sweeping the world

Chapter 803 The Attacking Big Man

Of course the Great Wall is a lock, both for the Xias and other races. Numerous wars between farming peoples and nomads have basically revolved around the lock of the Great Wall.

The Central Plains Dynasty was able to control the Great Wall, even if it did not have the strength to counterattack, it was able to resist the enemy coming from the direction of the grassland outside the mountains of the Great Wall, and protected the counties and counties in the rear from being ravaged by the Hulu .

Thinking the other way around, once the nomads break through the Great Wall, they can enter the counties and counties of the Central Plains Dynasty to have fun, even if they don’t go to grab some big cities, especially those villages that are not protected by the city walls, they can still grab a lot of money every time. Full.

Sang Yu opposed the demolition of the Great Wall, not because he didn’t want future generations to see this epic spectacle, and he didn’t mean that it might have to be built after it was demolished, but objectively pointed out that there is no redundant manpower in the Han Dynasty.

It has to be said that the total length of the contemporary Great Wall may be much longer than the Great Wall built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The east side starts from Liaodong and connects to Dunhuang.Although some areas in the middle are "blank", there is generally the existence of the Great Wall, which makes the Great Wall look like a giant dragon entrenched on the ground.

"Your Majesty, most of the Great Wall is built on top of mountains, and it's not easy to dismantle it." Sang Yu didn't dare to confront Liu Yan directly, and said in a reasonable way: "Big men don't need to rely on the danger of the Great Wall, and they don't need it as a warning. Whatever it is."

Liu Yan just thought about it that way. If he really used a huge amount of manpower to demolish it, it would be better to turn a blind eye and let the Great Wall fall into disrepair with the passage of time.

Yu Yi, who kept silent all the time, was thinking about other things. The Han Kingdom now gathers people into counties, and the settlements no longer build city walls. There was once a dynasty that adopted the same approach, and then waited for the country to decline. There were riots, wars everywhere, and because there was no city wall to support each place, the rate of fall was faster than one place.

The dynasty that Yu Yi thought of was the Qin Dynasty. After Emperor Shi Huang completed his sweeping of all lands and regions, he not only ordered all counties and counties to demolish the city walls, but also ordered the demolition of all the passes.

What kind of thought did the first emperor issue such an administrative order? Later generations can only rely on guesswork because there are no relevant written records.Most guesses are that Emperor Shihuang probably felt that cities everywhere had city walls, and that in the event of a rebellion, the city walls would become a barrier for the rebels to defend.Then, the Qin army was able to conquer and fight well, so it didn't need city walls to defend the city at all. Wars did not rely on city walls, but an army composed of people.

In fact, if you look up history books or geographical records, you will find one thing. First of all, Xianyang is a metropolis without city walls. Because of the barrier of Hangu Pass in the counties and counties in Guanzhong, only some counties around Hangu Pass have city walls. There is actually no city wall built to the west or north.

Then why the first emperor ordered the demolition of city walls in various places? There are some reliable speculations. The cities in Guanzhong in the land of Longxing are fine without city walls. Why do places other than Guanzhong need city walls? Isn’t it consistent with Guanzhong?

"I naturally know that it was because of the demolition of various passes that the Qin Dynasty could no longer defend, so that Han Emperor Gaozu could attack Xianyang with a single force. Xianyang also had no city defense to rely on and there was civil strife. Ziying had no choice but to lead hundreds of officials out of the avenue. And surrender." Liu Yan naturally ignored the fact that Qin State had to repair several passes and city walls behind him. Otherwise, Wu Guang also went straight to Guanzhong and was stopped at Xingyang. Liu Bang did not need to go through the pass: "The capital naturally needs dangerous passes. Just in case something unexpected happens.”

Sang Yu didn't directly mention the disadvantages of not having a barrier. He just reminded him vaguely. Seeing that Liu Yan was sensible, he naturally stopped talking about it.

The reason why Liu Yan thinks that the counties and counties do not need city walls is that the Han Kingdom came out of the ruins. Under the premise that there is no imminent threat, manpower and material resources should be used first where they are most needed, such as quickly repairing water conservancy and irrigation facilities. County roads are also in good shape.

Another point is that Liu Yan is very aware of the current situation of the Han Dynasty. The current population is in a state of sharp decline. In fact, the number of people in each county is quite limited. The construction of the city wall will definitely not be enlarged, and the population increase in the future will appear too small. The city wall will make the residential area unexpandable.

The most important thing is that firearms are already in the world, and they will develop better with the passage of time. The military role that the city walls can play will be reduced again and again. Waiting for the war to become the roar of artillery, soldiers are also fighting with guns, which consumes a lot of money. The city wall built with huge manpower and material resources was just a matter of a few heavy artillery bombardments.

In the war of the age of firearms, if you have the time to build a city wall, it is better to choose a favorable terrain to build a fortress including underground fortifications, or even pull barbed wire and dig trenches. Which one is not more cost-effective than the city wall?
Speaking of firearms, Liu Yangang received a memorial from Chang'an, mentioning that the rifle he had studied for a long time had already achieved results, and the real objects and drawings were sent all the way.

The actual object Liu Yan saw didn't look like a rifle at all. If he had to insist on calling it a rifle, it would be more appropriate to call it a rifle.

It was a big one, with a length of two meters and two meters, and the barrel accounted for six or seven tenths of it.It is still the front-loading mode, which needs to be loaded first and then put into the projectile. The trigger device uses flint hair, which directly skips the matchlock mode.

"The caliber is [-] millimeters?" Of course Liu Yan could lift the big gun, and commented on the caliber: "It's more like a cannon..."

Not to mention, the caliber of the carrying gun is already large, and the caliber of the carrying gun manufactured in modern times is generally more than [-] mm.Even more exaggerated, the caliber of the guns is [-]mm. It is better to call it a gun than a cannon.

"Fill." Liu Yan didn't try to shoot by himself: "Try firing."

Naturally, there are sergeants who are busy. They use custom-packed gunpowder packs. The process is to tear open the gunpowder pack, put the gunpowder into the barrel, and then push it in with a cleaning rod.The next step is to load the projectile. Someone brings the matching bracket to support the front of the barrel, and another person lifts the rear gun body.

"Fire!"

The military officer in charge of shooting pulled the trigger, and he felt a strong thrust in an instant. Because of his inexperience, he took a step back, but luckily he held on to the gun body tightly so that he could not drop it.

After the trigger was pulled, there was a loud "bang", and a puff of white smoke came out from the muzzle of the gun. Many of the crowd were startled by the sudden movement.

Liu Yan has been looking at the archery target in front of him... Well, its responsibility has become the target. After the gunshot, the target is safe and sound, but the projectile that is difficult to see with the naked eye 600 meters away penetrates the ground and explodes. There was a cloud of dust.

"..."

Seeing that there was nothing wrong with the gun target, everyone looked at the sergeant operating the shooting unanimously, making the sergeant's forehead sweat instantly.

The range of the raised gun is very long. According to some records, the longest range of the raised gun in the Qing Dynasty can reach 2000 to 80 meters. That is basically the range of the artillery, but the accuracy is almost non-existent.

Liu Yan has already read it just now, the barrel is not rifled, and it is destined to have no accuracy.He would not let the sergeant be pulled down and cut because the sergeant missed the gun target, he just signaled to continue to charge and shoot.

Another preparation process, the sergeant was still in charge of shooting, this time he was far more nervous than the first time, and he had to ask all the known gods in his mind before he pulled the trigger.His luck is very good, this time it can be regarded as not empty.

Another gunshot rang out, and the gun target placed about [-] meters away shattered.

It’s true that the gun target is broken, but it’s not just the projectile that penetrates through it. Its fragmentation process is extremely fast. Juli dragged it back several meters.

"Single-shot machine gun." Liu Yan said a term that no one could understand, and he gestured: "Arrange a few more gun targets, and arrange them as far as three miles away."

After one hit, and seeing the hit target being directly shattered, everyone has a deeper understanding of this new weapon, and they are all astounded by its power.

After repeatedly loading and firing, the several sergeants in charge of shooting seemed to be getting better and better. They waited for the target placed three miles away to be hit by an unusually lucky shot, and then the test firing stopped.

"Within two miles, it will shatter when hit." Sang Yu stroked the gun target brought back from three miles away, and said happily, "Even three miles away, there is such a big hole in the hit."

It's a big hole, the diameter should be about ten centimeters, and the wooden board used as the target is also full of cracks.

"It can reach up to three miles..." Yu Yi asked the soldiers to investigate more just now, and he really found the impact point: "The range is farther than our first-generation artillery!"

The first-generation artillery of the Han Dynasty was a six-pound gun with a range of 800 meters. The lethality of a solid projectile was only smashed, but it did not have multiple penetration effects, and it would not cause casualties within a range of ten meters.

The current state of Han has developed a variety of artillery, the largest being a 150mm naval gun with a range of up to six miles.Projectiles are no longer limited to solid bullets, and flowering bullets and incendiary bullets have also been researched.It is a pity that the artillery itself and the gun mount are very bulky, and it is not very convenient to transport.

In the most recent Han Dynasty, except for Li Tan who had just used artillery to bombard the military camp, there was no place for the artillery to show its power. It was related to the inconvenience of transportation. The army was not equipped with any non-Gyeonggi Guards or Emperor's Guards for the time being.

"I heard that Daqin or Persia also have firearms." Liu Yan is not recalling according to his own memory, but the news sent back by Wang Meng, an envoy: "Daqin has ballistas, and the projectiles will explode when fired, and there are also bullets that burn on the ground. kind."

Calculating the time, Wang Meng should have reached the border of Persia, but he doesn't know where he is now.He will go to the capital of Persia in Ctesiphon, and will travel to other places. The next stop is to East Rome (Turkey).

Rome attaches great importance to large-scale equipment. In addition to various large-scale military equipment, each legion also has a dedicated craftsman camp.They started playing with large-scale military equipment after they conquered Greece, and then they started to get out of control. Every time the Roman legions fought, they could definitely see the shadow of ballistae and catapults, and the projectiles they fired also evolved from stones (crossbow arrows). to the projectile (fire oil bed crossbow).

Liu Yan still knew to some extent what the so-called explosive and burning projectiles in Rome were. They were actually products made of petroleum mixed with other materials.

"Daqin's crossbows are the same as our artillery?!" Yu Yi was extremely surprised when he arrived: "It was developed earlier than us!"

Liu Yan still needs to explain. Everyone was relieved to hear that it was the bed crossbow and catapult. Then they heard that the projectile was researched with oil, and asked curiously what oil is. It turned out that Liu Yan explained it again. What is petroleum.

Both the Romans and the Persians were not short of oil, and each had research in the field of using oil.

Greece was the first country in Europe to use oil as a military weapon. At that time, Roman soldiers were often burned to coke by Greek oil (Greek fire).After Rome defeated and occupied the whole of Greece, the Romans who were good at learning would naturally not let go of the use of oil.They also discovered that the old place of Carthage (North Africa) produced oil, and the use of oil was more extensive.

The Persians are still relatively primitive in the use of oil, which is used to burn, usually placed in altars and jars, and then thrown to burn and injure the enemy.There are also oil producing areas in their territory, the kind that come out by themselves without digging.Later, the Arabs replaced the Persians as the rulers of that land. The Arabs directly produced fire-breathing boats. Because the Arabs and the Europas have always been at an advantage in the confrontation at sea, there is also a sea area named "Arabian Sea". , They also cut off the connection between Europa and the East for more than two hundred years.

"It turned out to be bed crossbows and catapults, and they also fired oil..." Sang Yu was still very proud: "As expected, we have always been in the lead."

If we talk about gunpowder, it actually appeared in the Spring and Autumn Period, but its power was so weak that no one wanted to study it specifically.Gunpowder has been a derivative of alchemy for a long time. Later, it was gradually transferred to entertainment-related purposes (drug-made puppets). It was not until the end of the Tang Dynasty that it was used for military purposes, but its power was still not very high due to the formula. Sample.

Liu Yan started writing later. He asked for a reduction in the size of the gun, and asked about the research on rifling engraving.

It is inevitable for the Han army to use firearms on a large scale. The navy should be the first to use firearms on a large scale. Twelve warships equipped with naval guns have already been launched for sea trials. They will be transferred to Asanyang after waiting for acceptance. I just don't know if I can catch up with bombarding Ah San.

"Maybe five years..., ten years at the latest?" Liu Yan said with deep anticipation: "By then, the big man will have an army equipped with rifles and artillery, and they will conquer from the east to the end of the west. .”

That day is bound to come, and the target of the war will become Persia. Liu Yan will continue to promote scientific and technological research during his lifetime. Artillery and rifles have already appeared one after another. As long as he continues to pay attention, the steam engine will be built sooner or later. , At that time, not only the Han army will sweep across the land, but the navy will also span the four seas.

(End of this chapter)