In the afternoon, in the west of Yecheng, several four-wheeled carriages were sailing calmly on the bluestone street, and drove towards the city gate under the front and back guards of the cavalry, preparing to leave the city.

These four-wheeled carriages, like the four-wheeled carriages that have become popular in Yecheng, have small wheels in front and large wheels in the back.

However, unlike many civilian four-wheeled carriages, the wheels of these four-wheeled carriages are made of iron, so they look much thinner than the wooden wheels wrapped in iron on the outer edge.

The slender all-iron wheels pressed against some uneven ground and kept rising and falling.

Such ups and downs have become much smaller when they are transmitted to the car through the leaf spring shock absorber.

However, the fluctuation of a four-wheeled carriage in the convoy was significantly larger than that of the other cars.

Even though the road surface is already smooth, the carriage is still undulating, and the "power" of the ups and downs comes from the car.

The woman's slight panting sound came from the carriage, covering up the "crying" sound when the wheels pressed across the road.

After a while, the undulations of the carriage became smaller, but the gasps remained.

In the carriage, Zhang Lihua gasped gently, and Li Li took out a handkerchief and wiped her sweat: "How about it, the shock absorber of this carriage is effective, right?"

Zhang Lihua, who had been jumping in the carriage just now, was now "out of energy" and fell in Li Li's arms: "Your Majesty, this carriage is really stable when walking, just like an ox carriage."

She is already the emperor's woman, so she can act spoiled at any time.

Li Li hugged the beauty and replied: "This is the result of continuous improvement and it has taken many years."

"Is the four-wheeled carriage so difficult to improve?" Zhang Lihua asked. She was really confused: "When I saw the government army go on expedition this time, the four-wheeled carriage in the car camp seemed to be very solid. I rushed to the road every day and rarely broke."

Li Li smiled and said, "Of course it is stable. All components of the frame, including the wheel and front wheel steering structure, as well as the leaf spring shock absorbers, are made of iron and must be firm."

"With the advancement of smelting technology, the iron four-wheeled carriage frame is much more durable than it was originally."

He endured the urge to "shake the car" and briefly explained the technical difficulties of the four-wheeled carriage.

In fact, there are no particularly difficult technical difficulties. For example, the most critical steering mechanism of a four-wheeled carriage is very simple. As long as you are willing to use materials, durability will be guaranteed.

However, if you consider that the failure rate of four-wheeled carriages cannot be too high during long-distance marching during field battles, the technical content of carts will not be low.

The carriage left the city and soon drove into the temporary military camp in the western suburbs. Here, a large number of four-wheelers were under inspection by technicians.

The technicians also looked through the "use/maintenance records" of each vehicle during the expedition to survey the use of these vehicles during this expedition.

After Li Li got off the car, he came to these technicians and asked about related matters, while Zhang Lihua looked around.

These four-wheeled vehicles have greenhouses on the carriages, so they are also called "caravans". Zhang Lihua went on a war with the army and took this kind of car.

For Li Li, the caravan in front of him is the "Western caravan" he saw in film and television works.

After the founding of the United States, the "Westward Movement" that was popular in the western region, the most classic scene was that the caravan convoy was driving in the wilderness.

This kind of four-wheeled carriage can accommodate a family, along with luggage, tools, various pots and pans, as well as buckets, forage, etc.

It can be said to be a mobile RV.

If necessary, several caravans can also form a car array, with men, women, young and old holding muskets and using the car array as a cover to deal with incoming robbers or Indians.

However, the purpose of Li Li's "copycat" caravan is mainly to improve the transportation tools.

Compared with two-wheeled carriages, there are many advantages and a large load capacity, which is one of the most obvious advantages.

However, adaptability to complex terrain is based on a solid structure. If you want to obtain the optimal four-wheeler structure, you have to rely on exploration.

After more than 20 years of continuous exploration and improvement, the durability of the four-wheeled carriage has been greatly improved. The four-wheeled carriage with a full iron frame (including wheels) has become an important part of the "mule-horse transformation" of the main force of the Chu army.

During this expedition, the newly compiled "Synthetic Battalion" uses four-wheeled carriages as the combat unit.

A typical synthetic battalion combat unit is an infantryman, plus a double horse towed "caravan", take-out coachman and his assistant.

In this combat unit, everyone's luggage, dry food, weapons and equipment are loaded by a carriage, and the carriage is also equipped with forage and buckets of drinking water.

During the march, the coachman and his assistant sat in the carriage, and the other infantry walked along the carriage without any burden, taking turns getting on the carriage to rest.

The infantry don’t have to worry about the carriages and the horses pulling the carriages, but the coachman and assistants are responsible for it.

Whenever they go to a campsite, the infantry are responsible for fetching water and mowing grass to ensure that the horses have food and drink during the next journey.

Each ten cars are a small team, each maintaining its own marching formation. Whether it is camping or encountering an enemy, the ten cars of this team form the smallest vehicle array.

There are additional wooden boards on both sides of the carriage. When forming a car array, the wooden boards are raised to the outside, which are relatively strong shields, which can not only prevent arrows, but also prevent enemies from rushing in through the car tent.

The tactics of the chariot formation have existed since ancient times. Because the "synthesis battalion" of the Chu army used four-wheeled carriages with stronger load capacity, the marching speed was also considerable when carrying baggage.

This time, the long-distance marching in the month was about 50 miles a day. Although it was not as fast as the cavalry, it was faster than the ordinary army marching with baggage.

Moreover, at this marching speed, the soldiers' burden was very light, so even after a long journey, they had enough physical strength to invest in the battle.

Because the frame of the four-wheeled carriage is made of iron and is very firm. Although it is not as easy to repair as a wooden frame, the "average failure-free time" is very long, which can ensure that it does not drag down in a high-strength long-distance battle.

After hearing Li Li say so much, Zhang Lihua finally understood the exquisiteness of the four-wheeled carriage she had been riding in for a long time.

Li Li said something and walked deep into the camp, and Zhang Lihua followed closely.

"Over the years, it has cost a lot of money to develop, improve and perfect four-wheeled carriages, so in order to make a profit, of course, four-wheeled carriages must be promoted in major cities."

Li Li said, pointing at the large number of carriages parked on both sides:

"Is this caravan easy to use? It's easy to use, but it's expensive. In order to share the cost, it also needs to be promoted among the public."

"You said just now that this car is stable, just like a ox cart, but much faster than a ox cart. Therefore, wealthy people have to talk about the show, and the ox cart is no longer enough to watch, and they have to be a new four-wheeled cart."

"The four-wheeled carriage has a wider cabin and can be placed in it, making it more comfortable to ride. Although it is very expensive, I gritted my teeth and bought it for the sake of pomp and the scenery in front of the people."

This makes sense. Zhang Lihua really appreciates the advantages of the new four-wheeled carriage, but she is not sure how expensive this carriage can be.

This time the official army went on a war, there were thousands of four-wheeled carriages. When they moved, the team was magnificent and spectacular.

As for how much money the court spent to build such a "car camp", she didn't know, nor did she need to know.

The group came to a camp gate. The gate was closed and soldiers were guarding it. Li Li ordered Zhang Lihua and the guards to wait in the awning, because the area inside the camp gate was "free from entering".

Zhang Lihua knew the importance of the matter, so she didn't say much, so she sat down under the pergola.

The camp gate opened, Li Li and several guards entered, and the camp gate was then closed.

Before the camp gate was closed, Zhang Lihua saw that there were many four-wheelers parked inside, but the style was a bit strange and the carriage was very small.

It seems that each four-wheeler is composed of two two-wheeler.

What kind of car is this?

Of course Zhang Lihua didn't know, but Li Li knew.

Since ancient times, there have been chariot formations and chariot camps, but their "synthesis camps" are different, they are hot weapons and army.

The hot weapons army is very dependent on ammunition, so this is why he wants to vigorously develop the chariot camp.

However, as the Chu army no longer lacked horses, Li Li was more willing to use cavalry, and what he valued was the characteristics of cavalry: fast and come and go freely.

There is a saying that goes: all martial arts in the world are invincible, and only fast is not broken.
Chapter completed!