Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 41 Equipment
Niu Luerzhen repeatedly compared the two bloody crossbow arrows in his hand, with a focused expression.Not only him, but those white armored soldiers also looked at the two arrows that were only a foot and a half long, as if there were some shocking secrets hidden in the two arrows.

The arrow is fifty centimeters long, which is only a little more than half of the heavy arrows used by Houjin archers, but it has terrifying power: the effective range of the Houjin heavy arrow is only sixty steps, but these two crossbows far exceed it. One arrow killed a bannerman at a distance of more than 100 steps—it was still night, and the other flew over a distance of two hundred steps and severely damaged Niu Luerzhen's war horse. Now this unlucky horse The horse's wound was still bleeding, and it couldn't be stopped.This shocked the Manchurian warriors who boasted of being unparalleled in riding and archery. hit?I'm afraid they were shot before they rushed in front of the Ming army!Fortunately, this kind of weapon is not affordable for ordinary people, as can be seen from these two crossbow arrows.The arrow shaft made of high-strength aluminum alloy is polished extremely smooth, which makes them amazed-how much does it cost!The strangest thing is that this alloy is not only light, but also extremely tough, like fine iron, and can be cut continuously by a knife; the triangular arrowhead is shining coldly and extremely sharp, obviously made of fine steel, it is well-made and sharp The level is simply unimaginable. The cost of such an arrow is probably much more expensive than the most well-made saber, right?Niu Luerzhen became more and more confused as he looked at it. It was the first time he had seen such a fine crossbow after fighting against the Ming army all his life. He frowned and asked a gentleman with a flattering smile beside him: "Mr. You can be regarded as having a head and a face in this area, but have you ever heard of any famous sharpshooters in this area?"

The coated slave quickly translated it.After hearing this, Mr. Fan pondered for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "Returning to the general, I have replaced bows and crossbows with firearms for more than 200 years. Not to mention civilians, even the army has no good marksman."

Niu Luerzhen said: "But, there is a guy in the county who shot arrows twice a hundred steps away, almost killing me!"

Mr. Fan blurted out: "This is impossible!"

Niu Luer really snorted: "What's impossible? He shot my flag to death, and my horse was seriously injured by him. What's impossible!"

Mr. Fan is a bit messy. How could someone be better at archery than the Houjin Warrior?How can this be!What's even more incredible is that he has never heard of such a powerful person!
When Niu Lu'er saw this guy's expression, he knew that even he didn't know what was going on. He couldn't help but feel a little discouraged. This leader is not doing enough!He put down his crossbow and asked one of the Fende Bashiku: "Fulong, how long will it take for the Mongols to arrive?"

The incumbent Bashku bowed and said: "If we go back to the master, Mu Zhuoer's Niulu is the closest to us, and we can get there in a day at most, while Yatai's Niulu is farther away, and it takes two days."

Niu Lu Erzhen said: "Let them hurry up, I don't have the patience to spend it here! Within two days, I want to see them all arrive, otherwise don't blame me for turning my face and denying people!" After a pause, he said: " Don't be idle, and while there is still time, drive the captured servants over and ask them to help cut down trees to make siege equipment, and you must be fully prepared!" The more he thought about it, the more angry he was, and he slapped the two crossbow arrows on the ground. On the table, roared: "I have fought with the Great Khan in the north and south, and I have been on the battlefield for more than [-] years. I have never been insulted like this. If I don't raze this county and smash the boy who plotted against me twice, I swear not to withdraw troops!"

The white armored soldiers and red baya soldiers present were breathing heavily. Niu Luerzhen started as a small soldier and fought on and off for 20 years. He had never been insulted like this before.Yang Menglong's ability to pull hatred is first-rate. While boosting the fighting spirit and morale of the defenders with almost presumptuous actions, he also successfully made himself a thorn in the side of hundreds of warriors in the Houjin Dynasty. By all accounts, he's been successful.

After two rounds of losses, Niu Lu never went to the city to look for smokers again. They drove a large number of captured civilians of the Ming Dynasty and forced them to cut wood with leather whips and steel knives to make ladders, shield carts, etc. Siege machinery.These poor civilians were hungry, working tremblingly against the cold wind, their hands and feet were a little slower, and a leather whip was drawn over them, and a piece of clothes and flesh were taken away from them. He was hacked and killed by Houjin soldiers, and the sound of crying and crying was endless, but what can be done?It's their fault that they live in troubled times.

Jiannu was sharpening his knife, and Yang Menglong was not idle either.If Zhang Qianhu and the others are all dead, there is also the advantage of being dead, that is, the command of the county defenders will naturally fall into his hands.Originally, it was not his turn to intervene as an outsider, but because his performance was so outstanding, everyone obeyed him, and the remaining commanders were left aside instead.He successfully boosted the morale of the defenders with heavy rewards, and everyone's fighting spirit was high, just waiting for a big fight with Jiannu.However, he knew very well that without excellent equipment, high morale was useless. Once the casualties were too large, the defenders would also collapse. He had to make adequate preparations, otherwise he would be doomed.

So, what about the equipment of the defenders?

not so good.Zhang Qianhu brought more than 700 soldiers, in fact, the most able to fight are the more than 100 servants' cronies --- it can be seen that the adults of Qianhu are still very good at making money, and ordinary Qianhu can't afford it. So many households.It's a pity that a stupid escape ruined the lives of these servants, himself and his son, leaving Yang Menglong a group of farmers and soldiers who knew nothing but farming.There are more than 200 musketeers in this group of soldiers, which is considered a usable force, but the quality of muskets can only be described as horrible. There are no more than 1 muskets that can be used barely, and [-] muskets may not be able to fire in a minute. What can a musket with one bullet do?As for knives and guns, Yang Menglong wanted to cry: there is nothing that is not cutting corners. The iron material used to cast knives is very poor. It should be scrapped after a few chops, let alone long spears. The head fell off, damn it!Don't even think about armor or something, it's not bad to have a pair of mandarin duck jackets.He slapped his forehead straight, it's over, this time it's definitely over, with such equipment, how can we fight with others!
"Is that all there is?" He looked at the pile of rags, his face almost dripping with pain.

The quartermaster quickly said: "Not only, not only, but also several barrels of gunpowder."

As soon as he heard that there were still several barrels of gunpowder, Yang Menglong suddenly became happy: "Bring them here and show me!"

The barrels of gunpowder were quickly brought in.Yang Menglong opened a barrel. It was a typical black gunpowder with some impurities in it. Using such a propellant for a matchlock gun that was not very powerful would cause ghosts if it didn't kill people.However, these gunpowder will definitely explode, and the power is not weak, he is [-]% sure of this.He grabbed a handful and looked at it, then asked, "What is this gunpowder used for?"

The quartermaster said: "This is the sub-powder of muskets. Of course, if you encounter obstacles in attacking the city, you can also use gunpowder to blow up the city wall." , so I brought all the gunpowder in the guard, which weighs hundreds of catties."

Yang Menglong was a little frustrated: "You have more than 200 muskets and only [-] can be used. There is a ghost with so much gunpowder!"

The quartermaster sneered, but didn't dare to say anything more.

A Baihu surnamed Chen was probably too unpopular. Zhang Qianhu didn't call him when he was running away, and he survived by luck.The only surviving hundred household said anxiously: "Young master, not only the muskets, but also our arrows have serious problems. Many arrowheads are rusted and unusable, and the arrow shafts will break when touched. Once a war starts, the consequences will be severe." Unbelievable!"

Yang Menglong held his chin and sighed in silence.

The old man Qi Hu has now been promoted and has become Yang Menglong's assistant.There is no way, Yang Menglong knows nothing about marching formations, so he can only trouble his old man. The old man looked at the pile of broken copper and iron in the hall, and said angrily: "Those heartless guys, how could they take such a bad job?" Using weapons to recharge is simply murder!"

Yang Menglong suddenly called out: "Wait a minute, what did you just say?"

Qi Hu said: "I said that they are murdering their own subordinates by using such equipment for soldiers..."

Yang Menglong shouted: "No, it's the previous sentence, the previous sentence!"

Qi Hu said: "I said that group of unconscionable guys..."

Yang Menglong slapped his thigh: "No conscience... no conscience... Haha, how could I have forgotten this guy!" Under everyone's surprised gazes, this guy jumped three feet high like a chicken blood, shouting with high spirits. : "All generals obey orders!"

Everyone rolled their eyes, and all the generals obeyed the order. I think you must be crazy to want to be an official. The biggest here is only one hundred households and one county magistrate, okay?But everyone just sat up and listened to the order solemnly.

Yang Menglong shouted: "Chen Baihu, please collect those rusty arrows that can no longer be used for me immediately. Don't miss any of them!"

Chen Baihu was baffled, why do you want those rags?Seeing that Yang Menglong was so serious, he didn't dare to ask more questions, so he answered yes and went down to work.

Yang Menglong's eyes fell on the county magistrate: "Lord magistrate, please bring me all the carpenters in the city, one of them counts as one... By the way, please also bring me all the gunpowder in the city, we can Whether to hold the county seat depends entirely on it!"

The county magistrate didn't dare to neglect, so he hurried to go.

Yang Menglong said to himself: "It's still not enough... we need to add more ingredients..." He said to the master book: "My lord, please ask someone to collect things like earthen jars and iron nails that are not needed in the whole city. , is of great use!"

The director also didn't dare to neglect, he cupped his hands and went down to make arrangements.

"Gather all the weapons that can be used in the whole county and get rid of those garbage, otherwise this battle will not be fought!"

"Find more old clothes and send them to the soldiers, so that they can dress warmer. It is best to let them eat a meal, so as not to lose strength in fighting!"

"Gather all the young and strong in the county and form a formation nearby. If the defenders can't stand up, they will make up for them. The rewards and casualties are the same as the defenders! There are only a few hundred people in Jiannu. There are good people in our county. Tens of thousands, one out of ten is still several thousand young and strong, even if four of them fight for one of them, they must be wiped out!"

"No weapons? Simple, do you have a kitchen knife? Do you have a guillotine? Do you have an axe? Use whatever you have, don't be picky... What if the company doesn't have any? It's easy, there are always wooden sticks, right? You can't find nails, right? ? Find some wooden sticks with thick arms and nail them, won’t they become a very useful mace? The effect of hitting people is top-notch!”

Yang Menglong quickly issued an order, and the entire county was quickly put into operation.The more than 200 heads outside the city gate have clearly told the people in the city not to take chances, otherwise there is only one dead end, if you want to survive, you have to defend the county with all your might!They actively cooperated with the defenders, and carpenters and blacksmiths were summoned to start making weapons for the defenders. Although it was a bit late, it was better than nothing.Yang Menglong quickly collected three or four hundred earthen pots that he needed by name. This thing is too common. Who doesn't have many?It is not difficult to make room for one or two.The young and strong took up all the weapons they could find and formed a joint defense, preparing to transport the defense utensils, food and the wounded to the defenders, and the women also took action to cook for the defenders. Everything was busy and tense with.That afternoon, buckets of hot rice and piles of old clothes were delivered to the defenders. When the defenders opened the buckets, they saw big bowls of sauerkraut and fat meat, and their eyes turned green. !They probably don't even remember when they ate steaming hot dry rice and oily fat meat without sand, and they all hiccupped after eating, saying that if they could eat such meals every day, they would win the battle. How long they are happy!
After all this fiddling, the morale of the defenders is high, and there are more than 3000 young men in the city who are ready to make up for it at any time.These young and strong people let them go out of the city to fight in the field. It is [-]% to die, but once the Jiannu invades the city, they can fight with the Jiannu through street fighting to the end, and they will consume all the Jiannu. There are great restrictions, and this kind of rotten battle where the enemy has us and we have the enemy is a taboo for generals.As Yang Menglong said, dung forks, guillotines, kitchen knives, axes, etc. have all become these young and strong weapons. If there are no weapons, you can just find a wooden stick and nail it. , In a small county town, it feels like all the people are soldiers.

The war potential hidden among the people is huge. Unfortunately, in the more than 50 years of war between the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the Ming army generals never learned to mobilize this force. This seems to be the first time.Now it's time for Hou Jin to taste what it's like to have all the people as soldiers.

(End of this chapter)