared not imagine how much vibration it would occur after "bringing" this weapon back to the known world. Even if his military knowledge was not rich, he could foresee that this weapon would change the entire known world.
While speaking, he tried his best to restrain his uneasiness and prevented his tone from trembling. After speaking, he held his breath and waited for Wu Ji's translation and listened to Zhao Zheng's answer. Unfortunately, Wu Ji's translation had been translated for a long time and did not hear Zhao Zheng's voice. Because Zhao Zheng didn't speak at all.
"The king said, sir, I have worked hard, please rest in the tent." Zhao Gao's sharp voice sounded. When Aristotle IV wanted to fight, he shut up carefully and cautiously. He believed that Zhao Zheng would agree in the end.
"Master Bai Di..." Wei Liao stood beside him and said nothing.
"How can the country's weapon be shown to others lightly?" As long as he can calm down, Zhao Zheng is rational. Witch weapons and witch medicines are now the enemy's weapons, and after this battle, they will be the Qin army's weapons. How could he hand over such weapons to Bai Di?
"The king is wise." Wei Liao fully agreed with Zhao Zheng's opinion. He really had no choice but to ask Aristotle IV for advice on this matter. Since there is no such weapon in the West, why ask the Baidi people to crack it? Once it is cracked, the Baidi people also have the Chu people's witchcraft, so it is not necessary to "the Southern Yi and the Northern Di are in conflict, and China is as endless as a line."
"When will the Jing people run out of food?" The shogunate had come up with a way to face witchcraft, and more and more soldiers arrived in various counties. Zhao Zheng tried his best to suppress his mania and wait for the final decisive battle.
"It's time to go here for a few days." A few days ago, the common people were asked to leave the city and eat, otherwise Zhao Zheng would not have discovered that Xianyang had been pulled out by the Chu army.
"How many days are there?" Zhao Zheng turned his head and looked at Wei Liao coldly, with an inexplicable murderous aura.
"My..." Wei Liao was anxious. The Qin and Chu armies confronted each other across the water. The Chu army's dragon horse cavalry blocked the north shore, and Xianyang City was closed. If the Qin army wanted to know the news in the city, they could only rely on common people who could eat after leaving the city. These common people were only allowed to go out but not enter. The Chu army was stationed in the palace and gardens. No one knew how much food and grass they had and when they would cross the Wei River south.
"I'll wait for another five days. If the Jing people still haven't crossed the Wei River in five days..." Zhao Zheng gritted his teeth, his cheeks twitched constantly.
Seeing this, Wei Liao knew that he had made up his mind and bowed anxiously, "I know. I know."
Zhao Zheng was only willing to endure for another five days. On the south city of Xianyang City, Xiong Jing was looking at the endless Qin army tents in Weinan. The war was not something that could be won by anyone with more people; the elite Qin army either attacked Nanyang Fangcheng or besieged Handan, and most of the Qin soldiers in front of him were old and weak... Even so, he was still shocked by the Qin army camp that could not be seen at first sight.
Ten days ago, he had a look at the Qin army camp on Bailuyuan, but the Qin army at that time was not as large as it is now. Five hundred thousand, six hundred thousand, seven hundred thousand... Xiong Jing kept guessing the number of Qin army.
"The Qin army curtain is an array, and I don't know how many formations there are." Nao Xin also stood at the top of the city and looked at the Qin army's tent. He could only see four military formations in the vision, and he could no longer see them farther away.
"There are many people in Qin!" Dou Yuzhi put down Lu Lijing and couldn't help but exclaim. "Our army's heavy cavalry can no longer be used."
The Qin army tents were stacked. Except for the five miles that were specifically empty near the Wei River and luring the Chu army to cross south, the entire Weinan was boundless and full of camp tents. Heavy cavalry might be able to break one or two military formations, but it would not work even further. The endless breaking of the formation would only cause the war horses to die of exhaustion.
"The Qin people's formation is like a city, and they are all prepared on all sides. However, the city cannot be moved. If you advance and retreat, the city will be destroyed. At this time, the heavy cavalry took advantage of the gap to attack the shogunate, and the Qin people will be defeated." Dou Chang said what Zhuang Wudi wanted to say. Gui Jing, who was speechless, just smiled when he heard this, as if he was proud that the cavalry still had to carry out the most fatal blow in the war.
"Where is the East Field Army?" Xiong Jing put down Lu Lijing and asked about the reinforcements rushing from Nanyang.
"Report to the king, Dongye Ao has arrived in Shangluo, and it can reach Weinan by five days at the latest." After occupying Xianyang, with the help of the carrier pigeon raised by the Changping Jun Mansion, a two-way connection was established between the Chu army and Yingdu. The situation of the countries in the world, the reinforcements led by Dongye Ao, and the competition between Qi and Wei for the Dongjun Henei County..., these news came to Xianyang without any obstacles. The reinforcements arrived in Shangluo, and the two armies were not far from the decisive battle.
Chapter completed!